...Everybody has read at least one book that has impacted them one way or another and certainly The Glass Castle was not an exception. As a matter of fact, from the beginning, The Glass Castle captures everyone and every sentence we read makes everyone want to read another one.The main character along her whole family all go through very tough and challenging physical, social, and inner obstacles that they must overcome to survive. This is a book that can impact a person’s life because everyone can connect to the main character one way or another. “I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.” With no doubt, the way the beginning of the book is...
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...Andrea Irvin poignantly states in her article, "I love allowing students to explore characters and their motives vicariously through the stories we study in class, and I hope by doing so that students learn something about their own character in the process" (57). She clearly has a passion and dedication to teaching character development in the classroom. While Irvin wrote about Jeanette Wall's memoir The Glass Castle, it is interesting to note how Sebold's memoir Lucky similarly reveals "inner strength and determination" and manages to show how a person can "persevere in the face of obstacles." Facing her fears, surrounding herself with supportive people, and seeking justice despite difficulties are lessons we all can learn from. First of...
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...should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more.” ― Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle things usually workout in the end" "what if they don't?" "that just means you haven't come to the end yet” ― Jeannette Walls http://kmo236.hubpages.com/hub/The-Glass-Castle-Essay B.This is a novel that is full of tragedy's and the sad truth of what Jeannette walls had to live through in her child hood. C. Jeannette Walls is author of the memoir, The Glass Castle, which has been on the New York Times best-sellers list for more than four years, has sold an incredible 3.5 million copies in the US, and was named one of the "Top 10 Books of the Decade" by Amazon. The Glass Castle details Walls' life growing up in extreme poverty and describes the unimaginable obstacles she faced. From the desert of the Southwest to the mountains of West Virginia to her parent's homelessness in New York City, Jeannette Walls' account of an impoverished life is a compelling and moving first-person testament to what it means to be poor. She explains in detail the effects of poverty and tells the tale of her emergence from it D. Jennette walls was a brave soul that struggled but pulled herself out through all the tragedy's in her life. This novel was a way for Jennette Walls to show her story to the people around her telling them her straggles, happiness In Jeannette Walls captivating memoir, The Glass Castle, the reader becomes enthralled with Jeannette’s constant battle between defending...
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...daily basis. Poverty has been a major issue throughout the world, and places a wide span of negative affects on children. In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, The Wall’s family lives most of their lives in poverty which buries their children in stress, unstable environments, and misery. Poverty contributes to a lack in a child’s intellectual abilities, mental health, abuse, and family stability. Poverty puts a strain on children’s intellectual abilities in school. Kids who are in poverty feel as if they have no control over their life, and are less motivated to put forth effort into their education. This is also known as “learned helplessness”...
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...1) Looking at the title, what do you predict will happen in this book? Why? By looking at the title "The Glass Castle" I believe that there will be either an imaginative glass castle or a real glass castle. I also think that in this book there will be a story about how the characters will achieve or arrive at the glass castle. I think the author will show us all of the obstacles that the characters had to go through to make get there. I predict this because the author would have not been titled the book "The Glass Castle" if there was not real or metaphoric castle. I also predict that in this story the main character will be a girl. I believe this because on the cover of the book there is a young girl. From my personal experience, I have come to find that most authors who are women make the main character a girl as a metaphor for themselves or someone they know. 2) What character do you like least? Why? My personal least favorite character in the book is Rose Mary Walls. She is my least favorite character because of the fact that she is always selfish towards her kids. She likes to make sure she is taken care of before of her kids. When Jeannete burned herself in the...
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...The glass castle revision essay Valerie Feldman In the book, “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette walls, her memoir shows the family and their experiences of the life on the move. Jeannette’s frame of mind is described clearly through the book, the many ups and downs As the walls left phoenix, Jeannette felt a sense of disatachments. Although Jeannette felt completely different when they arrive in phoenix. When they arrive Jeannette is astonished by the house itself and the atmosphere around it.” The backyard had orange trees that grew real oranges.”(pg 94) the “highlighted” word in the moment is real, this word represents the surrounded meaning of possibility, new adventures and opening horizons. Jeannette’s father, rex, repeatedly threw her into...
