...The Knife Thrower What is it within us people, that makes us want to do things that we know are wrong? Sometimes it is a guilty pleasure; we all have at least one. Sometimes, it can be lust and temptation. The Pultizer Prize-winning author, Steven Millhauser, invites us to experience a single performance act through eyes of an anonymous spectator. Hensch and his assistant host the act. Hensch is described through anonymous spectator’s eyes and rumoured stories about Hensch. Hensch is known to be bold, mysterious and a skilled knife thrower. Even though he goes over the line, the audience is tempted to stay and even volunteer. In general, the story is about a single performance act of the knife thrower and about people’s guilt for going to see this outrageous act. However, through a unique choice of narrator in his novel The Knife Thrower, Steven Millhauser creates empathy for Hensch within his readers. In addition to Millhauser’s use of symbols and colours, the story turns out to be more than a single performance act of a knife thrower. The choice of narrator, which is first person plural, is already introduced in first few lines of The Knife Thrower. “When we learned that Hensch, the knife thrower, was stopping at our town (…) we hesitated, wondering what we felt.” (ll.1-3) while using this type of narration, the readers can see things form the long-range perspective, the audience’s perspective. This way the readers get the feeling...
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...Essay on ”The Knife Thrower” To make a choice is easy, but to make the right one can sometimes be very difficult. To speak one’s mind and stand up to your opinion can also be tough, especially when in a large crowd, but sometimes this is the most important time for doing so. In Steven Millhauser’s short story, “The Knife Thrower”, the ambiguity of the narrator’s view on the knife thrower’s act is really drawn out and exposed in the spotlight, very unlike the knife thrower’s act itself which is very mystical and sort of hidden in the shadows. “The Knife Thrower” - the name says it all, but at the same time it tells us nothing about the text. The story is very secretive and does a very good job capturing the reader. It seems as if once you have read a couple of lines, you are instantly drawn into the mystical and dark atmosphere in which the story is unfolding, and you simply cannot stop reading. To mention some of the themes in the story there are entertainment, moral responsibility and passivity. These three themes come together very nicely in the story and they play a big part in shaping the reader’s impression of the audience’s opinions towards Hensch and his performance. The knife thrower, Hensch, is the main character of the story, but throughout the text we gain very little knowledge of him. He is very mystical and doesn’t speak a word during his act, of course this is done to make him an anonymous, but still a central character for the story. “If rumors of this...
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...The Knife Thrower – An essay The story ‘’The Knife Thrower’’ is an American short story published in 1997, and written by Steven Millhauser. The text is an obvious criticism to the postmodern society, in which we are living. It mainly deals with the divided minds of society, which are dazzlingly confused. The minds are confused in condition of dividing up what good and bad thoughts and lusts are. Throughout the story, we are presented to the relatively disturbing, but yet relatable theme ‘’Moral Duality’’. The theme shines through by the main setting of the story, which happens to be in a circus, during an immensely thrilling performance. The theme ‘’Moral Duality’’ is for instance seen when the main person is watching the knife thrower’s show: ‘’ The knife struck beside her neck. He had missed – had he missed? – and we felt a sharp tug of disappointment, which changed at once to shame, deep shame, for we hadn’t come for blood, only for – well, something else;…’’ (ll. 58-61 P.2). forklar citatet Theme characterization support Firstly, it’s important to mention, that the theme ‘’Moral Duality’’ is supported several times in the main quote: ‘’ The knife struck beside her neck. He had missed – had he missed? – and we felt a sharp tug of disappointment, which changed at once to shame, deep shame, for we hadn’t come for blood, only for – well, something else;…’’ (ll. 58-61 P.2). Apart from the divided minds, the fact that the main persons are described in plural is really interesting...
