... can relate to. In the story, both of the main characters appear to be very lonely. They seem to struggle every other Friday night to fill this immense social void. The characters spend money and laugh loudly, however only as an attempt to fit in, which really shows ... name means hope. Cisneros uses symbolism in many different instances in the story; in one instance Friday nights appear to symbolize an empty ritual night, the night the characters will go out on their inadequate search for a companion. Another example of symbolism would be how the bar symbolizes their superficial ... fri...

• Word Count: 1202
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... studies. I was able to keep a good balance between business and pleasure, however business always came first. I was known for my "all nighters." Before a test, I would stay up the entire night reviewing my notes, sometimes drinking two or three pots of coffee. This caused several grumpy mornings and afternoon naps. It caused several A's as well. My grades were fantastic and everything seemed to ... had been visited but none could find a cause. She had now been reduced to taking pain killers to make it through the day and sleeping pills to get through the night. A feeling of guilt hit me...

• Word Count: 814
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... not good for bearing sons. Mulan is to be sent to The Matchmaker to be tested to see if she is suited for marriage. Before Mulan goes, she writes crib notes on her forearm to remind her of the correct attributes of a woman in Chinese culture. Yet in Kingston's version, FaMuLan had oaths and names carved into her back so people ... for taking her father's place. In the Disney's version, she sees that her father is too weak to fight, steals his armor, and sneaks off in the middle of the night to take his place. In both stories, it must remain a secret that she is a woman. If someone were ...

• Word Count: 1209
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... attitude, calling her "little girl" and "little goose". He treats her as a child at times, plus doesn't really listen to her. John prescribes the narrators whole day, from morning to night. She is not even allowed to hold her child because it causes too much intellectual stimulation. John believes that too much stimulation can make her condition worse. When she writes ... the paper and she tells herself how she really feels. The narrator calls the paper "dead paper" because she knows that she will be the only one reading her own notes. Writing her thoughts down onto paper lets her commu...

• Word Count: 1014
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... diamond necklace. Her husband, who has to go to work a ten in the morning, goes looking for it. She waits all day in fear before this tragedy. He returns at night with a pale face because he has found nothing. Loisel instructs Mathilde to write to her friend saying that she has broken the clasp of the necklace and that it is ... hope and now think of how to replace it. The jeweler is charging forty thousand francs. Loisel uses eighteen thousand francs that his father left him, borrows money, writes promissory notes, undertakes ruinous obligations, and goes to loan sharks. He compromises...

• Word Count: 918
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... characteristics. We notice this plainly in "Love Songs." Sweet are those lips, which chatter (but never a word too much), And the line of the long neck lovely, dropping (since song's notes slide that way) To young breasts firm in the bouncing light Which shimmers that blueshadowed sidefall of hair. (46) Once love has arrived, there are overstated claims about the greatness ... by love. The second type of love poem is a negative love poem. These too often follow a similar pattern. It begins with suspicion. Has she been unfaithful? Where was she last night? The lover has various degrees o...

• Word Count: 998
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School