Personal Challenges In Diane Kenyon's Short Story 'Initiation'

In the essays, “Typical first year professor” by Roxane Gay, and “Shooting dad” by Sarah Vowell, the authors indirectly discuss the ideas of feeling alone and different around people. In “Typical First Year professor”, Roxane Gay explains how she’s starting a new job in a new town and the only african american in her field. She explains how the feeling of being the only African American in a small white town makes her miss home and the people she left behind. In “Shooting Dad”, Sarah Vowell explains how she feels isolated from her father and sister from their hobbies. The narrator is passionate about music and the arts, while her dad and sister are passionate about guns and hunting. This makes the narrator feels like she doesn’t belong in her family and makes her feel increasingly different.“Typical First Year Professor” and “Shooting Dad”, the narrator 's use their personal experiences to indirectly show that everyone craves connections even if in order to get these connections they must sacrifice their political values or romantic notions.

Throughout our lives we all experience things that may make us feel uncomfortable or make us feel insecure, some people experience these more than others. By being put into situations like these people’s insecurities are shown. Here we will be looking at two characters from two different stories. The first character is Amir, he starts off as a young boy growing up wishing to please his father and make him proud of him for the work that he wants to do and we follow him as he grows throughout his journey. The second character is Lucy, she is an 18 year old single mom living on her own with her 8 month old son. In this essay we will look at common experiences that point out these two characters’ insecurities and how they either developed or were

The majorities of humans are shaped for the better through early life and are therefore refined through society to find a place within the community. However there are cases where the early life influences are absent and aren’t able to give the crucial acceptance from an early age. This leads to abandonment issues that make it exceedingly difficult to find a place within society. In Louis Nowra’s “Member of the wedding” we are shown a prominent example of the detrimental effects of not being accepted. The protagonist Frankie had a mother that passed away and has a workaholic father who spends little to no time with at home leaving her with no sense of acceptance and struggling in finding who she is. She doesn’t connect with the world outside and due to her inner conflict she creates a new “me” in attempt to “connect”. F. Jasmine, her new persona, is her attempt of proving she no longer needs to acceptance at home as she can be accepted in the adult

I breathed in the after rain smell. It must have rained the night before but I hadn’t seen it so I wasn’t aware that it would be wet. As I strolled onto the sidewalk and began my route to school I stomped on the wet, fallen leaves. I walked about a half mile each day to get to Florence Nightingale High school , or as I liked to call it, my daily prison. It was a good high school but it was still a high school. The usual American high school is full of people who are unsure of themselves and because of their un-surety, they feel the need to others down. Now take those people and add in an over-confident deaf girl into the mix and that's my every day. I am extra isolated but that’s fine by me. I really don’t care what they say about me. It's not like I can hear it

I am reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and I am on page 100. This book is about a girl named Melinda and her struggles with high school. It talks about events that high schoolers can relate to. Melinda is struggling with grades and finding a group to join as a freshman. Her middle school friend group split up and left her alone. She is trying to find her place and learn who she is. In this journal, I will be connecting Melinda’s struggle to fit in at with my high school experience so far.

Imagine being constantly ignored when all you want is to be noticed. Most have experienced this feeling at some point in their lives. In “Through the Tunnel,” Doris Lessing tells the commonly known story of a young boy as he attempts to fit in. Incidents like these prevail as someone is growing up, and Karen Holleran, a literary critic, shares her views on the short story in her article “An overview of ‘Through the Tunnel: The Search for Identity and Acceptance.’” Conclusively, Doris Lessing incorporates Jerry’s characterization to express that one must get through hard times successfully in order to become an adult.

