...English 111 September 18th 2011 The Hard Truth The short story “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara is a story that brings to light the lesson of social standings in America. It also shows you how one person can help change the lives of the children in a community. The story is set in the slums of a larger city. The characters in this story are a group of young, uneducated children originally from the south. The children are taken under wing by an older women with a higher education named Miss Moore. In the story Miss Moore takes the children on a trip into New York city where she tries to show them how unfair our society can be, teaching the children lessons for life such as math and grammar. These lessons however are only there to lead up to the larger picture of her lesson for the day. During the trip that Miss Moore and the children took you begin to understand and get a feeling for how the narrator, Sylvia, felt about where she lived and who she was. Sylvia started out the story not understand or appreciating who Miss Moore was and what Miss Moore was doing for her and the rest of her family. She made fun of Miss Moore with her cousins because Miss Moore spoke proper and dressed differently than the other people whom lived around her. To Sylvia and even her cousins Miss Moore was a person that they disliked for reasons they didn't understand. She was different than the rest of the people in their lives. And to young children, that is reason enough for them to dislike...
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...Appreciation and Gratitude – Life Lesson Finally, after so many years I am on my way home, “second” home after my parents’. I feel very excited, as it is not just a house that I used to rent, but a “magic” place, where being away from my parents I could experience home comfort. I haven’t been there for about five years since I graduated from University, and I miss it a lot. This time is going to be a short stay, for only a few days, but I am glad I can spend it there. That place made my school time enjoyable, and the landlady Maria treated me like her own granddaughter. She was a lovely and a very kind-hearted person and could cheer me up when I needed it most. All my friends and I loved her because of her young and vibrant mind with a trusting spirit. Despite of her age, she remained a very beautiful creature; her blue eyes and warm smile could make anyone feel welcome. With the snow-white hair she was almost like an angel. Her house itself was very charming although not fashionable; it was more like country style. Wooden furniture made from logs and twigs, roughly cut and sawn with no ornate, looked very simple and straight. I loved the kitchen with its old open-shelved dresser, wooden draining racks for plates above the sink, and the big wooden table decorated with dried flowers. The handmade wool rugs on the floor and the linen curtain on the windows reflected in warmth and cosiness. She surrounded herself with the things she loved. Each item in the house had a story and...
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...happened when “a fearful thunderclap rent the sky in two and through the crack came the lightning bolt of brimstone that changed her into a spider” (Marquez 524). There are also odd things that happened in the story and miracles were traced to be related to the angel. The story mentions “a blind man who didn’t recover his sight, but grew three new teeth, the paralytic who didn’t get to walk but almost won the lottery, and the leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers” (Marquez 524). These things are extraordinary and not common in the everyday world. The second characteristic of magic realism is a grounding in the phenomenal world. This talks about the presence of realistic elements in the story. According to Charters, realism is “the telling of a story in a manner that is faithful to the reader’s experience of real life, limiting events in the plot to thing that might actually happen and characters to people who might actually exist” (Charters 1743). As mentioned above, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” shows realistic characters such as the couple Pelayo and Elisenda, a sick child, Father Gonzaga, the neighbor woman, the doctor, the pilgrims, and the spectators. The setting – the time, the place (a village close to the sea), and the weather conditions (i.e. rainy weather) exist in real life. Another realistic element is the description of the angel. The angel was described as “dressed like a rag-picker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few...
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...Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh was born in Edinburgh in 1958. He lived in London after leaving school, but returned to his native city where he worked in the Council's housing department. He gained a degree in computer science and studied for an MBA at Heriot Watt University. His first novel, Trainspotting (1993), a blackly comic portrait of a group of young heroin users living in Edinburgh in the 1980s, was adapted as a film directed by Danny Boyle in 1996. The Acid House, a collection of short stories, was published in 1994 and was followed by Welsh's second novel, Marabou Stork Nightmares (1995), a harrowing stream-of-consciousness narrated by football hooligan Roy Strang. Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance, a collection of three novellas, was published in 1996, and a third novel, Filth, a vivid account of the violent adventures of a bigoted, racist and corrupt Scottish policeman, was published in 1998. Glue (2001), is the story of four boys growing up in an Edinburgh housing estate. Porno, a sequel to Trainspotting, was published in 2002. Welsh is also the author of two plays, Headstate (1994) and You'll Have Had Your Hole (1998). 4 Play, an omnibus edition of four stage adaptations of Welsh's fiction by Harry Gibson and Keith Wyatt, was published in 2001. His screenplay of The Acid House was directed for Channel 4 Films by Paul McGuigan (1998). His journalism includes a column for Loaded magazine and occasional articles for The Guardian. He is also a DJ and has recorded...
