Our Lady of Mercy High School - Mercedes Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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Collaborators for thzs artzcle are Women Hank Cflzamcfcrs MA-We 46 Psocv FINIGAN 46 NonMA Dr-:Pnaz 46 As Analyzed by Semor Readers HELEN sem 46 IVILIZATION mventlons governments fact, everything we hear of nowadays seems to be movmg forward, always forward reach mg new helghts But should not our modern hterature also have that same hlgh quahty which marks our other prrzed accompl1sh ments? We laugh when we hear that, m olden days, women were treated mamly as mans slave Now women, through provmg themselves worthy have practlcally all the rlghts of men Yet most modern wrrters contmue to depict thelr heromes as beautrful lrght creatures, havmg few brains and always followmg therr emotlons Only a few authors have the fore Slght to create therr heromes as the malorxty of women are lf not beautlful at least at tractrve smcere mtelllgent and havmg perfect No one doubts the fact that modern novels whlch are read by thousands have a marked effect on our lrves Young grrls young women, mrddle aged women and old women all put themselves ln the character of the herome In these days when we prrde ourselves on our ln tellrgence and progress women would l1ke to feel that they could step 1nto the heromes role rn modern books Aslde from our Cathollc vxewpomt the rn fluence of modern best sellers IS bad not only for Cathohc grrls and women but for all grrls and women It 15 a proven fact rn hlstory that a country IS only as strong as the morals of nts women are strong Thus modern lltera ture IS not contrxbutmg to the strength and superrorxty of the Unrted States but rather to the degradatlon of the hugh standards of Amer lcans every where Women are as lndlspensable to novels as thev are ln every day hfe But suppose we glance at some starthng examples of fictxonal Sm:u.A Hocus' 46 Eu.:-new Canocnm, 46 femuumty and ludge for ourselves the worth of these characters For our first example let us take a best seller Leave Her to Heaven by Ben Ames W1ll1ams In this he writes about the seventh deadly sm a womans jealousy Ellen loves her husband Dlck so much that she IS jealous of anyone else commg IH contact wrth hrm She allows hrs cr1ppled brother Danny to drown and later she causes her own death Ellen as the herome acted neither wlth sense nor feelmgs She was completely spolled, allowlng her emotrons to rule her Definrtely she rs not an ideal herome JCSSIC Benton Fremont The Immortal Wxfe IS an unusual type of character for we may sympathrze and crrtlclze her at the same trme She was ambntlous and full of drrve but Fremont would never have amounted to any thmg She sublugates her own unusual ab1l1ty to hrs Her Splflt rn facmg defeat IS an example to all women Perhaps she was bom seventy five years too soon but her story IS a txmely story m th1s age of equal rlghts for men and women The pages of Let the Hurncane Roar grve us Carolrne who exempllfies the burlders of Amerlca In thelr mmds as ln Carolmes was but one thought, the homestead thexr share ln Amerlca Thls brave herome found not a thought for herself but only for her husband and her chlld and thrs ploneer faced her thoughts squarely unflmchmgly She drd not flee she trusted them and was saved by them The notorlous Queen Blanche from Zofia Kossaks Blessed Are the Meek could be crted as a character whose basic prxnclples are twrsted and dlstorted I-ler selfish, 1ns1p1d at tltude toward her husband and her rll fated lover makes her the object of contempt and complete abhorrence I3 I 3 7 i Y , i l I U Y Y 7 . . , , in . . . . , . , - ' ' CC ,Y ' 1 . . . . , . 1 , . . . , . , . . . 1 1 . . . , . u , - ' ' S4 , - 1 n . 1 . Q ' 97 ' I : . . , I- . . Q . , , , . n Q 1 , Conn-01 of their emotigns. the reader realizes that wlthout her ard, John 7 . 0 ' ' - 1 . . Q 1 Q Q u . , . ' 9 9 . . . . . . , 7 U - , . at . ,, o ' . . . - . , . . . . . . 5 - 1 , - . . u 7 . . , . , , . ' . . Q 1 . . . ' - 1 ' s 5 u , . . 7 5 ,1 at ,sv

