The Juggler 's Children, written by Carolyn Abraham is a novel composed of both questions and answers. It is the journey of a woman and her family, who are on the search to gain more knowledge of their pre-existing ancestors. To what depths will they go to figure out where they came from? As Abraham travels across the world to China and India, with DNA kits, high hopes and a notepad she begins to discover answers to questions both she and her family did not prepare themselves for and begin to realize some questions possibly do not have answers. It is through The Juggler 's Children that we are able to watch as one woman in particular tries to answer the question she was asked on the playground as a child, "what are you?". The Juggler 's Children primarily focuses on one main character, the author herself, Carolyn Abraham. It is through the book that we are able to see, feel and understand the emotions that Abraham feels as she begins a journey to uncover parts of herself she knew existed but did know how or where they came from. The book begins by describing her desire to find out about her mysterious great-grandfathers, known throughout the novel as the Captain and the Juggler1. Upon the birth of her first born, Jade, Abraham begins to ponder if in the years to come when asked by her daughter, "where do we come from?" and "who are we?" how she would respond. Similar possible questions that she knew to well from being asked herself by other children when she
“Hana’s suitcase”, written by Karen Levine, records a painful memory of a Toronto resident, Gorge Brady, to his lost younger sister in the World War II (WWII), Hana Brady. This memory is provoked by an unexpected package from Japan. Which tells him they are exhibiting his sister’s suitcase as well as her drawing photographs in Tokyo Holocaust Center for a purpose of education about the Holocaust to the Japanese children. And they hope to get more information about his sister, Hana Brady’s life. In the continuing communication with the Japanese children, Gorge gives them all the details about Hana’s short life, and what happens to her in the WWII.
James McBride is the son of Ruth McBride and is only one of twelve mixed race children. McBride delves into his mother’s closed off past. Something she never allowed herself to share with any of her children. He grew up in the projects. Growing up McBride did not understand his mother; he was embarrassed, and baffled by her. It was not until he was a
Discuss how your investigation of the generic conventions of poetry has influenced your understanding of at least one poem that you have studied in this unit.
Too many minors have committed violent crimes and haven’t gotten the consequences they deserved. In Time magazine article, “Children without Pity” written by Nancy Traver, it shows how the crime rates are going up and many minors aren’t getting the consequence they need. Given the violence of their actions, minors who commit violent crimes should be tried as adults.
The Burgermeister’s Daughter by Steven Ozment delivers a captivating and thorough discussion of one woman’s struggle in contradiction of the social prejudices and justice system of her hometown in sixteenth-century Germany. While the life and times of Anna Buschler, (the Burgermeister’s daughter) is a central theme in the work, Ozment discusses many other contextual elements of German society which provide the framework through which Anna’s struggles are to be perceived. Ozment’s intent in writing such a narrative was most accurately discerned in the final chapter of the book entitled “The Moral” in which the author homed in on a few elements which contributed to the greater picture he endeavored to present.
Julie Lythcott-Haims explains to us all what a perfect child is; straight A student, fabulous test scores, gets homework done without parents asking them to do it… She has the right idea, the right mindset of a parent, every parent wants their child to succeed in life. The way that parents are parenting their children is messing them up. They don’t have a chance to become themselves, they are too focused on whether they did good on that test that they were stressing about for a week, they are too worried about getting the best grade to be able to get accepted into the biggest name colleges around. The parents become too consumed with hovering over their children making sure that they are doing flawlessly in school, the parents are directing their every single move they make. The children then began to think that their parents love comes from the good grades. Then they start making this checklist; Good grades, what they want to be when they grow up, get accepted into good colleges, great SAT scores, the right GPA, the jock of the sports team.
Jonathan Kozol, in the chapter entitled “Other People’s Children, discusses and justifies the kinds of limitations placed on children who must attend poorly funded, educationally inferior school. Kozol argues that children in the inner-city schools are not fit to go to college and that they should be trained in schools for the jobs they will eventually hold, even though these jobs are less prestigious, lowest-level jobs in society. Kozol’s argument is based on the fact that students from the inner-city or rather from the societies that do not have enough job opportunities are not supposed to learn much because their society cannot accommodate most of the courses that are often found in the urban settings. For example, there is a point where Kozol cites one of the businessman’s statement which says, ‘It doesn’t make sense to offer something that most of these urban kids will never use.’ The businessman continues to argue, ‘no one expects these ghetto kids to go to college. Most of them are lucky if they are literate. If we can teach some useful skills, get them to stay in school and graduate, and maybe into jobs, we’re giving them the most that they can hope for’ (Kozol 376). This statement clearly indicate that the society should accept the inequalities and exercise the same inequalities even in education.
Before exploring Josie’s ethnicity it is important to outline its meaning. Ethnicity-”A complex amalgam of language, religion, customs, symbols, literature, music, food and, as its core, an internal and external perception of
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 Burgermeister’s Daughter, written by Steven Ozment, illustrates the scandalous life of a young woman in sixteenth century Germany. Anna Buschler, the burgermeister’s daughter, lived a troublesome life in the German city of Schwabisch Hall, where she spent the majority of her life, while still moving from town to town. While the book surrounds the life of Anna Buschler, it also gives insight to many other historical topics going on in the time of her life, which feed into the reasoning of how Anna was treated. While the book at the beginning shows the mishaps and discourages Anna’s wrongdoings, we later find out many topics of discussion which led her
James McBride's mother was a very sweet and honest woman, but she never talked about her past. When James would ask where her parents were she would always avoid the question. She had troubles with her parents in the past and left home. During the time James was growing up, mixed children weren't
“Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro is a story that depicts the change of an unidentified female character. As the story progresses, she slowly lets her emotions guide her towards becoming an empathetic as well as an aware person which are considered weaknesses by the men in her family. The unnamed girl becomes empathetic and tender-hearted towards the animal cruelty taking place on the farm. For the first time, instead of obeying her father and “shutting the gate, [she] opened it as wide as [she] could” (Munro 56). Her opening the gate indicates her decision of being on Flora’s side and not her fathers’. This decision signifies the independence that she has granted herself. Although, she has seen animal cruelty her whole life, she now sympathizes
“In 2009, 33 million people in the United States were second generation immigrants, representing 11% of the national population. The children of such immigrants in the U.S., also known as "second generation immigrants," experience a cultural conflict between that of their parents and that of mainstream U.S. society” (Wikipedia 1). Amy Tan the author of “Two Kinds”, and the young character in the story both are a second generation immigrants, who have struggled in their life with parents, about the culture they assimilating and their real culture.
On of the works of art that I have come across this term is an oil on canvas titled “Young Mother and Two Children” by Mary Cassatt, an American Impressionist painter, measures 92.08 x 73.66 cm. The subject matter of a mother and her two children done in the Impressionist style depicts a lifelike representation with an almost ethereal viewpoint There is also a sense of unity as it is a closed composition, which directs the eye to the piece and although there are three subjects within the painting, it seems as one unified and self contained image.
The children as religious followers to Sarah are first clearly seen through the observation that “There is a certain uncanny and superhuman quality about such a purely original undertakings as their