Annie’s father, Johnny, worked for the Federal government; her mother, Margaret, was a school teacher. As such, her maternal grandparents’ home was considered home, where Annie and her only sibling, Mark, spent most of their summers while their mother completed her college degree. Johnny is 76 and Margaret is 73. They are both retired. Johnny usually attends church alone. Margaret claims to be a Baptist Christian but is not demonstrative with her faith.…
Carol’s family of origin had all of the exterior appearances of the “perfect” family. Her father was a coal miner and had very little time to spend with the children. What interaction he did have was more with the boys than the two girls often saying that their mother was better at teaching them the work of a woman. Carol’s mother tried but with her time was most often spent with the Church and Church organizations. From all outside appearances they were the perfect…
The Anderson’s and Jeffers’s families are in a custody battle for seven-year-old Eloise Anderson. The Anderson and Jeffers are not fun of one another and have difficulties communicating with each other. Eloise has been in the custody of her grandparents Elliott and Carol Anderson since birth. Mrs. Carol Anderson, Eloise’s grandmother was killed a month ago, today, in car accident by a drunk driver. Eloise has remained in the custody of her grandfather, Mr. Anderson. Mrs. Rowena Jeffers, the paternal grandmother of Eloise now has worries that Mr. Anderson can properly raise Eloise by himself. Eloise’s mother Jennifer, died at the age 19 after giving birth to Eloise, caused by postpartum bleeding. Jennifer left her parents’ home at the age 18 to live with Mr. Reggie Jeffers, Eloise’s father. Reggie has been in and out of prison since Eloise birth, therefore, he has had little to no involvement in her life. The Anderson’s were not aware of Jennifer’s location or whom she was living with until 08/2008, the day they were contacted to learn she was in critical conditions in the emergency rooms. The Anderson’s had not seen Jennifer since she…
Five years after her mother graduated, she married “Ainsworth’s father” and became a homemaker.(www2.webster.edu-woolflim/ainsworth.htm) “Ainsworth’s parents” will always work all the time and when Ainsworth was 5, her father was transferred to a job in Canada working at a manufacturing firm, so the entire family move over there. (www2.webster.edu-woolflim/ainsworth.htm) It was time for them to over there because “Ainsworth’s parents” want to move in a new life. (www2.webster.edu-woolflim/ainsworth.htm) They were so happy that they were going to move to Canada where “Ainsworth’s father” works. (www2.webster.edu-woolflim/ainsworth.htm) She was very close with her father, who assumed the duties of tucking her in at night and singing to her and it was very special to her that she was close to her father, but will be singing to her.…
This amazing story of survival and dysfunction, of imagination and rationalization, and of shear ingenuity is a testimony to the flexibility and beauty of children. Jeannette Walls’ true story flashes back through a childhood with crazy addicted parents (the father to alcohol; the mother to art and idealism and the father) who raised three children in spite of recurrent poverty, nomadic tendencies, and a heritage of rebellion.…
Their family always was pleased and in check with the bills for the first few months when they moved to a new house. Two places where they stayed the longest was Phoenix and Blue Mountain. In both areas Dad found good paying job as miner or electrician in a mine and for the first few months all the family’s needs were full filled according to the writer. However, when dad lost his job, things around the house would go back into chaos and left mom no choice but to teach and this made life better with their needs met again. During these days everyone was happy and the children received presents regularly like a new bicycle. These events were when the most smiles and happiness in kids was shone off. Finally towards the end of the book everyone moved to New York City and from beginning to end in their stay everyone was joyful. However their dad did die and Maureen moved to California after stabbing her mother but order was still there. Jeanette went to an Ivy League college and after graduating she became a journalist which was what she always wanted to be since high school. The author made this time seem very cheerful except when they talked about her parents in the streets. Towards the end the thanksgiving dinner brought the family all together witch it brought forth a conclusion worth reading. The Glass Castle states on the last paragraph “We raised our glasses. I could almost hear Dad chuckling at Mom's comment in the way he always did when he was truly enjoying something.” This showed at the end of all the pain and suffering there was true peace for their family at…
Throughout the world, man families, rich and poor, have probably experienced rough times. However, some families experience it in different ways. It is best to keep an open mind and hope for the best, rather than give up and through a pity party. Just like those families, in Mary Oliver’s “The Black Walnut Tree”, a mother and daughter are faced with the struggles of paying their monthly mortgage. Oliver uses this poem to emphasize the relationship between a tree and a family trying to make ends meet.…
