Premium Essay

The Girl Who Fell From The Sky Character Analysis

Submitted By
Words 902
Pages 4
Single stories are created and used by people who have certain ideas on how they want other to be. How they want others to fit those ideas they have of them, and that is the the single story. By using multiple characters created in her book, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, Heidi Durrow can develop her theme about single stories, how they can be created by one another for themselves or other people. Characters in the book such as Rachel, Rachel’s Grandma Doris, and Laronne have either single stories as a part of their lives or even use them to understand the lives of others, sometimes even the community or society creates the single story for them. After spending only a few months in Portland after the accident with her family in Chicago, Rachel is learning why she is not the same as anyone else. Rachel however, because she is …show more content…
Grandma Doris thinks this way because Nella being Rachel’s mother frustrates her, she guarantees Rachel will turn out the same way as her mother. Doris is not fond of this because she knows it was Nella who threw herself and her children off of the building, and who left Doris’ son (Rachel’s father) for another man. Rachel mentions that “The way Grandma paints her dream for me, there’s a low sky” (Durrow 149). Doris does not paint a bright future for Rachel, because she knows she will turn out the same way as Nella, as a troublesome and ungrateful human. Heidi uses Doris who formed her own single-story of Rachel, believing she will be nothing more than what Doris sees to show how single stories are also developed by families. Heidi develops the theme, showing how Doris is set in the ideas she thinks is successful, and because Nella never fit into those standards she creates a single story for Rachel, expecting her to be the same

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Holes - a Novel Study

...Yard”). Sachar practiced law until 1981 and decided to devote his time to writing. “Holes” is his most popular novel to date selling over 8 million copies worldwide and it had been made into a major motion picture by Disney. Sachar currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife Carla and daughter Sherre. He continues to write daily focusing on stories for children and young adults. The main character is Stanley Yelnats IV (his last name spelled in reverse is his first name). There were many male Yelnats named Stanley for this reason. Stanley is overweight, bullied, has low self-esteem and no friends. He was cursed with bad luck (as all Yelnats have been for 125 years) because of his “no-good dirty rotten-pig-stealing” great-great grandfather who failed to follow instructions by Madame Zeroni. He never did steal a pig but was “cursed” with bad luck along with future Yelnat generations for disobeying Madame Zeroni. Stanley misses the school bus (a school mate put his books in the toilet), so he had to walk home. While walking, a pair of sneakers “fell from the sky” and hit him on the head. Stanley took the sneakers home hoping to help his father (an unsuccessful inventor). He has no idea the sneakers were donated by a famous athlete, Clyde (“sweet feet”) Livingston for charity. Stanley is promptly arrested and convicted of theft. Only his parents believed he was innocent but they are poor and have...

Words: 2730 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Gothicism in the Hound of the Baskerville

...Tang Jun June, 2012 Acknowledgement I would like to pay tribute to all those people who have given me a hand in the process of writing this thesis. Without their gracious help, the accomplishment of this thesis would not be so smooth. First and foremost, I deeply appreciate my supervisor, Ms. Tang Jun, who has provided me with so many valuable comments and constructive advice all the way through. But for her constant and invariable patience and kindness in guiding me, it would be more difficult for me to go through all the confusions and find a right direction. My thanks also go to the teachers who has given me suggestions, which benefit me a lot when I make the original plan, in the opening defence. With their help, I get to know where I should go next. Last but not the least, I extend my thanks to my classmates and my dearest parents for their encouragement and support. Wheneve I feel frustrated with my work, they are always there. Gothicism in Detective Fiction The Hound of the Baskervilles Abstract: As one of the most influential people who are never alive, Sherlock Holmes, written by Arthur Conan Doyle, attracts researches. The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of series detective fictions about him. This paper is an attempt to give a specific analysis on how gothic features perform in the depict of the characters, scenes and plot and to reveal the influence made by gothicism on appreciation of the book in part of...

