Summary: The Rules Of Inheritance

Throughout the novel Tuesday’s With Morrie, the author, Mitch Albom, reflects on his Tuesday meetings with his old professor, now consumed with a terminal illness, and, using many rhetorical choices, reveals “The Meaning of Life,” which they discussed profusely and divided into several categories. Topics such as Death, Emotions, Aging, Money, Culture, and more are all discussed in their weekly conferences, Morrie passing his wisdom on to one of his favor students. And Albom, writing about their talks, uses numerous rhetoric devices to discuss this wisdom. As Morrie Schwartz, dying of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), speaks with Albom, the two talk about Death.

In the first section, he gives numerous examples of how normal his life was before the diagnosis. He recounts his childhood and his beginnings of how he loved to read because of his mother. He tells of when he would stay out late reading in the starlight to come home to his mother worried that he was doing drugs, but “the most intoxicating thing I’d experienced, by far, was the volume of romantic poetry she’d handed me the previous week” (27). He continues with all of his life before cancer, but when he gets the results he says “One chapter of my life seemed to have ended; perhaps the whole book was closing” (120). The rest of the book, the closing of his book as he calls it, focuses on examples of how cancer changed his

The next time her mom came around, An-Mei decided she didn’t care what her grandmother said or did to her, she was going to be leaving with her mom. More time went by, and An-Mei’s mother had finally sat down to tell her all about the raping and why she had to abandon her like that. An-Mei’s mother commits suicide after telling her the truth about everything she had gone through with the rich rapist man. Now it is time for An-Mei to tell her grown daughter Rose this story many years later.

O’Brien uses emotional diction when describing his own personal events and concerns. O’Brien uses emotional words to help the reader better understand his inner feelings and the context throughout the chapter. His use of empathetic words really helps the reader put themselves in his shoes. He uses first person pronouns like “I felt paralyzed” and “as if I were hurtling down a huge black funnel” (41) to help the audience understand his inner feelings. He uses an empathetic use of alliteration by narrating his inner feelings described as “a sudden swell of helplessness.”

Kelley’s diction adds a tone to the piece and allows her to get her message across with helping the reader understand more deeply . Kelley’s use of imagery, appeal to logic,

Imagine a close family member finding out they have cancer. Most people would be devastated, but my mom concurred through it and continued to brighten everyone’s day, D. Thesis- Even through her journey of cancer, my mom kept a smile on her face and continued to inspire people. E. Preview of Main Points- Cancer not only made my mom realize how lucky she was, but it also pushed her to become a better person.

Everything from how her interactions with her family to her perception of her environment and how it evolves throughout the story allow the reader to almost feel what the narrator is feeling as the moves through the story. In the beginning, the only reason the reader knows there may be something wrong with the narrator is because she comes right out and says she may be ill, even though her husband didn’t believe she was (216). As the story moves on, it becomes clear that her illness is not one of a physical nature, but of an emotional or mental one. By telling the story in the narrator’s point of view, the reader can really dive into her mind and almost feel what she’s feeling.

From her internal thoughts and observations, the reader is given knowledge of the exact extent to which Ellie’s own mortality affects her thoughts, actions, and enjoyment of her whole life. The impact of the knowledge is best demonstrated when the reader is told, “Yet

Alexie's repetition also evokes emotion from the reader. The reader immediately becomes interested in Alexie's life. When he uses the same phrase he used to relate to his life and talk about the Native American children, the reader feels

In Readings for Writers, the essay “Breast Cancer No.2”, by Margaret Overton is simply about revealing the face of a doctor that’s dealing with life or death. The doctor of the story is struggling between a professional and a personal standpoint. Throughout the entire essay, Overton uses description and story mainly as her methods of development. Overton uses story to tell how the doctor is struggling about keeping her emotions together while a patient she cares about is going through something terrible. Overton also uses description to help the reader picture and imagine the patient and what the patient is going through.

Clare wants the reader to feel the same pain she feels and by doing so, she illustrates her emotions detailed enough, that it would persuade any reader to immediately be interested in her desire for help. Before Irene even decides to read the letter, she already senses danger and anxiety as she indirectly discourses the letter to be “sly...bore” (Larsen 1) and “foolish” (Larsen 7). Even though Irene was stubborn and hesitated to open the letter, she still felt curious and soon, read

The multifaceted nature of the human condition encompasses all aspects of human life at both an individual and collective level and delves into the notion of humanity and the values it comprises. Gwen Harwood’s poems’ “Father and Child” and “Mother who gave me life,” and Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” (1998), explore the dynamic and often contradictory nature of the human condition. Harwood portrays the transience of time and inescapable truth of mortality, illustrating the ever changing complexion of the human experience. Whereas, Jackson examines the capability of all humans to be violent and cruel while questioning whether such tendencies can be masked by a constrictive society’s heartless ideals. Harwood explores the brevity

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.

When thinking of personal experiences, “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks touches on the emotional topic of abortion. Even though this poem was published decades ago, it can still be seen very relevant to this day. Accepting abortion and the outcome can indeed be a challenging task for many, while others seem to adapt to it without much of a problem. Gwendolyn Brooks’ writing lets us take a look at the mothers view point of abortion and how a mother responds to her new situation. Throughout the poem, the speaker shows signs of grieving concern of the topic of abortion and its outcomes by presenting emotions of regret and memories, shame and guilt, and contradicting herself to almost justify what she has done.

So often the question of personhood has intrigued me, who gets to define it, and by what standards. An only child from a single parent home, my identification, desires, needs were a reflection of the manifestations of my environment. My mother was a champion since birth. She is never too shy to speak the truth to power, always bold, and always beloved. She makes the most out of the least.