Empathizing with those who were victims of bullying, inequality, and identity crisis, I knew precisely how it felt to question your purpose in life and wonder why you were not fortunate enough to life an “easy” life. Though, overcoming these obstacles built a steady foundation for my future. The countless hours of crying myself to sleep, fighting depression, and accepting my insecurities gave me the strength and the knowledge to help those who are not always aware of how to help themselves. If my experiences meant I could save and improve the lives of others, I would faithfully endure the unbearable pain each day, which makes me deserving of the People Helping People

For most of my life, I had been the definition of an introvert. I was afraid of anything unfamiliar. The thought of meeting strangers would make me cringe. In the first grade, I cried for the entire year. I cried walking to school, and I sobbed on the way home. When my parents sent me away for junior high, I clutched on to my sister’s sleeves as if I were being sent away forever. Then one day, I changed. Perhaps I was sick of being the shy little girl always hiding behind others’ back, but I decided to do something different. I volunteered to host school assemblies, acted in dramas, and decided to study abroad to America. I suddenly had a new outlook on life.

Growing up as a kid, I noticed a reasonable difference in my life where my mind grew up faster than my physical body. Maybe it was the strict rules that matured me or the high expectations instilled in me that formed my personal character. Remembering those lonely walks on my way to elementary school through the heart of a developing Desoto neighborhood and those short friendships formed on the rusted playground detailed the beginnings of my childhood. The constant dreams of becoming a successful man in the footsteps of my father clouded my head as I laid in the bunk bed of my hopes that shadowed the doubts of my developing mind. Through the ticks of time, it truthfully told the struggle of confidence and purpose as I searched for a safe haven

The story of my thirteen-year-old-self offered readers a glimpse of the lowest point of my life; However, it was not the only time I felt discouragement. In Fall 2014, my mother ended up losing her job due to disability. We had to move into a dangerous neighborhood. All our lives, my mother worked hard to prevent us from residing in neighborhoods that could potentially harm us. I can recall the face she wore when she realized moving to a lower-class area was the only solution to our problems. She did not say it, but I can tell that she felt like she failed us. I patted her back the entire ride to our new home for reassurance. When we reached our destination, my stomach tied up in knots. There were dozens of people around the neighborhood

All I longed for as a child was to fit in with my peers; to conform, to be like them. Yet, I struggled to feel acceptance in my own “hometown.” During lunch at school, while everyone had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I had a Bulgarian cheese sandwich. I did not understand how those birthday invitations worked! I struggled to do my homework without being able to read directions. It was difficult to know whom I could trust, so I rarely asked for help.

The story told from the third-person point of view. This story clearly demonstrates to a us and to the readers how poor education may result to chaos and confusion to life of a one person, even in a family. The boy gets a book at school with a simple sentences and pictures, but he interprets them literally and it causes much confusion within their home. The boy in the story is lack

High School wasn't as I expected… at all. I was never the star student in school or the “popular” one that everybody knew. But I also wasn't the worst student. And of course high school wasn't any different. The teacher asked us for our name and in order we went hi i'm Maria Sanchez, I'm Alfonso, Alex , Isabel, Cathy , Jose and so on. There was one boy who couldn't speak English fluently he would mix up the words and everybody would laugh. I felt bad he was at the point of crying because of the embarrassment. I would have too.

Man is a product of the culture in which he is born and brought up. For the same reason, no one can negate the influence of the society in forming one’s personality. I am well aware of the fact that my views, thoughts, and attitude have been shaped by the society I live in; hence, any attempt to sketch my personal experiences would be incomplete without referring to the part played by my surroundings. Throughout my life, I have paid utmost importance to initiating and maintaining interpersonal relationships with others. I had to face varied situations out there, both joyous and depressing. However, each instance was a great lesson for me to learn several things about my practical life – I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say that I have learned more outside the four walls of my classroom than within them. My autobiography is closely associated with my social connections including my experiences with my family, educational institution, and the larger society I reside within.

The journey to self-discovery can be a laborious, grueling journey filled with opposition for the surrounding aspects of everyday life, including hostility towards yourself. Whether this phase persists through youth or old age; everyone must find their own niche in a world where being yourself is a rarity, and portraying someone else is a commodity. This fact is prevalent through Jane Tompkins novel, A Life in School: What the Teacher Learned, as the reader is immersed in the path to self-discovery and acceptation through a teacher’s eyes. Tompkins portrays her life to us through an introspective dissertation where attacks the school system and all it enthralls.