McNeil AP Lit

A common trend I found between The Thing Around Your Neck  and Wide Sargasso Sea  was the influence of women.  I thought both novels were very feminine oriented in the sense that they depicted the struggles and challenges towards the female characters.  It also showed how they dealt with their own situations. The female characters within the stories in The Thing Around Your Neck  gave me the sense of confidence.  Whether it was Nkem, who stood up to her husband or Ujunwa, who faced sexist backlash towards her story, I was swept away by the courage and strength these ladies had within their chapters.  Empowered would be the word I would use to describe how this book made me feel. Many of their stories were about moving to a new country and adapting to a new lifestyle, while at the same time trying to keep their African roots. In contrast, when I read Wide Sargasso Sea  I felt sad for Antoinette as her life unraveled.  It was a different e...

Our pasts can shape us into who we are in the future.  Sometimes the past can define us, but other times we can choose to ignore it and pave the way for the future we do want.  Painful experiences can either make or break a person, but it is how that person deals with it that will determine their future. In Wide Sargasso Sea , the trauma that Antoinette endured would definitely leave some emotional scars.  As a child, being taunted and mocked for her race and status can hurt a developing mind.  Self doubt, self loathing, etc. can all be a factor in the future.  We see that Antoinette combats this bullying by fighting back to Tia, her black friend, after she calls her hateful names.  She calls Tia hateful names in return.  When her house was burned to the ground and Tia was there with the mob, she throws a rock at Antoinette.  Antoinette could have fought back, but instead cried at the sight of her friend physically abusing her.  This is an...

While reading Wide Sargasso Sea  by Jean Rhys, the theme of sanity vs insanity became evident as the novel progressed.  The story of Antoinette Cosway was narrated by various people.  At times this point of view change was confusing, but I think it definitely alluded the idea of insanity. As a young girl, Antoinette experienced hatred towards white slave owners after the Emancipation Act was passed in Jamaica.  Her family was the center of hateful jeers and gossip.  This caused her mother to become depressed and antisocial, which initiated her reputation of being mentally insane. She was then remarried to Mr. Mason after her first husband Mr. Cosway died.  A mob set fire and destroyed their house and ended up killing her younger brother.  This event caused Antoinette's mother to go off the deep end.  She was sent away to live with an older black couple far away from everyone.  Antoinette was sent to a convent where she spent her teenage ye...

     When I first read the title of the novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I couldn't quite figure out what this book would be about.  As I started reading the first chapter, I had a hard time connecting the title to the story.  I was even more confused when I got to the second chapter and the story had completely changed.  After the first page of the second chapter I realized it was a completely different story.  I kept reading and still couldn't figure out when the thing around your neck would come up.      I finally got to the chapter labeled The Thing Around Your Neck  and I was even more confused than before.  Going into the chapter, I thought it would be a necklace or some African custom piece, but it was actually a metaphor.  The story followed a young woman as she migrates to America.  With America being a symbol of hope for a better life throughout the novel, the woman struggled in her new life.  Havi...

       After reading The Thing Around Your Neck  by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,  I found her twelve stories very interesting.  Each story had the same background, which was that the characters were Nigerian or spoke Igbo.  The same places created a pattern: Nigeria, Lagos, and America.  Many of the stories were about the lives of African immigrants who moved to America for a better life, whether that be by visa or marriage.  At times this repetition of how life was different in America and how the main character's life changed was dull to me.  I found myself spacing out and having to reread a passage because it felt like I had already read the chapter before.  Despite this, I did enjoy the stories and thought the novel was beautifully written by showing the reader true African culture.  I think that part of the reason this novel was written was to show readers the struggles or challenge that some parts of Africa face everyd...