"The Shark Net", by Robert Drewe, is a vibrant memoir focusing upon the simple pleasures of growing up in Perth, Western Australia, in the '50s. Drewe examines his life in sleepy friendly Perth, using techniques such as language, structure and selection of detail. These techniques contribute to the understanding of the events in Drewe's life while growing up in the small city of Perth and the astounding change of the city when it was victimised with countless murders.…
In Rick Yancey’s The Infinite Sea, sixteen-year-old Cassie is saving her friends and family. In the beginning, the Others send out bomb children to kill the surviving humans. When Cassie and her friends become stranded at an abandoned hotel, the Others send a bomb child to kill them. Evan has a dilemma pursuing Cassie, but finds her just in time. They remove the bomb from the child, but it can still detonate. Poundcake and Evan save their friends from Grace, but at great expenses. Ben, Sams, and Cassie run away to Dubuque, hoping Evan will find them; and he does. Overall, Cassie and Sams are safe for now.…
Thesis- “I might the avoid many things: harsh words, foolish decisions, moments of inattention, regret that wash over me, like water.”…
Reaction: One of the important things to note about Conroy is his sense of humor. He engages the children by making them laugh both at himself and at themselves in order to break the invisible barrier between his life and theirs. He also understood that the children learn more from their parents than him. He learned that he is a influence on their lives and teaching life lessons is an important part of the job as a teacher.…
In selections into the wild by Krakauer he describes what is known to happen to Chris McCandless on hit trip to Alaska. Chris’s goal was to live for a period of time disconnected from everything. He never made it back and people were very critical about his trip. Chris journalized his trip and a year later Krakauer later traveled to where he died. Krakauer and his team discussed McCandless’s challenges. Krakauer went to Alaska to visit the bus, his team was critical of McCandless, and I agreed with them for the most part.…
In the excerpt, “Ship Breaker,” by Paolo Bacigalupi, the main theme shows that family doesn’t always mean blood. Sometimes, parents are never there for anyone then, there are friends who are there for when someone needs one. “The man was a drunk and a bastard, but still they were blood. They shared the same eyes, the same memories of his mother, the same food, the same liquor...…
Other Fisherman: Most of the younger ones view Santiago negatively and call him “salao”, which means “the worst form of unlucky”. They call the sea “el mar”, proving that they don’t respect the sea.…
In The Rock and the River, by Kekla Magoon, “all it takes for evil to exist is for good people to do nothing” is a prominent theme. An example of this is when Bucky had just been brutally beat and arrested by the police. The police did this in broad daylight in front of everyone including Maxie and Sam. “People on the street began going about their business again. The radio blasted, covering the silence of disbelief, of resignation.” (pg. 68). This quote demonstrates the theme because it shows that if the people watching the violence happen (aka the “good people”) do nothing, then the cop’s racism (aka the evil) would continue existing.…
There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book.” This is a famous quote said by Marcel Proust. Books over the centuries have had an influential impact on the lives of many. Arguably, there are none more influential than children’s books. Children’s books contain important life lessons and teach many children the basic values they will hold for the remainder of their lives. Examples of the best range from the well-known Dr. Seuss books, to the always-popular Winnie the Pooh books. Although those are historically popular, The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister, is one that should be kept in mind. With it’s enticing illustrations, simple and descriptive context, and lesson it portrays, the children’s book The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister should be considered for a spot on the “Top 100 Children’s Books” list.…
The poem Ancestors by Peter Skrzynecki is a excellent example of belonging and expresses his feeling of not belonging in his family. The poem presents a series of rhetorical questions which reflects on a dream Skrzynecki has had or is having and what he believes the meaning is. We could deduce from this poem and its use of present tense that the dream is a recurring dream about these vague images of Ancestors and how Skrzynecki is desperately trying to understand their relevance to him. In this dream, the ancestors are unfamiliar to Skrzynecki but give off a very powerful presence to him. They appear to have a message for him, but he can’t hear what it is, they are always pointing at him but never speak so there meaning becomes very mysterious. The use of rhetorical questions gives the poem a dramatic feel and makes the reader feel the same frustration that Skrzynecki feels.…
In High Tide In Tucson, Barbara Kingsolver touches on many aspects of living and the nuances that make life worth living. Her series of essays depict many situations found in life with a new light of clarity. In her essays, she is able to draw from her experiences to teach others the many life lessons that she has learned. Since all the essays involve narratives in her eyes, the reader is able to grasp the personal aspect and to feel as if they too have had the same experiences. Kingsolver also displays awe for the natural world and a passion for protecting it. She respects all the world's cultures without undue glorification, admiring their virtues and discussing their flaws evenhandedly, showing her judicious views on life. Her essays shed new light to those who are trying to find their way in life.…
Armin Greder’s The Island is a picture book that explores the negative concepts of ‘belonging’ through instances of alienation and judgement. The text presents symbols and metaphors that can be applied to universal social issues, particularly the migrant experience. Although the tone of the text is ultimately pessimistic, there are suggestions of Christian ideals such as sharing, caring for the less fortunate and having a clear conscious. The text also not only discusses an outsider’s perspective of not belonging, but also the negative aspects of belonging to a group or community.…
Gladwell uses his book, “Blink” to show how someone's inner self or subconscious affects his or her decisions. His entire book is based on explaining and proving the point concerning mankind's ability to make correct conclusions in only two seconds. To start, He brought up the concept of “thin slicing” which means taking minute details about someone or something and using that thin slice to develop a larger opinion of him, her, or it.…
The Swimming Pools by Thomas Lux is a poem that talks about the rich and the poor. Lux use 5 kids at an apartment complex pool, one fat kid, one insecure girl, and three other kids to represent the different social and economic classes we have in society today. Lux compares these kids to the poor, the lower middle class, and the rich. He uses the innocence of the kids at the pool to get the idea that the rich always are cruel to the poor, and he uses the insecure girl to show the sympathy the lower middle class has for the poor because they are so close to them when it comes to social and economic class. In the poem The Swimming Pools, Thomas Lux gets his theme of the top always has it easier than the bottom across by using literary devices such as symbolism, hyperbole, and diction.…
All of the artwork at the James Wise Gallery were riveting; however, the particular piece of artwork I selected to write about stood out from the rest. The title of the piece is “Tree of Life”. Winston Harris, the artist of this piece, created the artwork by digital hand coloring. The first thing that caught my eyes were both vibrant and earthy colors within the piece. The second thing was all the different combinations of shapes throughout the piece.…