Coming of Age to me

I can't say I fully agree with many of my classmates opinions on coming of age. It's true I can't point out specific events where I was like "Wow, I got a lot older there", but I also haven't reached many of the traditional milestones yet (driver's license, voting or drinking ages). Perhaps more importantly, I actually do feel appreciably older, even compared to just months ago. It's an all too common occurrence where I realize my current self would've handled a previous situation so much better, and my future self even more so. On a larger scale of time, the differences in how I think everyday create even older views of myself.

When I was eight years old, all I cared for were new Nerf Guns, LeBron James, and various novels. While my love of sports hasn't died, the other two have been squarely replaced by common teenage boy concerns of college and girls. My younger concerns about getting new darts are laughable compared to present difficulties, and it's not hard to imagine an older me doing the same. And for the first point on specific times, I can pretty much pinpoint where some of these changes took place. Middle school began girls. High school sadly pretty much cut out much of the reading for fun. Junior year was college.

As I hit the traditional milestones I can see similar changes taking place. Instead of worrying about when I get picked up, I wonder where my car is. Soda purchases change to beer buys, although my stance on worth of voting will probably remain intact for at least three years. All progressing to an older life.    

How Portrait's Style Develops as Stephen Ages

Portrait opens with a rather basic style, forgoing the dense and complex prose seemingly ever-present in books for english class, in favor of bits like "moocow". It also includes many basic observations without further thought, such as noting the relative ages of Stephen's relatives, all apparently included to demonstrate his youthfulness. As a result, not much of value is actually learned about Stephen's early years. The plot progresses to an older Stephen at school. The language is more developed with fuller descriptions of those that he interacts with, but still has a very young schoolboyish-feel, as Stephen acts almost awed at his rugby-playing classmates. The next few sections continue this style, including an absolutely bewildered Stephen at Christmas dinner.  

The next major change in style coincides with Stephen’s first escapades with prostitutes. After his first encounter, which he describes with a very innocent, removed style and makes the event seem like almost an accident, Stephen becomes extremely comfortable with his outings and other sins. He daydreams of stuffing himself with stew, and is straightforward describing his plans for the night. No more are the euphemisms for prostitutes and events and in their place is blunt language (actual use of whore) and an almost pride at what is occurring.

Finally comes Father Arnall’s sermon. Extremely graphic and specific language is used, probably to emphasize the event and why Stephen was so affected. The terrifying wording causes him to have a major turning point, and for a period turns Stephen to a basically priestly lifestyle.

Also worth noting is the similar shifts in style between the end of chapters and the beginning of the next. Almost always chapters end with a somewhat successful feel, caused by such events as Stephen’s triumph and celebration at the end of chapter one. They include more airy and nature-y language, often describing the environment with delicate adjectives. On the other hand, the beginnings are very down-to-earth, for example, following the celebration was a very direct description of Uncle Charles’ tobacco habits.

Separating Old Posts from Coming of Age Ones