Laurie Halse Anderson’s historical fiction novel, Fever 1793, depicts the life of Mattie Cook, a young girl growing up in Philadelphia. After yellow fever strikes, Mattie flees Philadelphia only to learn that the fever epidemic is everywhere and she must learn to survive in a city turned frantic with disease. She finds herself caring for others all while keeping herself alive. Anderson creates the lesson that while becoming independent can be difficult, it is an important part of every person's life by using symbolism and terminology from the time period. Anderson teaches many lessons in her novel but among the most important is taught by showing the many steps Mattie took to reach full independence. She began as a bratty teenager with her head in the clouds, and ended as an independent woman with dreams and aspirations. She discovers her identity and while her situation is out of the ordinary, she proves that aging and revealing your true personality can make the difference between life and death. In the beginning of the novel, Mattie feels that she should be praised whenever she does something for someone else. For example, in the beginning of the book on page 3 it says, “I made a face at the doorway. I had just saved her precious quilt from disaster, but would she appreciate it? Of course not.” This demonstrates that Mattie wants perpetual praise from others, an expectation that children often possess. Mattie is also too young to understand the responsibilities that come with adulthood. This is evident in the novel when Mattie is dreaming of a future with no responsibility. Mattie …show more content…
Using these strategies may connect the story to the lives of the readers, as it has mine, by showing that we all must grow up and become
When people first start reading a book there is one burning question: "What is this story about?" It’s a heavy question, especially for a fiction novel with so many fabricated details. You can fix this by saying a story is all about decisions. Of course, there are other themes, but the entire story is connected by the questions characters ask themselves and the outcome of their own answers. We can think about how this mimics real life. How every day we are forced to consider life's chance situations; some casual, some pressing, but all of them impacting our final growth as people and those around us to some degree. A good example of this is when in the book "The Outsiders", our protagonist Jonny decided to kill Bob in self-defense, this resulted in Jonny and Ponyboy going on the run. The decisions, the choices, that were made by Jonny change the course of his and his cohort's entire lives in an instant--directing the whole final tale and story outcome.
What would happen if a deadly fever passes through your city killing your friend and getting your grandpa sick.How will Matilda deal with all this loss This sets the mood for this story .Even thouugh people may say that you can’t tell the mood and the setting of this
The stereotypes of the elderly are influencing Mattie's life. She is telling herself not to do things because of her age whether or not she is physically able to do them, simply because people associate age with inability and dependence upon others. Her family and friends are expecting and encouraging this dependence.
In the era of the 1790’s many people were devastated by many diseases such as yellow fever. Not having the scientific advancements we have today, many unfortunate families went through a lot of hardships to survive during such difficult times including Matilda's family. Matilda’s life, which is the main character, is a perfect example of what many people had to go through during the yellow fever epidemic. Matilda had to learn how to thrive during painful experiences such as the sickness of her mother, the death of her friend Polly, the murder of her grandfather, and she also learn how to recover from devastating circumstances.
Mattie’s business is also busy due to the fact that there is “another whole set of people who [speak] spanish and [live] with her upstairs for various lengths of time” (Kingsolver 82). In having Mattie run an illegal sanctuary, Kingsolver indicates that Mattie is gallant. Since the penalty for this ‘crime’ is, a minimum of a couple years in prison, the author further insinuates that she is valiant and not at all like the pusillanimous women depicted on certain television shows. This female character is portrayed as what people would expect a heroic man would act like. Though she starts of her a few of her characters as already refusing to be limited with traditional gender roles, through character development others begin to break free of the shackles associated with their gender as
How Melinda changed over time Symbolism is where you use objects that represent another object. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, a tree represents Melinda and how she feels. In Speak, Melinda is raped at a party during the summer, and she becomes mute and reserved. When she goes to school, she’s depressed and reticent. In the novel, Speak, the use of trees as a symbol reveals the growth of the main character, Melinda.
Speak Essay “ A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree” (Spike milligan). Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl named Melinda that got raped at a party, ever since then she lost all her friends and struggled talking to people in high school. The tree in the book Speak is a motif in the story that symbolizes the growth of Melinda. First, she is assigned to draw a tree and thought it was too easy, Then, she tried stepping it up by adding color to the tree, finally, she built confidence in herself and agreed that she can do a better on drawing a tree.
In the book, Mattie starts out as a lazy teenager who needs to be told what to do by her over controlling mother, but throughout the story, she becomes more responsible and adult-like. For
This book is a diary written by a young girl named Caroline Cowles Richards. Carolina tells the reader about her life. How at a early age her and her sister Anna, lost their mother, were sent to their grandparents house in canandaigua, New York. They were brought up with simplicity, sweetness and Puritan traditions. The diary begins in 1852, and is continued until 1872. She recalls swift transitions throughout her life that the reader can recall events happening in a history book. The majority of the diary takes place well before the civil war begins, and it is fascinating to see what the daily
When reading a novel, readers are typically more engaged in novels that capitalize on literary elements. In the art of writing novels, many authors, knowingly, capitalize one dynamic aspect of literature known as point of view. Having a change in the point of view forces the reader to pay closer attention to the words being read and, as a result, they more fully immerse themselves in the story. Using a changing point of view also allows for the development of complex characters. Developing complex characters is crucial to the formation of an engaging story.
recognize these aspects of a story is a way to give more depth to it, making the story
This literature bridging text and context, helped me understand that every author when he writes a story he puts in it details that relate to his life. Behind every story there is a life, the life of the author who wrote it.
A common technique used by authors throughout literature is the growth of the main character into their own. From the maturation of a selfish soul into a triumphant hero, or the rise of a shunned underdog into a loved champion, authors have create situations for their characters that teach readers a significant life lesson about the world we live in. For example, John Updike’s Sammy from A&P and Flannery O’Connor’s Grandmother from A Good Man is Hard to Find both receive wake up calls from the respective antagonists of their stories. They are put in high-stress situations where their morals and beliefs are pushed to the limit. Both O’Connor and Updike utilized the high-stress situations to make the reader question their own beliefs; therefore, causing the readers to empathize with the main characters. Sammy and the Grandmother experience unique situations that force them to question their way of thinking; however, those lessons are not restricted to them, but also lessons everyone has to learn.
On Mattie’s quest for vengeance many people try to take advantage of her due to her age and her sex. When Mattie goes to obtain the horses that her father had purchased before his death she was able to negotiate with the man selling them to her tried to overprice them back down to the original price. “You are powerful young for a horse trader, not to mention your sex” (Portis 89). Mattie has broken the tradition of women being week in society when she stands up for herself in situations. It is very unusual for women especially in this time to be independent and fend for oneself. But Mattie is young and makes the wrong decisions at time. Her mother is not as smart or independent as she is and needs Mattie to help run the family business. She receives a letter from her family’s lawyer stating “Your mother will make no decision without you, nor will she sign anything,” (87) Mattie creates her own agenda and completely disregarding her family’s needs. She makes her choice as an independent woman to avenge her father and she goes through all the hardships till the job is done.
Mattie is a determined young girl, but also a little naïve which makes her unintentionally funny. She shoes that she is very determined in her beliefs and decisions. One example of this is when she is talking to LaBoeuf about the journey and that he is not to come along with Rooster and her. She shoes that she is naïve when she is faced with ordinary situations. One example of this is in the book (Pg. 18-19) when she says “At the city police station we found two officers but they were having a fist fight and where not available for inquiries.” This shows that she is very determined yet still naïve.