Indigenous people are traditionally known for their strong connection to their land, culture, and community. However, in the novel In Search Of April Raintree written by Beatrice Monsioner, this reality is challenged. Beatrice Monsioner shows how big of a negative impact society has on Indigenous peoples through this novel. Two sisters April and Cheryl Raintree have been faced with brutal experiences of victimization. Their lives have been turned upside down for who they are and because of this April had chosen to leave her identity behind for something society would accept. While Cheryl went strong with her deep ties to her culture and people but at the end they had come to realize the truth.…
In the section “Red Clowns” from the book The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros illustrates how being chosen is not as innocent as society makes it seem when the character Esperanza gets raped. While Esperanza and her friend Sally are at a carnival, Sally is chosen by a big boy and leaves with him (99). Sally is chosen because she was pretty and her being chosen was a positive event for her as she left voluntarily. She gets to be the fairy tale princess and gets a happy ending for the night. Meanwhile Esperanza is left behind and is chosen, but in a negative way. After being raped, Esperanza describes being chosen is not like how it is in “all the storybooks and movies” (99). In fairytales, being chosen is a wonderful thing since the…
Mia Winchell is a 13 year old girl who lives in the countryside down South with her family and her cat, Mango. Mia has a special secret that she has been hiding for 13 years. This secret keeps her apart from her classmates, her friends (including her best friend), and even her family. The book opens during the summer between 7th and 8th grade, and the story unfolds over the next few months. As she begins her final year of middle school, Mia decides that she no longer wants to keep this important detail about herself private. She decides to tell her family and friends this unusual fact about herself - that sounds, numbers, and words have color for her. Her courageous journey towards sharing this private information, as well as the responses and reactions of those around her, comprise the rest of the story.…
Worry is to be conscientiously or emotionally blocked by fear . This is how Manuel felt in Gary Soto’s “La Bamba” although he should have been relaxed Gary Soto’s theme for this story is that you should relaxed over things that are just for fun. He expresses this through Manuels emotions, Other character’s reactions and Manuels private thoughts. Soto shows our theme by including characters reactions to Manuel’s performance to develop feeling in the characters contributing to the theme. Soto states in La bamba “Funny.…
[1] A specialist who evaluates and treats patients with speech, language, cognitive-communication and swallowing disorders in individuals of all ages, from infants to the elderly.…
Balboa kept threatening them and then he let the dogs out. They started attacking the natives. They were eating them and biting them. Balboa told his crew to come out and kill them too. I was panicking…
Becoming Naomi León, written by Pam Munoz Ryan, is about a young girl named Naomi Soledad León Outlaw, who deals with lots of struggles getting through her unexpected life. Naomi, the main character and narrator, grew up in a small town known as Lemon Tree, California for most of her life. She lives with her Gram and brother, Owen, in the Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho Park. Owen was born with some health problems, however; his Gram helped him conquer those problems by taking him to a therapist. One thing that Owen likes is tape on his chest because it helps him breathe.…
Behavioral biologist at Edinburgh University, Victoria Braithwaite, her article, Hooked on a Myth, sheds light on the matter that fish feel pain. She supports this claim by first utilizing that fact that millions of fish are caught on barbed hooks every year for amusement. She then explains how she conducted her experiments with the fish. Towards the end, Braithwaite questions if humanity even knows what consciousness is. Finally she concludes her argument by stating that society should be aware of their actions. Braithwaite's purpose is to notify her readers that a change needs to occur, because there is not a justifiable excuse as to why humans are cruel to any species.…
Hobos Hustlers and Backsliders was a project conducted on the study of Euro-American constructions of poverty and homelessness. Several notable homeless subcultures in San Francisco were analyzed, with particular focus given to the adult male homeless population. Gowan’s dissertation opens up arguments around the concepts of a self-reproducing culture of poverty, and the counter-argument that irregular practices among the poor represent common-sense adaptations to difficult circumstances (Gowan xx).…
Sylvia’s initiation in the short story The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara, is striking because Miss Moore gives the opportunity to the children to evaluate the difference between the fifth avenue and their poor neighborhood. However, one of the story’s main themes is that innocence is a handicap and the political and moral innocence that are represented from the beginning to the end of the story brings the main character to many reflections. This idea is revealed as Sylvia’s ignorance towards the different social classes, Sylvia’s questions on the purpose of wealth and the hard realization of the true facts of inequality. Due to the children’s lack of political and moral knowledge,…
Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures, as in killing a person who is close to you in order to save them from further danger. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, two characters, George and Lennie, are best friends. They travel together, and work together. George is faced with a tough decision, and of course he would only do what was best for Lennie. Wouldn’t a friend always do what was best for a friend? George killed Lennie out of mercy, not murder.…
Toni Cade Bambara’s short story “The Lesson” is told from the perspective of a young girl named Sylvia. Sylvia is not the most reliable reliable narrator as a result of her age and upbringing- she forms opinions of others based on how they relate to her life; if a completely innocent person happens to affect her life in a way that inconveniences her, he or she will be portrayed only in a negative light whether or not this is deserved. Throughout the story, she frames her Miss Moore, who is her neighbor as well as a major protagonist of the story, as an enemy. Miss Moore, who is fairly new to the block, considers it her duty as a college-educated woman to be responsible for the education of the underprivileged children in the area, “and…
When someone hurts your feelings, what do you do? Do you let that steal the joy God has given you? Or do you allow your imagination and your feelings run wild? The Gospel of Luke tells us what we should do when people hurt us: “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.…
The word “Evil” carries with it a weight condemned by almost every culture, religion and person around the world. Where it is universally understood that when evil pertains to something it directly means that it is malevolent and immoral. When evil corresponds to the actions of another human, so much to the point where the human is considered evil and wicked, we then have an individual who possesses a strong moral evil and lust for the corruption of humanity. I strongly believe that the most vile, wicked, and immoral person to ever live throughout history is Vlad Dracula (or) Vlad the Impaler.…
Throughout human history, people have shown through many ways that they possess the ability to exude pure evil (or some form of it). There are a few exceptions to this vile display, however it is nearly impossible to deny that everyone possesses it. I believe that humans are bad because they attempt/commit acts of murder and violence (and in some severe cases genocide) and are obsessed with power and self-improvement.…