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Then two weeks of mtenslve trammg began I taught her the very latest dance steps, how to wear hpsuck, how to fix her hair She ac compamed me to the Blrd s Nest after school studied less hard at mght, and began tak1ng an mterest 1n people The klds at school were qulck to accept the new Eadle and were amazed at the lmprovement A proud moment for me was Eadle s first date when I real1zed the metamorphos1s was complete There were more dates after that but Eadne stxll dreamt about Scotty Harrls We freshmen g1rls are m our pr1vate booth at the Blrds Nest, eat1ng hot fudge sundaes From where I s1t I can see Eadle dancmg w1th Bob Baxter to Back Beat B0Og1C The muslc has ended now and they return to the booth filled wxth laughmg chat TOMMY S DOGMA tmg boys and gxrls But Eadle IS starmg at the door wlth a strange look on her face Scotty yust came ln' Hes headmg over to Eadles booth, too He slts down wxth them and recogmzes Eadxe suddenly She IS smllmg at hlm now lookmg not at all super mtellxgent, and he rlses askmg her to dance They ghde away together her head restmg hghtly on h1s tweed shoulder Now he holds her at arms length survey1ng her w1th pleasant, grave wonder They both laugh suddenly and Scotty draws her close agam Ead1e just notlced me slttmg so excntedly m my booth and gave me a grateful wmk Now I know that I don t have to worry any more about Eadle s date for the jumor Prom and I can really enyoy my sundae That just proves that no matter how smart a person IS theres stxll plenty to leam Ask Eadle 1f you don t beheve me' One day 1n Catechlsm class my brother who was about nme at the t1me sat mtently llSfCI1ll'1g to the prxest Father was askmg questnons on thetr lesson for the day Turnmg to my brother he asked Tommy how many kmds of s1n are there? My brnlhant brother repl1ed w1thout hesltatxon There are two kmds of sm Father mortal and convement ALL DIRTY' PAT BARRY, 47 At that tlme I was only one and had Just found out the advantage of talkmg And smce 1ce cream was one of my favorlte treats m hfe my father used to buy me cones qu1te often On th1s one nlght they were all out of vamlla whlch was the only k1nd I had known of so my father decxded to get me a chocolate mstead When he handed It to me I looked at It with surprlse and then at my father Throwmg the cone down to the ground I exclaimed All dlrty NO VOICE KATHLEEN QUINN, 49 On a brlght Sunday afternoon after mdulgmg 1n a del1c1ous turkey dmner my younger sxster and I started the dreaded task of domg the dlshes Mother was rest mg m the hvmg room when all of a sudden she heard a terrlfic crash' As qulck as a flash Mother was 1n the k1tchen only to find one of her best chma dmner plates smashed mto a m1ll1on httle pleces Mother gave me a qu1ck glance of dlsgust Cfor Im usually the one who breaks all the d1Sl1CS, so 1n order to defend myself I told Mother that I dxdn t do It The only other person to look at was jackle my httle slster who by now was shakmg qu1te a b1t Mother only sa1d Jackle In a tremblmg vo1ce Jackxe sald Mother I lost my VOICC I can t talk 12 LUCILLE HAUBNER 46 . . . . . . . , . . , I - n . . , . . 1 ' 7 ' 1 1 ' 1 1 1 ' 1 . , . , , . - 1 . 1 ' 1 1 U Q C U R - , . ' ' cc ' 17 ' 1 . , . . . 1 . . U . . ,, . . , . . , . . . . . , . 1 ' 1 . 1 1 1 1 . . U . . 1 1 , 1 ,, . . . . . . U . . , . . . ,, 1 1 ' 1 . 1 . . . . . ' 1 , . V . ' - u ' 11 . 1 1 1 . . . . . . . . . 1 . . , . . . , . , . 1 1 1 1 cc ' 79 1 ' , ' ' ' ' sa ' I 1 91 1 1 1 - 1 1

