CRANK & THE LOVELY BONES Synthesis Essay English 11 Honours In both novels, Crank by Ellen Hopkins and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold are both narrated by young female characters, who both have family issues. The two protagonist' parents drift apart and do not have a good, loving, relationship. These conflicts within the girls' families cause not only problems at home but an internal struggle for the protagonists. Crank is narrated by Kristina, who also refers to herself as 'Bree'. Kristina's parents had separated when she was quite young and her father moved far away after the divorce.
Lisette will ask, “‘You’re going to talk me with you, Momma, O.K. ?’” (Oates). The insecurity that she has when it comes to her mother is apparent because no child who has a healthy relationship with their guardian thinks that they would get left behind if the parent moves away. The faulty communication is further proven when Molina asked, “‘When did you last see your mother, Lisette?’ Shyly Lisette mumbled that she did not know. “(Oates).
With the guidance of her religious and courageous mother Dolores, and the guidance of her teacher Mr. Watts, she learns many lessons and matures greatly, ultimately becoming a strong woman. Mr. Watts reads a novel by Charles Dickens called Great Expectations to Matilda’s class, which impacts her isolated childhood life on the island. Lloyd Jones explores opposing forces, such as family and literature, parent and teacher and white and black to emphasize the strong conflict between characters, ultimately affecting Matilda’s experiences. Matilda matures immensely due to opposing ideologies and learns many valuable lessons. The conflict between family and literature is due to disagreements about beliefs in fictional characters, religion, and the importance of family, thus making the two ideologies clash unavoidably.
Emily’s mother was only nineteen at this time. She has the struggle of deciding to stay home with her child or to work during this depression. This decision causes the mother to always feel a sense of regret. She hopes her daughter can feel beautiful on the inside despite what she sees on the outside. The mother reflects back to when Emily was a baby.
It’s not easy for Connie to live with her mother, who constantly harps on the way Connie looks and how she doesn’t live up to her sister reputation. “If Connie’s name was mentioned it was in a disapproving tone.”[453]. Every time Connie’s mother comments anything about June’s profile, it pushed Connie unconsciously to be nothing like her sister. Mother usually complained about her about habit of looking into a mirror. The narrator states the mother’s resentment of Connie’s beauty because “her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie.”[451].
Esme was very close to her maternal Grandmother and spent a lot of time with her growing up. She had a deeper love for her mother and sensed that she was never entirely happy and became very protective of her worrying what she would do if anything happened to her, a recurring worry that would effect Esme at night as she tried to sleep. Her problems continued in school as she was both verbally and physically bullied over a period of several months, not disclosing this to anyone including her mother in fear of her worrying about Esme, the only record of this was kept written in a diary. Doing well at school was a high priority in the family, anything below excellent was considered as a failure. Although when Esme did do well she felt wonderful, these feelings helped her feel good about herself.
In Search Of Heritage In the story “Everyday Use” Alice Walker told the story from Mama’s point of view. The theme of this story is of a mother who is trying to cope with changing times and two daughters who are completely different. Having the story told from momma's point of view helps to reveal how momma feels about herself and how she defines her daughters Dee and Maggie. "Everyday Use" is told from momma's point of view which helps to reveal how she feels about herself. Momma feels that she is an uneducated person, she says "I never had an education myself," (157) this creates barriers between her and her daughter Dee who has a college education.
Josephine Alibrandi argues with her mother about her visiting her grandmother after school, her school behaviour, her mother’s personal life, her mother’s relationship with men other than her father and her own relationship with Jacob Coote. These are all the issues that teenagers express via arguments to their parents. Another association with adolescence is peer pressure. Throughout the novel, Josephine is pressured by her friends to do something which she believes isn’t right. An example of this is the walk-a-thon where Josephine is put in charge of taking care of the back of the group but she abandons her duty as her friends convince her into skipping school to meet a celebrity.
In Hanging Fire the speaker repeats the lines “and momma’s in the bedroom with the door closed”, at the end of each stanza (3, 11-12). The repetitions of these lines drive home the point that the speaker does not have much of a relationship with her mother. The speaker seeks to spend time with her mother and have an actual relationship, but the constant closed door serves as the separation between the two of them. The speaker is going through many emotions and tough times for a girl, and while she should have the guidance of her mother to help her, she is left alone to navigate her way through puberty and life. In On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City the speaker faces some ethical concerns while listening to an elderly passenger recite some historical facts about landmarks on a train.
When she notices her mother in the room, a mother who speaks broken English, and with whom Tan realizes that she speaks broken English to, feels as though her elaborate speech is wrong, that it doesn’t fit well. When her tale transitions to the hardships her mother has gone through for her inability to speak ‘intelligent’ English, the main point of the essay is first made known. How do the different dialects and ‘Englishes’ used affect the way others perceive you and does their use gives and takes away intimacy and emotion. To come to this point, Tan relates to stories from her childhood, of a mother using her child to speak for her so that she isn’t judged, of a mother who is looked down upon despite her intelligence, just because she cannot speak English well. She goes on to say that her mother’s poor grip of English affects her too, limiting her skills in English classes, all the while teachers prompt her to transition her focus to maths and sciences.