The Charmer by Budge Wilson

Thesis: In the short stories The Charmer, Love Must Not Be Forgotten, and The Address, one’s past experiences have a profound effect on their development as an individual.

Unlike animals, humans are able to observe past the mere monochromatic vision of survival. We have an impeccable ability to desire more than just living to breed, and breeding only to someday perish. Thus, we gradually brush this canvas with the colours of ethics, control, and knowledge. Whether the colours fade or become prominent through time, this canvas becomes our perception of normality and we allow it to justify our actions; favorable or harmful. We, as well as the narrator in the short story The Hunt by Josephine Donovan represent this. However, because of the narrator’s difference in perception, self-indulgence, and greed for power, the story introduces a feeling of infuriation to the reader.

Considering how lenient the father was with Zack and allowing him to get away with so much and forgiving him all the time, even if he had expectations for Zack that he didn’t go through with, he probably would’ve used his charm to get out of the situation.

Zach was one of the only few to attend law school. Zachery has a mentor by the name of Clayton Forrest, a white lawyer that wants to help Zachery Taylor pursue his dream of being a lawyer. Zachary Taylor decides that he likes Lily later after they build a strong relationship but he quotes “Lily, I like you better than any girl I’ve ever known, but you have to understand, there are people who would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you.” This quote is significant to me because it shows that Zach has dedication for the Civil Rights Movement. He later decides to ask Lily to go see a movie with him and she says yes. But right before they both enter the Zach Taylor gets arrested because he is seen with Lily a white girl and he’s black. They beat him up then take him away. He later gets taken out of jail on a bail from his mentor Clayton Forrest. He comes back more determined when he gets out of jail more determined than ever. He decided to keep his distance

A famous short story, “The Quiet Man,” by Maurice Walsh, tells the tale of the protagonist, Shawn Kelvin, who must come to a resolution both internally and externally throughout the story. Shawn experiences a rollercoaster of up and downs during the story, around the 1950’s in Ireland. Shawn finds the women of his dreams and he marries her, but her brother, Big Liam O’Grady, is the man of the town. Traditionally, dowry is given from the bride’s family to the groom's family. Shawn has no respect from Big Liam O’Grady, or the town. Shawn wants to receive his respect from Big Liam O’Grady and love from Ellen. Shawn is willing to do anything for her, even it comes down to a fight. Shawn fights himself and others, internally and externally, to

Dave Pelzer’s book, “A Child Called It” (1995), chronicled the unforgettable accounts of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California’s history. The book is an intriguing, yet intimidating journey through the torturing childhood of the author, himself. The child, Dave Pelzer¸ was emotionally and physically tormented by his unstable mother. He was the victim of abuse in his own home, a source of ridicule at his own school, and stripped of all existence. This book left me in suspense as I waited with anticipation for the end of this little boy’s struggle to live. Throughout this paper, I will focus on the events that took place in this book and discuss my personal feelings and the effects this story had on me.

The portrait I choose is the Faces by Nancy Burson, 1992 (figure, 22.7). The portrait is the picture of two boys, and they are twins. In the description, Nancy used a cheap plastic camera for their look. The plastic camera creates a blurry effect on the subject, which is the two boys. The twins have the same shirt with the same pattern on them, and their hairstyle is similar as well. Their face features are almost identical consider they are twins. Looks closely, their face structure seems unusual for them compared to other children of their age. For example, the size of their nose is bigger and wider than the usual size. And their eyebrow bone is more arch. According to the textbook, the unusual facial structure might cause by genetic conditions, accident or disease. The twin may or may not born like this, and there are some other unknown factors decide how they look. However, this picture shows the characteristics of the children, such as pure, kind, optimistic, curious.

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.

The Child Called “It”, a book by David James Pelzer is a story of Dave's horrible childhood. Born December 29, 1960 in Daly City, California, David's life was wonderful; until, his mother started to drink. David's story is one of mistreatment and perseverance through tough times. Dave is now 56 years old and speaks to troops and other person's as a motivational speaker. It is his life’s goal to help others persevere through tough times.

The Bling Ring, written by Nancy Jo Sales is a true story that uses interviews, court records and news stories to explain the events that occurred in 2008 and 2009 in Calabasas, California. The book analyzed the teens before their crime began, talked about their individual burglaries, and eventually explained how the gang of teenagers and young adults finally got caught. These upper middle class young adults and teenagers burglarized many of the Hollywood elite’s vacant homes. Some might say that they did it carelessly. These young adults felt little to no fear of being caught and would often even brag about their accomplishments to their peers. Eventually, this bragging ended up being their demise. At a social event, another partygoer

I read the book A Child called “It”. I loved this book it really spoke to me in a manner of taking my family life for granted and taking everything I have for the best because in all reality it could be worse. This book takes place in Dale City, California during the 1970’s.

Zach is a student at the middle school and is a bully to cap. Zach gets school because of the way he acts to Cap. He was schooled because on page 67 it shows that Cap was meditating and Zach thought it

Throughout many works of literature, characters are described to go through a rite of passage, developing the plot and solving conflicts. A rite of passage is when a character goes through life changes, realizing his/her flaws and maturing as a person. Walter Lee Younger is a man that goes through many different character changes, which cause conflict amongst the other characters. Once he goes through his rite of passage, he is able to fix his flaws and mature. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, characterization is used to portray that one must experience a rite of passage in order to mature.

Is it right to be nice to a person that was mean to you in the past? Many people will say no you should do what they did to you, and make them see how you felt in the past. In the story The Bully by Roger Dean Kiser, it’s the opposite, you should be nice to a person that was mean to you. The story The Bully is about the protagonist Roger; back in middle school he uses to get bullied by Tony. As time passed the have met again in their late age in life at a restaurant, but Tony is in a wheel chair and Roger is nice to Tony. Despite their unstable past. Roger is a kind person and will not keep a grudge even towards other people that have bullied him in the past.

Racism has always been a hot topic issue in America. Starting, of course, with slavery and enduring long after its abolishment. Many try to put an end to it, but this is one of those things that will take many, many years to completely eradicate from society. In this paper, I will briefly discuss both the Clark Doll Experiment and the film A Girl like Me, discuss my opinion on racism in America, demonstrate how racism effects the schools, and discuss how and why my interpretation of this compares with the views of another culture.