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Symbolism In Out Of The Dust

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Dr. Cheryl Steele--A "Goddess" of Teaching In previous articles, I’ve written about the importance of connecting with teenagers long after they have been ‘officially’ yours. Perhaps they were in your charge when they were in middle school or junior high, and now, they are in senior high, they have graduated high school, or maybe have gone on to graduate college, get married and have children of their own. Regardless of any of those landmarks (as significant as they may be), still recognizing your kids from when they were early teenagers can be extremely empowering to them. I was blessed enough to have a PERFECT example of such an adult who was one of my mentors in my early adolescence. She kept in touch with how I was doing after graduation …show more content…

Billie Jo endures trials many of us cannot even imagine, far beyond dealing with the complications of the Dust Bowl. She even tries to leave the situation, but [SPOILER ALERT!] she realizes she belongs back home with her father. As the novel ends and Billie Jo’s life moves on along with her father’s life, Billie Jo makes a profound observation for any 15-year-old: “I am because of the dust.” The dust represents ALL of the unfortunate realities of Billie Jo’s past, but she is finally able to recognize them not with resentment, but with appreciation that she would not be the person she is without those difficult experiences. What 15-year-old do you know who has that kind of …show more content…

In the last two years, both Kansas and Missouri have passed laws prohibiting some drivers from texting and driving at the same time, while some of the other laws prohibit every driver from texting while behind the wheel. These different laws (proposed and/or passed) have provided much debate. For instance, “Missouri's current law against texting while driving only applies to those drivers who are 21 or younger. The law was put in force in 2009 and was the result of a quickly composed legislative compromise” (“Texting While Driving Debate… “ 1). The laws against texting while driving for those 21 and younger are completely valid; however, these same laws are completely valid for those of us over the age of 21, if not more so. As teen mentors, we must serve as examples for our kids. One of those pertinent examples is showing that we are not addicted to our cell phones. When I took a group of kids to a presentation held by one of the survivors of the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, I insisted that my kids turn OFF their phones. They responded with, “We have them on vibrate…” NO! I told them that they are not doctors, police officers or clergy members; they are not on call 24/7, and they must respect the speaker and the topic by turning OFF their cell

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454 Words | 2 Pages

In out of the dust, Billie Jo and her father suffer from a lot of loss and grief. Billie Jo’s father loses his wife and son and Billie Jo loses her best friend, Livie when she moves to California to get out of the dust. Billie Jo also loses the ability to play the piano for a little while because of her hands being burnt from the fire. They learn to overcome these hardships by living without the things they lost. They also learn to have a stronger relationship with each other and bond more.

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393 Words | 2 Pages

At fourteen years old, Billie Jo living in Joyce City, Oklahoma with her mother and father during the Great Depression during the 1930’s. Billie Jo and her parents struggled to live their lives during the Great Depression, because The Dust Bowl destroyed many crops, and Billie Jo’s family were farmers. Her father, a wheat farmer, works what’s left of the farm and her mother spends her time cleaning the house. While her mother being pregnant, Billie Jo does her best to make her mother proud. Suddenly a horrific accident happened, Billie Jo’s mother gets burnt really bad due to kerosene left next to the stove, and catching on fire.

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427 Words | 2 Pages

Symbolism uses symbols to represent ideas or qualities, such as loss, grief, or pain. This idea is of utmost importance because, in the novel Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, two symbols show the suffering of Billie Jo and Daddy. Hence, the author uses symbolism to explain the loss in Billie Jo’s and Daddy’s lives, using the gaping hole that daddy digs and the missing cranberry sauce. Primarily, Billie Jo’s symbol for suffering loss was the cranberry sauce, as it represents her loss of her mother.

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645 Words | 3 Pages

Loss is defined as losing someone or something, such as losing a person in life. This idea is significant because both the characters in the novel are impacted by the loss of someone. In Out of the Dust, a historical fiction novel by Karen Hesse, the author uses symbolism to display the fact that Billie Jo and Daddy are greatly affected by Ma’s death. For instance, in the climax of the story Ma got burned by fire so badly she died after giving birth to a son who did not survive as well. This impacted the rest of her family in a myriad of ways.

