Nickel and Dimed was published in 2001 during the blow up of the internet. The book was spreading and a group of college freshmen were even assigned to read it. Ehrenreich even learned that a young man set out himself to try what she did but he started out in a homeless shelter and at the end, he had an apartment and thousands of dollars saved. He went on to write his own book and actually accuse Ehrenreich about her lack of motivation to succeed. She was even called “The Antichrist of North Carolina” and many people didn't seem so happy with her book and her mission. To some people, this book was an eye opener. A woman was under the impression that an “unskilled job” had at least been a $15 an hour job. Ehrenreich refers to lower class as…
When we are going through hardships in life, we feel like we are in a small wreck boat fighting the currents of a nasty sea storm. We start noticing we are miles and miles away from help; we realize we are alone. We cannot see beyond the situation we are currently experiencing. We are blind by the sea storm and it seems like there is no sign of hope anywhere. But just as we fall into despair, a luminous light squeezes from the dark grayish clouds. And even though we almost had let go of the only precious thing that gave us strength, this light is giving us an opportunity to preserve hope once more. In Lisel Mueller’s poem “Hope”, Mueller claims hope is difficult to see and maintain, but it lives everywhere even in herself.…
Even after all of her experiences in the concentration camps, she still had faith in God. She said, "God does not have problems — only plans." Without her faith in God, she wouldn’t have been able to be as resilient as she was during the Holocaust, and she wouldn’t have been able to minister to all of the people she did. All through history, society has reflected on what accurately defines a hero. More recently, individuals have considered Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone, and Anthony Sadler - three American friends who helped thwart what could have been a mass shooting on a packed high-speed train bound for Paris – as the chief example of a hero. They cared not for themselves, but for the individuals aboard the train, and although they have resisted the designation of a hero with vengeance and vigor, people around the world continue to think of these three men as heroes. It, in a way, makes individuals wonder, what can they do for other people, whether it’s giving their lunch to the woman down the street or giving up their seat on the bus for an elderly man? This all may…
Elie has proven that sometimes it’s really hard to not lose faith. Sometimes faith is the only thing we have left to hold on to. Families were relieved that the conditions were good and that they weren’t going to be separated. “We gave thanks to God” (Wiesel 27). They were giving thanks because they were finally released from the previous night's’ terror from Mrs. Schächters yelling…
Once upon a time, on mars three heroic and dashing boys lived there, Ponyboy, Johnny and Dally. Dally was as bold and courageous as a hawk. Ponyboy was very welcoming and kind. And Johnny was quite shy. His words gave a curious satisfaction. They were all as dazzling as the white snow in sunshine. They wondered and thought about the divergent world back on earth. One morning, a shy little girl approached them. She was as frail as a flower. She had eyes as deeply dark as the desert skies. Her cheeks were like the blushing clouds, her hair hung down like summer twilight and her face was as pale as lead. Her name was Margo. She informed the three boys that they needed to get back to earth since their close friends Salva and Lennie were being held by the Socs. A rebellious group that was so harsh and dangerous like a living meteor. She told them that they must go to Earth and find three crystal gems that when held up together at sunset during the summer solstice would release Salva and Lennie from enchanted and cursed chains they’ve been trapped in. Ponyboy Johnny and Dally were getting furious and excited for the journey like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. They were preparing for a life changing journey.…
In reading the novel “The Things They Carried” in my english class this year, I have learned that most, if not all, people carry intangible and tangible things with them everyday. In my readings, I found that the soldiers in the novel carry their tangible things to help with what they are carrying intangibly. Regardless, the things we carry make us stand out in our own way; they make us who we are. I, for example, carry the emotional stress that attacks me everyday, and a ring that I love.…
It described with great enthusiasm, a large and unusual crystal that he had found at a local antiquity dealer. The egg shaped piece was to him a great fascination, and he made all sorts of speculations as to its calming influence upon his nerves. We entered into a discourse for a time, considering all sorts of wild and unsupportable theories as to its origins, purely for our own intellectual and creative pleasures. This discourse faded but my friend remained frequently in mind and so when, over a year later, I came upon a curious tale that bore more than a slight resemblance to his crystal I passed it on to him in good humour.…
