This excerpt from Maxine Clair’s “Cherry Bomb” is a prime representation of an adult character reminiscing in memories of youth and innocence. Through the description of her “box of private things” and the cherry bomb incident, she uses appropriate diction, figurative language, and imagery while reflecting on past summers where time wasn’t consumed by school, capturing the pure moments of childhood. To begin with, the persona’s younger self picks up the “lofty” saying ‘I am in this world, but not of it’ without a clear understanding of what the message truly entails. She chooses it based on the fact that it seems to sound important. This reflection of her past shows a sense of immaturity, and is supported by other various examples of forward diction that tie back into her young personality at the time. Phrases like …show more content…
A trail of memories is formed when the persona incepts the closet scene with an even further recollection of her father describing the women on the island as being “as fine as wine in the summertime”. After the cherry bomb episode, Eddy had a scar “like a piece of twine”; both of these uncomplicated similes allow the reader to dive into the young girl’s mind and relive her memories with that same level of ease. Just like with any child, the young girl is particularly wordy with her descriptions of these different memories, producing potent imagery. She goes off on a tangent, rattling off directions one would take in her father’s “cave-dark” closet to reach her private box and diary. The persona turns the memory into a game. Placing “one foot in front of the other” and closing one’s eyes are just two rules on her detailed list. The picture the reader envisions is one of a clumsy kid crawling around, feeling every tangible object until finally stumbling upon the “strong-smelling cigar
In literature and in life, misunderstandings create a divide in society. In “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls, the Walls live a reckless lifestyle and frequently move around the country, as a result of their denial towards society. “Poetry” by Marianne Moore describes Moore’s complicated relationship poetry because it is often not true, raw emotion. “The Glass Castle” and “Poetry” are representative of the constant battle between self and society.
Childhood is a wonderful time filled with memories that shape us into who we are now. In Cherry Bomb by Maxine Clair, a girl recalls memories from her childhood in her hometown before middle school. Clair uses literary techniques such as imagery and diction to capture the author's memories of her 5th grade summer. By painting a vivid picture of her hometown during summer, the reader can see how impacted Clair's life was by her home. It creates a unique sense of belonging and forlorn nostalgia that can only be found in childhood.
In the end my character Eli is having a flashback to when he and his brother turned eight he wasn't very happy about thinking about this because his twin brother eddy passed away, on page 101.He hates when he thinks about things like this because it makes him really upset because that was his brother and his twin. I think that this is giving Eli a hard time knowing that he does not have his twin anymore and they did a lot together. Then he starts to think about more thing in the past. Eli keeps thinking about the past and how much he misses it.on page 103.
My dreams for my family and I have been shattered. My life has become dulled. The day Mr.Truman Capote came to interview me about the murder overwhelms me with the numbing feeling of February wind. I was likely shuffling to my house trying to avoid frost from biting my skin
In “from Confetti Girl”, the point of view of the narrator was different from her parents’ because all she wanted to do was spend time with her father than focus on education all the time. According to the text, it states, “Nothing’s more important than his books and vocabulary words. He might say I matter, but when he goes on a scavenger hunt for a book, I realize I don’t.” The narrator also made the point that showed resentment of her father’s efforts to impose his interests on her.
Innocence is the idea of being blameless and free from any wrongs because one devoid in making any decisions. However, at times those who are innocent cause frenzy and disruptions in a family. Alden Nowlan’s, The Fall of a City, portrays how Teddy, an eleven year old boy, full of imagination in his own little world is ridiculed by his aunt and uncle whom believe that he is up to something in the attic. Subsequently, it is accentuated that his imagination blinds him from realizing the reality that his imaginations are illusions. Throughout this short story, Nowlan demonstrates how naivety and innocence blinds one from realizing the truth by juxtaposing the two settings and emphasizing on the conflicts.
