After reading the novel Twisted, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, I have become more aware of how different emotions and attitudes that people have can positively or negatively affect how they’re viewed by society. Furthermore, an individual’s attitudes and actions can also change their perspective of the world and the quality of their life. Early on in the book, we are introduced to the main character Tyler, who is an emotional, unpopular, and insecure seventeen year old senior who is hoping for things to change. Throughout the story, we follow his emotional rollercoaster filled with his thrilling highs and devastating lows. After researching astrology signs and their true meanings about specific traits, I have decided that Tyler fits within the Cancer symbol.
Blackfish is a documentary directed by filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite in 2013. The documentary shares a story of an orca named Tilikum, who has killed three individuals while kept in captivity. This documentary uses footage to portray Tilikum as a killer whale that has not lived a pleasant life at SeaWorld, leaving the viewers feeling very emotional. What most people fail to understand is that Blackfish is mostly told by former SeaWorld trainers and does not provide balanced and accurate information. This documentary is propaganda, rather than an actual documentary; it manipulates the audience to believe that killer whales should not be kept in captivity, when they actually should.
‘The Demon Shark: II Predator or Prey?’ embodies the ecocriticism literary nature of ‘The Boy Behind the Curtain’ with Tim Winton maintaining a ruthless frontier attitude to the preservation of the environment by pointing out the unfair “[routine vilification]” of sharks, which has led to most of them “[disappearing] globally without an outcry”. In this particular passage, Winton disapproves of the media variously describing the shark as “a terrorist” and “an insidious threat”, even though we are “far more likely to die on the toilet”, or in a car accident, or from a bee sting than from a shark encounter. Winton draws parallels between the prejudice against sharks and discrimination in human society, influencing my creative response regarding
In the short story "Kath and Mouse" by Janet McNaughton, the character Kath is most interesting because she is controlling and entitled, yet she is also hard working and careful. Firstly, Kath is directly described as a hardworking person by the author in the short story. This is demonstrated by the following quote: "She really worked at it, forty-five minutes every day. Not that anyone else knew. If anyone phoned while she was practicing, we were supposed to say she was out," (McNaughton 62).
Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson is an Indigenous mythology-based story that follows sixteen-year-old Jared as he struggles with his powers, relationships and overall life. The theme of family, specifically the decisions and roles of Jared's family, significantly affects his personal growth. More particularly from the actions of Maggie Moody, Phil Martin and Nana Sophia. Maggie Moody, Jared's mother, affects Jared's morals and how he feels about violence, Phil Martin, Jared's father, affects Jared’s emotional maturity, and Nana Sophia embodies the feelings resulting from the abandonment of a family member. Maggie's violent approach to life has desensitized Jared to violence, making him less emotionally vulnerable since violence requires a lack of empathy.
A Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government is a novel surrounding government myths. This novel is written by Garry Wills. From militias to sovereign states, many things that we as a society believe about our history is what he proves wrong, in this book. He brings light to the myths we all believe revealing what truthfully had happened. Garry Wills not only attacks myths that we have made but also different views we have.
Although often used interchangeably, disease and illness differ fundamentally in their meanings and implications. Disease is the commonly thought of concept in which a person suffers due to a physiological or psychological ailment, while illness refers to a culmination of physical, emotional and social suffering of a person. Disease is perceived as the phenomena that affects an organism, while illness affects not only the patient but also their loved ones and community. This distinction is vividly apparent in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, in which Anne Fadiman relays the approaches to a Hmong child named Lia’s epilepsy by her family and her doctors as well as the tumultuous interaction between these caregivers. It is interesting to understand how Hmong culture and a doctor’s
The novel Monster, by Walter Deann Myers, talks about the story of two young men put on trial for the murder of Alguinaldo Nesbitt. Twenty two year old James King and sixteen year old Steve Harmon are put on trial for the crime that ended Alguinaldo Nesbitt life. Alguinaldo Nesbitt was shot with his own gun while working at his own drugstore. Lorelle Henry testifies king was at the store the day of Mr. Nesbitt death, Bobo Evans testifies that King shot Mr. Nesbitt with a chrome, and lastly Osvaldo Cruz testifies that him and King planned and did this get over. On the other hand Dorothy Moore gives king an alibi.
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.
Betsy Betsy, nicknamed “Pollyanna Cowgirl” by Doreen and Esther, is a cheery, bubbly girl that is on the same scholarship as Esther. She seems very well brought-up and like a hard worker. Esther goes back and forth between seeing herself as one with Betsy and one with Doreen, and it seems like Esther wishes she could be as high-spirited and cheerful as Betsy is. Betsy is also quite physically attractive; Esther refers to her “bouncing blonde ponytail and Sweetheart-of-Sigma-Chi smile”. Esther seems to looks upon her with both disdain and admiration.
Mass shootings In the article, “The Fear We Live With” by Jeva Lange (2018) she explains how mass shootings have affected many lives in the United States. She points out that people are very afraid of how the shootings are happening too frequently and America does not care to do anything about it. Mass shootings happen too much in the world and there is not one way to fix them.
Renowned author of Under the Skin and associate professor at CUNY’s Journalism School, Linda Villarosa delivers several key facts in her interview on Black American regarding racial health disparities in America. Villarosa discusses many factors of health disparities, such as the distrust African Americans have of the healthcare system, the unjust treatment of African Americans in the hands of healthcare practitioners, and the underrepresentation of African Americans in clinical trials. Villarosa makes it clear that there is a deep disparity between the treatment of black and white Americans in the healthcare system. The author uses statistics and anecdotal evidence to present a thorough evaluation of health disparities in America.
The Meaning of Freedom: And Other Difficult Dialogues written by Angela Davis explains her personal experiences growing up in Birmingham, Alabama during a time of racial segregation, capitalism and an unjust prison system. With the use of her personal experience and scholarly research, activist Davis investigates the institutionalized biases that support the criminal justice system in order to identify potential reforms that could result in a more just and equal society. In the chapter “The Prison Industrial Complex”, Davis highlights the relationship between the criminal justice system and people of color/immigrants. Several issues are addressed such as fear of crime and the reality of prisons, creation of public enemies, conditions which produce the prison industrial complex, structural connections and
Trespass by Julia Alvarez is a short story that depicts the life of a young immigrant girl whose family has relocated from the Dominican Republic to New Jersey and the many emotions, trials, and tribulations that come with such a massive change. The oldest of four girls, Carla, seems to have the hardest time adapting to this new environment and circumstance. When their mother makes a typical Spanish dessert and inserts a candle to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the move to the States, she says, "Let us please go back home, please, She half prayed and half wished" (Alvarez 99). Aside from the anguish of leaving her extended family and the challenges of adjusting to a new neighborhood, school, and country, she has the strongest ties to the Dominican Republic and the most difficulty assimilating to English and American culture.
In the beginning, the author describes a man who looks to be homeless and how the man stops in front of a baby. When the baby’s mother sees this, she seems to get a bit tense, so she searches inside her purse to find a dollar to give him. The author later questions the mother’s motive for giving the man the dollar and whether she gave it to him because she cared or she was frightened by him. Ascher later writes about an experience she had at a coffee shop. She describes a man, who is dressed poorly and has an unpleasant smell, being given a hot cup of coffee and a paper bag with something inside from the owner of the shop.
