... long hours. Sometimes I must work all three shifts and I am always on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You see, I am a professional mother. It is not only what I do for a living, but it is also who I am. There are many costs, but there are even more rewards. Raising children is difficult, frustrating and sometimes heart-breaking, and comes with no ... care. They have boyfriends and girlfriends now. They have jobs. They have their own social lives. I still long for some privacy however and a sentence that doesn't start with, "Mom, where's my ?" I have already mentioned a lot of wh...

• Word Count: 506
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Josephine Alibrandi is the main character in" Looking for Alibrandi" written by Melina Marchetta. Josie, as she prefers to be called, she is seventeen years old. She is in her final year at a posh, wealthy catholic school. During this ... ...

• Word Count: 544
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

As a member of the S. family household, I have been, in all meanings of the word exposed to the arts. Since before I can remember, I have been singing and performing for my large family, and since I was four, I have been taking classes in Acting, Singing, and Dancing. Music has been a passion of mine through out the years. It started when I was ... ...

• Word Count: 275
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

In the novel, "Looking for Alibrandi," by Melina Marchetta, seventeen year old Josephine accepting her culture, and meeting, and developing a relationship with her father, Michael Andretti. These circumstances change Josephine from the person she was ... ). In the end, Josephine acknowledged that as long as her culture didn't bother her loved ones, then it didn't bother her. Josephine learned to understand and accept her loved ones for who they are. Josephine was able to strengthen all her relationships. One main relationship Josephine was able to strengthen was between Nonna Katia and her. J...

• Word Count: 1036
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . He felt isolated. Alone. After I finished my HSC, I did go on to study law at Sydney Uni, just like I said I would. And you know what. Ivy and I did catch up for that coffee we promised each other on Speech Night, and many more after that. Actually, whenever, we aren't in classes, we are always together. After we lost John, Ivy and ... and her fake friendships. I learnt that true friendships are irreplaceable and always cherished, that you stand by a true friend through life, death and everything in between. Together. If it weren't for John's death, then I would never have become so cl...

• Word Count: 393
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... . Because they"re her family, it makes them the closest people in her life, which also means they"re her role models. Being the role models, they set the grounds for her, right from wrong. Though what Nonna and Christina did in the past may not have been right, and may not affect Josie actions presently, they affect her opinion ... . For example, Josie's mother slept with the boy next door at the age of sixteen and became pregnant. This does not mean that Josie will follow in her mother's footsteps because ... a very influential character on Josie throughout the whole book. Even though ...

• Word Count: 929
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

In Melina Marchetta's novel 'Looking For Alibrandi', Josephine has a long and difficult journey throughout her final year at High School. Josie struggles to be fully emancipated through her relationships with friends, relationships with family and her ... that John had to die to feel emancipated. When Josie and Jacob skip school Josie states that it was "the best day of my life". Josie has feelings for Jacob and enjoys spending time with him. Josie likes him so much that she was willing to take a day off school to spend time with him. When Josie and Lee ... . They can get on each other'...

• Word Count: 960
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

In Like Water for Chocolate the narrator, a woman, sees everything in life from an emotional standpoint. She tells the basic history of her family through the "rose colored" glasses of emotion. ... by your side she thought that you could accomplish anything. She saw life through love and emotion and not through the eyes of hatred or war. The film, Like Water for Chocolate, represents a story through incorporating the idea of food as feelings and expressing the woman's roles during the Mexican Revolution. The film is a romantic-comedy showing many ... it official, she also told her two daugh...

• Word Count: 823
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The major theme in the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is the personal quest for identity that is made more difficult by the cultural diversity of all the characters. The conflict between the Chinese mothers and their American-born ... Ying-Ying's transformation into a ghost. She lives in her cousin's house and "waits between the trees". Ying-Ying refers to "waiting between the trees" as waiting for the right moment. Ying-Ying was born in the year of Tiger and so she has two sides, gold and black. "The gold side leaps with its fierce heart ... side is dominant, this person is strong and ...

