... through the years, the common struggles of those who lived through the pioneering days of Florida's rich history. Floridians especially can easily relate to stories of malaria and mosquito swarms. They can relate to hurricanes, heat and crop devastating frosts, not to mention wildlife problems, from hogs, alligators, cougars, bears and wolves. This is a novel for both Floridians and history buffs and it gets at the essence of the human ... condition. No one is perfect. Everyone is flawed. Those we think are perfect are still susceptible to the forces of nature and of God. While many of ...

• Word Count: 399
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... mother, Theresa Bennett, explained. His brother Bernie Bennett also refuses to believe that Jones would have killed himself, considering he was making many plans for the future. "I talked to him the other day and he was going to be back for my birthday and we were going to celebrate together," Bernie said (FOX23news.com). George Bennett, Jones' uncle, was first to be notified. ... There's no way this was suicide" (Grondahl). Also pointing to the fact that Jones' death could be more than a suicide is the cryptic message he left for his girlfriend. "I love you," he told her. "By the time y...

• Word Count: 539
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... market and mortgage lender meltdowns, two-paycheck families are busting the budget on necessities. Even conservative spenders are growing weary. During a recent small group discussion, a mother of three held back tears as she described the effects of the dollar's weakening buying power. She and her husband both work and have been steadily employed for the last twenty years. Three years ago, they felt financially secure ... . They could afford to eat out occasionally or shop at the mall. They bought into a timeshare in Florida. ... Now they"re struggling. A comparison shopper, the woman s...

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

... in genetic, parents become concerned that their children are flawed in some way if they go beyond the gender roles assigned to them by tradition. The tradition has not been broken by Feminists and all scientific arguments for behavior deemed inappropriate for a child's sex is used a "back up" of sorts to explain so-called oddities in children. Parents swallow this hook, line, and sinker even ... if in the recesses of their consciousness, they know it is wrong to influence children to be anyone other than who they are. Without a change in attitude ... have not changed attitudes about ge...

• Word Count: 627
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan The novel, The Kitchen God's Wife is a true-life story told in flashbacks, by a mother (Winnie) to her daughter (Pearl). She relates the incidents that had occurred in her life when she was in China. The story begins with the memories of a six-year old, about her mother who she loves intensely. At such a tender age she experiences the pangs of separation when her mother suddenly disappears from her life. Till her marriage to Wen Fu, Winnie lives in Tsungming Island where her treatment is no better than that of an orphan. Despite all the sufferings that Winnie ...

• Word Count: 136
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... , I thought of the only two people whom had the experience and innocence trapped within their soul. My grandparents on my mother's side, live in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila (Mexico), which borders Del Rio thirty miles from Brackettville. My grandmother is sixty-four years old and my grandfather is seventy-three years old. Both of them met the criteria to complete this project, which were age and two ... decide within themselves which one was willing to share part of their past. I predicted that my grandfather was going to volunteer since he was very talkative and enjoyed sharing stories from...

• Word Count: 266
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... to trust in the Lord. The action comes to a head when the preacher's alcoholic jazz musician husband, Luke, shows up. He is sick and dying, yet their son, David wants to follow in his long-absent father's footsteps. David wants to delagate his piano playing occupation in the storefront church to someone else in order to pursue his dreams with his father. Of course this ... is entirely antagonistic to his mother's wishes. The story flows back and forth between the church and the apartment, with church services and some gospel music interspersed. Stong voices are needed to ... make this ...

• Word Count: 402
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... allaw them to do what they want,however,what they do must not against law and not make trouble to other people.I think the couples who live together before marriage have the right.They do not do anything wrong because they did not make any trouble to anyone. It is about 2 people loving ... that they are mature enough and have responsibility. Live-in relationship is the good way to get to know each other.I think when people love each other,they have the idea of getting married but they will never know whether they are the perfect match or not.In order to get to know each other better ... ...

• Word Count: 353
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... it just ended like that. It didn't really give any sort of closure and it left me hanging to believe where the duo went from there. I wasn't sure what made this drastic change in emotion between the two. Then, it hit me. The moral of this story is through all the darkness, enlightenment always emerges. The two had a very poor relationship, until one day, through an event ... so small such as this, the boy realized that his mother really did care about him. They came to grips with each ... other, just like every mother/son combination should. The mother tried so hard to get ... ...

