Summary Of Mark Slouka's Short Story 'Crossing'

The juxtaposition in ‘Mid-Term Break,’ in which the family is grieving whilst ‘the baby cooed and laughed’ shows the obliviousness of a child and the change of perspective as he grew old enough for ‘old men’ to be ‘standing up to shake my hand.’ The contrast that Heaney sees as a child and an adult leads him to be reflective and nostalgic towards his childhood, as he changes his voice to that of an adult. In ‘Follower,’ Heaney describes his past, when he ‘was a nuisance,’ comparing the moment to his old and weakened father. In ‘Digging,’ the change of voice makes the poet reflect upon the differences between his father as his guidance and his father’s true self, and thereby decide not to be perfectly equal to his father, arguing that he’ll ‘dig with’ ‘the squat pen’ rather than ‘the spade’ that his father had used. The final line in the poem reflects the poet as an adult who needs to choose his own path in life.

In Scott Russell Sanders’ essay “The Inheritance of Tools”, Sanders explores the relationship that he had with his father. Concrete objects like the wooden tools that he inherits from his father provide the basis for the reflections on his relationship with his father. He manages to indicate his attitude very early on in the essay using both features of style and rhetorical strategies. The author establishes his love for his father and sadness at his passing by narrating an anecdotal story involving his hammer, word choice that conveys his sadness, and strong use of imagery.

Fault and redemption. What do these two words really do in our lives? Do they give us another chance or are they just concepts that we want to follow? In the world we live in, one fault can often make or break something in our lives, but when granted with redemption, we don’t always take it as seriously as needed and soon our fault becomes someone else’s pride. Sir Gawain’s faults can be a constant reminder of the mistakes we all make as humans along with the quote, “It is clear then that there can be no redemption without fault, just as one is unable to return from exile without first being sent into one.

A Father’s Affection “My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” describe a character who reflects on their childhood. Although they based on the same theme, the two poems have very different perspectives. “Those Winter Sundays” talks about how the son regrets for not showing his love for his father, when all his actions went unnoticed. “My Papa’s Waltz” reflects on a son 's memory with is father where his danced around the house after the father long day at work. Both poems reflect on how their fathers showed his love for his son, the time spent with their fathers, a maternal conflict, and their relationship with their father.

The border guard recognizes the fact that socially he is in the wrong, but chooses to still push his power. The persistence that the mother showed in stating her true nationality shows strong resilience. Even with the courage she showed, the imbalance was only set right for a certain amount of time before, once again, a force of power over took the situation. Pride can take a person to the top of the pedestal, or can leave them stranded wondering what went wrong. The fight between deciding what is right in a situation all depends on the true feelings of the person experiencing it.

I think the speaker in the poem will agree with this statement, because we can infer from the last stanza that the speaker believes he can break the wall, and therefore we understand that he think that even if the odds are against you, you must believe and use your inner strength to change your circumstances because if you don’t you could never have the strength to change

This passion to continue fighting is what sets you apart from others. The poem, The Optimist’s Creed, presents ways to positively improve your mindset and confidence which complements the poem by Guest. Without these

It is genius of Steinbeck to write a story with two opposite men that are best of friends, but in the end on of them must make the ultimate sacrifice, and the other must pay the ultimate consequence, even though his actions aren’t really his fault. While it is sad, it does teach a lesson. It is possible for anybody to be friends. Race, gender, or whatever else, these are things that do not need to always play such a big part in who are friends are. And if you are close with that friend, you need to be able to make the best moral choice to help you both in big situations that test your

CHAPTER 9 – LOSE AND LEARN “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. Because it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” ― Maya Angelou, American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist Oftentimes, people go through life’s troubles. Yet, rather than searching for ways to ameliorate their pressing situations, they escape reality and just live by the hopes that the troubles might disappear eventually over time.

The only chance is to be arrogant and focus on one goal: to survive and escape from this vicious circle. The author’s attachment to books was his form of resisting. Maybe such form of confronting not only shaped his unique writing style but also helped to stay

Throughout the trip to the body the boys encounter harrowing experiences or emotional breakdowns that bring them closer to each other. Chris shows leadership traits, although the story is told through Gordon’s voice as an adult, following Chris’s death trying to stop a fight. Somewhat regrettably, Gordon notes that the boys drifted apart after that summer experience. They entered junior high, and Vern and Teddy were in the job-oriented track while he and Chris took the college-bound courses. In time, he recounted, they were just figures passing each other in the hallways.

Cuts by Patricia McCormick really could have been a powerful book that pushed teens to seek help. Instead it became a shallow mockery of the real struggles and burdens that many teens face. Anyone who has not faced these struggle would have a warped perspective of them after reading this book. I would consider it an almost dangerous book due to the almost constant message that self-harm isn’t bad, that it actually feels great and is good stress relief. The only positive take away from this book is how it consistently states that help is out there if you look for

Taylor makes him want to be a better person, but with Taylor he seems so helpless and blind. Then there’s Taylor, who is also blind, who can’t see what everyone sees so openly. I am hoping the next book is them finally getting together, but it might be wishing thinking. Crossing my fingers though. Still an enjoyable read, can’t wait to read the next one.

The idea of “Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hang on too long.” (Albom 162) really sums up the entire book. All throughout the book Morrie proclaims to us that we should always love and be compassionate but, you need a balance of the past and present. Without it, your life will not be fully lived. This lesson it so much more deeper than it appears.

What is “trust” and who is deserving of it? Well, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary it is the firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. But what happens when no one knows the “real truth” and you are then compelled to put your trust into unreliable people? That is what author, Paula Hawkins forces her readers to do in her thrilling, murder-mystery novel, The Girl on the Train. Through her use of specific literacy techniques, she transforms her readers into literary detectives and presents them with the seemingly unsolvable mystery of the disappearance turned murder of Megan Hipwell.