I look off in the distance and come upon a working shrimp boat with its net dragging behind capturing the daily catch, with seagulls flying around waiting for an easy meal. ... While standing there with my eyes closed the smell of the salty air, and the feeling of stickiness on my skin from the salt water splashing on me as the waves came crashing in, made me want to drift out endlessly into the open blue water and not have to worry about anything. ... I opened my eyes and started to stroll along the grainy sand, my bare feet were leaving footprints along the way. ... I am soon awakened by the...

• Word Count: 762
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

One man sticks his head out at the door as the wind caresses his face like the sail of a boat. Another man opens a window adjacent to him and looks down. ... As I jump out of the plane, I keep my eyes open against the instinct to close them, and feel that the gravity seizes me like a wild beast, dragging me down, and all this happens in blurry snapshots: the wing, the open door with the instructor and his worried look, the plane looking smaller now, a visible unit and no place to return to. And then the parachute opens and everything becomes slower. ...

• Word Count: 981
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

As the film opens we see two young lovers and their interactions with both Frank's mother and father. ... One scene that stands out in a foreshadowing of events to come is the interaction that takes place while the men are out on the boat discussing the lobster traps. ...

• Word Count: 723
• Approx Pages: 3

What does it mean to be happy? It seems that this is another one of those questions that no one knows the answer to, yet I am determined to find it. So what is happiness? What is it that makes us feel that certain feeling that none of us can really put our finger on. Of course there's the simple, bo...

• Word Count: 728
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

There is no reason his mother would not be open to Wayne's visit since she knows about his visit already and is expecting them, but Neil is so worried about the actual meeting that he wants to avoid it completely. ... Neil is non-confrontational and self-conscious, preferring to keep his mouth shut and be slightly uncomfortable or anxious rather than to rock the boat. ...

• Word Count: 1297
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

One of the main reasons for Conrad's difficulties is his misplaced guilt over his brother's death in a boating accident. ... If Conrad learned to open himself up and love other people, his problems would fade and he would not feel like he has to go through his grief alone. ...

• Word Count: 927
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

"I"m neither an American nor Japanese and I"m an American and Japanese at the same time. It sometimes confuses me and I keep asking myself who I am," my Japanese-American friend said to me once before. I didn't know what to say, but I was thinking about what he said and the answer to his qu...

• Word Count: 1304
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School