Awakening By Edna Pontellier Essays - The Awakening, Grand Isle

Awakening By Edna Pontellier There are many important paths that we must follow on our journey through life. We follow the path without questioning its intent. The path informs us when we should learn to talk, to walk, to marry, and to have children. We are told that we should never stray from it, because if we do, society will make it certain that we are bound for damnation. In the novel The Awakening the main character, Edna Pontellier, has followed this path without so much as a fuss. All that changes when Edna is awakened from a life long slumber?a slumber, which she found repetitious, monotonous, and futile. She discovers that she is incomplete being just a wife and a mother. She needs to fill the void that has been empty for so long. She finds herself looking aimlessly beyond the path toward a destination of new feelings, adventures, and awakenings her quest for true love. Edna stands under this symbol of love, she is faced with a dilemma. Should she kiss, (or in this case, marry), whether or not it is love? Or should she pass by the opportunity and prepare herself for the hurricane winds of a disappointed and disapproving society? Edna chose to do what society wanted her to do?she got married and left her fantasies and dreams in the depths of the shadows. "The acme of bliss, which would have been a marriage with the tragedian, was not for her in this world. As the devoted wife of a man who worshiped her, she felt she would take her place with a certain dignity in the world of reality, closing the portals forever behind her upon the realm of romance and dreams." (P. 24) After marriage, hidden around the curvatures of the path, were the expectations of motherhood and being a devoted mother, after all "if it was not a mother's place to look after children, whose on earth was it?" (P. 7) The appearance of Edna's life looked perfect?she was the envy of many women who declared, "Mr. Pontellier was the best husband in the world. Mrs. Pontellier was forced to admit she knew of none better." (P. 9) The cover of her life had that of a fairy tale, but inside, the pages were filled with the emptiness and the loneliness she was feeling. During that summer at Grand Isle, the pages were finally read, and slowly Edna became less and less concerned for the welfare of her family. "He [Mr. Pontellier] thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the sole object of his existence evinced so little interest in things which concerned him, and valued so little his conversation." (P. 6) In Mr. Pontellier's eyes his wife was not a mother-woman, because "it was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels." (P. 10) His wife seemed more interested in using her "protective" wings to fly about in search of the independent soul she once threw away at the altar. In the meantime, "if one of the little Pontellier boys took a tumble whilst at play, he was not apt to rush crying to his mother's arms for comfort; he would more likely pick himself up, wipe the water out of his eyes, and the sand out of his mouth, and go on playing." (P. 9) The love between Edna and her children existed, but it resembled more of the love between the members of an extended family in the 1990s. "Sometimes [she'd] gather them passionately in her heart; she would sometimes forget them, and their absence was a sort of relief." (P. 24) Around her, Edna could see the devoted Creole mothers flocking about their precious children. These women frowned upon Edna's laissez faire attitude toward her children. None of the other women could relate to Edna's declaration, "I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself." (P. 25) Edna made the decision to have a family when she was young, naive, and unaware of what she truly wanted. That summer, she awakened from her slumber and frantically began to search for the gateway to her dreams. As for her children, "they need not have thought that they could possess her, body

Free Essays on Why Social Studies Is Important For Children

Social Studies is important for elementary school students to be familiar with because it is a way to connect children with the past and relate it to the future. Linda Levstik wrote a book called â€Å"Doing History† that explains how to teach Social Studies in a classroom. This book focuses on what teachers should teach, how to go about doing it, what are the best strategies, how to assess children, and guidelines for teachers to follow. This book taught me that it is important for students to personalize history so they can relate it to current events. I also have learned that it is important to have a strong literature based Social Studies program so that children can deepen their understanding of the topic and integrate it into other areas of study. In this paper I will discuss what I found useful in this textbook and how I will utilize the information learned in my classroom. One of the major issues I found important was the idea of diverse perspectives. It is important for children o know that there are a wide variety of cultures, opinions, and ideas. It is necessary to look at all the different angles of an idea and then draw your own conclusion. Children need to be exposed to a wide variety of literature in order to be able to find out more about different time periods. In chapter twelve Levstik writes, â€Å"Children often think that people in the Colonial Era lived in log cabins or that everyone in the 1800’s dressed in formal clothes all the time. Such perspectives are hardly surprising given that students are rarely exposed to differences within a given time period†(158). As a teacher it is important to remember that children need to be exposed to a variety of different ideas. Teachers cannot focus in on one issue without giving multiple viewpoints or ideas. This way, children will be able to form their own opinions based on multiple perspectives. Another chapter in this book that I found extremely import... Free Essays on Why Social Studies Is Important For Children Free Essays on Why Social Studies Is Important For Children Social Studies is important for elementary school students to be familiar with because it is a way to connect children with the past and relate it to the future. Linda Levstik wrote a book called â€Å"Doing History† that explains how to teach Social Studies in a classroom. This book focuses on what teachers should teach, how to go about doing it, what are the best strategies, how to assess children, and guidelines for teachers to follow. This book taught me that it is important for students to personalize history so they can relate it to current events. I also have learned that it is important to have a strong literature based Social Studies program so that children can deepen their understanding of the topic and integrate it into other areas of study. In this paper I will discuss what I found useful in this textbook and how I will utilize the information learned in my classroom. One of the major issues I found important was the idea of diverse perspectives. It is important for children o know that there are a wide variety of cultures, opinions, and ideas. It is necessary to look at all the different angles of an idea and then draw your own conclusion. Children need to be exposed to a wide variety of literature in order to be able to find out more about different time periods. In chapter twelve Levstik writes, â€Å"Children often think that people in the Colonial Era lived in log cabins or that everyone in the 1800’s dressed in formal clothes all the time. Such perspectives are hardly surprising given that students are rarely exposed to differences within a given time period†(158). As a teacher it is important to remember that children need to be exposed to a variety of different ideas. Teachers cannot focus in on one issue without giving multiple viewpoints or ideas. This way, children will be able to form their own opinions based on multiple perspectives. Another chapter in this book that I found extremely import...