• Word Count: 326
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... to Linda. He suffers from a mental illness that impairs his thinking, which is reflected throughout the entire novel. He believes that he and his sons will be more successful than his neighbor Charley and his son, Bernard, because of his theory that the more "well-liked" person will make the most money. "It's not what you say, it's how you say it," was one ... of Willy's mottos. His whole life revolves around attaining the "American Dream" which he believes would make him successful and affluent. Willy's pride was ... witnessed Willy's affair with another woman. Consequently, Biff fail...

• Word Count: 359
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... through their eyes, as they try to understand a world where they have been told to forget their families, their home and their language. Two of the main characters, Jimmy and Ruby, have suffered throughout the years living a life of pain, sorrow and trauma. In their helpless search to find their family and home, they experience sexual abuse which drives them to insanity and death ... , he experiences sexual abuse but was unaware of what was happening to him. Tragically, his wish to be with his mother and the harsh events in his life force him to hang himself in custody. Ruby also lives a...

• Word Count: 432
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... They loved her as if she were their own daughter. However in privacy, Morag admired Christie's wisdom and she enjoyed listening to his stories he was telling her. The snapshots of "The Diviners" reveal Morag's past. The entire novel deals with her childhood in a small Manitoba town and later on as a young adult in Vancouver, where she decides to study. Morag was a very good ... They fell in love. Morag herself is Scottish. Her classmates have English, French and Scottish roots. Canada's society of today consists of these immigrants, including the Indians. The multi-culture of Canadian s...

• Word Count: 785
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In the essay "The Jacket" by Gary Soto, the author is trying to illustrate what a son would do for his family. There are many examples throughout the essay that prove this point. In the story there was a young boy who had asked his mother for a leather jacket, because he wanted to fit in with the other kids. His mom had gotten him a green jacket that was too big for him. Although he didn't like it, he still dealt with it. He had to wear it for three years. He still showed his mom that he appreciated it by saying thank you to her. Despite him not liking the jacket, he still wore it and got tort...

• Word Count: 185
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... on events and people from his own life"(Toner 31). Alden Nowlan grew up in a small mill town near Windsor, Nova Scotia in the 1930's. His mother was a young bride of only fifteen, who made attempts to leave the small town of Stanley, Nova Scotia but continuously reconciled with her husband and stayed. It did not, however, deter her from encouraging her children to ... leave. I find this fact to be the most obvious parallel between Nowlan's mother and Ethel (Skipper's mother). The connection between Rupert Syverson and Alden Nowlan's father is the alcoholism and the apparent contentment ...

• Word Count: 281
• Approx Pages: 1
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... and school attachment to adolescent deviance in diverse groups and communities". The Journal of Adolescent Research published this work. The purpose of this research is to determine what effect family and school will have on children's likeliness to perform deviant acts. The main hypotheses was, that the closer the family and school attachment was, the less the adolescent would act out deviant behavior. There were two research groups ... between a family as a primary group in our culture. It further discuses that the family is the foremost example of a primary group in a culture. It also...

• Word Count: 690
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... talked to Wil. He discovered that there was nothing wrong with him. All what Wil was doing on the island was writing about things like the animals, his parents, his grandmother, and Susan. He also liked to draw pictures of things he saw on the island. In the morning he would usually meditate. A couple days later he woke up to camera men taping everything he ... did because they were doing a big story on him. At the end of this novel his dad read the interview that the reporter did on him and he realized what Wil was doing. He didn't think he was crazy any more. He decided that he would ...

• Word Count: 444
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... does his father, Cuyloga, and Half Arrow, a close friend. While Johnny (True Son) is living with his white family Half Arrow and Little Crane come to take him back to the tribe. During the rescue attempt Little Crane is killed. Johnny contemplates whether he should abandon his white family and leave behind his younger brother, Gordie. As hard as ... tribe goes on a hunt to kill white men. When a canoe comes to the shore, where the Indians are waiting to attack, Johnny pushes them away for he thinks of his white family. Now Johnny will be either burned or left alive for his wrongdoing th...

