1. "Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston
Tobias Wolff's" story On Being a Real Westerner is a wonderful short story wrapped with intriguing thoughts found within any young boy wanting to become a man. Wolff does a wonderful job of portraying the pre-adolescent psych of himself at the age of ten, and uses this portrayal to explain a brief moment in his life which was very important to his "growing up".
In the first few paragraphs of this story, Wolff explains his great passion for a rifle which was owned by his mothers" boyfriend Roy. Wolff explains how obtaining this rifle was the first step to a process which he labeled as "being a real westerner". Wolff proceeds to explicate his deep passion for this rifle and the sorrow he felt when it was taken back so soon after being given to him. However, he soon regained possession of the rifle after making a promise to his mother to never touch the rifle when herself and Roy were not present. Well, as we all know, a promise such as that with an item such as the rifle really isn't worth all that much to a young man of Wolff's age. Soon Wolff begins taking the rifle out of its case when his mother and Roy are not at home to just clean it. But soon this turns into other things such as striking poses and pretending to be a member of the armed forces, all things not too healthy for a ten year old with a gun. Eventually all of this pretending leads him to believe that he is a Sniper, and he sits at his window and follows people with the bead of the rifle, day by day feeling even more of the power that a weapon, such as his rifle, emits. Tobias later becomes so infatuated with the rifle that he finds Roy's" ammunition for the twenty-two caliber rifle and loads it. Tobias then returns to his window and continues to "make his bead" on the passer by's. As time progresses Tobias comes to a day when he is so overwhelmed by the rifle, and his patience to shoot the gun has become so low that he decides it is time to pull the trigger.
Fear exposes the most primal human reaction; a trait depicted in the boys of Lord of the Flies, where an ingrained reaction to self-preservation overcomes wit, reasoning, and conscious forethought and illustrates the darkest characteristics in man. ... The more adventurous hunters set out to scour the jungle armed with makeshift spears. ... As theorized by Thomas Hobbes, "living in a state of continual warfare where no morality exists means the life of man is nasty, brutish, and short." ... Their instincts of self-preservation and aggression lead to a vivid portrayal of man's darkest...
Maybe he was a rude impatient man - or maybe he was really a nice man under a lot of stress and having a bad day. ... I saw ugly makeshift plywood walls to my left and right, a maze of paint-laden scaffolds, I grumbled to myself about what a mess the place was, and how long it was taking to fix it. ...
Microsoft is now scurrying to provide the makeshift drivers needed for printers, scanners, and other peripherals. ... After being unsatisfied with the regular installation a man experimented with this clean install and said "it worked like a dream." ... Despite these problems and a full week of recovery one man decided to try a clean install to compare results. ...
Because of the times though, Shannon was not allowed to travel without a man to accompany, and she needed Joseph to accompany her. ... After a long trek to Oklahoma, Joseph finds himself in a makeshift town that is organizing the great land race. ...
