...Growing up as a child to immigrant parents was difficult. Being in a small town where everyone knew everyone was not familiar to me. I did not have any relatives In America. I did not have any cousins to play with. I did not have aunts and uncles in here. When my parents came to the U.S. it was like coming to a new world. When my parents found out they were expecting, they came to America to have and raise me. My parents came to America in 1996. Back then it was not hard to cross the Boarded back and forth. They decided it was a risk they should take in order to give me more opportunists then the ones they ever had. They made sure to visit their families in case it was the last time they would see each other. Three years after I was born,...
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...It is common to classify “Hispanics/Latinos” into a single category; however, these people come from a variety of countries, have their own cultures, and can even speak a variety of languages. It is important to remember that these people are human beings like any other group of people and they have their own unique lives and stories. These stories are rather important as they tell us the harsh reality of immigration through personal narratives, and many Hispanic immigrants like sharing their stories to inform others and give themselves a voice. Personal narratives tell us that Hispanic immigration to the United States needs to be reformed promptly. These narratives tell us that immigration will never end despite the current US government’s...
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...his perspective as an active participant as well as an observer. From determining his mother's age to joining in the struggle to free an innocent man, Dr. Falola's journey growing up in Nigeria embodies the rich, diverse history that defines Africa. The opening of the novel places the reader not in Falola's shoes as a child, but rather as an adult scholar attempting to procure information from his own family. This proves easier said than done as Falola takes us through the process of obtaining specific dates in a society that deems them irrelevant. By examining the difficulty that Falola has in this seemingly simple task, the reader begins to understand the way in which time and space are intertwined and weighed in Africa. This concept of "connections between words, space, and rituals" encompasses the way that Africans perceive the world around them - as a series of interrelated events rather than specific instances in time (Falola 224). This approach also stems from the concept that the family unit, the village, and the elders come before the individual in all instances, making a detail such as a birthday unimportant when it comes to the welfare of the whole. Introducing the reader to the complexities of African conventions, Falola expands their minds and challenges them to view the forthcoming narrative with untainted eyes. The structure of the memoir immerses the reader in African culture by incorporating anecdotes, poems, proverbs, and songs. These elements combine to...
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...but even this love and belief is selfishly skewed. Parents are "proud" of their children when they are successful in school, successful in sports, or have recognizable accomplishments in life. These materials successes of children give parents something to boast about when they are at the next family gathering or around other adults. We see value in what children produce that is tangible or deemed by our society to have some worth, something that adds value to parents and recognizes their own skills or genes that they have passed on to the child. But we don’t really value the child for their own self and innate goodness. We value children that will eventually become adults and we value what they can give to us as adults. But in a child’s current form their is no value placed by our society, we are eagerly trying to teach them and cause them to grow up so we can cultivate what we deem truly valuable in them. This is why children who never grow up, for example individuals with Down’s syndrome, are not really seen as valuable even as they age. But children should be valued for what they have inside of them, the spirit that very few adults still have. Children are filled with a spirit of awe, innocence, trust, and the ability to forgive even the harshest of slights against them. Children are filled with lightheartedness, with infectious laughter, and a sense of discovery and curiosity. These are the attributes and gifts that are unique in children and freely shared by children, and for...
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...The essay “I Killed Britney Spears” was written by the London based journalist Jean Hanna Edelstein, in 2008. Edelstein was born in New York, 1981 to an American father, and Scottish mother. She later moved (1999) to London, where she studied economics and political science. She has also lived in Montreal, Berlin. She has an online-based blog, where she uploads a few essays and inputs – inputs that are all backed up by her academic background. Despite the online essays, her first official published book was in 2009. “I Killed Britney Spears” is a (non-fiction) personal essay, with a first person narrator which makes the essay identifiable. Edelstein clearly wrote this essay to highlight a few consequences and flaws in the relationship between fan and idol. Most of these flaws are shown in the age 13-18. These years are filled with the confusion that follows the transition from child to adult. Edelstein might have thought about this particular transition and thereby, intending the text to be read by these confused adolescents. The text “I Killed Britney Spears” was written in 2008, a year of great turmoil for the star Britney Spears. She was fighting over the custody of her children, she had been in rehab and just cut off her hair. All these events generated a lot of public attention. Mostly negative attention. Many of the “Spears” fans (including Edelstein herself) who identified themselves with her, were emotionally hit by Britney’s instability. The intention of Edelstein...
