In Gerald Haslam’s “The Horned Toad,” The story takes place in Oildale, California in the mid-1940’s. This family does have some problems about how close they are, and the four characters do not really have a stable relationship. However, three out of the four characters change positively. Grandma changes from a judgmental woman to a helpful woman. In the beginning, Grandma is judgmental when the narrator shows her something and she says some hurtful things, “‘Expectorian su sangre!’ exclaimed Great grandma when I showed her the small horned toad” (Haslam 245). Here, the narrator shows her a horned toad that he has found. He shows Grandma the little reptile and she screams, They spit blood In Spanish. Once again, Grandma is judgmental when …show more content…
“But the old lady seemed unimpressed with Daddy whom she called ‘ese gringo’” (Haslam 246). Grandma does not like the father and is very irritated with his actions. This is why the narrator’s family is torn apart. The father is a quiet man that does not really fit in with his wife’s family. On the other hand, the mother always agrees with Grandma and hides certain things from her husband. Grandma says that he is not a hispanic person in Spanish. This is meant to insult the father. Another way grandma is rude is when she would not give something to the narrator. “Oh so you wan’ some candy? Well go to the store an’ buy some” (Haslam 248). The narrator walks up to Grandma and she asks him if we wants candy. The narrator says yes to her offer and she yells at him to buy his own candy. This is when the narrator realizes that grandma can speak English. This surprises the narrator because Grandma always used to say things in Spanish to him, which he could not understand. So when Grandma says something in English, that becomes the turning point of the …show more content…
“We must return him to his own place” (Haslam 250). Grandma says that the horned toad should be in the place where the narrator first found him. This is because the horned toad dies and that is where it should be buried. Along with that, Grandma helps the narrator break out of his shell and state his opinion. “‘But Grandma has to go home,’ I burst. ‘She has to! It’s the only thing she really wanted. We can’t leave her here in the city’”(Haslam 251). The narrator is brave enough to say that Grandma should not be buried in Bakersfield. When he tells his father this, the father agrees that she should be buried in the open country. Without the narrator’s courage, Grandma would have been buried in Bakersfield, where she didn’t want to be buried. Finally, Grandma is helpful when she brought the narrator’s family together. “When you’re family, you take care of your own” (Haslam 251). After Grandma passes, even though it is sad, she had helps her family bond and come
When parents start to neglect their own children’s interests, it shows in the children. Two novels illustrate this concept vividly: Confetti Girl and Tortilla Sun. Although these two have very spontaneous titles, this does not make them one of the same. In fact, Confetti Girl and Tortilla Sun have a world of differences, but also some similarities as well. To start, there is Confetti Girl.
The stories “Abuela Invents the Zero” and “A Celebration of Grandfathers” follow the past of a very nice, thoughtful man by the name of Rudolfo Anaya, and the present day of a rude, unthoughtful girl by the name of Constancia. Both of these stories give very different points of views in terms of character personality and respect towards their elders. To begin, both of the stories are based off of the relationship between a grandparent and their grandchild. In “Abuela Invents the Zero”, Constancia’s grandmother went on her first trip to America. She went to America between September and March because the story explained that she wanted to see the snow in America before she died.
Grandparents of Oskar, Grandma and Thomas Schell, are placed within the plot to help Oskar’s exploration in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. They separately play insignificant roles that doesn’t fully interfere with Oskar’s path, but do asist him. Grandma stays as an emotional supporting system as Oskar goes through his adventure to ease his pain. I started at the fake stars forever. I invented.
In the short story, “Mericans”, written by Sandra Cisneros, there are many underlying conflicts that surface throughout the story. The conflicts, in short, evolve around two very distinguished cultures. Furthermore, the clashing views regarding the two cultures cause a great amount of problems for many individuals in a society. The cultural differences can tremendously affect a society, as the clashing views can lead to a wide array of issues such as ethnocentrism, gender discrimination, stereotypes, as well as the health of many personal relationships. Cisneros begins to develop this conflict when the story’s narrator, Michele, describes the altar to La Divina Providencia in which the “awful grandmother” worships.
