Physical Appearances In Short Stories

Marie-Claire Blais’s Mad Shadows explores the complex relationships within the dysfunctional family of Louise, her son Patrice, and her daughter Isabelle-Marie. Louise’s obsession with Patrice’s beauty causes Isabelle-Marie to be an outsider in her own family, which she cannot escape even as she gets married and has her own child, Anne, who strongly resembles Isabelle-Marie in circumstance and appearance. Mad Shadows incorporates a cycle of familial violence spurred on by jealousy and neglect; despite Isabelle-Marie’s attempts to break the cycle of violence in the final scene of the novel, her actions and destructive urges are already apparent in Anne, ensuring the continuation of violence in the family.

Walking into the Intersections exhibit at UCLA Fowler Museum, I immediately encountered varying masks from different countries as representation of their cultural beliefs. The Intersections exhibition features different objects from the countries primarily of Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. These objects serve as a medium to communicate the stories from the past and how it connect to the present, as well as identify the social context that each item represents. For example, one of the items displayed is a silk shoulder cloth made in Sumatra. The shoulder cloth can be seen in ceremonial events. To display the shoulder cloth is to convey the significance of the textile, as well as serve as the primary marker of the female skill and status. This tradition is not much different from what we see in today’s world. Particularly with women, “name brand” clothing and accessories are much sought after as it play a significant role in elevating one’s social or economic status. Taking that perspective into the counseling world, a counselor does not associate the client who wears all name brand clothing as having such a significant role in society. A client’s disposition would alert the counselor such as if the client was unkempt and disoriented, and would be more of a concern to the counselor. In this particular instance, the

When reading a novel, readers do not often realize that many authors use the same types of characters and symbols. Applying a literary lens to a novels can help readers better understand why a novel was written. A literary theory is, “A term for analyzing, classifying, defining, interpreting, and evaluating literature” (Davidson). When observing a piece of literature with an Archetypal lens analysts can identify these patterns. According to Literary Devices, “In literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action, or a situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature” (literarydevices). In the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, the Archetypal Theory can be applied to characters and symbols in the

Much Ado About Nothing analyzes how traditional gender roles shape behavior and actions in society. Many of the characters in the play, such as Benedick and Beatrice, actively attempt to defy the expectations placed upon them by virtue of their sex, while others nearly perfectly match the stereotypes- Hero and Claudio being prime examples. Benedick and Beatrice represent defiance of the norm- Beatrice repeatedly claims that she will avoid marriage at all costs, and Benedick doesn’t seem any more likely to place himself in a position to be cuckolded. The two of them engage in several bouts of cleverly written banter, each blow professing the gospel of celibacy. In this, if nothing else, they are in agreement- Benedick

Hamlet's words, “frailty thy, name is a woman” (1.2.148), forever redefined femininity in literature. Throughout works such as The Great Gatsby and Hamlet women are never treated as equals to their male counterparts and their role is characterized by misogyny, dependency and utter obedience. According to Aristotle, “the courage of a man lies in commanding, a woman's lies in obeying; that 'matter yearns for form, as the female for the male and the ugly for the beautiful”. Hamlet and The Great Gatsby reveal compelling parallels in their portrayal of the role of women. The mistreatment and inequality of women is a predominant issue in each work and is illustrated through the two main female protagonists, Queen Gertrude and Daisy Buchanan. Ultimately, women are

“The very thing that was meant to protect natural beauty has turned and threatened our very definition of beauty. A beautiful woman should strike you as different; as unique; as an individual. Her body can be attractive based on a number of things, but shouldn’t one of those criteria be that she is real?” (Curly) Martin’s play Beauty helps bring forth two different women living two different ways, one receiving all the attention of men and the other wanting to be receiving that attention. Everything is not as always as it seems to be, because you never honestly really know what someone else is going through. Throughout the play Carla is the beautiful one getting attention she doesn’t want, as she hopes for men to look past her looks and want to get to know her. While Bethany on the other hand wants Carla’s life and to be looked by men in more than just wasting time getting to know her or barely paying her any attention at all. These women are modern day women living in today’s society as Carla can be compared to a celebrity or model and Bethany being an average woman. Two different females with two valid but different viewpoints like every female living on earth and walking the streets full of men and

A Sense of Self is a unique quality that differs from one person to another and yet may involve multiple identities. Explore the extent to which the protagonists in the texts you have studied appear to possess one or more identities. Refer closely to the texts in developing your response.

