... way. In, "Gooseberries," a man's dream of owning a farm becomes a "definite disorder" (Chekhov 3). The story, which is being told by the man's brother, Ivan, shows the downward spiral that obsession can create. Ivan describes his brother's life saying, "He (Nicholai) used to live meagerly and ... . In the story, "Gooseberries," Nicholai marries, "an elderly, ugly widow, not out of any feeling for her, but because she has money" (4). This shows how his obsession has become so powerful that he is willing to deceive people and use them for his gains. ... I caused them harm mentally, which is...

• Word Count: 1357
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The poem "The Black Walnut Tree" by Mary Oliver addresses the issue of a personal struggle. The speaker (daughter) and her mother are debating whether they should sell their black walnut tree to pay off their mortgage. They ... belongs to a farm family. The daughter wants to cut it down and sell "the black walnut tree to the lumberman" so that the mortgage can be paid off. She is also afraid that at the end of the day, a storm will likely hit the tree, "churn down its dark boughs", and smash the house. The mother and ... to the lumberman. The mother agrees with her daughter, but argues that...

• Word Count: 585
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . This is why everyone considered her a live wire. "An American Childhood," by Annie Dillard explains how children may struggle with adolescence and growing up. When growing up is already hard enough, Annie explains in great detail how moving can take a toll on a young teenager and what she had dealt with this hard process. "Knowing you are alive is watching ... . I was getting angry, as if pushed." Different emotions flying at her any second of any minute can make someone feel bipolar and confused with what decisions to make. She could calm herself easier by doing multiple things, someti...

• Word Count: 708
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... with Steppa, his struggles with Ma, and the closure he receives from revisiting Room. Ma battles with returning to her old life before the kidnapping, but she learns that she has to adjust with Jack to begin a new life rather than returning to her old one. Ma's suicide attempt gives Jack and her separation to help ... influence, plays an important role in Jack's development. Saying "want to have pie on the couch and watch the game," (297) Steppa calms down Jack by treating him as a five-year-old boy rather than as an alien or a nuisance. When Steppa teaches Jack to play with Legos and hid...

• Word Count: 822
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... By She held the doll she had had for over fifteen years in her hand. Cleaning her room and packing away for college was a hard time for Melanie. A few months ago a big fat envelope had arrived to her. Rumours always had it that if you got a big fat envelope from the institution meant that you made it; a skinny one means you didn't. She ... more games after this. She remembered the time when she was young and choosing a candy bar at the grocery store was a hard choice. Even well before that, what shade of red to colour the clown's nose in her favourite colouring book. Her choices had been...

• Word Count: 759
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Do not dwell on the past In Shiloh, by Bobbie Ann Mason, we see the beginning of an end to a marriage of Leroy and Norma Jean Moffitt. There are many postmodern aspects throughout this ... is common for people to change along with their environment, there are those who are unwilling to adapt to new situations. Generally, these people are left behind by society to remain in their old way of life. As the story develops, the town is growing in size and number. There are new subdivisions and shopping centers ... symbol. It represents the future, or lack of a future. It represents the end for Nor...

• Word Count: 936
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... into space with someone you hardly knew" (pg. 89). She thinks that marriage is a test, one that she will not pass, of your strengths and weaknesses. In addition, she is insecure because she is "destroyed by love" (pg. 96). She has a distorted view of what love is and because of her mother, she does not know if it is appropriate or not. Jenny also ... ] head in" (pg. 101). These are tiny slices of what she and her siblings experienced as Pearl's children that she is projecting to her loved ones. She has become cold-hearted and described herself as "not capable of being destroyed by love" ...

• Word Count: 658
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the poem "Sex without Love" by Sharon Olds, the speaker is confused about how people can engage in the act of intercourse without love. Casual sex was something that was just being introduced during this time ... satisfied with his best time. The runner is always going to want to run faster! People, who are going to have sex without love, are never going to be satisfied by their last orgasm. Olds isn't quite sure any human being can ever be satisfied with their best time (orgasm). In this case, if a person will never be satisfied, he or ... she will inevitably be alone in the universe. O...

