Floyd Dell’s “The Blanket” is a story about family and relationships; it is about Petey’s family. Petey is a grandson who loves his grandfather dearly. He tries to behave like an adult and saves his grandfather from a lonely life in an old folk’s home. The relationship between Petey and his dad got strained because his dad was sending his grandfather away in order to marry a women that Petey did not like.
The events in the story are presented by the author in chronological order. The author introduces the main characters and the setting of the story at the beginning. The story takes place on a fine September night, under a silver moon outside on the porch of Petey’s home. “I’ll get my fiddle,” said the grandfather to his grandson Petey, “and play ye some of the old tunes.” Instead the grandfather brings a big, expensive, double blanket, that is red with black cross stripes which is a going away present from his son, Petey’s dad. Petey’s feelings are stirred because he knows that it is the last night he will be spending with his grandfather as he will be sent away in the morning. He sadly realized this when he saw the blanket. He wanted to cry but at the age of eleven, he felt that he was too old to do so. The grandfather played many old songs on his fiddle that reflect the joys and sorrows the family have experienced together. This shows the reader that the grandfather experiences a deep internal conflict. He probably experiences sadness and a little regret because he
The poem “The White Porch” by Cathy Song is an illustration of maturity and coming of age. There is an innocent tone to the beginning of the poem with sensual undertones as the writing progress’s. In the poem, a woman is reminiscing about her young womanhood as she sits on her porch awaiting her presumed lover. Song creates the character of the woman to be of a homemaker, describing her duties taking care of laundry, having a cake in the oven and snapping beans in her lap. Through the visualization that Song creates it is assumed that the woman is pregnant, and as she is waiting for her husband she thinks back to the things she herself used to do when she was younger with her own mother. She is reflecting on the way her mother raised her thinking about how she wants to raise her own child. The speaker admits to sneaking in her lover late at night behind her mother’s back, but does not seem to feel remorseful because all her decisions led to where she is in her life now. Cathy Songs poem “The White Porch” portrays the transition of a girl into a woman using symbolism, imagery and simile.
“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke sparks differing opinions within the minds of many. Roethke was influenced greatly by his experiences as a young boy. For instance, his uncle and father both died when he was the age of fourteen. “My Papa’s Waltz” is written in remembrance of his father after this dreadful occurrence. The author’s use of imagery brings light to the his adoration for his father. Notably, his way of stringing together ideas reinforces the fond memories they shared. Roethke’s captivating choice of words supports his purpose to make known the love he has for this man. While the subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Theodore Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” to bring attention to the loving relationship he had with his father.
“Undressing Aunt Frieda,” is a poem about the narrator’s remembrance of his Aunts life while visiting her on a death bed. The narrative is in first person, and takes place as the narrator and his daughter are about to leave the relative. The first half of the poem explores Frieda and her past. The second half is about how the narrator and daughter have grown and learned from the aunt. While undressing her aunt, the narrator feels emotions and remembers his past with Frieda. The poem describes these emotions and memories in a metaphor explaining unique characteristics of how Aunt Frieda undressed, and how she impacted the relatives.
The first literary device the author uses to build the theme is flashback. The reader knows how the story is based on one lengthy memory, written in first person point of view by the narrator, who is now a grown man reminiscing about his childhood days with his younger brother. The narrator recalls, “But sometimes (like right now), as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone beings to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away- and I remember Doodle” (416). This point of view is based purely on memory of the past, which enables the reader of having the ability to understand and recognize Brother’s mistakes and how to not make the same mistakes of hurting the ones we love. The reader feels a genuine atmosphere of remembrance, reminiscence, and guilt. Thus, the reader experiences a sense of growing up with Doodle and Brother, since the story ranges through a number of years. Flashback lets the reader know that Doodle is no longer alive, lets them be empathetic, and the atmosphere of the narrator talking about his past experiences as a child leads one to believe his lesson being taught. Therefore, flashback adds a special element of trust, since the reader is aware of about the character’s past, personal emotions, and regrets.
No matter the era, location, or even times of the darkest personal conflict, the power of love tends to always prevail. The power behind the love of family in particular seems to be the greatest. Despite the differences in the relationships, the deep bond of brotherhood in “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin shares some of the same levels of devotion that is present in “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty which is about the arduous trek a grandmother endures for her grandson. Although the stories differ in certain areas, both “Sonny’s Blues” and “A Worn Path” emphasizes the dedication one has both emotionally and physically and the importance of family bonds when someone they love encounters challenging and life threatening times by the displays of devotion to help the ones they love.
