This portfolio is to allow readers to gain more insight regarding various themes of the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals. It includes different media sources that allow further insight into the topics. Click on a topic to learn more about each topic through different sources.
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An ongoing theme throughout the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals is the absence of a parent figure through life. Baby lives with her father Jules as her mother passed away at a young age. Her father is addicted to heroine and has failed to provide Baby with the support she needs.
In society today it is not uncommon for a child to have a parent or both absent from their life. Many children are left with one parent trying to support their children throughout their years. Working multiple jobs is common for single parents in order to provide what a family needs. Provide food and a home can be difficult for some families, especially if they have more than one child.
In situations like Baby, sometimes parents can focus more on drug addictions rather than provided for their family. Baby’s father is a heroin addict, leading him to not have the money to provide for the two of them. Jules also does not hold a steady job, making it even harder to have money for them.
In some cases like Baby, it can lead to moving out of the house into fosters homes. For young children it can be difficult to grasp moving home to home with different adults taking care of you. This also results in children learning many life skills on their own and maturing much quicker than others.
To put this information into perspective, in 2017 there were 690 000 children in foster care in the United States. Children are considered only under eighteen so once at the age of eighteen, youth are left to fend for themselves.
Foster Care
After finishing the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neil, it was found the most appropriate perspective to apply to the text was the feminist literary theory. This theory allowed the reader to gain the most insight into the story although other perspectives can interpret the story different ways. Different events lead Baby into difficult situations, best interpreting through the perspective of a feminist.
The feminist theory allowed there reader to connect with the life Baby is struggling through from a much more personal level. As a women, this perspective allowed a deeper understanding to what Baby is going through and the challenges she is facing. More specifically, an example of an experience that allow more understanding is when Baby becomes addicted to heroin and a prostitute.
Baby is taken control of by her boyfriend Alphonse who has her become her sex slave, then into a prostitute. Alphonse has made Baby think she can trust him, so feels like she must do what she wants. Baby has also begun drinking and smoking weed very heavenly and has become addicted to heroin. She had never wanted a life like this but her father Jules left her with nothing, so Baby feels as though this is her only option.
From the perspective of the feminist theory, it is shown that Baby is following in the foot steps of her father’s life. Living and being together with Alphonse has had Baby to feel like she used to when she lived with her father Jules. Baby has never had a motherly figure or positive role model, so she only knows her behaviour from Jules and Alphonse.
This novel has a very similar story like the movie Precious, which follows the life of a sixteen year old girl Claireece who has struggled with the relationship of herself, mother and father since a child. Both stories involve unhealthy relationships with their parents who are involved with drugs, but very different endings of the stories.
Overall, the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals had many surprising events that lead to positive and negative outcomes. From the feminist literary theory, this novel showed how women were not shown to have strength and would follow what a man asked them to do, in the time the story was written.
After finishing reading the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals, it has become clear that the idea of feminism was not valued in the time of the story being taken placed.
A clear example of this theory is during the last part of the story when the main character Baby, a twelve year old girl has begun drinking and smoking weed heavenly and even has become addicted to heroin. Baby’s father Jules has not been a supportive or positive role model for her growing up as he was as well addicted to heroin. As Jules has left Baby to fend for herself, she decided to move in with her thought of boyfriend, Alphonse. When reading, it is clear Baby has made a terrible mistake as Alphonse has turned her into his sex slave, then a prostitute.
From a perspective of the feminist theory, it is shown that Baby no longer has any control of herself, rather by Alphonse. Baby stated in the novel ‘there were more rules living with Alphonse than there had ever been living with Jule’ (O’Neil, 288). Baby has fallen into a trap and was becoming weaker by the control of Alphonse.
Overall, reading Lullabies for Little Criminals and analyzing the novel through a feminist perspective is an eye opener on how poorly the women were treated in the time the story takes place. The novel shows that men are much more powerful than women during this time and the idea of feminism does not show.
When reading the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals, it is noticed later on that Baby’s life is beginning to take more of a downward path. She has begun hanging out with a boy named Theo, but quickly realizes that he is not a good influence for her. Later on Baby creates a close relationship with the ‘town pimp’, Alphonse. When Baby is in a fragile state Alphonse comforts her to gain her trust, then turns her into one of his prostitutes.
Based on the journey Baby has been following, it is to believe that she is going to continue going down the bad path. Baby is still a young vulnerable girl, making this situation more likely to stay for a longer time.