• Word Count: 774
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... , Claud, Connie stars a phase of drug abuse and is place on a mental institution and goes through "mind-control" treatment. But regarding Connie's mental problem she has a gift. She begins to get visits by an individual named Luciente who comes from the year 2137. Luciente communicates with Connie mentally and Connie visits Mattapoisett the same way, experiencing everything without moving her ... body. She got the opportunity to see the difference of her time from the future world. The story ends with Connie's resolution to fight back. She thinks that she is fighting ... and a challenge...

• Word Count: 1733
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... happiness) takes time and effort. Paragraph three mentions a man that says people do as much as they can today so that they have for tomorrow. This statement is ironic because by doing this, you are still losing one day, which is Thoreau's view. However, is losing a "today" necessary when the tomorrow is more important? This scenario is displayed in ... ...

• Word Count: 595
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... some benefits to watching TV, such as being with the family and watching something other than her own life. She also sees how so many Americans engage in being a couch potato because she enjoys to just relax and watch TV on occasion too. Her overall statement in her essay is that American ... enjoy watching television has much as they do because they are watching a world without television. Even though Ehreneich didn't talk about other gadgets, she did give the impression that her views on TV watching would be the same, maybe even worse on her opinion with other gadgets. From the essay .....

• Word Count: 787
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... blaze up, and all the cottage warm." The way the narrator expresses himself once Porphyria enters the room, shows how enchanted he is by her presence. " She sat down by my side and called me. When no voice replied, she put my arm about her waist" this line proves again that he is upset. His sophomoric way of reacting to her being late shows ... Porphyria to be his and only his in every way. Porphyria never did say that she worshiped him; he just saw that because that was what he wanted to see. "That moment she was mine, mine, fair, perfectly pure and good," here he looses sense of reali...

• Word Count: 876
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the economy and long-term growth? I would argue that spending on infrastructures such as roads and schools would be of long-term benefit to the U.S. economy. The growth spurt created by Homeland security and the war in Iraq must be replaced. No one knows how long it will last and what might follow peace. In addition we must question how long ... ...

• Word Count: 440
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The "Garden of Forking Paths" by Jorge Borges is a fictional narrative about Chinese spy Yu Tsun, who works for the German army. The story presented is Yu Tsun's confession when the British capture him. His confession ... ending. Yu Tsun near the end writes things as if he has nearly ran out of time, which in reality, he has: he is about to be sentenced to death by the British. Throughout the narrative, Yu Tsun greatly discusses the idea of the labyrinth, or as he calls it, "the garden of forking paths." Albert and Yu Tsun ... ...

• Word Count: 752
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and redistribute it into the 'Timeshare centre' in the Ghetto, Weis wasn't mad because his daughter was stealing, he was mad because of who she was giving it to. "If time were to accidently be placed into the wrong hands, it could upset the very scales of our existence." ... world of 'In Time' really isn't that different, I believe that Niccol wanted viewers to make this connection to realise how twisted our society is by replacing money with time. The issues above have made me realise where my true priorities stand, not with money, but with family and the relationships with p...

• Word Count: 977
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... doubt; all was confusion. The Eighteenth century was over; the Nineteenth century had begun" (Woolf, 2000, p.156). As Orlando entered the nineteenth century, she observed "widow's weeds and bridal veils; hooked on to other excrescences were crystal palaces, bassinettes, military helmets, memorial wreaths, trousers, whiskers, wedding cakes ... a boy at the age of sixteen years in the court of Queen Elizabeth in the sixteenth century at the beginning of the novel. She served beneath James I and Charles II who appointed her as an ambassador to Constantinople. Orlando returned to England whi...

• Word Count: 1518
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . The speaker describes in the first stanza how, if given infinite time, he could spend centuries admiring each part of her body; even if she did not comply. In the second stanza he remembers how short life is and the dangers of waiting too long to obtain something. He says ... "like amorous birds of prey," Marvell describes their symbiotic and playful co-existence like amorous birds of prey. The hyperbole (exaggeration) used by the character to exaggerate his feelings and emotions can be found in line 8 "Love you ten years before the flood." Obviously, the ... the length of time he wo...

