"Crossing the Swamp," a poem by Mary Oliver, confesses a struggle through "pathless, seamless, peerless mud" to a triumphant solitary victory in a "breathing palace of leaves. " Oliver's affair with the "black, slack earthsoup" is demonstrated as she faces her long coming combat against herself. Throughout this free verse poem, the wild spirit of the author is sensed in this flexible writing style. While Oliver's indecisiveness is obvious throughout the text, it is physically obvious in the shape of the poem itself.
At the beginning of the novel, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon’s life dramatically changed. The teenager was arrested and charged with the murder of a Harlem drugstore owner. Although Steve was presumably not the actual killer, his role as a supposed "lookout" for the gang that committed the crime ultimately landed him in prison. With regards to this, past events can have a major effect on the present values or attitudes of a character. Moreover, Steve’s past experience has contributed to the novel’s themes-
Everyone has depression, but did you know on October 29, 1929 the whole US went into depression. People lost their jobs, people lost their homes and lot’s of other things. Every bits and piece was super valuable at that time. Some effects the Great Depression had on people at that time was people lost their money. In an article called Digging In by Robert Hastings a girl explains how importants every minute of light is.
Economics and Psychology in Appalachia, An Analysis of the Novel: Above the Waterfall In the novel Above the Waterfall, Ron Rash decides to focus on the main theme of Loss. The culture within the beautiful ecosystem of Appalachia is encased with family ties that are hard to deny. Rash writes, “In a county this rural, everyone’s connected, if not by blood, then in some other way” from the relationship between Darby and Gerald to the friendship between Les and Becky, their relationships show a true loyalty to the ones they have grown up with and show that Appalachia is a tight knit community (Rash 90). The characters within the novel: Above the Waterfall demonstrate signs of loss of self, domestic violence, as well as poverty.
Various minority groups have long histories of oppression, including Native Americans, and the brutality that they endured in the past has shaped their race today. In an attempt to advocate for better conditions, Native Americans are spreading awareness for a greater future. Linda Hogan is a writer of Chickasaw Native descent and often incorporates “Southeastern tribal histories and [native] spirits and culture” (Wikipedia contributors) in her work. “Tear” takes on the perspective of a Chickasaw Native, first in the past recounting hardships, then to the present to reflect on the speaker’s connection to others in her tribe. The poem also describes the environment that surrounds natives and the neglection of their lives.
The short story, “Good enough” by Rachel Vail, speaks about the main character Dori and how she starts as what the poem, “Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco would say as a flower but transform into a weed at the end. Dori tries to impress or fit in with the popular girls by getting an Orion shirt they all wear for Dori’s birthday. However, Dori’s family is not in the best financial situation, so this makes it really hard on the parents to get this. On Dori’s birthday she opens a present to find that her mom has given her a fake, which hurts her, but she does not tell her parents, so they do not feel bad. When Dori wears it to school the next day one of the popular girls goes up to her and taunts her about it, Dori ends up crying but catches herself and remembers that even though its fake her mom had so much love behind it and did her best which makes Dori get over it and know that it's okay to not be in the popular group or be different.
In Holes Stanley is Convicted of stealing a pair of famous shoes. He had the choice to go to jail or camp green lake. Once at camp green lake he learns he has to dig a 5 by 5 holes. Stanly has to find a way to prove he is innocent ,well having to dig holes.
Oftentimes when reading texts about liberation, whether the liberation is physical, metaphorical, or otherwise, there is a tendency to expect an overcoming narrative of sorts. Namely, when presented with a figure that is suffering, an audience expects a clean ending. However, concerning memoirs, this isn’t always the case. If anything, overcoming narratives within autobiographical texts can flatten out the nuances and struggles that are presented within, making the arc of the text seem flat and unconvincing. This is far from the case with Jimmy Santiago Baca’s autobiography, A Place to Stand.
I read the historical fiction book Woods Runner written by Gary Paulsen,which takes place during the Revolutionary War Era. The main character, Samuel, is thirteen years old. He lives in a colony with a forest west of it. One day he is out in the forest and he sees smoke rising from where the colony is located. The colony where he and his parents lived,had been attacked.
In society today there are young kids that do terrible things and they don't fully understand the extent of the matter. In the book “Monster” it tells the story of a young Steve Harmon, he planned a lookout that turned fatal but he had a change of heart. The people at the scene witnessed and could identify him as the lookout. He did not pull the trigger but he was involved in the crime. Steves name was mentioned when King and Evans were discussing the plans for the fatal crime.
Lucas Hahn Mr. Rodriguez Academic Lit. 15 June, 2023 The Cellar Analysis Throughout Lucas Hahn's short story The Cellar, the author explores the limits of human endurance both mentally and physically. The author portrays the mental limits of humans when we look at the character Ryan. Ryan at the beginning of the story was just a normal teenager, but at the end of the book he turned into a murderer.
How is it possible to live with such joy in such poor conditions? This is exactly what everyone wonders about a young man by the name of Mr.Blue. Mr.Blue, written by Myles Connoly, is about a young man who is often viewed as insane by others for his peculiar joy and views on the world, and his close friend, the narrator of the story, who is constantly challenged by Mr.Blue’s morals and values. Mr.Blue’s sole purpose is to preach the Gospel to others. It's not something that he views as a chore, but instead something that brings him joy and that he hopes will bring others joy as well.
Ever since the American government first interfered in the Native American way of life, they have had complete control. This control was no freely given to them, but instead they forcefully took it and created a situation where the Native Americans became solely dependent on the American government simply to survive. Sherman Alexie exemplifies this dependence throughout his novel, Reservation Blues, particularly through the character of Thomas Builds-the-Fire. In his journal Thomas Builds-the-Fire writes down The Reservation’s Ten Commandments as Given by the United States of America to the Spokane Indians”, the most notable being number four: “Remember the first of each month by keeping it holy. The rest of the month you shall go hungry, but the first day of each month is a tribute to me, and you shall receive welfare checks and commodity food in exchanged for your continued dependence” (Alexie 154).
Freedom Summer was written by Bruce Watson. This book is about how 700 hundred students traveled to Mississippi to make blacks as equal as other ethnicities. In 1964 in Mississippi and other Southern states blacks did not have the right to vote in elections. Things that stopped them from voting in elections were poll taxes, literacy test, and other "legalistic voodoo"(Bruce Watson) to stop blacks from voting in elections .The book reflect today's life as well, by blacks not being able to do things.
I The frozen wind blowed, and black leafless branches moved. This tree looked like a hand of a giant buried into the rocky soil of the mountains. Willem didn't want to get any closer, yet the corpse lied under the naked black as if burned trunk. In this frosted wasteland only black trees survived, if they indeed were alive.
