Image, the wee hours of the morning, a ship sinking and its crew abandoning the vessel in a lifeboat with only the thought of survival, unware of what dangers await them in the darkness of the sea. Ironically this is the grim reality of the men in the story The Open Boat written by Stephen Crane. What makes this story interesting is the fact that Crane was actually a passenger on the Commodore when it sank. During this time in American history it seems to be several shipwrecks along the coast of Florida. For the author he witnessed one of these disasters first hand. Therefore, Crane wrote The Open Boat based on his account of what happened on the fatefully morning when the steamer Commodore sank.…
Inside the story of “Follow the Water” Georgie has a dream to be able to live on the marvelous planet of Mars, but when she finally reaches Mars she has to face reality. As a child Georgie had always imagined Mars being “a comfortable life with beautiful domed cities that have amazing views of the landscape.” Sadly when she got there with her space crew she was disappointed on so many levels. Unlike her dream, Mars had dust blowing everywhere, terrible temperature, no water to use, dangerous sand storms, and a small dome she calls home. In this story the author is trying to tell you that she would rather be back on Earth then Mars, and dream that was on cloud 9 just dropped down to the ground.…
Watch out for that shark! This is one of many thoughts you might have while reading Michael P. Spradlin’s book, Into The Killing Seas. In this book you will get a glimpse of what is was like for the 1196 men that were aboard the USS Indianapolis. The author describes these tragic events in history very well through the eyes of a fictional young boy. The accurate portrayal of these real life events will help you get a good look at one of the worst disasters in U.S naval…
The literary works of two Canadian authors can often be place under a microscope where the similarities of their works become very apparent. The writing styles tend to have many aspects in common. The short story “Cornet at Night” by Sinclair Ross is very similar to “The Boat” by Alistair MacLeod. They are similar in not just one but in many ways. The two literary works share many aspects between them. These aspects extend over a wide variety of topics. These aspects are used by the authors in both short stories to help develop the plot and deepen the story. The most comparable of these aspects are the theme, setting and the diction that is used.…
1. In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing. We lived at the junction of great trout rivers in western Montana, and our father was a Presbyterian minister and a fly fisherman who tied his own flies and taught others. He told us about Christ's disciples being fishermen, and we were left to assume, as my brother and I did, that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman.…
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a sad fictional story about the hardship of slavery. The book describes a life of a slave who is sold again and again and finally meet his end at the hand of his last mastered. Uncle Tom’s cabin is an amazing book that describe the life of Tom and other slaves who fight on to keep their family together. Her book revealed the inhumane cruelty of slaves separated from their families…
In her essay “Shipwreck,” Cat Bohannon argues that displaying bodies of dead humans can be “art”, but this “art” may be difficult to separate from “science.” The text is filled with the author’s research, interviews and her personal reasoning. While observing the process of human dissection and preservation (known as “plastination”), Bohannon has a difficult time understanding this type of art making. For the author, plastination is a complicated and sometimes disturbing process. But she also seems to conclude that plastination is more than just “creative anatomy” (Bohannon 62), and is actually a form of expression just like painting or sculpture.…
In Alistair MacLeod’s short story, “The Boat”, there are many examples of where human emotions are attached to places and/or objects; known as physicalization. The emotions these things show, also depend on the person they are being viewed by. There are examples of how one space can have two very different emotional attachments. These differences in opinion can cause tension in some relationships and are there with a constant reminder of the contrast between two people.…
In Rebecca Kanner’s Sinners and the Sea and Yasmina Reza’s The God of Carnage the human capacity to commit violence is emphasized. Kanner portrays violence during the time of Noah time before and during the flood. The sinners of the town of Sorum, as well as some members of Noah’s family, commit acts of violence toward one another. Reza portrays violence with the same intensity as Kanner, but with a limited cast of characters. The difference between the two portrayals of violence is that Kanner uses evil as a transformative force, while Reza depicts evil as an end. Kanner is hopeful that evil restores the good, while Reza believes that evil does not bring positive outcomes.…
In his short story, 'The Open Boat,' Stephen Crane displays to us a universe completely indifferent to the affairs of humankind; we live in an apathetic world, in which man has to fight and struggle to live. The characters illustrated in the story come face-to-face with this indifference and all are nearly overcome by nature's lack of concern with humanity. The survivors are alive primarily through determination and cooperation. We as human are alive because our constant struggles to co-exist in this universe. Crane illustrates to readers how we are all in an endless battle for our life in a world that doesn’t seem to care for us, as much as we care for ourselves.…
“In an age when Americans enjoy dozens of cable sports channels, when professional athletes often command salaries in the tens of millions of dollars...it’s hard to fully appreciate how important the rising prominence of the University of Washington’s crew was to the people of Seattle in 1935” (Brown 173). As seen by this quote, America is a much different place than what it was in the 1930s. The times have changed significantly. In today’s day and age we have it all too good. The world we live in is one of leisure and not nearly as much hard work as there used to be. Back in the early 20th century the people had it pretty rough and dealt with many frightening problems of their generation such as World Wars and the Great Depression. The non‐fiction novel, Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown, takes place in this turbulent time period of US history that started around the 1930s. The book is the story of how the University of Washington’s crew won the 1935 Berlin Olympics. The main character, Joe Rantz, and his team start off as an inexperienced freshman crew at the university and worked their way to the top amongst many obstacles. The story is one of great heroism and persistence that takes place during the heart of the US’s struggles. The lives of the great Olympic athletes were affected by this time period in several ways. The Great Depression greatly amplified the athlete’s drive to succeed as well as their great sense of patriotism, and the less complicated technology of the time allowed them to invest wholeheartedly in the handcrafted vessel in which they rowed.…
In the essay, “Once More to the Lake” by E.B White, a father returns with his son, to a vacation lake in Maine, where his father used to take him when he was younger. When the father spends time there with his son, he begins to reminisce on the experience he shared at the lake with his own father. The thought of immortality and timelessness tricks the narrator into believing no time has passed. While the father is referring back to these memories, the author makes a transition from fantasy to reality. Eventually, the father identifies differences in what his son experiences at the lake and what he experienced at the lake when he was a child. The…
Explain some of the thoughts and feelings of Christopher Ondaatje in ‘Ferry across the lake’.…
Rowing is a team sport, and requires a fully devoted team to succeed, as well as academics at Belmont Hill. One thing that sets Belmont Hill far apart from any other school is its goal to make the campus a happy and comfortable place for all of its students. They understand that not everyone is a professional at every subject, and help arrange for tutors to help you progress through challenging material. This concept is also present in the book The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. This is similar to rowing and how Joe keeps his team positive and ready to race. One of the most important parts is keeping everyone “on the same note” and keeping consistent strokes in order to flawlessly propel their shell. Another example of teamwork is when the team qualifies for the olympics, but can’t afford to travel to Germany. As a team, they raise money and soon meet their goal. As Joe Rantz progressed into his life as a young adult, he learned to trust his teammates, was devoted to doing what was…
As described in the writings of Lu Xun’s “Preface” and “Diary of a Madman”, Lu Xun emphasizes the detrimental effects that clamoring to cultural conditions has had on the Chinese people and the need for cultural reform that is present at the time. Based on the passages of “Diary of a Madman” by Lu Xun, it is apparent that the author uses metaphorical acts of cannibalistic activity committed by the people of China to critique/satire the destructive influence of traditional ideals and practices such as those emphasized by Confucianism and the negative effects it has on Chinese lives. He describes such age-old traditions as degrading in their tendencies to cause men to suppress or abuse others (notably women) in the name of piety and describes…