In Floyd Skloot’s poem My Daughter Considers Her Body, the speaker is a parent who is observing their daughter as she studies the marks on her body, both day and night; becoming mesmerized with her body's imperfections. Although the little girl doubts her body can fully heal, her parent knows that once she accepts it’s need for adventure and risk, she will no longer have to worry about it. The poem concludes with a declarative sentence; revealing that this knowledge will become available to the daughter once she learns how to accept and care for her wounds. Skloot mainly uses intense imagery, multiple levels of diction, and various other literary elements scattered throughout the poem to tell a story of his daughter realizing her body’s ability …show more content…
Right from the first line, “she examines her hand, fingers spread wide.” (Skloot 1), Skloot paints a picture in our head of how thoroughly his daughter is investigating her hand, not wanting to miss even a speck. He describes the small girl contorting her body at two different times; “she bends over her crossed legs” (Skloot 2), “twisting before her mirror” (Skloot 5), to illustrate how persistent she is to find every little scar or bruise on her body. He uses imagery to ensure what we are imagining resembles what he is experiencing; avoiding miscommunication in hopes of a clearer understanding of the poem. Details about her infinite interest is brought up even when she is half asleep, proving to the reader, it’s something that intrigues her no matter the time of day, “Barley awake, she studies creases her / arm developed as she slept.” (Skloot 7-8). I think her captivation of such small marks is created out of the uniqueness of them all. She understands they change how she looks, and wants to study every individual one. Disregarding whether the marks are permanent or temporary, she may assume they partially define who she is, constantly changing as she does with age and
Georgiana had always lived with the birthmark, and was quite fond of its charm. Many people in the town believe it was a fairy’s handprint left to sway all hearts; to them the mark only magnified her appeal. The mark’s charm had rarely been questioned by anyone other than the jealous women of the town, and its peculiar nature had once intrigued Aylmer and amplified his attraction to Georgiana. He begged for her hand in marriage, but soon after they were wed, he queried whether Georgiana had ever considered having the birthmark removed. She was hurt by the implication that the mark depreciated her and grew upset with her husband. As time passed, Aylmer continued to stare at the mark, unable to keep his eyes from wandering to it. This continued until Georgiana was no longer able to ignore the way his eyes were always fixated on this sole imperfection, the crimson hand that kept him up at night and plagued his dreams. She asked Aylmer to remove the mark, or take her life because she no longer wanted to live if she had to live with the mark. She preferred death to the harsh scrutiny from her husband.
The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent is an evocative tale which tells a fictional story about the first hangings in the Salem witch trials. The book is written through the eyes of Sarah Carrier who was a child during the time of the Salem witch trials. The story begins introducing Sarah’s family as they are traveling under the cover of night in the cold winter months to her grandmother’s house in Andover, a town near Salem. In the late 1680’s smallpox was spreading quickly and the Puritans of Billerica thought the Carrier family to be spreading the virus and forced them to leave the town. The Puritans were not wrong as one of Sarah’s brothers, Andrew, fell sick of smallpox soon after their arrival in Andover. The family was to be
The current paper tends to explore the conceptual literature illustrated in two different novels entitled as Outside the Bones and Delirium. Moreover, the presented paper will highlight the role of female protagonist and their mystical, ghostly, and paranormal influence in the narrations.
In Cinderella Ate My Daughter Peggy Orenstein examines the triumphs and pitfalls navigating raising a daughter, in today’s mixed message world. From peer pressure and the need to fit in today’s society, young females have commercialism forced at them at every turn and in very clever ways. Doll creators have been pushing the boundaries of good taste with each new season launch. When the more “mature” actresses at the age of 17 feel the need to do something drastic to remove them from the wholesome image created for by company executives, mothers and consumers feel betrayed, and yet then we need to have a dialog with our kids as to why just last month Miley Cyrus was wonderful but now she is not okay for the viewing household.
Growing up in today’s society can be traumatizing for any child. When it comes to growing up as a young girl, however, it can be downright devastating, but not only for the child but the parent as well. There are so many decisions to be made when choosing how to raise your child, assuring that you have instilled proper values to develop a healthy sense of self-worth and confidence.
When we have strong love for others, we take risks, we go against our beliefs, we put ourselves in danger, and we let our loved ones go. Without love, there would be none of that. In this book, The Dead and the Gone, written by Susan Beth Pfeffer, a comet smashes the moon closer to earth and it creates all sorts of problems. Alex, a teenage boy with two sisters, starts a long journey of survival and risks. This story is so realistic, at times was hard to read. You start to ask yourself these tough questions, like what you would do in a specific situation. Through out the whole story, love is definitely a recurring theme. It shows you how well love can hold a family is distress together.
