Coming of Age

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how coming of age is not merely a personal struggle, defined by changes in one's body and the structure of one's social life. The paper explains that viewed from an international and multicultural perspective, coming of age is also defined by an adolescent's cultural and political context. In examining this topic, the paper also looks at Nahid Rachlin's memoir "Persian Girls," Mohsin Makhmalbaf's film "Khandahar," Tayeb Salih's novel "A Season of Migration to the North," Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner" and the protagonist Jose of the film "Sugar Cane Alley."

From the Paper:

"For example, in her memoir Persian Girls, Nahid Rachlin depicts her young life in Iran as being defined by her gender and her culture's limiting view of femininity, despite the fact that Rachlin was born during the pro-Western reign of the Shah. It is not simply in the fundamentalist-controlled regimes, like Taliban-ruled Afghanistan that female oppression can occur. The horrors of this regime are compellingly depicted in the educational scenes of Mohsin Makhmalbaf's film "Khandahar" where young girls are told that they can no longer study, and upon puberty they must veil their faces, equating a silencing of the self with becoming a woman."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003.
• "Kandahar." Directed by Mohsin Makhmalbaf. 2001.
• Rachlin, Nahid. Persian Girls. New York: Tarcher/Penguin, 2006.
• Salih, Tayeb. A Season of Migration to the North. Translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003.
• "Sugar Cane Alley." Directed by Euhzan Palcy.1983.

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• Essay # 13625 : "Coming of Age in Mississippi" ( Anne Moody ) & "Soldados: Chicanos In Viet Nam" ( Charley Trujillo )"
• Comparison Essay # 11722 : "Coming of Age Experiences"

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