• Word Count: 707
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

It is very common for parents, even after their children have started their own lives, to try and continue to tell their children how to live their lives. They may always tell their children "you ... own mistakes-, but when it comes down to it, they want to keep their children from possibly making the same mistakes they did. In the short story "Aren't You Happy for Me?-, by Richard Bausch, Melanie's father, Jack, is not too thrilled about the idea of his young daughter marrying a much, much older man. Later in the story, we learn that ... many times, a woman gets pregnant before marriage an...

• Word Count: 524
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... is in control. External causes of change involves a person's surroundings changing. There is little control over this type of change. In the texts looking for Alibrandi by Melena Marchetta, "The Door" by Miroslav Holub, "What women Want" directed by Nancy Myers and song "father and son" composed by ... Cat Stevens both internal and external causes of change can be seen. The novel looking for Alibrandi by Melena Marchetta is about Josephine Alibrandi, a Catholic girl, in her final year of High school. As the year progresses Josie alters her ... agent changes from being a chauvinistic self...

• Word Count: 1129
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... while Carolyn's lack of success as a real estate agent drives her to tears. Their teenaged daughter Jane also hates them, which doesn't exactly provide for pleasant dinner conversations. Next door to the Burnham's lives another dysfunctional family. The father is a wacko military veteran who collects Nazi memorabilia and rages ... about her sexual exploits every weekend and thinks "the worst thing anyone can be is normal" (Mendes). He meets Ricky, his next door neighbor, for the first time at his wife's Real Estate dinner and is offered marijuana. Being how Lester goes unnoticed time and ...

• Word Count: 660
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... girl would go to the rubbish dump to collect recyclable items to get extra money. By evening, she would be able to collect enough money for two plates of rice for herself and her mum. Sometimes, she would be able to collect extra money and she would keep them in her piggy bank. When her ... married. When she got married, she thought that her sorrows and nightmares would finally be over and she would be able to pursue what she had always longed for, education. However, fate soon played her out. Her husband passed away after she gave birth to her first child. All he had left behind was a ...

• Word Count: 1330
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... like they had been having mud fights with one another. Angie didn't look any better than the kids did. Her clothes looked like she had been wearing them for days. Her eyes were blood shot with dark circles underneath. She told my mom, "Tell Troy I will come by later and talk to him about this, ... time right now." Before my mother could utter a single word, she was out the door. As time passed, the situation got uglier. Occasionally Angie would stop by for five minutes to see the kids but nothing further than that. She realized life was more fun when you didn't have to worry about anyo...

• Word Count: 897
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . Josie is not very familiar with change, so the acceptance that things are eventually going to change is hard for her to accept. At the start of these changes it was very hard for her because she was thinking about herself and not her mother so the were not communicating very well. After 17 ... years with just her and her mother it is hard for her to accept her mother having another relationship. "I don't like the fact that you"re going out with this man"(Page 97) "Mamma and I ... always talked about why she never married again, it was always because she hadn't met the right man and I ...

• Word Count: 671
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... York are quite clear. Angela was sent to New York by her mother: she said Angela was worthless "and there's plenty of room in America for useless people". As for Malachy, he escaped to New York because he had a price put on his head from fighting with the IRA - as a fugitive his only way out was to run. The McCourt ... The McCourts could not even afford to support themselves. While living in Brooklyn, New York, Angela and Malachy also suffered the loss of their little girl, Margaret, which was a tragedy for the whole family: it possibly triggered their intentions of moving back to Irel...

• Word Count: 406
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... The re-ordering of family relationships is re-shaping the way western society considers the role of each parent, with the traditional roles for men and women significantly changing in the last two decades. The creation of nuclear families from same-sex partners is one of the fastest ... growing demographic segments in the United States for example (Black, Sanders, Taylor, 2007) despite the stigma and discrimination that same-sex couples face. There is also the implication of the ... couples who share their common sociological risks and concerns, thereby creating a more extended family...

