The Grave By Katherine Anne Porter And The Story Analysis

Tracing the journey from adulthood to maturation for Hana Brady, the central protagonist in Karen Levin's non-fictional narrative, Hana's Suitcase, is inevitably paradoxical in nature. Brady only lived to the age of 13, which is barely the cusp of adolescence. The truly sad aspect of this fact is that because of the gravity of the ordeals this young girl endured during the historical epoch directly proceeding and including World War II, she was forced to grow up and ultimately die far more swiftly than she should have. Therefore, it is all the more important to trace Brady's process of maturation since it was highly accelerated and was her only way of coping with the rapid loss of life that she and the majority of her family encountered. Doing so reveals a young girl caught up in adult circumstances that were terrifyingly beyond her but which she was forced to cope with nonetheless.

Various novels can be classified as “coming-of-age” texts, this means that these are stories about a protagonist’s transition from childhood to adulthood or just growing up even as an adult. These novels show their growth and change in character over the length of the text. Novels such as The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston are all examples of coming-of-age novels. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God the story is focused on Janie Crawford and her growth over the course of the book.

The most important lesson for Rachel that comes out of this situation is that after wearing the disgusted sweater she has become even older, and it was tied to the experience instead of the birthday itself. She understands that it is the challenge she needs to grow up faster as she will receive additional benefits of behaving the way she wants and resisting to the outside irritators. As for the literature techniques, the author applies language, diction and symbolism to reveal the issues of experience, aging, knowledge, power, authority and freedom. The discovering is gaining age are conveyed with the help of the memories of eleven-year-old girl on her birthday. Rachel resists her humiliation from Mrs. Pierce, and that is the exact moment when her “smart eleven” comes as well[2].

Set in the harsh patriarchal society of 1829 Iceland, Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites uses historical fiction to reimagine the life and death of Agnes Magnusdottir; a woman sentenced to death for her involvement in the murder of two men. The role of women in this oppressive society is thoroughly explored, establishing a social commentary which juxtaposes the double standards, sexual abuse and primitive gender roles of 19th century Iceland to the independence, equality and lifestyle choices for women in the 21st century.

In the novel “Tomorrow When the War Began” written by John Marsden, one important idea that was developed throughout the written text was how life events change people. People develop the most during their teenage years which is when they are affected the most during their life.Major life events change people and teenagers need to understand this. In this novel, seven teenagers go camping and when they emerge from the bush there are fires everywhere, the power is out and the animals are dead. The small town of Wirrawee has been invaded by the army. The idea of how life events can change people is shown through the technique of characters. With the events of war, Ellie showed how she grew up and lost her innocence because of the choices she

Abraham Lincoln said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” Often times in our society young people push off responsibilities, it's easy to do. Technology and other innovations have made it convenient for us to become distracted and to push things off. However when growing up, sometimes taking responsibility cannot be avoided. In coming of age stories, the author uses symbolism to exemplify how the protagonists experience new independence and responsibility while they transition from childhood to adulthood.

This inner defiance gives evidence to Rachel’s determination and individuality. The sweater now represents a sort of barrier and if she submits herself to it, she fears the world of ages and maturity.

In the short stories, “Saving Sourdi,” by May-Lee Chai and “The Moths,” by Helena Maria Viramontes, the main character of each short story goes through their own coming of age experience where they are forced to mature in order to overcome an obstacle. Chai explains her main character, Nea’s, struggle as she is forced to mature and overcome the departure of her older sister, Sourdi, from her life after she gets married and moves away. Viramontes, on the other hand, depicts her narrator’s struggle as she is forced to mature and overcome the death of her Abuelita on her own. Despite their very different approaches, both Chai and Viramontes successfully convey their main character 's struggles in their journey from youth to adulthood.

Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.

When a mentor gives you lemons, you make the lemonade. In the book The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, the person most important in Bod Owens’s life is his mentor, Silas. Bod Owens did not have the average teenage life; he was raised by two dead parents who live in a graveyard, and was not allowed to leave the graveyard unless his parents gave him permission. The lady on the Grey is the symbol of death that mentors Silas, which gives her and Silas a similar “job” in their afterlife.

In coming of age stories, the protagonists often experience a pensive and dramatic moment where either they break through to adulthood or retreat to childhood - it is this moment that unveils the magnitude of growing up for the reader.

Knowledge is the information in which we perceive to be the truth of the world around us. However, all knowledge is susceptible to change depending of the bias of the character. Gabriel García Márquez demonstrates this issue in the novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold by exploiting the understanding of knowledge through fabula and syuzhet.

Rachel compares Russian dolls to grow older because when you get bigger you aren’t leaving behind all the previous ages, you are just adding a new layer along with the old ones, just like the dolls. This adds to her childlike tone because it is typical that a small child would have dolls. When Rachel uses repetition to express how she doesn’t want to the ugly red sweater it shows her younger behavior. In page 2 it states "That's

In the short story, “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros Rachel demonstrates her multiple years of her eleven year old self two important times. One time she was crying like a two year old and making animal noises . In the story Page 1 states that people do not understand birthdays because you are not just the age that you are turning you are all the other ages you are two and five and sometimes you are still 10. When she was crying and making funny noises she was crying because the teacher made her take the ugly sweater even though it wasn’t hers . Eleven is about a girl who is turning 11 but feels like she is still so many of the other ages and she shows two of them anger and sadness she does this by being angry about the teacher telling her

In “Eleven,” Rachel doesn’t want to be the age she is. In “Eleven,” Rachel believes that all of the ages are gathered inside of her and that through the years, they will show. The text