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My sisters who were there for me through thick and thin :)

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When my parents were growing up, both of their parents were constantly working to provide for them. They just immigrated from Vietnam and didn’t have much so growing up their mentality was to work hard, get good grades, find a good job, and make good money. That was ultimately their American dream. My grandparents wanted their kids to live a comfortable life where they didn’t have to worry about any financial issues. Both of my parents successfully achieved being financially stable. Then they had me and my sisters. I thought that their mindset would change and shift their focus to us, but it didn't. Growing up both of my parents were absent. My dad would go on business trips for weeks and if he was home he’d spend most of his day in his office. My mom would be gone early and come home really late at night. So most of the time it was just me and my sisters. We became really close and were always there for each other even if we were mad at each other. I appreciate my parents for working so hard to provide us with the “luxury” life that they never got but I would much rather have them spend time with us than get a new toy. While watching Coraline, I knew exactly how she felt when she was neglected by her parents. Both of our parents were so busy with work that they rarely spent time with us. So we did things to fill that void. Coraline tried to use the alternate world to fill her void because the other mother and father actually cared for her and wanted to spend time with her. I had my sisters to fill my void.

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During my sophomore year which was spent at home quarantining and doing online school I went through a period where I felt alone, and although I had people texting me here and there the feeling of interaction was what I missed the most. So I turned to the the thing that provided me comfort which was reading. Whenever I was reading it would distract me from any thoughts and feelings I had from that day. Me using reading as a way to cope with my feeling relates to how Coraline use the other world as a way to cope with the feelings she had towards her parents. Since her parents were always engrossed in work they didn't have time to focus on Coraline, which is why Coraline was so fond of the other world because they gave her something that she was needing which was attention from her parents.

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books I've accumulated during sophomore year

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My friends who have shaped me into the person I am today and made me appreciate life for what it is.

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My family who mean the world to me and are the most important people in my life.

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I've always been plagued by the idea of what ifs and other possibilities if I had just done something different. As a kid, my mom used to work all the time because she needed to make enough money to provide for my brother since my dad had left the picture. Of course as a child, I never understood the circumstances behind why my mom needed to work so much and why I no longer had a picture-perfect family. At some point in my life, I remember thinking that my mom would rather work than spend time with kids and that I was just a bad kid that my dad didn't want to raise. The thoughts of what if I had done this or what if I had done that plagued me since I thought I was the cause of everything bad. I constantly fantasized about a world in which I could have everything I wanted. I feel similar to Coraline in the sense that since her parents were always working, she needed to find a way to cope with her reality and loneliness. Just like how Coraline was tempted by the Other World, I think that as a kid, I would have been tempted to escape to a different reality as well. For me, my other world and method of coping was any show or book that would provide what I lacked whether it be picture-perfect family, a popular protagonist, or even a rich kid that never had to worry about anything. When I started to grow older, I finally understood why my mom worked so much and the reality that I had built came crashing down since I realized that I had misunderstood everything. My mom has always tried her best to give my brother and I the world and I had only begun to understand her reasons for working a lot when I matured. When looking at my world in the lens of a child, I would have constantly tried to escape to my Other World where I could have everything but through the lens of a young adult, I realize now that my reality is everything I could have ever wanted. Essentially, my reality has become the same as what could have been my Other World. Similarly to how Coraline decided to stay in her real world since she learned to appreciate everything that she had, I would also choose to stay in my reality because I can't imagine a world where I am even happier since I already have everything my heart desires.

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In Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts is ruler of Wonderland and the main figure of the authority in the tale. The Queen of Hearts is characterized by her rash temperament, impulsive behavior, self-centered personality, and selfishness. Most scenes involving the Queen of Hearts typically include the line "off with their heads" which demonstrates how quickly and rashly the Queen of Hearts reacts when she doesn't immediately get her away. The Queen of Hearts doesn't fulfill a specific role to Alice emotionally but is more of a dictator to Alice who teaches her the power structure of Wonderland. Since Alice witnesses the Queen of Hearts using her power for her own desires impulsively, it gave Alice an idea of how Wonderland is controlled and how it differs from her real world.  In contrast, in the movie Coraline, not only did the Other Mother play a role in fulfilling Coraline's need for a loving mother, the Other Mother also played a role as the mastermind behind creating the fake world for Coraline. The Other Mother is the creator of the Other World which means that she possesses the power to change the world and people inhabiting it as she pleases.

Both the Queen of Hearts and the Other Mother are people of power and rulers of their own respective world but each individual uses their power in a different way. The Queen of Heart often demonstrates her power by executing people who do not follow her orders or those who make mistakes. On the other hand, the Other Mother demonstrates her power through the creation of the Other World and her use of sewing buttons into the children's eyes. When the Other Mother sews buttons into the children's eyes, this signifies that the children are now a part of the Other World and thus, they are under her power. Furthermore, when the Other Mother reveals herself as a Beldam, her true form is a spider-like monster that has needles for legs which demonstrate how she uses needles as weapons of her power. Although the two use their power in different ways, they parallel each other in the sense that they both abuse their power to satisfy their own needs and desires. They both betray the stereotype that a ruler or authority figure should be wise and just since they are both corrupted and tyrannical.

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Laika Coraline GIF - Laika Coraline Laika Studio - Discover & Share GIFs

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The perfect Laika Coraline Laika Studio Animated GIF for your conversation. Discover and Share the best GIFs on Tenor.

