The Side Effects Of Eat Too Many Clementines

In “Oranges”, Gary Soto puts the reader in a romantic scene where a boy is on a date with a girl. The boy’s affection is shown by what he does with two oranges. He is not particularly wealthy so he uses one orange as payment for a chocolate bar. While the girl eats the chocolate he eats his other orange. Instead of having the chocolate or even sharing it, he is selfless and gives the whole bar to her.

Starting with Okita’s poem, the little girl who writes the letter explains that she calls tomatoes “love apples”. She wanted to pack some tomato seeds away for the trip to the internment camp, but “[her] father says where [they’re] going they won’t grow” (Okita 520). Her father does not mean that the soil is not rich enough to farm, but that in a place built from hatred a “love apple” could not possibly grow. When the protagonist returns to school her friend Denice is rotten to her because of the new views she has really been taught. Knowing this, the protagonist gives her a pack of tomato seeds and tells her friend “when the first tomato ripens [you’ll] miss me” (Okita 520).

The young boy wanted to give the lady an orange in trade for the chocolate, which shows another representation of how the oranges are shown as a symbol of love. In the last stanza, the girl eats the chocolate while he peels his orange. The poet

For the first ‘bare’ part of her life, Janie is a mule not to a man but to her own grandmother. In her youth, Janie yearns for relationships and objects that to her symbolize freedom. She is drawn to a blossoming pear tree because of how its “barren brown stems [turn] to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds from snowy virginity” (10), Here, Janie is awed by something changed from ‘barren’ to beautiful as she struggles with the suppression of her grandmother, who goes on to bash Janie for kissing a boy through a gatepost. It is clear Janie associates the pear tree with freedom, as she was avoiding her chores to sit under it. Thus, the beauty she finds in the turn from stem to blossom is directly correlated with the joy she finds in the escape from her grandmother and discovery of freedom.

After Jody becomes controlling and is no longer loving towards Janie, she expresses “no more blossomy opening dusting pollen over her man. Neither glistening young fruit where petals used to be” (Hurston 72). The author uses the words “blossomy”, “pollen”, “fruit”, “petals” to describe how Janie was feeling towards the men in her life. In this part of the book Janie begins to lose feelings for Jody, therefore not feeling these anymore. In the beginning of the novel it is described that blossoms, flowers and nature represent perfect love for Janie, however when she begins to no longer feel love towards Jody she reveals that she no longer feels these emotions, causing her to be eager for change yet again.

The author also uses imagery in the following quote, “Watermelon is the ambrosia of the household, closely followed by cantaloupe, strawberries, and cherries.” Through this quote the author conveys the idea to the reader that the family admires watermelon. Since the author refers to the watermelon as ambrosia, meaning the food of the gods, the readers can imagine that the taste of watermelon which might make them want it. The usage of imagery throughout the article allows the readers to view food from the same perspective as her

Her use of metaphors makes it easier for her son to retain the lesson she's indirectly providing and recollect when the time comes. For instance, Adams writes, “The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. All history will convince you of this, and that wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure.” This metaphor compares fruit to wisdom and penetration, meaning that like fruit, wisdom and penetration are good for the soul and if not taken care of or appreciated, will spoil. Adams makes the connection that the experience her son is going to gain through his voyage is just as valuable to him as fruit is to the body, implying that he should take full advantage of his trip and all it has to offer.

Throughout the book, we see an idealistic view of love linked also very closely with innocence and youth. This is illustrated when Janie says, “‘Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think.”’ (Page 24). In this quote, Janie expresses her idealistic desires surrounding marriage. Her reference to the pear tree perpetuates the theme that we see in the novel of Janie’s youth, and perception of love, evoking a reference to

Before being given any context, the speaker shares how she is packing tomato seeds or what her friend Denise refers to as “love apples” (4). Still unsure of her destination, she shares how her father says, “they won't grow” where they are going (5). By including the term “love apples” the author intends to show the reader that the seeds symbolize love, specifically the love the speaker has for Denise. Although the speaker does not specify where she is going, her father’s mention of how the seeds “won't grow”, tells us that the environmental conditions are so harsh, even tomatoes won't grow. The speaker’s action of packing the seeds is hopeful and nearly oblivious whereas her father is fully aware of their future conditions.

This contributes to the theme of hope by showing that even though things may be bad, the good moments make it better. The similies contribute to the theme by showing that the tomatoes that she has, although few, are great and the future is looking

In this passage, we see Marie-Laure greatly enjoying the peaches after not having proper nourishment in a long time. The author uses the phrase “wedges of wet sunlight” to describe the peaches. Sunlight is often viewed as the glimmer of hope that appears after a long dark night, providing comfort. To Marie-Laure, the peaches are exactly that, a moment of comfort and safety in a world torn apart by war. Furthermore, the peaches being in wedges symbolize that there are ways to find comfort and safety even in the shattered world the characters live in.

The pear tree from Janie’s past represents Janie’s longing for fulfillment and growth. She witnesses the transformation of the tree and longs to undergo the same process and feel complete like the tree. However, this ideal is not upheld in her first marriage as she is unhappy. Wishing for a change, Janie runs away from her first marriage and enters into her second, where her horizon is used as a symbol for change and opportunity. Later in her life, the horizon represents her life experiences as a whole.

Love is unconditionally caring about someone else that you care more about yourself. Love may give us joy, and happiness, but it also brings the worse out in us. In Celeste Rita Baker’s short story Jumbie from Bordeaux, the author presents love and the price paid for love through the indirect characterization of Jumbie, his aunt, and parents. In the story the author uses courage to show the love that Jumbie had for his parents. For example, when Jumbie witnesses the harsh beating of his parents, he immediately jumps in to interfere, by attacking the master.

“Love led us on to one death” says Francesca (). She portrays herself as helpless and defenseless against the power of love. Furthermore, she says “love…swiftly kindled in the noble heart…still injures me” (). Her repeated usage of love shows that she believes that she did nothing wrong. Love is an implacable force and thus, it overpowered and seized her.

The short story “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love” by Raymond Carver is about four friends- Laura, Mel, Nick, and Terri, gathering on a table and having a conversation. As they start to drink, the subject abruptly comes to “love.” Then, the main topic of their conversation becomes to find the definition of love, in other word to define what exactly love means. However, at the end, they cannot find out the definition of love even though they talk on the subject for a day long. Raymond Carver in “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love” illustrates the difficulty of defining love by using symbols such as heart, gin, and the sunlight.