In the story of Baby, it can be concluded that an archetypal character missing is the ‘great mother’. From the beginning of the novel Baby has been left without a mother figure in her life. As her mother passed away shortly after Baby was born, she has been raised by her father all throughout her life. Although Baby is left without a mother in life, she is constantly looking for a mother figure to have in her life. Baby has been very isolated throughout her life with only finding people to only temporarily fill the place of family, like her foster mother Isabelle.
In the situation Baby has fallen into, if she was fortunate enough to have a motherly figure in her life she most likely would not have been in the situation. If Baby had a mother figure in her life, she could have been stopped doing the actions she has done, or had advice on what to do.
The novel Lullabies for Little Criminals follows the story of a thirteen year old girl by the name Baby who is struggling to find a middle between childhood and the adult world. Baby strives to maintain positive in her life with her mother dead and her father, Jules. Her childhood has been spent with her father focusing more on paying for drugs, rather on what him and Baby really need. Throughout the years, Baby has shown her love for her father and only wishes what is best for him and for him to get better. Overtime Jules has let Baby down time after time with her years in foster homes, which is beginning to change her outlook on life and her relationship with her father.
Although only one third of Lullabies for Little Criminals has been read, it has shown to be a sad and deeply moving novel. The author Heather O’Neill writes to convey the story as although you can see it in front of you with deep and darling imagery.
With still some of the book to read, many questions come to mind; ‘why is Jules doing this to Baby?’ and ‘what is Baby going to do next?’ As there are still many chapters left in the novel, there are many answers to the questions that a reader could assume. Perhaps Jules passes away and Baby is left all alone or Baby runs away and makes a life for herself. As the novel continues these predictions could be proven correct or a very unexpected event could occur.
The novel Lullabies for Little Criminals has a very similar story line to the movie Precious. This movie follows the story of a sixteen year old girl Claireece who has struggled with a relationship between her mother and father since a child. When Calireece is sixteen she becomes pregnant by her own father for the second time, but months later is giving an opportunity that turns her life around. Although these stories follow different lives of different characters, the idea of struggling with parents involved with drugs is found very similar.
The Serial podcast is a twelve episode podcast based on the trial of Adnan Syed. The case behind Adnan Syed revolves around the murder of his ex girl friend Hae Min Lee. Adnan claims he had nothing to do with the murder but the case was largely against him due to the story of one witness. After trial, Adnan was sent to jail which he has been in for many years but recently has been granted a new trial.
Many different sources believe that Adnan Syed is innocent, while many still believe he is guilty. When listening to the Serial podcast I came to my own conclusion that Adnan was innocent due to the lack of evidence.
After trying to deepen my knowledge about the current updates regarding the case of Adnan Syed, I came across many insightful information pieces. Most sources I read focused on examples of why Adnan should be proven innocent rather guilty. A big point brought up in many sources was that many dates and events from the podcast were inaccurate or completely false.
The Baltimore Sun published an article about the innocence of Adnan Syed that further agreed with my reasoning for innocence. The article had a point about how there was none of Adnan Syed’s DNA found on Hae Min Lee. The only DNA that was found on the girl was an unidentified woman. This was not brought up in the first trial for Adnan but allows him to have some relief.
With all the new information being brought forward regarding Adnan, I believe the reason they are allowing him another trial is due to more people believing in his innocence. With information like false DNA and inaccurate dates, this is a large factor to getting proven innocent.
For more information regarding the trial of Adnan Syed, the Serial podcast website allows you to listen to the multiple hearings of his trial.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-syed-dna-evidence-20190328-story.html
Listening to the two songs Oops Upside Your Head and Uptown Funk, it is easy to tell there are many similarities found between them. Oops Upside Your Head is a funk anthem written in 1979 by the The Gap Band, while Uptown Funk is a pop song recorded by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Before we go on you may not be familiar with the songs, so listen to them below.
For the two songs we must look at this differences between copying, transforming and recombining. In the video of Everything is a Remix, copying is the way that we learn. We observe how others do things and use that to influence our own ideas. Transforming is the way we take others ideas but recreate them into our own. Finally, recombining is putting different ideas together to create something new.
Now analyzing the comparison of Oops Upside Your Head and Uptown Funk. Like many cases, these two songs have very similar baselines and beats. Listening to the audios of these two songs it is very difficult to even tell which one is which. Uptown Funk is a more recent song, being released in 2014, while Oops Upside Your Head was released in 1979. Uptown Funk uses many unique hooks throughout the song, proving that it is copied from Oops Upside Your Head.