Words: 4863 - Pages: 20

Free Essay

Huangtudi

...significant scenes in the film that suggests the filmmaker’s potential critique of the Communist revolution (CR). The film begins with a magnificent panning view of the vast and mountainous landscape. As with many nationalistic films, landscape plays a very important role, as it indirectly depicts the village peasants as slaves to the land, and a sense of hopelessness that comes with working the land. The several slow scenes focused on the horizon and landscape also represent the notion of an ‘unchanging China’, and it’s backwardness with it’s social and political margins. The film has many scenes depicting the natural surroundings and connection with the peasants, as illustrated in the scenes where Cuiqiao is seen continually making the trip from her home to the Yellow River to get water everyday. Although this chore would be one that the whole village is active in, the camera only focuses on Cuiqiao. The walk is symbolic of the tie that Cuiqiao and the other villagers have to the land. This...

Words: 2445 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Figyrative Language Shaped by Imagination in K. Mansfield's Short Stories

...Katherine Mansfield – Techniques and Effects in A Cup of Tea. 41 II.3. Literary Colloquial Style in “Miss Brill” by K. Mansfield. 49 II.3.1. Lexical features—Vague Words and Expressions 49 II.3.2 Syntactical and Morphological Features 52 II.3.3 Phonological Schemes of the Figures of Speech 55 II.4. Simplifying Figurative Language in K.Mansfield’s Short Stories 60 CONCLUSION 64 BIBLIOGRAPHY 66 APPENDIX 70 INTRODUCTION Figurative Language is the use of words that go beyond their ordinary meaning. It requires you to use your imagination to figure out the author's meaning. For example, if someone tells you that it is raining cats and dogs, you know that there are not actually cats and dogs falling from the sky. You know it really means that it is raining very hard. Figurative language is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense. Appealing to the...

Words: 23312 - Pages: 94

Premium Essay

Report Submission Strategies

...Olivia does not return his love or even listen to the messages he sends her. We learn from Valentine that Olivia is in mourning for her brother, who has recently died. She wears a dark veil, and she has vowed that no one will see her face for another seven years—and she refuses to marry anyone until then. Orsino, obsessed with the woman who keeps refusing him, wants only to lie around on beds of flowers, listening to sweet music and dreaming of Olivia. Summary: Act I, scene ii Meanwhile, on the Illyrian sea coast, a young noblewoman named Viola speaks with the captain whose crew has just rescued her from a shipwreck. Although Viola was found and rescued, her brother, Sebastian, seems to have vanished in the storm. The captain tells Viola that Sebastian may still be alive. He says that he saw Sebastian trying to keep afloat by tying himself to a broken mast. But Viola does not know whether or not it is worth holding onto hope. In the meantime, however, she needs to find a way to support herself in this strange land. The ship’s captain tells Viola all about Duke Orsino, who rules Illyria. Viola remarks that she has heard of this duke and mentions that he used to be a bachelor. The captain says that Orsino still is a bachelor, but then goes on to tell Viola about the Lady Olivia, whom the duke is courting. Again, we hear the tale of how Lady Olivia’s brother died, leading her to cut herself off from the world. Viola expresses a wish...

Words: 3716 - Pages: 15

Free Essay

Compilation of Nursery Rhymes

...Poetry Nursery Rhymes Most children love being told nursery rhymes. Many of the nursery rhymes that we have read to our children have their origins in British history. Rhymes were written for many different reasons. Some rhymes were written to honor a particular local event that has since been forgotten, while others were written to express feelings of love. Rhymes were also used to hide real meanings, such as when someone wanted to express displeasure toward the government or the sovereign without being executed. Another reason for rhymes is that they’re easy to remember, and therefore could be spread by word-of-mouth—an essential feature for a large population of people who could not read or write. So here are some of many nursery rhymes that have been written: Jack be Nimble (aka Jack b Nimble) Jack be nimble Jack be quick Jack jump over The candlestick. Little Tommy Tucker Little Tommy Tucker sings for his supper, What shall we give him? Brown bread and butter. How shall he cut it without a knife? How shall he marry without a wife? The Grand old Duke of York The Grand old Duke of York he had ten thousand men He marched them up to the top of the hill And he marched them down again. When they were up, they were up And when they were down, they were down And when they were only halfway up They were neither up nor down. Diddle Diddle Dumpling Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John, Went to bed with his trousers on; One shoe off, and one shoe...