Has one ever thought about their future, whether they are going to have a kid, how they will teach them to be strong individual beings, and how to get through the tough times? In the poem “If I Should Have a Daughter” by Sara Kay, it demonstrates when one is taught to think with an open mind, it will result in learning to not be afraid of other’s opinions. Sara Kay represents this theme very well by using different literary devices, such as, symbols, imagery, and personification.
In Killing the Black Body, Dorothy Roberts describes the history of African-American women and the dehumanizing attempts to control their reproductive lives. Beginning with slavery, to the early beginning of birth control policy, to the sterilization abuse of Black women during the 1960s and 1970s, continuing with the current campaign to inject Norplant and Depo-Provera along with welfare mothers, Roberts argues that the systematic, institutionalized denial of reproductive freedom has uniquely marked Black women’s history in America.
This signifies that she was feeling the burden of all her wrongdoings and finally was no longer in control. In short, the description of a character’s hands is highly influential on how they are perceived and their actions interpreted.
In “The Birthmark” we first learn about the main character named Aylmer. He is fascinated with science. “He has devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion” (Hawthorne 952) He eventually finds love with his wife Georgianna, but there is something about her he just will not seem to take much longer. Georgianna has a red birthmark on her cheek which is the shape of a small hand. While she thinks it is beautiful, the most important person in her life doesn’t feel the same way. In fact, Aylmer is truly disgusted and in shock by her mark, claiming it is a “visible mark of earthly imperfection” (Hawthorne 953). Finally telling his wife how he feels, Georgianna is in disbelief. She is upset, hurt, and confused, even questioning their marriage as she tells him “You cannot love what shocks you!” (Hawthorne 953). The last thing she would have thought is that the person she planned to spend the rest of her life with doesn’t see her beauty mark the way she does.
In the short story “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid is told from the perspective of two different people. There is a bonding relationship that is happening between the two people in this short story. The mother seems to be the main character in this essay uses a very strict tone to her daughter. The daughter is being told about how to do things in her life the correct way. The daughter barely speaks during this essay, she is doing more analyzing than arguing with her mother. When the mother gives the daughter advise she was trying to give her words of wisdom. But, at the same time, some of the ideas the mother gave to her child was offensive like “slut”. The mother has different perspectives throughout this essay with a lot of different
Portrayed as spiritual and intellectual in contrast with his crude laboratory assistant Aminadab, Aylmer becomes disturbingly obsessed with a birthmark on his wife’s countenance. The plot of the short story revolves around the man’s attempt in removing the mark, which results in the death of Georgiana. In the very beginning of the story, the audience discovers through the narration that Aylmer views his wife’s birthmark as more than a congenital, benign irregularity on the skin. In reality, the primary reason why he becomes severely obsessed with the birthmark is because in his eyes, the mark symbolizes something. Aylmer proceeds to further clarify his inner thoughts by replying to his wife, “This slightest possible defect, which we hesitate whether to term a defect or a beauty, shocks me, as being the visible mark of earthly imperfection” (Mays 340). Although Georgiana is initially mortified and even goes as far to question the existence of the marriage between them, the narration later sheds light and explains that the precise reason why Aylmer is excessively bothered with the birthmark is because he regards Georgiana as virtually the embodiment of perfection. As a consequence, perceiving a flaw on his wife’s image that clashes with the concept of her beauty inevitably leads him to feel aggrieved and begin to judge the birthmark as a dangerous blemish residing on her skin.
“I Felt a Funeral in my Brain”, by Emily Dickenson, is a poem of despair, narrating the experience and feelings associated with sinking into an episode of depression, and arguably losing her sanity in the process. Depression is defined as feelings of severe despondency and dejection, and is described as a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest, affecting how you think, feel, and behave. Creating difficulty in maintaining day to day life, and feeling as though life is not worth
In the story ,“The Girl Who Was Born With Only Two Arms And Two Legs,” written by Stuart Baum.” ,Quarta, the main character in the story.Quarta only had two arms and two legs and where she comes from, most people have four legs and four arms.She was called a freak, different, and brave.The lesson throw out the story that it’s okay to be yourself.
In the short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, you hear about the many words of wisdom, or advice that a mother is attempting to pass on to her daughter. The condescending tone of the story is portrayed by the use of semi colons, showing a steady stream of advice and preaching of the mother onto the daughter. The story follows an almost poetic or lyrical style of writing that flows from basic advice like how to sweep a corner to advice like how to handle a man bullying you or how to have an abortion. Although a lot of the advice given to the daughter may be useful in her life and in the culture they live in, it is delivered in a way that seems very callous, and is said with a stern tone, much like a dictator. The daughter in the story tries to speak up only twice throughout the entire thig, only to be completely unheard as the mother continues her chant. The only time the mother’s advice is repeating is when she refers to her daughter as a slut, or her inevitable “becoming of a slut”, which occurs four times throughout the work. The story is written with no real chronological timeline and does not have the traditional beginning, middle, and ending.