In Sandra Cisneros “Mericans” she creates a young character named Michelle who faces cultural differences and nonunderstanding, gender roles and culture stereotyping which can be exhibited in the real world. The author introduces Michelle as a foreigner with in her own culture, with this being said throughout the story Michelle seemed to be uninterested in her Grandmothers ideals and the principles of the Mexican heritage. The evidence behind this statement is; throughout the passage Michelle refers to her grandmother as being “awful” (Cisneros 93). I think a big reason for this is the fact that the grandmother has the children wait outside the church doors as she goes and say her daily prayers.
Barbara Cage once said, “A grandma is warm hugs and sweet memories. She remembers all of your accomplishments and forgets all of your mistakes.” In ‘The Secret of Sarah Revere’ by Ann Rinaldi, Grandma Revere is the complete opposite of the kind-hearted grandma that makes you cookies. She is strict and disrespectful to all her grandchildren. In the novel the narrator Sarah Revere will do anything to get away from her sister Debbie and their grandmother.
In How to Tame a Wild Tongue, Gloria Anzaldua uses rhetoric and personal anecdotes to convey and persuade her argument that Latin Americans are forced to relinquish their cultural heritage, and to conform to white society. The evidence she provides comes in a variety of platforms, both literal and rhetorical. Rhetorical, being through emotional, logical, and credible appeals through her text. Literal being explicitly stated, without any further analysis necessary. When she utilises the modes of appeals, they are subtle within the texts, which leads the reader to analyse as they read.
The grandmother is trying to save herself by constantly talking and trying to convince the Misfit not to shoot her, saying, "You've got good blood! I Know you wouldn't shoot a lady! Pray!" (408). Her constant rambling and attempt to make the Misfit feel guilty eventually leads to the death of her family and herself.
Grandmother creates the families down fall by forcing them down a memory, which doesn 't exist. "The thought was so embarrassing that she jumped up...the house she
The speaker’s grandmother is originally presented in a way that causes the ending to be a surprise, saying, “Her apron flapping in a breeze, her hair mussed, and said, ‘Let me help you’” (21-22). The imagery of the apron blowing in the wind characterizes her as calm, and when she offers to help her grandson, she seems to be caring and helpful. Once she punches the speaker, this description of her changes entirely from one of serenity and care to a sarcastic description with much more meaning than before. The fact that the grandmother handles her grandson’s behavior in this witty, decisive way raises the possibility that this behavior is very common and she has grown accustomed to handling it in a way that she deems to be effective; however, it is clearly an ineffective method, evidenced by the continued behavior that causes her to punish the speaker in this manner in the first place.
After talking to all of her relatives, the speaker’s grandmother made the biggest impact her, settling her opinion about her mother’s heritage. The speaker’s hatred
The grandmother grew in that moment of death more than she ever did in the little parts that we read about her life, and she dies in peace. Her actions may have even changed the Misfit too. At the end, he says “she would have been a good woman if he 'd been there all her life to shoot her.” (366). This line confused me the first time reading it, but the second time around it made more sense.
She interprets the idea as if the reader does not believe on a God. O’Connor also carefully draws out her characters. O’Connor made the Grandmother a women so that any reader felt lower than and feel below in authority. The grandmother is shown as a pushy woman with characteristics of selfishness. These characteristics show when she insisted on going to the old house.
In Gary Soto’s short story ‘Growing Up,” the main character, Maria, says, “‘I know, I know. You’ve said that a hundred times,’ she snapped.” Maria is acting ungrateful because she doesn’t want to go on vacation with her family and she is arguing with her father about it instead of being grateful for what she has. Being grateful is feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness and being thankful. In the story Maria argues with her father about not wanting to go on vacation with her family and claims that she is old enough to stay home by herself.
She is also visiting her mother’s grave in, what is assumed to be, complete solitude. There are no mentions of others with her or other people present. It just the narrator and the ants. It seems everyone else has moved on, especially since the graveyard is described as being very unkept with “weeds and grass grown up all around” (9). Only the narrator and the ants visit her mother now.