...In March 1956, the French protectorate ended and Morocco regained its independence from France as the "Kingdom of Morocco". The very first Eurovision Song Contest is televised. An event that invited countries across Europe to each submit original songs. This time-period is united by the release of portable televisions allowing a global audience to view the world unfolding (World History Project, n.d.). This year is also marked by the release of The Red Balloon (Lamorissse, 1956), a short film which explores childhood through a lens. The opening shot captures the back drop of what appears to be monochromatic colored town and a vibrant red balloon. This is captured by a deep focus shot that follows the boy’s journey to secure...
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...Assignment 8 Can a close friendship be the means to cope with life and overcome fears and challenges? This seems to be the case in Jackie Kay’s short story “Owl” written in 2012, where the two main characters together experience a very hurtful childhood event overlapping with an encounter with an owl. The story tells us how both of these incidents shapes the friendship between the main characters and how it becomes a lifelong walk together in this life but also a journey into a fantasy world of their own. The short story is written in the first person. This means that the story is told by the main-character Barn, or Anita as she is really called. It is characterised by a heavily use of dialogue and direct speech. This dialogue is almost entirely between Barn and Tawny (Tawny’s real name is Marion). This literary device is a way to illustrate that it is only about the two of them, Barn and Tawny – the rest of the world does not really matter: The fact that we only get an insight and hear about the two women life for example their childhood, creates a closer relation with the two of them and at the same time we as readers gets distanced from everyone else. This is also why that the narrator makes heavily use of the personal pronoun ‘we’. It forms an affiliation between the reader and the main-characters, which is Barn and Tawny. The close relation between the two of them is also seen in the following quote: “”It’s only scary because we all want to be perfect. It’s not scary...
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...Mavis Gallant There have been many aspects that affected the work of Mavis Gallant, some of which include her difficult childhood circumstances. Also the fact that she came from an English, protestant family and was sent to several Convent, French boarding schools that shaped her primary view of the world. Later on her experiences as a newspaper reporter led her to give up her simple life in Canada and move to Paris to pursue her dream of being a writer and nothing else. Gallants Canadian heritage and familiarity with the Acadian culture forms the body of some of her major works. The post world war era played an important role in her decision to move to Paris. In this research paper I am going to discuss some of the major social and literary influences on the work of Mavis Gallant, as well as aspects of her past that affected her development as a writer. Also Three of her major works discussed in this paper are “Home Truths”, “Paris stories” and “Across the bridge”. Gallants work is greatly influenced by her early years of education in Canada. According to Sarah Kerr, Gallants childhood consists of two completely different cultures; English protestant of which her background is, and French catholic where she received her education. “Perhaps because of her own troubled childhood, she is frequently drawn to the plight of frightened, lonely children and adolescents, and writes compassionately of their anguish. The reason why her ...
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...The Year of the Elephant follows the life of Zahra, a recently divorced woman navigating her way through life’s obstacles and the short stories of women facing similar struggles as Zahra. The main character, Zahra, was the narrator of the novella, and gave the reader insight into her struggle for independence as she adjusted to life as a divorcee, a taboo among Moroccan culture, and the colonization of Morocco. As a divorcee Zahra was left without any marital possessions and was had to move back into her childhood home were she struggled to become apart of the community. Additionally, she was resistant in conforming to the new cultural norms brought over by the Europeans, which ultimately led Zahra’s husband to divorce her. Left with little choice, Zahra sought to seek her independence. In the process, Zahra, with the help of her friend Roukia, organized a women’s resistance group because Zahra realized the many struggles women faced because of their gender....
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...Alice Walker the author of the book The Color Purple had many difficulties thought out her childhood. For Alice growing up in her time was not as easy as it might seem. She faced many obstacles that made it seem impossible for her to accomplish her goals, even though she had a long run through difficulties Alice still tried her very best to accomplish what she wanted and didn't let her obstacles stop her from trying. Even Though, Alice faced many difficulties she still had many extraordinary accomplishments that made her the person who she is today. Alice Malsenior Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton Georgia and is still alive till this day. Alice is known as an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and activist. She worked as a teacher, social worker and lecturer and Alice was part of the Civil Rights Movement that took place in Mississippi in the 1960s....
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...Essay #6 – The challenges of teaching ELT in early childhood It is widely known that English is one of the most predominant languages around the world. For this reason, the demand for learning such language has increased over the last years. In addition, many parents decided to raise their young children bilingually. Nevertheless, teaching kindergarten kids in no at all an easy job. In other words, it can very challenging for there are many factors that instructors need to take into account in order to help learning to take place. To begin with, the most difficult obstacle faced by teachers is how to keep young learners not only focused but also motivated. For many kindergarten children, sitting still for a set period of time, concentrating on a task and paying full attention to the teacher can be a struggle. This is due to the fact that their attention span is quite short. Hence, in order to overcome such obstacle, the educator should be creative enough so as to plan fun, interesting but yet effective lessons. A wide variety of methods and short activities should be included. For instance, the tasks can range from more physical activities like signing and dancing to more relaxed ones such as listening to a story. Another big issue to be considered is the fact that young pupils need to follow routines. When these ones are carefully established and taught, children know what is coming next. This is often comforting since they need stability to keep their stress level...