When Uptown Funk was released in 2014 no credit was given to The Gap Band. The spokes person of The Gap Band, Kali Bower claims that the hook of the two songs is too similar to be a coincidence.
In April 2015 action was finally taken by The Gap Band for their credit when a settlement was made with the band and producer for them to receive a combine seventeen percent state, as well as credited as the writers of the track.
Although The Gap Band did receive credit towards the song a year later after it being released, if Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars had given them credit from the beginning, they would have saved a lot of money and hassle.
Times, James. “‘Uptown Funk’: Bruno Mars And Mark Ronson Accused Of Plagiarism.” Culture, Tech Times, 26 Feb. 2016, http://www.techtimes.com/articles/136244/20160226/uptown-funk-bruno-mars-and-mark-ronson-accused-of-plagiarism-compare-the-songs-here.htm.
The podcast Serial is a well spoken podcast by the narration of Sarah Koenig. The story behind it is about a girl in high school that is illegibly killed my her formal boyfriend. After time a girl comes for to say she knows where the boy was during the time the girl was killed.
I personally enjoyed this podcast as it used different ways to grab listeners attention, such as using multiple voices. Using a podcast to present investigative journalism allows you to gain a lot of information about the situation and allows listeners to stay intrigued. The combination of the audio with the photo proof really helps the reader visualize what is happening in the story.
I feel like the victim’s family would not feel very comfortable with the story of their daughter’s death becoming a popular podcast. Losing a child is an extremely hard situation to encounter. Having strangers opinions on the turn of events leading to the tragic outcome, can make this situation even harder to endure.
I personally enjoyed listening to the story, as I felt I was able to get a better grasp of the story and therefore a deeper understanding. Listening allowed me to feel the emotions of the participants through their tones and use of words. I feel this would not be possible to obtain this feeling while reading. Although reading does not allow for the same emotional understanding, it is beneficial in terms of being able to maintain a high level of focus. While reading, it is harder to get distracted and you can focus in more on the details of the story
“Memory is vital to experiences, it is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action.” (Wikipedia)
Memory is very open to interpretation. Two people may remember a certain situation very differently from each other. In the podcast, the accused murder couldn’t remember what he was doing the day of the murder. This makes it very difficult to put together the pieces of what happened.
If I was in the situation of the accused murder, I feel I would remember most of the day’s events. I probably would not remember insignificant events, such as what the exact time was when I woke up, and what I did with my hair.
The accused murder’s lack of memory raises some concerns that maybe not everything he is saying is true and accurate. Therefore, the story is not truthful to the events of that day.
“Memory.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory.
Should grade twelve university level English be a requirement for entry into all university programs?
For some people they believe English can not be an enjoyable class in high school. Some people view it as useless and boring, whereas other people think it is the most important class to be taking. All these opinions lead to the following question: Should English be required for entry into university?
You may take math or science but you are still required to have an English credit in grade twelve. Let alone required for university programs, students cannot graduate without their English credit. I believe English is important to pursue through the four years of high school as it plays a very important role in everyday lives.
Although we do not talk and read Shakespeare with our friends, we use grammar and punctuation everyday. Knowing proper grammar and having an advanced vocabulary will allow you to access many more opportunities. Having extended knowledge on English can help you with getting a job or talking to people with higher authority.
English throughout high school as well helps you with improving your writing abilities. Improving your writing skills will help you in everyday life in whatever you may be doing. Although most students dread over writing an essay; would you rather be prepared to write an essay in your future or not have any knowledge on structure? Myself included am not a big essay fan but knowing later that the skills I learn will help me, allows me to understand why we are doing it.
English will follow you to where ever you may go in future endivers. In university you may not be taking an English class, but you will run into it eventually. You may need to write papers about different subjects in your classes. You’re professors will not be take time to talk you through the essay format. Without English being a mandatory course you would struggle and not have the knowledge to be successful.
An article states the one of the reasons learning English is so important is because “it has become the international language of education and business” (Payne. Para. 1). The article talks about how knowing more about the English language can help people in their future lives.
English being mandatory allows us to expand our knowledge on writing, reading and vocabulary. These skills are important for future experiences as well very important for university programs. So yes, I believe grade twelve university level English for entry into all university programs should be mandatory.
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today” –Malcom X
Payne, David G. “The Importance of Learning English and Why It Should Be Fun – ETS Open Notes.” Open Notes, 2014, news.ets.org/stories/the-importance-of-learning-english-and-why-it-should-be-fun/.
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