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...published in 1997, bring up the to-pic “entertainment” for discussion; have too many boundaries been crossed? Have we lost our innocence and dignity in the search of a cheap thrill? The most relevant themes in the story are: entertainment, moral responsibility and passivity. These three themes come together very nicely in the story and they play a big part in shaping the readers impression of the audience´s opinions towards Hensch and his performance. The knife thrower, Hensch, is the main character of the story, but throughout the text we gain very little knowledge of him. He is very mystical and does not speak a word during his act; of course this is done to make him an anonymous, but still a central character for the story. Susan Parker, the girl next door, symbolizes the whole community´s loss of innocence. Du-ring the show, they did not protest when their boundaries are crossed, they become victims of en-tertainment´s appendages, which make one forget what is right and wrong. Hensch is the knife thrower, known for crossing boundaries, carrying out forbidden and dangerous. Hensch is descri-beed as a mysterious man with black hair and black clothes who performs his show with arro-gance and indifference towards the audience, and it...
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...Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Details: Date of Submission: The Theme of Groupthink in “The Sisterhood of the Night” and “The Lottery” In “The Sisterhood of the Night” by Steven Millhauser and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, groupthink is a central theme that authors used to explain their main idea. Groupthink is a phenomenon in psychology occurring to individuals where their desire for conformity within their group results in a deviant outcome. This means that the members consider minimizing their conflict while trying to reach a consensus decision without evaluating the alternatives critically. “The Sisterhood of the Night” and “The Lottery” presents this concept in details with relevant examples trying to depict the use of the theme. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a fiction story explaining the idea of the modern community in arbitrarily stoning one of their own for the purpose of satisfying a ritual. Their idea, in real situation, is unbelievable. From the setting, “The Lottery” is in unidentified American town having some annual tradition. Every year, residents of the town play a lottery that happens in the main square. The residents of the place have no memory of the exact procedure followed or the origin of the process (The Dangers in Human Group Animal Instinct). Likewise, they do not bother replacing the decaying black box used for many years containing the lottery tickets. They are too lazy to enquire on the situation but rather...
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...Weapons Package #1 | | Brass Knuckles, Bat, 9mm, Shotgun, Micro MP5, AK-47, Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Molotovs, Spray Can. | Weapons Package #2 | | Knife, Desert Eagle, Sawed-Off, Tec-9, M4, Sniper Rifle, Flame Thrower, Grenades, Fire Estinguisher. | Weapons Package #3 | | Chainsaw, Silenced 9mm, Spaz, MP5, M4, Sniper Rifle, Heat Seaking Rocket Laucher, Remote Explosives. | $250,000 & Full Health & Armor | | Infinite Health * | | Makes you mostly bulletproof, and fire, punches and melee attacks don't hurt you anymore. You can still be hurt by explosions, falling, getting run over, and drowning. | Infinite Ammo | | Infinite Oxygen (Lung Capacity) * | | Swim underwater and never have to worry about drowning! | Commit Suicide | | Adrenaline Mode * | | Never Get Hungry * | | Hitman level in all weapons | | Police, Stats & Gangs Never Wanted | | Wanted level never increases. Doesn't erase stars you already have. | 6 Star Wanted Level * | | Lower Wanted Level | | Decreases the wanted level by decrements of 2 each time the the code is used. | Recruit Anyone (9MM) * | | Recruit normal pedestrians into your gang. If they don't normally have a weapon, they'll carry a 9mm. | Maximum Vehicle Stats | | Maximum Respect | | ...
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...Michael Landon 1 Lifespan Development and Personality Paper Chérie Brooks PSY200 Gerry Winters October 22, 2004 Michael Landon 2 Michael Landon was many things to many people. We all know him from the various popular television series he acted in as a moral, decent, kind, Christian man. For the most part this is who he was; however, Landon had another side to him that we, his audience, never got to witness. There were many forces, some good, and some bad, that influenced his life, morals, emotions, mind, and faith. Parental and social systems greatly affected his developmental growth and adjustment as well. Landon was born October 31, 1936, as Eugene Maurice Orowitz, the second and last child of Eli Orowitz and Peggy O’Neal. His mother was a former actress, comedian, rumored to be an ex-Ziegfield Follies girl and an Irish Catholic. His father was a publicity agent, theater manager, and a Jew. He had an older sister, Evelyn. Home life in the Orowitz family was not normal. There was high tension between his parents and he found them difficult to cope with. Landon suffered much heartache and trauma at the hands of his mother. She was depressed, suicidal, volatile, and abusive. As an adult, Landon was interviewed many times and quoted as saying this of his mother, “She was a stabber, a kicker, and a wacko” (landonland.com), and that she was “…off her rocker” (bonanzaworld.net). Looking back at his childhood, his memories of her were not fond. ...
