...Professor Susan W. Keith: Honors ECII Character Analysis: Paper #1- Character Analysis This paper is an analysis of the theme of alienation in Dagberto Gilb's short story, "Love in L.A." From its ironic title to its sense of continual longing for something "that would even make it better, “Jake,” the protagonist’s definition of “love” is expressed in different fashions, none results in anything positive; He portrays being lazy, somewhat poor, irresponsible, and perhaps a scam artist, lusting for materialistic things. Several essences reveal the main character true identity throughout the story: a love for image, self-conceit, and daydreaming. At the beginning, Jake, the central character, is "slouched" in his car, stuck "in the peculiar gray of concrete, smog, and early morning." The air and time around him are an amorphous mass that put him the mood to muse about the amorphous mass that is his life. Disdainful of those with regular jobs and regular routines, he waits for the traffic light to change while fantasizing about all the improvements his car ought to have and all the benefits those improvements would make. His way of cognition is similar to that of a younger person who's greatest preoccupations in life, like the stereotype of most guys, are cars and freedom. When the author states that "[Jake] needed an FM radio in something better than this '58 Buick..”(line 7), Gilb gives an estimate Jake's age bracket. The description the author gives of Jake thinking about...
Words: 1057 - Pages: 5
...There comes a point in life where a person is saddened, feels useless, and has the world's weight on their shoulders. It's up to that person to either turn it all around or live miserable without taking initiative. Correspondingly, the novel Tyrell, has the same situations that some teens may have in their life. Tyrell, the main character, goes through hard patches and literally has no role models. He lives in an unfortunate environment, his mother and little brother move around from motel to motel, whatever seems fit from the EAU. His mother doesn't fill any of the empty holes in his heart nor does his father, they both are what drives Tyrell into doing what he does. His little brother though, Tyrell cherishes him and wants what's best for...
Words: 1189 - Pages: 5
...PSYDONEUM Ms. Meng English I: 8-1 due 11.2.15 Character Study Fan Fiction for The Chosen Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction based on Chaim Potok’s novel, The Chosen, published by Ballantine Books in 1967. I, its author, do not in any way profit from this story. All rights to the characters belong to the copyright holder(s) of The Chosen. Hero It rained that entire week; constant, ravenous rain that clawed against the ground, as if searching for something buried deep under the mud. The rain lulled me to sleep, and the radio too, playing from down the hall. Our heroes are coming home, it would say. And I’d repeat it to myself. They’re coming home soon. Home to me was the hospital. The white walls, the white door,...
Words: 1034 - Pages: 5
...The novel, Unbroken, is based off of true events where the main character, Louie, faces many exciting moments yet many hardships in his life. As a young kid, he was a troublemaker, he always stole goods and got caught by authorities countless times. But when his brother introduced him to track, his entire life changed. As he grew, he became more and more of a runner. Until later in his life he became an Olympic runner. But when WW2 started, he was drafted into the Air Force as a Bombardier. He flew on many missions over the Pacific against Japan in his trusty B-24 Liberator, the Super Man, and his crew. Some time later, the Super Man had to be put out of commission after surviving a bombing run with 594 bullets in it and the crew had to go...
Words: 618 - Pages: 3
...The Outsiders Analysis Gang violence has severed consequences that affects the life of many adolescence. Young adults are exposed to many dangers when they become part of a gang. As in the book The Outsiders by S.E Hinton all the characters where affected in many ways by the violence that a gang exposes. Ponyboy the main character of the story had to deal with stabbings and deaths of people that where closed to him because of the violent environment that he lived in. In The Outsiders Ponyboy was affected by the violence that surrounded him as not being able to walk alone home, the murder of Bob and the death of Dally. Ponyboy was afraid to walk home alone, because he was in danger since he was a greaser. He mentions “Greasers can’t walk alone too much or they’ll get jumped, or someone will come by and scream “Greaser!” at them, which doesn’t make you feel hot, if you know what I mean. We get jumped by the Socs” (Hinton 2). Ponyboy was affected by this because he could not walk...
Words: 730 - Pages: 3
...“Cousin Simmons might be the nicest and most delicate writer in all the country…” (Fast 23). April Morning by Howard Fast takes place April 18th, 1775 near Lexington, Massachusetts on the verge of the American Revolution. Joseph Simmons, often referred to as Cousin Simmons, is the father of Ruth Simmons and the “neighbor and kin” (Fast 18) of the Coopers. He is also the blacksmith of Lexington. Joseph is a cautious and kind character, but throughout the book becomes tremendously brave as a leader. Joseph is a round and dynamic character who is cautious at the beginning of the book. Adam thinks highly of him and his values. “Some of them, like Cousin Simmons, actually disliked arguments and attempted to avoid them whenever possible…” (Fast...
Words: 528 - Pages: 3
...Introduction One character in the novel. A Night Divided.by Jennifer Nielson Gearta Lowe as known as the main character. Mama is the mom and named Katharina. Gearta was worried the wall being up because they did not sleep well. The fears were only getting up before Gearta was wearied. Gearta is a hardworking and active character. Paragraph 2 Gearta Lowe also known as the main character is a hardworking character. The first thing Gearta douse is dig when her mom leaves. Gearta was going to stand up and be hardworking or sit in chains so the first thing Gearta did was dig. The other time was when they were working they heard someone digging. They are active because they are always helping and sometimes digging. Lastly they were working and...
