...Eddie Langston ENG 125 Introduction to Literature Instructor: Demeterius Meyers Assignment 1 10/04/2013 Why I hate literature. Well the other day I was busy exploring the depths of literature, appreciating it's glory and ability to spread around thoughts and ideas. But out of nowhere, I stumbled upon a most disturbing piece of information. Apparently, there are places where you can go and read books. That's right. Some depraved lunatics had the idea to go and create buildings where anybody can check out books, read them, and then return them. Only for the cycle to refresh itself. And the worst thing, it's absolutely free. That's right, whoever wants to can just waltz in there and borrow any book they like. It's ridiculous! Now, some of you might be wondering, " Man why are you so against the library? It's a good place...isn't it?" And I can proudly and correctly respond to you ignorant buffoon,"NOT AT ALL!" The library's primary function is and has always been to check out books. Books, and a lot of them literature. Now, some of these books are alright. But the majority of them are so dangerous, that every single book should be banned altogether. Books, especially literature, are filled with dangerous ideas. They are filled with radical thoughts that corrupt our innocent youth, experimental adults, and senile elderly. If it's non-fiction and stated to be true, with various credible sources, people can take the facts and reject them outright. It may surprise you, but...
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...Flowers for Algernon “Flowers for Algernon” is about a man called Charlie who goes through an operation to get smarter. At his work, he gets bullied because he is dumb. Before the operation he goes through some tests, and he cannot beat a mouse in a labyrinth game. After the operation he gets smarter and smarter, he falls in love with his teacher Miss Kinnian. Reading and spelling gets easier. He has to let the TV on all night, so he actually can learn when he is sleeping. After some time he can read faster than most adults, and talk different language. As the story goes by he gets fired from his work, because he is too smart. He realizes that his friends have been making fun at him all the time he has known them. At some point his friend the mouse Algernon cannot beat the labyrinth, and after some time it dies. At the same point Charlie starts to get dumber, reading and spelling gets harder. He gets very frustrated, and do not want to leave his apartment. Now he cannot spell or read as good, his IQ is falling and falling. He gets his old work back working, but there is too many who is feeling sorry for him, and he leaves for New York . The reason why the doctors Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur choose to give Charlie the operation was because he knew what he wanted and would do anything to get smarter. “His friends” Joe and Frank is very nice to him in the beginning in Charlie’s mind. When Charlie got smarter, he realized that they have been making fun of him the whole time....
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...story written by Kurt Vonnegut. The story is a about the society in America in 2081, a man called George and his wife, Hazel, and the way the society is controlling people, so they can fit into what the government call “average”, and thereby achieve the goal of being ‘equal’. In today’s society everybody strikes to be the best, better looking and smarter than anybody else, and therefore the thought about living in a society where everyone is equal might sound tempting, if you find the race of being the best tiring. A lot of the things that most young people are struggling with right now might disappear. No more jealousy and at best no more war. There is often created a dystopian world, when humans are trying to make it a utopian one. The story about Harrison Bergeron concerns this issue. Everybody is equal, which might sound like a utopian world but in fact is a dystopian society to be living in. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the Law. They were equal in every which way. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else” The meaning of the word ‘equal’ has been taking to a whole new level and it is supposed to be making the society a better place, but in fact the thing it is doing, is controlling the citizens and taking away their freedom of thought, intellectual ability and their individual beauty and strength. An intelligent person like George is forced to wear a radio that...
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...Cummings. I read it with my English class in ninth grade, and since then, it has influenced the way I write and think about poetry. In this poem, E.E. Cummings speaks about a great love amidst a dreary, emotionless, and repetitive town. It was the first poem I read that played with language to such a great extent. Looking back at my annotations from ninth grade, I covered every blank space on the page in writing. Cummins plays with form extensively in this poem. It is written in nine quatrains, but the quatrain is the only component of form that stays consistent. The lines don’t have any particular syllable count, but most of them are around 8-9 syllables, except for three lines. Those three lines are, “sun moon stars rain...stars rain sun moon…sun moon stars rain.” Variations of that line, along with three variations of the line, “spring summer autumn winter,” are scattered...
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...Backwoods Southern Belle My literacy narrative is a little different. It’s not exactly how I first learned to read or write but, how I became literate in a different sense. My birthplace, San Juan, Puerto Rico, I remember only certain things. The things I remember are things you would only see on television. Nothing you would want to really imagine for yourself, loved ones or anybody else you know. For example, I remember the heat being constantly unbearable. Nothing like what we are used to here in Alabama. We are used to the season changing and look forward to summer, winter, fall, and spring. Here we deal with weather conditions for a few months and things change up again. But not in Puerto Rico: things don’t change much. Heat is Heat. Sure it gets humid, it rains, it’s sunny, but the heat is always there. I remember some horrible thing I rarely discuss with anybody because I don’t want to have to have people imagining them. I remember fusses and fights between my mother and my grandparents. It wasn’t a happy home. At age 4 I was adopted to a new family- people that couldn’t have children of their on. Adoption was the only was the only way for them to have a family. They were in the military and were stationed at a military base in Puerto Rico when unexpectedly; they got a call about me. Being 4, this was a bigger transformation for me than you would think. I could only speak a little because of never being taught. No one was really there to help me. Most parents spend all...
