I also see how incredibly close she is with her family and the way they are so involved and interested in each other's lives. ... This is shown through the constant visits to the hospital and all the support they give to one another. ... It's nice to know that someone supports the work of these stars or artists. ... She said it meant her boyfriend, family, happiness, and that is was amazing and everything to her. ... She watched the pain her mother was going through and expressed her unending love and support at all times. ...

• Word Count: 2686
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

beloved "It is the ultimate gesture of a loving mother. It is the outrageous claim of a slave"(Morrison 1987). These are the words that Toni Morrison used to describe the actions of the central character within the novel, Beloved. That character, Sethe, is presented as a former slave woman who chooses to kill her baby girl rather than allowing her to be exposed to the physically, emotionally, and spiritually oppressive horrors of a life spent in slavery. Sethe's action is indisputable: She has killed her child. ...

• Word Count: 3106
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

Lion (1987) is a novel which takes place in Toronto in the years following the First World War. Ondaatje's next novel, 1992's The English Patient, won the Governor General's Award and the Booker Prize, and was made into an award-winning film. In The Skin Of A Lion is a love story and an irresistible mystery set in the turbulent, muscular new world of Toronto in the ' 20s and ' 30s. Michael Ondaatje entwines adventure, romance and history, real and invented, enmeshing us in the lives of the immigrants who built the city and those who dreamed it into being: the politic...

• Word Count: 3985
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School