...vital to the plot and themes of Heroes: Cormier presents him in opposition to Francis and uses him to explore the central issues of the novel. From the very first chapter of the novel it is clear that LaSalle is going to be a very important character, as Francis tells us that he is ‘the man I am going to kill.’ Initially there is some ambiguity about this: Francis’s description of his own horrific injuries combined with this statement are designed to suggest he is a monster, and therefore might give sympathy to LaSalle. However, even by this stage the reader is empathising with Francis, and therefore suspects that LaSalle may not be the victim. 2. This ambiguity about LaSalle’s character is continued through the book, reflecting the theme of concealment and revelation. Despite LaSalle’s ‘dazzling movie-star’ good looks when he arrives in the town, there is a sense of uneasy mystery about him, as to why he turned his back on show-business. Cormier uses this technique of foreshadowing and undermining throughout the novel, reflecting the uncertainty of many of the themes and characters of the book. In addition to this, Cormier’s structuring of the book, with the three interweaving time lines, leads to the reader being fed information bit by bit, creating a sense of suspense about the events of the past, and what will happen when Francis finally confronts LaSalle. This is supported by the use of the first person narration, so that we only see LaSalle from Francis’s point of view; we...
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...Francis finds Arthur drunk outside the back of the St Jude club one night. Arthur is crying, because he is haunted by the war but nobody will talk about it. He scoffs at the idea of ‘heroes’ and says they were all just scared boys, and that there was no glamour involved. He says ‘We weren’t heroes. We were only there.’ This can be interpreted in two ways. One is that it is wrong for people to call them heroes, because they didn’t act like heroes. It was merely chance that they were there in the war. But when Francis remembers Arthur’s words right at the end of the book, it gives them a different interpretation. Francis is suggesting that merely by being there they were heroes – scared or not, they did what they had to do and did not run away. The Silver Star is the only medal awarded for ‘heroism’, we are told. Both LaSalle and Francis have been awarded this medal, for saving the lives of their fellow soldiers. LaSalle does so by taking out a machine gun nest, Francis by falling on a grenade – the grenade that destroys his face. Is it significant that one wins it by committing an act of violence, whereas the other wins it by taking the damage himself? It impresses the townsfolk – but Francis wants to remain anonymous. Heroism The scrapbook kept by the ‘Strangler’ at the St. Jude’s club contains newspaper clippings about all the ‘heroes’ of Frenchtown, including both LaSalle and Francis. The other men regard it as something of a symbol, something to be proud of, but Francis...
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...Francis Cassavant * Francis is the first person narrator of the novel. It is told through his eyes, directly to the reader. At the end of the book it is implied he will become a writer, and that Heroes is his book, adding realism to the text. * Throughout the novel Francis reiterates his love for Nicole. Right from the outset we know that it will ‘always be Nicole.’ His love appears hopeless, and at first we think it is because he can never get up the courage to speak to her. * He describes his physical injuries from the war in grotesque, horrifying detail, emphasising his monstrous appearance. He tries to present his inner character as being similarly monstrous, by telling us very early on that he intends to kill Larry LaSalle. Despite this there are hints that he is not that monstrous – he describes the gun as being ‘like a tumour on my thigh’, which suggests he is not comfortable with it. * He is driven by the guilt of having left Nicole to be raped by LaSalle, an event for which he blames himself, because he broke his promise not to leave her alone that night. * Francis has a strong sense of guilt. He has had a Catholic education and in chapter one he prays in church. He says he is filled with a sense of shame and guilt because he is praying for the man he wants to kill (LaSalle). Similarly he decides to join the army because suicide would not only be a sin, but shameful when there were soldiers sacrificing their lives for others in the war. * Although...
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...support the theme of human struggle against nature in the stories "The Old Man and the Sea," "Indian Camp," "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Ernest Hemingway. Through comparative analysis of these stories' underlying themes I will address the initiation experiences of his heroes. Human dignity, morality, and the formation of human individuality through mental strife and the struggle against nature are often themes of Hemingway. Humans cope with the complexity of the world by developing simple mental models based on opposite parts. Life and death are together, two extremes of one energy. Life is the active force and death is the inactive force, but they cannot be separated. Thus, they are two aspects of one reality. When people are reading about living beings and mythological beings or those who are dead, they view the word of the dead as a living world. The dead eat, sleep and move. In the book “The Hero in Hemingway's short stories”, J. DeFalco points out that: " in the Myth there are usually three dominant movements which are cyclic in pattern. They are the departure of the hero, the initiation, and the return from heroic adventure." (17). The movements of the hero to the world where mythological beings dwell is called passage. Usually, the boat, which carries heroes, travels over the river from one bank to another. So, in the myth there is a clear boundary. However, there are no clear boundaries in fables between the...
