... even lower than expected. A division of MasterCard showed holiday spending this year was down by as much as 4% over the same period last year, making this year the worst holiday season for them in modern times. Even retail behemoths such as Gap experienced a drop in sales by close to 20 percent. Best Buy and other electronics and appliance stores experienced even more significant drops ... for market share, will also have to face laying off more and more of their employees the longer the recession continues. As 2009 begins to unfold, the retail industry could see a dramatic decrease in ...

• Word Count: 431
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• Has Bibliography

... of toxic red sludge, Zoltan Bakonyi, is being questioned on the suspicion of public endangerment causing multiple deaths and environmental damage (Yahoo! News). The sludge burst from its reservoir last week, killing eight people. The European Union and environmental groups are worried that the sludge could spread down the Danube River, resulting in long-term consequences for many nations. Emergency workers are currently ... trying to build temporary barriers to slow down the sludge before it reaches the Danube River. They will ... then scoop out as much as possible. The idea is that the...

• Word Count: 517
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• Has Bibliography

Texas judge William Adams, who ironically presides over child abuse cases, caused uproar when daughter Hillary Adams uploaded a video on YouTube of him savagely beating her with a belt when she was sixteen years old. According to Hillary, the abuse was not a one-time thing. Her mother, Hallie Adams who has since divorced William, claimed that her ex-husband had bouts of violence caused by his "addiction," which they kept as a "family secret" for a long time. Because the statute of limitations has lapsed, William cannot be charged with child abuse, although it is yet to be seen whether his care...

• Word Count: 531
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... every meeting of your voice stuns my heart into a breathless trance that could not be broken for the world. And at every meeting of your voice that yearning is revitalized. This I want you to now, because you are the beauty of my life; that gives me the vigor to move through my day with an up beat heart, knowing that I will hear you ... ...

• Word Count: 243
• Approx Pages: 1
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Rough Copy There has been a lot of material written about King Arthur and his court. He has been a popular figure in literature for over 800 years. People believe he was only a myth and some people believe he was an actual person. Not a lot of information on King Arthur is fact; most is fictional. Though Arthur is quite firmly established as an historical figure, there appears to ... be little evidence that he was the King of tradition. Nennius, a great writer ... ; but he was Dux Bellorum (Duke of Battles)." What he ment with this was that here he seemed to confirm the popular people view th...

• Word Count: 269
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... to be an effective king. When he last through Cully, the other birds call him King of the Merlins. Arthur realizes that was silly because he survived through Cully attacks. On fourth adventure, is when Kay and Arthur save three people that were held in custody by Morgan La Fay. The Wart is not a hero in this adventure in the same sense as Kay, since he does not win fights ... or kill beasts. The Wart does, however, have an unusually strong sense of kindness and compassion, and he is ... selfless. After he and Kay rescue Robin Hood's friends from the fairy, the Wart seeks only to have W...

• Word Count: 555
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... pulsing; screaming to get out. It rattles its restraining shackles like a prisoner dying to plea its innocence. Pacing up and down, backwards and forwards - the fire within me yearns to get out. It emerged from the depths of the utter nowhere-ness of my soul; a dark, unexplored abyss of emotions. I have little recollection of its arrival, only that it was painful, exciting, emotional ... , bewitching. As tempers flared I felt its release, its escape from the eerie grips of my chasm. The claws of emotional sanity, which held it firmly into place and which kept a perfect harmony within my ...

• Word Count: 274
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... really like. You don't really understand it, but you"re sure it's the best thing that's ever happened to you. You are thrilled. You focus on it. You give in to the beauty and richness and pleasure, and let it overwhelm you. Then the pleasure is gone. Far more than a normal letdown, the experience has left you crippled emotionally. At least for a while, you don ... 't talk about regretting the experience. And it remains an important part of who you feel that you ... are". Keats mostly writes about sensations and experiences the richness of life. "La Belle Dame sans Merci" is a story illu...

• Word Count: 298
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

My sister-in-law had a miscarriage about three month ago. It was a second time she had a miscarriage. First time was two years ago. She did Not crying at that time. But this time ... she can eat a lot food. And her body is going be strong. So my father bought her running Machine. She was happy with that. Because she wanted to running all the time but nobody wanted to run with her. She asked me to run with her long time ago. I said "no" because I'm smoking too much. I can not run with my bad ... with her. That why he felt bad about that. But now we all exercise together. Three times a week....