Words: 14522 - Pages: 59

Premium Essay

Haruhi Vol 1

...However, if you were to ask me when I stopped believing that the old man wearing the red costume was Santa, then I can confidently say: I have never believed in Santa, ever. I knew that the Santa who appeared at my preschool Christmas party was a fraud, and now that I think about it, every one of my classmates shared the same look of disbelief watching our teacher pretend to be Santa. Although I had never seen mommy kissing Santa Claus, I was already wise enough to be suspicious about the existence of an old man who worked only on Christmas Eve. However, it took me quite a bit longer to realize that the aliens, time-travelers, ghosts, monsters and espers in those effects-filled 'good guys versus evil organization' cartoons didn't actually exist either. No, wait, I probably did realize, I just didn't want to admit it. Deep inside my heart I still wanted those aliens, time-travelers, ghosts, monsters, espers and evil organizations to suddenly appear. Compared to this boring, normal life of mine, the world of those flashy shows was much more exciting; I wanted to live in that world too! I wanted to be the one who saved the girl kidnapped by aliens and imprisoned in a bowl-like fortress. I wanted to be the one who used my courage, intelligence and trusty laser gun to fight against villains from the future trying to change history for their own gain. I wanted to be...

Words: 54207 - Pages: 217

Premium Essay

Sdfsdfsdfsdfsdf

...Special episodeOn April 5, 2007, Fuji Television aired a three hour special of the series set five years after Aya's death and focuses on Haruto Asō, who has now become a doctor at the same hospital Aya was treated in and Ako Ikeuchi, Aya's younger sister who is a nurse in training. Haruto is caring for a 14-year-old female patient, Mizuki, who was bullied in school because of her disease, the same one that Aya had. Because of the bullying at school, Mizuki-chan decides not to receive therapy of any sort that would make her better, because she has lost her will to live. Haruto remembers how Aya fought her illness and lived her life with her disease; therefore, he offers support to his patient. Aya reappears in the episode using a number of flashbacks from the series and in new scenes.[1] [edit]Main cast Erika Sawajiri - Aya Ikeuchi Ryō Nishikido - Haruto Asō (Aya's later love interest) [edit]Other cast Naohito Fujiki - Hiroshi Mizuno (Doctor) Hiroko Yakushimaru - Ikeuchi Shioka Takanori Jinnai - Ikeuchi Mizuo Riko Narumi - Ikeuchi Ako Yuma Sanada - Ikeuchi Hiroki Ai Miyoshi - Ikeuchi Rika Saori Koide - Mari Sugiura (One of Aya's best friends) Kenichi Matsuyama - Yuji Kawamoto (Aya's first love interest) Yuya Endo - Takeda Makoto (Yuji's friend in the Basketball club) Kana Matsumoto - Saki Matsumura Momosuke Mizutani - Kohei Onda Ryo Hashidume - Keita Nakahara Hiroshi Katsuno - Yoshifumi Asō (Haruto's father) Asae Onishi (大西麻恵...

Words: 8822 - Pages: 36

Premium Essay

A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man

...father and a solemn, pious mother. Joyce's parents managed to scrape together enough money to send their talented son to the Clongowes Wood College, a prestigious boarding school, and then to Belvedere College, where Joyce excelled as an actor and writer. Later, he attended University College in Dublin, where he became increasingly committed to language and literature as a champion of Modernism. In 1902, Joyce left the university and moved to Paris, but briefly returned to Ireland in 1903 upon the death of his mother. Shortly after his mother's death, Joyce began work on the story that would later become A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Published in serial form in 1914–1915, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Mandraws on many details from Joyce's early life. The novel's protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, is in many ways Joyce's fictional double—Joyce had even published stories under the pseudonym "Stephen Daedalus" before writing the novel. Like Joyce himself, Stephen is the son of an impoverished father and a highly devout Catholic mother. Also like Joyce, he attends Clongowes Wood, Belvedere, and University Colleges, struggling with questions of faith and nationality before leaving Ireland to make his own way as an artist. Many of the scenes in the novel are fictional, but some of its most powerful moments are autobiographical: both the Christmas dinner scene and Stephen's first sexual experience with the Dublin prostitute closely resemble actual events in Joyce's life. In addition...