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...Page1 *256 Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company. In the Court of Appeal. 7 December 1892 [1893] 1 Q.B. 256 Lindley , Bowen and A. L. Smith , L.JJ. 1892 Dec. 6, 7. Contract—Offer by Advertisement—Performance of Condition in Advertisement—Notification of Acceptance of Offer—Wager—Insurance— 8 & 9 Vict. c. 109 — 14 Geo. 3, c. 48, s. 2 . The defendants, the proprietors of a medical preparation called “The Carbolic Smoke Ball,” issued an advertisement in which they offered to pay 100l. to any person who contracted the influenza after having used one of their smoke balls in a specified manner and for a specified period. The plaintiff on the faith of the advertisement bought one of the balls, and used it in the manner and for the period specified, but nevertheless contracted the influenza:— Held, affirming the decision of Hawkins, J., that the above facts established a contract by the defendants to pay the plaintiff 100l. in the event which had happened; that such contract was neither a contract by way of wagering within 8 & 9 Vict. c. 109 , nor a policy within 14 Geo. 3, c. 48, s. 2 ; and that the plaintiff was entitled to recover. APPEAL from a decision of Hawkins, J. 1 The defendants, who were the proprietors and vendors of a medical preparation called “The Carbolic Smoke Ball,” inserted in the Pall Mall Gazette of November 13, 1891, and in other *257 newspapers, the following advertisement: “100l. reward will be paid by the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company to...
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...road rage, or eating too much, or forgetting to wear your safety equipment. Twenty percent of the people living in the United Safer States of America are in jail, so all the manual labor in the country is done by prisoners. I thought this was a sports book when I picked it up because of the cover, but it’s more like science fiction. Some parts are pretty funny, but it’s also kind of sad because the future looks like it could be no fun at all, kind of like that book Feed, which is good too, only by some other guy with initials instead of a first name. Bo Marsten, the hero, is in love with this girl, and when she goes out with another guy he loses it and tries to hit the other guy and ends up in prison in Canada making pizzas for McDonalds and being chased by polar bears and playing tackle football which is illegal because everything that can possibly hurt anybody is against the law. Bo has only two friends--a talking troll he invented on his computer for his AI class, and an unstoppable fat kid named Rhino. It sounds goofy, but it all makes sense when you read it, except for maybe the part about the mechanical dog that does everything a real dog does including pooping. The funniest parts of the book are when Bo talks to Bork, his pet artificial intelligence. I also liked the football scenes and the snowmobile races. Rash, by Pete Hautman, is about polar bears, pizza, artificial intelligence, mass hysteria, football, head transplants, and a talking monkey. It takes place about...
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...That includes that each girl should be looked upon as the same attractiveness. Universal truth of society encourages to be an individual in a specific belief. This could be in religion, family decisions, or job opportunities. Society also grants freedom. Everybody in the United States is capable of attaining...
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...Conclusion Choosing the right path makes all the difference. Thesis statement: This poem is a symbol of choosing which path we will take in life – the path to eternal life or the path that leads to destruction. The meaning of “The Road Not Taken” Some people have said that Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Less Traveled” is a tricky poem. I have even read where Frost himself used the word “tricky” to describe this particular piece of his. However when reading the poem especially as a Christian there is one possible interpretation that should stand out. That is that this poem is a symbol of choosing which path we will take in life – the path to eternal life or the path that leads to destruction. From what I have read many people do not see the two roads as the two possible roads we can take in life, but one must see that at least as a possibility. The mood of this poem is one that is a bit on the serious side. Of course there are many poems much more serious than this, but it is not to be taken lightly. When something is talking about choosing eternal life, or the path that leads to destruction it is not something anybody should take lightly. That is the theme of the poem, choose the path of life. In life people have to make choices. In the poem there are “two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” These are representing the two paths we have to choose from in life. The road to heaven or the road to hell these are the two paths we see in the wood. Frost talks about wanting to...
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...Shaming: to publicly humiliate or shame for being or doing something dishonorable or disrespectful. Historically shaming has been all about control and social norms. The society responds to misbehavior by publically shaming the person in order to each him a moral lesson and lead him to repentance. It is about imposing hardship on the offender that closely mirrors his wrongdoing. We can see through out history, cultures have resorted to publically criticizing, flaying, branding, egregious form of punishment like chopping body, stoning etc., in response to violation of social norms. Intention of public shaming is to humiliate a person and has been integral to the legal system during its evolutionary stage. Shaming was primary means of restoring...
