Premium Essay

South Boston Short Story Essay

Submitted By
Words 1584
Pages 7
She smiled at his derriere problem and wiped the blood off her nails, before signaling displeasure at the eau de rotten eggs. What a pig! But she liked the way he hit the turns and floored the gas on the straightaways. He ran at her speed and wasn’t anyone’s replica of somebody else.
Relaxing on fabric upholstery deluged with sticky, warm holy water, she contemplated dead-ends, open roads and which he might heed. Soon he’d have to wager more chips on the relationship or fold; his call, she had already decided. What sweet smells.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jimmy’s afternoon plan crumbled amid the post-coital serenity. He wasn’t hungry anymore. An intermittent array of passing cars ignored …show more content…
The Mayor and Fire Commissioner even set aside their long-standing feud to exploit a front page photo opportunity. Afterward, they retreated to a local bar and over a trivial matter exchanged knuckles. The media didn’t report the incident, but everyone in town caught wind of the fisticuffs. Commissioner Eamon O’Donnell, a neighborhood resident, trounced the much-despised Mayor Dario Napoli, earning his photo a permanent spot on the bar’s back wall. Eamon never had to pay for another drink in Southie.
The dilapidated station house’s lone remaining relic─a rusted, mobile “Hose tower”─atrophied in its left rear corner. The fire pole had long since been amputated; its sterile ceiling cavity never to ejaculate fireman again.
The “98” budget crisis doomed the firehouse. It was closed, abandoned─submitted for reclammation─to the yawns of real estate developers. An outcry from voiceless people didn’t warrant reconciliation between an impoverished community’s needs and fiscal …show more content…
South of Dorchester Park, parents didn’t walk their bright-eyed Johnnies alongside a well-groomed Akita. Instead, Little John cruised with the family Rottweiler to coax milk money and “ciggies” from unfortunates. The songs of children’s laughter often resounded from the local playgrounds whenever someone took a beating. The numb-eyed Johnnies didn’t attend play dates with other disturbed kids; they collaborated when the punk became Big John and formed a crew. Public safety initiatives followed distinctive protocols depending on the neighborhood. The rules favored a different god on Beacon

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Jumpa Lahiri

...Jumpa Lahiri Jumpa Lahiri was born on July 11, 1967 in London to Bengali parents. She was named Nilanjana Sudeshna by her patents, but she goes by her pet name Jumpa. She moved to South Kingstown, Rhode Island when she was three years old. Jumpa Lahiri learned her Bengali heritage from her mother from a very early age. Jhumpa Lahiri is the daughter of a librarian and school teacher. She has always been inclined to creative writing. She married Alberto Vourvoulias Bush in 2001. They have two children from their marriage Octavio and Noor. Jumpa Lahiri received her B.A in English literature from Barnard College in 1989. She went on to earn an M.A. in English, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, an M.A. in Comparative Literature, and a Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies from Boston University. From 1997-98, she held a fellowship at Provincetown's Fine Arts Work Center. Right from a very young age she felt very strong ties to her parent’s homeland, India, as well as the United States and England. A sense of homelessness and an inability to feel accepted took place as she grew up with the ties to all three countries. To her it is an inheritance of her parent’s ties to India. “The question of identity is always a difficult one, but especially so for those who are culturally displaced, as immigrants are, or those who grow up in two worlds simultaneously, as is the case for their children.”- Jhumpa Lahiri. She is indeed the storyteller who weaves the lace of love, identity, crisis, lies and...

