The most intriguing character in The Jade Peony Essay

Thesis: one’s personal culture and sense of tradition will always be a strong part of the self, regardless of external factors which can have a profound influence on one’s life.

Choy uses apostrophe as if death was a human in the room, “This is my body fighting with Death. He is

Society has become a shallow place. If an individual does not fit into societies form of the normal person then they are treated differently. But does society treat those who are different in a negative or positive way? In the novel Flowers for Algernon, the author Daniel Keyes shows an in depth look at the treatment of individuals in today's society. Firstly society tends to discriminate against those whose IQ does not fit into the norms of our society. The physically handicapped in today's world are not considered to be "equal" as those who fit into the normal physical appearance, Keyes portrays this through Charlie's thoughts while in the café. Although animals are not technically humans society treats them in ways which no human would

Japan had been a fairly unbiased matriarchal society until the Confucian ideas immigrated from China. Men and women both shared expectations in the Confucian system: loyalty and courage. Men were expected to be loyal to their lords while women were loyal to their family and husband. These ideas defined Japan’s society up until the end of World War II. Following the war, discrimination on gender was outlawed by the Japanese Constitution. Modern Japanese animated gender roles began to concentrate their ideas that in a society, someone’s identity is a part of their group’s identity. Women still control the house, home budget, and other household decisions, allowing men to devote themselves to their work. This is changing as more women start careers. “Hidetoshi Katō raises this point in his discussion on how ‘popular culture’ is a problematic term when translating it into the Japanese context. According to Katō, the Japanese scholar would translate the term ‘popular culture’ as taishu bunka; translated back into English, this term means ‘mass culture’” (Nausicaa.net, 2001). Ponyo displays multiple accounts of doing extraordinary things with her powers to benefit the progress of not only herself but others as well. An example of Ponyo helping others is when she and her friend Sosuke were riding in a boat around the flooded city. They come across a family of three (a father, mother, and baby) and the baby will not stop crying, she then uses some of her magic to calm the baby down and make it enjoy what’s happening.

How can someone pursue a personal desire if they spent their life trying to conform? Alden Nowlan’s short story, “The Glass Roses” explores this through the protagonist, Stephen. Stephen’s personal desire to feel accepted conflicts with his feeling of having to become like the pulp cutters because he is not mentally or physically ready to fit in with grown men. This results in Chris finding a way to become his own person. Stephen’s journey to pursue his personal desire is shown through setting, character development, and symbolism.

Jook-Liang’s grandmother doesn’t let her become a movie star, because Poh-Poh thinks that Jook-Liang is a girl and that she is useless, she can’t be a movie star, she can do nothing. Conversely, that is just her opinion without any proof, even though Poh-Poh is also a woman. This kind of gender discrimination and ridiculous opinion makes Jook-Liang hate Grandmother. Thirdly, this traditional Chinese thinking makes her think about herself.

However, the boys were viewed as “that’s just how boys are”. The gender roles were clearly reflected within out household. Boys had the expectations of getting a good job and provide for their family when they married. Girls were to get married, cook/clean and maintain the household, take care of the children and always remember that they were the moral compass of the family unit.

John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, is a story about a woman struggling with strong inner feelings of loneliness and isolation. Elisa Allen is initially portrayed as a woman who overcompensates and whose tasks are far exceeded by her abilities. She appears content with her life and adores tending to her garden. However, a tinker briefly enters her life and through his power of persuasion and manipulation provides Elisa with hopes of change and excitement. He gives her the much needed attention she is so desperately looking for. As the story continues we learn that these hopes are crushed as we unravel the betrayal the tinker has bestowed upon Elisa. He exploits her and takes advantage of her hunger for company, aspirations, and

There is distinction between the types of power that are inherent through the children’s separate blood-gender lines. The boy is given a higher status due to being a male, while the girl is relegated to a lower social role because she is female. The young girl’s brother, Laird, becomes the man that is entitled to help his father throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Laird is a small boy and is not as useful to his father as the young girl is. The mother believes the girl isn’t much help to her father to begin with, as the mother says to the father, “Wait till Laird gets a little bigger, then you’ll have a real help” (329). But, as time goes on in the story, Laird gets older and stronger. For example, when Laird and his older sister were fighting, “and for the first time ever I had to use all my strength against him; even so, he caught and pinned my arm for a moment, really hurting me” (331). Laird is becoming the helpful son that his father needs around the farm, which delegates the young girl to a position of less physical standard to her father. Eventually, the girl realizes that she has to become more like her mother. This realization is shown through the definition, “A girl was not, as I had supposed, simply what I was; it was what I had to

Gender discrimination, such as sexism, are evident in, “The Jade Peony”. In Chinese cultures, pregnancy is an important but superstitious process in which mothers are fed herbal foods and drinks by their mother-in-laws to aid the pregnancy. Old timers tales describe things which the mother should avoid in order to not have something bad happen to the baby. For instance, rubbing the belly will make the child spoilt. In the beginning of The Jade Peony, Jook-Liang describes touching Stepmother 's "protruding tummy" (6). Later on in the novel, when Sekky is born, he is weak and gets all the attention from Poh-Poh. Furthermore, the importance of having a baby boy is a huge part of the Chinese tradition (hence the enforcement of the

Life is not something simple as we often prefer. There are many different approaches and in most instances we will not find the desired fulfillment in any of them. In the short story “Parkers Back” written by Flannery O’Connor we have a multi-faceted view into the life of the primary character O.E. Parker. In addition we see into the life of Sarah Ruth, Parker’s wife and possibly into the life of author Flannery O’Connor, who died shortly after completing this short story. The characters in this story deal with Tattoos from totally different perspectives and get completely different results. Tattoos are the focal point of the story and prominent on many occasions. Without purpose in life people often make bad decisions which impact the

Nevertheless, men spend only a small fraction of the time that women do in the company of children, especially infants. The women are responsible for the less pleasant tasks of child care, such as toileting, cleaning and bathing, and nose wiping. However most parents prefer to leave all but the youngest children in the village while they gather: food collection is more efficient that way, and distances traveled can be greater. Also, most children want to stay at home with the other children: playing with friends is highly preferable to the stressful travel and long hours often involved in gathering.

7) What is the significance of Miss Emily’s actions after the death of her father?

Though the females in the Parham family are also very strong individuals, we are looked down upon. It seems as though females in the Parham family should be seen and not heard as our opinions are not valued or considered equal to the male opinion. However, the Parham women are strong and nurturing individuals; and though our opinions may not

John Steinbeck’s, The Chrysanthemums, was published in 1938 in a book of short stories, entitled The Long Valley. The Chrysanthemums has been a rather powerful draw for scholars because of its wide gap for interpretations and analysis of its main protagonist character, Elisa Allen and also the unique descriptions used to portray the deeper meaning behind the setting of the story. Themes of sexuality, oppression of women, as well as other numerous types of conflict portrayed in this rather somber short story have made it a popular study among scholars and students alike. Steinbeck also uses literary elements including a dramatic tone, rich symbolism, and personification which increase the stories feeling and value exponentially. Steinbeck