Riven Rock Essays

"What makes us Americans is our shared commitment to an ideal -- that all of us are created equal, and all of us have the chance to make of our lives what we will." - Barack Obama. In The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle, he writes about the topic of immigration using a couple named Candido and América who are trying to better their lives by living in the U.S. Boyle showcases the myths and false beliefs of millions of Americans who fail to see that immigrants are human just like them. Boyle uses

Borders are everywhere, whether seen or unseen, there are language borders, walls, social status division, race, and distance just to name a few. Borders play a constant role in humanity’s everyday life, those same boundaries – both seen and unseen- play a large role in the novel The Tortilla Curtain, by T.C.Boyle, especially the front gate and later surrounding wall of the Arroyo Blanco Estates. These boundaries represent the divide between humanity and animality, wealth and poverty and paranoia

Psychological Outcomes of Traumatic Events The Tortilla Curtain, written by T.C. Boyle is a dramatic story about an illegal immigrant named Cándido Rincón from Tepoztlán, Mexico, whose behavior demonstrates the effects and outcomes of psychological strain after getting exposed to a traumatic and stressful event (AC). In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a handbook used by health care professionals to analyze mental disorders, explains how posttraumatic stress disorder

Literary devices incorporate a key to a captivating novel. Symbolism shows significance in the way that objects or events in the story have several meanings and also connect the characters to each other. Irony has importance in this novel because it requires the reader to think twice about what the author wants the reader to understand. Since the contents Boyle uses in similes and personifications are well compared, the author achieves a better understanding from the reader. Boyle’s use of literary

"This has got to be, patently, the most unbelievable, the most ridiculous story I have ever heard," remarks the narrator and protagonist of Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase, almost as if aware of the fantastical interweaves within the otherwise realistic, believable novel. In many of his works, Murakami has adopted this signature style of portraying the unbelievable and far-fetched in realistic settings, and is one of numerous writers and artists to have done so throughout the years. This technique

Cultural Borders There are many types of borders, and these borders separate the people of the world. Cultural borders separate peoples’ way of life. In the books The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle, and Night by Elie Wiesel, borders divide the characters and cause cultural separation between people. Cultural borders are created by ignorance, fear and misunderstandings. Ignorance causes people to make assumptions because they are unknowledgeable of the truth

“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists” (Franklin D. Roosevelt). In The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle, Delaney and other characters of the book introduce the racism of most communities by bringing up the topics of coyotes, borders, physically and mentally, and illegal Mexican immigrants. Each topic ties one another together. To most, there shows a problem with the immigrants coming to America, just because they didn’t

The southwest border towns located in the southwest United States influence a dark topical narrative of human-trafficking, narco-trafficking, and femicide geographically specific to this area and the post-NAFTA time period. By a dark topical narrative, I mean the stark vulnerability and hopeful healing within a border town. According to one interpretation of border towns, drug dealing and kidnapping emerge as factors causing the disappearance of Rafa and Crucita. The Guardians by Ana Castillo clearly

The ode is a poetic form meant to praise or exult a certain individual, usually in regards to their athletic ability. Historically, there have been odes to Olympians, leaders, and even Grecian urns, but in Pablo Neruda’s poem “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market,” he is commending a dead fish amidst a sea of spoiling vegetation. He praises the tuna for being the premier fish in the sea, and how even the dead fish is magnificent in comparison to the surrounding prosaic goods; Neruda insists it is a

Theaters are not the only place for musicals, the big screen has proven worthy of it as well. Almost everyone love to watch musical films. One of the reasons is that it involves catchy songs, that when you listen to it once, you would want to listen to it over and over again for the next couple of days, and even if the musical film is so old, it would make you want to rewatch it just to get into the songs. Another reason of course is the dance moves, musical films has songs on them, that involves

the sides of the rock. We rowed our wooden boat

Rocky, A movie about how a simple man who is down on his luck, receives a life changing opportunity. The main character finds love, with a local shy girl. The story is a rags to riches tale, that takes place in a time period where the good in the world was often lost. The movie Rocky will inspire hope to any individual, who is down on their luck or an outcast to society. The film production was even an rejected my many. The main actor, Sylvester Stallone, had to write his own script and was the

I stepped on the rock and got the back of my foot wet in the chilling stream of water. “Come on Cody,” I said as I pulled him up over the ledge and then made my way up the creek bank. As I got up the bank I could smell the disgusting fume of recently blown up fireworks

A good leader may not be the kindest person, but the thing that matters the most is how they lead their nation. A national leader is someone who is confident, strong minded, physically strong, provides protection and provides supplies for their people. In Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, Jack proves that he would make a better national leader than Ralph. Jack creates jobs and maintains them. He also provides safety for his people and he has an intelligent mindset of how to rule his

Film Music Review —Titanic Titanic is a beautiful love story happening on a sinking ship and an unparalleled success in the cinema, with 11 Oscar rewards won and countless nominations. It is a very expensive film to be made, and the first film to break the billion box office record. As I revisited this film, once again I was truly touched by the star-crossed lovers and the humanity in front of a disaster. Indeed, the world was moved by Titanic. It is considered to be the movie that ‘make men cry’

A small rock or just a collection of black sand can open up doors of hell for you! “She is Pele-honua-mea, Pele of the Sacred Land. She is Pele-‘ai’houna, Pele the eater of land, when she devours the land with her flames. She who rules the volcanoes of Hawai’i, and Mankind has no power to resist her. When Pele is heard from, her word is the final word.” Pele is the goddess of fire and volcanoes. Pele’s curse is a folklore about Pele giving bad luck to those who steal from her, it was invented in

subject; having a hands on approach with rocks and minerals. Soon, I was able to interpret paelo-environments using geological laws, rock types and fossils; this was engaging for me as the order in which the rocks were lithified and altered by other processes could be put together like a jigsaw puzzle; this stretched my understanding of the subject further.

Weathering and erosion are two processes that sort of shape Earth’s ground and rocks. Weathering is either a mechanical or chemical process that breaks down or shapes rocks, while erosion transports the leftovers of weathering, away. Understanding these processes helps us understand the way lakes, rivers, mountains, shorelines, canyons, and all sorts of other things were formed. For example the Grand Canyon was formed by erosion created from the Colorado River. It is very important to understand

The statue is carved from Diorite; an intrusive igneous rock composed principally of the silicate minerals plagioclase feldspar, biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diorite. The Statue of Gudea has a smooth shiny finish to it. The detail carved into the statue shows this figure to be one of wealth and status. The shape of the hat and the robe on the legs right down to the toes.

million year old rocks because they were looking for a missing link. They had found fish without amphibious qualities in rocks 10 million years older than their focus age, and 10 million years later the focus age they had found amphibians that looked different than fish. Thus sending them on the search for a missing link. The type of rock these fossils where found in were sedimentary because sedimentary allows the fossil to be preserved inside of it. The igneous and metamorphic rocks are formed from