ipl-logo

Literature Review On The Pigman

2625 Words11 Pages

A boy runs after his mother, grabs her hand, and pleads, “Don’t do it, mama! Don’t do it!” The mother tears her hand away and screams, “Ungrateful child! You cannot cannot stop me. I’m going to jump! I’m going to jump off the old bay bridge!” Across the country, a little girl hides under her bed as her father stumbles around, his words slurred as he calls her name, a whip in hand. More children than society believes goes through experiences such as this every day. Up until about 50 years ago, the country completely ignored how this background could affect adolescent growth and integration into society. Paul Zindel went against the grain, and with his novel The Pigman, tries to make ignorant America understand what teenagers can go through …show more content…

“Humor, Bathos, and Fear: An Interview with Paul Zindel,” Teacher Librarian, vol. 27, no. 2, Dec. 1999, pp. 60-62. Novels for Students, edited by Jennifer Smith, vol. 14, Gale, 2002, pp. 189-191.
Meyer, Michael J. "Problems and Prescriptions: Child Abuse in the Novels of Paul Zindel." Children's Literature Review, edited by Scot Peacock, vol. 85, Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420048393/LitRC?u=pl3059&sid=LitRC&xid=de6567dc.
Smith, Grant T. "The Pigman's Story: Teaching Paul Zindel in the 21st Century." Children's Literature Review, edited by Jelena Krstovic, vol. 186, Gale, 2014. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420116056/LitRC?u=pl3059&sid=LitRC&xid=c85a60e9.
“The Pigman.” Novels for Students, edited by Jennifer Smith, vol. 14, Gale, 2002, pp. 175-186.
Winters, Kelly. “Critical Essay on The Pigman.” Novels for Students, edited by Jennifer Smith, vol. 14, Gale, 2002, pp. 186-189. Zindel, Paul. Afterward. The Pigman, HarperTrophy, 2005.
Zindel, Paul, and Teri Lesesne. "Humor, Bathos and Fear: An Interview with Paul Zindel." Children's Literature Review, edited by Scot Peacock, vol. 85, Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center,

Show More
Related

  • Comparing John Updike And Toni Cade Bambara's The Lesson

    873 Words  | 4 Pages

    Loss of Innocence In John Updike’s “A&P” and Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” the two authors illustrate difficult initiations teenagers face while they realize the harshness of society around them. Updike’s “A&P” explores the inner thoughts of a teenage boy, Sammy, who makes the tough decision to quit his job at the local A&P and realizes the bitterness of the world. Similarly, Bambara’s “The Lesson” explores the inner thoughts of a teenage girl, Sylvia, who realizes the value of money and clash of social classes through a field trip to a toy store. Although the protagonists are a part of different societies, they share similarities in character development through parallel epiphanies.

    Read More

  • The Pigman Essay

    1097 Words  | 5 Pages

    The story “The Pigman” by Paul Zindel is a very good book in my opinion. The book is about two kids who’s avocation is pranking. They love to prank people when they are with eachother. When they prank people they sometimes mortify them and try to make them look bad or stupid. In the story the one main charachter Lorraine, called a man by the name of Angelo Pignati and he anwsered the phone.

    Read More

  • Whipping Boy Sparknotes

    1251 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Newbery Award winning book I chose to do my literature review on is The Whipping Boy. This book would be taught for grade 5. The story is about a young boy by the name of Jemmy who was orphaned and made a living for himself by catching rats in sewers. Jemmy becomes the whipping boy for Prince Horace who is known to be a rather bratty Prince. Every time Prince Horace misbehaves Jemmy is punished with spankings in his place because it is illegal to punish the prince.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara

    330 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara illustrates how a young girl of the name Sylvia decides to ignore the help of her new neighbor Miss Moore. The little girl and her fellow childhood friends get the opportunity to take a field trip to a toy Museum; Miss Moore is the host and her intentions are to expose the isolated kids to show them that there is more to life than living in poverty. Bambara’s word choice portrays the vocabulary that the little kids possess, and they do not know nearly as much information as Miss Moore does because she has a college education. She attempts to educate the kids with numerous facts, but the kids disregard it because they are too fascinated at what the museum has to offer. Sylvia has a foul attitude and

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Creativity In 'Gryphon' By Charles Baxter

    319 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Gryphon” by Charles Baxter, Miss Ferenczi provides the narrator, Tommy, with a space for imagination, creativity, and wonder in his otherwise dull life. Miss Ferenczi is a substitute teacher who has the wonder and creativity that Tommy craves. She teaches the class new ideas called substitute facts, and when the kids ask why she’s telling them these random facts she replies, ““Because it’s more interesting that way,” she said, smiling very rapidly behind her blue-tinted glasses. (169).” Her response alone shows she has a fondness for not only knowledge but fun and creativity as well.

    Read More

  • Teenage Wasteland Analysis

    1121 Words  | 5 Pages

    Parents are always supposed to look out for the best interests of their child. Anne Tyler authored the short story “Teenage Wasteland” which depicts the story of a strained mother and son relationship between the character Donny, and his mother Daisy. Donny is a teenage boy who is struggling with his grades at school and is exhibiting poor behavior. His mother, Daisy is concerned with her son’s grades and behavior, however, she fails at getting her son the help that he requires. Told through the point of view of the character Daisy, Tyler uses irony to tell the story of a teenage boy who is failed by the adults in his life who are supposed to help him flourish, including his parents, a psychologist, and his tutor.