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...Growing up I have always enjoyed writing. I have always been an emotional writer. I liked writing on how I feel. Even though I considered my writing “good” I was just never the one for presenting. I had friends and teachers to tell me my writing was great. I considered my writings personal reflections. I like writing and reflecting on them to see how I have grown as a person. Though I didn’t like sharing, my English teacher of my freshman year help change that. We were assigned to pick a theme song. The theme was our life. When we were first assigned I was pleased but when she said we were presenting I became apprehensive. Now that I have actually did it I consider that assignment the door to a new experience. I walked into my English class...
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...Although growing most flowers involves careful tending and preparation, requiring a delicate combination of water, food and sunlight to survive - some flowers amazingly grow in the desert. Desert flowers can thrive and spawn beautiful landscapes even amidst the harshest of environmental conditions. Surviving blistering heat and sun, arid, dehydration and a host of other hardships, these flowers can awe visitors, who after driving through miles of isolation cannot believe their eyes when they arrive upon this amazing anomaly of life and fertility. Much like these inspiring creatures, my origins could be described by some as dismal, maybe even stifling. Being the daughter of a mother and father who grew up in poverty, I lost my father to H.I.V. and my mother and I overcame various obstacles throughout my life, including living with domestic violence, sexual abuse, unstable housing and other trials that made it difficult to look forward to a positive future. As a child, I was never sure where to turn to for inspiration and I struggled to meet expectations in school. Subsequently, I was diagnosed with a learning disability in reading and writing, and it became increasingly hard for me to believe in myself, without many personal successes to draw from. But even in the arid desert some flowers still survive, and through the encouragement of my grandparents and reading teacher, I pressed on, and by late elementary school I was able to overcome these challenges begin feeling my first...
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...structure adopted in the text that takes more of a thematic form rather than a chronological form. In addition, Angelou managed to emphasize on the universal ideas in her literary work irrespective of its periodic quality. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou used the major characters of the book to facilitate its thematic development identity, racism and literacy throughout the text. Basing on this assertion, this essay uses evidence from the book to affirm the role that the major characters played in the development of the major themes in the book. The first major theme in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is identity. In the course of the text, Maya is depicted as symbolic character representing every African American girl growing in America. Maya is depicted as...
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...Jose Luis Herrera Castillo. Foun 101. Aly Covington. Personal Narrative. 22nd October 2015. “Every day we are one step closer to filmmaking being as easy as taking out the brush and oils for a painting” (Veneruso, 1998). I was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela on June 21, 1994. I grew up believing in self-expression, showing yourself and never hiding who you really are from others, part of my envelopment as a child and a teenager has been surrounded by political issues, involving my country into sad and hard situations, destroying our culture, education and economy, forcing and scaring the people who decided to trust into a different opinion against the government, those ones will be recognized as “Traitors” and “Enemies of the nation” at least that was the way they used to call them. The visual arts means to me as a way to escape from reality and open our minds to others, to make them understand that there’s a another world outside complete different as the one who we live in now. At the age of seven, my father took me into a Father-son trip to the beach, where he gave me my first camera, an Instant water proof Kodak, one of the most beautiful gifts that i’m still appreciating from hem. Since then I have been feeling a passion for the Films and Photography a passion who becomes an intuitive path that guides me through life. For me films are about romance, adventures, tears, laughs and smiles, more than recording with a video camera, doing a film involves...
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...Sensitive mothering is essential to the social and emotional development of the child. Discuss this statement in the context of relevant developmental theory. Explain what is meant by the term sensitive mothering. Explain why sensitive mothering is important in building a positive emotional base. (15) - Give a definition of sensitive mothering (also consider insensitive mothering). - Link this to a positive or non-positive emotional base. Link this explanation to Bowlby’s attachment theory and Ainsworth’s studies. You will need to show an understanding of the internal working model of attachment and how sensitive mothering impacts on the quality of attachment. (25) - Outline Bowlby’s theory of attachment, showing evidence of how the ethological studies of Harlow and Lorenz, and his own research with war orphans and evacuees and juvenile delinquents impacted his theory. - Determine the phases of attachment and the development of the internal working model of attachment. - Consider Ainsworth’s research and the types of secure and insecure attachments that resulted from the research. - This needs to be linked back to mothering style and the internal working model of attachment that each infant is developing. Links also need to be made to Erikson’s relevant psychological stages of personality development, emphasising the importance of a supportive social environment. (15) - Consider Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality, especially the first stage...