• Word Count: 259
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... state. With little emotion, Lyman dictates the historical account of his grandmother's transient life. Being a retired professor of history, he describes the all the people and places with a historical accuracy that his career allowed him. Lyman describes all the events in his grandmother's life as they were, helping the reader of his book understand and learn the history of his life. Lyman goes into the Adult ego state once again when ... he thinking about Ada's version of Shelly's marital situation. He is trying to describe to himself what is correct and not ... ...

• Word Count: 475
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Challenges and obstacles are things that everyone has to face. But, in the book Chinese Cinderella Adeline, faces different kinds of challenges help her be a better person. Adeline"s challenges benefit her. Some of those challenges benefit her. Some of challenges are: Adeline's has brothers and sisters mistreat her, she's left everywhere without parents or guardians, and her whole family discriminates against her. First, ... guidance. Even though this may sound horrible it helped Adeline. This helped her to grow and mature to take care of herself. Learning this is good in life because you mus...

• Word Count: 293
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... his sister more about Mrs. Sappleton's family Vera wouldn't have been able to tell that story. Therefore, we can also assume that Vera possesses articulateness. This is shown by seeing the change of self-possessed voice to a falteringly human voice when Vera says, "Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back some day ," ( ). this shows that Vera's qualities are splendid because ... we can suppose that if she didn't possessed such qualities maybe Mr. Framton wouldn't have believed her story and he would have find out that all that was a joke. At the end of the story it has little ir...

• Word Count: 515
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... hurt you. I'm going to teach you to walk," his brother has said before heaving him up to try again. Brother's pride pushes Doodle to be like the other children, causing them to set unattainable goals of rowing, climbing, and swimming. Doodle is stretched to exhaustion through these exertions. Also, Paul is pushed too far by his relationship with his mother. He works ... himself into a frenzy to find more money for his mother. Once he goes through this exhausting experience, he saves his money to give to his mother. She wants ... it all at once, however, and against his better judgement...

• Word Count: 322
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... himself heroic. Thus, proving his critics wrong. First of all, Aeneas exhibits amazing loyalty to his family. For instance, when he finally sees his family, he holds his father and holds his son's hand. Yet, later when his wife is missing, Aeneas "turns back alone into the city" seeking his wife. Aeneas can be seen on ... his "endless quest form door to door" for his wife. His search was eventually put to a halt when his wife's ghost appeared to tell him that ... to a new home. While being a leader for his people, Aeneas has to also overcome his personal obstacles. He has to let go of h...

• Word Count: 240
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... 's House" and "Big Brother, Little Sister" the oldest child has been like a caregiver to the younger one. The oldest has always stood in front and taken the hit, to shelter his or her sibling from other people around them. In the story, The Doll's House, a prime example of this was how Lil (the older sister) always walked in front of Our Else, who trailed behind her wherever she went ... depended on her sister so much that she did not want to be left alone, where other children could pick on her. She hid from them all and every one of the harsh remarks went to Lil who always stood in fro...

• Word Count: 251
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... a whole because it clarifies the statements about the wedding ring and the daughter being welcomed into the family. This can be referred to as a lyrical poem because it is a short poem that expresses the feelings of one speaker, the mother. The words soap, ring, and boots are repeated in the poem. The boots are a part of the son's childhood but the ring used to describe the arrangement of the boots connects to the son's wedding ring and ... how the mother feels the time she spent with her son when he was a child is slipping away ... . It is also somewhat ironic that the soap that the mot...

• Word Count: 362
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... what he can or cannot do to his nails. The young bride is very excited to be starting this new "scandalous life of a newlywed". She believes marriage is a joyous joining of two people that begins a life of partnership. "She proudly bore the weight of the man's head" (Colette 228). As the story moves on, she discovers this hand, the hand of her new husband, and it is "big, larger than ... my whole head." She compares the hand to a king crab and a knife. She cringes ... role as a new wife, to be submissive and controlled. "Then she concealed her fear, bravely subdued herself, and, beginn...

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