Shirley Jackson Names

People choose names for a reason, whether it is so that the child takes on a certain personality, based on who they are named after, or so that he or she may carry on the name of a beloved family member. Many names that are popular today are names from the Bible, since most of the biblical characters possess characteristics that parents would want their child to have. Names like Noah, Jacob, David, and Miriam, are names currently in the top 1000 child names in the world, and they are all biblical names. Names from the Bible are also found in many works of literature, like Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, a coming of age story about a young man during the mid twentieth century. The reader is introduced to multiple characters with biblical

Shirley Jackson was born on December 14, 1916 in San Francisco, California. She was the daughter of Leslie Hardie (President of Stecher-Traung Lithograph,Inc.) and Geraldine Bugbee Jackson.

In Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, characters in the books have interesting and unusual names. But all of these names mean more than what they may seem on the surface. Some of them are based off of biblical stories, some are based on stories explained in the book itself, but they all have something in common: these names all tell a story about the character whose name it is. Milkman’s name reflects his childish characteristics. Pilate and Hagar’s biblical names are linked to not only biblical stories but also paint pictures about their actions in the story. In Song of Solomon, character names reveal or are representative of important characteristics about people in the book in differing ways.

Throughout the story the protagonist is left nameless. This provides the reader with another question of identity. Without a name to attach to the character, we are left without an identity.

Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson is a theoretical physicist and an African American inventor, she has made many advances in science. Jackson first became interested in science and math during her childhood and conducted experiments such as the eating habits of honeybees. She went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she got her bachelor, and doctoral degree, all being in physics. She became the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. from MIT. Dr. Jackson conducted important scientific research that helped others to invent the portable fax, touch tone telephone, solar cells, fiber optic cables, and the technology behind caller ID and call waiting. Jackson is currently the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, this is

Names identify who we are. Thousands of different writers use pen names. This means they go by a different name. They do this because of many different reasons. Those reasons include discrimination, hate, and biased publishers.

Names. They are our whole identity. They determine who we are for our whole life. And in The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, he mentions a lot about names. I think he is trying to teach his audience that names mean and represent large amounts of power and dignity and also reputation.

Many characters in Morrison’s book are given names that describe them somehow throughout the story. Names in the book or either historically based or given in regards to the character’s personality or events that happened throughout the book. As the story goes on, character either let names define them or escape them.

Throughout Speak, names are given in certain instances to reflect on one's character. We see a whole bunch of names, good and bad given to people that affect Melinda in some way. In Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, names are powerful. For example, Mr. Freeman’s name represents who he is as a character.

The mysteries of death are unpredictable. In “The Lottery” your life is encompassed within the black box. Standing as the postmaster, Mr. Graves was the keeper of the death box. Graves Profoundly carried their lives, as if it were a game of chess, and the citizens, his pawns. Holding the box within his possession, in a sense, the citizens chanced their life in the pickings of their grave – of the winning slip of paper. Unlike all the other characters, Mr. Graves is not described, pops up in and out of the scene, and is without dialogue throughout the entire story. When Mrs. Graves says, “we’re next,” Jackson writes, “Mr. Graves came around from the side of the box, greeted Mr. Summers gravely, and selected a slip of paper from the box” (25). After pointing out Graves’s insipid reaction to drawing his luck, Jackson foreshadows the truth behind the lottery by explaining the responses of townspeople as nervous.

Shirley Jackson was a successful writer because she practiced her writing skills. Evidence of this is, “After a year, in 1936, she withdrew and spent a year at home practicing writing, producing a minimum of a thousand words a day “ (BIO). Jackson spent her time by making her writing better just from writing a little everyday. The text states, “In 1945, Stanley Hyman was offered a teaching position at Bennington College, and they moved into an old house in North Bennington, Vermont, where Shirley continued her daily writing while raising children and running a household” (BIO). As Jackson got older and had a family she still was writing everyday. This could be a result to her never really failing when it came to writing popular stories because

“If I’m gonna tell a story, I’m gonna start with my name.” (Kendrick Lamar) Names. They are the first impressions, the differentiators, what makes a person him or her. It is found within human nature to classify things, and the most basic classification of a person is their name. When Frankenstein neglected his creation, a creation that doesn’t even have a name, Victor took away the chance that the demon was never given.

Human beings have a need to name things. It is unknown if we name simply because our language’s structure utilizes nouns in referral to individual things, or if there is a natural, inborn, reason for names to exist. Names are our identity, the embodiment of who we are. In Percy Shelley's poem, “Ozymandias”, he speaks of a king who thought his kingdom and power would last forever, but only a statue remains. Said statue, however, brandishes the king’s name; we assume it once spread fear among men, representing a king and kingdom with supreme power in his time. The name is all that remains, not temples, books, or stories, but a name. Toni Morrison’s novel, Song of Solomon, revolves around this idea of the power of names. Morrison shows us the

In Emile Habiby’s The Secret Life of Saeed: the Pessoptimist and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest the idea that names actually mean what they say saves these two works from becoming tragedies because it gives The Importance of Being Earnest a comedic plot, the names in The Secret Life of Saeed: the Pessoptimist represent present options for Saeed, and the characters in both works live in a world that does not reject the notion that names have meaning. The characters in The Importance of Being Earnest, particularly Gwendolyn and Cecily, believe in the notion that one’s name indicates one’s characteristics. While he is under the guise of Ernest, Jack confesses his feelings to Gwendolyn and she comments that her “ideal has always

Harry Potter names his second son Albus Severus “for two Headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew” (Rowling, 605), first son James Sirius, after his father and godfather, and daughter Lily Luna, for his mother and loyal friend. These were six important people in Harry’s life–his parents, his mentors, his friend. He wanted his children to have a piece of each person’s legacy and importance. The name of a person given at birth is extremely significant as it is one of the few qualities a person has when they are young. It is why parents argue, stress out, and put a lot of thought into picking the a name. The name that is selected will remain a defining piece of a person’s identity for the rest of their lives.