Violet Minturn In Amy Tan's The Valley Of Amazement

1. What is Leah’s attitude to her Chinese identity as she travels to China? How do we know? (page 10)

In this novel, the Baudelaire children each face the possibility of either death, sexual assault, or torture. Count Olaf demonstrates paedophilic behaviours towards Violet by attempting to marry her in order to gain access to their fortune that their parents have left for them in their will. When Count Olaf confronts her with this unfavourable situation, he strokes Violet’s hair (Snicket 94). Violet realizes that agreeing to marry this predatory man entails maintaining traditional gender roles. She “imagines sleeping beside Count Olaf, and waking up each morning to look at [him]. She pictured wandering around the house […] and cooking for his terrible friends at night” (94). Not only does this passage entail possibilities of non-consensual sex between Count Olaf and Violet, but also encompasses torture of Violet, since she is no longer able to follow her dreams of becoming an inventor. These themes of sexual assault, lack of consent, and being forced into gender roles can be very traumatic

Every day begins with fear; every night ends with a different strange man. In a touching novel about the horrific life of a thirteen year-old Nepalese girl, Lakshmi, Patricia McCormick uses a fictional story to portray the lives of real girls. McCormick introduces the reader to the harsh truth about the existence of sex slavery. She paints a vivid picture in the reader’s mind of the brothel, where deceitful adults take an unknowing Lakshmi, called the Happiness House. Sold tells the struggles and perseverance of young girls to make the reader consider what life is like for women living in brothels or with pimps and how it affects them after their release or rescue. Having an optimistic outlook can get one far in life, but when considering

Set centuries apart, Arthur Milller’s The Crucible and Katherine Howe’s Conversion, seem to reflect follow similar plot lines of rebellion, scandal, and sex. Both follow the lives of teenage girls who face similar problems despite the fact they are based centuries apart. The time of adolescence in a woman’s life is an extremely influential period when one either stands out as a dominant leader, or falls in line as a follower. Though The Crucible and Conversion are based over three hundred years apart, both focus on similar motifs regarding female adolescence including rebellious lust, and the desire for attention and one’s individual identity.

In today’s society, young girls are often depicted as petty, immature, and helpless. One cause may be because the stereotype is encouraged and supported through the literature that is read. This stereotype is perpetuated in the following literary works. In Katherine Howe’s Conversion, the local private school for girls, St. Joan’s Academy, is overcome with a mysterious sickness. The sickness is thought to be because of an element in the environment, but it is simply caused by substantial amounts of stress.

Connie is a fifteen year old girl who is confident and proud of herself, and almost feels as if she’s invincible, until she has a rude awakening when an unwanted visitor appears at her doorstep. The stories, "Lust" by Susan Minot, "ID" by Joyce Carol Oates, and "Where are you going, Where have you been?" also by, Joyce Carol Oates, describe the female coming of age. The female sexuality of these three young girls is that they didn’t understand their own reality, but yet wanted independence. The authors get across the message by using vivid symbols.

Born in a tinier than tiny town in the French countryside, Fleur can still recall her first few years — even in her advanced age. Her mother was the talk of the town for having had a child out of wedlock; and with a married man, no less. Her family shunned her, and so she went about raising her daughter alone. In fact, her mother’s experiences were what gave Fleur the greatest lesson she’d ever learned: one’s reputation is a selling point, good or bad. She watched as her mother capitalized on the whispers about town and allowed men to fall for her charms. Whore was not an undesirable term, but simply a label with which she’d have to negotiate. There was no leaving it behind — well, until she scrounged together enough money to bribe her and Fleur’s way into the United

In order to properly view a story from a feminist perspective, it is important that the reader fully understands what the feminist perspective entails. “There are many feminist perspectives, and each perspective uses different approaches to analyze and interpret texts. One is that gender is “socially constructed” and another is that power is distributed unequally on the basis of sex, race, and ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, ability, sexuality, and economic class status” (South University Online, 2011, para. 1). The story “Girl” is an outline of the things young girls

Thus, he treats her like a child and “laughs at [her]… ” and calls her a “‘...little girl’” (Gilman 90, 94). For these two female characters in “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”, their struggles are a direct result of male dominance, and their coping mechanism escorts them away from the world that devalues them.

