Forms of Lit is lit🔥

Another important statement that she made was “ When I lived at home with Papa, he told me all his opinions, so I had the same ones too; or if they were different I hid them, since he wouldn’t have cared for that. He used to call me his doll-child, and he played with me the way I played with my dolls... I went from Papa’s hands into yours. You arranged everything to your own taste, and so I got the same taste as you -- or I pretended to; I can’t remember. I guess a little of both, first one, then the other. Now when I look back, it seems as if I’d lived here like a beggar -- just from hand to mouth. I’ve lived by doing tricks for you, Torvald. But that’s the way you wanted it. It’s a great sin what you and Papa did to me. You’re to blame that nothing’s become of me.”  Nora says this because she is noticing just how oppressed that she has always been. Her father had the mentality that he was always right and she should agree with him. She didn't realize at the time that all “her” opinions were planted in her mind by her father. He even called her a doll, because he liked to “play” with her by controlling her whole life including her thoughts. Nora then was given a husband that was just like her father. He would control what she did and thought and treated her like a pretty princess that did not have the intelligence to be her own person. She also felt some confusion as to if she actually agreed with Torvald on many things or if she simply pretended to.  As she recollected, she realized that she simply received money and that was it. She never received love. She never really meant anything to her husband. She simply was entertainment for him, because that is how he wanted their marriage to be. She finishes with mentioning that how she has been treated was wrong and that she has not been a more productive member of society because of it. 

AMY: You have done wrong so you must go to a nunnery. You can not marry another person. I can’t even look at you!

The song begins with “If we have listened to Christ...his teachings show us the way.” This refers to a metaphorical path, which relates to the path that Red Cap walked on. Next it says that listening “makes us happy”. Then the children proclaim that “We’ll be blessed if we learn and obey”, telling the children God knows what is best for them. “If we apply Jesus’s loving direction..” relates to the mother giving her directions to her destination and doing this will love for Red Cap and for the grandmother. 

It had been 49 years, 11 months, and 21 days since the first surgery. Madison had been wearing her mask since she began to establish individual features. She didn't recall the last time someone had seen the true skin of her face or the natural gleam of her eyes. Well, she didn't recall the last time that she saw someone else's true skin and eyes either for that matter. In three days, she would be turning thirteen, meaning it was time for her to partake in the ceremonial sacrifice. She had to give up her identity, permanently. In order to remain a member of society, Madison was to undergo the same surgery that every young teen received. The government called it the Identity Blending Procedure, but Madison could not think of a reason that they would want to blend identities. It was already bad enough that she was not able to fray her thoughts from the rest of her community, now she would have to look just like everyone else? The day before she was set to embark on this honored tradition, she expressed reservations to her mother. Her mother of course told her that she should be grateful to be just like everyone else. Her daughter did not feel very grateful. Madison did not fully realize, being yet a child, that without this surgery, she would be severely punished by the government officials that would either kill her or make her wish they had. Madison then told her mother that she understood and was to go to bed early that night because she needed her rest. Though, Madison had no intentions on resting. She instead laid in bed until she heard her mother begin to snore. She knew that time was of the essence and every moment wasted was another strike against her plan. Madison refused to become just another identical face in a crowd. She could not go through with the procedure. She exited the back door of her home and began walking through a dark wood directly behind her house. Her mother always warned her not to go through the trees, but Madison figured that not much could scare her more than the thought of having a new face surgically attached to her, let alone one that looked just like everyone else. So she walked and she walked. And that next morning, she could not be located. And Madison knew that she never would be, because nobody would be deviant enough to walk through that wood. At least not anyone that voluntarily looked and acted just like their neighbor.

In the short story, "The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick, a baby is being raised in a concentration camp in Germany during the Holocaust. The baby, Magda, is constantly carried around in a shawl by her mother, Rosa. Rosa carries the shawl across her chest so Magda can breastfeed whenever she needs. The story is told by a third person narrator who focuses mainly on discussing the viewpoint of Stella. The Nazi soldiers did not allow babies to be in the camp because the soldiers had no use for them. They could not work so they served no purpose in their opinion. Though they wouldn't allow children, the soldiers would impregnant woman by raping them. This was how Magda is perceived to have been conceived. Stella mentions that Magda is "Aryan", meaning she has blue eyes and blonde hair. This was considered the master race at the time by Hitler and was how the Nazis would look. Though they brought the children into the world, they would kill any that they found. Magda actually lived pretty long for a concentration camp baby, about fifteen months. She was killed after Stella stole the shawl from her and Magda ran out to the work yard and was captured by the Nazi army. A soldier carried her to an electric fence, through her into it, and she died from the shock. This short story relates to the photo because the babies look very similar to how the reader is to visualize Magda's appearance. They have sad eyes and large stomachs. They are most likely afraid of things that they see and hear every day. Their stomachs are probably full of air, like Magda's, because they don't get sufficient nutrition. They also look like they do not fuss and cry. In the story, Magda is said to be silent because if the soldiers knew of her presence, they would cause her harm and kill her. Another similarity is that they woman are sitting together in a bunker with their children, which was the only place that it was safe for the babies to be out of hiding.

