In the short story “The Threshold” by Amy Frazier, addresses an abusive relation between Ricardo and Vanessa. Alcohol converted the high school sweethearts into enemies. Unfortunately, domestic violence is a common problem in Hispanic families. There are three types of abuse that predominate in this story, physical, verbal, and psychological. Due to Ricardo’s frustration and unsuccessful life, he starts beating Vanessa which is a clear example of physical violence. Although, Ricardo shot her in the middle of the story . The worst physical aggression, it is when Ricardo beats Vanessa while she was pregnant with her second son Thomas, causing the loss of his defenseless baby. This is the most severe type of physical abuse…
Coyotes are known for reeling in chickens. That is what Mendez and other smugglers do to get large amounts of money from desperate illegal immigrants coming into the United States. Tragedies, like the Yuma 14/ Welton 26 occur often. Many deaths go unnoticed and some of those that enter the desert, never return. In the true account The Devils Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, The Welton 26 faced betrayal, hardship, and the possibility of death with great courage and peserverance.…
"I am ashamed at how much time, resources, money, food, stuff, and energy I have wasted over the years, like storing my personal trash and possessions, as if they were more important than God, my family, and the people around me." ~ Jon Barnes…
Feeling sorry for someone, but not agreeing with them. As humans we have all felt this feeling at least once in our lifetime. In the book The Awakening, by “Kate Chopin” Kate Chopin sympathizes with the main character Edna but doesn’t pity her. I agree with Kate, because even though she’s married with Leonce a man that she doesn't love and has children with him, she is still free not attached to him at all. Another reason I agree with Kate is that she doesn’t pity Edna. She spends time and loves Robert rather than loving her own husband.…
The ultimate gift in the book, The Ultimate Gift, was all twelve of the lessons Jason learned throughout the twelves months. These lessons were to help Jason become a better person by learning the meaning of life. Therefore, each lesson was a life experience. Life is fragile and short and Red Stevens did not want Jason to keep living life without appreciation. Jason went into this journey as a greedy and selfish man. Before Jason begun all he cared about was inheriting money from his great-uncle, Red Stevens, but was going to leave without asking what he got for completing all the assigned lessons. Jason came out wanting to share his experience with others. In The Ultimate Gift Jason said, “I had no idea that the greatest gift anyone could…
In the book A Separate Piece by John Knowles, A group of teenage boys attend a selective boarding school in New Hampshire called Devon. Throughout the novel, the characters experience the prominent effects of World War II. From rotten apples to the disappearance of maids, the lives of boys at Devon were changing rapidly. Also, because most of the characters were on their way to turning 18, they are faced with the decision of whether to enlist or wait to be drafted.…
In class we had a Socratic seminar about the books, The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. During the seminar we had questions to discuss and share our opinions. There was one particular question that I prefer to answer and that is “ Is Huck Finn really brave or just rebellious?” Everybody had his or her opinions towards this question. One of my classmates said that he was “rebellious and naïve because he didn’t understand what he was doing.” As others in the class felt that he was a brave young man and did the right thing in helping Jim escaping and helping him become free. As for me I agree with everyone that thought Huck was a brave person or kid. There were 3 specific reasons I agree with that statement. Well first of all he was brave for risking his life in helping Jim escape. Second reason was that he dressed up like a girl in order to save Jim from being captured and face consequences. The last reason was he told Tom about helping and helped Jim from being…
As the protagonist of the novel, Huck Finn is influenced by all of these three factors and is put in positions where he has to make decisions on the spot and potentially change the future for himself and Jim. The rural country setting that this phenomenal journey takes place in, really illustrates to the reader that Huck's decisions are greatly influenced by experiences and teachings of his life. In the end, the reader has to ask himself/herself the following question: Would Huck's belief system have been different if he had not grown up in the rural, slave-ridden…
A Lesson before Dying is a memorable novel, set in Bayone, Louisiana in the 1940’s, about an uneducated, illiterate black man, Jefferson, who is falsely accused of murder and sentenced to death. While on trial, his defense attorney likened him to a hog, calling him nothing more than a fool and a cornered animal. Jefferson’s godmother wants him to become a man before he dies. She persuades two men, Grant Wiggins and Reverend Ambrose, to visit with Jefferson and teach him what it means to be a man. While both men desire the same outcome, they disagree about what it means to be an educated man. Grant believes that his college degree gives him all the knowledge he needs. However, Reverend Ambrose…
are mentally controlled to take control of the city, but as a result of Fours and Tris’s…
Grassian realized “these people were very sick.”(Maclyn Willigan “What Solitary Confinement Does to the Human Brain”) Researcher Stuart Grassian who interview many men at Walpole State Penitentiary in 1982. she found that the men talked with symptoms “such as hallucinatory tendencies, paranoia, and delirium”( Maclyn Willigan “What Solitary Confinement Does to the Human Brain” ) Grassian characterize them as “SHU Syndrome” this syndrome has symptoms of PTSD, insomnia and uncontrollable feelings of rage and fear.…
In the novel Schooled by Gordan Korman, Capricorn Anderson’s life has changed for the better. Have you ever heard of a thirteen year old who got arrested two times in less than two months for doing a silly thing like driving, and being underage while doing it? Cap Anderson is a flower child, who lives in Garland Farms with his sixty-seven year old grandmother, Rain, who educates him until she has an accident. Cap is different from other characters because Cap comes from Garland which is a whole different world. In Garland, there is no money, no television and different hobbies from the “real” world. Cap would have never thought he would interact with the world outside of Garland and enjoy it!…
Draper’s out of my mind and Palacio’s Wonder both provide stories where the reader can easily become filled with sympathy and pity for their main characters who struggle with some type of disability. I found myself initially feeling sorry for, not pity, for these characters from the beginning of each novel as I was drawn into Melody’s tornado explosions from frustration (Draper 17), and August’s entrance into this life with his “small anomalies” causing the doctor to faint and the nurse to act hysterically (Palacio 6-7). While both of these characters experience daily episodes of what I would consider trauma, I do not see the as victims of trauma as neither of them allow these ordeals to define them, nor…
Throughout Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” the nameless narrator, the main character develops emotionally through a situation that creates fear in an already introverted man. He does not want to go outside of his comfort zone and he is caught off guard when he is forced beyond his current developmental state. But, through a lesson from the blind narrator finds himself enlightened to the sentiments of the handicapped.…
John, the carpenter, is apparently not very intelligent. He is very sympathetic, due to the fect that he is the only character in the tale who doesn't cheat or trick someone. Despite this, he's the one who suffers the most throughout the tale. His wife, Alisoun, cheats on him. He is tricked into spending the night in a bathtub hanging from the rafters of his house. He ends up falling, embarrassing himself in front of the town.…