Arm Wrestling With My Men Analysis

This passage from Dalton Trumbo’s novel Johnny Got His Gun shows a relationship between a father and son through a seemingly small and insignificant series of events. The short story depicts a father and his son on their annual fishing trip. The son decides that he wants to go fishing with his friend instead of his father for a change however, is very hesitant to ask. The author’s use of techniques such as point of view, selection of detail, and syntax in this passage helps to better characterize the relationship between the father and his son in a deeper and more thorough way.

The love this father has for his son is uniquely and unequivocally expressed, as one will discover in this compassionate and heartwarming short essay Arm Wrestling with My Father written by Brad Manner. Brad Manner wrote this essay for his freshmen composition course sharing his unique relationship with his father as the two bonded through ritualistic father-son competitive arm wrestling matches. However, as the story progresses into Manner 's college years, the symbolic power and strength of his father the "arm", the mere representation of his father 's strength and love, begins to fade as his father 's unwavering strength weakens with the inevitable and unforgiving progression of ageing. Manner, realizes that he no longer desires to compete against his father, the man who he has idolized and admired his whole life. Although his father is unable to express his

While numerous poems of Soto spring from depictions of working-class characters, a countless number of his poems are also extracted from observations of daily life. This is

In Scott Russell Sanders’ essay “The Inheritance of Tools”, Sanders explores the relationship that he had with his father. Concrete objects like the wooden tools that he inherits from his father provide the basis for the reflections on his relationship with his father. He manages to indicate his attitude very early on in the essay using both features of style and rhetorical strategies. The author establishes his love for his father and sadness at his passing by narrating an anecdotal story involving his hammer, word choice that conveys his sadness, and strong use of imagery.

Often when one thinks of the standard father-son relationship, rather stereotypically there’s an essence of rigidity. Masculinity and the stubborn adherence to its tight standards in how men should behave, how they should talk, or how they should even feel about other men, even in their own families. Even the simplest “I love you,” or any variation is replaced between men with awkward or utterly empty silences, censoring the feelings of familial or brotherly or friendly affection between them, even if they are strongly there. In A River Runs Through It, throughout lies a demonstration of such omission of actual feelings about many ranges of feelings and thoughts- which also is a reflection of how often men as individuals who are socialized in certain societies submit to ideas of

S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders is a novel that follows a group of boys growing up in the 1960s who have to face prejudice and stereotypes on a daily basis. The author uses multiple examples of prejudice in the novel to demonstrate the destructive nature of prejudice on the characters in the story, such as fights between characters, friendships being torn apart, and people feeling ashamed of who they are and which social class they belong in. The first examples of prejudice shown in the novel are fights and hate between the two social classes.

Friendship, one of the great relationships of this world, and it goes without saying that a good friend is a true blessing. Indeed, if you have a good friend who will remain true to you throughout your life and theirs, you have received more than you deserve in this world, and a true companion, one to hear your troubles and to help you through them, and you to do the same. But imagine for a second that you and your dearest friend come from families that are complete opposites. So goes the tale of Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, two friends in an extremely odd relationship who were brought together through an injury from a baseball game. Out of the two book of the first semester, I enjoyed The Chosen written by Chaim Potok because of three

In Tony Went to the Bodega but He Didn’t Buy Anything, Martín Espada shows how culture shock can affect someone who is a minority. The poem starts off by telling us “Tony’s father left the family” (line 1) and immediately I felt sad for Tony, but then it goes on to say that he was a boy who was “nine years old who had to find work” (lines 4-5). Not only does Tony not have a father figure growing up, but due to his financial situation, he now must find a job despite being so young. This is not uncommon because race and socio-economic status are tied, so many minorities have to find jobs at younger, even illegal ages to support their families.

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 film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, follows the story of Charlie as he braves through the challenges of freshman year. Throughout his first year, Charlies experiences friendship, alienation, love, mistakes, depression, acceptance of past events and newfound motivation. With the help of his love interest Sam, her stepbrother Patrick, and other likeminded individuals, Charlie is able to gain a sense of belonging and a boost of confidence that ensures his survival for the high school years yet to come (Halfon, Chbosky, 2012). This essay will delve into an in-depth analysis of adolescence from a socio-cultural perspective, using events from the film to provide examples and further enhance arguments. Furthermore, topics highlighting what I believe to be the most crucial aspects of adolescence will be discussed. The analysis of hegemonic masculinity, age induced frustration and restrictions, and the discourse of innocence will be defined and elaborated on. Finally, a comparison between the socio-cultural and developmental lenses of youth analysis, the unique view they each offer and my personal experience using the socio-cultural lens, will be discussed.

For many generations, culture such as morals and values are passed down by our parents to teach us the value of lie. The knowledge we gain from culture and our parents becomes a asset to our life in which either it can build expectations or go against our identity. We are reflected by the manners and value they influenced us. For Brad Manning, he tells a story about his life when his father struggled communicated with him, however changed over time. He would learn that his father put in a huge impact on him for being stronger and challenged him to never give up. Also, for Gary Soto, he explains a time when he was young and wanted to wealthy like the families he seen on the television. As a result, he was motivated to achieve this dream of being

Within Brad Manning’s personal narrative entitled “Arm Wrestling with my Father” the author makes use of multiple literary techniques which allows for the story to be compelling and in essence creates an image in the reader's mind thus allowing them to build a stronger connection to the passage. Displayed towards the beginning of paragraph four, Manning gives an example of a reflection on an external conflict through his vivid description of the arm wrestle itself using phrases such as “how my tiny shoulders would press over our locked hands” and “hope of winning that single inch from his calm unmoving forearm”; through the use of the quotes above, Manning not only reflects on the arm wrestle itself, however his use of descriptive and active

Ryan is a teenager at Ben Sauer Middle School. He is to never say two words at his house. They are father and football. Ryan never knew who his father was. His mother didn’t like to talk about his father. His mother never let him sign up for youth tackle football when he was in elementary. His father owns the Dallas Cowboys and Ryan does not know.

Common read themes this year include: awareness of the contemporary American Indian experience, resiliency, transitions, and community. Discuss if and how the book shed light on these themes. Which theme is particularly interesting or relevant in your own experience and why?

Imagine… Not being able to walk down the street without a sea of faces, scared and afraid, some laughing… Imagine. The sharp points of index fingers, like guns, shooting bullets of humiliation, embarrassment and indignity. The novel Wonder by RJ Palacio is written about a boy with a severe deformity: Treacher Collins syndrome. (TCS) This boy, August Pullman, experiences these horrific situations every day. Wonder demonstrates how August Pullman draws strength from his family to overcome numerous challenges, to experience unconditional love. Wonder also demonstrates how other characters such as Miranda and Olivia (August’s sister) Draws strengths family to overcome challenges and accept themselves. If one wants to understand the concept of love, the book Wonder by RJ Palacio clearly illustrates the importance and the positive and powerful influence of family.