Words: 18420 - Pages: 74

Premium Essay

Kuharenko

...Кухаренко В.А. Практикум з стилістики англійської мови: Підручник. – Вінниця. «Нова книга», 2000 - 160 с. CONTENTS FOREWORD...............................................................................…………………………………………... 2 PRELIMINARY REMARKS.....................................................………………………………………….. 3 CHAPTER I. PHONO-GRAPHICAL LEVEL. MORPHOLOGICAL LEVEL…............................... 13 Sound Instrumenting. Craphon. Graphical Means…………………………………………………………...6 Morphemic Repetition. Extension of Morphemic Valency………………………………………………….11 CHAPTER II. LEXICAL LEVEL..............................................……………………………………….…14 Word and its Semantic Structure…………………………………………………………………………….14 Connotational Meanings of a Word………………………………………………………………………….14 The Role of the Context in the Actualization of Meaning…………………………………………………….14 Stylistic Differentiation of the Vocabulary…………………………………………………………………..16 Literary Stratum of Words. Colloquial Words…..…………………………………………………………..16 Lexical Stylistic Devices…………………………………………………………………………………….23 Metaphor. Metonymy. Synecdoche. Play on Words. Irony. Epithet…………………………………………23 Hyperbole. Understatement. Oxymoron. ……………………………………………………………………23 CHAPTER III. SYNTACTICAL LEVEL..................................…………………………………………38 Main Characteristics of the Sentence. Syntactical SDs. Sentence Length…………………………………..38 One-Word Sentences. Sentence Structure. Punctuation. Arrangement...

Words: 57354 - Pages: 230

Premium Essay

A Book of Practice in Stylistics

...Кухаренко В. А. Практикум з стилістики англійської мови: Підручник. — Вінниця: Нова книга, 2000. — 160 с. Кухаренко Валерия Андреевна, д.ф.н., проф., кафедра лексикологии и стилистики английского языка факультетеа РГФ ОНУ им. И. И. Мечникова CONTENTS FOREWORD...............................................................................…………………………………………... 2 PRELIMINARY REMARKS.....................................................………………………………………….. 3 CHAPTER I. PHONO-GRAPHICAL LEVEL. MORPHOLOGICAL LEVEL…............................... 13 Sound Instrumenting. Graphon. Graphical Means…………………………………………………………...6 Morphemic Repetition. Extension of Morphemic Valency………………………………………………….11 CHAPTER II. LEXICAL LEVEL..............................................……………………………………….…14 Word and its Semantic Structure…………………………………………………………………………….14 Connotational Meanings of a Word………………………………………………………………………….14 The Role of the Context in the Actualization of Meaning…………………………………………………….14 Stylistic Differentiation of the Vocabulary…………………………………………………………………..16 Literary Stratum of Words. Colloquial Words…..…………………………………………………………..16 Lexical Stylistic Devices…………………………………………………………………………………….23 Metaphor. Metonymy. Synecdoche. Play on Words. Irony. Epithet…………………………………………23 Hyperbole. Understatement. Oxymoron. ……………………………………………………………………23 CHAPTER III. SYNTACTICAL LEVEL..................................…………………………………………38 Main Characteristics...

Words: 56594 - Pages: 227

Free Essay

Agree with Me

...feelings are also prominent, creating a reflective tone. "How I Met My Husband" and Point of View Wayne Clugston, author of Journey Into Literature, examines the role of first-person voice in Alice Munro's How I Met My Husband. Critical Thinking Questions Why does Wayne Clugston say that first-person point of view might be "unreliable"? What is another story you have read in first-person, and how did the use of first-person enhance or detract from the story? Alice Munro (1931—) ASSOCIATED PRESS/ChadHipolito/The Canadian Press Alice Laidlaw Munro was born in Wingham, a small town in southern Ontario, Canada. She began publishing short stories when she was a student at the University of Western Ontario. Since then, she has published seven collections of her stories, three of which received the Governor General's Award for fiction. Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013 in recognition of her distinctive craft and contributions to short story writing. Much of her work reflects perceptions she gained from observing the ordinary happenings and relationships of people in her small town and its rural surroundings. Speaking subtly to realities in today's world, Munro's work has a "looking back" quality, developed not with nostalgia but with clarity, humor, and insight, especially about women. How I Met My Husband Alice Munro (1974) Note that this story uses a first-person point of view. Everything...