This short story is about a doctor who goes on a house call in the 1930s. The beginning starts with saying that the doctor had not yet met this family because he said they were “new patients to [him]”. He only knew that their last name was Olson and that the child was extremely sick so he had to come quickly. The mother was the first person that he saw and she seemed very worried. The doctor was led into the kitchen by the mother, and he saw a young girl sitting on the lap of her father. He approached the patient and her father very calmly and professionally. The child looked very ill, having a pale complexion and an expressionless face. She also was very quiet and breathing heavily. The father began speaking and said that the child had a fever for three days and him and his wife couldn’t figure out why. They had given the child some medications to help, but nothing had improved her condition. The parents also mentioned that there was a large amount of illness going around her school. They called the doctor because they didn't know what else to do and they hoped he could help.  The doctor thought maybe she had a throat problem so he asked if she had a sore throat and the parents simultaneously said that she didn’t. The mother attempted asking the child, but she gave no response. Then, the parents admitted that they had not looked at her throat because she wouldn’t let them. The doctor was concerned because there was an outbreak of diphtheria at the time, which was fatal during the time of the plot. He then asks the child kindly to open her mouth and Mathilda ignores him. He tried to soothe her reservations and convince her that she should open her mouth. The mother tried to talk Mathilda into listening by saying that the doctor “won’t hurt [her]”, which made the doctor annoyed. He then tried to move closer to continue to persuade the child, but she jumped up and tried to attack him. The parents were very embarrassed with their child, but still continued to baby her in regards to letting the doctor help her. The doctor began to get very angry and raised his voice to the child. He decided, despite her fight, that he needed to get a culture of her throat. So, he decided to be forceful, with the parents permission. The father had to hold her down, but he was too gentle because he didn’t want to hurt his daughter. After much trial, the doctor got a tongue depressor into her mouth and almost saw her throat, but she broke it and cut up her mouth. In retrospect, the doctor realized that he probably should have given her some space before continuing but he was furious and determined. He retrieved a wooden spoon from the mother and then tried one last time to see the girl’s throat and finally found success. The child had diphtheria. 

My Love Is Building A Building by E.E. Cummings

In the final stanza, it says “the final page of storybooks” because this is usually where the lesson of the story is revealed. Virtues and morals usually are involved in said lessons. The poem ends with saying that morals  “disappear into an unseen valley where everyone must be fast asleep” because the narrator feels that they disappear when people stop caring. 

Wow, I love you so. 

The song, Without You by Chris Brown, relates to the poem, “When she was here, she was like a cold summer lager” by Peter Williams. They both discuss the great loss of a significant other. In the poem, Williams says “Now she’s gone, its like flat Coke on Sunday morning.” and “Like a melted Velveeta, eaten”. In the song, Chris Brown talks about not needing many desirable things such as money and fame. He even says that if he was to go to heaven, he would come back onto Earth because he would need to be with the girl. Brown also says, “...you’re the one I couldn’t live without.” and “I need you”. The song also asks the girl being sang to if she would choose him if she has an option. This could relate to the poem because we don’t know if the girl he lost had a choice. Both poems show that when someone truly loves another person, losing them feels like part of them is missing and they can’t live without them. 

The poem, “The Lamb” by William Blake, talks about faith and the belief that we are all children of Jesus. The second half of the work discusses The Lamb finding out that his Creator was also a lamb and that everyone else was also made from this higher being. This relates to Jesus because Jesus is believed to have been human just like us all. The picture relates to the poem because Jesus Christ is holding a lamb, which symbolizes one of his children. He created all of the “lambs”, which are actually people all over the world.  The third and fourth line talks about how desire comes from a higher power, which is Jesus. The seventh and eighth line talks about how the lamb’s bright wool lightens up the valley and the picture shows a bright valley in the background, behind Jesus. At the very end, the speaker blesses the lamb which symbolizes Jesus blessing all his children.