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...Greene creates imaginative impact in his works and interprets the tradition or culture of the society. Greene’s short story “The Destructors” characterizes the gang’s indifference to sentiments, culture, tradition, emotions and beauty (Kolin). Greene explains the society of deprived hope and innocence. Greene uses the destruction of culture and tradition which leads to the characters to fall under the world of shadow and the dark imagery depicts loss of innocence. Greene’s participation in World War 2 enabled him to use that experience in “The Destructors” and explain how World War 2 transformed the character’s life. His imagery of darkness creates an indifference in the society. The society takes place in a world of shadow after World War 2 where there is no strong held commitments which makes the characters under no control (Kolin). The short story “The Destructors” creates an aware of undisciplined society that leads to evil intentions, loss of hope, and betrayal. After the demolishment of the house in “The Destructors”, the gang grows darker and sets an unscrupulous example in the town. In the story, the adolescent’s innocence is replaced by violent thoughts, evil intentions, selfishness, cynicism, and recalcitrant...
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...beautiful locs. In the Apogee Journal, there is a short story called “When they ask about my hair” by Charnell Peters. The author uses flashback and Dialogue to describe her hair journey throughout her childhood and adult years. Not every woman is strong enough to embrace their natural roots. Peters argues that some of us are just scared of what others think of how we look. The short story prescribes that...
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...belong to a certain clique of friends. However, When growing we undergo various challenges that we have to overcome. Through the Tunnel is a short story written by a famous author called Doris Lessing. It’s a rite of passage short story about an 11 year boy who is growing up. The main protagonist Jerry in the short story is an 11 year old boy who the author presents to us a ‘loner’ (Lessing,1990). He faces the challenge of swimming through a tunnel in the rock and belonging to a certain clique of friends. He finally manages to swim through the tunnel through persistence and determination. The main theme brought out in the story are; for you to grow up you have broken free by being determined and persistent. By swimming through the tunnel Jerry breaks free from his loneliness and doubt of his potential. Throughout the story Jerry is depicted to us as a loner and makes no mention of friends. He always hangs around his mother who makes her feel accepted; they are very protective over each other since there’s no one else in their lives. He manages to break free from his loneliness and becomes friends with the other boys which make him feel accepted. By passing through the tunnel Jerry builds his confidence and he starts to believe that he can achieve anything as long as he is determined and keeps trying. The conflicts captured in the short story are person verses self, person vs. person and person vs. nature. Jerry had to converse with himself if he was capable of swimming through...
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...A Gap of Sky In life there's many obstacles to overcome. The difficult transition from childhood to adulthood brings along some of these obstacles and it's often young people who make the wrong choices when choosing how to live their lives. Being young is more or less about providing a background for your personality and that's why the youth is such a vital part of life. But being young is not always as easy as it sounds. Even though freedom is within reach, responsibility and expectations are breathing young people in the neck reminding you of the pressure that comes with it. Instead of choosing the right path that brings them the best, more and more young people feel a massive pressure when undergoing the transition from child to adult. This pressure often result in frequent use of drugs and alcohol to escape from the harsh reality.This is the case in the short story “A Gap of Sky” by Anna Hope from 2008 that deals with the issues of drugs, freedom and pressure. The story is set in todays London and starts in medias res when the story's main character, Ellie, wakes up. Ellie seems tired, worn out from last night and you understand that she has a hard time getting out of bed. The first sentence describe the darkness around her: “It is dark, but the wrong dark. Something is wrong with the dark” (p. 1, l. 1) Her room is probably dark because the curtains block the sunlight. The wrong dark may symbolize Ellie's state of mind. Her unconsciousness tells her that something is...
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...Tortoise and the Hare I remember hearing several little stories as a kid and I was having a hard time deciding which one to share. I decided to choose the “Tortoise and the Hare.” Once upon a time there was a hare that kept bragging about how fast he could run and that he was faster that everyone else, he also was harshly teasing the tortoise for how slow he was. Then one day, the irritated tortoise answered back: “Who do you think you are? You sure are fast, but you can be beat!” The hare exclaimed with laughter. “Beaten in a race? By who you, I bet there’s nobody in the world that can win against me I’m so fast. Now, why don’t you try?” annoyed by all the bragging, the tortoise accepted the challenge. A course was planned, and the next day at dawn they stood at the starting line. The hare yawned as the tortoise headed off slowly. Once they began and the hare saw how slow the tortoise was, he decide to take a quick nap and disclaimed “take your time” ‘I’ll catch up to you in a minute.” The hare woke up with a start from his little nap, looking for the tortoise. But he was only a short distance away, having barely covered a third of the course. Breathing a sigh of relief, the hare decided he might as well have breakfast too, and off he went to eat some cabbages he had noticed in a nearby field. But the heavy meal and the hot sun made his eyelids droop. With a careless glance at the tortoise, now halfway along the course, he decided to have another nap before winning...
