Megan Tse
Ms. Jassal
ENG2DZ
11 December 2022
Self Growth in The Boat People and How to Pronounce Knife
“Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.” (Rowling). In The Boat People by Sharon Bala, one of the main characters, Grace, struggles with her Japanese-Canadian identity and her mother’s sudden interest in internment. Similarly, the child in How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa encounters challenges due to her cultural identity and her immigrant family. While Grace and the child both endure the struggles that come with having immigrant parents and are given opportunities to change, only the child shows growth and acceptance with her father in comparison to Grace’s ignorant
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This is explored through the development of characters, the acceptance of heritage, and familial relationships.
The child shows development in her character as the story progresses, ultimately leading to her insightful and strong appreciation for her father and her heritage, while Grace remains a flat character. Although the child is told she was wrong, “she never gave up on what her father said, on that first sound there.” (Thammavongsa __). The child shows progression from the beginning of the story, where she was unsure of how she fit in her classroom. The author chose the classroom to represent society, in which many people feel, or are, out of place and isolated due to their cultural identity. This symbolism shows how the child breaks through this barrier by standing up for herself and her father, ultimately demonstrating that loyalty and pride come with development and change. In
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When her peers tease her about her food, “what that smell was that was so bad, the child had no idea. ‘You all don’t know what a delicacy is.’” (Thammavongsa __). Although the child is mocked for her food, she strongly defends her culture and food, even while she is embarrassed. This character is presented as a tough and proud girl, which brings forward her need to protect and appreciate her Laos heritage and culture. Additionally, when “the child had no idea”, it shows that the character is an innocent and naive child, unfamiliar with these microaggressions. However, she does not try to fit in and conform to her peers, she defends herself and takes pride in her heritage, highlighting the importance of pride and individuality. s her mother takes interest in Japanese internment, Grace thinks that“it wasn’t enough that she had the twins tangled up in her mission -- the family history project, they all called it -- Kumi wanted to rope Grace in too.” (Bala 200). The word “rope” symbolizes Grace’s unwillingness to listen or help her mother, as if she is getting pulled into her mother’s mess. Moreover, this shows that even with the heavy topic of internment, Grace still does not want to learn about her family’s history and heritage. Grace shows lack of insight and inability to understand how others, especially her mother, feel about racism and
In the book, A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park, Salva learns it is okay to rely on others for help. This essay view’s on how Salva was able to make it through the desert, despite all the difficulties, using motivating words from his uncle. “He had to slow down, and for the first time on the long journey, he had began to lag behind the group.” (Linda Sue Park,53) At this point in the walk through the Akobo Desert Salva was behind the group thirsty, injured, and tired, not sure if he could keep walking.
In the book, “A Long Walk to Water,” by Linda Sue Park, the thing that affects the characters the most is their culture. In this book, Nya has to walk to the pond and back every day to get water for her family. Eventually, her village has a well dug by people from another tribe, the project being led by Salva. First, the way people are raised by their parents heavily affects who they are in the future. “Salva had three brothers and two sisters.
A Long Walk to Water, a captivating novel by Linda Sue Park, exposes the story of Salva and his terrifying experience of having his life turned upside down when the war in Sudan seeps into his village. Salva travels from group to group, refugee camp to camp, trying to outrun the war and find his family. Throughout his journey, Salva loses his family and friends, and meanwhile the war continues to tear apart the country he loves. To overcome all of the obstacles on his journey, Salva must use his intelligence, new relationships, and perseverance to survive. Salva overcame obstacles through intellect and determination.
Salva had faced many challenges for instance, most the time he was on the line of starvation, and dehydration. He didn’t have food for about a week at one point and almost collapsed to the ground, he had to get honey out of a beehive with vicious bees constantly stinging them. Although he was starving that little glob of honey satisfied him well, because it could keep him going longer, as he enjoyed the honey in his stomach. In A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, the author tells the story of two children. A girl who gets water every day at a pond and walks for hours so her family can live off the water, and a boy who got separated from his family and must go on an torturous journey.
The hardships in A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park are terrible real life experiences in the Southern Sudan area. Salva is an eleven year old boy in this story, he was born and raised in Southern Sudan in Loun Arrick. Salva has multiple siblings including three brothers and three sisters. In this book he faces hardships like a raging war, a lack of water, and not being able to find his food.
