Family is what might have the greatest impact on someone's life and identity. In the memoir Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, she is an African American who grew up right after the Civil Rights Movement in the south. She went through a lot because of her race and her family was able to help her get through it. She also moved around a lot as a kid, which affected her a lot because she was with different family members every time she moved. So far in Jacqueline's life, Family has had the greatest influence on Jacqueline’s life and her identity.
Jacqueline's mother has had a significant influence on her life and identity. Jacqueline, her mother, and her brother are getting off the bus and her mother is telling them how to act and instructs
Anya’s Ghost written by Vera Brosgol in 2011, is a graphic novel that uses a ghost to help Anya experience new things about the world while also learning how to embrace her Russian heritage. This follows an average teenage girl that is struggling with body image, acceptance problems, loneliness, and anxiety. Anya tries to get rid of her cultural identity at her school, and hopes to fit in like everyone else. However, she feels that she is not fully able to do this. She meets a friendly, innocent ghost named Emily who helps her navigate through her highschool life after winning over her friendship by helping her talk to her crush, and cheat during an exam.
Although often used interchangeably, disease and illness differ fundamentally in their meanings and implications. Disease is the commonly thought of concept in which a person suffers due to a physiological or psychological ailment, while illness refers to a culmination of physical, emotional and social suffering of a person. Disease is perceived as the phenomena that affects an organism, while illness affects not only the patient but also their loved ones and community. This distinction is vividly apparent in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, in which Anne Fadiman relays the approaches to a Hmong child named Lia’s epilepsy by her family and her doctors as well as the tumultuous interaction between these caregivers. It is interesting to understand how Hmong culture and a doctor’s
Melancholy is the dominating mood in the book entitled “Between Shades of Gray” by Ruta Sepetys. Through this nail-biting adventure, you will encounter the agonizing events of Lina and her family during June 1941. Surely, any sane person would feel the sorrowful events that the Lithuanians had felt during the barbaric events that took place during the duration of World War 2. Specifically, why I felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness throughout the novel was thinking of the horrific events that the Lithuanians went through. Particularly in chapter 26 when Lina, a 15 year old girl, was forced to strip in front of NKVD officers along with many other women.
The past is unchangeable, however what one chooses to do with their future determines their legacy. In the novel Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver, the protagonist, Codi struggles to overcome her past experiences as she returns to her home town. Through Codi’s actions the question arises, “Does one’s past dictate their future?” Collectively cultures are focused on the present. They view the past as unalterable such as mourning the loss of someone will not bring them back to life.
The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures by Anne Fadiman illuminates the dilemmas, as well as barriers, persons of various cultural backgrounds can encounter daily, specifically when residing in a foreign habitation of different practices, perspectives and beliefs. This book highlights the difficulties one family must face during a clash between Hmong family cultural beliefs and western medicine. Fadiman (1997) brings our attention to these harsh realties that one can encounter when persons are unintentionally culturally incompetent through sharing the story of the Lia Lee and her parents, Nao Kao and Foua, who look for guidance from western doctors to assist their spiritual
On September 17, 1951, Cassandra Peterson was born. Although her family eventually relocated to Randolph, Kansas, she was born in Manhattan, Kansas. Prior to Turtle Creek Reservoir flooding the Kansas Randolph region, she was raised there. She attended General William J. Palmer High School when the family relocated to Colorado Springs. She graduated from High School in 1969 and during the course of her education, she had her mother, who owned a costume shop, make whatever outfits she desired in her size, and wore them to school.
Melinda’s journey throughout her first year of high school can be summed up in one word, silenced. She begins the school year in isolation, having spent the remainder of summer wrapped in her thoughts after she was taken advantage of by Andy Evans at an end of the summer party. This experience heavily impacts her freshman year, both through social encounters and mental blockages. She felt like she was taken control of, her identity no longer belonged to her, her body was not hers, but his. After the incident, Melinda secreted into her own mind, and her lifestyle was transformed into an isolated den, flunking out of her classes and separating herself from others.
In the short essay Pretty Like a White Boy by Drew Hayden Taylor and the short story Sara’s Gift by Barbara Smith, both protagonists come into conflict with forming their identity. The two characters illustrate Indigenous peoples' struggle with questioning their identity and searching for a belonging. The protagonists in both stories struggle with not fitting in because of their appearance. Drew Hayden Taylor never knew his white father, he grew up with his Ojibway mother and lived in the indigenous community, but was always looked at differently. “It’s Not Easy Having Blue Eyes in a Brown Eyed Village”(Taylor 504).
The most important influence on Jacqueline's life is her family. This is also the reason why she is so influenced by family and confident about
On September 11, 2001, tragedy struck the city of New York. On that fateful day, two airplanes were hijacked by terrorists and flew straight into the twin towers. Each tower fell completely to the ground, taking thousands of lives with it and injuring thousands more. Not only did that day leave thousands of families without their loved ones, it also left an entire city and an entire country to deal with the aftermath of the destruction. Poet, Nancy Mercado, worries that one day people will forget that heartbreaking day.
In the textbook Let's Talk written by Andrea Lunsford, new ideas and habits are introduced that will help people learn how to communicate better and interact with others. The first four chapters revealed concepts that were used by the authors of the following readings: "Arranging a Marriage in India," "Your Smartphone is making you stupid," and "Small Change". The concept that influenced the understanding of “Arranging a Marriage in India” is to get to know people different from you. Next, the concept that influenced the understanding in “Your Smartphone is making you stupid” is to research your views. Lastly, the concept that increased understanding of “Small Change” was to listen when people express their views.
Renowned author of Under the Skin and associate professor at CUNY’s Journalism School, Linda Villarosa delivers several key facts in her interview on Black American regarding racial health disparities in America. Villarosa discusses many factors of health disparities, such as the distrust African Americans have of the healthcare system, the unjust treatment of African Americans in the hands of healthcare practitioners, and the underrepresentation of African Americans in clinical trials. Villarosa makes it clear that there is a deep disparity between the treatment of black and white Americans in the healthcare system. The author uses statistics and anecdotal evidence to present a thorough evaluation of health disparities in America.
The book I read was People of the Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau. The book is about all the people of Ember getting to this village that got out of a depression a few years ago and they are finally back up on their feet. Some of the people of Sparks don't like that the council people let the Emberties just settle in their village. The book is mostly about how the Emberties struggle to adapt and how they come to peace with the people of Spark. The narrator is someone from outside the story, so the point of view is third person.
According to the story Kindred by Octavia Butler during the antebellum South, the slaves were treated very badly such as being forced to work for the white people. According to the story of Camp 14 in the 60 Minutes video, the prisoners were treated harshly as well. But they were not like the slaves because they were prisoners and they only worked for the government (camp). The slaves and prisoners both tried to escape from where they were at.
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson is an Indigenous mythology-based story that follows sixteen-year-old Jared as he struggles with his powers, relationships and overall life. The theme of family, specifically the decisions and roles of Jared's family, significantly affects his personal growth. More particularly from the actions of Maggie Moody, Phil Martin and Nana Sophia. Maggie Moody, Jared's mother, affects Jared's morals and how he feels about violence, Phil Martin, Jared's father, affects Jared’s emotional maturity, and Nana Sophia embodies the feelings resulting from the abandonment of a family member. Maggie's violent approach to life has desensitized Jared to violence, making him less emotionally vulnerable since violence requires a lack of empathy.