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.
The book "A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park explores the life of Salva, an 11-year-old boy living in South Sudan, after he is displaced by the Sudanese Civil War. First, in 1985, Salva and his classmates are instructed to run into the bush to escape the gunfire that was heard not far from the school. Then, he joins a group of travelers who are walking away from the war in Sudan, but they abandon him in a barn one evening while he is still asleep. After spending a few days with the barn's owner, Salva is sent away with a different group of travelers, must of whom accept him grudgingly. The group walks for a month toward Ethiopia, and eventually they arrive to the Itang refugee camp in Ethiopia.
People in Southern Sudan have dirty water, wild animals, the many wars and a lot more hardships they need to face. In the book “A long walk to water” by: Linda Sue Park, is a book that takes place in Southern Sudan and features all the hardships Salva and Nya had to face while living there such as wild animals, wars, fights through tribes, lack of water and food. Hardships Salva faced in Southern Sudan are lack of water/ food, the wild animals, and the fighting/ war. One of the hardships Salva had to face in Southern Sudan is lack of water and food. In chapters 3-4 Salva had gotten water from a woman older than Salva’s mother that he had met after he was left alone, the woman gave Salva a gourd of water and a bag of raw peanuts.
In the essay “Take it in Strides” the author, Anna Macherchevich, develops an exciting and intriguing paper. She tells a compelling narrative that expresses the importance of cross country and her team to her life. To accomplish this, she used well thought out descriptive language and dialogue that gives a good understand to the reader of her love of the sport. Firstly, Macherchevich she explains how cross country had given her the ability to set her mind on a goal and push through all challenges.
In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, there is a constant struggle between individuals and their ability to shape their own identities. The play follows various characters that attempt to find the balance between dealing with hardships in life and their own personal desires. In contrast, “A Daily Joy to be Alive” by Jimmy Santiago Baca explores how individuals can strive to have control over their identities. External factors such as mental state, societal norms, and past behavior can limit an individual's ability to shape their own identity.
In the historical fiction novel A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, a boy named Salva escaped from his village after the rebels attacked. Before the rebels took over Salva’s village he went to school everyday. Each day after school his mother would always be waiting for him at home with a bowl of warm milk. In the historical fiction novel The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis, a girl named Parvana lived in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the Taliban rule. Before the Taliban took over Parvana’s town, it was a very beautiful city with restaurants, movie theaters, and shops.
Oftentimes when reading texts about liberation, whether the liberation is physical, metaphorical, or otherwise, there is a tendency to expect an overcoming narrative of sorts. Namely, when presented with a figure that is suffering, an audience expects a clean ending. However, concerning memoirs, this isn’t always the case. If anything, overcoming narratives within autobiographical texts can flatten out the nuances and struggles that are presented within, making the arc of the text seem flat and unconvincing. This is far from the case with Jimmy Santiago Baca’s autobiography, A Place to Stand.
“Don't judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins” (Creech 45) Sal's mother goes through many places on her journey and keeps connection with many others. In the novel “Walk Two Moons” by Sharon Creech, The protagonist ,Sal, resists, understands, and accepts the situation at one point or another in the story. In the beginning,Sals memories ly in Bybanks, Kentucky, the last moments of her family all together and happy. First sal states, “ I have lived most of my thirteen years in Bybanks, Kentucky.”
Brent Staples “ Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space” and Richard Rodriguez comparing the similarities and differences of Staples and Rodriguez 's article. Racism is a very difficult and confusing problem to deal at a very young age that can affect one 's mentality and perceptions of oneself then and later on. ,both Staples and Rodriguez had experienced racism for a very long time having firsthand experience of racism at young ages, such young ages in fact that it left a mark on each of them as they begin to realize at vulnerable times of their life what life is like being black or having dark skin. For example, Staples discovered this at the age of twelve as a white women saw fearing for her life. Rodriguez’s first experience of racism was at the age of 7 told by his mother to put a towel over his shoulder to cover some of his dark skin.
Trespass by Julia Alvarez is a short story that depicts the life of a young immigrant girl whose family has relocated from the Dominican Republic to New Jersey and the many emotions, trials, and tribulations that come with such a massive change. The oldest of four girls, Carla, seems to have the hardest time adapting to this new environment and circumstance. When their mother makes a typical Spanish dessert and inserts a candle to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the move to the States, she says, "Let us please go back home, please, She half prayed and half wished" (Alvarez 99). Aside from the anguish of leaving her extended family and the challenges of adjusting to a new neighborhood, school, and country, she has the strongest ties to the Dominican Republic and the most difficulty assimilating to English and American culture.
Do not be told something is impossible. There is always a way”(Robert Rodriguez). In The Way, by Emilio Estevez,the main character Tom walks the path of Camino de Santiago, a path that his son, Daniel, died on. Some of the last things that Daniel said to his son was, “You don’t choose a life dad….. You live one”(www.imdb.com).
When analyzing and reviewing Susan Curealean’s essay "Origin Moment” and Melissa Walker’s excerpt from "Rock Spring" one will find commonalities of elements that truly show the importance of our first connection with nature. The reader is able to see that one’s origin moment, “the spilt second early in life when memory takes hold in the body,” of nature specifically concludes in defining who the person is as an individual and how they view the environment around them, as well as how they take care of that particular environment. " Origin Moment” and "Rock Spring" are both able to discuss the importance of our first connections with nature due to writers, Susan Curealean and Melissa Walker reminiscing if you will, on past experiences and how those experiences have shaped each of them as the individuals they are today. Susan Curealean’s essay "Origin
Have you ever felt like that there was no hope left in the world for you? I Have Lived a Thousand Years, an autobiography written by Livia-Bitton Jackson, is a story about herself living through the Holocaust whilst experiencing the barbarity of the Nazis and abhorrent events. There were myriad amounts of cruel inhumanities that the Nazis did to the Jews as the Nazis did experiments on them without their consent and put them into death and concentration camps. Nonetheless, Elli, a prisoner of the Holocaust, went through obstacle after obstacle, but she never capitulated or caved in. The way that Elli never gave up has influenced me to persist and to never give up even when it may seem that there is no hope and no way out of a problem.
Silence Brings Change "It is better to be outspoken than to be silent." This famous quote, spoken by suffrage activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, highlights the importance of speaking out against injustice. In the graphic novel Speak, author Laurie Halse Anderson explores the themes of silence and speaking out through the story of Melinda, a freshman in high school who is sexually assaulted at a party by Andy Evans, a senior while she is drunk. Overwhelmed by trauma and fear, Melinda chooses to keep silent, hoping that what happened will simply go away. However, her silence only fuels her internal struggle to speak out and seek justice.
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.
