Love and romantic relationships

Love and romantic relationships

QUESTION 2

Love and romantic relationships are often complicated because of several reasons. They may not go as planned due to various variables such as age, timing, attitudes, and communication issues. The stories presented throughout the chapter manage to give a wide array of experiences and examples of what such relationships look like. Teenage love is portrayed as one of the more challenging kids because they are too afraid of the reaction of those they have feelings for. In the short narration, ‘Yellow,’ we see the tension among the twelve-year-old kids as they struggle to express their emotions while at the school dance. Romantic relationships may be considered shameful at times, especially in different cultures at specific ages. In China, Huamai Han tells of a story that ends in a complete cutting off ties because there are cultural interferences. Wen has an arranged marriage to someone close to their family, and this is the order of things there. There is also an aspect of different ways of identifying or letting someone know that you love them. Some of these ways included using single syllables for those you loved. The love story in this narration ends in an unfortunate way as they never get to explore their feelings because of the circumstances they are in. Love is not always reciprocated. In the riveting narration of Christine, she seems to be restless and unhappy with the admission of love. Sometimes those we love do not feel the same way, and it may lead to disappointment. The narrator is seen going to buy cigarettes to feed his sadness after being rejected. Family can be a great hindrance to romantic relationships. They may present some resistance because they are indifferent to our partners. Such issues may lead to couples splitting as Juliver puts it in ‘sneaking out.’ Some relationships are less complicated in that they are outright toxic. Partners cheat, and this causes a wedge to be formed. Such situations make the other half jealous and suspicious to the point of snooping around. Once trust is lost, it is hard to salvage a relationship, romantic or otherwise. Romantic relationships are not always harmless. They may happen at the expense of others, as was the case of Mi Kyeong. She had an affair with her instructor despite having a husband and kids. Further assessment proves that the cheating was not because of a lack of love between Mi Kyeong and her husband. Some issues, such as boredom in a relationship or communication issues, may cause a lack of respect for boundaries. In this case, we could tell that it was merely infatuation and the fact that she needed attention. The affair does not last too long. As it ends, the instructor even encourages her to get back with her husband, whom he admits is not a bad individual. Love does not always have to turn sour. It may be blissful, and couples may even develop traditions that become their ‘love language.’ Such traditions help them maintain friendship within the relationship and keep them stronger together. In ‘Wish’ we see the characters expressing love through the making of cranes. They call each other at specific times of the day as a way of reminding each other of their dreams and wishing that they come true. In so doing, they can show the beautiful side of love and romantic relationships. The chapter sums it all up; the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of romance.

QUESTION 3

Anna was the kind of girl every man dreamt of.

Anna’s beauty ran skin deep. (Cliché)

She was so smart and nice.

She was extremely smart and nice. (Modifier)

They went up and down as if in sequence.

They bobbed like a yoyo. (Redundancy)

Jenny tells everyone their relatives are downstairs.

She tells them that they are downstairs. (Ambiguous pronouns)

They split into smaller groups, each headed by an adult.

They went into groups being headed by an adult. (Dead verbs)

QUESTION 4

SENIOR YEAR

The last few months have been magical, to say the least. I wake up fully clothed, but I can feel the coldness on my side of the bed. The sun shines through the blinds as the birds all chirp as if intentionally wanting to ruin my fantastic dream. I turn quickly to my left and see her there. She sleeps peacefully. A bit too peacefully if you ask me, like a log even. I gaze fondly at her as her chest goes up and down rhythmically, and her tits ever so stagnant. Yes, Anna sleeps naked mostly. It is one of the things I find most bizarre about her. A gentle breeze now penetrates the room, and I see her shiver and grab a section of the covers. I look under the covers and realize it was her feet. I am used to her cold feet and how recklessly she sleeps, her feet on my back.

The clock reads eight a.m. she looks peaceful, and I do not want to disturb her. We shall be late if I do not.

“Anna, Anna. Wake up. It is the final day one of our senior years.”

“M…,” she shrugs and turns her head.

“We are going to be late; it is already past seven a.m.”

“What! You should have woken me up earlier.”

She often barks at me for either waking her up too early or too late. I am used to it. Teenage love is very delicate. We often wake up very early to avoid getting caught. Her mom is rather calm about the whole dating thing, but my parents are not. We sneak around while at my house and ‘study’ a lot.

“Pass me the toothpaste loser,” Anna yells. She is mad, but I know she is just nervous for senior year. Her hair smells like vanilla because she uses that shampoo I got her last summer. It takes me a whole minute to get ready while she takes a minimum of one hour. It does piss me off that I am always waiting on her. That is what love does to you; it makes you wait on your girlfriend for long hours while she does her ‘minimal’ makeup.

“The brush, lipstick, and don’t forget my hair tie.” Her routine is the same every day.

“Can we go now?” Patience has never been my strength.

“Use the highway; it should get us there faster.”

I start my sedan. It coughs and grunts, nothing out of the ordinary. Our drivers are always quiet when she wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. Her phone screen lights up, and she quickly grabs it from the dashboard. She lights up and manages a smile on seeing what I assume is a text message.

“Anyone, I know?”

“No”

She receives text messages from a particular person that changes her mood lately. I want to ask if she is seeing someone else, but I refrain. I blast the radio with her favorite song. I think it will amuse her, but she is unbothered.

“Is something the matter? Have I done something wrong?” Girls

• love

so hard to read. My car makes a better companion than Anna in many ways. We argue so much of late. It is mostly my fault because I never want to go on drives full of silence. Her parents are that way these days. They are divorced and rarely talk. I am not ready for us to end up like that.

“Can we just get through the first day of our senior year without you forcing irrelevant conversations down my throat?” Anna shouts as she gets out of the car barely before I parallel park.