This book report discusses the plot, significant characters, setting (e.g., time of the story took place, historical background), problems and resolutions, themes or messages of the story. A reflection of the author’s writing style will be presented followed by a conclusion.…
The book begins on a cold winter morning in a Siberian labor camp. One of the prisoners, a man named Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, starts his usually “normal” morning with a fever and some pain. Not feeling well at all, he hopes a nice guard is on duty and sleeps in a little bit. “In camp, the squad leader is everything: a good one will give you a second life; a bad one will put you in your coffin” (Alexander Tvardovsky 7). I picked this quote because the author pointed out how important it was to get a good leader. However, the odds were not in his favor, and he gets punished with three day in a solitary confinement cell. Shukhov does not take his punishment seriously when he realized that all he had to do was clean. After finishing his work and…
Prisoner B-3087 written by Alan Gratz and inspired by Jack and Ruth Gruener is arguably one of the greatest WWII Novel ever written on a true story. Yanek is a ten-year-old Jewish boy who grew up in Kraków, Poland. He had a passion for entertainment and one day wanted to go to America to pursue his acting career. When Hitler took over Germany, he conspired for the death and slavery of Jew’s because they were blamed for all that was wrong in the world such as the Depression, and Germany’s loss of World War 1. In no way was this really their faults but Hitler needed someone to blame.…
Between the years of 1600-1754, three distinct regions were formed in the new world. The three main English settlement areas were categorized into the New England, Middle, and Southern group of colonies and all had major differences and events that led to their own identity. Many people moved to these new colonies to start a new life, try to make a large profit, or even to escape religious restrictions. These three areas provided a new place for people or families to start over and control their own futures, and this played a major role in history.…
The Jungle (1906), by Upton Sinclair, is a story mainly about the life and turmoil of a man who came to American in hopes that he will become a free, rich man with a beautiful wife, Ona, and happy family; this man is the young Jurgis Rudkus, a strong, energetic Lithuanian whose personality and life are all changed several times over the coarse of the story. Major usually tragic events that occur in the story serve as catalysts for Jurgis's dramatic, almost upsetting, transformations. There were four major turning points in Jurgis's life: after he loses his job and is forced to work at a fertilizer mill; when he loses his wife and children; when he is incorporated into the criminal and political underworlds; and when he picks his life back up again. These events in his life all trigger reactions that are very much unlike the first Jurgis Rudkus we are introduced to his spirit squashed, his family either in despair, dying or dead, and all of his money gone, Jurgis's dream is thoroughly shattered.…
In 1992, a young man lost his life to hard conditions and lack of experience during a journey everyone secretly daydreams of. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer spins the story of young, underprepared Chris McCandless taking a deadly adventure into the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer authenticates Chris’ experiences in the novel by providing excerpts from his journals as well as interviews with friends and family. His documentary-style writing leads the reader through Chris’ extraordinary legacy and mindset, keeping him or her enthralled in his whimsical quest. Krakauer’s novelization of Chris’ adventures creates an unfortunate, yet compelling story with his sentence length and allusions to other adventurers to convey his belief that…
To take the life of another man is considered to be a great sin, however when placed in a war setting, the inverse is true. When one thinks of a hero, they imagine a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. In the eyes of a country during war, these deeds and noble qualities relate directly to the amount of enemy kills a man acquires. War evokes the cruelty and immorality within a man and his country causing the definition of hero to be altered. Although upon their return, soldiers are placed on a pedestal, they are continuously reminded of the pain and suffering that they condemned their enemy to during combat. The novel Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, is a haunting tale of how different people cope with the horrors of war and how this diversity can drive them apart. The two main characters Elijah Weesageechack (Whiskeyjack) and Xavier Bird, young Cree Indian men, leave their home in the bush to defend their country’s honour. In this story, the reader is able to see how Elijah’s personality evolves from a respectful bush Indian who lives off the land, into a cold-blooded killer. As the novel progresses, it becomes evident to a great extent that the qualities which make Elijah heroic in the eyes of his country, are also the cause of his suffering and destruction. These qualities include his ability to kill, his need for inclusion by his peers, and his addiction to morphine. Had it not been for these qualities, Elijah might have been able to survive the war and remain true to himself maintaining his morals.…
