Access over 20 million homework & study documents

Essay 3 Comparing And Contrasting Narratives 1

Content type
User Generated
Subject
English
School
CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
Type
Homework
Rating
Showing Page:
1/6
Surname 1
Names
Institution
Date
Essay 3: Comparing and Contrasting Narratives
The purpose of this assignment is to compare and contrast two literary works from the
perspectives of themes, types of trauma covered in the literary works, and major relationships.
The first literary work is “Moving Away,” which is a poem that was written by Gary Soto in
1958. In this poem, Soto addresses his brother, reminding him of the reasons that they had to
run away from their abusive white step-father, the happiness that followed, and the sorrow of
having to be separated. Soto’s poem will be compared and contrasted against Franz Kafka’s
“A Country Doctor,” which is a 1917 short story about a doctor’s hapless struggle to attend
one of his patients and the surreal events that he encounters in the process. After analyzing the
common elements between the two literary works, it is clear that they both cover the themes
of childrearing and racism; emotional, psychological distress and physical suffering traumas;
and family relationships, and with Kafka’s short story extending the last element to cover
professional relationships and friendships. While the two literary works share the three
elements, they explore them from different dimensions.
A Comparison of Major Themes
The first theme shared by the two literary works is racism. Soto’s poem is addressed to
the persona’s brother. In this case, it is presumed that Soto is the persona of the poem. In all
his popular literary works, Soto was known to use his personal accounts to discuss the
challenges that he experienced growing up as a Mexican American in a nation dominated by
the whites, and at an era characterized by widespread racial discrimination against minority
races (Leiter 338). In this case, Soto discusses the challenges that he experienced alongside
his brother in their childhood in the hands of an uncaring white step-father, and that ultimately

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
2/6
Surname 2
led to their decision to flee from home. Since these issues dominate the poem, it is thus clear
that the theme of racism is key to the poem. The same case emerges with Kafka’s short story.
While Kafka’s literary works were based on surrealism, some of the events that he discusses
in his short story relate to some of the social issues that characterized the early-20th century
Europe. In this case, one of the most dominant issues is the sexual abuse of his maid by a
groom while Kafka proceeds with his work. Based on historical events, a typical maid or
servant of a white was often black or brown (Wooten and Branch 294). By ignoring the sexual
abuse that his maid is subjected to in favor of a pair of horses, the country doctor
demonstrates the extent of racism that characterized the early 20th century Europe.
The theme of childrearing also features immensely in the selected literary works. In
Soto’s poem, readers are introduced to the challenges that children experienced when being
brought up by step-parents, and particularly those from a different race. These parents are
portrayed as uncaring, which is evident in Soto’s description of how he had to endure cold
nights and other hardships alongside his brother as their step-father watched. On the other
hand, Kafka’s short story demonstrates the great care that parents took care of their children.
While the child that he is to treat falls sick while under the care of his parents, these parents
are concerned to the extent that they call the doctor to attend their child on an emergency
basis, convene a team to sing as the doctor works, and provide liquor to the doctor to cheer
him up as he works. In this case, the two literary works demonstrate that, while childrearing is
a duty for parents, only genetic parents can provide actual care.
Contrast of Types of Types of Trauma
One of the types of trauma in the two short stories is physical suffering. In this case,
Soto’s poem details how the persona and his brother endured adverse weather conditions such
as freezing nights and hot afternoons. Based on the persona’s words, there may be more to
this physical suffering. The suffering was too much to the extent that it forced the two

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
3/6

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
End of Preview - Want to read all 6 pages?
Access Now
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Surname 1 Names Institution Date Essay 3: Comparing and Contrasting Narratives The purpose of this assignment is to compare and contrast two literary works from the perspectives of themes, types of trauma covered in the literary works, and major relationships. The first literary work is “Moving Away,” which is a poem that was written by Gary Soto in 1958. In this poem, Soto addresses his brother, reminding him of the reasons that they had to run away from their abusive white step-father, the happiness that followed, and the sorrow of having to be separated. Soto’s poem will be compared and contrasted against Franz Kafka’s “A Country Doctor,” which is a 1917 short story about a doctor’s hapless struggle to attend one of his patients and the surreal events that he encounters in the process. After analyzing the common elements between the two literary works, it is clear that they both cover the themes of childrearing and racism; emotional, psychological distress and physical suffering traumas; and family relationships, and with Kafka’s short story extending the last element to cover professional relationships and friendships. While the two literary works share the three elements, they explore them from different dimensions. A Comparison of Major Themes The first theme shared by the two literary works is racism. Soto’s poem is addressed to the persona’s brother. In this case, it is presumed that Soto is the persona of the poem. In all his popular literary work ...
Purchase document to see full attachment
User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Anonymous
Super useful! Studypool never disappoints.

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4

Similar Documents