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...1. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Published in 1958, Paper back. 2. After reading through Achebe’s novel, “Things Fall Apart,” and doing some extra research, one of Chinua’s main purposes in writing this novel (in my opinion) was in fact to prove to foreigners that Africa was different from what they would perceive it to be. Anybody who has read through “Things Fall Apart” would be able to notice that Chinua was trying to really unveil Africa’s culture. Chinua really projected the tribe’s cultural values, rituals, and common practices purposely to change the Westerners perception of Africa as a continent. Before this novel was written, most westerners would believe Africa was just a simple continent just as other ones. Chinua Ultimately wanted to change this view of Africa to something more realistic and conclusive. Chinua did this by writing his novel, “Things Fall Apart. “ 3. Chinua did an excellent job when attempting to achieve his purpose. Achebe wrote this novel with the intent to alter the perception of Africa to Westerners. “Unoka had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest.” ( Achebe, pgs. 16) This quote in the novel allows readers to assume most tribes in Africa believe in superstitions. Chinua made sure to put details into who the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves was, Chinua also gave detail on how and why people would seek into the dark hole and talk to this “spiritual” figure. This detail...
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...granite in life because one day something like this could happen to anybody. You must make the best of your life and live a happy life with no regrets, so if this were to ever happen at least you lived your life to the fullest. Your family will have something to remember you for and even if you cannot remember these memories everybody will remember who you once were. First the old man married the love of his life and was ready to be with her forever, and remember all of the good memories that they would have together. The man faced an unexpected turn in his life, and was completely defenseless of what the outcome was going to be. He was put into the hospital and was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This disease basically erases somebody’s brain, and makes them think like a child and forget how to do everything they once could do with no problem at all. The man now unable to read acts like a child as leaves the hospital that was his temporary home for a while. When he leaves, he walks up to the house that he remembers being his at one time. He remembers certain details about his house and when he opens the door he sees his wife but cannot figure out who she really is and what she is doing greeting him back into his home. Second the speaker is a widow speaking about her husband who once loved her with all of his heart. Now the man has no memory of any of this, and the widow is telling how something like this can happen to anybody, and how it is a...
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...that ranges from teens/young adults to adults, mainly because it only describes the men side of things and doesn’t really talk about women’s point of view only describes how the men see them. Not only does Of Mice and Men show few details of sexism it also shows some racism towards colored people, by having Crooks ( the only colored man on this farm) staying in the stables and not allowing him in with the rest of the men. Most of the men in the book do not have a high education, which allows people of all education levels to read and comprehend the literature of Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men was mainly intended to show how cruel and unfair the migrant farmers get treated and their hardships they went through, allowing pretty much anybody who is interest in that era, or anybody who wants to learn more, to read this piece of art and comprehend everything it is trying to say. However the reader decides to comprehend Of Mice and Men, they could and could not have an emotional response to John Steinbeck’s novel. If you’re a female you may have more of an emotional response then a guy because some of the passages in the novel can be a bit cruel to our sex; or if you are colored “they play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black” (excerpt from Of Mice and Men). The Message The si no literary reference in Of Mice and Men that I can find. The diction of Of Mice and Men refers to uneducated men speaking how they typically would. Of Mice and Men used more incorrect Euphemism...
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...won't know about it. The media can put their point across and not say anything about the other arguments involved. They have one view however, this is not necessarily the right view. In this essay, I am going to view both arguments and then conclude with my opinion and the argument that I agree with. In the media, there are a lot of programmes such as Family Guy, Citizen Khan, The Simpsons and Father Ted where there are jokes about religion. I feel that most of these jokes are funny however, I think that some of the jokes aren't funny and that they could offend some people of that religion. I think that this quote, 'Offending the minority to entertain the majority' explains what the media thinks. But is it right to do this? What if the 'minority' was the whole religion? How would we know? I don't agree with this quote. This is because we don't know how big the 'minority' is. It could only be a few people but it also could be the whole religion it was directed at. People take things in different ways. How would the media know how many people it was going to offend? There can be lots of damage done by stereotyping/ joking about a religion as it is a subject that many people feel strongly about. It is something people follow for their whole lives and something that they look up to. It is very offensive when someone makes a joke about it. This quote: 'There are no limits to comedy...there is nothing you cannot be funny about...' is similar as I feel the same way. I think that...
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...Imani Swinton ELA 1 / 2 Period Writing Prompt: Who was the real monster in Frankenstein? The real monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein wasn’t the “Wretched” creature. It was the creator of him. The man who thought he could play god. The man responsible for multiple deaths. This man is the one, and only, Victor Frankenstein.Woah, mind-blowing, right? How, though? Let me explain. If you are a Christian or a person with similar beliefs, then you know that in the beginning God made a man. That man’s name was Adam. He was the first man ever according to Genesis. What the bible doesn’t explain thoroughly is whether or not Adam was brought to the world as a baby like Jesus, or if he was just mad a man that woke up in the middle of the Garden...
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