Recent orders
Literature- Trip to Bountiful
(Name)
(Instructors’ name)
(Course)
(Date)
Dear Son,
It is with deep disquiet that I write to you this letter. I understand why you do not wish to see me out of your sight, but I urge you to please grant me this opportunity to travel to my hometown Bountiful. I appreciate that you took me into to your home and have taken care of me since my husband passed away but my experience here has been nothing but acrid. I miss my home, I miss my friends, I miss the memories of my childhood and I worry that this loneliness that I feel is what is making me feel depressed. My journey to Bountiful is a spiritual journey, one that is destined to heal my cheerless soul. A silent hum that will console me in this noise that is my daily aging life. This journey will grant me the serenity that will surpass all what I have lived for and seeing the people I grew up with in my childhood will reconcile me to the reality and inescapability of my demise. So I urge you my son not to allow your childlike self-interest to exacerbate my depression. I urge you to permit me to spend these very last days of my life re-living the memories that have made me who I am today. This trip to Bountiful is not intended to inconvenience you in any way. I do not wish that you accompany me to Bountiful, and will not ask for pecuniary support. I know you think am too old to travel, or that if I go I may not come back but I assure you I will.
Although I do not want to pre-empt your response to my request but I shall ask you to consider what this trip would benefit the three of us. Please do not repudiate my request out of the fear for my life, or out of the belief that my actions are obstinate. All the time that I have lived here, you have not allowed me to go back to my hometown, let alone travel to another town. I feel like a prisoner in my own home and I feel like if my life is to end soon, I shall not have lived it to the fullest. I stare at the television set everyday with the hopes of seeing someone from my old hometown. I listen to the radio, hoping to hear from one of my childhood friends. And instead of getting all that, I am tormented by rumors of what my town has become, a empty town reduced to and decrepit shacks. You have confirmed these rumors over and over again as you refuse to grant me permission to travel to Bountiful. How I wish you would take the time to understand what this trip would mean to me. This trip will grant me the redemption I will need to rest easy before my days in this world are cut short by the almighty. This trip will make me happy and give me the peace that I have been longing for since you brought me to your house. So my dear son, I hope that you will find it in your heart to let me, your old aging mother, visit my hometown Bountiful for one last time. To let me say goodbye for one last time to my friends and my relatives.
Sincerely,
Mother
Comparing the Characters in One Crazy Summer
Comparing the Characters in One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation
Comparing the Characters in One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Authored by Rita Williams-Garcia, One Crazy Summer is a fictional novel that follows the lives of three sisters, Vonetta, Delphine, and Fern who are visiting their mother in the summer of 1968 in Oakland, California. Published in 2009, Garcia narrated how Delphine, who is the eldest alongside her two sisters, get reunited with their estranged mother after abandoning them for nearly six years. The three sisters are the main characters in this novel. They share a strong sisterhood bond, but they carry unique perspectives and personalities. This essay compares and contrasts the characters of Delphine and Fern in Rita Williams-Garcia’s novel One Crazy Summer.
Delphine Gaither and Fern Gaither share various differences. Delphine is an African American girl who is 11 years old. She is the firstborn daughter to Cecile Johnson. Her mother abandoned her and her sisters at the age of six. Delphine struggles with her sense of responsibility to be a mother figure to her two and her desire to enjoy her childhood. At the start of the novel, Delphine is old-fashioned when it comes to ideas about her racial identity. However, as the story develops, Delphine starts accepting the drawbacks of her sister-mother figure to her sisters which is why she starts being more racially conscious. At the beginning of the novel, Delphine embraces her new caregiving role. When she is told by to look after her sisters, she does it without question. She feeds them, bathes them, and keeps them safe from their mother who shows no interest in cuddling them. She gets her identity because of being a responsible sister that looks out for her sibling. However, the longer she stays with her mother in Oakland, the less she dislikes the role. However, she refuses to heed her mother’s advice to take on less responsibility as she believes it is her sisters that will suffer the consequence. Compared to Fern, Delphine is more aware of injustice and racism issues that surround them. Delphine is also resentful towards Cecile because she had no choice but to take up the mother role at a tender age and dislikes speaking in public (Williams-Garcia & Johnson, 2010, 37). On the other hand, Fern who is the youngest of the three sisters is naïve and not as aware about the issues of racism and injustice that are around them. She is seven years old and looks up to Delphine. She is thoughtful, pensive and poetic just like her mother. Fern is a force; despite her age, she can stand up for herself.
