The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities. This is evident in Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, which reiterates the story of Jeannette who is raised within a family that is both deeply dysfunctional and distinctively vibrant. Jeannette is faced with numerous barriers throughout her life. Despite the many obstacles set forth by her parents during her childhood, Jeannette develops into a successful adult later in life. One of these obstacles is the lack of a stable home base moulds her into the woman she grows up to be. Throughout her life, Jeannette must cope with the carelessness of her

By starting the tenement houses in Chicago through the Hull Houses, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr had already begun their journey into the public sphere. Through opening the tenement houses and allowing people to see them and come live in them helped the two women make a name for themselves, with the more well-known woman of the pair being recognized for much more, was Jane Addams herself. Addams saw rights and freedom for women as a “perfectly possible” thing to attain, as she was optimistic and very assertive on her way to work for women’s equality and rights. The optimism that Jane Addams had was not without a price to pay on her part, as there were many negatives that had to be dealt with along the way like setbacks in acting, legislation, supporters, etc.7

The author’s white, female characters act as an example for her white, female readers to model themselves after. This argument is more than go out and vote or start protests, because those methods of change are not a reasonable expectation for a group of people whose role is to be polite, hospitable, and demure. Thus, the methods the women are expected to take are indirect by being more subtle and persuasive instead of direct and confrontational. Subtlety and persuasion are demonstrated by the female characters, Mrs. Emily Shelby and Mrs. Mary Bird. Mrs. Shelby used her subtlety to throw off the plans of the slave trader and allowing her slaves to escape. She slyly suggests to her slaves take their time in collecting the horses, before then offering her guest dinner and pushing back the time for eating, because the meal is supposedly not suitable enough for guests. Mrs. Bird discusses her opinion on slavery and fugitive slave laws with her husband in a very womanly manner, respectful and persuasive, in a successful attempt to convince him to take an abolitionist stance in his job as senator. Both Mrs. Shelby and Mrs. Bird are able to receive their desired results by working within their role as women. Even though they are not taking a direct action of fighting slavery, they are still making a difference just through different means. These fictional women are embracing their hidden power of their gender and acting as examples for the real life

Jane Addams, a pioneering social worker, helped bring attention to the possibility of revolutionizing America’s attitude toward the poor. Not only does she remain a rich source of provocative social theory to this day, her accomplishments affected the philosophical, sociological, and political thought. Addams was an activist of courage and a thinker of originality. Jane Addams embodied the purest moral standards of society which were best demonstrated by her founding of the Hull-House and her societal contributions, culminating with the winning of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize.

Virginia Woolf and Frederick Douglass are two significant writers who suffered from inequalities. Specifically, in, “A Room of One’s Own”, Virginia Woolf focuses on exposing the unequal treatment of women to the eye of the public, and in “A Narrative of the Life of Frederick” Frederick Douglass wrote an autobiography, which revealed the unjust of society toward African Americans and hoped to achieve more rights. Frederick Douglass and Virginia Woolf both lived in a white male dominated society which restricts opportunities for African Americans and women. The severity of their inequities made these two writers dealt with their situations differently. Although aiming to help two unlike groups of individuals, Frederick Douglass and Virginia Woolf

Challenges and obstacles are everywhere, and everyday people find ways to overcome them all. They are what keep someone motivated to continue trying until they reached their goal. As in “The Circuit,” “from the Grapes of Wrath,” and “Against the Odds.”, they show an example of how they did it. Individuals surpass hardships by persevering to make progress piece by piece.

Jane Long was a beautiful woman who was married to James Long, the filibuster. James Long was in the first filibuster expedition and Jane Long was the Mother of Texas. She had hard journeys but never gave up. She has been one of the greatest woman in history only to be remembered to this day.

I learned how Ida B. Wells-Barnett started her life. Born as a slave, orphaned at 16, she became a teacher to support her surviving brothers and sisters. With the difficult circumstances brought upon her, it took an amazing amount of determination for her to fight for black civil rights and women’s rights in the 19th century. In a more civilized age, it’s harder to witness the courage she represented for the disadvantaged.

Life has its ups and downs. In life people have their trials and they must overcome them to grow as human beings. Mistakes become lessons and through these mistakes you are able to grow up and be able to make a difference in the world. Jeannette Walls had many trials in her life. She was able to overcome them and use them to learn life lessons that most will not learn until they are much older. Growing up poor is hard and for a while Jeannette Walls was ashamed of her past for a while. Finally she found the courage to tell her story and that memoir became The Glass Castle. The memoir shows us how growing up impoverished does not mean that you will be stuck impoverished if you do something about it. Jeannette learned many lessons in life that helped her grow up fast and ultimately were able to aid her in making it out of poverty and to follow her dreams in New York. Jeannette was able to demonstrate that no matter where you come from, you can still do great things.

In Ernest Gaines novel, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, he stresses the importance of education of black men from the period of slavery to the civil rights movement. Education has not always been available to African Americans. During the time of slavery education was very limited as not many people were educated, especially blacks. Schools for blacks were often destroyed and those found teaching them were usually killed. A lack of education was one way that whites were able to keep control over blacks along with violence to make people scared to challenge their treatment. Throughout the book there were several educated black men that made their way into Miss Jane's life, two of which were raised by Miss Jane and were like children

“No one’s life is a smooth sail; we all come into stormy weather.” This statement has more truth to it than one may think. In life, everybody reaches a rough point, a point where the light at the end of the tunnel seems dim, or even nonexistent. But overcoming this adversity is what builds character. Accepting and prevailing over life’s obstacles are what separate strong, independent-minded and forward-thinking people from those who give up and avoid their problems. Anne Moody, author of Coming of Age in Mississippi, lived a life of great struggle in which she overcame adversity with great efforts and a dedicated heart and mind.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman begins with a note from the editor, who is a local schoolteacher near the plantation where Jane Pittman lives. He has long been trying to hear her story, and, beginning in the summer of 1962, she finally tells it to him. When her memory lapses, her acquaintances help fill in the spaces. The recorded tale, with editing, then becomes The Autobiography of Miss Jane.

The names and faces of those considered pioneers in the fight for rights and freedom may not be instantly recognizable, but nevertheless, they are an important part to the history of the United States of America. Throughout the history of our country, there has not just been an injustice towards black slaves, but also towards women, with both being unfairly discriminated against. It was the work of many individuals who brought the unfamiliar taste for rights for all God’s creatures to the mouths of many people. The impact of such people, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass, towards the demand for rights for women and slaves cannot be measured.

Albert Schweitzer once said, “One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.” In the sensational memoir “The Glass Castle” written by Jeannette Walls, the author immortalizes her memories while growing up with her peculiar, yet loving, family. Throughout their lives, the Walls family learns to live and cope with the hardships and complications of living together in poverty and abjection. Eventually, as Jeannette grows older she takes on a sense of independence and determination that leads her to a successful future. Her strenuous life gave her the strength and autonomy needed to continue growing stronger on her own. Indubitably, Walls’ successful future is crucial to the development

During most people’s lives, they endure many obstacles that they need to overcome either with others or independently. In these situations, one must be able to overcome them so one can keep on going; otherwise, these obstacles make life much harder to live. Booker T. Washington’s quotation insists that people should be deemed successful based not on their “position” in society, but on the “obstacles” they have overcome. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls and her family are faced with their own obstacles every day, which are highlighted in three moments: horrible living conditions in Grandma Smith’s house, Rosemary eating chocolate while everyone else is starving, and when Jeannette avoids mentioning her parent’s history. The Walls family