This story is a great example of a Marxist theory. It opens up about the class differences, even within the same family when opportunities arise for one…
In Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeanette’s unconventional childhood is characterized by constant poverty and the chaos and confusion of having dysfunctional parents along with their nomadic lifestyle, moving from neighborhood to neighborhood. What is exceptional about Jeanette’s story is that although her parents were irresponsible, neglectful and careless, they were still able to manage to instill admirable qualities in their children and raise sane adults. Jeanette’s parents, Rex and Rose Mary, taught her and her siblings, Brian and Lori to be independent, strong, and to love gaining knowledge and learning.…
They rode the train to Washington, and when they arrived, Ole, Hilda 's uncle, and Thora, her cousin was waiting for them. As soon as Hilda saw her cousin she felt embarrassed because of how she looked. She did not have on nice clothes like Thora. When they arrived at Thora 's house Hilda saw all the nice things they had, and wished she had them too. She was still excited though because she knew she was going to see her new home the next day; but, little did Hilda know that her new house was an old house with a dirty yard. When Hilda saw the house she became very sad. It took a lot of cooperation and patience, but they fixed up the house and made it look better. Hilda and John found out that they had a creek and a maple tree on their property. They all went on an adventure, and Lois got stung by nettles. They went so far into the woods that they got lost, and could barely find their way back home. Even though their new home was not what they wanted it to be, they were starting to get used to it. They liked the brook; the trees and they even found an old shack far back in the woods. Hilda said the maple tree belonged to her, and she believed the brook sang to her.…
Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle, documents her childhood which is surrounded by poverty and inattentive parents. Both of the parents of the Walls children were self-absorbed in their own lives, the children learned that they must depend on each other to meet their own basic needs. Even though Rex Walls was an alcoholic and Rose-Mary was indulged in her paintings, they managed to teach their children the most important life lesson that well-rounded adults must know. The memoir expresses Jeannette’s feelings towards her parents, which follows a quote by Oscar Wilde, “Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older, they judge them; sometime, they forgive them.” As the memoir starts, Jeannette writes about how she loves her…
Some nights I dream about Michael. He’s coming home from college for christmas break and he’s brought a girl with him. Our family is sitting at the dinner table and he’s giving my sister’s new boyfriend a hard time. He’s sitting in the audience, whooping and hollering as I walk across the stage and receive my diploma. Other times, he’s standing in a waiting room, introducing my sisters and me to his little girl. I dream about all of the moments my family and I never got to have with him and my heart breaks every single time. Michael has been gone for almost 16 years and yet he is still with me every day. I dream about him and what could have been; what should have been. Michael’s death teaches me something new almost every day. I have learned what loss is, how to deal with it, and how to grow from it.…
Thrown into the Belgian Congo in 1959 by her Baptist minister husband, Orleanna scrambles to adjust to life without “modern day amenities”. She has to learn, and fast, how to raise her four daughters, ages ranging from fifteen to five, in a strange, alien environment. Completely unprepared, she struggles to learn the ways of life in the small village of Kilanga and ensure her family’s survival. Accustomed to Betty Crocker cake mixes and indoor plumbing, Orleanna has to cope with the stress of such a drastic change while attempting to help her children transition to the new way of life. She does what she can to take care of her family. She slowly learns the ways of the local village women and how to survive anything from monsoons and droughts to armies of ants. Dealing with the dangers of daily life in the Congolese jungle, however, are nothing compared to the dangers presented by her husband, Nathan. His intense devotion to God and to…
This story is about Jeannette Walls and how her family must travel and live in poverty. She had to live in rundown houses and sometimes didn’t have a house at all, at one point she had to live the wild desert and wrote about how she loved to sleep under the stars. Her dad throughout her life was an alcoholic and would disappear for days at a time and would come home and verbally abuse the wife and sometimes children.…
Sho, a twelve-year-old boy, and his sister Saya, seventeen, were left alone when their parents died in a business appointment overseas. They were left with billions of cash and a home from their parents’ mining business, so surviving was not a problem but living would be tough for the orphan siblings. They had to hold onto each other tightly more than ever, for all that’s left is their bond.…
