Self-discipline and dedication yield richer benefits than seeking immediate pleasure in the long run. In the informal essay "On Hating Piano Lessons" by Phyllis Theroux, this thesis is argued through the anecdote of the author's daughter disliking piano lessons. Theroux makes excellent use of stylistic devices throughout the essay, which keep the reader engaged and interested. The stylistic devices such as contrast and cause and effect used in "On Hating Piano Lessons" help demonstrate the thesis of the essay.
The first stylistic device shown in this essay is the use of contrast between the mother and her daughter. This use of contrast establishes that the mother knows what she is talking about and has experience. The mother knows that the daughter taking piano lessons will yield rich results, but the daughter hates taking them, saying they are too hard:.
My daughter thinks that I am cruel, that I don't understand her, that I am trying to force her to be something she is not. My daughter is right. I want her, when she is thirty-five or sixty and feeling temporarily low on being, to be able to converse with Mozart. (Theroux 206).
The contrast is used effectively by clearly defining the difference of opinions on piano lessons between mother and daughter. The mother has personal experience, whereas the daughter is young and does not see why she has to do something she dislikes. Theroux clearly shows both the mother and daughter's points of view on the lessons with reasons that make you see both sides of the issue, "My daughter thinks that I am cruel" versus "to be able to converse with Mozart." The contrast is between immediate happiness and long term rewards, and Theroux provides reasons that both are valid points. It is so effective in that it makes you as a reader have to choose to side with the mother or the daughter, and keeps the essay engaging and appealing.
This opinion by Paul Theroux is a clash with the way I see the development of a man in today's society. ... I think that the man that Paul Theroux pictures comes from this sort of atmosphere. Paul Theroux pictures men as unfeeling, obedient, soldierly, and doesn't think. ... I"m sure that if Theroux had thought about amounts of testosterone, then he probably wouldn't have made such a bold and old-fashion statement. ...
Paul Theroux, in his essay "Being a Man," tells us how disgusted he is with masculinity, or what he perceives to be masculinity. ... I've spent my entire life around the kind of men Theroux ignores in his essay. ... He spends time with his children, teaching them valuable lessons they'll carry throughout their lives. ... Theroux says, "Being a drunkard is another assertion, if misplaced, of manliness." ... "Everyone is aware of how few in number are the athletes who behave like gentlemen," Theroux says. ...
In the world of "Score/Score" by Phyllis Gotlieb, there is an overabundance of robots and machines in the world, with the human population being very low. ... This "teaching machine" hates his job, feeling his talents are being wasted by having to teach sixth grade English. ... Experiences that I have had with online delivered courses with little to none in person interaction has been that they went extremely well, finding the covered content easy to comprehend through given readings, and assignments completed without lessons, discussions, or regular classroom things. But experiences people I ...
Why does Theroux feel this way? ... "There is no book-hater like a Little League coach" (Theroux 431). ... Do most men feel the way that Theroux does? ... In "Being a Man" by Paul Theroux, Theroux also discusses how he does not enjoy being a man in today's society because he is a writer, "It was my guilty secret, because being a writer was incompatible with being a man" (Theroux 431). ... Theroux does not like the way that the world views a man's role in society. ...
Theroux expresses himself by using examples and facts about a man's life. ... Theroux thinks "the whole idea of manhood in America is pitiful". ... Theroux defines himself as a person who has "always disliked being a man". ... The reader can of course also see very much of an emotional response on Theroux's part. ... "BEING A MAN" BY PAUL THEROUX. ...
Theroux expresses himself by using examples and facts about a man's life. ... Theroux thinks "the whole idea of manhood in America is pitiful". ... Theroux defines himself as a person who has "always disliked being a man". ... The reader can of course also see very much of an emotional response on Theroux's part. ... Theroux writes that in his judgment the terrible ambition of manliness is "part of every man's life. ...
The 1990 Pulitzer Prize winning play "The Piano Lesson" is an excellent look into African American life during the desegregation of America. ... For a piano?"... You can always get you another piano. ... Berniece wants her daughter to grow up playing the piano so that one day she can be a piano teacher. ... In conclusion, "The Piano Lesson" is an insightful look into the African American way of life during the de-segregation period in America. ...
Also, this essay will examine Paul Theroux's view on view on being a male. ... An essay written by Paul Theroux, called The Male Myth, tells of his disgust of this and other stereotypes that are placed upon men. ... Theroux feels that "the manly attitude toward sports seems to be little more than a recipe for creating bad marriages, social misfits, moral degenerates, sadists, latent rapists and just plain louts" . ... As Paul Theroux" view "Being a drunkard is another assertion, if misplaced, of manliness" .This is why society sees alcohol as something that is not wrong, even though it ...
August Wilson titles his play, "The Piano Lesson", however, the play has nothing to do with piano lessons at all. The lesson learned in this play is one of African American history. ... The piano is the center of conflict. ... We can compare the piano to an orita meta. ... In her article, The History Lesson: Authenticity and Anachronism in August Wilson's Plays, Anne Fleche insists that the "universal lesson" to be learned from the piano is; no matter how hard we try, we cannot forget our past. ...