In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the female narrator is greatly troubled by the suppression of her imagination by her husband and her ultimate isolation due to this subordination. These feelings are reflected through the author’s use of setting as the narrator’s dreary and malicious descriptions of the house and the wallpaper mirrors her emotional position. Throughout the reading, the reader is exposed to the narrator’s in-depth loss of touch with reality as she sinks further and further into her own reality. As she becomes more isolated, her descriptions of the house become more abstract as she begins to focus on the wallpaper and starts to see herself as being hidden behind it.
Cherrylog Road James Dickey’s poem, Cherrylog Road, is clearly an exhilarating, narrative poem. The speaker of this piece is a young man reminiscing of a past love affair that was forbidden. This is a provocative poem, told in the first person and is full of figurative language and symbolism. The setting of this poem is in a rural part of an unnamed Southern state, off of Highway 96 at Cherrylog Road. It is at the peak of a summer afternoon in a junkyard full of discarded cars.
Oates’s protagonists struggle with a dual identity: one that conforms to the world around them and one that directly reflects how they see themselves. The works of Joyce Carol Oates can be seen from multiple perspectives; many
In the coming of age story “Where Are You Going Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates uses symbolism, conflict, and the third person to foreshadow fifteen-year-old Connie’s unfortunate, yet untimely fate. While one may think that the conflict stems from Connie’s promiscuity, it is clear to see her promiscuity is only a result to a much bigger conflict, her mother’s constant nagging and disapproval, alongside the lack of attention from her father. the author paints a vivid picture of what happens when a fifteen-year-old girl such as Connie goes elsewhere to find to find the love, attention, and approval that she lacks at home. All which is vital for her growth and wellbeing as a person.
In detailing the events that led up to her change in perspective, she made note of the honeysuckle that covered the walls of the well-house, the warm sunshine that accompanied going outdoors, and the cool stream of water that she felt as she placed her hand under the spout. These details kept the reader with her in the moment as she felt something less simple, but still universal; the returning of a, “ misty consciousness as of something forgotten.” In using rich diction, she maintained a sense of intimacy with the reader which allowed her to call on personal details from her own life and theirs. Later in the passage, she described how, once the reality of language was opened to her, and she returned to the house, “every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life.” She had gone through a complete shift of perspective, one that, to her, was felt entirely through senses other than sight or sound.
“It was the first thing anybody ever gave me.” It creates a bittersweet memory as even though there were bad times, there was always a optimistic side to everything. It is ironic that the cherry bomb, although it caused some damage, was “a sort of memento of good
In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls describes her unique childhood through motifs, complex symbolism, and progressive tones in order to demonstrate how one’s past positively influences their future. Throughout her writing, Jeannette implements the rhetorical device of a motif in order to demonstrate to her audience how the recurring themes affected her future. Beginning when Jeannette was only three years old and continuing into her time as an adult, the Walls family used the phrase, “doing the skedaddle” (10) to represent their need to move. Seeing as most children and families do not move as frequently as the Walls did, “doing the skedaddle” was their way of turning a normally tragic thing into something lighthearted, if not almost humorous.
Carolyn Kizner’s pantoum “Parent Pantoum” (1996) laminates that the speaker is conflicted about her daughter’s adolescent behavior and attitude. Kizner explores the speakers discontent between herself and her children using metaphor, juxtaposition, and parallel structure. Through her contemporary pantoum, Kizners speaker marvels at her “enormous children” (1) in order to try to understand how the girls can “moan about their age” (6) but still appear in “fragile heals and long black dresses” (7). Kizners pantoum addresses the speakers view on how kids act when they are in their adolescent years with a bewildered tone, however; as the poem progresses, the speaker develops her own ideas about why teens behave the way they do in a hopeful and proud tone.
The cherry orchard itself is a symbol of the past that holds an important, though different, place the hearts of each of the characters. Some characters like Madame Ranevskaya and her eighty-seven-year-old servant Firs prefer to stay in the past and choose to ignore their present or adjust to it. Other characters, like Lopakhin and Trofimov, however, believe in the present and look forward to the future, disregarding what is gone. In The Cherry Orchard, memory is seen as something that relates to personal identities and a liability that hampers the search of happiness.