Children especially girls capture innocence, gentleness, and preciousness. They possess the ability to melt one’s heart. However, their heart requires attention and protection for it to fully blossom. In The Art of Heroine Worship, Lottie, a sixth grader, encompasses both gentleness and roughness in her actions and the battle for her lies in determining which course of action she will ultimately choose for her life. Factors such as culture and people play a major part in determining this life altering decision. Lottie struggles to embrace the gentleness of her identity while combating the low expectations, harsh standards, and decimating ridicule set before her.

There is a sort of shining moment, when a woman saves her own sister, to teach a lesson of self-sacrifice to avoid another woman falling from chastely grace. Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”— a supposed pedagogical poem brimming with biblical connotations and blatant sexual imagery— displays the publicly, marketed sphere and the privately, restrained sphere situated among the genders of middle class Victorian England. With the height of markets and bazaars, “Goblin Market” casts a dark cloud over the enticing act of buying merchandise. Lizzie warns her little sister from the lecherous goblin men, who preys on young women to buy their fruits; “we must not buy their fruits: who knows upon what soil they fed” (Abrams 1497). Presenting the

Everything changes for 20-year-old Vivien when she discovers she is the heir to Foh’Ran, a world where a magical force rules the lives of humans and vampires. Returning to her family’s ancestral castle, she faces responsibilities she never imagined - and never wanted. When confronted with a choice, it’s love that keeps her from returning to Earth.

In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl,” the narration of a mother lecturing her daughter with sharp, commanding diction and unusual syntax, both affect the evolution of a scornful tone, that her daughter’s behavior will eventually lead her to a life of promiscuity that will affect the way people perceive her and respect her within her social circle. As well as the fact that it emphasizes expectations for young women to conform to a certain feminine ideal of domesticity as a social norm during this time and the danger of female sexuality.

“Girl”, a short story by Jamaica Kincaid is narrated from a girl’s point of view of her mother telling and teaching her how, in her mother’s eyes, to be the perfect lady. The story takes place in a cultural setting of the islands of Antigua where the author was raised. The title “Girl” makes us assume that this isn’t just a personal story, but a somewhat universal childhood that we all face as women and the cultural standards we all face to become the perfect lady.

Violet's responsibility as a surrogate is to produce a healthy heir for the woman that buys her. However, when she gets bought and imprisoned in the palace of the Duchess of the lake, she becomes 'trapped in a living death'. While she may wear expensive clothing, mingle with royalty, and explore a new world of luxury, she quickly learns the cruel truths of the Jewel's façade. She has no desire to carry a women's baby, particularly for the Duchess, who is a malicious, violent, and desperate woman. Violet feels isolated and alone, fortunately, an unlikely source, Lucien, a lady-in-waiting, offers Violet a chance for a better life. Before Violet can escape her fate, she becomes involved in an illicit affair, putting her opportunity to escape the Jewel in danger and having her question whether or not she should leave. Violet ultimately decides to give the chance to Raven, her best friend in the same situation as her, as Violet is willing to put her friend's life before her own, demonstrating her selfless personality. The story concludes with a cliffhanger, with Violet’s forbidden romance being exposed to the Duchess. The trilogy continues in the sequel of the book, The White Rose. I found this novel to be very compelling from the very first line: "Today is my last day as Violet Lasting." (Ewing 1). What makes this novel incomparable is its brilliant use of juxtaposing images, emphasizing both what a ravishing place Jewel is, while also highlighting its brutal polices. Regardless, I also would have enjoyed it more if the author gave more background information, for example: why royal women are incapable of having their own children, this would have been helpful as in fantasy novels there is many imaginative ides that have no scientific explanation and require the author to answer question. This would have