Short Stories 452i52

Short stories Emma by Carolyn Cole Themes which present themselves in Emma are 1. 2. 3. 4.

Childhood innocence Friendship Infidelity Unfaithfulness and deceit

Maria, while only being a year old, is more mature than Dorian because she deals with the nuisance of Ms. Robinson everyday as well as she seeks to emulate Emma. Mom Luby Speaker: Elijah, first person child narrator Main character: Mom Luby Setting: south states, possibly Louisiana or Tennessee, late 1900s. Mom Luby utilizes part of her room/house as her business quarters. Her home is comical, exuberant, joyful and welcoming. It is slightly disorganized and quite busy. It has trapped food odours. The busyness of her home is intermingled with joyfulness and love. Themes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Generosity and maternal love Feminism Poverty Bananas Bureaucracy

Here we find the greatest theme as generosity and maternal love coming out. We find that this story teaches a fundamental life lessons of acceptance of others and ittance that life isn’t your way all the way around. “She looked kind of pretty, but lost.” This line gives a testament to the fact that perhaps our way, isn’t the only way. The writer also makes the statement that the system built to help others, is actually making life difficult. As well as this, we find that this story teaches us that perception is reality. The social worker is unable to come to with the reality that there life beyond system. The line, “you got more done in two hours than I do in two years” shows the clenching fact that she eventually comes to with this is. The following line, “you’re not qualified” shows that the social worker is still holding to the ideology of the system, because it is all she knows.

Ma Luby, the protagonist. She is maternal, hardworking, and charitable to her children and to other people. She is sassy and her speech is with spice, she is a quite likable person and has a terrific sense of humour. She is extremely clever and can handle conflicts very well. She is a doctor, herbalist, preacher, lawyer, and a mother. She is also a little vain.

Raymond’s run The story Raymond's Run is told from the first person perspective of Squeaky. The setting is in Harlem, NY. Mayday is the height of spring and so it was celebrated in the older European cultures. It is the prime of spring, the middle. When spring is in all of its glory and the flowers are blooming and that fun stuff. (Warmest day in spring when people could go out and have fun.)

Raymond is a generally a happy child with a wild imagination, shown in when he has "fits of fantasy" e.g. when he thinks he's a circus performer.

Speaker: Squeaky. ( Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker) Squeaky is a strong athlete, and this is easily overlooked. Herein she also tackles the common stereotype of what young girls should be. Squeaky is also quite cynical. She is forced into a manner of living where she had to grow up before her time by being burdened with the “parenting” of her brother, Raymond. Squeaky is a very irable character in the way that she continues to train DESPITE the fact she has her brother to care for. She is sassy and she is witty, even though she has a very firm work ethic. In this story we are able to get a feel of the tonality of how African American persons might speak by our speaker, Squeaky. Themes: Childhood innocence Family love

Ambition

Two Grandmothers by Olive Senior Examples of racism: 1) An example of racism is firstly seen in Towser’s discrimination against her granddaughter’s hair and skin colour, as seen by the lines, “except, mummy, what does she have against my hair? And I came out dark because she is almost a white lady and I am really dark. But Mummy, what is wrong with that?” 2) Another example is seen in the narrator’s discrimination against the black folk that visit grandma Del as seen by the lines, “there’s nobody but black people where grandma lives and they don’t know anything, they ask such silly questions.” 3) Perhaps the greatest show of racism is seen when Maureen discriminates against the narrator who is also her cousin as seen by the lines, “you’re only a goddamn nigger you don’t know any better. Auntie Evie married a big black man and you’re his child and you’re not fit to play with me.” Examples of childhood innocence: 1) The first example of childhood innocence is seen through the narrator’s simple yet profound appreciation of the making of her dress by her grandmother, as seen by the lines, “I feel so special that my own grandma made these for me with her own two hands and didn’t buy them from a store.” 2) Another example is seen in the narrator’s adamant astonishment at the loose language of her Grandma, Elaine. As seen by the lines, “mummy, you know Grandma Elaine swears like that all the time?” 3) The third example of childhood innocence is seen when the narrator is quite careful to share the secret of Towser’s new boyfriend with her mother. She still sees this as a big deal, being innocent, but by her uncorrupted logic she tells her mother, being her grandmother’s daughter, automatically assuming by childhood innocence, this is normal and not a problem. 4) The final example of childhood innocent, is the love and care and uncaring of persons attitude that the narrator first has toward Pearlie. The narrator is still innocent and being child, sees everyone as equal in one manner and loves them all the same. We find the narrator is anxious to help Pearlie in whatever way she can and as she grows, would later disregard the friendship which she so previously loved so much, as foolish and absurd.

Examples of differences in treating the narrator: In the eyes of Towser she is parenting. There is a huge societal difference between Towser and Grandma Del. Towser is quite affluent, and in a different socio-economic bracket. She comes from a non caring way of life without love and nurturing but providing all the materials things for the child i.e. food, school, treatment of illness. Towser wishes to be forever young and lead the life of social butterfly with relationship that are artificial that have prestige. She is white and of the privileged class, by this, she automatically assumes that blacks are inferior and equates them to objects. (Objectification of a person) She is a very flat character with the only aspect of being glamorous and seeking the high life. Grandma Del is the exact opposite to Towser. She spends much time with her granddaughter and nurtures her granddaughter in every possible way. Grandma Del, who is black, is a complex character. She is not all bad, and she’s not good either. She belongs to a different time, and a different way of thinking. This would eventually come back to haunt her as her granddaughter becomes turned off with her. She is afraid that her granddaughter would become like Towser.