Words: 711 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Short Answer Essay Assignment

...Castillo Jodie Baeyens LITR220 August 14, 2015 Short Answer Essay Assignment 1. Based on the readings from weeks one and two, discuss the images of America the European writers constructed to promote colonization and settlement. What kinds of unique natural resources and environmental factors did they extol in their accounts of the New World? Relate these images to natural resources and environmental factors today. The Purposes behind coming to America was as diverse as the people living in it. America turned into the Promised Land of mankind, offering individuals a grand belief of a dream of extended opportunities and new hopes which was denied to them in the Old World. Europeans writers wrote an enormous amount of documents about America aimed during the early periods of settlement. Europeans composed portrayals of the nation, its abundant vegetation and aquatic life. They also “wrote of trading with the Indians” as numerous tribes established a peaceful exchange relation with the new settlers during the early phases of European settlement (Perkins 4). John Smith composed for future settlers when settlement started to grow. He also drew the maps for those settlers and gave them dreams that made them come to America even more. What created the drive for new settlers to come to America even more, was his adventure as “he told the story of his rescue by Pocahontas” (Smith 31). Through these stories, the readers could see the issues of Virginias settlement and...

Words: 1037 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Bibliographic Essay on African American History

...Bibliographic Essay on African American History Introduction In the essay “On the Evolution of Scholarship in Afro- American History” the eminent historian John Hope Franklin declared “Every generation has the opportunity to write its own history, and indeed it is obliged to do so.”1 The social and political revolutions of 1960s have made fulfilling such a responsibility less daunting than ever. Invaluable references, including Darlene Clark Hine, ed. Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); Evelyn Brooks Higgingbotham, ed., Harvard Guide to African American History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001); Arvarh E. Strickland and Robert E. Weems, Jr., eds., The African American Experience: An Historiographical and Bibliographical Guide (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001); and Randall M. Miller and John David Smith, eds., Dictionary of Afro- American Slavery (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1988), provide informative narratives along with expansive bibliographies. General texts covering major historical events with attention to chronology include John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000), considered a classic; along with Joe William Trotter, Jr., The African American 1  Experience (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001); and, Darlene Clark Hine, William C. Hine, and Stanley Harrold, The...

Words: 6155 - Pages: 25

Free Essay

James Thurber

...James Thurber By Rahul Patel/10 [pic] Rahul Patel Mr. Hurdle Composition 11 May, 2012 James Thurber Part I: “Authors of light pieces have, nobody knows why, a genius for getting into minor difficulties: they walk into the wrong apartments, they drink furniture polish for stomach bitters, they drive their cars into the prize tulip beds of haughty neighbors, they playfully slap gangsters, mistaking them for old school friends” (James Thurber). James Thurber was a cartoonist and an author. He was born on December 8th 1984 to his parents, Charles and Mary Thurber. Thurber’s father was a clerk and a minor politician, while his mother was a practical joker and very strong-minded. For example his mother would tell visiting guests that she was in love the post man and she had to be kept in the attic because of it. She would also tell people that she was a cripple and then she would suddenly stand up and tell everyone she had miraculously healed(James Thurber 1 of 5). James Thurber also had two brothers, William and Robert. When Thurber and William were little, they were playing with a bow and arrow, and William shot James in the eye. This led James to be partially blind and because of this injury he couldn’t participate in any sports or activities, but this injury developed a very creative imagination in Thurber’s mind. A neurologist at the time had a theory that he might have Charles Bonnet Syndrome, which is a condition that...

Words: 3160 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Women Who Fight Term Paper

...For centuries women have fought for their rightful place in society and their God-given rights as humans. In some countries, women are still subjected to harsh, defiling conditions. While fighting for these rights, women characters in short stories, novels, plays, and even poetry were made to beat the odds of normalcy. In some instances, these women were portrayed as heroines. Three perfect examples of women characters before their time are Nora Helmer from A Doll’s House, Antigone from Antigone, and Emily Grierson from “A Rose for Emily.” These sapid characters, Antigone, Emily, and Nora, step from the normal roles as women and fight against all authority, stand up for what they believe in, and break the laws as they fall. To better understand the character, one must first understand the author and the time period in which the story was written. Sophocles wrote many dramatic plays including, Antigone. Sophocles, like many of his characters in his plays, was a hero of sorts. He held many public offices and was a general during the Samian War and the Archidamian War. “Sophocles was a priest of Halon and helped introduce the cult of Asclepius, god of medicine, to Athens” (Gill). He grew up in a town known as Colonus, but he stayed in Athens most of the time (Gill). His play, Antigone, was written in 441 B. C., in Ancient Greece. (Sophocles 1465) . In the dramatic play, Antigone, Antigone undergoes a deadly battle with her uncle, future father-in-law, and king, Creon. Antigone...