A Little Bit About the Book : The book starts out as an exciting adventure as Guy Sajer travels through the Eastern Front. as the German invasion falters in the icy vastness of the Ukraine, a simple, desperate struggle for survival against cold, hunger, and above all the terrifying Soviet artillery. The memories and struggles to survive in this book make the book a very fun read.…
First published in 1924, Richard Connell 's "The Most Dangerous Game" is perhaps the finest example to date of the "hunter-becomes-the-hunted" tale. Connell, a combat veteran of World War I, began with a somewhat hackneyed plot line, but via excellent description, taut pacing, and crisp dialogue, the young writer produced a surprisingly enduring action-adventure story. Winner of the O 'Henry Memorial Award the year it was published, the tale remains a staple of anthologies of American short fiction. Although commonly dismissed as little more than an exciting, testosterone-pumping duel between two well-matched professional hunters, there is a deeper political and social meaning to this widely read but rarely critiqued story. Beneath the thrill of the chase, the two main characters--Sanger Rainsford, a young American traveler, and General Zaroff, an old Russian aristocrat--represent competing views of the world that were at strong odds in the first quarter of the twentieth century.…
Imagine being stuck on an island after your boat crashed. No food, no water, no shelter, and a bad guy trying to kill you. Well, that's exactly what happens in Connell's short story, “The Most Dangerous Game.” After Rainsford's ship crashes, he meets an ex-militant General Zaroff. General Zaroff loves to hunt, but hunting in his terms means people. He loves to lure sailors to a lighthouse surrounded by rocks, so their boat would crash and Zaroff can hunt them. General Zaroff challenges Rainsford to a battle. A battle to the death. With Zaroff having the upper hand and Rainsford having nothing but his wits. In his short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” Richard Connell uses personification and foreshadowing to heighten the suspense and conflict of the story.…
The main hero in the story is Oskar, who sets out on a journey to find knowledge. His journey is very untraditional in its purpose. Traditionally, a hero’s quest involves going on a quest to save someone or some people. Because Oskar is just a child he takes on his quest for curiosity’s sake and because he wants to find out whom the key he finds belongs to. Oskar is like traditional heroes in that he is fearless and brave. He visits the…
In “The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell, the author uses conflicts, imagery, and a tenacious theme to add to the plot of the story. “The Most Dangerous Game” is a story about a man names Rainsford and his struggle to defeat a hunting game against the antagonist, General Zaroff. Rainsford had fallen off a yacht in the Caribbean Sea and swam up onto the beach of a mysterious island. He found his way to a home belonging to a man named General Zaroff. After meeting the General and his servant, Ivan, they begin the hunt and Rainsford realizes how uncivilized the General really is. Rainsford finally understands how the animals he hunts feel when realizes that General Zaroff is hunting him, not any animals. In the end, Rainsford survives the three days and comes back to get his revenge on General Zaroff.…
The book I read is Soldier X by Don Wulffson. The book is set in Germany and Russia during World War II. The story is told in first person from the point of view of Erik Brandt. The main character, Erik Brandt, is the protagonist and there isn’t an antagonist because the book is about Erik’s journey during World War II.…
The main theme of the novel Heart of Darkness is the darkness of the human nature and its destructive influence on human beings. This research paper aims to analyze the character and personal downfall of Kurtz and use him as an example for the darkness of the human nature. It will show how easily a man can experience bad fate; Kurtz was an ambitious man full of hope who came to Africa in search for wealth and fortune and ended up going insane and dying.…
essays that both cite key pieces of evidence from the documents and draw on outside knowledge of the period.…