Words: 294 - Pages: 2
...Did you ever notice that peoples around us change as things happen, and time goes on? In the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee,(Re-Word Whole Sentence) you can notice that happening throughout the novel, from beginning to end. The characters that have the most change, are the two protagonists, Scout and Jem. They get older throughout the novel, and as such they mature Do not list one of your paragraphs points in introduction. Different events that occur around them cause them to shape their views. The fact that they are still kids makes their minds more malleable, and they often side with ones close to them in conflicts. This causes them to adopt morals as they grow up, and changes how they view things in everyday life. Jem and Scout change throughout the novel, for a variety of reasons. As Scout and Jem age, they gain maturity, as humans do. When Scout attends school for the first time at 6 years old,...
Words: 1094 - Pages: 5
...Business Fifth Business is a novel, based in archetypes, about character development, specifically developing all sides of one’s person and not leaving any side “raw”. The main character, Dunny, is subject to this experience of developing largely due to an incident where Dunny steals an egg from his mother, and she, in turn, attacks him viciously (as all friendly mothers do) and beats him. This experience is pivotal in the story because it helps open up Dunny to the notion that people have more than 1 side to them, spawns Dunny’s distrust and lack of understanding of women, and makes Dunny a more “raw” and underdeveloped character which originates Dunny’s need for development....
Words: 822 - Pages: 4
...Connecting My Life To Fiction: Personal Response The novel Zebra Crossing by Meg Vandermerwe is about the suffering of people who are different. Chipo is a character that is both innocent and vulnerable, and who helps her brother and friends without even a simple thank you. Her appearance and background make her a character i can relate to easily because her issues are one i know from my own experience. Her decisions and ambitions maker her a character that i can not relate to because her choices and actions hurt not only herself but the people around her, and these choices and actions are against my moral code. nonetheless her similarities and differences to me is what helps me as a reader understand both her and myself better. Being an albino, refugee, and a teenager can be a hard life for anyone. Chipo is no different. Being dissimilar...
Words: 841 - Pages: 4
...My favorite character so far is Prior. He goes through a lot in the play and yet he does not let it break him. He first has to process and come to terms with his mortality when he is diagnosed with AIDS. Then, he is cheated on and deserted by his boyfriend (Louis), who cannot bear to deal with the pain and trauma of watching a loved one waste away from AIDS. When he begins to experience his visions, he begins to doubt himself and wonders how much of what he sees is real or as a result of his AIDS. As I read the book, I wondered how he was able to communicate with Harper in his dream. He had not been introduced as a person with supernatural powers. I also found it interesting that although the angel that crashes through his roof is female, he...
Words: 359 - Pages: 2
...“I was plagued by wakeupscreaming nightmares so bad that I had to wear a mouth guard to keep from grinding my teeth into nubs as I slept.” (pg. 39) Night terrors, along with anxiety, become a way of life for Jacob Portman after the death of his grandfather. By all accounts, he is a “normal” teenager who spends the better part of a summer in an “abnormal” place trying to figure out what his grandfather meant before he died. Through the story, Jacob’s personality changes tremendously due to his relationships with other characters . All throughout his childhood, Jacob’s grandfather, Abe, plays a huge role in his life. He is always sharing stories from his own childhood; stories that seem quite peculiar. Jacob listens to his grandfather’s tales intently and wants to believe they are all true, no matter how farfetched...
Words: 544 - Pages: 3
...Cath Avery is a remarkable character that sheds a light on what it really means to be a fan girl. She is seen as an introvert living in the shadow of her twin sister, Wren. Ever since Cath has been little she used the world of fanfiction to escape reality and to cope with the issues of her mother abandoning her sister and her and leaving them with their dad. Cath is described as a slim, dark, brown, hair girl with glasses. Since she lived in the shadow of her sister, she developed low- self-esteem that consumed her every day. To say the least she had social anxiety problems that played a part in the next chapter of her life, which was college. Once Cath and Wren arrived at the same college that they both were attending, Cath got hit with news that changed her comfort zone, her twin sister wanted to put distance between them. Cath was always...
Words: 510 - Pages: 3
...Kekla Magoon, the author of books such as Camo Girl and 37 Things I Love (in No Particular Order), has a certain way of writing her stories. She also has a special way that she develops her characters and the plot. She develops her characters and the plots of her stories by using description, other characters in the story, and an inner conflict within the main character of the novel. So, how exactly does Magoon incorporate all these elements in order to create characters and a story? Description is an important way that Magoon develops both her characters and the plot. In Camo Girl, description plays an important role in that it helps construct the appearance of characters, personality of characters, and other components of the story. Additionally,...
Words: 467 - Pages: 2
...Through her transformation, Catherine’s character can be seen as being ‘double’ in nature. Emma Borg explores the notion of Catherine’s two sidedness and states ‘it occurs when she behaves in different ways surrounded by different people’8. It is particularly evident as Bronte expresses that Catherine had ‘no temptation to show her rough side’ around the Lintons and took care not to act ‘like a vulgar young ruffain’ as Heathcliff was termed9. Catherine ‘was full of ambition- and led her to adopt a double character without exactly intending to deceive anyone’10. Despite Catherine being a rebelious and ‘wild’ character, it is evident that she was still nonetheless greatly influenced by the patriarchal attitudes, gender conventions and expectations...
Words: 1295 - Pages: 6