The term ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’ refers to the about 20,000 boys that were displaced in the Second Sudanese Civil War. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is a novel based on the true experiences of some of Sudan’s lost boys. A character in the novel based on these boys, Salva, must leave his village and flee the Second Sudanese Civil War. He tries to find safety from the violence by walking to a camp in Ethiopia, facing many perils along the way. When the Ethiopian government forces the refugees to leave the country, Salva must begin yet another, long difficult journey to Kenya.
Try to imagine having to flee your home because of war, or having to deal with the grief of losing your entire family, best friend, and watching your uncle die in front of your eyes, or living through a genocide that killed 2 million people. Now imagine doing that before you were even 13 years old. In A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, the book follows 11 year-old Salva trying to escape war in his home of southern Sudan. He tries to escape The Sudanese Civil War to Ethiopia first, and then to Kenya. During A Long Walk to Water, Salva faces and overcomes many hardships like the civil war, dangerous animals, and harsh living conditions.
During Christmas, Tan is worrying about how Robert is going react about their culture. Tan’s mom sees that she does not like the culture of her family in front of Robert. Furthermore, her mom does not want her daughter to be ashamed of her family and her culture. The best way for Tan’s mom to teach her a lesson is to follow their culture on her way to cook and act, and she says something unique, “Your only shame is to have a shame.” Its change the way she thinks after year later (111).
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. It drives us all. It makes us believe in something even when we think everything is against us. Author Nam Le explores the theme of hope in his short story, The Boat and director John Hill coat in his film, The Road. The author and director explore the theme through character development, scenery, the use of symbols and metaphors also through character behaviours.
The parents’ actions after the change from them caring for their children to the nursery caring for them shows that they are scared of the change. The parents are scared that there are going to be further changes to their family and want to change it back to before the nursery. However, some disagree with this theme and say that the main theme of the story is abandonment. They say this because there are many points in the story which showcase abandonment. The children’s actions also support the theme of people are scared of change.
While most children would give up in the face of daunting circumstances, one 11-year- old boy confronted them non-stop and heroically. A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park chronicles the journey of Salva Dut, one of thousands of the Lost Boys of Sudan. The Lost Boys fled from their homes because of the Second Sudanese Civil War during the 1980s. To be safe from the dangerous war, they migrated through different countries. Salva’s factual story shows how he survived his journey across Africa to make it to protection.
Over 24,000 boys between the ages of fifteen to eighteen started the tough journey to a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya after being chased out of their homes by the Second Sudanese Civil War. Only half arrived to the refugee camp alive. The fictional character Salva Dut in Linda Sue Park’s A Long Walk to Water was one of these boys. On a normal school day, Salva was sitting in his classroom when gunshots started firing outside; following his teacher’s instructions, Salva immediately evacuated a small village in Southern Sudan and began the long, treacherous journey to a refugee camp in Ethiopia.
The Betrayal of Anney Boatwright in Bastard Out of Carolina Thrust into motherhood at the age of fourteen Anney Boatwright sets out to prove she is a good caring mother. Throughout a Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, she provides examples of Anney Boatwright as a loving mother of Reese and Bone, but then instances occur that show that might not be true. This essay will show that Anney Boatwright appears to love and care about her family, but fails as a mother because she lacks introspect, puts her daughters at risk, and abandons her family. Anney Boatwright shows time and time again that she lacks introspect, which repeatedly has a negative impact on her family. She marries Glen Waddell, who appears charming, but has a darker side.
In the novel, Ordinary People by Judith Guest, a family goes through the trials of trying to find normalcy after a tragedy strikes. Throughout the story you meet the Jarret family and watch as they progress through the everyday life and the challenges that come with it. Conrad Jarret is an ordinary 17-year-old boy living in Lake Forest, Illinois. Conrad is living with the burden of thinking he is at fault for his brother’s death and blaming himself for the family quandary’s. Conrad, by far, is the most interesting character for the reason that he unquestionably struggles to try to find what he defines as a “normal” life.
Her personal experience is socially and theoretically constructed and emotions play an essential role in the process of identity formation. Her identity is not fixed, which is portrayed by inquisitiveness that her own mother and Aunt thought she was possessed, enhanced and made this story an enriching experience. The family is the first agent of socialization, as the story illustrates, even the most basic of human activities are learned and through socialization people