Preview

An Analysis Of Angela Johnson's 'First Part Last'

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
344 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
An Analysis Of Angela Johnson's 'First Part Last'
First Part Last essay
Angel Redman
“And then I know I’m being a man. Not just some kid who’s upset and wants it his way. I’m being a man.” Angela Johnson is the author of First Part Last. The main character is Bobby, who has a baby at 16, with Nia. Bobby represents growing up and shows how childhood is too short. In the story we see how Bobby grows up and matures.

Bobby puts down the basketball and it rolls away. This represents his childhood, leaving him. He has to leave his childhood, because he has to take on the responsibilities of becoming a parent. Bobby doesn't want his childhood to leave him, but it must. Bobby must become a responsible adult.

The bubble gum represents childhood and shows how Bobby and Nia are growing
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken
    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Analysis Of Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken

    Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption follows the story of Louie Zamperini, a rebellious child who grew up to become one of the fastest runners of the 1930s. He competed as an Olympic track runner in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The future was looking bright for Zamperini before World War II began, which resulted in the Olympics being cancelled and Louie being drafted into the Army Air Forces as a bombardier. Midway through 1943, his B-24 crash landed in the Pacific Ocean. For weeks, Louie and two other men drifted westward across a seemingly endless ocean, accompanied by a pack of sharks and surviving on scraps of bird and fish meat and the occasional rainfall. Eventually, he arrived in Japanese…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of Anne Lamott's Shitty First Drafts
    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Summary Of Anne Lamott's Shitty First Drafts

    Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” is an argument and an admission from an industry veteran. A Herculean effort may be necessary for writing because life requires the same strain. Lamott’s personal conflicts and self-doubt have built an amazing opportunity to use her story to convince her audience that for some people, perfectionism and self-criticism can be the cause of failure. Through the prolific use of metaphor in the form of personification and interesting similes relating to her personal experiences, Lamott lays a foundation in her life story and aggressively finishes with a sound logical argument. For Lamott, it is okay to have shitty first drafts because those are just a step in the difficult process of writing.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hard Times By Ron Rash Analysis
    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hard Times By Ron Rash Analysis

    The short story “Hard Times” by Ron Rash, focuses on the effects that depression has on society. The main characters in the story are Jacob and Edna, who are farmers in a rural community in Raleigh, North Carolina. As the story begins, Edna has once again noticed that the eggs from a particular hen is missing. Though she has several other hens, who are laying, she contributes those missing eggs to adding to their poverty. Edna, who was once a very happy person has been soured by the effects of poverty and now stands tight lipped in the door of the henhouse. Jacob makes the comment, "This cove’s so damn dark a man about has to break light with a crowbar” . This comment sets the tone of the story, one of darkness which is a result of poverty.…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The First Part Last Angela Johnson Character Analysis
    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The First Part Last Angela Johnson Character Analysis

    In the book, The First Part Last, Angela Johnson describes mostly in the book “Coming of age.” She uses many symbols that represent coming of age, and how Bobby went from being a child to a semi-man. He has matured majorly, but he is just not fully there yet with becoming a full man. Bobby overcomes constant obstacles while trying to conquer coming of age. He gives up playing basketball all the time, spending all day at the arcade with his friends, and being able to have fun, and live his life the way he wants to live it. Becoming a man Bobby is forced with constant obstacles, but he knows and is ready to face the reality with them.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of The Book 'The First Part Last'
    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Summary Of The Book 'The First Part Last'

    In conclusion Bobby needs to go through problems and tasks in life that make it hard for him like taking care of feather and going to school. He encounters a lot of problems like Nia leaving. Bobby is going through changes and is coming of age. I can support this because he has been taking care of a baby and giving up things he loves and realizes the importance of becoming a parent and taking care of a newborn. Giving up things like the basketball he plays with and the arcade he goes to is a symbol of caring for someone you need to take care of. Moral of the story is that life is going to flip upside down and you as you are growing up will need to know the importance of working and taking care of something because we all come of…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Angela's Ashes: a Memoir
    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Angela's Ashes: a Memoir

    Philomena Flynn was Angela’s cousin. Philomena was one of the people who pressured Malachy McCourt Sr. to marry Angela Sheehan after their mishap when Angela first came to the United States resulting in a pregnancy out of wedlock. Instead of Philomena helping her cousin she tracked down Malachy to make the pregnancy Malachy’s problem. Philomena tracked down Malachy McCourt at a bar. Philomena stated to Frank McCourt,” Our cousin no sooner gets off the boat than you are at her. We have morals in Limerick, you know, morals. We’re not like jackrabbits from Antrim, a place crawling with Presbyterians,” (McCourt 16). Philomena also commented on how Malachy had an odd manner (McCourt 16). After the birth of Angela and Malachy’s first son, a party was given at Philomena’s house. Philomena made a statement to Angela, “I’d make sure there’s no more children. He don’t have a job, so he don’t, an’ never will the way he drinks. So… no more children,” (McCourt 19). Philomena had her fill with her cousin after Angela gave birth to another child. Philomena and her family made it clear, “they wanted nothing to do with Angela until she came to her senses,” (McCourt 19). Years later Philomena intervenes in Angela’s life again. Philomena gets in contact with Angela’s mother, Margaret Sheehan, asking for money to send Angela and her family back to Ireland (McCourt 45). Philomena even goes as far as buying a steamer trunk and hiring a van to take the family to…

