This is a summary of “A Christmas Story” by Annie Dillard. Every Christmas there was a massive dinner held in a seemingly never-ending dining hall. It was lavish and spacious with a table that was as long as a river and was decorated with many different table cloths and decorations. The ceiling of the hall was covered in chandeliers and the floor was filled with different groupings of people: the sick and injured, the children, to those who wanted to dance or participate in games or various others who gathered in separate sections throughout the hall.
American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman who Defied the Puritans is a biography of Anne Hutchinson written by Eve LaPlante who is a direct descendant of Hutchinson. The book follows her life and gives some insight into the lives of people she was surrounded by. As the book progresses, the reader can better understand who Hutchinson was. It begins with Hutchinson being summoned at her trial at the courthouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts for heresy and sedition.
The Writing Life is a short non-fiction book by Annie Dillard. Dillard takes the reader through many experiences that helped shape her as a writer. The book includes many well-developed metaphors that help explain her process. Annie Dillard gives an honest perspective to what it is like to be writer and how to be
Moody’s Final Despair In the autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi, by Anne Moody (1968) she ends the story with Essie saying “I WONDER. I really WONDER” (289). In doing this, it is left up to the reader to decide whether or not Essie is hopeful or doubtful about what is to come in the future. After reading the book and finding several instances where Essie witnesses the bad in both white and black people and expresses her hate for both races, it is concluded that the prevailing sentiment is despair towards what the future has to hold for African Americans in the state of Mississippi.
One of the reasons I chose to the book Other People’s Children by Lisa Delpit was because I want to be aware of the stereotypes and prejudices this books might uncover that I had and didn’t know I has. Teaching in a DLI program there is big diversity in our school and community. I want to be able to be culturally competent and be able to eliminate my cultural assumptions. I want to be able to understand where my students are and families are coming from so I can adjust my teaching methods and strategies. I thought it was very interesting how in her introduction she talks about how the educational system in this country is more focused on the standardized tests, scripted lessons and mandated classroom management strategies that they seem
This autobiography recalls Eudora Welty’s early experiences of reading in her childhood. She wrote about, how books had a great impact on her becoming a writer. The prevalent theme throughout her autobiography is her family history, as it's explained through various anecdotes, and through the intensity of her experiences. This autobiography obtains many flashbacks to her childhood, and the mood, she wanted to portray.
William Zinsser the author of “How to Write a Memior” gives three key phrases for writing a memoir. “Be yourself,” “Speak freely,” and “Think small.” This is a way to organize your memoir however you want it to flow. Walter Dean Myers author of “Bad Boy” follows these three phrases that Zinsser suggests by writing from a child’s point of view, freely but honest memoir, and vivid memories. William suggests that the best way to write a memoir is from a child’s point of view. ”
In Susan Griffin’s “Our Secret,” Griffin seems to be trying to give answer to the reasons as to why people, such as herself, grow up into their characters and what past experiences influence the behaviors they exhibit. Her focus seem to be towards the reasons for why people do the negative things. She also continues to explain how everyone contains a secret of their own and that these secrets are commonly masked by a facade and that the way these secrets may be expressed differ from person to person. In attempt to help the readers understand how our past has a huge impact on our future Himmler’s childhood is used as an example. She claims that the current state of everything in existence may have been influence or predestined by the occurrence
Book Review The Bullet by Mary Louise Kelly [Video] Written by former NPR correspondent, Mary Louise Kelly, the story is interesting and kept my attention, however, I would not say it was heart-pounding. On the surface, Caroline Cashion is gorgeous, smart, and successful; dig a little deeper and find she is a bit too isolated, enjoys sex without strings, and fears commitment. Adopted at the age of three by a well-to-do family in Washington DC, Caroline remembers nothing about her birth parents or for that matter, the tragedy in Georgia that erased them from her life.
Dealing With Conflict and Hard Times When it comes to dealing with tough times such as going to internment camps or hiding from Nazi soldiers so that they aren’t taken to centration camps, there are three important questions that come into play; What motivates people to move through hard times and moments? , What can people do to help others going through tough problems?, and Who can people go to to help them through tough times or conflict? I think that people can best respond to conflict by staying strong through courageousness and always having people in their life to talk to.
I was in an unfamiliar country and yet I’d never felt more at home. For that single week I spent in my country, I met cousins I didn’t know I had, I learned how to cook, and I learned to value the fact that the city always has electricity. I was also able to see where my parents had inherited the strength and resilience they so carefully taught me to have. They exhibited these qualities as I was growing up, when they struggled to pay bills and learn the American way of life. We didn’t know where our next meal was coming from, but, similar to my grandparents, their laughter never ceased and the sounds of merengue never died down.
Annie Dillard’s essay “Sight into Insight” emphasizes how one must live in the moment and not sway towards others opinions in order to gain accurate observations on a situation. She uses nature as a prominent theme in her essay to represent the thought of looking past the superficial obvious in order to go deeper to where the hidden beauty rests. Dillard wants the reader to realize in order to observe clearly you have to live in the moment and let go of the knowledge you think you know on the situation. Dillard uses the example of her “walking with a camera vs walking without one” (para.31) and how her own observations differed with each. When she walked with the camera she “read the light” (para.31), and when she didn’t “light printed” (para.31).
“The Chase” is about an adult chasing some kids, but Annie Dillard makes the story transition from throwing snowballs to “wanting the glory to last forever” and how the excitement of life at one moment can affect someone in the future to show that the excitement of life will always be there even when one is no longer a kid. The story starts with a group of friends, imagining how a game of football goes and continues with the encounter of a stranger. From throwing snowballs at his car to him chasing them till they couldn’t run anymore. The whole experience will change the way she looks at adults. “We all spread out banged together some regular snowballs, took aim, and, when the Buick drew near, fired.
In ¨The Chase¨ from the memoir An American Childhood, Annie Dillard recalls a memorable incident from her childhood, which remained throughout her life, even till the present day. She narrates the adventurous incident where she had voluntarily instigated a strange man -thinking he wouldn’t react- into chasing after her on one particular day. It persisted with Dillard still to this existent, in spite of occurring eons ago, because the pursuit presented her the sheer thrill she later valued and a life-changing experience. Annie Dillard begins the narrative by presenting herself as a tomboy, as she states how she only prefers to hang out with boys for girls are no match for her hobbies. Annie, who was notably different than most girls
In the course of her memoir An American Childhood, Annie Dillard combines images and memories of her life with various reflections from her adult self. Her memoir spreads from early youth when she has not yet “awakened” until her later life as a teen struggling with coming to terms with the world around her and the society she lives in. Throughout the course of her memoir, Dillard presents the world through a slightly pessimistic point of view as a way to highlight the complexities and reality of life growing up in America. With her use of reflection on the events of her life, Dillard is able to strengthen her message of the complexities of life in America.
