The Nana Essays

Book Summary Originally published in 1973 and later re-published with new, colourful illustrations, Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs by Tomie DePaola is a picture book based on the author’s own life experiences as a child. The tenderly illustrated memoir shows DePaola as a young boy creating deep bonds of attachment with both his grandmother, Nana Downstairs, and great-grandmother, Nana Upstairs. The first portion of the book focuses on what it looks like for a child to bond with grandparents but

If you were to ask me what three word best describes our Nana, it would be perseverance, caring, and strong-willed. She was the matriarch of the Fernandez bloodline, and the glue that bonded us together. It was because of her we are able to set aside our differences and make the most of life and understand the true meaning of family. Nana was born on February 8, 1926 to Juan and Eusebia Domingo. She was the last daughter out of six children. Even at a young age, she showed perseverance by getting

In a small village of Gul Daman, lives a young girl named Mariam along with her mother who she calls Nana. This woman was Jalils housekeeper, and just as any other women in the World that makes mistakes, well Nana and Jalil had an affair which during that adventure Mariam was procreated. When young Mariam was five years old, her mother continuously called her a harami, which in others words that was how illegitimate children were called. Jalil who is Mariam 's father, gives Mariam a visit every Thursday

repercussions of discovering that one’s partner has been unfaithful. In the book Nana by Émile Zola, this theme is ever-present. Many versions of infidelity are found in this piece of literature. Sexual infidelity brought about through sexual relations between the characters, including Nana, negatively effects marital relationships. Emotional infidelity and betrayal plays a large role in some characters’ relationships with Nana. Throughout the book, many characters fall at Nana’s feet and show their love

raised by her mother, Nana. She was thought to know that she is a “harami”. She dreams of bigger things for herself and tends to question authority. Nana Nana is Jalil’s wife and Mariam’s mother. Nana was cast out of Jalil’s house by Jalil after she got pregnant with Jalil's baby. She built a shack where she and Mariam lived in. Her life revolves around taking care of Mariam. Jalil Jalil is a rich man who owns a movie theater who lives in Herat. He is Mariam’s father. Although Nana thinks he has disregarded

REFLECTIVE STATEMENT How was your understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of the work developed through the interactive oral? For the duration of our interactive oral we discussed how the careful and subdued way in which Out Stealing Horses is written, shows the importance of the culture and environment of Norway. This presented us a leading line throughout the novel; the prominent feeling for the need of isolation. This feeling can be traced back to the scarring history of Norway

“father of the year”. In Mariam’s eyes, Jalil can do no wrong in any way, shape or form. However, Mariam’s mother, Nana, tries to convince her that Jalil is not the man she thinks. Nana tells Mariam stories of the way Jalil treats her, in hopes to shake Mariam’s mind of this false father- daughter bond. Mariam’s mother tells her: “Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have.” All Nana ever wants is to show Mariam what the real world is like outside of Gul Daman. She wants Mariam to know that when

Before Mariam decides to venture off to her father’s home, Nana whines “ Of all the daughter’s I could have had, why did God give me an ungrateful one like you? Everything I endured for you! How dare you! How dare you abandon me like this you treacherous little Harami!”(27). This evidence showcases how manipulative Nana could be towards Mariam due to the hate for her father Jalil whom Mariam adorns. Consequently, since then tone portrays that Nana has resentment towards her own daughter, it also becomes

approaches Mariam to expect nothing but being mistreated by men. On page seven, Nana gives Mariam advice for the future: “ Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter. Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a women. Always. You remember that, Mariam.” As Nana said this to Mariam, she was giving her advice for the future. Nana states the following about the kolba Jalil built for Mariam and Nana to share: “he [Jalil] sounded like a warden bragging about the clean walls

the Afghanistan culture. Gender plays a large role in all of Afghanistan’s social institutions, and we can observe this even at the very start of the novel. For example, Mariam’s mother, Nana, is shunned and placed in a recluse area by Mariam’s father Jalil since Mariam is a harami, or in other words, a bastard. Nana was a maid for Jalil when they had an affair, and when he found out that she was pregnant, he sent her away to small house in a seemingly hidden and isolated village. Only on Thursdays