• Word Count: 1363
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Looking Backward A Novel by Edward Bellamy How would you feel if one day you woke up and you were in a completely different world from what you were used to? I know that it would be ... I would not have any time to really focus on my studies. Sometimes I would not even get home from out of town games until eleven or twelve o"clock at night and by that point I was way too tired to do any homework. In Bellamy's world I would probably participate in a school activity an hour a day for a couple days a week and that would be ... ...

• Word Count: 1738
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... color. With the use of alliteration in line two, Frost is able to show the reader the actual difficulties of maintaining such a bright color. By using successive h sounds, the reader has no choice but to slow down due to the difficulty syntactically. Frost uses this tactic, and the word ... puzzled by how a leaf could be a flower. In going back to the ambiguity of the first line, Frost uses this language to show the distinction of something ordinary and something exotic. The use of Nature as a woman could also allude to her 'flower' being the precious part of her body that she ......

• Word Count: 1192
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... a human being, who has lost a lot. It is shown that Krebs has lost the ability to feel love. This is highlighted by Hemingway when Krebs is unable to lie to his mother, when she asks him whether or not he loves her anymore (Hemingway). This lost feeling of love is also further highlighted ... by Hemingway when he states in his story "Krebs looked at the bacon hardening on his plate. This hardening of bacon symbolizes how ... not relish his sister play ball. The story reached its peak when Krebs's mother asks him if he loves her anymore or not. This has been stated by the author in the ...

• Word Count: 823
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... people found miracles in his words. In this book, he also followed certain rules that eventually became his "footsteps" to success. These rules are called the "Seventeen Rules to Live By;" these are the following lines: 1. "Always count your blessings." 2. "Do things more than you are getting paid to do." 3. "Don't look back at your mistakes too long." 4. "Always think about ... and follow all the rules that Mr. Mandino wrote on his other masterpieces. In this book, Og Mandino told people about living their lives as if it is always Christmas by having the spirit of "gift-giving." He sai...

• Word Count: 805
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... Rossetti expresses his grief throughout the poem. It is believed that this poem is written when he was in his anguished state when he was being pressurized by Elizabeth Siddal's desire for marriage. Siddal is the main and usual model Rossetti had used for most of his paintings. They got married eventually though. Nothing ... The use of the word "dead" in the second line creates a dark and daunting mood; intensify the whole depressed and anguished mood of Rossetti, imitated by the nature. The quote," I had walked on at the wind's will, I sat now, for the wind was still" enhances his depre...

• Word Count: 648
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... bald spot in the middle of my hair"" (Eliot 1302). At this point, he is extremely aware of people judging him; it is as if he is being judged by the vague and ever elusive "They". He has become a paranoid specimen to be viewed and evaluated, "They will say: 'How his hair is growing thin!,"' and they ... narrator seems to infer that tea is an insincere pleasantry that seizes the desire to have real conversation and that he is trapped and frustrated by formal culture; he is depressed by the boredom of his life. He asks himself the question "would it have been worthwhile " as if again he wa...

• Word Count: 963
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... what happens when you postpone a dream in general. While reading the selection you realize Hughes uses metaphors to exemplify how a dream can be deferred. By the poem using metaphors it gives the reader a great mental picture of what he was saying literally. Langston Hughes the author of the poem "Harlem" ... The next metaphor asks does a dream deferred fester like a sore and then run (Hughes 4-5). This example shows that physical part of a dream by comparing it to a sore. By comparing a dream to a sore that festers it shows that dream deferred can be painful externally, then the sore le...

• Word Count: 520
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... ; the dynamics are medium and consistent as this first section ended with three staccato notes in a slightly louder dynamic followed by a pause. In contrast to the first section, the second section starts with the Double Bass playing a smoother less sliding melody followed by increased dynamics from the piano and flowing scales. Towards the end the piano plays in a lower tone before ending ... would be black and white reflecting great contrast. The tempo would be in one color reflecting consistency. It seemed the dynamics of the piece was controlled primarily by the piano. The melody was...

• Word Count: 833
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School