However, Ellen, the main character and protagonist of the novel Ellen Foster, exemplifies a substantial amount of independence and mature, rational thought as a ten-year-old girl. ... Kaye Gibbonsuse of simple diction, unmarked dialogue, and a unique story structure in her first novel, Ellen Foster, allows the reader to explore the emotions and thoughts of this heroic, ten-year-old girl modeled after Gibbonsown experiences as a young girl. ... Gibbons uses this to show the reader how Ellen is an average girl who enjoys all of the things normal children relish and to contrast the nai...

• Word Count: 637
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Ellen Foster goes through many shocking events at a very young age in the novel, Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons. ... At the very beginning of the novel, Kaye Gibbons reveals one of Ellen's most inner thoughts, "When I was little, I would think of ways to kill my daddy. ... This symbolic sentence also tells us that her father is a horrible person that has no respect for Ellen, himself, or anyone else. Ellen moves many times in the book. ... Kaye Gibbons ends the story by having Ellen look back at her life and realize that her problems are nothing compared to the problems that Starletta ha...

• Word Count: 372
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

The novel Ellen Foster written by Kaye Gibbons, portrays the ill-fated life of Ellen, an 11 year old girl mourning the death of her mother and living with the burden of her alcoholic father. ... Within the text Ellen foster, Gibbons' explores societies' opinion upon different skin colour and how it destroyed families and resulted in hardship for members of the community. ... Within the text Ellen Foster, Gibbons' envelops the attitudes and values of family life of the time and setting of which the novel was set. ... Through and exploration upon family and social life of the set ...

• Word Count: 1059
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons is a book about the trials and hardships a young girl goes through in the first eleven years of her life. ... Because of Ellen's artistic ability she draws oceans and cats, among other things in her spare time. ... Because of the pain and suffering in her life, Ellen likes to draw pictures of brooding oceans. ... Ellen would go on to be a wonderful mother and wife. ... With the help of her "New Momma" Ellen would become a very proud and hardworking woman. ...

• Word Count: 475
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

One of the themes in "Ellen Foster" and "White Oleander" is sometimes our surroundings can change your identity. In "White Oleander", we see a change in Astrid's identity when she is living with her new foster mom Starr. ... During the sleepover Ellen confronts Starletta about her racial prejudice that she once had. ... In this scene, it shows Ellen new understanding about race and how much she has changed the way she views people. ... The death of Ellen's mom made Ellen more of an independent person and less dependent on others especially her own family. ...

• Word Count: 932
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Three prime examples of adolescent struggles are in the characters Ellen Foster, from the novel Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons; Holden Caulfield, from the novel Catcher in the Rye by J. ... At the beginning of the three stories, Ellen Foster, Catcher in the Rye, and Stand by Me, the characters Ellen, Holden, and Gordie, were all comparatively at the same place in terms of the relationships they had with their parents. ... Where Ellen was able to start anew with her foster family, Holden and Gordie were forced to find resolution through other means, such as siblings or friends. At the end of Elle...

• Word Count: 1185
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Military Academy at West Point through his foster father, where he graduated sixth out of his class of forty-one. ... His lack of combat experience still worried him, and his marriage that year to Ellen Ewing added to his burdens. ... Ellen spent as much time as she could in Lancaster, while giving birth to two children there during these years. ... His wife, Ellen, however remained opposed to anything that took her away from Lancaster and her family. ... Ellen remained in Lancaster with their five children. ...

• Word Count: 855
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The SPCC came to be because of one horribly abused little girl named Mary Ellen Wilson. Due to the lack of programs available for abused and neglected children, Mary Ellen was initially saved by the SPCA (University of Delaware). ... As Ashby states, the New York Children's Aid Society was " a free foster care system "free in the sense that families caring for children received no monetary reimbursement for their services- (40). ...

• Word Count: 1965
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Is any cliché in American public discourse quite as stale as "liberal media bias-? Probably not, unless it's "tax-and-spend liberal."" Is there a literate adult living in this country who hasn't heard or read that dull, deceptive phrase literally hundreds or even thousands of times? Not unless said person resides permanently in a wilderness beyond range of all TV, radio, newspaper delivery, and the U.S. Postal Service. ...

• Word Count: 7521
• Approx Pages: 30
• Grade Level: Undergraduate