Year of Wonders is set in Eyam, an actual village which was located in Derbyshire, England. Also known as the "plague village" for an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in 1665 and 1666, the story of Year of Wonders is based off of this event. At the beginning of the book, Anna Frith is introduced to the readers as a house maid, mother of two young sons, and the narrator. Although she isn't a historical figure, through her eyes, the readers get to get an insight on what it was like living in the midst of a plague. As the story starts out, Anna is faced with the struggle of watching her friends (Anys and Mem) being accused by mobs of being witches because they are midwives who deliver newborns and use charms and herbs to heal the sick. The mobs …show more content…
After some diligent research on the village of Eyam and the Renaissance culture, I noticed that many events in this book are historically accurate, meaning that they actually took place or they mcould have happened considering their historical context. A major part of the story is the plague that took place in England during the seventeenth century. Most part of the book is accurate about the plague, for instance, it is accurate on how Eyam began to recover from the plague during the late seventeenth century. Also, there are some instances of the discrimination based on gender. On pages 221 and 222, the village preacher sees both a man and a woman attempting to complete an unrighteous task, First, the preacher calmly tells the man to go home, but then the preacher condemns the woman harshly. Through this action, I gained the insight that, in Renaissance culture, women were considered inferior to men and that it was considered normal for women and men to be treated unequally. Another historical component of the book involves certain groups of people, especially women, being accused of witchcraft. On page 298, Anna mentions that on the North African Coast, people stop accusing her of being a witch for using herbs, but rather, they welcome her as a beneficial addition to the community. Although Anna Frith is not a historical figure, some of the characters in the book are based off of actual figures in history such as George Vicars. In fact, the book alludes to Charles II since he was the King of England during the end of the seventeenth century. On the contrary, there are fictional components. In the book, it says that the plague was introduced into the village along with George Viccars's bacteria-infected clothes, when in reality, it was spread by fleas on rats and it was brought into the
In the book “I Had Lived A Thousand Years” by Livia Bitton-Jackson talks about Jews being tortured by the Germans. The Germans hate the Jews because they blame the Jews for losing World War 1. Ellie and her family were sent to concentration camps where they face their nightmares and are separated by the Germans. They were suffering, but were afraid to run away.
'Across Five Aprils' is a novel written by Irene Hunt that takes place on the farm of Creighton's family in southern Illinois during the American Civil War. This book extends five Aprils from 1861 to 1865.The American Civil war was happening between the Union and the Confederate Army. The American war is breaking families apart because of the disagreement of the concept of war. When the war begins, Creighton's son, Jethro sees that the war may be dividing north and the south from each other but also dividing people between his family. It wasn't what Jethro imagine the war would be like.
Your mother is stranded,your town has become a ghost town and pestilence is roaming . In 1793 the state of Philadelphia battled against a deadly enemy,deadly yellow fever . It took the lives of 5,000 citizens . Matilda’s story may have been fiction however for many people this was very real . In the novel “Fever 1793” by Laurie halse Anderson, Matilda finds herself struggling with the fever.
"Crossing the Swamp," a poem by Mary Oliver, confesses a struggle through "pathless, seamless, peerless mud" to a triumphant solitary victory in a "breathing palace of leaves. " Oliver's affair with the "black, slack earthsoup" is demonstrated as she faces her long coming combat against herself. Throughout this free verse poem, the wild spirit of the author is sensed in this flexible writing style. While Oliver's indecisiveness is obvious throughout the text, it is physically obvious in the shape of the poem itself.
Mina Grace Professor Paison Assignment #3 July 03, 2015 Parable Of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler Octavia E. Butler, a very skilled and intelligent writer, wrote a futuristic dystopian novel about the future and what it holds for us. The book was written in the 1980’s till the 1990’s. Octavia E. Butler took actual negative acts that occurred in those years such as drug use, prostitution, and many others and predicted the severeness of what will occur in the future. In this novel, we are introduced to the main character named Lauren.