He promised to take good care of their son and to have him back in time for the Christmas Eve dinner. After they had finished their last ski run the son was not very happy and wanted to be home. He says,”…I swayed from foot to foot, clapping my mittens and wishing I was home. I could see everything. The green tablecloth, the plates with the holly pattern, the red candles waiting to be lit.”(Wolff, 1) You can tell that the son was not too happy with his father in the beginning of the story. He even tells his dad;”We should have left before, Doctor.” (Wolff, 1) The reason why he was not happy with his father was because it seemed like they were not going to get him home in time for the Christmas Eve dinner. His father also seemed very concerned about his son. After they started driving on the snowy road he told his son, “Don’t ever try this yourself….. You need, I don’t know—a certain instinct.” (Wolff, 2)
This song starts off very much like the Jimi Hendrix guitar solo in Purple Haze. The difference in this piece is that it tones down a bit so you are able to hear the lyrics of the song although it still feels that the guitar is the “star” or solo of the song. I believe Janis Joplin is also the lead singer in this song and she has an amazing voice. It is a rough, blues feel and she could hit some high notes. Her style of singing is amazing.
The short story “My Life with the Wave” by Octavio Paz is an allegorical piece that utilizes water as an extended metaphor for dysfunctional, emotional changes that occur in romantic relationships, and, more specifically, in women. The wave is personified through female characterization to highlight the uncooperative nature of women in romantic relationships. The various transformations for water act as a metaphor for various transformations in a dysfunctional romantic relationship. The water is also symbolic of love in that it goes on forever and is often inescapable. Paz effectively applies feminine characteristics to a wave in order to depict unpredictable and emotional human transformations in dysfunctional relationships that
In the third stanza, the narrator is remembering some details like the broken knuckle of his father (line 10), and that his ear was scraping on his father's belt buckle (line 12). As well in the fourth stanza, the narrator mentions the dirt caked on his father's hand (line 14). These images of the son imply a hard working father who had just come home from the plant and was spending time with his little son before putting him to bed. These images also support my point of view that the author still has pleasant memories of the event, which would not be the case if there was abuse,
His feelings of betrayal are translated to his sleep, as he dreams of his dad playing "fiddle and bow" to a "malignant" dance, the intensity of the words, reveal how serious the bond between mother and child are, and how hurtful a brush aside is to a juvenile's spirit.
Had Sigmund Freud lived 40 more years (to the overripe old age of 123), he would have been delighted to hear such a wonderful example of his life's psychoanlytic work embodied in the haunting lyrics of "Mother." Or had Oedipus lived a few millennium longer than his fictional death he would have found an adversary in the youthful Pink, a young boy whose desire for maternal acceptance and love is arguably equal to the greatest mother-centered protagonists in the history of literature. Contrary to the eye-gouging antics of Oedipus or even the grandiose melodrama later in Floyd's album, "Mother" is relatively low-key and emotionally subtle. The music itself is interestingly split, though with few if any
In the film "Lean on Me", Joe Clark, a fictional version of the real Mr. Clark who was the principal at an inner-city high school in Paterson, New Jersey, is the ultimate example of an authoritarian leader. In the movie, Clark approaches his job at a decaying academic setting with single-minded goals: to clean up the school, physically and academically, in order to help the students who have potential to graduate and to get rid of the ones who are destined to fail, according to his perceptions. Clark 's leadership style has been both widely praised as successful and a model for similar such schools, and has also been criticized for its bullying tactics. This paper will discuss Clark 's methods of leadership, his style and tactics as
Porter's "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" depicts the story of a dying woman's life. Throughout her eighty years of life Mrs. Weatherall has had her fair share of disappointments, heartaches, and unfavorable outcomes. This short story is written in a manner that allows the reader to get an outside view looking in; similar to looking at the story through a window as if being acted out in front of you in the theater. The story is eloquently written and leaves the reader with a sense of familiarity towards the family. The populations of readers who have had the pleasure of experiencing this pathetic story have come to relate their own experiences and disappointments towards the story and have empathetic feelings towards the main
“Time is gone the song is over”, now what? In life humanity craves more time. Time is the one fixation we cannot get enough of. Since humanity is required to age, time seems to slip away. We don’t comprehend how time is synthesized. Society knows it goes on forever, regardless of what happens in life. Pink Floyd’s album, Dark Side Of The Moon, had immense success. It was recorded in the summer of 1972 on Capital records. The song Time was written by Roger Waters and recorded in the progressive era of rock and roll. The song is important because it demonstrates how people don’t realize that time slips away. The song displays this by means of engineering, instruments, lyrics, and arrangement. Therefore, taking us into how this song fits the historical context of the progressive era of rock and roll.
In times of war it is quite common for people to start questioning their values and their actions and be unsure of the path they are taking. This is common because to protect our values we often are told that we have to take actions that conflict with those values. One example would be how to protect our liberties we must sometimes restrain those liberties during treacherous times. However, the ultimate question is whether or not going against the very values we stand for is a hypocritical and wrongful action plan. Bruce Springsteen approaches this very issue in his song “Devils & Dust”, from the CD with the same title, and he subtly criticizes how the United States is betraying