Once there was a poor man. He was very happy, but could not afford the house of his dreams. Each day he walked down the beach, looking at the frothy, white waves slapping against the beach, the fish leaping out of the water, and the seagulls floating around him waiting for a careless person to drop a crumb. He loved walking down the sandy beach. But what he enjoyed most was the rainbow of houses stretched down the beach. They weren’t big, they weren’t small. But he loved the way their colors looked next to each other. The dark blue standing next to the vibrant pink. He would see the owners looking out from their balconies, watching him. He did this day after day and nothing ever changed.…
As an individual’s, we carried something in our lives that meant something that could be a small object or something inside us. In “The Things They Carried,” many outlook on the things the soldiers carried or dealt. It shows us the many reasons why and how the soldiers possessed these things individually and how it was important for them. This doesn’t happen only in the war but in a daily day, we carry something special that has meaning. It could be any small object that tells something about us or a feeling that we carry inside. One object that I carry with me in a daily basis is a book called, “His Footsteps My Footstep.” Something else that I carried that tells something about me will be photos of my nephews. An additional thing that I carried will be the weight of stress. There are many other ways or objects that we carry that are significant to us that may not be to others.…
The book “Dear Mrs. Breed” gives another great example of being positive when in horrible war time situation. A young girl on her way to the internment camp, leaving her beautiful home and all of her belongings, is still able to find positivity when she says, “This trip has made me realize the wonderful work of nature. Her delicate work in shaping the stone mountains, the beautiful coloring of the surroundings—it seemed as if I was looking at the picture or a painting of a genius.”(Breed par. 21). This shows that this young girl can still see the beauty in the world when facing an unbearable…
First, the author believes that the carved stone balls could be utilized as weapons in hunting and fighting. While, the professor find this idea unconvincing and states that the common arrow-shaped weapons which were used in past all have some signs which indicate them as a weapon. She also states that If those ball stone were used as a weapon they should be cracked, but the evidences indicate that they are very well preserved. So this theory is unlikely to be…
The first part of the quote matches with the first story, The Things They Carried. The story told about the items that each soldier took with them to the war. The quote says that the past has a strong grip on the present. The items that the soldiers have with them remind them of there past. Sometimes the soldiers have to let go of something they have because of certain conditions. For example Jimmy Cross had a good luck from his girlfriend Martha, it was a pebble that was from the Jersey shoreline. She sent it to him because it reminded her of how they are "together but separate". Jimmy took this everywhere during the war and kept it in his mouth. When one of his friends got killed during action he got rid of the pebble because he thought it was a distraction.…
“I sip my coffee. I look at the mountain, which is still doing its tricks, as you look at a still-beautiful face belonging to a person who was once your lover in another country years ago: with fond nostalgia, and recognition, but no real feeling save a secret astonishment that you are now strangers.” In this excerpt from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Annie Dillard says that she had “no real feeling” for her past lover because now all they are is strangers. In Dillard’s work, An American Childhood, she strongly emphasizes the importance of full awareness of your surroundings.…
Imagine your life as one being completely full of hardship; one event occurring after another, and you cannot catch a good break. The Brave Tin Soldier, by Hans Christian Andersen, represents just this. Throughout the entire story, a tin soldier is plagued with many difficulties and setbacks from the time he was created. This soldier can relate to a great amount of men, women, and children; specifically those born with disabilities. Although these disabilities may be very prominent, that does not mean one cannot overcome them and become great. The tin soldier, for example, was very poor, missing a leg, forced away from home, and even was swallowed by a fish. In contrast, he strived to return to the tiny little lady, for he loved her greatly.…
Many mysteries lie in moments that we cherish with little to no feeling whatsoever. The littlest memory can hold the most value. A moment suspended in time that a glance back, is all it takes to realize the potential it holds. A mother, caressing the face of her three month old baby daughter, a father lovingly holding his child close during a thunderstorm because she can’t sleep, a brother hugging his sister close after a hard long term in the army. Or on the other side of the spectrum: a man who holds no value of his wife, a mother who abandons her nine year old child because she holds drugs much more closer to her heart, a sister that gave her life due to extensive bullying. Any memory, every memory, holds either despairing value or precious.…