Moment of Truth

Tannen's famous piece "There is No Unmarked Woman" talks about how no matter what women do -- or don't do -- they will be "marked" in one way or another. I agree with this, but only to an extent. Her logic for her argument is that people will always try and judge women based on their makeup, outfit, and jewelry. But is this not true with men as well? In the example she gave in her piece, she describes her male colleagues as wearing "brown or blue slacks and nondescript shirts of light colors" and calls this unmarked. However, isn't this business attire somewhat marked as well? It marks them as professional and formal in an academic setting. Even in high school, wearing a certain style of clothing can mark you regardless of gender. For example, wearing designer clothing marks you as popular and potentially a jock, while wearing semiformal clothes could mark you as a nerd. But the discrepancy Tannen tries to focus on lies in the extent to which t...

Character arcs are defined as the "transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of a story." When it comes to a protagonist's character arc, they are mostly positive, with the main character gaining insights from various experiences he goes through to become a better person overall. However, in The Nickel Boys ,  the protagonist Elwood seems to regress as the story continues. Starting off, he gets a record of MLK's speeches and calls it "the best gift of his life" (11). This shows the extent to which MLK influenced Elwood's ideals. He was a strong supporter of the Civil Rights Movement ever since he was a kid. He started attending protests in high school. Not only this, but he was also extremely strong academically, about to take college classes as of his junior year. This is extremely impressive for a black kid in the 1900s because not only does he have to have an incredible academic drive, he needs to overcome the barriers set in plac...