Short Story: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome

In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, author Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses many literary techniques to allow the reader to understand the universal truth that a woman’s class is seen as lower than that of a man’s, due to their sex. We see this truth throughout the literary work, when the main character who is a woman, is put in confinement and later becomesdistraught and mentally unstablebecause her husband and brother who are both Physicians diagnoses her as “nervously depressed”. Two techniques author Gilman uses is tone and diction to illustrate how the narrator, among most women in that time period is treated as below men in class, with little say in their own mental or physical issues.

In the book , Fever 1793 , by Laurie Halse, the theme of the story appeared to be that when there are hardships in life you change. Before yellow fever took on the lives of the citizens of Philadelphia Mattie, the main character, was naive and reliant on her family but later changed into a more independent being. For instance, when Mattie’s friend Polly died Mother did not want her to go to the funeral. Matilda’s response to this was “She was my friend! You must allow me. Why must you be so horrid?”(16). Rumors of fever were spreaded throughout the city and Mattie was ignorant and was oblivious on getting the fever. Later on in the story she gets yellow fever and it slowly alters her personality. This illustrates that in the beginning Mattie only cared for herself. While some might argue with her caring

From Mattie’s response to grandfather's death I can learn that life isn’t always easy. Also, when something doesn’t go your way in life don’t give up. Just like when Mattie’s grandfather died she didn't want it to go like that but it did anyway. “Dead? Grandfather couldn’t be dead” (Anderson 147). And she didn’t stop trying to look for her mother she never gave up even when faced with adversity. “I was alone; Grandfather was dead and Mother missing. I had survived the fever but still felt weak” (Anderson 156). Mattie helped me learn a lot about life, and that it isn’t always easy.

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

The story Marigolds, by Eugenia Collier, shows the harsh reality of becoming an adult in the poverty stricken times of the 1930’s. The story follows a girl, Lizabeth, as she makes the tough transition from a innocent child to an adult. As Lizabeth grows into an adult she experiences new emotions such as empathy and compassion, but in order to do so she loses her childish wonder and innocence. The story touches on themes of compassion, love, and hope associated with adulthood, but also the pain and defeat that comes with it. It shows the innocence and wonder of being a child, but also the fierce and intense emotions of adolescent. These immense differences between youth and adulthood helps to contribute to the the main theme of this story:

As an individual who developed a serious case of multiple sclerosis, Nancy Mairs begins to see herself in a different way, not as a normal person but as a “cripple”. As she opens with “I am a cripple.”. The disease ripped away her ability to walk. The disease allowed her to realize the deeper meaning of derogatory terms, such as “disabled” or “handicapped, especially the term “cripple”. The disease redrew her personal sketch, becoming something though physically lacking, yet resilient beyond comparison. By combining rhetorical strategies with rhetorical appeals, Mairs presents herself in a way that invokes an emotional response from the reader.

At one point or another, everyone has felt insecure about the way they look or apprehensive about how people see them. Throughout every stage of life we’re expected to act a certain way, to dress appropriately, and to respond properly in social environments. What happens when someone doesn’t fit the norm? In the article “Masks” Lucy Grealy shares an emotional story of depression, isolation, self-worth, and loneliness because of how she looks. She was different than people expected her to be. If we don’t fit the ideal cultural assumptions of beauty than who are we? What determines our identity if we’re not socially acceptable? According to Webster Dictionary identity is the qualities and beliefs that make a particular

“Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry was published in 1997 during a time of personal struggle for Cherry and her dad. This short, free verse poem consists of twenty nine perplexing lines. The poet’s nontraditional placement of line breaks cause some ideas to fall off in mid-sentence, while others never complete the thought. This creates enjambments which mimic the disease’s confusing nature. The speaker of this poem is the author, who is also the daughter of whom she writes about. Ideally, the writer narrates the poem in order to genuinely explain the turmoil loved ones face on a daily basis while dealing with this disease. The beginning of the poem creatively uses a simile to introduce us to “a crazy old man back

The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story full of imaginative symbolism and descriptive settings. However, without the narrator’s unique point of view and how it affects her perception of her environment, the story would fail to inform the reader of the narrator’s emotional plummet. The gothic function of the short story is to allow the reader to be with the narrator as she gradually loses her sanity and the point of view of the narrator is key in ensuring the reader has an understanding of the narrator’s emotional and mental state throughout the story.

