In Carol Berkin’s book, Revolutionary Mothers, she provides detail into the world of the women who played an active and vital role during the Revolutionary War. Over the years historians have downplayed the effect that these women have had on our nation. She emphasizes the effect of these women by speaking from the viewpoint of not only Colonial white women, but also Native-American and African-American women. Berkin also chooses to focus on portraying to the reader how the people of this time were affected. She accomplishes this by balancing the perspective between rich and poor, patriot and loyalist, and American and British.
Josie’s Story is a truly inspirational and informative book written by a mother who used her grief and sorrow to educate people, and make medical care safe. Josie King was a curious and precocious 18 month old toddler who was just beginning to discover the world, and loved her dog Trapper. One day, while her family was preoccupied downstairs, Josie waddled into the bathroom in search of her blue airplane. She slipped into the bathtub, and turned on scalding hot water onto herself, causing first and second degree burns which covered 60 percent of her tiny body. Josie was admitted to one of the most prestigious children’s hospitals in our country, Johns Hopkins Children 's Center.
The speaker’s grandmother is originally presented in a way that causes the ending to be a surprise, saying, “Her apron flapping in a breeze, her hair mussed, and said, ‘Let me help you’” (21-22). The imagery of the apron blowing in the wind characterizes her as calm, and when she offers to help her grandson, she seems to be caring and helpful. Once she punches the speaker, this description of her changes entirely from one of serenity and care to a sarcastic description with much more meaning than before. The fact that the grandmother handles her grandson’s behavior in this witty, decisive way raises the possibility that this behavior is very common and she has grown accustomed to handling it in a way that she deems to be effective; however, it is clearly an ineffective method, evidenced by the continued behavior that causes her to punish the speaker in this manner in the first place.
A mother is a person who loves and cares for their child unconditionally and will put her their needs before her own. When her child is sick, she will stay beside them no matter what. A mother is always there when someone is down and needs someone to talk to. However, in the stories, “The Rocking Horse Winner” and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper,” both authors portray the mothers, Hester and Jane, somewhat similar when describing their relationship with their child. The stories’ definition of “Mother” are described in a negative manner that not many readers can relate to such neglectful behavior.
A young girl, who killed her mother and wants to know more about her, changes the 14 year old’s life for a long period of time. In the novel, Lily has lived with some heavy burdens on her shoulders. She has to overcome these things and tell the truth even if she doesn’t want to. In Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, “The Secret Life of Bees,” Lily has a coming of age moment when she tells August the truth about everything. She decides to tell August the truth as shown through these things: telling her she is unlovable, how she was angry with what she heard, getting the items she has had.
“Who Will Light Incense When Mother’s Gone?” is a nonfiction text written by Andrew Lam, and published on the Huffington Post. With Lam as the narrator, he tells the story of his Vietnamese-American identity, which often clashed with his mother’s traditional identity. Lam’s narrative utilized the themes of filial love and the quest for identity. He expressed his love and the formerly tense bond between he and his mother, while searching for his own identity as a Vietnamese child in America.
When Thomas King says, “The truth about stories is, that’s all we are,” I believe he is pointing out how powerful of a force stories are in our lives. We are told stories from our childhood, as a way to remember history or pass down traditions. He is trying to make the point that stories make up our history, our cultures and ourselves. A good example of this comes from Nealon and Searls Giroux’s book, “Subjectivity.” The book says there is the “self” which is our primary selves, untouched by cultural influences or the law.
Susan Sontag, an author of the essay “Imagination Disaster,” explores the world of science fiction as she discusses the tropes in films from the mid-1900s. Throughout her essay, Sontag analyzes why these types of films were created, and basically ties her discussion with humanity. With the growing technological advances, science fiction films state specific things about how science threatens humanity. She also ties her discussion to how sci-fi films tend to serve an attempt at distributing a balance between humanity and the technological world. Sontag claims that science fiction films has suspense, shock, surprises, has an inexorable plot, and how they invite a dispassionate, aesthetic view of destruction and violence.
As a photographer myself, the theory of punctum is not unknown to me; however, the application of the concept of punctum towards the perfomativity of a photograph is unchartered territory. The photograph I chose to analyze is Dorothea Lange’s renowned portrait Migrant Mother, which is a Great Depression-era photograph featuring a migrant farmer, and is among the most famous photographs from this turbulent chapter of American history. The raw emotion in the mother’s face, paired with her body language and grimy appearance, captivates viewers; however, it is not the mother that makes this image so powerful to me, but rather, the turned away children framing their mother. This detail adds a new dimension to the portrait for me.
Parents play a major role in a child’s life. Parents affect how their child behaves and who they become as they grow older. The ideal parent should be an attentive listener, have a positive attitude and love their child unconditionally. Firstly, I think that parents should always listen to their kids no matter what or else they will feel neglected.
Her actions do seem cruel and evil, but she is also a grieving mother that wants to avenge her son. After Grendel’s death, “Grendel’s fierce mother” begins to exhibit human-like characteristics such as her caring and protective nature for her child. This can be shown when she carried “off the claw that Beowulf tore from her child” to demonstrates her anger and grief for her son’s death. While she is characterised to be a “she-wolf,” she is also a “mighty mother” that just wants to protect her child. Her whole purpose of killing Hrothgar’s friend and wreaking in Heorot is was to avenge Grendel’s death.
Jamaica Kincaid’s The Autobiography of My Mother signifies a pivotal point in her writing style. Her earlier novels have some semblance of her personal life, but, in this novel, the protagonist Xuela does not share a common experience with that of the author’s life. The mother-obsessed protagonists of her earlier fiction are absent. Instead, we have a seventy year old half-Carib Dominican.
For example when a young boy (“Teapot”) comes to her house and falls down the steps, the mother of the child blamed Sula for the boy’s injuries and then starting taking care of the child for the first time. Here once again we are shown how Sula is made into the scapegoat. Later after Sula’s death the women no longer cherish and want to take care of their children so they abandon them once again. (Morrison, page. 113-115, 117)
Essay for Mother “Oh, I Long to See My Mother in the Doorway” (Paley 82). The short story Mother written by the American writer Grace Paley starts with these lyrics. In this story, the author depicts a daughter recollected her mother and missed her very much after her death. After reading this story, I found an interesting fact about the relationship between parents and their children. In my opinion, the children often misunderstand their parents while their parents keep worrying about them.