Despite their difference in age, Delphine and Fern have various similarities. One of them is that they were both love each other a lot. One can tell they have a strong bond in how they care for each other and are there for each other. Delphine, for instance, did not hesitate to fill the shoes left by her mother. She mothers up and takes care of her sisters including feeding them, clothing them and bathing them. When their mother tells Delphine to drop some her responsibilities, she declines, saying it would be her sisters that would suffer the consequences. Fern, on the other hand, shows her sister love by listening to her and doing what she is told. Another similarity is that they were both raised by Big ma and Pa. Another similarity they share is that they were both abandoned by their mother at a tender age.
In closing, the characters in Garcia’s novel ‘Characters in One Crazy Summer share similarities and differences. Delphine is the oldest sister who is forced to play the role of both mother and sister at the young age of 11 and as a result, she is responsible. On the other hand, despite being young, Fern manages to stand up for herself despite being naïve about racism and injustices.
‘
References
Williams-Garcia, R., & Johnson, S. A. (2010). One crazy summer (p. 240). New York: Amistad.
Literature- Theme of Hybridity (Ceremony)
(Name)
(Instructors’ name)
(Course)
(Date)
Ceremony
By Leslie Marmon Silko
The novel, Ceremony, tells the story of a young man, a former fighter in the World War two, who returns home and seek to find healing from the emotional and physical wounds attained at war. Tayo, the main character in the book, takes a journey back home with the aim of achieving all of this, but when he finally gets home, he is confronted with past experiences with family and friends. At first, Tayo seeks for healing at the veteran hospital, but when he realizes that the hospital is not providing him with what he wants, he opts to leave the hospital and go back to his grandparents home. He believes that being back home with his grandparents will assist him deal with is issues but he realizes that this is not the case when he sinks into depression and drug abuse. In response to this, his grandmother seeks the help of a medicine man to perform a ceremonial ritual to help him heal. He engages in a number of ceremonies until he attains the healing he requires.
This paper examines the theme of hybridity in the novel ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. More specifically, the paper examines the different ways in which the theme of hybridity has been brought out in the novel, while drawing attention to the blending of poetry and prose, storytelling, mixed heritage, hazel eyes, and healing at the Veterans hospital and ceremony.
Theme of Hybridity
Hybridity is defined as a mixture of two or more phenomena that are considered different and separate from each other. Put simply, it is the process whereby two things become separated from their inherent practices, and recombine to form new practices. The theme of hybridity has widely been used in literature to signify a transformation from the old into the new, through amalgamation. The new hybrid forms that develop through this combination are an indication of the profound changes that take place as a consequence of hybridization. These changes can either be positive or negative depending on the nature of the change that has taken place. This, therefore, implies that hybridity changes how things used to be, as well as, how they are viewed by the society. In the novel, Ceremony, hybridity has been revealed in a number of ways. Readers are exposed to hybridity from the beginning of the book all the way to the end. Specifically, the theme of hybridity in the novel is brought out in various ways including storytelling, blending of poetry and prose, mixed heritage, hazel eyes, and healing at the Veterans hospital and ceremony.