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We Cannot Text and Drive MLA Style Writing Prompt: In “Word to Youth: Texting, Driving Don’t Mix” Larry Copeland illustrates how dangerous it is to text and drive, and interjects the study that reveals data that shows, although people are aware this behavior is dangerous, they continue to text and drive because it is their belief they “can do it safely.” Write an essay that expository explains why individuals cannot text and drive safely. Many drivers, not just youth, hold the belief that they are capable of texting while driving in a safe manner.

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The Texas lawmakers heatedly debated whether to ban texting while driving, which resulted in 102-40 for the ban. (Barnett) People seem to use the excuse of their unalienable rights to keep on losing themselves while driving instead of paying attention to whatever is ahead of them. That is also the reason why texting while driving is increasing the crash rates even outside of Texas, as you can see stated in "90+ Texas Cities are Hands-Free / Ban Texting and Driving", "In 2013 alone, 3,154 people in the U.S. were killed in

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As of January 2012, 9 states plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands will have banned all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving and 34 states plus the District of Columbia and Guam will have banned drivers from text messaging. Laws for novice drivers are even more stringent, with 30 states plus the District of Columbia banning novice drivers from using cell phones and 41 states plus the District of Columbia banning novice drivers from texting while driving. It is likely more states will adopt some form of legislation targeting drivers’ cell phone use and/or texting in the future. Americans, when polled, are usually strongly in favor of laws curbing using cell phones while

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III. Purpose Statement – Texting while driving is a serious distraction and one that could cost you your life or the lives of others. IV. Main Points (TRANSITION:

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Also on “September 30, the President issued an executive order prohibiting Federal Employees from texting while driving on Government business or with Government equipment.” I feel as though the government should do some more to prevent teens from using cell phones while driving. It’s not just texting but messing with music, talking on the phone, or even talking to Siri can end in some innocent person getting hurt, all because someone wasn 't paying attention to the road for a split

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533 Words | 3 Pages

Texting and driving is something that we as humans are not taking serious. Texting and driving is a crisis because adults are not practicing the skills they are teaching teenagers, a way to help it is to pass a bill that can ban having any interactions with a hand-held device, and that people should be educated about the dangers of texting and driving. Adults should start taking the action of not texting and driving behind the wheel. Adults preach to teenagers about not doing certain things but they do the opposite of what they the teaching. Most teens look up to adults as their guides.

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I am going to focus specifically on texting while driving. When one is driving, they are not supposed to put their focus on anything else other than the road. We are all taught this when we learn to drive; however, not everyone abides by every rule. Texting and driving is something people my age don't take seriously, until we witness it first-hand. After doing research for my persuasive speech, I found that 20% of people between the age of 18-21 claim that texting doesn't affect their driving, and 30% of people between the age of 22-30 claim that texting has no impact (Distracted Driving Research 2012).

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1955 Words | 8 Pages

Texting and driving has caused many deaths among teens and others, and many families grieve every day, wishing that the worst action anyone can do while driving to become illegal. In the year 2009, 5,500 people died in texting and driving related accidents (Johnson, 2012). From then the numbers only go up because of the growth of technology. Since the issue has grown and causing more and more problems, laws need to change and become stricter to fit the new forms of

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1012 Words | 5 Pages

Though laws have helped prevent cell phone use while operating a vehicle, cell phones still have only greatened the number of distracted driving accidents. Susan Henneberg is an author who focuses on writing about common issues in society. After hearing of a fatal distracted driving accident, she wrote of the accident, “The impact [of the crash] spun their car sideways into Shaw’s lane, and the trailing pickup truck plowed into the side of the Saturn, killing both men instantly”(Henneberg). Both of these drivers were physically hurt all because of texting and driving.

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(Dreschel, 2014) b. Texting while driving not only threatens your life, but also everyone else on the road. c. (Statistic) Eleven percent of drivers aged 18 to 20 who were involved in an automobile accident and survived admitted, they were sending or receiving texts when they crashed. (Smith, 2014) d. (Fact) (statistic) Nearly half of US high school students aged ≥16 years old report texting while driving during the past 30 days. (O'Malley, 2013) e. (Fact)

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Kids watch parents, parents watch parents and drivers watch drivers. A recent survey stated , 75% of teens say their friends text and drive and 77% say their parents text and drive. When people see other people texting, they might think it is okay to text and drive. Texting while driving is clearly dangerous for several reasons.

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