Personal Narrative: An Intergenerational Interview

In war, the victims of violence, discrimination, and exile reveal the resulting disillusionment from the innate behaviors of people. That behavior of judgment, self-affirmation, superiority, and selfishness transcends race, ethnicity, and culture. Times of conflict and fear and death magnify those behaviors, furthering the suffering of victims. In the novel Obasan, Joy Kogawa tells woman’s recollection of the internment of Japanese-Canadians during World War II. The woman’s memories of that time reveal the personal consequences of fear, silence, and hate, which continue to pervade the present, suggesting unchanging human behavior and tendencies. Joy Kogawa questions humans’ ability to overcome base instincts of fear and power, and instead demonstrate love and

On November 6th, I encountered a cultural disconnect with a friend. My friend is a white, female, and the same age as me. This disconnect happened on the Berkeley campus when we were walking to our next class. We were both walking and talking about what we have been up to that past week. I told her that I was swamped with midterms and projects coming up so I was “studying and dying all week.” She chuckled at my statement and she said she had two midterms coming up too and has not begun to study. I asked her why she did not start studying yet. I assumed she was too consumed with her part-time job or preoccupied with other important obligations, but she simply replied, “I didn’t feel like it.”

Dee, who is the older daughter of Mama, was never one to take pride or appreciated what she had as a child. For instance, Mama says “Why don’t you do a dance around the ashes? I’d wanted to ask her. She had hated that house so much” (2). Dee seemed to never be fully pleased. It is almost as If she saw herself as someone of higher standards than Maggie and Mama. Once the church was able to raise enough money for her, she was sent off to get a good education in a school in Augusta. That is when the sudden interest in her heritage takes place demonstrating hypocrisy. It isn’t until she is removed from her environment, that she later desires to show it off.” "I can use the chute top as a centerpiece for the alcove table," she said, sliding a plate

Imagine losing everything you had, your house, your dad, and all your possessions all of that at the age of 12. Ghastly isn’t it? Well in the story, Esperanza Rising by: Pam Munoz Ryan, Esperanza had to go through all that and shift to America during the Great Depression, and even if you don’t know what that is, you probably know by the looks of it that it is not the most marvelous thing. And you would be right, it’s not. When Esperanza goes to work in America to earn money, there are strikes going on about how people don’t get paid enough for working. Esperanza takes the job because she needs the money to help her mom who is sick and in the hospital and to earn money, so that her grandma can come to America. Esperanza is a brave 12 year-old

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?”, Connie, is fifteen years old and is just like any other teenage girl. She daydreams, loves music, and likes to flirt. She is one of the main characters and has a personality that sets her apart from others in the story. In her mind she is the center of everything and she the only one that understands anything going on, “Connie would raise her eyebrows at these familiar complaints and look right through her mother, into a shadowy vision of herself as she was right at that moment: she knew she was pretty and that was everything.”(Oates 233) This sets her as someone that only cares about herself and that doesn’t really care what others say.

Mrs. Bravo deals with depression from the loss of her husband, neglect from her children, income, and diabetes. By the age of 18 Virginia was married to her high school sweetheart and pregnant with her first child, widowed, single mother and alone, Virginia choose to leave New York on her own and move to Daytona Beach, starting her career as a teacher assistant in Mainland High School and various schools in Volusia County. At 28 Virginia decided to try love again, she married a man that she calls “love at first sight”. I choose to interview Ms. Bravo owing to the fact that she was the only person there from a different ethnicity background; due to the location of the YMCA there are not many elderly people from different ethnic background. During the interview Mrs. Bravo speaks about her reason she comes to YMCA, her life before and after her husband death and how the music from the active adult classes makes her reminisce about the good times she has shared with her husband and her kids. She also speaks about being lonely and depressed she expresses how she is not able to get out the house due to no transportation, she also speak about her income on how she cannot afford to stay alone she rents out an room in her house to

She nearly burnt down the house, but trying to be independent meant more to her than the beating she endure shortly after trying. Marie enjoyed playing double dutch with the neighborhood kids. The children around the neighborhood and her sister would have double dutch competitions and Marie would more than likely win or be the runner up because she was so quick on her feet. Being active at such a young age really helped her in the long run because her body was much more flexible, and healthier than the other kids who hated to play outside. In school she also enjoyed to play outside, but during recess you would find Marie somewhere in the corner reading a book. Marie enjoyed learning, she looked up to her father who was a very smart man. Her father always said, “When you’re smart they can’t take that away, they can take your money, put you in jail and throw away a key, but they can’t take your education”. This quote she too lived by. Marie knew her only way out of poverty was to remain sharp on her education skills because this would take her far. Her father being a smart working man had more opportunity’s to learn rather than her

Another unfortunate circumstance is that my grandmother can’t remember many vivid things she did even with her own parents. Her parents, Gladys and Cecil Knight, raised her until the age of 10. Her father divorced her mother when my grandmother was only 9 years old. Being a single mother with many children, Gladys could not support her family and was forced to send her children to be raised by strong Christian foster parents Willis and Annie Adams.