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...In his short story “ Powder,” Tobias Wolff narrates a childhood memory he had with his father during Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, his parents were separated. However, his dad still managed to spend time with him by going together skiing on Mount Baker. The common theme throughout the story is the strong relationship between a father and son. The adventures and obstacles through the story help the father and son to know more about each other. Eventually, Tobias learned from his father that although life has to be taken seriously we also have to enjoy it, as it was the last day of our lives. Therefore, Wolff demonstrates the importance of a father and how they naturally protect and guide their children’s life. The story stared when Tobias father asked his “wife” to give his son permission to go skiing with him and promised her to take good care of him and bring him back for dinner on Christmas Eve. Even thought she was mad at him for trying to sneak her son into a nightclub, she relented....
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...Story of my Life by Helen Keller The Story of My Life by Helen Keller is an autobiography of Helen, a girl who was born without any abnormalities until the age of 19 months that she came down with a fever. Leading to an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain, the doctor said she might not recover, although she did survive it lead to her being blind and deaf as a result. Helen’s autobiography talks about her childhood when she met Anne Sullivan, to learning to use sign language, to being able to learn to read on her own, which led her to write her first short story titled "The Frost King,” to Mr. Anagnos, but was sad at the fact it was plagiarized and was found similar to, "The Frost Fairies" by Miss Margaret T. Canby, in a book called "Birdie and His Friends,” and how it affected her friendship with Mr. Anagnos had ended because no one believed that she did not intend to plagiarize the story. She also talks about her visit to Boston, to the Perkins Institute, and seeing other children who are blind and chat with them, "what joy to talk with other children in my own language" (Ch9). Helen also talks about going to Radcliffe College for the first time and overcoming obstacles with her teacher, Anne Sullivan; for example, when she could not get her books published in Braille in time and it was a difficult learning process but Anne had some difficulty signing into Helen’s hand. She talks about Anne and her new acquired friendships such as with Mr. Anagnos, Alexander Graham...
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...paper. Walker's accomplishments are substantial. Her novel, The Color Purple, won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book award for fiction. She has authored many other critically acclaimed works, and is recognized as a leading author in the literary world. As I began to dig deeper, however, I found the real reason that I chose to concentrate on this individual. Alice Walker is an African American woman who expresses herself and her life experiences in her writing. I feel like I am connected to the themes and characters Walker develops in her stories. I feel like I am connected to Walker herself. I have been broken in some kind of way or another. I have been abused physically and mentally. Walker has not allowed her struggles to get in the way of her success or happiness. I chose to write about her because she is a woman who faced profound struggles in her young life. She came close to giving up because of a childhood accident and an abortion. Alice Walker was a fierce and determined woman who stayed committed to her goals. Alice Walker faced many challenges. She was one of seven children. She was born in poverty to sharecropper parents on February 9, 1944. Her father was the grandson of slaves. Her father did not want her to get an education in fear that it would destroy their relationship. Walker's mother enrolled her in the first grade at the age of four. Her mother believed an education would be important to her child. At the age of eight, Walker was accidentally...
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...Through much of Franz Kafka’s writing, the reader can see how his personal experiences and viewpoints are clearly worked into his many stories. One of which stands out is his story A Hunger Artist. In this story Kafka speaks through the hunger artist of the alienation and isolation he feels in his own body, as well as the emptiness he feels as a result of the disconnected relationship he and his father share. Ironically this emptiness manifests itself quite literally at the end of Kafka’s life, when he dies as a result of tuberculosis of the larynx, which causes him to literally starve to death, just as the hunger artist in the story. It was said about his writing “the early manifestations of authentic originality were nurtured in solitary confinement, with his readiness to see the world through his own eyes.” (Pawel 160) This comes across clearly in A Hunger Artist as someone who is in a self-imposed solitary confinement seeking meaning to his life, much like the hunger artist being locked in his cage. Thus, Kafka uses A Hunger Artist to speak of himself and his experiences. A Hunger Artist is a short story about a once popular spectacle staged for the entertainment of a pleasure-seeking public: the exhibition of a professional “hunger-artist” performing in a cage of straw, his stunt of fasting. The hunger artist spends his fasting performances, and therefore most of his life, in a cage, on display before a crowd of people. His spectators see him as a trickster and common...
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