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...Diana Benavidez Mrs. Donato-Jennings English 10 November 1, 2015 The Glass Castle In Jeannette Walls’s novel The Glass Castle, it shows the reader that even when you're growing up with hardships it doesn’t mean that one can’t grow up to be successful. She shows her readers this by writing a memoir which is The Glass Castle. She retells the stories of her life growing up with her three siblings and parents. After reading the story one would think that the Wall’s children wouldn’t have amounted to anything. They moved from place to place never really settling down in a town for too long. Jeannette’s parents were careless and irresponsible and were always looking out for their own best interest. Even though Jeannette’s parents weren’t the best they still showed them how to be independent and value the things in life others may have taken for granted. The Wall’s children grew up never really having a home and they knew that. They relied on each other because their parents were neglectful. They were okay with that though and often they were the ones who more responsible than their parents were. Their dad, Rex being an alcoholic and their mom Rose- Mary who was always consumed in her paintings or any of her other hobbies. Jeannette and her siblings often had to take the bigger role in their family....
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...Jeannette decided to name her book The Glass Castle because of her unconventional childhood growing up. The title “Glass Castle” metaphorically symbolises her life of poverty and dysfunction growing up with her parents and their constantly changing lifestyle. This title reflects the fragile relationships she had with her family members which, if not handled properly; could have demolished her family much like a rock being thrown through a glass house at any given moment. The most memorable moment about her story is, even though her parents were negligent, irresponsible and careless; they still managed to raise responsible and independent adults. The Walls children learned how to depend on each other for everything because Rose Mary was a self-absorbed, negligent mother who only cared about her herself and her interests and Rex was an alcoholic father who only cared about his kids when he was sober. Although both parents neglected their children, they both genuinely loved them, just not all the time. Jeannette grew up happy despite the day to day issues living in poverty. Rex and Rose Mary’s neglect for their children’s basic safety needs are mainly present in Jeannette’s childhood. When Jeannette was three, she badly burned herself when she was cooking hotdogs by...
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...The Glass Castle: Resilience “The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” –Robert Jordan This quote demonstrates how, in human culture, we must be flexible to change and hardship considering, rather, embracing its certain unavoidability. As a living organism, one is bound to the natural tendency to make mistakes; consequently, one is susceptible to the associated consequence of his/her actions. Concerning the above quote by author Robert Jordan, the previous statement describes the oak tree, such that the inability to adapt to the situation presented before oneself may cause such an internal conflict of resilience that he/she fails to persevere in solving the problem at hand. Supporting...
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...The Glass Castle is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls. The book illustrates her struggle through life and how her hardships shaped her into the person she is now. Jeanette is the second out of four children, she has an older sister, Lori, a younger brother, Brian, and a younger sister Maureen. The family is very dysfunctional, they are always doing the skedaddle and living in very poor conditions. They move all around Western America running from their father's mistakes. The way Jeanette's parents raised her, it took her a while to realize that the way she was living was not right, eventually her and Lori came up with a plan to get away from their toxic living conditions. The Glass Castle has three pages in the beginning reserved for praise...
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...failing. In the novel, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls didn’t want a part in this, she had the mindset of no other. She wanted to explore, take risks, and accomplish something extraordinary. She managed to live an exciting and adventurous life where she was able to make her own choices. It didn’t matter to her that she would fail. It mattered that she was able to choose her decisions for herself and not having other people do it for her. She was bullied, pushed to the brink, but still she never gave up on living an adventurous...
