Rita Has A Rough Childhood Growing Up Essay

One of the challenges of growing up is loneliness. As a small child living in Brooklyn Francie had no friends her age, the kids in her neighborhood that would have been candidates for friends either found her too quiet or shunned her for being different. "So

The book Unequal Childhoods describes observations made by Annette Lareau to shed light on the significance of social class and how it affects student’s learning. Lareau presents her observations by highlighting the two dominant ways of parenting that ultimately affect how successful students become as they transition into adulthood. These styles of parenting consist of Concerted Cultivation where parents put through kids through structured activities, and Accomplishment of Natural Growth where unrestrictive freedom and directives are exercised (20-22).

Lola is twenty-year-old female who is has a bit of difficulty identifying her place in life. She describes her family as a loving doting father she feels warmly for. She sees her Mother as a cool personality but describes her as pretty, and she only acknowledges her sister in passing. She states that as children they moved around a lot and that she was a lonely child. This trend of being lonely continued as she grew up and she finds friendships hard to start and even harder to maintain. There was not a feeling of family togetherness and they did not have many gatherings out outings.

Nicholas T., age 32, is a busy systems analyst for a computer manufacturer. Working his way up the corporate ladder, he travels extensively, putting in many hours without much sleep. Nicholas has a tendency to be overweight but continues to eat fatty foods and does not have an exercise program. He craves salty pretzels and potato chips.  ?  In recent months, however, he has often felt weak, and occasionally experiences dizziness when moving from a lying down to a

As told through her mother’s perspective, one will learn that Trina is a eighteen year old female of African-American decent and resides with her mother in Los Angeles, California. Trina’s parents, Keri and Clyde, provide their daughter with an upper/upper middle class lifestyle due to her father’s sudden successful career and her mother’s successful resale clothing business in Los Angeles. This well rounded and beautiful adolescent has recently graduated from high school with high grades and was accepted to Brown University, however, due to her summer manic episodes, Trina has not attended college yet.

In the same fashion, dealing with Maureen Walls, the youngest child of the Walls family, had to rely on her friends and people she hardly knew to provide for her. This situation went as far as Maureen going to her friend’s house to eat meals and

Connie’s parents, who choose to isolate themselves from their daughter, tremendously impact Connie's development. Throughout Connie’s journey she is often isolated. A large part of this is due to Connie's relationship with her mother. Whenever Connie

Her job and dialect optimize the way she grew up, and how the expectations of her upbringing limit her future, as being a working class woman she is expected to get married, have children and then become a housewife, ‘I should've had a baby by now. Everyone expects it.’ There were no further expectations for women and certainly no need for them to have an education, ‘Denny gets dead narked if I work at home’. Rita doesn’t like the housewife stereotype and decides to rebel against it by taking the pill and starting a formal education, ‘But I mean, I don't want a baby yet. No. I wanna discover meself first.’ Rita’s family refuse to see the benefits that this could give her and this leads her father to feel sorry for Denny and to feel annoyed at Rita’s lack of commitment to her family, ‘Denny, I'm sorry for you, lad. If she was a wife of mine I'd drown her.’ When Rita thinks about quitting the course to please her family, it’s her mother’s unintentional comment at the pub, ‘There must be better songs than this,’ which drives her forward in the course, ‘And I thought, ‘All I'm doing is getting an education. Just trying to learn. And I love it. It's not easy, I get it wrong half the time, I'm laughed at half the time but I love it because it makes me feel as

indeed a person who has a lot to say and Frank listens and responds to

Sonny has a “rough” time where he finds himself in “jail” for “narcotics trafficking” (208). Skloot reveals how not having a guardian and guidance leads someone to turn to occupations they would have never committed to before. Also, she emphasizes how authority is needed in a child so they may stay in the right path of life. Also, Deborah becomes so upset she cries out for help: “‘...Just being sad and crying to myself..Why, Lord, did you take my mother when I needed her so much?’” (218). Deborah changed from a happy child to someone in desperate need of a parent when she lost her mother. Skloot reveals how the requisite fostering of a parent lifts the children up in awful

Tracy Freeland is a 13 year-old Caucasian girl in the 7th grade. She lives with her mother and brother in a small house in Los Angeles. Tracy attends Portola Middle School with her brother, Mason, who is slightly older than her. Tracy 's mother, Melanie, a recovering alcoholic, is divorced and works as a hair stylist in order to support her family and herself. Tracy 's family relies on her father sending money every month, however, the father has neglected to send money for the last few months causing Tracy 's mother to remain busy with work. Tracy 's mother is so preoccupied with financial aspects and an unstable relationship with her boyfriend, who is in and out of drug rehabilitation centers, that Tracy 's close relationship with her mother has begun to dwindle, and they begin to drift apart; Her mother, although not intentionally neglectful, is too preoccupied with other situations that she is unable to sense the distress that Tracy is experiencing. Tracy 's father is also busy with work and neither Tracy or Mason see much of him.

Holly is currently in the early adulthood life span stage; during this stage Erikson believes that the basic conflict is Intimacy vs. Isolation. Erickson has stated that during this developmental lifespan “Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness an a weak sense of self.” (Erikson, class hand out) Given Holly’s history it is evident that this life stage will be a

Her mind is completely set on going to University to get the education she wants so she can become something more than just a stereotypical lady of this time. Not only does Rita receive a education within literature, but she also receives a mental education as she realises what is good for her and what isn’t, she sticks clearly to her ambition of not wanting to become a mother at a young age and made something of herself. It can clearly be seen that Rita has pulled away from being the Stereotypical quiet housewife and not sticking up for herself as when her dad states “Denny, I'm sorry for you, lad. If she was a wife of mine I'd drown her.” Rita responds with “If I was a wife of yours I would drown myself” showing she has picked up a mental education and can actually argue her own case and not back down.

is not quite good enough. Rita wants to be of a higher status than her

Rita is a woman who is longing for change. Change is an inevitable concept during adult development that is influenced by different factors, such as age, culture, and certain life events. Rita comes from a working class society and has been