The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a book written by Rebecca Skloot. Chapter 1 begins shortly after Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah, and her son, Joe, were born. After those two were born, she then began to experience vaginal bleeding at the wrong time of the month. Feeling like something was wrong, Henrietta rushed to the doctor. She only went to see the doctor “If she felt she had no other choice”.
Chapter 1: In Chapter 1, we have been introduced to the three main characters in the book, the setting and also the relationship that exists between the characters. • Abel Jackson, is a ten year old boy who loves the sea, “Abel loved being underwater” (Page 5, and is an excellent diver and “could never remember a time when he could not dive” (Page 5). His mum is his teacher, “Everything he knew on land or under the sea he learned from her” (Page 6).
Tamilyn Chang Mrs. Thomas August 31st, 2016 3 and 4 period In Gary Soto’s short story Seventh Grade, Victor embarrasses himself while trying to impress Teresa, the girl he likes. After lunch, Victor has French class with Teresa. During French, Mr. Bueller asks the class if they know French, and Victor raises his hand, trying to impress Teresa.
In the words of Steve Lopez, “You're only as good or bad as your latest attempt to make some connection with the world.” The novel, The Soloist, by Steve Lopez is an insight to Lopez’s time helping and connecting with Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless schizophrenic. When Lopez meets Nathaniel he is awed by his musical talent and soon discovers he once attended Julliard, a prestigious school of performing arts. Lopez’s story was transformed into a film produced in 2008. Lopez’s character in the book and film share similarities and differences in his personal life, attitude towards Nathaniel, and struggles that contribute to the overall theme of the novel.
Paper Topic 1 After reading Confessions of Nat Turner (1831) in the course packet, and watching the film Birth of a Nation (2016) I was able to notice some key takeaways and differences between the two. The film Birth of a Nation was directed by Nate Parker, he also played the main role in the film acting as Nat Turner.
Nat Turners Rebellion became monumental for many people of color, he was idolized and respected for his courageous actions. The rebellion created fear that spread through the South, even those in favor for abolishment now wanted stricter laws for slaves. Turner was “recorded on the list of dishonor” for the organization he had lead (“An Address To The Slave Of The united Slaves”). There had been an interview by Thomas R. Gray, defending and slightly sympathizing with Turners actions, many rejected the validation of the interview and felt as if he just wanted “to trick, confuse, and overwhelm the slave’s minds.” (“The Southampton Tragedy”).
“The Atchafalaya” is an article by John McPhee, concerning the flow of the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya region. McPhee interviews several people who have jobs related to the river and the maintenance of the Atchafalaya’s water flow. The location of the Mississippi River is crucial because if it moves, it could potentially destroy all of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and, subsequently, their status as major shipping channels. Reading this article, I gained more insight on the importance of the river for the state of Louisiana and New Orleans. A quote in the article summarizes the reoccurring theme of society versus Mother Nature: “Man against nature.
When Thomas King says, “The truth about stories is, that’s all we are,” I believe he is pointing out how powerful of a force stories are in our lives. We are told stories from our childhood, as a way to remember history or pass down traditions. He is trying to make the point that stories make up our history, our cultures and ourselves. A good example of this comes from Nealon and Searls Giroux’s book, “Subjectivity.” The book says there is the “self” which is our primary selves, untouched by cultural influences or the law.
The Florida Everglades is the third-largest national park out of the 48 states. It is also the first national park created to protect the fragile ecosystem. Without the protection of the alliga-tors and thus the ecosystem area we know as the everglades could eventually become nonexist-ent. At one time “this wetland was called the river of grass by an author back in 1947” (Strawn 17).
People can be good at many things, and sometimes they are the best at those things. I believe that Ray Bradbury, focused on multiple craft moves in The Veldt such as dialogue, personification, and flashbacks to show that he can be one of the best, when it comes to adding craft moves into his writing. He made the writing more interesting and described and showed the moments in different ways. He also used many different craft moves throughout the story, but I think that these three, dialogue, personification, and flashbacks are the most important, and I believe that without these craft moves the story wouldn’t have as big of an impact on the reader as it did with them. Ray Bradbury used dialogue to show how the characters are feeling at that exact moment, and is shown throughout the story to show interactions between characters in that moment in time.
Would you expect a young, black, educated slave, to be a leader of one of the most bloodiest slave rebellions ever? On October of 1800, Nathaniel “Nat” Turner was born a slave on Benjamin Turner’s plantation in Southampton County, VA. He was allowed to read, write and learn religion (“Nat Turner”). Samuel Turner was in a lot of debut so Reverend Zalthall set up appointments for Nat to preach to slaves from plantation to plantation. The slave owners hoped this would make their slaves want to work willing and to be obedient.
I am pleasantly surprised with this chapter book. The point of view is of a younger boy who has a lot of behavioral problems. Although he has good intentions he finds him self swallowing keys, cutting off peoples noses and jumping into hay bails on field trips. After being sent to a special education school for 6 weeks his life starts to turn around. He has never had a stable home life until his alcoholic mother decides to care for him again.
David Dabydeen’s Turner, is a postcolonial response to the authors of colonial atrocities. Dabydeen attempts to convey within his poem a society haunted by the injustices of the past which have been denied recognition and redemption from the prosecutors and historians themselves. Drawing on theoretical concepts of postcolonialism, hauntology and mid-mourning, Dabydeen’s Turner, attempts to highlight the agony and powerlessness of those who were, currently, and will soon be subject to, to overcome the curse of past injustices. Focusing on the physical and psychological marks the colonial project placed and continues to place on the body and psyche of the drowned slave, the narrative of agency being gained through death is problematize. As summarized by Steph Craps, David Dabydeen’s Turner, is essentially a poem which brings to the attention to the reader the immortal presence of past injustices.
Katherine Paterson, the author of many famous books, delighted us with “The Great Gilly Hopkins”. A book that talks about a small foster child who has to move around foster homes, but Gilly is no saint; she is a strong girl with attitude problems who tries to show a tough exterior; but deep down what she really wants is for her mother to care for her and take it to live with her. The Great Gilly Hopkins is a book full of feelings; speaking about what an eleven-year-old girl is experiencing every time she has to move from home to home, explaining to the reader the reasons why she has become that way. The author, Katherine Paterson explored the mind of a troubled girl.
In Thomas King 's autobiographical novel, The Truth About Stories takes a narrative approach in telling the story of the Native American, as well as Thomas King 's. The stories within the book root from the obstacles that the Thomas King had to face during his years in high school and his post-university life. These stories are told in a matter that uses rhetorical devices such as personal anecdotes & comparisons. "You 'll Never Believe What Happened" Is Always a Great Way to Start is about the importance, potential, and dangers of stories, specifically those of creation stories and how they can shape a culture, with the aim to share King 's urgency for social change with his readers King 's informal tone, lighthearted jokes, and effort to make his writing follow the style of native oral tradition as closely as possible, all help the reader understand the type of narrative he believes would be most beneficial for the foundation of a society. His unique style allows for the use of personal anecdotes and requires that he breaks the proverbial fourth wall to communicate with the reader directly, to create the conversational feel of the oral tradition.
