The narrative of My Ántonia is a look into the past, but in his narration Jim rarely says anything directly about the idea of the past, the overall tone of the novel is very nostalgic. Jim's motive for writing his story is to try to reestablish some connection between his present as a high-powered New York lawyer and his vanished past on the Nebraska prairie; in re-creating that past, the novel represents both Jim's memories and his feelings about his memories. Within the narrative itself, characters often look back longingly toward the past that they have lost. The author also adds Motif a setting in which a person lives and moves. recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.
When Changez first moved to America he was still very much loyal to his Pakistani roots. But to try and ‘fit it’ Changez began to evolve into an American, leaving his old life and identity behind. It is in this passage that he completely realises that he had been masking his own identity in order to fit in to this new American culture. As Changez’s time in America progressed he realised that he had become so comfortable in America and in his new found ‘identity’ that he had become the “unsympathetic and annoying” American that he first despised. He was “saddened” and “shamed” to look at his home in Lahore, in comparison to his high status life in New York.
(Okay, I have not gotten back my mark for this essay yet, so it might be considered very bad. I am only putting this in here so that I can sign up. Use with discretion!) The character Francis Weed in the short story “The Country Husband” by John Cheever might be a very difficult character for the reader to sympathize with, since he did so many cruel and selfish things to the people around him. However, at the very least, his actions can be easily explained by the suppressive 1950’s environment that he had lived in for so long, his “brush with death” on the airplane which made him driven to enjoy life, as well as his family’s own self-absorbed nature that left him feeling isolated.
BLACK ELK SPEAKS: SUMMER READING About Black Elk Speaks Introduction In August 1930, the Midwestern writer John Neihardt went with his son Sigurd to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to speak with Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux. Neihardt was in the process of completing A Cycle of the West, an epic poem concerning the history of the American West. He had published the fourth section, The Song of the Indian Wars, and was looking for material for the final section, The Song of the Messiah. Neihardt had earlier become acquainted with Indian culture when he lived near the Omaha reservation at Bancroft, Nebraska, and he knew Black Elk's reputation as a holy man and the second cousin to the great Sioux Chief Crazy Horse. When the two men met, Black Elk recognized that Neihardt was a sympathetic listener, someone interested in the spiritual world and in Indian history.
In the introduction, Cather’s description of Jim could easily be a description of herself. It is possible that Cather has camouflaged herself as Jim Burden in My Ántonia because many of Jim’s thoughts and feelings in the novel were Cather’s own thoughts and feelings while growing up. Also, like Jim, Cather enjoyed visiting with immigrant neighbors, she had a love for the classics and for drama; and, like Jim, when he was middle-aged, she revisited “Ántonia” A.K.A. Anna Sadilek, her model for the character Ántonia, and renewed their friendship. This reunion inspired Cather to begin writing My Ántonia.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez Gabriel Garcia Marquez grew up in Columbia. Gabriel’s wife’s grandparents did not like the relationship of Gabriel’s mother and Gabriel’s father. Gabriel grew up with his grandparents because his grandparents did approve of the relationship. When Gabriel grew up with his grandparents, they would tell him all sorts of stories. His grandpa told him many war stories, how his grandpa was a war hero, and Gabriel’s grandpa’s political views rubbed off on him.
Ernest Hemingway’s passion was to write, and he became a great writer. He wrote his stories and his books putting pieces of his life into them. You can tell how most of his books are about men being powerful, and how women aren’t as important, because that’s how his life was. He hated it when his mother would make him wear dresses, and his father wouldn’t say anything about it. One of his short stories is called “the Undefeated.” This short story is about a man who has grown old, and he doesn’t want to admit it.
Although Henry has learned to like his surroundings, he is cut off from the traditional values of home and family. In My Antonia even though Antonia learned the ways of American people and enjoyed hanging out with Jim, she dearly missed her country and wanted to go back. She told Jim time to time about her country and described him all the places as if she never left the place. Hemingway’s “hero” Fredrick Henry tries to enjoy and only remember the good part about the war and tries not to worry about the bad parts. Only to remember the good part but not the bad parts (McConnell 3).
Through this essay, Davenport reflects on what lessons can be learned from his experiences. Finding revolves around a childhood memory of his, where on Sunday afternoons, his father would bring him to scavenge open country fields that potentially held Indian arrowheads and other unique artifacts. Davenport also touches on other semi-irrelevant stories involving his grandmother, but quickly switches his focus back to the central story. In his essay, he states the numerous lessons he has learned from searching for these Indian treasures. Davenport’s main emphasis seems to tell the reader that your childhood years naturally shape your future.
The movie opens in 1864, with the South well on its way to losing the Civil War. After recovering from a devastating injury, infantryman Inman decides to desert and make his way back to his home town of Cold Mountain, North Carolina, where he hopes to have a life with Ada, the preacher's daughter. It has been three years since they last saw each other, and he doesn't know for sure whether she is waiting for him. They hardly know each other - their interaction was brief, but left a lasting impression. However, the trek back to Cold Mountain proves to be an arduous one.