Change is a concept that will effect everyone at some point in their life; quite simply it’s inevitable. How an individual reacts to change is dependent on a number of factors such as the situation and their personal perspective. Positive or negative change will obviously have different reactions in terms of a person’s acceptance or rejection of its influence on their life. Ray Lawler, author of the play, “Summer of the 17th Doll”, and Gwen Harwood, author of the poem “In The Park”, use a number of various aesthetic features in their writing to portray the ideas, attitudes and values surrounding change, and its affects on their characters. Change of career, relationships and lifestyle were evident in “Summer of the 17th Doll”, whilst the focused

Harriet Jacobs was born in Edenton, North Carolina, in 1813. She has been the daughter of an enslaved father and mother. Her father, Daniel Jacobs, a carpenter, has been the slave of Andrew Knox. Her mother, Delilah Horniblow, has been the slave of Margaret Horniblow. Jacobs has had a brother called John S. Jacobs. Until she was six years old, Jacobs did not feel that she was Horniblow’s slave and property. She has been very kind to her to the extent that she has taught her to read, write, and sew. Before her death, she has written her will in which she has given Jacobs to her niece, Mary Matilda Norcom, who has been three years old at that time. Since Mary has been only three years old her father, Dr. James Norcom, has become Jacobs’s actual

Keyonna Ciera Branham is currently a junior at East Carolina University. She entered East Carolina as biology major but decided to change her major to Family Relations and Child Development. Keyonna was born in Charlotte, NC on May 29th 1995 to Brian and Danielle Branham. Lucky enough Keyonna was their first-born, but years later they decided to add two more children to their family. Brian Jr (age 16) and Kobe Branham (age 14) are Keyonna’s baby brothers who she values very much. I met Ms.Branham during our freshman year of college back in 2014. We’ve only known each other for a little over a year, but I feel like our relationship has grown every day since. I chose to interview Keyonna , because her story was unique and I believe she has

When I was three years old my mother decided it would be best for us to move to America so we could have better and safer lives. Before I started school, I was sheltered from American culture. I could barely speak English, I only knew hispanic songs, and I only ate “Mexican food.” By the time school started, I felt like an outsider, everyone was speaking in a foreign language and eating odd foods, I felt out of place. It wasn’t until third grade when I began to feel like I was part of my classmates. When I was fifteen, my aunt and two young cousins came to live with us, escaping the violence in Mexico. I did everything in my power to help my cousins adjust. I read them books in English so they could pick up the language, I taught the youngest

J.M. is an 82-year-old women, and lives alone. She lives in an urban area of Watertown, NY. Within, Watertown she lives in a senior living building for ages 55 and older. This building is made up of 42 apartments. The majority of the apartments are single units but there is one, two bedroom apartment. The building was opened in 2009.It is known as the Olympic Apartments building and is located in downtown Watertown. Services this building provides to the occupants includes, water, trash removal, lawn care, and snow removal. The building is under 24 hour surveillance. It is a secured building and requires a key to get in or you have to call her to enter the building. Security guards also roam the halls to ensure residents safety.

Betty was born August 30, 1930 in southern Missouri. Her parents, Maggie and Casey, were your everyday farmers in Christian County. She had an older sister, Wanita, and an older brother, Wayne, as well as a few younger siblings. Growing up, she was blessed to be in a Christian home, where your faith was everything.

Krogstad and Christine are alone, while the Helmers and Dr. Rank are upstairs at the party. Krogstad reproached Christine for renouncing their betrothal, years ago, leaving him for another man in order to support her and her family. After she had already wrecked their relationship, Christine shows up again in town again, taking over his hard-won position at the bank. However, this is not Christine 's intent. She says that she had returned to town to seek Krogstad and pursue their love for each other once more. Krogstad also feels the same way and comes to the decision to ask Torvald to return his letter. However, Christine changes her mind, deciding that Torvald should find out the truth in order for Nora and Torvald to realize a true marriage.