• Word Count: 899
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Imagine if one day, you"re on your way to work, but there's a massive traffic jam that morning and you"re half an hour late for your presentation. You reach the boardroom with your boss and the clients glaring at you. Your confidence buckles and you stutter and err through the presentation. ... buying a pack of nut-filled chocolate, only to find that it is filled with raisins when you get home. Therefore, think of premarital living as a trial period for your marriage. It allows us a chance to take a closer look at our partners and ask ourselves, "Is he or she the one that I want to marr...

• Word Count: 1095
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... a longing to be comfortable. By setting goals, planning success, and keeping a strong sense of pride, people strive to be content. The constant search for happiness invokes the lives of man, instigating them to take outrageous risks in order to be closer to achieving their goals, in Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 revolutionary play ... wants more than anything to see her family smiling and happy. Mama Lena is willing to risk prejudice in order to provide a comfortable, happy place for her family to live in, and pushes toward her dream. While many believe that happiness and success are on and ...

• Word Count: 669
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... to put more thought into examining and valuing others, including herself. Whereas Lou formerly assessed people by what they were, for example her saw her father as a writer, she began to see people for who they were. After Lou and her brother moved to Virginia, she quickly found herself switching roles within the family ... once been an established 'daddy's girl', the death of her father quickly altered that. Firstly, she had to become a more mature and helpful older sister for Oz. The young boy didn't have many people left, and Lou promptly became the most important person in his life. T...

• Word Count: 687
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... if they needed anything or just to be a father figure. But as the year went on Jossie and her father became very close and understood their feelings for each other. This is Josephine's last year at St. Martha's catholic school, which means the HSC (the higher school certificate) is coming up. Jossie ... half way through the year Sister Louise (principle) told Jossie she was awarded school captain but because Sister Louise didn't think Jossie would be responsible enough for captain she gave it to someone else. John Barton was one of Jossie's friends. He was very smart and come from a very ...

• Word Count: 594
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... talk to about my hopes and dreams, a person I could laugh with, a person I could confide in when things weren't going the way I would like, and someone who was there for me in good times and in bad. I had gotten to the point in my life where I wanted a partner who would be honest with me. I did not want someone who would ... dates that involve meeting many new people and trying to get to know each of them to see if they are the person you have been looking for. Trying to get to know them for them to get to know you. There has to be a purpose, and the purpose is to find that one person tha...

• Word Count: 700
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... his wife Elena have a fairly poor relationship and hardly ever talk to their children, Paul and Wendy. One night Ben and Elena go to the Carver's for dinner. During dinner at the Carver's house, we are introduced to Janey Carver, her constantly traveling husband Jim, and their two sons, Mikey and Sandy ... the act and forces Wendy to go home. After explaining to Elena what Wendy and Mikey were doing, Benjamin was forced to come up with a reason for being at the Carver house in the first place. This, of course, didn't go well and Elena begins to become a bit suspicious. Later, after ... ...

• Word Count: 969
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... , my cousin's life was ended. The uncanny similarities between my cousin's death and the death of Al Sicherman's son in "A Father's Plea: Be Scared for Your Kids" brought back the horrifying pain I hoped never to experience again. I was overtaken with the all too familiar sorrow and pain Al Sicherman expressed over ... mom did not know how he died, but she did know that heroin was involved. With so many questions, and so few answers, my sister and I left for Eric's house. I remember pulling up to Eric's house, and seeing the garage was covered in police tape. I kept asking myself: Why was...

• Word Count: 1187
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... much as she does and by attending college my life will be a lot easier, college was the natural answer. Here are a few of my reasons for going to college: gain communications skills, became a good role model, gain independence, and gain psychological benefits. College is also a good source to gain good ... a lifetime. Being a good role model in this society is very important. By completing college we are setting a foundation not only for our lives, but also for all those who are looking up to us. It is my belief that is important to set this foundation specially when there are children .....

• Word Count: 587
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School