The Book Shane, By Jack Gow

Males are interesting objects. They have to keep their chest high and stand their ground. Cowboys are supposed to have a beer belly, mustache, long comeback boots, and the upper lip mug on their face. This is how a man’s mentality should always be. Males are known to be tough and not show emotion, “Cowboys are just like a pile of rocks – everything happens to them,” (Ehrlich 1045). No matter how much they get attacked, pushed around, and so on; they are told to just stand there and deal with it. “Take it like a man,” something that is said all the time when a young boy or a grown man tries to show a “feminine” emotion. Emotion is a dull thing to a male and should not be shown. They can only be happy, or mad. There is no in between to that. If sadness is shown, then they will be called weak or a wimp, and being called

In the story, Stephen is surrounded by lumberjacks, he lives with them. His father is the strongest and the leader of the group. Some qualities that Stephen associates with “being a man” are: you have to be big, burly, strong, and serious.

When defining the term ‘manhood’, many people may use terms such as courage, strength, or bravery. Throughout history there have been many pressures on men to be as stereotypically manly as possible. If men don’t conform to those stereotypes, they may be looked down upon by society as a whole. Richard Van Camp’s short story ‘The Night Charles Bukowski Died’ is a prime example of the dangers of nonconformity to stereotypically manly traits. The story is an intense first person stream of consciousness from the point of view of an unnamed narrator that follows the narrator and three of his peers: Mikey, Jason, and Scott. The use of metaphor, point of view, and setting in “The Night Charles Bukowski Died” exposes how stereotypical expectations of manhood can lead to dangerous situations not only physically, but also socially and emotionally.

In one scene of the memoir, Allison describes her uncles and their need to be depicted as masculine and to act “hard” to the world around them. She also remembers her cousins as young boys and how quickly they seemed to turn into men. The time came for them to act as the world expected them to. This action shows how gender may oppress some males when they feel the pressures of the world to act a certain way. Otherwise, they are at risk for being seen as different and abnormal. Men who do not portray masculinity well are often seen as feminine and weak. When Allison describes her uncles she states, “If you didn’t look close, you might miss the sharp glint of pain in their eyes, the restless angry way they gave themselves up to fate,” (Allison, 28). These men already had their futures planned for them though the society and gender norms. Acting against these norms was seen as unusual, radical, and

The short story “Nilda”, by Junot Diaz, depicts the ever changing and complicated inner workings of manhood through its two male characters, Yunior and Rafa. The characterization of the two lead to very different outcomes when considering how they both behave initially, and respond to social and emotional stimuli within the story. They both conform to stereotypes within the male gender, and sometimes attempt to escape that confine. Both Rafa and Yunior give the reader a unique insight into what it is like to become a man, and also the way society labels you in ways that may not always apply. The different areas of manhood discussed are both broad in range, yet specific in considering the consequence of each aspect. The range of actions discussed in the story also creates juxtaposition between the two brothers in the story. They are in a similar living and social situation, yet their respective outwardly demeanor and outlook on life is vastly different from one another.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan follows multiple Chinese-American women who struggle with their self-identity and creating a balance between American and Chinese culture. Because of their immigration and many hardships in life, many of the women feel like they cannot truly tell who they are anymore, and throughout the novel these women are portrayed as ghosts. Ghosts are used to symbolize these women because they share many parallels including being only a remnant of who they once were, or who they could be. Ying-ying St. Clair is one of the women, who has a daughter named Lena St. Clair, she has had a troubled past in China, which has made her lose her fighting spirit, and her spirit in general. Ying-ying is fully aware of her loss of spirit and is embarrassed because she considers ghosts to be shameful and weak, and wants to save her daughter, Lena, from her fate.