• Word Count: 421
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... friends, and during the book, he was a burglar for Thorin and Company. "Bilbo invited Gandalf over for tea so they could talk things over and because Bilbo avowed that he would invite anybody over for tea if they wanted to stop by, so they could talk about things." Tolkien was giving the reader the idea that Bilbo was ... kind and would love to have anyone to tea any day. Bilbo also shows the reader that he will always be delighted to have company any time. Tolkien was telling the reader that Bilbo loved having tea because that was the kind of hobbit he was, laid back and enjoyed life. ...

• Word Count: 338
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... friends, and during the book, he was a burglar for Thorin and Company. "Bilbo invited Gandalf over for tea so they could talk things over and because Bilbo avowed that he would invite anybody over for tea if they wanted to stop by, so they could talk about things." Tolkien was giving the reader the idea that Bilbo was ... kind and would love to have anyone to tea any day. Bilbo also shows the reader that he will always be delighted to have company any time. Tolkien was telling the reader that Bilbo loved having tea because that was the kind of hobbit he was, laid back and enjoyed life. ...

• Word Count: 333
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

La Historia Oficial In the movie La Historia Oficial, Alicia is a mother in Argentina who has adopted a young girl named Gaby. In Argentina, a lot of people were kidnapped and forced to have babies and sell them on the black market. Many are still considered missing, as they are victims of these kidnapping crimes. Alicia comes to suspect her husband may have bought Gaby on the black market. He denies ... it at first, but when a woman comes to Alicia with pictures of her daughter and son-in-law, Alicia comes to realize that Gaby may be this woman's grandchild. Alicia's husband assaults her an...

• Word Count: 268
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... and elaborately depicts the obsession towards her sons. The act of jealousy is usually related to lovers, but Lawrence uses it to contribute to the effect of the abnormal relationships that make up the novel. The way the book is written, certain situations and people are neglected. For instance, it is rare that Arthur and Annie appear, and are not involved in the main gist of the story. Also ... , Walter and other members of the family partake in many conflicts at the ... beginning of the novel, but are never settled ... ...

• Word Count: 1060
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... King Arthur In The Once and Future King, Portayal of the Middle Ages is thought to be made of magnificent castles, beautiful clothing, great kings and queens everything and everyone perfect. No proof of the.Towns back then were not pretty. Dirt thrived in cities there were diseases and crud everywhere. Communities during the Middle Ages were not orderly. They were probably outright chaotic. As far as the ... king goes, he probably did not do much to help the fairness of towns. Arthur, such a great king. He would not have existed ... back then. Kings during the time of The Once and Futu...

• Word Count: 429
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• Grade Level: High School

... is an exciting mystery that has many twists and turns. It starts off with Shulawitsi (The Fire God), or George Bowlegs getting ready to go running. He was training hard to get in shape for the ritual dance to Zuni. His good friend George Bowlegs was waiting at the end of his run with his bike. But when he got to his bike, there ... go thirty miles away to Zuni. He is a single Navaho man that worked on the police force for a while. He wasn't too happy about driving out to Zuni. When he got to the scene, all there was left was a big patch of blood that has soaked into the earth. The Zuni ...

• Word Count: 287
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• Grade Level: High School

... and to hold up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams, for the purpose of improvement." This quote suggests that writers must face their failures and confront their dangerous desires for purpose of learning from their own mistakes, people who don't learn from past mistakes are bound to repeat them. This quote holds true in a lot of literature, for example two examples are ... Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. One work that establishes this idea is Macbeth by William Shakespeare. By use of plot, Shakespeare shows that it is necessary to look at ...

• Word Count: 474
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... if not made happy. Where or how they came to this decision I will never know. As it may be, these perceptions couldn't be further from the truth. At heart I am probably one of the most gentle, tender hearted, people I know of. I have a few close friends and my mother, of course, who know how I actually am ... my opinions were before they spoke, so they could side with me. I was talking to one guy and he asked me if I was with this girl that was at the party. I told him I wasn't, and with that he replied, "Good man, because if you were I"d stay far away because you"re a big guy and you"d ....

