Pregnancy Essays - Roddy Doyle, The Snapper, The Van,

Pregnancy Snapper stands for a baby, child, kid, which is the main matter of the book. The story evolves around the pregnancy of the main character. But to snap means you change moods very easily, because of the hormonal changes during a pregnancy. Biography: Roddy Doyle was born in 1958 in Dublin and has grown up there, in Kilbarrack, to be precise. Kilbarrack is a suburb in the north of Dublin, close to the sea. He was a Geography and English teacher there and thus stayed in touch with all generations of his neighborhood. He loves that part of town and knows that inside the aggressive, foul mouthed, drunken "eejits" there is (more often than not) a heart of gold. At one point Doyle felt that the only way to express his true love and sympathy for the suffering people around them was to write about them. His first book The Commitments was made into a very succesful movie by Alan Parker and it helped to establish Roddy Doyle's reputation as a writer of best- sellers Bibliography: The Commitments (1987). The Snapper (1990) The Van (1991). Paddy Clake Ha Ha Ha (1993). The Woman Who Walked into Doors (1996). Genre: lt's a novel about a working-class family which has to deal with the pregnancy of the daughter. Motto: This book is delicate to Belinda Characters: Main Characters. -Sharon, a girl being pregnant and giving birth to a child of a married man from the neighborhood. -George Burgess, the father of Sharon's child. -Veronica, the mother of Sharon. -Jimmy sr, Sharon's father. Minor Characters -Jimmy jr, Sharon's brother who has decided to be a famous discjockey. -Tracy, Linda (= twins), Darren and Les, the rest of Sharon's brothers and sisters. -Yvonne, Jackie and Mary, these are the best friends of Sharon, with whom she spends quite a lot of their time (and money) in a pub, getting "pissed" (=drunk) -Paddy, Bertie and Bimbo, the pals of Jimmy sr. Ordering of time: The story is built up very simple, it is told chronologically. Setting: The setting, like most of Doyle's work, is a suburb exactly like the one he lives in himself. He calls it Barrytown, and it is a working class-suburb with tiny houses, lots of children in the streets, unemployment and heavy drinking (barry means happy in Irish). Narration: The story is told by the omniscient point of view, so the reader gets an insight in what the characters are thinking and feeling, or when Sharon is feeling pain or sickness during her pregnancy, or when Jimmy sr. was mad at Sharon because she was pregnant and wouldn't tell him who the father was. Language: The English being used by the characters is mostly Irish dialect, which means that they pronounce "jezus" like "jayses", and they use lots of insulting words. You could say they speak slang. Theme: In Barrytown exists a great sense of togetherness both within the family and in the local community, but sometimes things happens which can cause a divide. Sharon getting pregnant of a married man and not telling who he was, is an example of such an event. The book could also be entitled as: "Nine months in the life of a family in a Dublin suburb". Plot/outline: The Rabibitte family lives in Barrytown, a north-Dublin suburb. One day, after dinner, Sharon Rabbitte tells her parents that she is pregnant. The father and Sharon are having a big row, because she refuses to tell who the father of the child is. Sharon goes to buy a book which describes the details of pregnancy. When she is in her 1 l th week signs start to show. The time has come to tell her friends, but she keeps postponing it, because she knew they would ask who the father is. Her friends are sympathetic and delighted for her. One night Bimbo, a pal of Jimmy sir, told him that he heard that George Burgess said that Sharon was a great little ride. Jimmy sr. was furious and wanted to crease him. When Jimmy sr. got home he warns Sharon for George. The next day Sharon goes to George and told him to stop or else she would tell his wife (they were both drunk and made a mistake). A few days later George has disappeared, because he has told his wife about Sharon. George his wife tells the community that Sharon has seduced her husband. Sharon decides to deny everything and makes up a story about a Spanish sailor for her

The Flowers by Alice Walker Essays

The Flowers by Alice Walker Essays The Flowers by Alice Walker Paper The Flowers by Alice Walker Paper Essay Topic: Literature Growing up happens. It is almost inevitable to go through life and still look at the world through childish eyes. Our planet is composed of microscopic cells and atoms that are always in movement and in constant change. We, as humans, are also susceptible to this flow of energy. So we must mature and leave our ignorance behind. In Alice Walkers The Flowers, the author uses Myop, a ten year old African American girl, to illustrate this shift from childhood into adulthood. Myop begins her journey into maturity by something as simple as exploring the woods behind her house. She was a worry-free little girl, who was just enjoying a beautiful day of summer by picking up some flowers. This day becomes different from all the other times Myop and her mother had gathered nuts when she decides to make her own path (Walker, 4). To the reader, this is a clear sign that she is by her herself and is starting to make her own decisions, which is the first step to growing up. Standing up for oneself and following our own ideals are not necessarily rebellious actions, however. Myop does not try to prove a statement or disobey rules, but she does what seems right to her, which is creating a new path. Even though Myop had often been as far away from home before (Walker, 5), she had never been to this particular place. Naturally, her adventure into this new land stands for Myops first contact with adulthood and her transition from innocence into truth. She dislikes it and even attempts to return to the peacefulness of the morning (Walker, 6), but its a bit too late. Myop is not able to go back to the lost beautiful day, but is instead stopped by something unexpected. Changes and opportunities to develop our understanding levels do not present themselves with some sort of announcement. Consequently, Myops life changes when her heel becomes stuck in a broken ridge (Walker, 6). The action of Myop reaching down and liberating her foot can be representative of her dealing with the circumstance (in this case adulthood) and facing the consequences. The author also uses strong imagery to demonstrate why what looks as something as simple as stepping on something eventually changes Myops outlook on life. The most important piece of information is given when Myop realizes that the dead body she had stepped on, this African American male, had not died of natural causes, but had been hung from a tree instead. She discovers the noose and the other piece of rope hanging from the oak because she is first attracted to whats familiar and beautiful: the pink rose. As she tries to pick it up to add it to her collection, her eyes are opened and her innocence flees in an instant. She understands what had truly happened and the severity of the occasion. It no longer feels right to her to go around skipping and picking up flowers. She [lays] down her flowers (Walker, 8), symbolizing the loss of purity and fairy-tale reality. She lays down everything she knew and she finally acknowledges truth. Life is mysterious and the most decisive events happen very unexpectedly. It does not wait for perfect timing and it does not discriminate because of age or gender. We are constantly thrown into unknown directions and forced to react. The day that Myop took that walk through the forest her mind was opened to a new reality that had been foreign to her. She was obligated to lose her sweet ignorance, and the things that seemed fulfilling before lost their beauty.