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...What is a hero? Join me in exploring heroism. ‘The Ballad of the Green Berets,' by Barry Sadler, is a tribute song that honors the bravery of the United States Army Air Forces during the Vietnam War. In ‘How Jackie Robinson, Wife, Rachel Helps Break Baseball Color,' by the author Chris Lamb, Rachel Robinson plays an important role in breaking the color barrier by supporting her husband and others. In Heros Chapter 8, author Comer writes a novel. In Chapter 8, Francis walks into a bar and talks to other vets about the war. These three texts similarly portray heroism by showing people doing big things—soldiers fighting in wars, Rachel Robinson's husband Jakie in baseball fighting color, and characters in a book being heroes—war vets that can help people by losing something. They all show that being a hero means bravery and sacrifice. In my first talking point, I will discuss how bravery is a key characteristic of heroism....
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...quote is from one of Robert Cormier’s books, it is the aftermath of all that had happened throughout the book. She is left broken and emotionless, a common theme for his endings, but there was a reason for this. This reason was his use of extremes. Throughout four of Robert Cormier's Books, he clearly used extremes to add drama, this unnecessary drama caused his books to end in harsh unpredictable ways. These ‘harsh’ endings are what caused the female from above to become broken and emotionless....
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...Hero Essay English 9 Mr. Castellano Our next major writing assignment is to write an essay about someone you consider to be a hero. We are doing this essay now because it coincides nicely with our reading of The Odyssey. As we have discussed in class, Odysseus is the archetypal Western hero: brave, strong, clever, quick-thinking, steadfast. The list could go one. My point is that as we read about this ancient and, I believe, still relevant hero I want you to think and write about someone who is a hero to you. This should be a fun assignment. I am sure you have heard all too often that there are no more heroes today, that everyone we look up to is corrupt and will ultimately disillusion us. I whole heartedly disagree. Heroes are everywhere we look: we just need to look. (In a book I read this Summer, one of the characters says, “We find what we look for.”) Heroes can be people we know personally and people we have only heard about. Here are only a few suggestions: Jesus Christ, St. Francis, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, Captain Chesley Sullenberger, your Mom or Dad, an athlete, coach, teacher, or friend. Again, the list goes on. Just thinking about and planning this essay (as well as writing it, of course) will be a good exercise in recognizing how many heroes you have – how many people strive for high ideals and live virtuous lives. They’re there: look for them. Part of this essay will include what you define as...
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...In Heroes, the main character, Francis, is a 19 year old war hero that has had his face disfigured in World War II due to him jumping on a grenade. The author of the story, Robert Cormier, develops Francis in a very interesting way as the story moves on. Francis Cassavant goes from shy and low self esteem, to having a little confidence, then to an insecure man after he disfigured his face. First, Francis’ insecurity of himself in the present time of the book makes him withdraw from society. In the story Francis says,”People glance at me in surprise and look away quickly or cross the street when they see me coming. I don’t blame them,” (Cormier 4). Also, he says“ If anything bothers me, it’s my nose. Or rather, the absence of my nose. My nostrils...
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...typically a short summary of the document. When you’re ready to add your content, just click here and start typing.] Kimberly Watkins Kimberly Watkins Over the last 12 weeks I have spent a lot of time pondering the questions that have been presented in this course. What is the meaning of life? How do we live a meaningful life? Is there a meaning at all? Before this course, I can honestly say that these questions never really entered my mind. I always felt that I was here for a reason, but I could never clearly define what that reason was. Perhaps I never will. I grew up in a household where religion did not exist, my parents had been catholic in their younger years but throughout time they had lost their faith. They never prevented me from engaging myself in organized religion, but I had always found myself drawn to more of a non-believing science based thought process. Growing up I believed that I was an atheist which is simply defined as “a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings” (Merriam Webster, 2014). But that definition is so rigid and unmoving, and life is not like that, it’s not simply black and white. If I were to have to identify myself as having a particular belief now I would have to say that I believe in a combination of agnosticism and pantheism. An agnostic person is simply defined as “a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as god, as the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that...
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...David “Davy” Crockett David Crockett was a frontiersman, folk hero, congressman, and Alamo defender. He was one of the most celebrated and mythologized figures in history. His biographers often said there were two David Crockett’s; David, the congressman and frontiersman and Davy, “the larger-than-life” folk hero. For this reason, he appeared in many books and a series of almanacs. Davy was a loving father, son, and husband. Even though he did not have much success as a congressman, he still had an impact in the wars. Davy was born on August 17, 1786, in East Tennessee around the Nolichucky River. He was the fifth child out of nine. His mother was Rebecca and his father was John Crockett....