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...Irvine Welsh Trainspotting IRVINE WELSH works, rests and raves in Edinburgh. He has had a variety of occupations too numerous and too tedious to recount. Trainspotting was his first novel and he has also published a collection of short stories, a novella entitled The Acid House and a second novel, Marabou Stork Nightmares. IRVINE WELSH TRAINSPOTTING Minerva Thanks to the following: Lesley Bryce, David Crystal, Margaret Fulton–Cook, janice Galloway, Dave Harrold, Duncan McLean, Kenny McMillan, Sandy Macnair, David Millar, Robin Robertson, Julie Smith, Angela Sullivan, Dave Todd, Hamish Whyte, Kevin Williamson. Versions of the following stories have appeared in other publications: 'The First Day Of The Edinburgh Festival' in Scream If You Want To Go Faster: New Writing Scotland 9 (ASLS), 'Traditional Sunday Breakfast'in DOG (Dec, 1991), 'It Goes Without Saying' in West Coast Magazine No. 11, 'Trainspotting at Leith Central Station' in A Parcel of Rogues (Clocktower Press), 'Grieving and Mourning In Port Sunshine' in Rebel Inc No. 1 and 'Her Man, The Elusive Mr Hunt' and 'Winter In West Granton' in Past Tense (Clocktower Press). The second part of 'Memories of Matty' also appeared in the aforementioned Clocktower Press publication as 'After The Burning'. Contents KICKING – – * THE SKAG BOYS, JEAN–CLAUDE VAN DAMME AND MOTHER SUPERIOR; JUNK DILEMMAS NO. 63; THE FIRST DAY OF THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL; IN OVERDRIVE; GROWING UP IN PUBLIC; VICTORY ON NEW YEAR'S DAY; IT GOES WITHOUT...
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...term a-pu-ko-wo-ko meaning "craftsman of horse veil" written in Linear B syllabic script is also attested since ca. 1300 BC.[3][4] In ancient Greek the word for veil was "καλύπτρα" (kaluptra, Ionic Greek "καλύπτρη" - kaluptrē, from the verb "καλύπτω" - kaluptō, "I cover"[5]) and is first attested in the works of Homer.[6][7] Classical Greek and Hellenistic statues sometimes depict Greek women with both their head and face covered by a veil. Caroline Galt and Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones have both argued from such representations and literary references that it was commonplace for women (at least those of higher status) in ancient Greece to cover their hair and face in public. For many centuries, until around 1175, Anglo-Saxon and then Anglo-Norman women, with the exception of young unmarried girls, wore veils that entirely covered their hair, and often their necks up to their chins (see wimple). Only in the Tudor period (1485), when hoods became increasingly popular, did veils of this type become...
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...Acclaim for Chuck Palahniuk’s Choke “Just as dark and outrageous as his previous work. … His voice is so distinctive that he exists as a genre unto himself.” —The Washington Post “Palahniuk’s language is urgent and tense, touched with psychopathic brilliance, his images dead-on accurate. … [He] is an author who makes full use of the alchemical powers of fiction to synthesize a universe that mirrors our own fiction as a way of illuminating the world without obliterating its complexity.” —LA Weekly “Puts a bleakly humorous spin on self-help, addiction recovery, and childhood trauma. … Choke’s funny, mantra-like prose plows toward the mayhem it portends from the get-go.” —The Village Voice “Oddly, defiantly, addictive.” happily —Daily News “[Choke] shines a flashlight into America’s dark corners. … As darkly comic and starkly terrifying as your high school yearbook photo.” —GQ “Palahniuk is a gifted writer, and the novel is full of terrific lines.” —The New York Times Book Review “[Palahniuk’s] most enduring trait … is that marvelous quicksilver voice of his. … The exuberance of his language makes it still worthwhile to brave these often chilly and dark waters.” —The Oregonian “Choke is another welcome antidote to antiseptic consumer life, and you can’t blame it for grabbing you by the throat.” —Maxim “Palahniuk is a cult writer in the truest sense.” —Entertainment Weekly “His subversive riffs conjure a kind of jump-cut cinema of the diseased imagination, resulting...