My mother is an immigrant. A hardworking, pious woman who moved to a foreign country in order to raise her children and offer them everything she could. After her first three children, my mother grew accustomed to her feeling of loneliness. She was often left alone with three young children, dealing with their constant bickering and nagging. On top of that she had limited communication with others, due to a language barrier, no car and no friends in this new world. She struggled with her decision to stop working and put her schooling on pause. She struggled with injuries from childbearing. She struggled with her marriage, a marriage that took place between two very young lovers blind of reality, and shocked when hit with it. She often engaged

After a month, she lost ten pounds! She looked astonishing and everyone showered her in compliments. Additionally, she proved to several people that through diligence and determination, anything is possible. Still, she was convinced that she had more toil to do. So here she went, elevating her expectations for weight loss, cutting down on her diet severely and exercising for hours upon hours. Although this allowed her to lose more weight, no matter how much she lost, she was never pleased. For satisfaction comes from acceptance of the truth. However, she denied the verity that she wasn't fat and didn't need to lose more weight.In her mind she thought ¨ If I can go without one day of eating, why can't I go without two days of eating¨? ¨ If I can exercise for two hours straight, why can't I exercise for four hours¨? ¨ If I can lose twenty pounds, why can I lose another twenty¨? It almost seemed as if she was trying to double what she did earlier. Unfortunately, it came to the point where Anna was anorexic. At her lowest point of eighty-six pounds, her body was unable to lose any more weight. Her expectations, were set quite too high, leading Anna to feel dispirited and depressed because she wasn't able to fulfill the task set right in front of

Laurie Anderson’s historical fiction book, Fever 1793, takes place in Philadelphia during the 1700s. This book mentions about a girl and her family living during the Yellow Fever epidemic. Throughout the story Mattie loses and gains family members while they are trying to protect her. Mattie goes through one of the worst epidemics in the history of Philadelphia, and her family tries to take care of her during it. Anderson uses description and imagery in the story to portray the theme, family is always trying to protect each other.

Joel, the love of Hannah’s life found interest in another girl at school. Because they are not talking anymore, Hannah decides to stop coming to school for a few weeks. Knowing that he was the only person she cared for, he left her questionable and weak. The break up between them to brought Hannah to a very dark place. At this very moment Hannah felt that everyone was against her. However, this was no excuse to missing school. The school educators and Counselor demanded that she return back to school or they will have to dismiss her from

Ethos has to do with credibility and establishing a good relationship with the audience. This can also be expressed through your tone and confidence of the matter. If someone is more confident through his or her tone, it'll attract the reader to continue reading without questioning the validity of the argument. In my personal statement, I was telling a story that I have told others many times before to a variety of people. My tone remains subtle and informal so that the audience feels like we are having a conversation. This immediately builds a good relationship with the audience (which is also beneficial for establishing pathos), makes me trustworthy, and allows the audience to adapt to my character. In order to establish ethos, I immediately painted the picture of the accident scene and what was going on in my mind.

Imagine a life where everything seems to revolve around one important element. And just as everything seems to be going well, it all changes within a matter of seconds. In the novel Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham, the protagonist, Jane Arrowood, had to experience this. She had a strong passion for drawing, but she was required to have her dominant arm amputated because of a shark attack. As she recovered slowly in the hospital, she showed her true inner strength when she learned to draw and write with her other hand. When I read this book I connected with Jane by being reminded of all the roadblocks I’ve hit during my basketball career, and I noticed there were learning experiences from Jane’s actions on how to conquer the journey of recovery.