The story that I feel relates most to my life would be “Pose” by Anar Khan. I relate to this story through the theme which is that we must learn to appreciate our own value before letting society judge us. This theme is presented in the story through the actions of the main character. She is described as being a “...young woman, a college student, smart, sophisticated, urbane. Even the most daring boys at the college got cold feet walking with her.” (Khan). However, we can infer that she isn’t confident in herself since she stands in the glass window pretending to be a mannequin, hiding her self identity. When she stands in the window she finds others looking at her and “She was happy, incredibly happy. No one had looked at her with such appreciation before, at least not in her presence.” (Khan). This is significant because it shows how she finally valued herself and could feel happiness when hiding who she truly is. I can relate to this theme because I see first hand through social media how people hide their true self behind a screen. Personally, I only share the best moments in my life on social media which doesn’t give an accurate representation of my real life. It’s not the fact that I am insecure, I just don’t want to be judged by others so I only show the happiest moments in my life online. This relates to the theme of the pose because I know I need to value myself more and stop being afraid of what others think of me. Instead of me hiding my true self behind a screen, or in the main characters case behind a mannequin, we need to be confident and value ourselves.
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In my opinion, the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” did not include a climax or a resolution based on the plot of the story. The short story is about Walter and his wife who are going to the town of Waterbury so that Mrs. Mitty could get her hair done. The story begins with what seems to be a flashback of Walter as a Navy Commander Pilot, conducting his crew through a storm. When he snaps back into reality Walter is behind the wheel of a car. After dropping his wife off Walter continuously has day dreams that are triggered by an event occuring in his real life. I am unsure whether what he is imagining is a flashback or not, all we know is that it is all in Walter’s head. As Walter continues along his caride he is triggered numerous times by his surroundings. He imagines himself as a doctor performing surgery, a witness on the stand of a trial, and as the captain of a bomber plane. The story plot line is steady, alternating between reality and Walter’s imagination. There is no significant turning point in the story where tension has built up to change the stories course of direction. In my opinion, I believe that James Thurber did not include a climax or resolution because he wanted the reader to understand the mind of Walter. To escape the conflicts between him and his wife he fantasizes frequently. There are no big events that occur, nor does he express much emotion. His life simply consists of imagination. In the end there is no resolution since the conflict between Walter and his wife is not resolved. Instead when he faced her at the end he was “...erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last.” (Thurber 5). This shows how no resolution was added to show how Walter lives his life hiding from the truth, unwilling to fix it. Part A: In the short story “Mirror Image” by Lena Coakley, a fourteen year old girl named Alice underwent a brain transplant that altered her entire life as she knew it. Her and her father had been in a terrible accident, he didn’t survive and the only way for her to live was to have a brain transplant. After spending many months in the hospital, Alice woke up in a forgein body, only left with her original brain. Adapting to life in her new body brought forth many challenges. Alice refused to look in mirrors and she wore sunglasses because the girl in her reflection was not who she saw herself to be. Not only was the change hard on herself, but her twin sister Jenny and mom had difficulty adjusting as well. Jenny didn’t see the new Alice the same. She hung out with new people and was into different activities. She claimed that “She had to get to know (her) better” (Coakley 13), even though she was technically the same person, just with a new body. Her new body once belonged to a girl named Gail Jarred, who had offered to donate her body after death. After the transplant, Alice, known as Girl X, was all the rage, considering it was the first ever successful procedure. However, the Jarred’s did not support what had happened. They didn’t want their dead daughter to be revived, living a completely new life. One day, Alice just happened to see Mr. Jarred on her walk home and he gave her his umbrella. The two had a brief awkward conversation before he rushed off realizing that when “...(he) looked into (her) eyes (he) didn’t see (his) daughter.” (Coakley 18). The story ends there giving the Jarred’s some form of closure, knowing that Alice wasn’t their real daughter. Part B: Who am I? Most people when asked this question simply respond with just their name, one word used to label themselves, differentiate themselves from everyone else. However, the truth is that one name has no significance to one's identity, it merely puts a name to a face. What makes us us is a combination of our outward appearance, our personality and the environment around us. Personally, I consider one’s personality the most significant factor when identifying oneself. Everyone's personality is influenced by their environment and then through their appearance they can express their personality. Generally speaking I would consider myself an outgoing, selfless, easy going person. Throughout my life I have developed these traits from my upbringing as well as the environment around me. I say I am outgoing because I am always keeping myself busy either with sports, music or trying new activities with friends. During my childhood I was enrolled in various activities because of my eagerness to try new things. Continuing on, I identify myself as selfless since I am constantly putting the needs of others first, doing whatever I can to make them happy because it brings me joy in return. I have learned to be selfless after many years of constant support from my friends. Lastly, I identify myself as being an easy going person because I am usually relaxed even when something doesn’t go my way. Those are just a few words I would use to identify myself but there are many others that follow including, hardworking, motivated and athletic. All things considered, I do not believe that one's appearance identifies who they are because for the most part they cannot control how they look. However, you can tell a lot about a person by the way they dress or by their hygiene. Overall, when asked the question who am I, I say my name is Grace, but underneath what others see is the person that I identify myself to be.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2020
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