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...BEHIND THE MAN Behind the Man by YDR Sometimes it is better to pretend that we are not affected by what’s happening around us than be hurt with the truth it brings on us. This morning he will open the shop and spend most of his time talking to customers with his life’ s adventure as well as his problems he surpassed lately. He talks like a parrot in every person he meets and tells the same story that he had recently. He projects so well that he is a good provider with all the people he has talked to. He pretends to be humble with all the things he has. The newly constructed mansion, a Honda civic , a Ducati motorcycle, an original Manny Paquiao shirt , a Tag Hever watch, a Levis maong pants, were all in his possession though he claimed that these are all owned and given by his wife. Sometimes , it sounds convincing but sometimes it’s irritating especially if he keeps on telling this to people whom he come across that these are all what he got. He is living like a well off man . He can go to shopping mall whenever he wants. If he wants to eat something exotic he can go to Subic. He can travel locally and internationally. With all these , people thought that his business proliferates. How fortunate! His daughter, LJ is enrolled in a well known private tertiary school taking up Photography, a course that he never approved . With this, LJ didn’t get support from her father in every undertaking she underwent . She never felt she’s special though she is the first child . She grew...
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...Story of a Farm Boy Roairna Drakuthaili Elrondion was originally just Roairna. He never needed to use his last name, his parents never said anything about it. A boy, naturally compatible with the wolves and able to stray them from the village and treat them as people. He cared for all animals, normally being the one to take care of the horses and chicks about their home. As unmentioned as he was, he did much to influence the lives of the Heroes that protected the Ring and saved Middle Earth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Roa was cheerfully unaware of a darkness approaching, of an evil that was to be unstopped for long years to come. "Mama! Papa! I'm going to get more feed for the chickens!" He called, his hyper eight-year-old self smiling happily. "Alright, Roa. Don't get so much like last time! Just enough for now sweetheart." His mother called from inside as she cooked. "The wagon's down, Roairna. You'll have to walk. Be wary of the roads, my boy." His father sighed, leaning on his staff that he used as a walking stick. "Yes mama, okay papa! I'll be back quick!" He chirped as he gave his dad a hug and ran off. Unknown to him, things weren't going to stay cheerful... He continued happily down the road, two of his wolf companions bounding after him obediently with happy yips and barks. They remained blissfully oblivious until a terrifying screech startled them. Roa screamed, ducking into a bush just as a Nazgul came riding down the road. It hissed, the...
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...Roman Holiday PART 1 ROMAN HOLIDAY TRANSCRIBED BY Graham (hepburn@unforgettable.com) (A newsreel begins:) --PARAMOUNT NEWS-- NEWS FLASH (A commentator describes the newsreel showing Princess Ann at several ceremonies in various European locations.) NEWSREEL Paramount News brings you a special coverage of Princess Ann's visit to London, the first stop on her much publicised goodwill tour of European capitals. She gets a royal welcome from the British as thousands cheer the gracious young member of one of Europe's oldest ruling families. After three days of continuous activity and a visit to Buckingham Palace, Ann flew to Amsterdam where Her Royal Highness dedicated the new International Aid Building and christened an ocean liner. Then went to Paris where she attended many official functions designed to cement trade relations between her country and the Western European nations. And so to Rome, the eternal city, where the Princess' visit was marked by a spectacular military parade highlighted by the band of the crack Piersa Yeri Regiment. The smiling young Princess showed no sign of the strain of the week's continuous public appearances. And at her country's embassy that evening, a formal reception and ball in her honor was given by her country's ambassador to Italy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (The Embassy ballroom. People fill the floor of the room. A fanfare sounds. The Master of Ceremonies appears and the people...
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...Story Preparation Introduction “Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower, and to humanize.” --Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in 1977 in Nigeria, the fifth of six children, to Igbo parents. She left for the United States at the age of 19, and by the time she was 21, she had published a play, For Love of Biafra, and a collection of poems, Decisions. She eventually earned master’s degrees in creative writing, from Johns Hopkins University, and in African studies, from Yale University. Adichie writes on her website, “I didn’t ever consciously decide to pursue writing. I’ve been writing since I was old enough to spell, and just sitting down and writing made me feel incredibly fulfilled.” Adichie writes about ethnicity and its importance, both in Africa and in the United States; her stories and novels also detail the hardships endured by first-generation immigrants. Her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, treats themes of family, religion, politics and tolerance. Her second book, Half of a Yellow Sun, takes place before and during the Biafran war and deals with questions of gender, race and class. Her work has won the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. It has been translated into thirty-one languages. Adichie writes, “I just write. I have to write. I like to say that I didn’t choose writing, writing chose me. This may sound slightly mythical, but...
