... gasoline cost $3.69 in central Illinois. Hurricane Ike's approach before landfall boosted the price to $4 per gallon in a matter of hours. Critics say the surge in gasoline costs has created a "green" attitude Americans should have adopted years ago. Gas-guzzlers sit on dealers" lots as higher gasoline efficiency models take their place on the road, msnbc writer Allison Linn says. Drivers now plan their routes, even ... for weekend errands, to cut gasoline consumption. Feeling the pinch, Americans are cutting back as their standard of living erodes. Asked by researchers how they ... ...

• Word Count: 398
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , and scoring ever placed on a film. He gave a lot of credit to the director, Mendes, and the cinematographer in portraying a wonderful blending of gangster film and coming of age story all wrapped up in one. In addition, he mentioned that everyone in the film showed great acting skills that were indeed captivating. Moreover, Baltake declares Road to Perdition "is the best film of the year." In contrast ... of Road to Perdition lies in the pace and the main characters that are one-dimensional and lack introspection." The film is "very slow" and even sometimes to a point of boredom. She f...

• Word Count: 794
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... those days had to shape his attitudes. He loved his mother and grandmother, but felt he had to choose one side, one race or the other. He chose the more difficult road, being a black child in America. Identifying himself as black instead of mixed gave him a firm identity, but it also undoubtedly made his ... , and the undoubted suffering he experienced as a small child. Things like being uprooted from his home in Hawaii and taken to Jakarta, where he was forced to go to a Muslim school, learn a new language, and fit into a place where he knew he didn't belong must have left some indelib...

• Word Count: 600
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to live with only one parent, creating a void and lack of guidance that can not be provided by only one parent. The effects usually begin to show later down the road. As a child, it is hard to comprehend what is going on around them. Custody battles can effect a child dramatically according to research conducted by North Carolina State. One parent can slander ... the other, skewing the child's perception, as well as ruining the relationship with that parent. Divorce can emotionally scar children causing fears of betrayal, abandonment, ... loss, and rejection. Never being around a healt...

• Word Count: 486
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... . Sullivan's mob friend who was with Sullivan at the time of the murder says the boy must die. Sullivan refuses and promises the man the kid will be silent. This is the beginning of Sullivan's change for the better; he knows that he has just put his entire family at risk, mostly his older son. Sullivan lays his life on the line to protect his eldest son's life. After ... of Sullivan's youngest son Peter, and his wife of more than twelve years Sullivan starts on a journey of revenge with his only surviving son. They leave their home surroundings and gangster family to set out on the open ...

• Word Count: 644
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... up for certain failure. Despite a substantial inheritance, the young man lacked the wisdom and experience needed to navigate the treacherous road of life he chooses to embark upon. Seeking only to please himself, he sends his life spiraling out of control. Without regard for the morrow he wastes his life's savings on wild living and temporal pleasure. In the end he has nothing to show for what ... out to seek his second chance back at his father's house, with his father's protection, provision, and wisdom. Of all the desires of man perhaps the most desired would be a second chance, the ...

• Word Count: 1012
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... every post-apocalyptic world, hope plays a large role in the story. In Cormack McCarthey's, The Road, it is shown that in times of desperation, people often view hope in different perspectives. The boy sees "carrying the fire" as the good in humanity. However, the father views his son's future life as a symbol for hope in civilization. The author uses these two characters' journey to demonstrate that ... even in dire situations, there is hope to be had. The boy sees ... very young and still has a long time to live and must carry on the flame of humanity and hope for the future world. T...

• Word Count: 652
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... is Hard to Find- we get a portrait of a 1950s postwar family who, in the midst of their own naivety, find themselves not only on the road from Atlanta, Georgia to Florida but on the road to the their own demise. The most outstanding character in this story is the grandmother, and since the story is told from the third person omniscient view, it will be easy for us to analyze ... the grandmother's character. She connects the other characters together throughout the story with her own selfishness and stupidity ... my conscious if I did."" We will see how this statement becomes the epitome ...

• Word Count: 1214
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... life when are exposed to positive and effective parenting. Good parenting lowers the risks of delinquency for children especially if the live an areas of high levels of crime. Children are able to resists the temptations of the streets when they receive discipline and support from their parents. On the contrary, those children raised with little discipline and poor monitoring are prone ... but when this very important unit is disrupt or goes under drastic changes can have negative long-lasting effects in the children. Family break ups, family conflicts, family ineffectiveness and famil...

• Word Count: 486
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... partly sunny Sunday. Alison was only about one year old and she was getting hungry so i took a bottle of milk out of the diaper bag. I held the bottle in her mouth until she started to hold it by herself. All of the sudden we felt a huge bump from our car. Alison started to cry. I unbuckled my seatbelt and then I hugged her to show ... everyone left, we went over to the people that were from the other car, and told them that we were gald that they were alright. After we talked to them for bout five minutes, we continued our journey to my Aunt Julie's house. We only wanted to go over the...

• Word Count: 433
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... no other. From the title, the academically minded may gather that the movie may involve or end with tragedy as Perdition means eternal damnation. So "How does the title "Road to Perdition" relate to the characters and themes in the movie?" The text is set in the late 1920's, early thirties in the era of mobsters and gangsters in Chicago. Being involved in the mafia comes with the perks of protection, power ... and money but anything that has negative effects towards the collective family results in instant death. Such is ... that was positive and didn't have a theme of despair, revenge...

• Word Count: 992
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... when shallow travelers, who are embodiments of the self-interested materialistic society, embark on a road trip to an unsure destination. When tragedy strikes, personality traits can be held accountable. One particular character, the grandmother, the central character in "A Good Man is Hard to Find- is a naive, deceitful, and self-serving woman who leads her family to tragedy. The grandmother's nave tendency ironically leads to an ... to be dressed to attend church, and not to partake on a family road trip. The grandmother's perfectionist representation additionally portrays an exceedin...

• Word Count: 700
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The peaceful serenity was mesmerizing. The coffee trees on either side of the road had berries dark green plump with potential. The squirrels looked up curiously at the interruption of the deep bellow of a four-cylinder army green Jeep trundling along the dirt road with a nervous 12-year-old boy at the helm. "Clunk" went the gearbox, as I nervously shifted from 2nd to 3rd gear, struggling to learn how ... to execute the perfect shift. The ... also represents freedom to me. It is that symbol of motion and an invitation for adventure, the tangible representation of kinetic energy. The fact tha...

• Word Count: 652
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... there from morning till night, except for school, and Tateh had us timed for that. He"d be standing in the road outside the store with his hands on his hips at three P.M. sharp, looking down the road for me and Sam, and later Dee-Dee, as we ran the six blocks home from school. Right to work we went." (McBride 41). He would molest her and touch ... passed away. "It's not all right! It's not all right! Ma cried and she wailed and wailed, the sound of her cries circling the house like a spirit and settling on all the corridors and bed where we lay, weeping in silence." (McBride 128). Losin...

• Word Count: 1012
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• Grade Level: High School

... my aunt called us and told us to follow them so we could be together for the long journey. She insisted that we go to her husband's brother's house to stay for awhile. After my mom finished talking on the phone with my aunt, we realized that they was not two car in front of us ... to go to Dallas, where my her brother's lives but my dad wanted to stop his niece's house for a visit. So my mom agreed and we got back on the road again, which I hated because I hate sitting in one spot for hours and hours. I was a hyper little brat. We finally made it to my dad's niece's ... home. After we v...

• Word Count: 966
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... those boys who were born with a golden spoon in his mouth. When I was 3 years old, my dad had cars he put on the road for public transportation, though he was riding a Vespa motorcycle. He eventually acquired a lot of cars which were at the disposal of my younger ones and me. We had our own driver, my Mom had hers and my Dad had his ... motivate us to finish our education early. My Dad wanted us to acquire our first degree before the age of 21. At this age, based on his expectations, we were supposed to be on our second or Master's degree. A little bit after high school, I came to the U...

• Word Count: 926
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... the whole enduring time. I could tell him from all the others in creation." (A Worn Path, pg. 182) A critic has an interesting take on the final conversation in the story, "The adoration of her grandson are the final words Phoenix speaks to another character in the book, a parting premonition that the struggle is going to last. Much like the incident with the hunter, Phoenix reiterates here that conflicts are just stones in the road ... , obstacles in the path." (The Explicator pg. 153) You get a sense ... that this story really has happened and that perhaps it could be being told by her...

• Word Count: 1135
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... actions. Oeidpus" fate was known by his birth parents and that's how this tragedy began. When Oeidpus was a grown man he tried to change what the Gods had in store for him but little did he know his own actions were bringing him towards his fate. After Oeidpus had married Iocaste, not knowing ... she was his birth mother and solving the riddle of the Sphinx this began to change. More questions arose about the death of Laios and of who was his band of murders. At this time Oeidpus was unaware of who he had ... he committed a sin by his own actions and would not be forgiven by any means. ...

• Word Count: 547
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... warm and glimmering with feelings cascaded down my blushing cheeks. I sat there, curled in a tight ball on the corner of my bed. Each breath heaved in my stomach and the taste of salt covered my lips. A knock on the door made me somewhat compose myself. My hoarse voice permeated my room. "Come in," I whispered, my ... with my sister. Obviously families aren't perfect. We fight a lot and we don't compromise on stupid little things. But there are moments when you feel broken and used and only family can help you escape that solitude. The importance of family is surreal. Without family, we ...

• Word Count: 624
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... living in a tiny run-down apartment, in her novel A Raisin in the Sun. She based the name on the Langston Hughes poem "Harlem." She found the title appropriate to portray the way of life lived out by the Youngers. The family bonds are tested to great lengths and the family was divided into three parts. The leaders of each section were depicted by their attitude towards life and ... ;Sag like a heavy load." Everyone in the family wanted unity in the end. Ruth even said that she would, Strap the baby to her back and work, so that the Youngers could ultimately afford to live in a new house....

• Word Count: 723
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... getting a Cavalier because of their notorious reputation of being underpowered. I also thought that Cavaliers only came with one engine option. As soon as I saw that the 2003 model was completely redesigned, my opinion quickly changed. The next thing on my mind was a test drive. It didn't take too long before a salesman approached us. Before he could begin his car sales techniques, I told him ... ). He then informed me that he didn't think that they had any five speed cavaliers on the lot. After a while, he pulled up in a nice looking blue Cavalier that had every option on it! He got out...

• Word Count: 738
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... the tragedy, but also in a way paying back the people that Armand feels is to blame. At the end of the story Armand feels as if he should uncontaminate himself, and his families name by destroying the personal belongings of Desiree and the babies. Armand orders his slaves to build a large bonfire on the grounds of the ... . For Gods sake tell them it is not true. I shall die. I must die. I cannot be so unhappy and live (180)." The deadly fate of Desiree's and Armand's innocent child takes place after Desiree chooses not to take her mothers advice of returning to a mother that loves ... h...

• Word Count: 1042
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... his family's problems are his too, and that he must respect them and listen to them in order to better their lives and come closer to achieving the American Dream. As the family moves and struggles on the little money they have, Walter eventually realizes that it takes more than just money to better one's life, it is a joint effort and a combination of dreams ... their own American Dream in being able to defy racism with strength and togetherness. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses the characters as a way to follow the struggles and harshness of an African American ...

• Word Count: 970
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... cannot eat his steak. It is strange because it is a good steak. When McCreedy's steak is the only food left, he gathers all the empty plates underneath his own plate with the steak on. Hilda grumbles, but then McCreedy says that the steak on top is symbolising him and the cold, hard and empty plates symbolises them. He says he wants to get down, but does not ... know how. The family are choked and Katy just waits to see her father throw the plates on the floor, but a waitress comes and picks the stack up, and Spiros calls for champagne and a dessert for Katy. B: Write an interpretation ...

• Word Count: 748
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... on in the novel when the old gringo felt from the very beginning that he had to control his paternal affection for Arroyo (26). Later on as the old gringo and Arroyo are riding horse-back to fight the old gringo comes upon memories of his father. The old gringo remembers that years ago in 1847 he rode along side his father on the very road that he was now traveling on ... with Arroyo. The old gringo had come to resent his father and everything ... his family stood for and inherited. Now, riding next to Arroyo towards battle the old gringo could pass along his knowledge to this younger ...

• Word Count: 1016
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School