    Read More

  • Savagery In Lord Of The Flies Piggy

    939 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the book, Piggy, an intellectual boy with poor eyesight and asthma, is shown to be an insightful collaborator because he is perceptive, intelligent, and conscientious. To begin,

    Read More

  • Maxine Clair Cherry Bomb Analysis

    454 Words  | 2 Pages

    Frightened by a mentally ill man in the nearby “yellow house,” the narrator turns this neighbor into a character, the Hairy Man, a figure that is “wooly-headed and bearded.” The narrator finds peace in her Dad’s assertion that the Hairy Man only comes at dark. The narrator’s unconditional trust and belief in her father’s words also displays her innocence. As a fifth-grader, she still takes what her cherished parents say to heart. She often interjects with the repeated words “my mother said’ or “my father said.”

    Read More

  • Piggy Lord Of The Flies Argumentative Essay

    726 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Golding’s fictional, British novel, Lord of the Flies, presents a character that serves a two-part function as a “scapegoat” and a certain commentary on life. During WWII, a group of British boys are being evacuated via plane when they crash and are stranded on an island without adults. As time progresses, the innate evilness of human nature begins to overcome the savage society of young boys while Piggy, an individual representation of brains without brawn, becomes an outlier as he tries to resist this gradual descent of civilness and ends up shouldering the blame for the wrongdoings of the savage tribe. Up until his untimely death, Piggy is portrayed as the most intellectual and most civil character in the group of stranded boys. Right from the beginning, Piggy realized that “[they] got to do something,” (8) and he recognized the shell Ralph had picked up as a conch.

    Read More

  • The Lesson By Toni Cade Bambara Analysis

    728 Words  | 3 Pages

    The symbols present in “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, depict the economic and social injustices faced by specific members of society, specifically the children in the story. The characters in the story are being mentored by Miss Moore, a woman from their block who has taken up the role of taking them out on weekly outings. The story touches on the situation of the children that are stuck in living in almost poverty. “The Lesson” focuses on the socioeconomic disparities between the different racial groups and how. Bambara uses several techniques such as irony, othering, and second person point of view to make the story meaningful and demonstrate the characteristics of the characters.

    Read More

  • Superego In Lord Of The Flies

    522 Words  | 3 Pages

    Superego in Lord of the Flies Sigmund Freud, a very famous psychiatrist, created three different terms, id, ego and Super ego; super ego is the brain’s conscience. It also gives the brain the ability to do the right thing. Piggy, who is a character in Lord of the Flies constantly represents superego, always turning the other cheek and doing the right thing. Piggy is a perfect example of superego in Lord of the Flies written by William Golding. Superego is a part of the brain or conscience that recognizes inappropriate behavior and also wants you to choose right over wrong.

    Read More

  • Death Of The Pigman By Paul Zindel

    491 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Pigman, written by Paul Zindel, is the adventurous story of two teenagers who befriend a nice, lonely old man and their time together. Although there were many wonderful memories involving John, Lorraine, and Mr. Pignati (the Pigman), sad memories were also made. The Pigman dying was a difficult time for two of the main characters, John and Lorraine. The pigs from the Pigman’s special collection being broken; and the baboon, Bobo, dying were the largest contributions to Mr. Pignati’s death. There may have been other factors; however, these had the most impact towards his death.

    Read More

  • If You Give A Mouse A Cookie Analysis

    1182 Words  | 5 Pages

    If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff features a small mouse who asks for a glass of milk, and eventually keeps asking for more and more unnecessary things until he finally gets a cookie(Numeroff). This teaches kids one of two things depending on their temperament: either that you can be lazy and have people do things for you, or that you should mistrust everyone because they’ll take advantage of you. While this book seems like a light fun storybook about finishing off a cycle, it also tells kids that you can just leach off of other people and don’t have to do anything yourself. At first all the mouse does is ask for a glass of milk, but eventually he asks for a straw, then nails scissors, a broom, a bed, and a story to be read, and finally a cookie to finish it off(Numeroff). The mouse gets what he wants without ever having to work for it, which shows kids that you can do the same when you’re older by not striving to do anything and just live off of your parents or welfare.

    Read More

  • Fear In Animal Farm

    1050 Words  | 5 Pages

    At the heart of a seemingly simple, unassuming novella lie political issues that occurred in Russia during and after the Russian Revolution in 1917. George Orwell’s allegorical ‘masterpiece’ as some would say, stems from his own opinions and detestation of the class divide. He shows that an egalitarian society is unachievable, when some characters that exercise power within Animal Farm use forms of both psychological warfare and physical threats in order to keep the ‘lesser’ animals under their control in order to maintain their society which supposedly follows the principles of Animalism; that ‘all animals are equal’. The pigs employ various tactics and express ways of thinking that convince the animals that they are better off than they had

    Read More

  • The Day The Crayons Quit Analysis

    1007 Words  | 5 Pages

    Daywalt took an item that children use on a daily basis and created a conflict that they would understand. The theme, as previously discussed, is successful in teaching a lesson without stating it obviously. This makes the book perfect for read alouds in classrooms from which teachers can create extensive lesson plans for an elementary class. Middle school teachers may also use this story because of the mature nature of its theme in a fun and humorous way. Both adults and children would be attracted to this story as a buyer.

    Read More

More about Literature Review On The Pigman

Open Document