Nana, as well as the unborn child, narrate the decisions and journey of the Peazant family; their narration project more realistic and accurate representation of African-American woman than previously seen in cinema. One of the mechanisms of this representation was through Nana and the unborn child’s unconventional narration, which did not depend on Hollywood’s usual clichés. Such clichés which typically inaccurately represented or underrepresented not only African American women, but also all women

In Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, Nana tells Mariam that a man always finds a way to blame a woman. This mistreatment of women is depicted in the novel by utilizing multiple examples. Throughout the novel, men were able to use women as scapegoats in the Afghani society that deemed women as unequal to men. Hosseini portrays how this treatment of women was accepted in Afghani culture because men’s superiority was derived from tradition. He depicts a culture in Afghanistan where wives were seen

Mariam’s change was made evident was when Mariam goes to the hospital for Laila’s baby and tries to shove other people to get treated earlier and realizes what Nana had to go through and changes the way she thinks about Nana. The Narrator states, “Mariam saw now the sacrifices a mother made. Decency was but one. She thought ruefully of Nana … Mariam wished she had been a better daughter to

mother is reflected through characters like Mariam, Nana and Laila. The three characters show selflessness by sacrificing for their children’s sake regardless the difficult situations they faced. Naturally mothers have the tendency of giving their children first priority without having a second thought. However, Nana represents the quality of both a bad and good mother but tries very much to raise Mariam despite her medical condition. Mariam, Nana and Laila go through extremes that justify their motherly

Margareta Kulusic-Ho Mr. Schmidt English 3I March 29, 2022 A Thousand Splendid Suns Mariam Characterization Essay In literature, characterization is a key element in how characters are represented and described. Through different experiences, characters can evolve to demonstrate how unique experiences can change their nature and give the characters depth. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini displays Mariam’s progression, as one of the protagonists, who is burdened with shame for being

specifically the decisions and roles of Jared's family, significantly affects his personal growth. More particularly from the actions of Maggie Moody, Phil Martin and Nana Sophia. Maggie Moody, Jared's mother, affects Jared's morals and how he feels about violence, Phil Martin, Jared's father, affects Jared’s emotional maturity, and Nana Sophia embodies the feelings resulting from the abandonment of a family member. Maggie's violent approach to life has desensitized Jared to violence, making him less

mother (Nana), who calls her a “harami” meaning ‘bastard’ or ‘bastard child.’ This is shown in chapter 1 pg 4: “You are a clumsy little Harami. This is my reward for everything i’ve endured. An heirloom-breaking, clumsy little harami” Throughout the novel ‘harami’ is repeated several times in a negative context. Through the use of repetition and emotive language the author allows the readers to gain a better understanding of Mariam and Nana relationship laying the foundation of Mariam and Nana relationship

is independent because she likes to do things on her own. She also likes being in charge of her own life. Everyday she likes to walk into town by herself. She also goes to the carnival by herself to hang out with Leila because her mom and dad are at Nana and Papa’s dinner party (125). Also she runs the film projector with permission when her mom and dad are gone (181). Hattie is rebellious because she doesn 't always

(57) I woke up at about noon, and my Nana came into tell me that we were about to eat lunch. “What's for lunch” I asked her. She told me we were having ham and cheese sandwiches. The sandwiches had a little surprise though. The ham had little peppers bit in it, and it was really good. (58)

the protagonist Mariam has endured her whole life from living in a secluded house with her Nana to having to live in an abusive home with her husband Rasheed. Even after her husband's death she still must endure the choices she made in order to protect the ones she loves. Liala and Aziza are the only people to ever show Mariam love and she is willing to give them anything she has. When Mariam was little, Nana told her “Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have,” this really sets the tone for Mariam's