A Worn Path Theme Essay Example

A Worn Path: Theme Paper A WORN PATH: Theme A Worn Path is a short story about an old African? American woman, Phoenix Jackson, and her journey through the woods into town. It is a fiction story set in Mississippi during the 1940s. The author presents the themes of the story from the symbol of the journey itself as well as all the obstacles and encounters the main character faces throughout her journey. There are several themes that have been portrayed in the story. The main theme that I have noticed during my reading is racism. Other minor themes are responsibility, love, guilt and resurrection. Racism was portrayed by the author through Phoenixs brief encounters on her journey with the Southern whites. A white hunter helps her out of a ditch but patronizes her and belittles the purpose of her journey by laughing and saying I know you old colored people! Wouldnt miss going to town to see Santa Claus! (117). He also bullies her by pointing his loaded gun at her and asking, Doesnt the gun scare you? (117). Through these conversations, the author shows how some whites regarded blacks. Another way that the author depicts the relationships between the two races is in the way the hunter calls her Granny, or the nurse calls her aunt which were terms commonly used for older African? American women by whites. I learnt that during that time, whites would often call older blacks Aunt, Granny, or Uncle as a way of denying them their dignity which in turn demonstrates the subtle persecutions that blacks suffered in a white community. Also according to my understanding, another theme that the author wanted to illustrate is the sense of love and responsibility Phoenix Jackson had toward her grandson. We will write a custom essay sample on A Worn Path: Theme specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on A Worn Path: Theme specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on A Worn Path: Theme specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The sentiment was mainly due to the fact that she is the only person her grandson has to rely on. That was made clear when Phoenix tells the nurse, We is the only two left in the world (117), and thus she is determined to make it to town to obtain the medicine that will relive his injured throat. Her sense of responsibility and compassion towards her grandson gives her the strength and stamina to overcome many obstacles such as her senility, poor eyesight, and also her difficulty in walking especially through the woods in a cold December morning. Phoenix also demonstrates her focus and determination of achieving her goal with a sense of urgency to the hunter: she tells the hunter: I bound to go to town, mister. The time come around (117). Another minor theme that came clear to me in the short story was the feeling of guilt. Phoenix feels guilty when she picks up the nickel that falls from the white hunter’s pocket. I came to understand her feeling from what she told the hunter when the hunter pointed his loaded gun towards her, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done (117). By saying those words it indicates that she believes that she deserves to be shot for her actions. It shows a deep sense of guilt especially because she knows that the hunter has lied to her, claiming that he does not have any money and he would give her if he had any. According to my knowledge, the name Phoenix was carefully selected by the author in order to point to the theme of resurrection in the story. The phoenix was the bird in ancient mythology that rose from its own ashes every 500 years to begin a new life cycle. Phoenix Jackson’s periodical journey into town relates to the mythical creature in a sense that she continually and ritually rises up to complete her journey. In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading and analyzing this short story by Eudora Welty. The above mentioned were just a few of the main themes in the story, and I am sure that there are many more underlying themes. Work Cited Welty, Eudora. â€Å"A Worn Path†. Literature: An Introduction to reading and writing, 9th Edition. New York. Longman, 2009. 114-19.

Media Bias essays

Media Bias essays The media is biased. Now, every news company will tell you that they deliver an unbiased depiction of the world's daily on goings. But, every one of them is lying. While many people would raise an eyebrow to a statement such as this, if you think about it, of course its true. And, it is true for one simple reason: people love money. As the book so aptly puts it, "Television is big business," and big companies need to make money to stay in business. Television directors and producers select what we get to hear about, and they select the stories that will attract the largest body of listeners. Within this fact lies the most obvious bias of media bias. On television, ratings count. Producers for major news companies realize what sells, and that is what they show us. There is always an eye grabbing spin on everything. Take, for example, the books definition of the Bias against Losers. In the 2000 election networks early on described the two candidates, but did so unequally, calling Gore wooden and boring in personality, and having a lack of traction in gaining voters. Bush, in contrast, was depicted as "warm and easygoing." This is that bias. Remote control toting viewers would quickly lose interest in an unbiased display of political discussion, so instead the politics of the candidates are quickly touched upon, and then judgments both negative and positive are passed upon them. They do this to gain viewers, as the highest number of people watching means more money for the company via advertisements, and other sources of revenue. This is not saying that a network will pick a particular candidate or issue, and spin it in a complete ly one sided bias, and far from it. This can be seen clearly, again, within the 2000 presidential election. Following the primaries, where Gore was shown to be leading Bush, television companies changed their spin on things, now depicting Bush as ignorant for lack of pronunciation and other "trivial matte...

Journal Review of this article - The consequences of visual impairment Essay

Journal Review of this article - The consequences of visual impairment for childrens symbolic and functional play - Essay Example is paper will analyze, the importance of vision or how the lack of vision through some visual impairment will affect the overall development of the children, through a journal, The consequences of visual impairment for children’s symbolic and functional play written by V. Lewis, S. Norgate, G. Collis and R. Reynolds. The crucial formative years only functions as a perfect setting for the child to develop physically, intellectually and emotionally. And with the eye playing the chief role, the children with visual impairment are put at a disadvantage and the journal justifies it through lot of studies and surveys about functional and symbolic plays. Functional play is defined as the appropriate play with toys, which are physically similar to everyday objects but often of a different size. While symbolic play is defined as the play, in which the children will participate, where they will substitute something for something else. The main aim of the studies carried out in this journal is to find out, the effect, visual impairment (VI) will have on the symbolic and functional play of the children. Other aims of the study include, to explore the relationships between functional and symbolic play and language ability as well as autistic-like behaviors in children with VI. By using the Symbolic Play Test (SPT) and by using the Test of Pretend Play (ToPP), the study confirmed the previously reported fact that delay in the development of pretend play occurs in children with VI. And the final results of this study have clearly demonstrated that children with VI are more likely to produce functional and symbolic play in structured settings only. But even in the structured settings, they will be at a great disadvantage if they are required to play with several objects at a time. So this article gives lot of views and results that gives new meanings and reasons. The reasons for the total absence or partial absence of functional and symbolic play in visually impaired children