In Karen Cushman’s children’s novel Catherine, Called Birdy, many anachronistic modern American values make their way into the medieval setting. Cushman places the novel in the heart of Britain in the Middle Ages, but somehow values appear in the novel that do not belong there. Instead of trying to hide her own values when writing the novel, Cushman embraces them, because her book would not sell otherwise. Modern people do not want to read about a young girl that obediently goes along with everything that her father wishes of her even when doing so goes against her own wishes, because standing up for oneself is something that modern Americans value very highly, and they would find the book distasteful and boring if Cushman had written it in such a way. In truth, it was likely rare that a medieval girl would stand up to her father in regards to the suitor that he picked for her.
Flowers insisted to have Marguerite take them. During the visit to Mrs. Flowers house Marguerite was told “Words mean more than what is set down on paper.” Mrs. Flowers also states “it takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.” Mrs. Flowers is saying this because Marguerite doesn’t speak much and she believes it will help her have a better education.
Even though in today's society having a job of educating young children is renowned and eminent, being a governess in the 19thcentury was considered lowly and was viewed as an underpaid servant asked to tutor children. With Jane's bold character, one would not expect her to have a job a civilization of people looked down upon. Jane limited by the inferiority of such a job only extended the idea of feminism. She was not granted equal rights compared to all the other men like Rochester. Though she did not deserve such a discriminating job, it was her only option to make a name for herself in the world.
“I hate to say there are classes, but it’s just that people are more comfortable with people of like backgrounds” this is an excerpt taken from the article which helps define the rhyme to the reason of classes. Its not that classes were developed to make people feel better or worse about themselves. People need people, and people get along best with people who are similar to themselves. In the short poem by Jane yolen in regards to Grant woods famous picture American Gothic, she says “Do not become a farmer counting crows. As if the number of the herd defines you.
Interestingly, through the main character Rosaura and her transformation, the author shows that, in class societies, social status have more power on people’s future than their actual capabilities. At the beginning of the story, Rosaura is blind about the importance of social classes in her life. For example, when she argues with her mother about Luciana being her friend, Rosaura tells her that “[she knows] nothing about being friends” (9). By her strong reaction, Rosaura shows that she is convinced that Luciana is really her friend, even though they only do homework together. She isn’t aware that they don’t belong to the same social class.
She never reflects on her mother’s difficulties as something that could’ve motivated her to become a writer. It’s possible to think that those unpleasant events might have an effect on her thoughts however. Anyone who sees that his or her parents encounter some serious problems because of their weakness in speaking any language would most likely want to avoid any similar problems in his or her life in the future. In addition, Tan’s essay also gives an important message to people who simply choose science or math because they don’t speak English well. She tries to convince people that no one needs to be really perfect in English in order to become a writer.
I got up and held Linda’s hand, grabbed her backpack and we were heading to the bus station. We passed by the “white’s only” school next to where we lived; Linda would always beg me to take her to that school; she always thought that the whites were better than her and she always wished that she was white and not black. That thought of my grandchild thinking that the whites are better than her angers me. She needs to understand that we are all equal but apparently even the whites don’t think that. They always think that they can always treat us slaves even when were not anymore.
Researched Argumentative Essay “Why Geeks are More Successful” by Adele Melander-Dayton should be required reading for English 102 classes because it shows that popularity is detrimental to high school students and that “outsiders” actually have characteristics that are beneficial in adult life and this article can convince students that popularity isn’t important, it’s harmful. Melander-Dayton’s article is based on the book “The Geeks will Inherit the Earth” by Alexandra Robbins. Robbins is the more important author in this area so I will focus primarily on what she has said as far as information, but I am analyzing Dayton’s article. High school students have always had the “in” group and various groups of outsiders (Cross 27). New studies and information are showing that, despite popular belief, popularity can be harmful to students, especially after they graduate.
In Act 2 of the play Pygmalion, Eliza visits Professor Higgins to ask him for speech lessons. She sees that in order to get a better job and earn more respect within society she must improve her speech. “...They won't take me unless I can talk more genteel...” Through Eliza's use of slang the responder can see that she is from a low socio-economic background. Her incorrect grammar also shows that she has a low level of education. The character of Eliza in this scene contrasts with the character of Higgins because he is well educated and from a high socio-economic background.
In 1974, sociologist, Sue Sharpe conducted several interviews with young girls, she found that they had low aspirations due to thinking educational success was unfeminine and being intelligent would be seen as unattractive. However, Sharpe repeated her initial research in the 1990’s and found that girls were more confident and wanted to succeed as they were more likely to see their future as an independent woman, they believed that careers were more important and being able to support themselves. This could of also been the result of the current increase in divorce rate and increase in number of single parent families, girls responded by becoming financially independent and being the breadwinner of the family. Reasons why girls are now achieving can also be the result of in-school factors such as the school curriculum, there is now a common set of core subjects, compulsory for all students such as maths and science to help equalise opportunities. A number of policies have also been implemented to raise the aspirations of girls for example GIST