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...------------------------------------------------- MARIKINACATHOLICSCHOOL ------------------------------------------------- Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned ------------------------------------------------- Trunkline: 645.87.38 ------------------------------------------------- website: www.mcs.edu.ph ------------------------------------------------- email address: marikinacatholicschool@mcs.edu.ph ------------------------------------------------- S.Y. 2014-2015 A Narrative Report “With English we can become Heroes” Everything starts with a plan. As early as August we started planning this whole thing. We started with the theme; we decided to focus on heroism since that was the year of the laity and so we come up with the theme: With English we can become Heroes. We also decided to retain all the previous activities from last year’s celebration and we added only one activity which is the poetry writing contest. When November strike, we started with the bulletin board. We also had our department shirt and we decided to use the cute heroine as our mascot. We make it simple and of course related to the theme. The launching happened inside the classrooms with the English teachers patiently explaining all the activities and asking for participants. We also had the rule that no student will join two activities but of course with few exception. The first activity that we had is the best English speaking class – it’s quite familiar...
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...History of English Literature Overview Anglo-Saxon Literature (500-1100) The Angles and Saxon conquered what is now called England in the 5th and 6th centuries. Christian missionaries taught the English to write. Northumbria soon produced Caedmon and Bede. Heroic poetry of a Christian kind is the chief legacy of Old English literature, notably Beowulf and the Elegies. A considerable prose literature grew up after King Alfred. Middle English Literature (1100-1500) Literature in England in this period was not just in English and Latin but in French as well and developed in directions set largely in France. Epic and Elegy gave way to romance and Lyric. English writing revived fully in English after 1360 and flowered in the reign of Richard II (1372-99). It gained a literary standard in London English after 1425 and developed modern forms of verse, prose and of Drama. The conquest of England in 1066 by William of Normandy displaced English as medium of literature. The language of new rulers was French. Saxons dealing with the King had to learn French and French was the language of court and the law for three centuries. Four genres of Middle English are: i. 1. Fabliau 2. Lyric 3. Dream Allegory 4. Ballad Geoffrey Chaucer Chaucer is the best story teller and the narrative poet. Chaucer tells his stories in a most effective way. He has the knack of transforming an old tale into a new one in such a manner that its appeal increases manifold and its human...
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... Of the English Department - Lviv 2011 - Contents: 1. Introduction……………………………………………………….3-4 2. Chapter I Interconnections of the stylistic means in creating characteristics…………………………………………………….....5-7 3. Chapter II The Disintegration of the main character…………………………………………………………....8-14 4. Chapter III Versetile roles of the main character…………………………………………………………..15-17 Conclusion……………………………………………………….,.19-20 References………………………………………………………...21-22 Introduction Since XVII poets started paying much attention to creating images, especially to the description of new heroes, their appearances. Gradually developing...
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...BOOK REVIEW UNBROKEN: A WORLD WAR II STORY OF SURVIVAL, RESILIENCE, AND REDEMPTION 1. About the Book (a) Title of the book : Unbroken - A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (b) Author : Laura Hillenbrand (c) Year of publication : November 15, 2010 (d) Publisher : Random House. (e) No of pages : 473 Nos (f) Type of book : A biography of World War II hero (g) Other works of Author : Sea biscuit(An International Bestseller) (h) Price : $27 2. About the Author (a) Laura Hillenbrand, born on 15 May 1967 in Fairfax, Virginia is an American author of books and magazine articles. Hillenbrand spent much of her childhood riding bareback "screaming over the hills" of her father's Sharpsburg, Maryland, farm. A favorite of hers was ‘Come On Seabiscuit’, a 1963 children book. (b) Hillenbrand suffers from debilitating chronic fatigue syndrome, and remains largely confined to her home. On the irony of writing about physical paragons while being so incapacitated herself, She reportedly stated that she was looking for a way out of her dull home-bound life and she couldn’t have lived it physically, so she was going to have it intellectually. It was, therefore, an exhilarating experience for debilitated Hillenbrand to ride Seabiscuit in her imagination and it was just as fantastic to be there for her alongside Louie as he was breaking the NCAA mile record and with people...
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...forest ... "- With these lines begins one of the greatest and most brilliant works of world literature - "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. "This is a poem about the Dante," danteida, "and at the same time, a poem about a man who, descending and ascending the ladder of the universe, cleaned, and acquires perfect knowledge." People at all times sought to know the universe. And he could not. Maybe that's why his "comedy" to this day loved by ordinary readers and critics, and researchers are still hotly debated around her, every day, opening in this work, something new, not yet solved. "" Comedy "- it's poetry, which has become itself the judge, interpreter, and the key to unlocking secrets" - rightly remarked Alexander L. Dobrokhotov in his book "Dante Alighieri". The theme of my work - "The conductors and the twins Dante and their functions in the" Divine Comedy. '"I think for most of its first full disclosure should understand that in general it is a product. First, the genre of "Comedy" - a vision. The entire poem - a "journey to the underworld, this poet in a vision." However, it is worth noting that "in the" Divine Comedy "the central character - not an abstract" I "and Dante with all the features of his personality and life events of the past ... At the same time," Comedy "is a fiction that develops on the literary laws." Dobrokhotov draws our attention to the fact that "the combination of real and personal fate of the literary scene was made possible by some middle managers...
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