Hybridity in Storytelling
In the novel, Ceremony, storytelling is not only a theme on its own; it is also used to bring out the theme of hybridity. Evidently, the novel is centered on the main character Tayo, and his return home from World War II. However, in the development of the novel’s plot, the author interweaves the stories of other individuals, such as Tayo’s friends and his community at large. Tayo’s story is unique and individually appealing, but the development of the novel into what it is could not have been possible if the author did not integrate the stories of others. In addition to this, Tayo, who is the main character in the book, seeks to find healing from his experiences, something he can only achieve together with his friends. Accordingly, the combination of the different stories in the book, leads to the creation of the novel, which is the hybrid in this particular case. Each character in the book has an individual story regarding his or her experiences, and the combination of these stories demonstrates the greatest form of hybridity in the novel.
Blending of poetry and prose
The second and most evident form of hybridity in the novel is brought out through the combination of poetry and prose in the novel. In essence, the author uses these two techniques of storytelling as a way of exposing to the readers the two main cultures that are central in the story, including the native Americans and the communities from the West. Both the two techniques are significant to one culture with the poetry style signifying the storytelling patterns in native America, whereas the prose signifies storytelling in the West. Through a combination of these two techniques, the author affirms the combination of cultures as the main content of the novel. In the story, the two cultures are in a constant clash with each other, though in the end, they come together to form a culture that is a combination of both but distinctively different from their cultural roots and background. The use of prose and poetry throughout the novel provides a clear illustration of this and it illustrates both the differences in the two cultures, as well as, provide the necessary combination to bring out the theme of hybridity. Though the combination of these techniques may, at the beginning, sound different and clash with each other, they complement each other in such a way that helps the readers understand the underlying meaning of the theme of hybridity in the novel.
Mixed heritage
The theme of hybridity in the novel is also brought out in the fact that Tayo, the main character of the novel, is of mixed heritage. As a character, Tayo embodies both the native American and Wetsren cultures as part of his identity, something that he struggles with throughout his lifetime. As the author tells Tayo’s story, the readers can see how this character has struggled with this combination, as he does not possess a clear identity as to the person he is. He is often portrayed as confused and in need of clarification, which illustrates one of the negative effects of hybridity. Tayo feels out of place at most times and he is not sure of whether to identify himself as a native American or a member of the Western community. Tayo’s mixed heritage brings out the theme of hybridity in the sense that it illustrates both the negative and positive effects of hybridity. At the outset, readers are exposed to the complications of being of a ‘combined’ culture being to the formation of a hybrid that has not been well defined. However, towards the end of the book, the readers are introduced to a new Tayo who has learnt to appreciate his combined cultural background. This, in turn, illustrates the positive aspect of hybridity owing to the formation of a new and different form.
Hazel eyes
In addition to being of mixed heritage, Tayo also has hazel eyes, which is a combination of the colors brown and green. Tayo’s hazel eyes indicate that he himself is a hybrid, as he is the offspring of parents who are Native American and Western. Additionally, his hazel eyes are an indication of the ways in which the world is changing as a result of hybridity. In a way, the society, as well as, Tayo is confused about the changes that are brought on by hybridity, but later on, they all learn to accept these changes as a way of positive development.
Healing at the Veterans hospital and Ceremony
Upon a closer examination of the plot and story of the novel ceremony, it is evident that the most of the characters in the book are in search of healing. This is especially applicable to Tayo, the main character in the book, as he wishes to heal from both the physical and emotional wounds attained from his experience in World War II. Tayo looks to find healing from numerous places, but there are only two places where he successfully manages to achieve this including the veterans hospital and the ceremony. These two places are filled with a various individuals from different cultural backgrounds, and they all come together are attain the healing they require as a combined force. In the veterans hospital, individuals from diverse cultural background come together and receive treatment as a group, with minimal discrimination because of their cultural background. The ceremonies are a representation of the different cultural traditions in the novel, and it is the only place where these two cultures meet and appreciate their authenticity as a group. Away from the ceremonies, the two groups have no considerations for each other and they discriminate against one another. However, in the ceremonies, they combine into one forget their differences, and carry out their ceremonies as a group. This, in turn, builds on the theme of hybridity in the novel.