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...Phillip Mulligan Professor Lothman Introduction to Psychology 23.April.2013 Europe I have been to Europe twice in my life. The first time in 2006, I went with my immediate family. We flew to Germany, then drove to France, Austria, Switzerland, and even saw some of the Torino Olympics in Italy. It was an amazing trip, really opened up my eyes. The second time around was just this past year, in 2012. I flew into Germany again with my Father and a good family friend/neighbor. We met up with my sister who was studying there, then drove All around Germany and to Austria again. Both trips were absolutely amazing and shouldn’t be easily forgotten. Hopefully, they just scratched the surface of my European life The first trip was amazing. The journey started in I want to say 2004, in a very respectful and cultural Swiss restaurant called The Alp Horn, located in Canada. This was the restaurant that my family went to each year for three or four nights in a row. It was a short 20 minute drive from our hotel that we stayed at which is at the base of Blue Mountain. Blue Mountain is 4 seasons resort, popular for it’s skiing, located about 90 minutes from Toronto. We had always made yearly trips to this place to indulge in one of my fathers greatest pleasures, interacting with nature in the means of winter snow skiing. As we sat in our booth reminiscing on the fun we had just had for the past three days our parents told us something. They said they had a secret and were...
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...x Do Texas Teachers Feel Concealed Handguns Are a Viable Security Option on Texas ISD Campuses? Timothy D. Clouse Wayland Baptist University EDUC 5366 1 February, 2012 Abstract This study is to explore how Texas Teachers feel about the possibility of other faculty or staff members carrying a concealed firearm on school property as a means to protect the students and staff from an armed attack. A survey was sent to 720 teachers across the 20 Texas school regions. The survey is made up of nine questions; the first seven are general information questions to provide researchers with demographic data; the remaining two are opinionated questions concerning how they feel about themselves or other trained faculty or staff carrying firearms in their school. Results were divided evenly between those that were for and those that were against having concealed firearms in their schools. Gender, prior military service, school population, and the type of school setting, i.e., elementary, junior high, or high school, generally, were not factors in determining how teachers felt about the subject; however, there was one significant finding, among teachers that possess a Texas Concealed Handgun license (CHL), results were unanimous when asked if they would volunteer to carry a weapon at their school. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 Problem Statement 5 Literature Review 5 Methodology 6 Limitations of Study 8 Results 9 Conclusion 11 Reference List...
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...CATCHING FIRE The Hunger Games Book 2 Suzanne Collins Table of Contents PART 1 – THE SPARK Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 PART 2 – THE QUELL Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 PART 3 – THE ENEMY Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 PART I “THE SPARK” I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air. My muscles are clenched tight against the cold. If a pack of wild dogs were to appear at this moment, the odds of scaling a tree before they attacked are not in my favor. I should get up, move around, and work the stiffness from my limbs. But instead I sit, as motionless as the rock beneath me, while the dawn begins to lighten the woods. I can't fight the sun. I can only watch helplessly as it drags me into a day that I've been dreading for months. By noon they will all be at my new house in the Victor's Village. The reporters, the camera crews, even Effie Trinket, my old escort, will have made their way to District 12 from the Capitol. I wonder if Effie will still be wearing that silly pink wig, or if she'll be sporting some other unnatural color especially for the Victory Tour. There will be others waiting, too. A staff to cater to my every need on the long train trip. A prep team to beautify me for public appearances...