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Alice in Wonderland and Coraline both have characters that act as a mentor to the protagonists, Alice and Coraline respectively, in the sense that they offer advice, assist, warn, and teach the protagonists about the world that they are in. The Cheshire Cat is the mentor in Alice in Wonderland while the black cat in Coraline. As Alice and Coraline go through their own adventures and hero's journey, they have their mentors to guide them through the strange world that they encounter. Although the Cheshire Cat appears to be a villain since the character is known for its sinister and ominous grin, the Cheshire Cat actually helps Alice through her adventure by warning Alice of the dangers in Wonderland and giving Alice advice on where she should go. The Cheshire Cat directs Alice to the Mad Hatter and March Hare's tea party which helps Alice continue her adventure in Wonderland. Similarly to Alice in Wonderland, Coraline meets a black cat when she moves into her new home. The black cat warns Coraline of the true nature of the Other Mother and that Coraline needs to be careful in the Other World. Since the black cat has lived by the Coraline's home for a long time and has come to face with children getting taken into the Other World. To Coraline, the black cat is a mentor since it assists Coraline in getting back home, rescuing her parents, and protecting her real world.

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Alice in Wonderland is a beloved children's story that most people have heard of. This story has inspired numerous tales, including the story of Coraline which is a modern take on Alice in Wonderland.  Although the two are very similar to each other in certain aspects, Alice in Wonderland and Coraline differ in the themes that it encompasses and communicates to their audience. Alice in Wonderland teaches the lesson that the loss of your childhood and growing up is inevitable, whereas, Coraline teaches that you should be careful what you wish for and be grateful for the things you already have.

After Alice goes through the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland, she is faced with many doors and finds one that leads to a beautiful garden. The door that Alice wants to go through is much smaller than her so unfortunately for her, she cannot go through it. Alice sees a bottle that says to drink it and when she drinks the liquid, she shrinks to a size that can fit through the door. When she realizes the door is locked, she finds a cake and eats it because she thinks that it will change her size again. The cake causes Alice to grow into a bigger size and she is able to find the key to unlock the door. The White Rabbit that Alice was previously chasing reappears and drops his fan which Alice uses to shrink to a smaller size again. Later on in the story, Alice goes to the White Rabbit's home and drinks another bottle of liquid which makes her grow in size and eats a cake that is thrown at her which causes her to become smaller. Since Alice is now a smaller size, she wants to find something that would make her a normal size again when she comes to face with the Caterpillar. The Caterpillar advises her to eat a mushroom since one side can make her grow and the other side can make her smaller. Since Alice didn't know which side of the mushroom was which, she needed to try both sides but she could not control how much her body would grow or shrink. This reoccurring pattern of Alice's changing size represents the loss of childhood as the child transitions into puberty. The lack of control that Alice has over her size parallels how adolescents feel during puberty as they cannot control how their body changes and how much it changes.

While the theme in Alice in Wonderland is that you cannot control when you grow up, the theme in Coraline is to be careful what you wish for. Initially, Coraline was dissatisfied with her life in the real world and would go through the tunnel to have fun in the Other World. For Coraline, the Other World offered everything that her reality did not: fun adventures, attentive parents, a nice room, her dream garden, and more. Although the Other World appeared to be a better world because Coraline could have everything she wanted, she soon realized that this appearance was just an illusion for what the Other World really is. The Other World was created by the Other Mom in order to tempt and trap kids into staying in the Other World. The dream-like appearance of her Other Mom disappeared when Coraline refused to sew buttons into her eyes and escaped to the real world. When Coraline returns to her world, she discovers that the Other Mother kidnapped her parents and realized again how she blinded she was by her desires and wishes that she didn't realize that she was being deceived by the appearance of the Other World. After Coraline saves her parents, she began to accept her reality and learn to be grateful for what she has in the real world.

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Alice In GIF - Alice In Wonderland - Discover & Share GIFs

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The perfect Alice In Wonderland Animated GIF for your conversation. Discover and Share the best GIFs on Tenor.

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The rabbit hole and tunnel were both used as a way for Alice and Coraline to enter into a world where their journey starts. Through the rabbit hole and the tunnel, the main characters both ended up adjusting to their new world and both go through different scenarios involving people and animals. The tunnel in Coraline was a way for Coraline to escape her boredom of being in her new home and as a source of family comfort due to her real parents being busy with work and not giving much attention to Coraline. The appearance of the tunnel in Coraline is similar to that of a play tunnel for kids which illustrates that the people who enter the tunnel are children. The tunnel is also located in Coraline's house which allows her to go in and come back out as she pleases. Since the tunnel connects Coraline to both her real world and the Other World, it provides an escape for Coraline when she eventually had to run away from the Other Mother.  In Alice in Wonderland, as Alice was falling down the rabbit hole, there were objects like tea sets, clocks, and playing cards floating around as Alice descends down the hole. These floating objects foreshadow what Alice will encounter on her journey after she leaves the rabbit hole. Since the rabbit hole can only be traveled through in one way, Alice needs to figure her way out and problem solve in order to go back to her world, or so she thinks since Alice is actually dreaming of her entire adventure in Wonderland. Both the tunnel and the rabbit hole hold the significants of the start of the story but only the tunnel plays a role throughout the entire story until the end.