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...the writer presents and develops Huck’s character. * The ways in which the writer creates a distinctive narrative voice. * The ways in which the theme of escape is presented. The ways in which any other themes are explored by the writer. * The ways in which the extract is a product of the novel’s social and historical context. In both extracts the theme of escape is explored. In extract 1, Huck is planning to escape from his abusive father and in extract 2 Holden does his best to escape from Mr Spencer’s room. Both extracts are in the first person so that the reader feels the narrator’s discomfort. Both characters feel the need to escape from oppression of some type; Huck from physical abuse at the hands of his alcoholic father and Holden from what he feels is the oppressive, “depressing” atmosphere of Spencer’s room and Pencey in general. In both extracts the reader feels the anxiety of the main character. However, the two characters are quite different. Huck is practical, resourceful and admirably cheerful whereas Holden is portrayed as neurotic and judgemental. We seem to be presented with a hero in Huck and an anti-hero in Holden. Both characters reflect their social and historical contexts. Huck, a product of poverty in 19th century Missouri, is trying to survive in a society with which he finds it impossible to come to terms. He is presented as a child of nature who has no time for Miss Watson’s rules where he has to “eat on a plate” and stop “cussing”. And...
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...Introduction In this essay, I will discuss my experience of interviewing a family and constructing a genogram guided by their narrative. For this task, I purposely chose a family that is very different from my family of origin in terms of their cultural heritage. I will reflect on differences and similarities between our families as well as my prejudices and hypothesis that I inevitably constructed before and during the process. To identify this family, I had to approach some colleagues proposing to them to participate in the interview. Fortunately, one of them introduced me to her friend. Francesca had an interest in psychology, and since she was free and not much committed, I did welcome her with a cup of coffee to share more about the interview. After I formally introduced myself to her, I laid down to her the framework of the interview, and she agreed to participate with her husband, Matteo. Family context The family I interviewed comes from Italy, but they moved to the UK 3 years ago. I noticed that knowing these few details I was already constructing hypothesis based on stereotypes. I was dreading the interview because I was expecting to have difficulty in stopping them talking since I was concerned about getting enough information to construct the genogram. I also hypothesized whether being new to the UK makes them consider participating in projects like mine to increase a sense of belonging. Another hypothesis where I imagined them to have very firmly attachments to...
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...terminated? Farrall and Bowling view desistance as the ending of a criminal career (Maruna, 2001). Farrall and Bowling describe this type of desistance almost the same way that a person quits a job where one stops doing a routine. The factors that had the most impact on the desistance process would be choice or rational choice. When criminals were asked why they stopped committing crimes most became sick of the lifestyle and hit rock bottom so they wanted to start a new chapter in their lives. This is important because the ex offenders are making rational decisions to stop committing crimes. These people tell themselves that they want to do better and change their lives around because they know that breaking the law is going to make them end up in jail or even dead. It is unfortunate that some of these offenders wait until they are at the lowest of the low to finally turn their life around and cease the temptation of crime. The book argues that ex-convicts have exaggerated many...
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...Mr. Universe Prairie Meadows How would this scholarship help you pursue an education that would put you on your ideal career path? Personal Narrative Reach for the stars "The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere." -Barack Obama. This quote said by president Barack Obama really stands out to me because I believe that I can accomplish anything as long as I put in enough effort and never give up on what I want to accomplish. My dream is to work in the field of astronomy. I have big hopes for the universe and the planets, stars, galaxies, and other extraterrestrial objects outside our world. I have always loved looking up at the stars every night and I have studied constellations, pointing them out to people is fun to me. I feel very intelligent when I teach other people facts about space and love how they react when I explain it to...
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...his identity, he needs someone to call his name. In this poem, identity is not seen as something that is solid and concrete but as something that is situated and constructed by others, a glimpse of poststructuralist view on identity. Recently, language learning has been seen as participation and negotiation of self (see Higgins, forthcoming; Kinginger, 2004; Lam, 2000; Morita, 2004; Ohara, 2001; Pavlenko & Lantolf, 2000; and Solé, 2007 among others). The trend is resonated in the growing interest in language learner identity and the studies in narratives. In this paper, a case of heritage language learner will be investigated upon the theoretical frame of poststructuralism. Narrative inquiry will be used to analyze how she negotiates her learner identity. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: First, by looking at the struggle a language learner makes to acquire her heritage language, I reclaim the centrality of identity in defining heritage language learners. Second, to widen the horizons of narrative studies to the cyber space as it provides an ample source of easily accessible data and it has become one of the commonplace media of daily communication. Heritage Language Learners and Identity To refer to the Heritage Language Learners (HLLs), various terms have been implemented such as ‘native speakers,’ ‘quasi native speakers,’ ‘bilingual speakers,’ or, from the dissatisfaction with the prior terms, ‘home background speakers,’ and ‘heritage language speakers’ (Valés, 2005:...
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