The novel, The House on Mango Street is filled with race and gender discrimination. In the novel strangers come into Esperanza’s neighborhood and discriminate Esperanza and her neighbors. Also because Esperanza is a girl, she is not treated equally as the boys and must follow the traditional gender roles for females. Race and gender come into conflict when Esperanza is unable to interact with boys and people discriminate her neighborhood .…
When one reads Elizabeth Panttaja’s “Cinderella: Not so morally superior” the individual may find themselves wrapped in a slew of opinions. Not only does Panttaja’s view illuminate a new perspective entirely it also can be described as exceptionally entertaining as well. Panttaja portrays a theme that boldly announces to the audience that things are not always as they appear to be. When embracing the opinionated content of this literature the reader cannot be an individual who is indecisive. In the event that the audience member is indecisive then they must beware because Panttaja has a great gift of persuasion. As a general overview however, her bold ideas are rather far-fetched.…
The book, The Glass Castle, is a memoir written by Jeanette Walls, which tells about her childhood and growing up with an alcoholic dad and a mentally ill mother. The "Glass Castle" is a page-turner that should catch any reader’s attention. It is a book that would make you feel upset and angry. It shows an unconventional childhood and how that had made her stronger and successful woman in the future. A sad story with a happy ending. Jeannette Walls had a dysfunctional family and her childhood is hard to believe.…
The short story “Gore” by Sarah Ellis revolves around twin siblings. Amy and Lucas are complete opposites. Amy is shown as an intelligent creative girl whereas Lucas is portrayed as a stereotypical childish brother. He is very rough, inconsiderate and foolish.…
The common fairytale portrays the stereotypical “damsel in distress,” who is helpless until her male savior typically rescues her. Many fairytales address the theme of gender roles as well as many others. The female character takes on the feeble, desolate role, while the male character takes on the strong, hero role similar to the stories of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. However, Elizabeth, the protagonist of The Paper Bag Princess defies typical gender roles as a female character and becomes the hero of the story. Cinderella and The Paper Bag Princess share many qualities, but have major differences as well. Cinderella is an example of a woman who occupies traditional, domestic roles, but she does not portray the modern, liberated woman Elizabeth exhibits.…
Many little girls these days dream of the societal idea of “successful”. Having the perfect husband, a beautiful home, a great job, being a great mom, and a whole lot of money. These ideas are also called “gender roles”. The gender role of a woman has to fit many standards. In the novella, The House on Mango street, Esperanza becomes more aware her role as a woman in society as she encounters situations of the gender role of a woman.…
In all aspects of life, women are pressured to be someone they are not. They are put in situations that force them to chose a path of life. In “The House on Mango Street”, Esperanza is forced to think about leaving Mango Street in the future, because she is surrounded by women who are pushing her to become an adult.…
When choosing a certain path, one must understand that along with that decision, there come consequences. In Ludwig’s Tieck’s tale “Eckbert the Fair, ” it is clear that the characters are being punished for their personal actions. The supernatural forces in this fairy tale, simply laid out challenges for the characters to see if they would follow the right path. Like everyone else, Bertha and Eckbert had come across decisions in their life, where they were able to understand the difference between picking the right from wrong choice. By deciding to go against their self-conscious, and making the wrong choices, Bertha and Eckbert meet a tragic fate. This tale is haunted by supernatural and psychological forces, which greatly influence the choices these character make.…
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.…
In the real world, problems and complications come up and happily ever after’s don’t exist. Sexton takes the classic story of “Cinderella”, reworks it, and makes it into her own twisted version of a fairytale. She starts the audience off with a few little “rags-to-riches” accounts comparing modern culture’s unrealistic dreams to what life really is like. Then she goes into telling the readers the famously known fairytale in a sardonic tone. The audience gets a sense of frustration from her way of expressing herself in each little story she talks about. She shows the world that its not always rainbows and butterflies, the real world is more complicated than that. Sexton’s “Cinderella” highlights despair and the delusions women have about love.…
"You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy." Alice Walker, the author of The Color Purple, begins her novel with an ambiguous threat. A fairly powerful, yet unexplained, quote begins a very powerful novel. Before opening this book, I had no idea how it was written or what it was about, I chose it solely by recommendation. I soon noticed that the whole story was to be told through letters written by the protagonist and addressed to God. I was actually very pleased to be reading something formatted different; I thought it would be more interesting. I did not know what I was in store for.…
Women are portrayed as, “weak, submissive, dependent, and self-sacrificing, while men are powerful, active, and dominant” (Parsons). The heroine is not characterized by her bravery or her intelligence but rather naivete and beauty. Though often in obvious distress, either poisoned by the evil queen, or horrendously ridiculed by her stepmother, the heroine never does anything to appease her situation, rather remaining docile, “ ‘waiting for Prince Charming to to save the day’ ” (Patel). This notion of waiting for Prince Charming teaches children, in particular girls that they themselves have little to no power in righting their own situation and instead should be reliant on a male figure. Would girls like Magnolia stick up for themselves, or would she follow in her literary idol footsteps and remain in a dangerous situation until a male figure or a figure of authority intervened? Would an adult (whom are just as equally influenced by the rhetoric of fairytales) remain in a abusive relationship, because she believes Prince Charming will come and save…
known as Sarah Ellis has mastered the art of suspense. Sarah Ellis, the author of “Gore”, used…
Sandra Cisneros uses literary techniques to characterize Rachel she uses, many metaphors and imagery to give the reader a sense of what going on in Rachel's life. The author expresses logos and ethos in the passages.…
When you think of a fairytale you initially might think of a damsel in distress and a great knight ready to battle the wicked witch to save her. However, there is more to each story than pure amusement. Each in their own way I waiting to mold young minds by teaching simple morals in a way that they can understand. Yet, by reading a politically correct version of Cinderella, it removes the simple educational values that the original portrays. For being a politically correct story it portrays humans is nothing but animals unable to control their actions. We will address couple of stereotypes that this story reinforces.…