Analysis Of The Things A Brother Knows By Dana Reinhardt

    Bud, Not Buddy is a tender story about an orphaned African American living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression.  The main character, Bud, decides to try and find his father.  The only clue his mother left him was several flyers about a band in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He gets a ride to Grand Rapids, and finds Herman E. Calloway, the man that he believes is his father.  He does  not get the reception he imagines, and Herman does not believe that Bud is his son.  As it turns out, though, Bud is his grandson.  Bud 's mother had gotten into a fight with Herman, and had never spoken to him again.  Herman did not even know that she had died.  The book ends with everyone still in

“Selfish people tend to only be good to themselves… then are surprised when they are alone”,(unknown).This is how Brother found himself when he abandoned Doodle during a storm. In The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst a child named William Armstrong (Doodle) is born with a medical condition who revokes him the ability to walk. But the selfishness, his Brother has been blinded by makes him want to teach his Brother to walk out of embarrassment “of having a crippled brother.” Therefore Brother is two faced he can be selfish or he can be altruistic to Doodle, which demonstrates how complex brotherly love can be.

The concept of an American Dream has been around for a long time. The way people live their lives should be based on their passions, but many times people form false passions around objects and money. In The Professor’s House, by Willa Cather, a situation is given of a man who lives in a society built up by a 1920s American chase for money and success. This way of life eventually leads the Professor to become dissatisfied with his life despite achieving the perceived elements of success in 1920 America. Cather provides a solution to the problem the Professor faces inside the character Tom Outland. Cather shows that the 1920s American view of a successful life through materialism is not an authentic American experience and that an Authentic American experience can only be achieved by turning completely to nature.

In Tobias Wolff’s short story “The Liar,” the protagonist, James, lies to help him construct a new identity outside of his family. James tells morbid lies about his mother in order to distance himself from her. Since, the loss of his father, James no longer associates with people who are like him. The lies started after his father’s death and his mother starts noticing how much differently he was acting. Since his mother is treating him like she is disappointed in him, James begins to devolve into a state of repressed bitterness. These lies are his way of expressing himself in a new reality to match his wishes. One example of this is when James says, “Felt like a failure. My lying had that effect on her. She took it personally… She thought

Bad Boy is a memoir written by African American author, Walter Dean Meyers. A memoir is a story in which the author is writing about his or herself and the events that has occurred in their life. Bad Boy takes place during the 40’s through the 60’s. In the book, Bad Boy, the author displays the dramatic changes throughout his school, social and family life. Walter Dean Meyers shares many happenings about being African American is school life, social life, and society. Although, I have not completed reading Bad Boy, I am eager to continue reading and learning more about the writer.

The main idea of “The Charmer” is the changing perspective the protagonist Winifred has on the tragedies befallen on her family. Family conflict is a predominant theme in the story and all members of her family directly face it. The narrator uses her elder brother Zach’s smothered childhood, charming personality and rebellious nature to create internal family conflict.

Nathalie Diaz’s poems “How to Go to Dinner with a Brother on Drug” and “ My Brother at 3 A.M” point out how drug and alcohol abuse cause stress and problems over a family. Diaz explains the struggle that her family has to be through because of her brother addiction. Diaz’s poems show her life and the struggle she needs to experience such as drug addiction, violence, and poverty.

The quote, “Expectation is the root of all heartache” written by Shakespeare epitomize the stories of “Brother Dear” and “Boys and Girls”. The expectations set by others transform the characters views on their daily lives and future choices; however, they develop through their given limitations by maturing, and making realizations on their own. Yet, the new found freedom of choice creates conflict within families and society. The short stories of “Brother Dear” written by Bernice Friesen and “Boys and Girls” written by Alice Munro, both showcase the theme of limiting expectations set by others through characterization, the stage of adolescence, and conflict.

Next, the brother gives us plenty of moments that prove his cruel behavior and thoughts during the story. As he goes to give us proof of my statement on page 345, “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so

Eboo Patel invites us to embrace religious pluralism. As defined by Patel, pluralism is to affirm all statuses as equally legitimate. In the introduction of his autobiography he expresses his understanding of pluralism and its role in society. Pluralism is an intentional commitment that is imprinted through action. It requires deliberate engagement with difference, outspoken loyalty to others, and proactive protection in the breach. You have to choose to step off the faith line onto the side of pluralism, and then you have to make your voice heard (xix). Throughout Acts of Faith Patel shares anecdotes developing his religious and cultural identity, along with his understanding and expression of pluralism.

The author, Michael Kimmel was a sociologist professor. He would write or edit many books about men and their masculinity. In his piece “Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code,” he talks and explains what the guy code is. For all guys, the guy code means masculinity. In Kimmel writing, he discusses the different ways that society today guys from ages 16 to 26 about behavior. Also, I Kimmel’s writing, he listed four basic rules on masculinity. The first rule he listed was “No Sissy Stuff,” which means to guys that they shouldn’t reveal their weakness to anyone. The second on the list was “Be a Big Wheel,” which means that masculinity is quantifying between “wealth and power.” The third rule is to “Be a Sturdy Oak,” this says that all guys must be dependable

Using the sociological perspective, identify and explain the issues, problems and concerns of the Lost Boys. The issues for these young men were first and for most survival. Along with the tragic deaths of their parents, brothers and sisters had to be the most excruciating pain any human could bear. I am quite sure that the other problems they had to deal with were the fact of enemies continually bearing down on them and their need to continually move their location. Furthermore, their every waking moment their faith had to be challenged and wonder if their God would deliver them. Lost Boys of Sudan, http://www.lostboyschicago.com

James Baldwin is considered as the most well-known writer of the 20th century. His writings were mainly concerned by the problem of racism in America since he was one of the figures of the civil rights movement. “Sonny’s blues” is one of his greatest literary works, where we will notice how the persistent racism the writer experienced has had a great impact on his devoted writings.

In the 1953 short story titled “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, readers are given a glimpse of what the end of the story may look like through use of foreshadowing, symbolism, and other literary techniques. Although the story looks to be an innocent story of a family who travels to Florida for vacation at the start of it, readers soon find out that the story has a darker twist to it. This family trip turns violent and this gruesome ending can easily represent the violence taking place in America during the time this story was written by O’Connor and even today.

The human mind is one of the greatest enigmas that exists on our planet, we are constantly amazed by what it is capable of, whether is be for better or for worse. Creativity has always been seen by our society as a positive personal attribute and it is encouraged that everyone experiments with the potential of their minds to see what they are capable of and what the enjoy. While it is important to test the potential of our minds and our creativity, it can become detrimental to ourselves in some ways if not managed properly. One of the many joys that humans have the right and the ability to experience is to let our minds wander and imagine various parallel realities without having to pay a single dollar, but if we get too wrapped up in these