The overall structure and plot of the story plays a part in how Wolff viewed his own life within the characters. It opens with a simple yet intriguing statement: "Tub had been waiting for an hour in the falling snow" (Wolff 1). Immediately, this hook does its job drawing the reader into the story and making him wonder what is going on. In the same paragraph we find that Tub is walking down the street, carrying a rifle and seemingly, shooting the breeze. But then a car comes from nowhere, nearly killing Tub and forcing him to leap off the roadside. Inside the truck, Tub's friends, Kenny and Frank, wait laughing at the apparent "joke" that they had just played. Tub doesn't seem quite as amused, stating, "You could've killed me!" (Wolff 5). Then, the three friends begin to make their way towards the woods to go hunting for…
To a minor degree can Canada boast about its tolerance for ethnic diversity. In Chapter 12 of "A Few Acres of Snow," Britain preferred to populate its new colonies, including Canada, with citizens from the British Isles. This policy held distinct advantage because it made British North America more British than French. The Whites during the period were known as the superior race. When politics, religion, a population explosion, and famine conspired in Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century, many Irish came to Canada in search for a new life.…
I chose the book My Thirteenth Winter By Samantha Abeel for my independent reading project. In this memoir, the author shares her struggles with dyscalculia which is a learning disability that affects an understanding of concepts like math, spelling, and grammar. In My Thirteenth Winter, Samantha is a 12 year old who’s life is controlled by her contstant panic attacks and her continues struggles in academics. Every day she wakes up terrified about what she’ll be expected to do in class, and never being able to sleep a night without an episode.…
The Snow Star By Sharon Laferty From out of the blue and gold of a Christmas Eve sunset, comes Chrystalene. She was a snowflake, born in the clouds, as all snowflakes are. She began her journey, falling and spinning, with all the other little snowflakes on her way to the earth below. Chrystalene, however, was far too curious a being to simply drift along and wait to see where she would land. She began to look around her, peering at her fellow flakes, and noticing quickly, that she was not like them at all.…
Waiting for Snow in Havana is a memoir by Carlos Eire. When Eire is 11 years old, he and his brother Tony are sent by themselves to the United States to escape the oppression of Fidel Castro. He is among 14,000 other Cuban children who are exiled without their parents. Children do not need security clearances, so they can get in quickly. For the parents, it takes months or sometimes years.…
War is a very scary and dangerous monster. It brings the worst in people; it divides families and friends. It makes us question everything we know and with the media we get too much information that we don’t know what to do with it. However, by learning our history, everybody’s role in the government, learning how the system works and learning simple terms like enemy combatant and habeas corpus you can learn that there is more than just our laws and Constitution. We are not alone in this war.…
I felt the stock of my bow while I was sitting in the blind. Frost had already began to form where I rubbed it off seconds ago. I looked through the small window at the everlasting snow. “Wait, was that a deer moving along those trees?” I asked myself. It looked more like a kangaroo making its way through the snow. I could barely stand up in the cold. I pulled back, ready to take the shot.…
War is a very controversial topic for many people. Depending on the person’s outlook on the war, it can be depicted as something good or bad. War brings destruction wherever it goes, whether it is on a place or the people, and it ultimately is inevitable. War also protects a country from having further destruction and keeps the people at home safe from any danger. As a person can see in many recordings of war, there are many comparisons and contrasts that are expressed through soldiers, veterans, and civilians. Some comparisons seen in many of the testimonies given by effected people are dehumanization, dislocation, and alienation; but they also have contrasts that can be seen through nationalism, technological advancements, and the coming home for many…
In the end, war is crucial and hard for many. No two people are alike when it comes to the effects of war. Some have horrible flashbacks imprinted on their minds that only very few can see through. In addition, others have physical wounds that everyone…
As a writer, it is expected that Yolanda have quite an imagination. This talent, however, has gotten her into trouble a time or two. Yolanda Garcia loved to tell stories, but in this new country, not everyone knew what was true and what was fiction. Her mother expresses the problems they endured at the expense of Yo's stories. "'Her teacher says she loves stories. But some of the ones she tells, well- She lets out a sigh. She tosses her braid behind her back like she doesn't want it to hear this. Frankly, they are a little disturbing,'" (33).* In this novel, Yolanda's mother gets the chance to defend herself and to show that because of Yolanda's obscure stories, her lifestyle was in…
I absolutely love how Laurie Halse Anderson is able to easily put herself into the mind-set of a teenager and write in a way that we are able to relate too. Melinda’s words and actions actually sound like something a teen would say or do. Too many times I have been forced to read a book that I am not able to relate to or make connection with in my own life. Contemporary literature, like Speak is a lot easier to for high school students to understand and apply. This is one of the many reasons why I am so interested in reading more books by this writer. I recently checked out the book Winter Girls by the same author and I’m sad to say I do not love it as much as Speak. The summaries and reviews I read online made it sound amazing!…
As I crossed the road with my dog Henry, I could feel the frigid winter breeze on my face. Then I felt a snowflake land on my nose like a plane landing after a long flight. I didn’t like this cold weather at all but I had heard many children around me cheering and laughing. I heard things like “woohoo it is snowing” and things like “oww don't throw snowballs at my face”. That last one made me chuckle a little bit when I had heard it. Then I heard someone yell my name, which is Brian by the way. So I turned around and felt a big snowball hit my back.…
War is a cruel thing that goes on all around the world. Whether it’s the United States, Africa or China, war affects everyone. For example like in the stories “The Sniper” and “Cranes” the war affects family, friends, and peace.…
Even though she was hesitant, she potentially regarded her cousin as being in a more powerful status. Also, Yolanda was used to being submitted to her father, as well as to other men in the house, constantly. Yet, Yolanda’s desire to become separated from the Dominican standards for women was revealed from a bold speech she wrote for school: “That night, at last, she started to write, recklessly, three, five pages, looking up once only to see her father passing by the hall on tiptoe” (Alvarez 142). After completing the speech, she “read over her words, and her eyes filled”, feeling like she “finally sounded like herself in English!” (Alvarez 143). This was how Yolanda established her new “self” according to American value. Instead of accepting her father’s suggestion to praise the teachers, Yolanda composed an article with inspiration from a Whitman’s poem. Yolanda was deeply touched by the content of the poem, which sharply went…
One day on Christmas with my mom, dad, brother, cousins in Iowa in there was no snow on Christmas and all the little kids are crying and yelling because they want snow there was no snow no snow they we're so loud that everybody could hear them. They would not stop until there was no snow and they would keep going and going I can't wait until they be quiet it would be so much better and after all, you don't need snow I understand that there just little kids but they we're loud little kids they did not know the real meaning of Christmas. They were looking and staring out the windows wanting snow, they would not stop.…