Owning his first gun at the age of eight, Chris Kyle learned to shoot as he hunted with his father for deer, quail and pheasants in West Texas. Chris was raised in Odessa, Texas and dreamed of joining the Unites States Marine Corps but upon finishing high school he became a professional bronco rider, apparently gratifying his need for “danger and excitement” and stimulating his “no fear” attitude. Unfortunately, he suffered a career ending injury and worked as a ranch hand for several years until he decided to follow his dream and join the military.…
He fished for a living, to keep his wife happy, but he was never truly a fisherman. He did not enjoy fishing like the rest of his wife’s family did. His skin was not tough enough as “the salt water irritated his skin as it had for sixty years…and his arms, especially the left, broke out into the oozing saltwater boils”. (paragraph 60) The sun and wind took a toll on his body that the others did not experience. To him, the boat held emotions such as pain, despair and struggle. He would rather be inside, reading and learning, but was instead forced to…
perfectly uses the motif of alcoholism to depict the theme of when an individual turns to…
Roger Rosenblatt uses character to develop moral courage. The characters in the short story are: the Man in the water, the passengers, and nature. The passengers are the ones that are trying to survive the disaster, nature is the force trying to kill the passengers, and the Man in the water is the Man who saved all the passengers. Roger Rosenblatt…
Charles Chesnutt wrote a response to his own writing to give more context of its motivations. He explains that the conjure stories he writes in The Conjure Woman are merely myth and are a way of showing African American folklore. While these stories are not proven true they were passed down through oral traditions. He mentions several stories that he has heard such as a conjure man hurting a girl that steps upon the ground he walked on. He quickly refutes the validity, giving the explanation that she was so overtaken, and afraid that she twisted her ankle as she stared. He says that ignorance was the best tool for the “trickster”, without it superstitions would not have been believed. Not…
play with. They used sticks for bats, and rocks for bases, and they made their…
In the poem “Spirit in Me” by Esther G. Belin,and the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie both characters share similar life experiences such as effects from alcoholism that affect their lives negatively. Everyone in life has a goal they need to reach and to reach your goal you might have to go through emotional times and so did Junior from the book and the speaker from the poem.…
This script focuses on Jack Kerouac’s life struggle and journey with drug addiction and his decision to detox with a self-impose exile in an isolated cabin.…
In the autobiography "Under the Influence" in an Anthology of Norton Reader by Melissa A. Goldthwaite, the author Scott Russell Sanders tells his story about growing up with an alcoholic father. Sanders family go through many obstacles because of their father. His fathers drinking problems made Sanders shame and guilt because the main character felt like it was his fault that his father was drinking and wanted to save his father from his drinking habits. Sanders uses imagery and diction to tell the reader about growing up with an alcoholic father and what consequences it had in his life.…
Many scholars have spoken about American expatriates and alcoholism in their reviews with a pessimistic point of view and with negative comments, like Cowley in his writing saying that “The Sun Also Rises is, in fact, a major example of a drunk narrative, in which alcohol is inseparable from the modernist ethos of despair”. However, I’d like to point out that all these critics have been written in the light of each scholars’ period, and that no one asked himself what Hemingway meant when writing about those themes and that precise moment of the…
James Francis Thorpe of the Sac and Fox Tribe, was born May 22, 1887, on the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation, Prague, Oklahoma. His Indian name is "Wa-Tho-Huk" which meant "Bright Path."…
Life is full of incredulous and horrendous surprises. Mistakes are natural in human nature; humans can better themselves by facing and accepting their mistakes. In the short story "The Swimmer" by John Cheever, Ned Merrill swims through his neighbors' pools to get home. This short story has a variety of symbolism that connects to the themes of life; furthermore, Cheever wants to address his readers to accept their mistakes instead of ignoring it and then having to face it with bigger consequences. Ned Merrill does not follow this example, and he is left with nothing but himself.…
Many poets and story writers write their stories based upon events and aspects of their life. They do this because it is so relatable and easy to write about because there is some truth in the words. Edgar Allan Poe is said to be one of these because his stories actually relate to his tragic, love stricken life. He is known to lead an overall depressing life that was full of loss and grief of loved ones. So because of this, Poe suffered most of his life. But although he had many misfortunes, he resorted to his passion of poetry to help him. Poe wrote many stories and poems that both reflected and represented his life. Stories such as Annabel Lee strongly show this as it is about the death of a loved women.…
The memoir I read is about a young woman, Koren Zailckas, who, over the course of growing up, not only experimented with alcohol, but also went through the whole cycle of alcohol abuse. She shares her experiences in order to present that this can be the case with anyone and evolves over time, not all at once. She begins the story by talking about one of her childhood friends, Natalie, with whom presented Koren’s first sip of alcohol. She describes Natalie as one of those friends who always was the first to do things, and to encourage others to jump on board. After trying Southern Comfort at the young age of 14, she realizes that this alcohol stuff makes the inhibitions, which she struggles with so often, disappear—She loves this. She wants to drink more after this time, but Natalie goes away to a boarding school, and Koren’s source of alcohol goes right with her. She goes on to talk about her drinking experiences in high school, particularly at age 16 when she requires her stomach to be pumped after a party. She went on to college where she stayed in the party scene, joined a sorority, and continued her bad habits. She had many negative experiences including sexual encounters, fights, and problems with relationships, all while under the influence of heavy alcohol. She tries quitting a few times unsuccessfully, even moving away from the party scene. She is finally able to quit at the age of 23 after realizing how much it cost her.…
In the story, “Touching Bottom” by Kari Strutt, the theme is to not give even when one hits rock bottom. This is demonstrated in the story when, Ian is drowning in the ocean because the current is dragging him down and he is unable to swim due to a cramp development in his leg. Saving Ian is very challenging for the narrator because at one point Ian is struggling to keep his head above water and while doing so he accidently pushes the narrator below, deep in to the ocean and now she is having difficulty breathing and striving to survive. In order to save herself from drowning, the narrator pushes herself further down into the ocean and realizes that the bottom was not actually as far as she had assumed. After she resurfaces, the narrator has to swim with Ian on top of her to get him back to safety all while fighting against a current. At one moment the narrator thought she could not continue and she asks Ian to swim for himself but he is unable to do so. At that moment she feels like she has hit rock bottom because she is not able to swim much longer due to her aching joints and emerging injuries such as; big bleeding welts on her arms and back, and a splintered shoulder. Throughout the course of this life changing experience the narrator has to watch her much older husband flirt with another woman on the beach without caring about their life threatening situation. However, she has a flashback, that motivates her to keep swimming to save her step son and eventually she finds a human willing to lend her his board to help bring Ian back to shore. In conclusion, while struggling to stay alive and rescue Ian, the narrator felt that she had hit rock bottom at the beach and in life but she fought through it all and moved on.…