Relationships In Josip Novakovich's 'Ballet, AndA Wanderer'

The contemporary texts, See you at Harry’s by Jo Knowles (2012) and Wonder by R.J. Palacio (2012) explore the common concerns that young people may face whilst growing up. The universal theme of the Human Condition involves the stages of life and the issues everyone must go through to develop a sense of self and purpose that define us from being social beings. These novels explore the Human Condition through discovering self-identity, relationships and loss. These novels are examples of bildungsroman as they are relevant to today's society and the children living in it. Young readers can relate to the struggles and feelings expressed by the characters, based off the composer's perspective of youth.

All children go through a stage in life where they feel unmotivated and disempowered to do what they want to do. The short story “Distant Lands” is written by Tim Winton and explores ideas of the disempowerment, power and isolation. Through the use of narrative conventions such as characterisation, setting and symbolism, the reader is influence to respond to the ideas with sympathy, frustration and hope for the main character, “Fat Maz”.

People who enjoy realistic-fiction novels that include sibling rivalry, sports, making life changes, and the tension of a dysfunctional family environment will be interested in reading this journal writing from the first person perspective of Paul Fisher. This novel includes characteristics of middle school encounters ; therefor, ages 10 and up will appreciate this

We hear of her moving to New York to escape her life as a child bride after being orphaned at a young age. This story allows the audience to gain a sense of sympathy for Holly, and enhances the pathos of the story. This pathos puts the audience into the shoes of Holly and enables them to understand the reasoning behind her escape. The use of language features like pathos and literary allusion allow the authors of both texts to convey the theme of escapism.

As the story develops, the reader’s thoughts are guided by the structure of the piece in a way that Tan is able to share an important lesson through the form of a personal narrative. The opening text immediately introduces the narrator and her insecurities as she wishes for a “slim new American nose” (Tan 1). The story initially takes on a negative tone as Tan proceeds to have a negative outlook throughout the entire evening. Her overwhelming anxiety can almost be felt by the reader as she worries what Robert will think of her “noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners” and overall “shabby Chinese Christmas” (Tan 1). With the tone set, Tan continues to amplify each dreadful detail of her family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner. This includes the actual meal, that of which appeared to be

In conclusion, “Dancer”, by Vikie Sears, utilizes the devices in literature to enhance the effectiveness of the story through symbolism, dialogue, and

In Tobias Wolff’s “Powder,” the protagonist undergoes a pivotal moment in which his views of his parents’ relationship, his father’s behavior, and his own behavior are altered. This epiphany comes while the young man and his father are driving through “fresh powder” (Wolff 3) on the way home from a ski trip and he realizes that his parents’ marriage will essentially end when they get there. Instead of becoming downhearted at the moment, however, he decides to reverse his opinion of his situation and submits to the thrill of it. This pivotal moment shapes the meaning of “Powder” as it reveals a change in heart of the boy as he must accept the facts of his life and mature quickly. Whereas he initially views his father as a reckless man, his parents’ marriage as still salvageable, and his own behavior as proper, he subsequently looks at his father with a sense of admiration, his parents’ marriage with a lack of hope, and his own behavior with uncertainty.

A “Bildungsroman” is defined as a piece of literature that focuses on the mental, moral, and psychological growth of a protagonist in transition from childhood to adulthood. Ideologies adopted into a Bildungsroman are ones that shows the coming of age like the shortcoming of loved ones, meet with challenges that the adult world presents to the younger generation, and having mentors or guides who teach the ways of life through valuable lessons. In Rudolfo Anaya’s coming of age novel, “Bless Me, Ultima”, the Bildungsroman concepts and ideas about maturity from childhood blossom as the novel's protagonist, Antonio Marez, lives his Hispanic, Catholic life at the age of eight, through countless experiences that molds his coming of age. Elements that substantially influences Antonio's coming of age includes confrontations with death, disappointment in realizing soul crushing realities, and encounters with emotions and despair that would be met in the adult world. Antonio, through, these structural elements, shapes his shift from a child to a man by emphasizing why certain events occur in his life.

