The Coming Of Age Essay

It is only natural for teenagers to struggle with their sense of identity. One of the biggest challenges one faces during their “coming of age” is trying to discover various parts of themselves. I will be exploring the idea of how family and friends can socially influence an individual’s identity and affect the process of finding one’s true sense of belonging. I will be exploring this idea through the four texts; The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and The Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger.

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

the most part. These years in a persons life have often been referred to as emerging adulthood.

The mother also teaches her daughter to cook, clean, and wash which traditionally is up to the women in a household to do. Kincaid makes the reader think and figure out for him, or herself, what point of life the child is in and what gender they are in order to draw them into the story.

“Girl” is a short story in which the author, Jamaica Kincaid, unofficially presents the stereotypes of girls in the mid 1900s. Kincaid includes two major characters in the story “Girl”, they are the mother and the girl. Although the daughter only asks two questions in this story, she is the major character. The mother feels like her daughter is going in the wrong direction and not making the best decisions in her life. The whole story is basically the mother telling her daughter what affects her decisions will have in the future. The mother believes that because her daughter isn’t sitting, talking, cleaning, walking or singing correctly it will lead her to a path of destruction. “Girl” is a reflection of female sexuality, the power of family, and how family can help overcome future dangers.

“Girl” is quite a strange short story compare to all the other ones that were read in class. It is strange to hear the high expectations that parents communicate to their children because of the way they are presented and because of the language that is used. All that sounds pretty unusual and outdated. But in those days it was probably something normal. Also, Kincaid is trying to point out how the world is changing and how women have much more freedom to do what

In both the works of Frank O'Connor and Jamaica Kincaid, the author writes a story about a young person confronting the potential truths of their current identities and how their childhoods will eventually influence and then shape their adulthoods. In the O'Connor story "First Confession," a young boy has to deal with his first communion in the Catholic Church and with the confession that will have to come with it. The boy fears that the sins that he has committed will have an effect on the person that he becomes and his potential for going to Heaven or to Hell. In the Kincaid work "Girl," a child from the opposite gender also examines her current existence and questions how what is coming now will determine the adult that she becomes. For her, it is not a question of religion which will change the character of her life, but her culture and the sociological implications of her gender. In both stories, a child has to overcome the obstacles of his or her childhood in order to find the kind of adult that will come from the youth.

what is coming of age. in this novel by angelia johnson this novel is about a young teen named bobby who has has to be a dad now. he has to be a dad now he has has to grow up he is coming of age with that he has many problems to face." I lay my basket ball down and it rolled out the door into the hall toward mary's room. and i'd almost all the way to the corner.

Coming of age stories are a very relatable genre of literature. The underlying plot line in coming of age stories involve the main character, an adolescent, experiencing a pivotal event that changes their point-of-view on life (Peyette, n.d.). The event marks the adolescent’s transition into adulthood. The event can often be referred to as initiation. The stories are thought provoking and interesting to read because they contain numerous underlying messages and themes that can serve as tools to understanding life. In the coming of age stories “The Old People”, “Doe Season”, and “The Grave” the imagery of blood is portrayed in a more positive light in the story focusing on a male character than in the stories focusing on female characters.

The Coming of Age in America story is very appealing to read. Some of the stories bring back memories of growing up and commiserate with the unfortunate circumstances. The authors tell stories about everyone, as a part of growing up, will encounter the small or large crisis and unexpected experiences throughout their lives. There are stories in the book resonated with me. It reflected on my personal experiences when I came to this country. The struggles I was trying to fit in because my ethnicity differentiates me from the others.

In “Girl”, the mother tries to change the way her daughter lives to make her life somewhat easier and better for her. “this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest;” (172). Her mother tries to prepare her by even showing her how to set the table with specific guests. This suggests that the girl did not know what she was doing really, so her mother steps in to teach her and change her ways of how to go about things. Some might argue that the girl was already a promiscuous woman so the mother was trying to change her for both of their reputations in the Antiguan

Before analyzing “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and “The Birth-Mark” by Nathanial Hawthorne, it is important to understand the role that women played in society during the time the short stories were written. In each of the stories the theme relates directly to the expectations that women were held to during that time in history. After reading both of the stories, it is clear that there were several literary elements used to portray the domestic responsibilities of women in society at the time. Analyzing theme, symbols and point of view allowed me to understand how utilizing several different literary devices can make the moral of the story even more understandable.

Coming of age stories has an adolescent that undergoes a change. In “Through the Tunnel”, “The Passage”, and “American History” are examples of stories that do this. More specifically the main characters try to separate themselves from others. These characters attempt to divide themselves from people important in their lives, their parents. Therefore, in coming of age stories the protagonist breaks from their parents through a symbolic act.

Adolescence is a period of various biological, cognitive and socio-emotional changes. The storm and stress view of adolescence sees this developmental period as a turbulent time period with stress, conflict and mood swings. In-between the transition from adolescence to adulthood, a period called emerging adulthood occurs between 18 to 25 years of age. During this period the emerging adult explores identity, opportunities and independence. This is a period of instability for the emerging adult in various fronts such as work, love and education (Santrock, 2014).

The stories the “Rocking Horse Winner” and “Araby” are an example of coming of age. The “Araby” story was from a narrator that used his childhood experience while he is growing up and falling in love Mangans sister. The narrator grew up in a quiet neighborhood And attended a Christian Brothers school. The boy lived with his aunt and uncle. In the house they lived in, their was a priest that had passed away in one of the rooms. One of the narrators favorite experiences was when he would scram through things that had been left behind in the house. This story was a coming of age story not really because he went from a young boy to a growing adult, but because the maturity in the story. He grew to love. He really struggled to