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...In the memoir The Glass Castle written by Jeanette Walls, portrays her dysfunctional family and her difficulties growing up. Jeanette is faced with numerous barriers throughout her life. Despite the many obstacles set forth by her parents during her childhood, Jeanette develops into a successful adult later in life. One of these obstacles is that Jeanette must cope with the carelessness of her mother, Rose Mary, while also dealing with the destructive nature of her father, Rex. Jeanette Walls uses plot, characterizations, and conflicts to convey that parent’s selfishness can be detrimental to their children. As a child Jeanette’s family is constantly moving from place to place and struggling to make enough money for foods. Jeanette’s father, Rex, makes it quite difficult to live as a well-financed family because of the money he spent on alcohol. Jeanette uses characterization to demonstrate that the selfishness of her father spending all the money for him rather than for the family. When Jeanette and her siblings are sitting around in their house with no food and no money to buy food one of her sibling said, ““dad needs to start carrying his weight.” Lori said as she started into the empty refrigerator. “He spends more money than he earns on booze” Brian said.”(78) Rex Walls could not provide for his family because what salary he earn, he goes out and spends it all on alcohol, leaving Jeanette and her siblings scavenging for food. Rex’s alcoholism had cause so much chaos...
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...people. For example, in the memoir The Glass Castle, Jeannette and her siblings grow up with neglectful parents. They were forced to live with little food and no money in a barely livable house. This experience is what motivated both her and her siblings to work hard and get out of that situation. Jeannette used her sister’s place in New York as a stepping stone on her path to a successful, fulfilling life, far from the one she was forced into as a kid. Although many people might bring up an example that demonstrates a time where Horace’s claim doesn’t work, such as Jeannette’s parents, we have all experienced times where it’s true. In the story The Glass Castle, the main character, Jeannette’s, parents live in old, rotted homes, eating out of the trash, and with little to no money. Jeannette’s parents faced adversity, but it was by their choice, they liked and accepted where they were. They faced daily challenges but never acknowledged the severity of it, and they forced these challenges upon their kids, who used it as motivation. Her parents are what force themselves and their own children into adverse situations. Jeanette’s lack of parenting caused her to develop responsibility and maturity at a young age. Her parents never grew up as people, while Jeanette used the obstacles created by her parents’ reckless behavior to develop characteristics that are ultimately what led her to achieving her dreams in life. The story of the Glass Castle is one of many examples of how adversity...
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...In The Glass Castle, the Jeannette Walls and her family went through many ups and downs. They were forced to go places and endure things that are extremely difficult. The children of the Walls family learned how to take care of themselves and to never give up. They persevered through good and bad to have the lives they always wanted. The Walls family had many accomplishments and successes despite their obstacles and conflicts. The Walls family had many accomplishments and victories. At one point in the novel, Jeanette was being bullied and threatened by mean neighbors (87). Jeanette immediately reacted by grabbing her dad’s gun to protect her siblings. She scared off the boys and got the situation under control. Her quick and smart thinking saved the family and defeated the bullies. Additionally, the Jeannette Walls accomplished her poverty and malnourishment by always finding...
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...Death is a natural part of life, thus it is inevitable that every living creature’s time will eventually come to an end. Comparable to most obstacles we encounter in life, there is not a uniform way to deal with death; therefore, everyone copes with it in differently. Death is not a positive topic; nevertheless, it is a topic that has influenced the work of many authors, artists, and musicians from every era. In my opinion, here is the most memorable author, artist, and musician that’s work has been greatly influenced by the topic of death. Shirley Jackson is an American author that is responsible for writing one of the most well known fictional short stories concerning death, entitled “The Lottery”. The title may be deceiving and seem innocent; however, it is an oxymoron. Instead of the lottery winner joyfully prospering in some way; it actually refers to the selection of a victim for a ritual sacrifice. The story is very dark, as it introduces horror into a peaceful community. It became a very controversial among readers and was even banned by South Africa. Shirley replied to the banning of “The Lottery” by saying that is a sign that they, at least, understood the story. During another interview Jackson jokingly described herself as a practicing witch. Regardless of what motivated her to write, writing was always her passion. At the age of twelve she won her first poetry prize, and throughout high she kept diary where she frequently wrote. She attended Rochester University...
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