“...these days had never been as beautiful as these… each day a golden surprise” (2-4). In the short story “The Flowers”, surprise is the element that Alice Walker uses to portray the meaning. IT is at the heart of the meaning which is driven forward by imagery, setting, and diction. Walker takes her past experiences and uses them in her writings to make her story stronger.
The main character may live in the medieval times but she is no simple portrait of a woman of those times. She is complex, she is shameless about sexual exploits, she is not afraid to speak freely or use her “sexual power to obtain what she wishes”. (Smith) She is a strong-willed and dominant woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. However this also brings back up the negative aspect of the female sexuality and being female in general during this time.
Today when people think or even hear the plague they think back to the literal millions of people who perished from the event that unfolded. Since then a lot of medical research has been conducted on the bacterium that caused the plague. If an occurrence were to happen like this one in the present day, it for sure
A Story of Hope in I Have Lived a Thousand Years Could you imagine living through enough pain and trauma to last you a thousand years? The book by Livia Bitton-Jackson, I Have Lived A Thousand Years, is the story of 13-year-old Elli Friedmann and how she survived the holocaust. Throughout the book, there are many sad and awful times, but there are also moments filled with hope and miracles. For instance, Elli and her mother are able to stay together through everything, all the germans and soldiers who helped her survive, Elli and her mother being able to find and save her brother Bubi, and more. This story of hope is one you should remember.
Does everyone have responsibility? Does everyone have the same responsibilities? When does one start taking responsibility? In her short story “All The Years Of Her Life”, Morley Callaghan uses Mrs. Higgins and setting to demonstrate the importance of finding responsibility. Most people already know what their responsibilities are.
What is the significance of a notable event if it does not change a person’s life? The story, “In the Time of Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez portrays the Mirabal sisters as typical girls who grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s on their family farm in the Dominican Republic. The Mirabal sisters had the same hopes, dreams, insecurities, and aspirations of girls in their country, yet the path they each eventually chose for themselves lead them to revolutionary outcomes. Each girl possessed a unique personality and each girl called into civil disobedience came from a unique mindset. Despite and because of their varied experiences each sister chose to join the revolution when each of their most dominant core values were called upon or challenged.
However, J. Barry and O. Davies argues against Barstow’s perspective and theory, that “To translate this as ‘witches’, as Montague Summers regularly does, is therefore to give the reader a false impression, because the English word ‘witch’ immediately suggests a woman.” Therefore, from Barry and Davies’ argument, it could be deduced that although misogyny could be seen throughout the ‘Malleus Maleficarum’, the intention of the book being persecution of women cannot be confirmed to be true. This detracts from Barstow’s argument as there are not much supporting evidence for her perspective that the publication of the ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ had a significant impact on starting and increasing the scale of witch-hunting in Europe, as well as specifying that these witches were all women, and therefore makes her argument rather
Alice by Christina Henry is a retelling of a well beloved classic but with some very dark twists. The main draw to the book initially was the cover and then I read the book blurb on the back and I fell in love with the ideas put down. Alice has spent 10 years in a mental asylum after the events of the infamous tea party and her only comfort is her friend Hatcher, who she speaks to through a mouse hole. One night a fire breaks out and Hatcher rescues Alice and the two of them runaway from the asylum.
rika Johansen's "The Queen of Tearling" is an interesting fictional story that takes place in the 24th century, after an undescribed tragedy in the land. The main character is Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, who was raised in exile away from her kingdom. She is described as plain, unattractive, and smart. Princess Kelsea was raised by an extremely strict mother-figure and kind and playful father-figure who have trained her her whole life to become the best warrior she can be. The "problem" that conflicts the story is that Kelsea needs to go and reclaim her kingdom once she turns 19 from the corrupt people who had taken it from her after her mother died.
For this memoir assignment, I selected the novel A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: How I Learned to Live a Better Story by Donald Miller. Donald Miller is an non-fiction American author who displays his focus on the struggles of Christian spirituality though primarily his own life. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years begins with a phone call and subsequent visit from two guys, Steve and Ben, who want to help Don turn his first book, Blue Like Jazz, into a movie. As the deal begins to take shape, the writers approach Donald with a problem. “Your life is boring,” Steve tells Donald (Miller 25).