Social change comes from a societies understanding and acceptance of controversial topics, laws that enforce social norms and the politics that play a role in such change. The author Gerald Rosenberg of “The Hollow Hope” believes that the Supreme Court is able to bring about social change. Rosenburg main argument seemed to be questioning if a courts ruling that had once been accepted and had standing for several years were to be over turned, would the environment outside of the courtroom suddenly change and be accepting of their division.

discusses the image of the ''Macho mans'' as an ideal for the American people. Throughout his

The movie surveyed a wide array of the troubles faced by boys and men as they try to navigate the realm of masculinity. A common theme was the command “be a man” and the cultural baggage that comes with living up to that ideal. To “be a man” means to not cry, to not be sensitive, to not let people mess with you, to respond with violence, to be angry, to drink, to womanize.

Scientist are researching genetic modification for many reasons. Some people think we are not good enough the way we are, and want to create a ‘perfect’ person. We have been given the ability to learn how to heal sickness and fix wounds with science. However, we have a responsibility to use this information wisely. We have been created with unique gifts and those gifts are important to the enhancement of life. Likewise, while researching about the Author of “The Perfect Stranger”, Amy Sterling Casil, I have discovered that she also has similar feelings about the gifts that we have all been given. We need to consider a few things as we review Casil’s story “The Perfect Stranger”. First, medical advancement is a great thing. Next, we need to make sure we are taking responsible steps while advancing and not creating even more division in our society. And lastly, we need to make sure we don’t lose our diversity and unique qualities. Although, some people believe genetic modification is what we need to better the human race, in actuality genetic modification can be dangerous, because overstepping our boundaries will produce something that is no longer authentic or that is unable to relate on a genuine level.

In today’s society, masculinity has changed throughout time. Fast forward one hundred years ago, masculinity is defined as being strong and having a good paying job. But as the world is changing so is the representation of manliness. You don’t have to show your dominance over men or women today, but you should support your family nowadays and we have all been brainwashed by the thought of masculinity from our ancestors. As men our reputation is always being valued but now it isn’t so much about our reputation but about caring for one another and especially for our families. Perspective of manhood is also a significant factor in portraying what masculinity is in the eyes of other people. Masculinity has been shown through money, appearance, and providing protection for your family members but as we shift into the modern world, masculinity is not seen as displaying the most discipline but caring for one another by taking out some of your time to help one another. Throughout the paper, I will be writing about my interviews from a broad spectrum of ages from one of my younger sisters to my dad with not friends not at Seb’s in between so I can get what it really means to be a man from all ages.

Men that carry out the “machismo way of life” feel that they have to constantly prove their manhood to the world. This is generally achieved

The Blue Sword is a young adult fantasy novel written by Robin McKinley. It was published by Greenwillow Books in 1982, and was the first in two books set in the land of Damar, with its prequel, The Hero and the Crown, being written two years later. Robin McKinley had always had a love for reading, with Tolkien and Kipling being of particular inspiration for her – yet despite her love for books and affection for the fantasy genre as a whole, she could not ignore the lack of relatable female protagonists. It’s hard to ignore the fact that nearly all heroines fall into extremely similar roles of passive females awaiting rescue and never getting their hands dirty. The active heroics and sweeping journeys across fantastic lands were always left to the men. McKinley set out to change that, with her first novel, Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, being published in 1978. The Blue Sword was her third book, reputably written after her horror upon reading the 1919 novel The Sheik, and was the first of her stories to win a Newberry Honor award. It has also been included on the ALA Best Books for Young Adults and ALA Notable Children 's Books list. Harry Crewe continues McKinley 's pattern of powerful and capable heroines that take part in the action and adventure typical of fantasy stories; heroines who bow and compromise themselves for no man. While The Blue Sword isn 't the most original of fantasy novels, with its plot highly reminiscent of Tolkien 's works,

“In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason.” - Ernest Hemingway.

Each year I teach a historical fiction reading unit in the reading workshop format. Students are offered 14 titles to choose from and are paired with other students who pick the same title. When our grade level team of LA teachers first began teaching this unit, we had a limited number of novels from which our students could choose. Past practice found the LA teachers spending time combing through internet searches for historical fiction novels to add to our repertoire.