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...gives Naomi money for English and voice lessons, only to learn that she is less talented than he had first supposed. She refuses to do any work in the house, buys extravagant clothes, and manipulates Joji into borrowing money under false pretenses from his doting mother, who lives in the country. Naomi next takes up Western dancing and forces Joji to accompany her to her lessons and to Tokyo dance halls. There he realizes that she has developed a whole coterie of younger male friends unknown to him. The young student Kumagai in particular speaks with Naomi in a fashion which suggests that they have been intimate. Joji’s illusions shatter; his work suffers, and he begins to lose control of himself. At Naomi’s suggestion, Joji decides to rent a cottage for the summer in the resort town of Kamakura, south of Tokyo. He commutes from there to his job in Tokyo. Naomi seems happy with this arrangement, but Joji learns one evening that she has been carrying on an affair with Kumagai, abetted by Hamada and her other student friends. Horrified, Joji finally manages to demand that Naomi leave him, which she does. Later, talking with Hamada, Joji realizes that Naomi has duped that young man as well; together, they set out to locate her. Naomi, it appears, now goes from lover to lover, some of them...
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...weathered wrought iron fence. I think there were more than two hundred headstones. More dead than living. Nice. There must be some mistake. I came here to start over. Could a new life be hiding behind the unappealing rural exterior? My promised house remained a mystery. I double-checked the notebook with my father’s scrawled directions resting on the passenger’s seat next to me. Technically, I’d lived in Red Grove as a child, but we’d moved before I turned two. I didn’t remember the town at all or the residents, living or dead. I shifted my attention back to my driving. “Holy shit!” I proclaimed as I overcorrected the wheel, and my foot drifted from the gas. The man on the side of the road was so attractive I could’ve died—literally. He was planting something. A tree, I think. Every time his shovel hit the dirt, a ripple coursed through his shoulders and down his stomach. I raised an eyebrow at the glint of sun on tanned, shirtless skin. Dark hair, low slung jeans. I tried not to gawk, but the best I could do was to keep my head inside the window. I was thinking he belonged in a museum, a chiseled-by-the-gods man museum, when my brain was hijacked. I forgot about the road. I forgot where I was going. A fantasy hit me so fast and hard, it could’ve been a memory. We were in the shower. I stood behind him, my arms wrapped around his torso, rubbing lather circles...
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...MATILDA BOOKS FOR CHILDREN BY THE SAME AUTHOR James and the Giant Peach Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Fantastic Mr Fox The Magic Finger Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator Danny, the Champion of the World The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More The Enormous Crocodile The Twits George's Marvellous Medicine Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes The BFG Dirty Beasts The Witches Boy The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me Going Solo Roald Dahl MATILDA Illustrations by Quentin Blake VIKING KESTREL For Michael and Lucy VIKING KESTREL Published by the Penguin Group Viking Penguin Inc., 40 West 23rd Street, New York, New York 10010, U.S.A. Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 2801 John Street, Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 1B4 Penguin Books |N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England First published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1988 First American edition published 1988 3 5 7 9 10 6 4 Text copyright © Roald Dahl, 1988 Illustrations copyright © Quentin Blake, 1988 All rights reserved Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint an excerpt from "In Country Sleep" from The Poems of Dylan Thomas. Copyright 1947,1952 Dylan Thomas. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation. Library of Congress catalog card number: 88-40312 ISBN 0-670-82439-9 Printed...
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...Over the years I have developed a distaste for the spectacle of joie de vivre, the knack of knowing how to live. Not that I disapprove of all hearty enjoyment of life. A flushed sense of happiness can overtake a person anywhere, and one is no more to blame for it than the Asiatic flu or a sudden benevolent change in the weather (which is often joy's immediate cause). No, what rankles me is the stylization of this private condition into a bullying social ritual. The French, who have elevated the picnic to their highest civilized rite, are probably most responsible for promoting this smugly upbeat, flaunting style. It took the French genius for formalizing the informal to bring sticky sacramental sanctity to the baguette, wine and cheese. A pure image of sleeveless joie de vivre Sundays can also be found in Renoir's paintings. Weekend satyrs dance and wink; leisure takes on a bohemian stripe. A decent writer, Henry Miller, caught the French malady and ran back to tell us of pissoirs in the Paris streets (why this should have impressed him so, I've never figured out). But if you want a double dose of joie de vivre, you need to consult a later, hence more stylized version of the French myth of pagan happiness: those Family of Man photographs of endlessly kissing lovers, snapped by Doisneau and Boubat, not to mention Cartier-Bresson's icon of the proud tyke carrying bottles of wine. If CartierBresson and his disciples are excellent photographers for all that, it is...
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