• Word Count: 544
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... what is ultimately true: that Arthur Dimmesdale has a very big secret. Hawthorne gives the reader subtle hints throughout the first half of the novel that may lead to the identification of Hester's lover and Pearl's father, Arthur Dimmesdale, before he publicly announces his true identity near the end of the novel. Evidence of such hints is found as early in the novel as the third chapter, "The Recognition." Reverend Dimmesdale ... accusation alone hints greatly at Pearl's father being Arthur Dimmesdale. The hint is made stronger when Pearl places the Reverend's hand upon her face, an i...

• Word Count: 582
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Book Report summary of, "Bless the Beast and Children" By: I enjoyed reading Bless the Beast and Children by Glendon Swarthout. The story takes place in Presscot, Arizona, where six boys were sent to a camp to make them into men. The six main characters are Goodenow, Teft, shecker, the two Lally brothers, and Cotton. The story had many twist and turns. During the boys time at camp, they were assigned the nickname, "The bed wetters", because of their poor hletic abilities. The boys devised a plan to escape from camp, steel one of the camp's vehicles and drive it to a special ranch and free tons...

• Word Count: 190
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... Diaries by Carol Shields is an example of great Canadian literature. The Stone Diaries is the story of the life of Daisy Goodwill Flett. We see her witnessing her birth and her death and everything between. Daisy has many gaps and voids in her everyday life this causes her to be unhappy in life. She always feels alone. She loses her mother at childbirth and raised ... dim room makes Daisy unhappy. She feels some voids and gaps in her life. She feels something is missing. She cannot be with the people the people who love her. Daisy cannot help Aunt Clarentine in the garden. The garden is...

• Word Count: 1810
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... we will feel good with. Therefore, a good sense of humor helps a lot; laughing together is what we are looking for, so this is just perfect. The woman has to be open-minded as well. She must be able to agree to certain things she doesn't like. She can't be complaining about something that she ... doesn't like all the time. Being able to start a conversation is also a very good characteristic a woman can possess. This shows that she is very confident and sure about what she ... is doing, and we value that. We want someone who knows how to get respect and someone who knows how to respect...

• Word Count: 570
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... by John Steinback, is about a native family from La Paz, Mexico. It begins where Kino awakes, hearing the Song of the Family, and looks on to his peaceful wife, Juana. After eating breakfast Kino sees a scorpion on his son Coyotito's cradle. Just as he was going to capture the scorpion it stung the baby. Hearing all the crying, Juan Thomas, Kinos brother, and his fat wife ... seemed to have been cured from the poultice his mother had put on him but the doctor said it was just temporary. He gave the baby a capsule and said he's return in an hour. When he arrived the baby was worse. Kino ...

• Word Count: 328
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo. After running further and further into Elsewhere Jonas" memory of cold was starting to fade, with the pilots still circling overhead, they started to pick up his heat signal. Jonas couldn't help it and he knew they where going to get him. By that time ... he had lost most of the memories The Giver had gave him and had been released into the community. He had lost all of them except for one speed. With Gabe in his hands he ran as fast as he could. Reaching over 20 mph ... the worst thing could happen, he tripped. Slamming to the groun...

• Word Count: 257
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... makes practical decisions that will benefit all. When Ralph decided not to go on climbing the mountain because of the wind, he wasn't being a coward. He did it because it wouldn't be very practical to continue climbing in windy conditions at night, as somebody could get hurt on the rocks (Pg 120). He is very optimistic and is sure that sooner or later all ... of them will be rescued from the island. "It's a good island. Until the grownups come fetch us we"ll have fun"(Pg 35). He is ... , Ralph tries to persuade him to regain his self-confidence and speak his mind (Pg 35). He tries to ma...

• Word Count: 356
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

Just imagine life without any authority. The world would be filled with savages - completely crazy and unruly. Everyone would be able to do all they want without any consequences. In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, this happens and young Jack can be characterized as an arrogant, heartless, self-absorbed, and untamed ... little boy trying to lead government on an island. Jack is a cruel child. When all the boys are arguing because they can't make ... He wants to seem powerful to his friends. All he cares about is his reputation and how he appears to everyone. Jack is concealing. W...

• Word Count: 735
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School