The topics “Can You Use that Word in a Sentence,” and Racial Representation is significant throughout the book Long Division written by Kiese Laymon. The characters in this book will have to face racism and learn to defy racial representations, especially during the scene of the quiz contest. Overall, this essay will tackle the importance of language in the book Long Division and analyze the actions of the characters and the emotions they display. This essay will examine the words written and the racism experienced during the period using the two sources and research made to understand the importance of language in racism. Long Division, the book written by Kiese Laymon is an intriguing and gripping novel. It starts off with the main character Citoyen “City” Coldson a fourteen year-old boy; he participates in a nationwide televised quiz contest. However noticing that the contest is extremely racist, his outburst on stage goes viral. Shortly, City moves to live with his grandmother. He’s been given a book, before leaving, titled “Long Division”. The main character of the book has the same name as City yet it is set in 1985. A young girl named Baize Shephard has been missing in City’s new community. Yet, when Baize Shephard appears as a character in City’s strange book, both stories link and converge together. Citoyen “City” Coldson and LaVander Peeler are the only two black participants in the “Can You Use that Word in a Sentence” contest. There were many scenes that

In the short story “The Key Game” the author appeals to the readers’ sense of emotion (pathos) because of the in-depth description of the Jewish family’s unfortunate living arrangements, and because of the method the author uses to explain the various character descriptions, emotions, and dialog throughout the story. This story takes place at some point during the Second World War. The author, Ida Fink, introduces the reader to a small Jewish family consisting of a wife, husband, and their three year old son. They live in a small apartment which she describes as poor, urban, and gloomy. The situation with the war can be shown with the frequent changes in apartments. The purpose of the story is in a “game” made by the parents to prepare the child for his reaction in case the Germans ever come knocking at the door. The author introduces the emotion in this story from the very beginning, when she starts to describe where the story takes place.

“Groom Service” and “The Return” are two short stories taken place in a terrible setting with the main character who deals with relationship problems. Both stories have common themes related to acceptance, acknowledgement, and recognition. The protagonist in “Groom Service”, Bernard, had the ability to survive with his hunting skill, but did not dare to seek his own love. He seeks acceptance from Marie and her family. On the contrary, Kamau in the story “The Return” seeks acceptance from a village, but finds acceptances in the change that had taken place. Due to the influence of the internal and external forces created by their family and personalities, protagonists, Bernard and

“The Semplica-Girl Diaries” is a short story in which George Saunders, the author, presents unique ideas of the way people live their life and what each person does to be able to live. The dad, Saunders’ main character, writes in a diary and explains to the readers what he experiences almost every day with his family. He wants to be there for his family and provide for them the best that he can, but it is difficult when he has young children who have desires as any children do. The dad mentions status throughout the short story, and the children are aware that they do not have money like some other people who are around them. Not everyone in the world has the best job and life, because it is not always up to people to make the choices that need to be made for their family.

In the three stories, ‘The Darkness Out There’, ‘Compass and Torch’ and ‘My Polish Teachers Tie’, the writers present peoples relationships. Although they all look at different types of relationships they have similar messages and hidden meanings that are conveyed using complexity and language. For example in the three stories the writers include messages telling us not to judge other people. In ‘The Darkness Out There’ we learn that the characters that Sandra initially judged were in fact the complete opposites. Sandra ‘didn’t reckon much’ on Kerry and describes him has having ‘black licked-down hair and slitty eyes’.

     In Kate Chopin’s short story, “Desiree’s Baby”, she demonstrates how racism played a major part in people’s lives in the 1800’s. Kate Chopin is extremely successful in getting her readers to feel disturbed by the events in the story. Through words and images, the reader feels touched by the story, either by relating to it at some points or when confronted with things we frequently decide to ignore in the world: the evil some human beings are capable of possessing.

The fictional life and death of a twelve year old little boy named Robert is vividly articulated in this moving tale by Thomas Wolfe. The reader learns of the boy’s life through four well developed points of view. The reader’s first glimpse into Robert’s character is expressed through a third person narrative. This section takes place on a particularly important afternoon in the boy’s life. The second and third views are memories of the child, through the eyes of his mother and sister. His mother paints the picture of an extraordinary child whom she loved dearly and his sister illustrates the love that the boy had for others. Finally, an account from the narrator is given in the ending. It is in the last section of this work that the