    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Elements of Maggie (the First Two Chapters)
    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Elements of Maggie (the First Two Chapters)

    Stephen Crane’s first novel Maggie (girl of the streets) is a tale of uncompromising realism. The story chronicles the titular Maggie, a girl who lives in the Bowery with her emotionally abusive parents and brothers Jimmie and Tommy. The novel revolves around the trials and tribulations of Maggie and her family in the Bowery. Highlights of the story include the death of Maggie’s father and brother Tommie which drive Pete to turn into a cold and hard person by novels end. Maggie desperately tries to escape bowery life, but in the end Maggie succumbs to the Bowery and dies a broken woman. Crane is considered a Naturalist, and in Crane’s naturalist world no one escapes their biological chains. Maggie’s parents are both unfit parents: they are emotionally and physically abusive, and have alcoholic tendencies. Despite Maggie’s and (to a lesser extent) Jimmie’s longings to escape the bleak world of the bowery they do not. Crane is making a statement on the adverse effects of industrialization and urbanization with the novel. Industrialization and urbanization on the surface create jobs and strengthen business, but upon further examination it disenfranchises the very people it promises to help. Many of the families in the bowery are immigrant families who become wage slaves. Maggie’s family is no different; because of their dependency on big business they have become disenfranchised and incapable of growth. This idea of being set into a world where there is no escape from one's biological heredity that Crane showcases the in the novel is mirrors Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory. According to Darwin only the biologically strong would survive in the world, with the weaker specimens expiring. In Crane’s novel the people are not inherently weak; it is the environment that shapes them and prevents them from growing. Ultimately, all of the characters in Maggie are victims of the Bowery life.…

    • 1532 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay analyzing Anne Bradstreet's The Author to Her Book; focuses on the complex attitude of the author towards her work.
    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Essay analyzing Anne Bradstreet's The Author to Her Book; focuses on the complex attitude of the author towards her work.

    Anne Bradstreet's The Author to Her Book describes the complex attitude of the author - specifically the attitude of an author towards her work. Through use of a controlling metaphor, that of a child, Bradstreet manages to convey all of her feelings towards one of her works.…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Angela's Ashes Dialectic Journal
    • 2532 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Angela's Ashes Dialectic Journal

    “The MacNamara sisters said Angela was nothing but a rabbit and they wanted nothing to do with her till she came to her senses. Their husbands agreed”(19).…

    • 2532 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Why Does The Red Balloon Symbolize Robby In The Great Gatsby
    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Why Does The Red Balloon Symbolize Robby In The Great Gatsby

    The ball symbolizes Bobby's childhood because basketball is a game, and Bobby's life is trying to tell him he is done with games.My first reason is the basketball is mainly for kids or teens and when the ball rolls away from Bobby that means it is time to be done with being a kid. My second reason is basketball is something to do in your free time, but Bobby has ran out of free time. My third reason is Bobby has much bigger things in life than basketball. This is a sign of maturity because Bobby need to stop with the games and grow…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hoop Dreams Analysis
    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hoop Dreams Analysis

    The movie Hoop Dreams traced a poor young talented African American named Arthur Agee from grade eight to college. Arthur hoped to play professional basketball in the future to help his family to escape poverty. Despite the fact that his family background and the neighborhood he lived in, disadvantaged him to pursue his goal in many ways. Firstly, Arthur is determined to play professional basketball, in order to help out his family. Secondly, his ability to adapt difficult circumstances played a significant role toward his success in basketball. Thirdly, his education value hoping that playing basketball could lead him to a college education. For Author playing basketball, it is not only a fun activity for him, but it also acted as a tool to…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In The First Part Last
    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Symbolism In The First Part Last

    The basketball in the First Part Last represents childhood. It rolled away towards his mom’s room so he has not matured yet in the novel. Bobby is not matured , yet he still wants his mom to help him out with Feather and do it for him. He needs to take responsibility and he hasn’t done that yet…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    An Analysis Of Alice Walker's The Color Purple
    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An Analysis Of Alice Walker's The Color Purple

    Initially, you get the impression of Celie as a shadow in the background- the kind of person that you wouldn’t notice even if she was right in front of you. She was utterly silent in her life, never getting in anyone’s way or saying what was on her mind; until she discovered the healing power of writing a series of letters, addressed to God first, and then her sister. Through her writing, she discovers her true nature and the woman that she was supposed to be in her own life.…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Incredible Woman Analysis
    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Incredible Woman Analysis

    In the novel The Edible Woman, author Margaret Atwood tackles the difficult subject of anorexia nervosa. Although this subject is often handled with kid gloves by many writers, Atwood’s novel candidly addresses how different food related stigmas affect the main character’s day to day existence. In the late 1960's, young women faced a society that expected them to conform to certain qualities in both appearance and demeanor. The portrayal of young women in popular movies, television and music of the time period led to internal conflicts among women who struggled to achieve the norm put forth by society. Young women everywhere were convinced they needed to look and act like Marcia Brady and turn into Carol Brady even if meant sacrificing their…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fledgling By Octavia Butler Analysis
    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Fledgling By Octavia Butler Analysis

    The novel Fledgling by Octavia Butler analyses race relations and eugenics in society. Through the use of another intelligent species Butler lets the reader experience what happens when humans are not at the top of the food chain. While making the reader question the controversy over the use of eugenics and genetic engineering, Butler uses the story as a parallel of race relations in America.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics