... problems, like I used to. A safe road, I believed. A week later, the teacher delivered a verdict: "Good job. But all these solutions are common. Any new way?" I was stunned. Any new way? Obviously, my solution was just another common path. Any new way? His words flashed me back to the first Math book Dad gave me on my 14th birthday: Problems Solving Strategies-Arthur ... no burden, and no fear. Just like that, I came to Math, naturally. As days passed, contests and fame blurred my passion. The time I spent on each problem decreased, the open questions I often asked myself after each sol...

• Word Count: 634
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... that is a sign of evil is the dark road. This object is a symbol of evil that is about to come forth. It forshadows the seen with the devil. In "The Lottery", the stones are an object of evil. At the beginning of the story, the kids started to fill there pockets with stones, for the lottery. I realized what was about ... hurt or even kill someone. Objects were a big factor in seeing some evil that was presenetd through names or acts. In "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Lottery", we have found that "evil lurking behind a genteel or reassuring surface" is shown in three ways: Symbolism of Na...

• Word Count: 1021
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• Grade Level: High School

... of a young man named Neddy who decides to swim back to his house using a network of swimming pools which he names the Lucinda river. On the surface the plot is very simple; however there are some hidden aspects. On his journey home Neddy experiences a symbolic journey through his life from the happiness of youth to the loneliness of old age. He goes through a journey of realization from ... ; This is symbolic of him looking into his past and remembering the youth he had and wishing he could have it back. A significant part of the story is when Neddy has to cross a busy road. This has the...

• Word Count: 915
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• Grade Level: High School

... brown fur and skin sores, who took long, raking breaths- (69). Throughout this story, the title demonstrates an indirect theme for the story, by showing the effects of the black lights. In the short story "Wipe Out,"" Jones uses the title to describe the basic meaning of the story. The narrator in the story starts off by explaining his affection towards women and then continues to describe his attempt ... , because she moves in with him and takes care of him when he has the flu. Simone tells the narrator that she is pregnant, and the narrator reacts by throwing her out of the apartment. ...

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... trapped in her own house. Many of these images symbolize the narrator as feeling trapped or imprisoned. The narrator feels as if her husband and home in several ways trap her. The house that John decides to take her to is isolated "standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village" (Gilman 595). The house itself resembles a prison "walls and gates that lock" (Gilman ... her to write in her journal, "there comes John I might put this away" Gilman 596). However, the narrator's only way to say a word about anything is on paper. She says, "I must say what I feel and think...

• Word Count: 907
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• Grade Level: High School

... portrayed as having a flawless existence, and this is no mistake. Irving wants the reader to believe this, and to feel that the greater things in life can be achieved by taking the road less traveled. Next Irving turns the tables and labels this town with hearsay magic and witchcraft. Not directly by any ... " Some say that the place was bewitched by a High German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe".(p. 1) Irving wants to instill this supernatural ora around Sleepy Hollow for two reasons. One to continue ...

• Word Count: 780
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The Road to Adulthood The usual thoughts of people who are in their mid-teens are far from the truth about maturity. At the ages of fifteen and sixteen, everything is beginning to change. Licenses are earned, higher levels of academics are faces, and more physical changes take place. "A Sunrise on the Veld", by Doris Lessing, introduces the idea of adulthood and maturity that is seen through ... step toward maturity and adulthood. The boy in the story gradually realizes that his idea of life is inaccurate, and he announces, "I can't stop it. I can't stop it. There's nothing I can do," (2). T...

• Word Count: 1120
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• Grade Level: High School

... happy most of the time? Or, are they just always fighting and never agreeing on a particular issue? I honestly feel, in today's world, that there is a great deal of corruption in marriage. The husband or the wife may have different feelings about what makes a good marriage. I believe that married couples should stand on an equal ... footing and talk things out, not have one mate take over the whole relationship. We have examples of the above situations in the stories of "Shiloh" by Bobbie Ann Mason and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway. "I won ... 't leave me...

• Word Count: 827
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• Has Bibliography
• 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

... his bread and that the only person he is selling to is the man from the government farm, buying stale cakes and bread for the cows and pigs or whatever animals. Due to the reason that money is tight, he went out to visit his debtor. On his way to see his debtor, he saw a fellow selling coconut in the road. I keep on giggling in the part where he himself ... said that it was a damn funny thing to see, the coconut man is a black fellow. In the end, the main character found a solution to his problems. He decided to put a Chinese man in ... front of the bakery to serve the customers and hi...

• Word Count: 434
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... it's somber host, a man who had been left only with his delusional perception of evil. The house of Usher was a place most people would turn back from. Imagine yourself standing at a fork in the road, where one path was clear with the sun shinning; and not a single apparition of terror. On the other hand, you had a path that was clouded with an eerie fog, a turmoil of ... foliage flocking the sides as if the branches themselves would pull you in, dare you had gone onward. The fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe ... was extraordinarily described in this short story by Edgar Al...

• Word Count: 523
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... to learn about history, life and love from his logging partner, Leka. The choice to let his own values and ideals start to steer his life shows that Stephen has begun to find his path and road to his ideals. To what extent should a child aspire to their parent's ... impossible expectations or to satisfy the yearning inside them, and live up to their own ideals? "There ain't no room for kids in the pulp woods."" Words said to Stephen by the "foreman- of the pulp crew, ... wind."" Stephen's attempt to live up to his father's expectations and ideals, thus "becom[ing] a man,"" find him stru...

• Word Count: 1207
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• Grade Level: High School

... impacts him not only for what society judges him for, but the end result of death and struggles of setting his true identity free. The confusion of identity is shown before the start of the story where Andy gets stabbed and is obviously on the sidewalk bleeding. The people who stabbed him knew him for his gang, the Royals and not andy himself. "Thats for you Royal ... idea of confusion in identity is a conflict that is not only relevant to the story, but also to the real world. In everyday life, whether at work,school or just walking down, the road, we all become the Couple, judging tho...

• Word Count: 588
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... how you expected it. As the story unfolds we are introduced to Mr. and Mrs. White and their son Herbert. The Whites live in an ordinary run down rental house, one of two on their road. ""That's the worst of living so far out," balled Mr. White. Of all the beastly, slushy, out of the way places to live in, this is the worst,""(1). Living so far out ... , the White's got very few visitors and were very surprised by ... the few they did have. Late one night, an old friend ... ...

• Word Count: 940
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• 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

... being taken care of, she has to assume care herself and she does so without a grumble. She has a miraculous ability to accept the harsh circumstances and go on, recovering from each blow like a Phoenix from the ashes. Her journey is a heroic one. The journey of Dee in Alice Walker's short story is that of a "prodigal daughter" coming back to once repudiated roots. Dee left ... ), because it was associated with a dissolute lifestyle. Sonny indeed becomes a drug addict and has serious problems with the police. The older brother gives up on him and the two lose touch for many years. It take...

• Word Count: 1070
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... him to stop. He didn't mean to shoot him it was just the first thing that came to mind. As they picked Kenney up laid him on a flat piece of wood, they loaded him up in the truck. The nearest hospital was 50 miles away. They all drove away and continued on the road towards the hospital. Kenney was in so much pain and to top it off ... freezing. He couldn't keep warm enough. From the story you could tell he was getting frightened. Frank ... and Tub told him "keep telling yourself over and over again, I"m going to the hospital. They made many stops on the way to the hospital because it w...

• Word Count: 1091
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... of them genuinely believe that this method is the only way to make the narrator well again. When the narrator arrives at the house in which she has no choice but to stay in, she describes it as "The most beautiful place! It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of English places that you ... read about, for there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and stuff" (Perkins Gilman 345). This is when the reader is introduced to the physical setting in the story. At first...

• Word Count: 996
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... fence is a barrier, however it is not a barrier in the same sense as the flannel-fog: the wire fence is a barricade that separates Elisa's two worlds. An analogy can certainly be made from the flowers and the "cattle and dogs and chickens". On one side is the world where her husband shapes and molds her, and on the other is the woman she wants and yearns to be; someone with ... her own voice and opinions. The fence may also symbolize the confines placed on women during this particular era. There is clearly a struggle ... total isolation from her true self. She was described as a strong...

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... want to protect her children and grandchildren and have the desire for them to explore the world. At the same time, she shows concern and does not want the family to take the road trip to Florida. She makes her son and daughter in law aware of the fact that "the children have been to Florida and warns them of the Misfit, a serial killer, who is also heading to ... their death. She reminisces about a visit to a plantation that was actually in another state and brings death to the family. Ironically she was the first dressed in the car waiting to go and was wearing dress clothes "in case ...

• Word Count: 1088
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... to provide a scenic escape for his wife while she deals with a pretty harsh mental breakdown. "The most beautiful place! It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village. It makes me think of English places that you read about, for there are hedges and ... walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people" (page 139). A good portion of the story, if not the majority, is in the ... find her sanity even though she has been confined to the shabby part of the house. Personification is used throughout the work, m...

• Word Count: 962
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... was always happy. At school he wasn't popular. He often got picked on and didn't have much going for him. Around 24 years old he met the girl of his dreams, wed her, and eventually had two children. He was a good father and never did anything wrong. A few years down the road Kyle's family went bankrupt, so he needed more money to help sustain ... screamed aggressively at the man, "Lay on the floor and don't try anything stupid!" Kyle grabbed the money from the register and started to run out with no problems. The cashier then pulled a gun out from the counter and shot at Kyle with the b...

• Word Count: 973
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... swiftly to a band members' house to meet up with everyone. When I finally arrived, I could see the excitement in each of the band members faces. I could also see Sid's tiny and efficient pick up truck parked facing the wrong way on the street as normal and Jack's big suburban under the big old oak tree covered in bird poop, which he complained about when it was time ... rehearsal time and were now 30 minutes behind our schedule. Frantically throwing gear into our bags and slinging it anxiously into the back of Jack's crowded vehicle, we finally hit the road. Seconds after we reached the...

• Word Count: 1230
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... generation. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" is representative of Flannery O'Connor's concern for the priorities and values of the 1940s. An example of this, in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" involves the grandmother's strong, southern heritage. She dresses with the intention that anyone who finds her dead on the road will know she was a lady, and she is always telling stories of southern gentlemen courting ... her. Then, the Misfit, who she "knows: is of quality, southern blood, shoots her and her family, despite her belief ... in southern hospitality. Grandma is a woman who believes in God...

• Word Count: 361
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... , their jeans thread-bare and torn. Findlay longed for that freedom, but all he was, being nothing to them, just a boring mechanic - nothing to the world. Findlay's father is suffering; he is dying from lung cancer, but still refuses to be admitted to hospital (as seen in an earlier quote). At ... can be broken down into "Fin" which means "end of", and "Lay" which means "poem/fine verse". During his lunch breaks Findlay doesn't got to the pub across the road for a re-heated pie and pints of heavy, unchanged out of their dirty overalls - "a uniform-worn with pride". He preferred to remove ...

• Word Count: 1124
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School