Words: 15875 - Pages: 64

Free Essay

Dkjfdlksj

...an abstract idea. While her father was gone, she would sometimes see video footage of the war zone on the news, and she recognized that her father was there fighting. Though her father returned after a year, Collins’s connection to war didn’t end. In addition to being a soldier, Collins’s father was also a military historian and a doctor of political science. That knowledge and experiences serving in the Air Force and fighting in Vietnam had a profound effect on his relationships with his children, and he made sure they learned what they could about war. While other girls’ fathers were telling them fairytales, Collins’s father educated her about military history. When the family was moved to Brussels, Belgium, for instance, her father educated her about the region’s violent history and took her on tours of the country’s historic battlefields. Eventually, Collins attended Indiana University. There, she met the man who would later become her husband, Cap Pryor. At 25, she began an M.F.A. program at New York University where she specialized in playwriting, and after graduation, worked for about a year before landing her first television-writing job on the show “Hi Honey, I’m Home!” Since then, Collins has been on the writing staff of several...

Words: 27839 - Pages: 112

Premium Essay

Mammitas Garden Cove

...2013B Carefully read the following excerpt from the short story “Mammita’s Garden Cove” by Cyril Dabydeen. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how Dabydeen uses literary techniques to convey Max’s complex attitudes toward place. ‘Where d’you come from?’ Max was used to the question; used to being told no as well. He walked away, feet kicking hard ground, telling himself that Line he must persevere. More than anything else he knew 5 he must find a job before long. In a way being unemployed made him feel prepared for hell itself even though he knew too that somewhere there was a sweet heaven waiting for him. How couldn’t it be? After all he was in Canada. He wanted to laugh all of 10 He continued walking along, thoughts drifting back to the far-gone past. Was it that far-gone? He wasn’t sure . . . yet his thoughts kept going back, to the time he was on the island and how he used to dream about 15 being in Canada, of starting an entirely new life. He remembered those dreams clearly now; remembered too thinking of marrying some sweet island-woman with whom he’d share his life, of having children and later buying a house. Maybe someday he’d even own 20 a cottage on the edge of the city. He wasn’t too sure where one built a cottage, but there had to be a cottage. He’d then be in the middle class; life would be different from the hand-to-mouth existence he was used to. 25 His heels pressed into the asphalt, walking on. And slowly he...

Words: 37585 - Pages: 151

Free Essay

Larkin and Plath

...Alita Fonseca Balbi “The Less Deceived”: Subjectivity, Gender, Sex and Love in Sylvia Plath's and Philip Larkin's Poetry Belo Horizonte Faculdade de Letras Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais 2012 i “The Less Deceived”: Subjectivity, Gender, Sex and Love in Sylvia Plath's and Philip Larkin's Poetry by Alita Fonseca Balbi Submitted to the Programa de Pós-graduação em Letras: Estudos Literários in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Mestre em Literaturas de Expressão Inglesa. Thesis Advisor: Sandra Regina Goulart Almeida, PhD Belo Horizonte Faculdade de Letras Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais 2012 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my father, Tadeu, for always reminding me of the importance of having dreams and being true to them; for motivating me to be creative and to believe in my potential; and for teaching me to seek beauty and happiness in everything I see and do. To my mother, Socorro, for always making sure I enjoy all the possibilities that cross my path, and for reminding me that hard work is the only means to achieve my goals. To my brothers, Bruno and Diego, for being my best friends. To my sister-in-law, Sabrina, for embracing me as family and making me feel at home even when I’m not. To Paulo, for his company, for his love and care, and for all his witty remarks. To the professors of Letras, Julio Jeha, José dos Santos, Eliana Lourenço and Gláucia Renates, for being extraordinary professors, and for all the knowledge each...

Words: 44492 - Pages: 178