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And Catherme of Wuthermg Herghts will lrve m many memories as a wlllful, wayward yet slngularly delightful sprrte and the un fortunate vlctxm of a strange love and even stranger clrcumstances Her feroclous tan trums her wrld untamed thoughts her rare moments of qu1et and sweetness all these created and augmented the unrque atmosphere of the novel jane Eyre was a typlcal orphan of England who was forced to l1ve w1th begrudgmg re lations and seek her own l1v1ng as a governess 1n the house of Edward Falrfax Rochester Here she fell in love with the stern master of the house who 1n turn was charmed by her s1mpl1c1ty modesty and the freshness of her youth But tragedy struck the innocent jane on her weddmg day Mr Rochester was mar ned but to a ravmg maniac lmprrsoned at Thornfield Hall What was she to do? Where was she to go? Remain and become the mls tress of her head strong master? Or leave and face poverty even starvation rn an unrelentmg world? Love and devotlon called her to her duty towards Mr Rochester and h1s ward Adele but fa1th and Chrxstlan prmclples beck oned her to leave What path did jane Eyre take? The only one which preserved her pun ty and hope and trust in God one which lead out IHIO the world agam So Jane Eyre f the nlneteenth century a woman who knew the rigors and rmmorahty of hfe chose to 11ve a hfe of purxty rather than become the play th1ng of Edward Rochester Modern authors have strayed far from the path of Chrxstlamty but some have dared to be different IH the face of adverse cr1t1c1sm Amerlcan hterature has taken the downgrade m the past decades but the Cathohc press has forever held firm to God s principles of truth chastity and charity Cathohc books are not punned rrdrculously on the radlo as are some of the more odious masterpieces Authors such as Kathleen Wmdsor Marcia Davenport Nancy Brufi' Elizabeth Janeway and Anya Seton ought to take a tip from Cathohc youth We dont lxke your books and we re not foolish or stupid enough to read them Your hero1nes are ridiculous sensual characters They are as unreal as a china doll The general run of the American public might accept your ballyhoo but Cathohc youth sees through your flimsy curtam of genume style Your wrt lacks humor your sxncerlty lacks depth You can fool some of the people all of the t1me and all of the people some of the time but you can t fool all of the people all of the time WHAT A DIFFERENCE Rather than my first date thxs should be called my first expenence CHeaven help me lf I ever have another l1ke 1t'j I was thrllled for weeks xn advance thinking of the date I was to have wlth Dick the star baseball player of our eighth grade team It was a telephone IIIVIIQIIOII for he was a very coy boy fand arent they all at that agej to the BEEG dance on the eve of our last game of the season For days mother was trying to make me the prettiest gown in town fYou know how mothers are daughters first grown up date'j F1nally that nlght arrived and the 14 DUIICIHICS lust wouldnt stop Hrppmg ln my tummy Mother spent hours trymg to make me beautiful QI emphasize trymgj At eight bells sharp the doorbell rang I let mother answer xt for I wanted to make a grand, glamorous entry That I d1d but there was D1ck s1tt1ng on the couch pantlegs rolled up saddle shoes on sport jacket and not even as much as a rose for my formal As I walked mto the lxvmg room he exclarmed Gee st1ll got Vour house coat on better hurry cause I have to be home at 10 30 P M You see he had sald the dance was informal over the phone I thought he sald in formal What a CIIECFCHCC a word makes ' SHIRLEY GERSTNER 46 . U . . ,, . . . . , , 0 1 1 1 1 ' 1 , - I - o 9 1 I 1 . . 1 . . . , . . 1 . . . . . H . ,, , . 1 1 1 1 1 . . . . 1 1 1 1 A 1 0 - at 1 ' 1 o n - . . . . . . . , . . . , . n n , U . . . . 1 1 1 . . . H . ,, . . . cc 11 - - - . , , . . . . . . H , - . . ' 1 . . . , - , . . . ,, 1 1 - . . , . . . ' - I . . . . . I I . . . . . . . , 1 . . . ' 1 1 ' . . . . , 1 , Q 1 . . . . H . 1 1 Y . -' 1 . . . 77 . . u ' ' 11 , l 0 o - 1 sc 79 - , - cc 11 - - 1 1