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...CATCHING FIRE The Hunger Games Book 2 Suzanne Collins Table of Contents PART 1 – THE SPARK Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 PART 2 – THE QUELL Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 PART 3 – THE ENEMY Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 PART I “THE SPARK” I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air. My muscles are clenched tight against the cold. If a pack of wild dogs were to appear at this moment, the odds of scaling a tree before they attacked are not in my favor. I should get up, move around, and work the stiffness from my limbs. But instead I sit, as motionless as the rock beneath me, while the dawn begins to lighten the woods. I can't fight the sun. I can only watch helplessly as it drags me into a day that I've been dreading for months. By noon they will all be at my new house in the Victor's Village. The reporters, the camera crews, even Effie Trinket, my old escort, will have made their way to District 12 from the Capitol. I wonder if Effie will still be wearing that silly pink wig, or if she'll be sporting some other unnatural color especially for the Victory Tour. There will be others waiting, too. A staff to cater to my every need on the long train trip. A prep team to beautify me for public appearances....
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...The Magician's Guild Trudi Canavan The Black Magician Trilogy Book One This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers 10 East 53rd Street New York, New York 10022-5299 Copyright © 2001 by Trudi Canavan ISBN: 0-06-057528-X www.eosbooks.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Eos, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. First published by Voyager, an imprint of HarperCollins Australia First Eos paperback printing: February 2004 Eos Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. and in Other Countries, Marca Registrada, Hecho en U.S.A. HarperCollins® is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. 10 987654321 This book is dedicated to my father, Denis Canavan. He provided the spark that lit the twin fires of curiosity and creativity. Acknowledgements Many people have given me valuable encouragement, support and constructive criticism during the writing of this trilogy. Thank you to: Mum and Dad, for believing I could be whatever I wanted to be; Yvonne Hardingham, the big sister I never had; Paul Marshall, for...
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...Praise for the Shiva Trilogy ‘Amish’s mythical imagination mines the past and taps into the possibilities of the future. His book series, archetypal and stirring, unfolds the deepest recesses of the soul as well as our collective consciousness.’ – Deepak Chopra, world-renowned spiritual guru and bestselling author ‘Amish is a fresh new voice in Indian writing – steeped in myth and history, with a fine eye for detail and a compelling narrative style.’ – Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State in the Indian government and celebrated author ‘Furious action jumps off every page.’ – Anil Dharker, renowned journalist and author ‘Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy is already being touted as India’s Lord of the Rings.’ – Hindustan Times ‘…Amish has mastered the art of gathering, interpreting and presenting India’s many myths, folklores and legends, and blending all of that into fast-paced thrillers that change your views about gods, cultures, histories, demons and heroes, forever.’ – Hi Blitz ‘Amish’s Shiva Trilogy has a refreshing storyline… The narration forces you to impatiently turn the page to know what secret is going to be revealed about the “Neelkanth” next.’ – The Telegraph ‘It’s a labour of love... Amish also humanizes his characters, something which most popular Indian writers fail miserably at.’ – Mint ‘Amish’s philosophy of tolerance, his understanding of mythology and his avowed admiration for Shiva are evident in his best-selling works.’ – Verve ‘Tripathi is...
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...Acclaim for Yann Martel's Life of Pi "Life of Pi is not just a readable and engaging novel, it's a finely twisted length of yarn— yarn implying a far-fetched story you can't quite swallow whole, but can't dismiss outright. Life of Pi is in this tradition—a story of uncertain veracity, made credible by the art of the yarn-spinner. Like its noteworthy ancestors, among which I take to be Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, the Ancient Mariner, Moby Dick and Pincher Martin, it's a tale of disaster at sea coupled with miraculous survival—a boys' adventure for grownups." —Margaret Atwood, The Sunday Times (London) "A fabulous romp through an imagination by turns ecstatic, cunning, despairing and resilient, this novel is an impressive achievement. . . . Martel displays the clever voice and tremendous storytelling skills of an emerging master." —Publisher's Weekly (starred review) "[Life of Pi] has a buoyant, exotic, insistence reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe's most Gothic fiction. . . . Oddities abound and the storytelling is first-rate. Yann Martel has written a novel full of grisly reality, outlandish plot, inventive setting and thought-provoking questions about the value and purpose of fiction." —The Edmonton journal "Martel's ceaselessly clever writing . . . [and] artful, occasionally hilarious, internal dialogue . . . make a fine argument for the divinity of good art." —The Gazette "Astounding and beautiful. . . . The book is a pleasure not only for the subtleties of its philosophy...
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