Katherine Mansfield wrote about an aged woman, Miss Brill who is isolated from the real world. Miss Brill attempts to build a fantasy life to protect herself from the harsh facts of her existence. The short story “Miss Brill” is very descriptive and has decent examples of imagery to help readers better understand and see what is happening. Robert Peltier mentioned that “Miss Brill” has a rise and fall in each paragraph, so in his overview of “Miss Brill”, he also “chose the rise and fall of every paragraph to fit her, and fit her on that day at that moment” (Peltier), to help readers picture what is happening. The character Miss Brill does not look past what is present, which causes her to be narrow minded and not understand why things happen

The narrator Sherman Alexie in “Indian Education” had a different experience compared to the other narrators. A lot of which well he was growing up he was kind of like the outcast of the group at his reservation. The narrator experienced multiple things ranging from being bullied by his fellow peers, being told by his teacher as quoted in the short story “Indians, indians, indians” (231) Society for the narrator of the short story was mediocre most of the comments made to the narrator where more stereotypically, for example in the seventh and tenth grade people said comments like “Just Indians being Indians” (232) and “What’s that boy been drinking? I know all about these Indian kids. They all start drinking real young.” (233) Comments from

On first impressions of his intended, the satirical Mr Bennet was ‘captivated by youth and beauty and the appearance of good humour which youth and beauty generally give’ (Austen, 1984) however shortly after a marriage constructed upon lust and desire, Mr Bennet’s ‘respect esteem and confidence’ in his wife soon vanished forever. Consequently, Mrs Bennet was demoted by her husband to the ranks of entertainment and a source of amusement for her ‘ignorance and folly’ and want of ‘decorum and propriety’ (Austen, 1984) Moreover with the loss of respect for his wife and the realisation that ‘a pretty face is but sorry compensation for the absence of common sense; and that youth and the appearance of good nature, with the want of other good qualities

Through the grotesque imagery of the creation of the doll’s face, Ferré emphasizes the labels and objectivity placed on women through society. While explaining the aunt’s process in making a doll, Ferré emphasizes the creation of the face, saying that the wax face covered with plaster on both sides was “like a living face inside two dead ones”. By personifying the doll’s face, Ferré articulates the similarities of the nieces and the dolls brought upon them by societal labels. In addition, Ferré describes the doll’s face, a literal inanimate object, as “living” yet “dead”, to give personification to the doll, supporting her argument in that society depicts the nieces as nothing but a pretty face to show off. Overall, through dark imagery, Ferré

Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Medea by Euripides are known for their powerful critiques on the social expectations of women. Women during the time of Elizabethan and Greek theatre were often stereotyped and considered the weaker sex. Men were depicted as strong individuals who supported and protected women. However, both Shakespeare and Euripides broke expectations by portraying strong and iconic female characters in their respective plays. The idea of a strong female character was often unheard of during the time of Elizabethan and Greek Theatre. Through the thematic comparison of Macbeth, and Medea; this essay demonstrates how Shakespeare

Fashion is essential to culture, it offers aesthetic forms in fields such as dress and clothing, philosophy and religion, music, habits and customs, through which individuals attach to, or demonstrate their difference from, various communities. As a cultural process, fashion is responsible for situating individuals within a constantly changing forest of objects, people, events, styles and practices to which they relate, about which they form opinions and which symbolically help to locate them within various social strata and communities. In this way, being 'in fashion ', indifferent to it or actively claiming to reject

Characterization in literary fiction that has special importance, and authors develop their sense of responsibility for full and effective character development. Character is everything in literary fiction. Characters can also be animals or whatever the writer chooses to act in his/her story. Simply, characters literally make things happen in a story. This essay will describe and give a broader picture of how the characterization is developed in the short stories and how would the story look like without characters by supporting with examples of some short stories.

“Pygmalion was written to challenge the class system, traditional stereotypes and the audience’s own views.”