Words: 2685 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

The Lesson

...Jaclyn Karpiak English 101 12 April 2012 Short Story Analysis: “The Lesson” Toni Cade Bambara, a Harlem-born author, embraces culture, community, and background through her short story “The Lesson”. She has the main character Miss Moore discuss the struggles African Americans have with Caucasians involving social class, poverty, and equality. For many years after the abolition of slavery, African Americans were still looked down upon and considered a lower social class in certain societies. Bambara uses language as a powerful tool for describing America during the 1960s through the eyes of a young girl named Sylvia, a proud, sensitive, tough girl who is far too smart to ignore the realities around her. Bambara uses language to establish a cultural setting and Miss Moore to teach her students how to be successful, no matter their race. This story reflects Bambara’s ethnic background and pride by using the same dialect that she used growing up in Harlem, New York. According to Bambara, she spoke African American Vernacular English (AAVE), a trait that imparts to Sylvia. African American Vernacular English adds realism and humor to Sylvia's narrative because it describes her ethnicity without directly expressing what it is. It is common for African-American writers to use AAVE to emphasize their political and social commentary, so it is appropriate for Sylvia to be speaking the dialect because the story takes place in the ghetto of New York where Sylvia spends her childhood...

Words: 929 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Essay on Business Innovation

...Applied Sciences | January 13, 2014 4.1 Innovative Business Skills Essay on innovation 4.1 Innovative Business Skills Essay on innovation Table of Content Introduction 2 Backgrounds for the topic of Innovation 2 Definition of Innovation 3 Creation and implementation of Innovation 3 Creativity inspires. Creativity empowers. 4 Studytrip London 5 Conclusion 6 Bibliography 7 Introduction The focus of this essay is on the subject of “Innovation” due to the course of Innovative Business Skills in Block 4.1. Of course I was familiar with the meaning of Innovation but dealing with a subject like this in a deeper way can still change the way of how you define something for what it is and get aware of what other facts play an important role behind it. With the information and new knowledge gained as a result of the (guest)-lectures, the reading material and the business trip, I have gained an insight in to the topic of innovation and a better understanding of the innovation management. In this essay I will firstly give an short introduction to the background of Innovation (why it does exist) and provide a common definition linked to what innovation meant to me before the course of ‘Innovation Business Skills’. Afterwards the creation and implementation of innovation will be investigated as I have understood and experienced it in the previous block (4.1). At the end I will round of this essay with a conclusion also describing what Innovation means for me now after...

Words: 1540 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Final

...process of completing this assignment. If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act/s, which could include expulsion from Indiana Wesleyan University. Final Paper: Barn Burning In the short story, “Barn Burning,” William Faulkner wrote to show us the uncertainty of our individual futures. In many instances, author’s write from personal experience and perspectives, and like stated in our assignment description, they write, “both as reflections of and influences upon their culture.” Here, Faulkner gives us a safe look at the different classes of people in the Old South, where race, monetary value and differences in social class are all derivatives of his purpose. The thesis of “Barn Burning” is implied throughout the story. In my own words, the thesis of this story is given through the analysis of a young and impressionable boy who struggles between moral choices of family loyalty and the moral expectancy of civic justice. In this essay, I will identify and discuss literary elements such as plot, conflict, setting, character analysis, point of view and symbolism suggested in the story. The plot of “Barn Burning” is shadowed with the beginning of young Colonel Sartoris Snopes life and his brush with the law. In this case, Sartoris’ father Abner has been accused of burning a barn. The plaintiff insists Abner had sent word to him through a black man that...

Words: 1622 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Maynard Stow

...Maynard/Stow — “Every once in a while, people need to be in the presence of things that are really far away.” This was the concluding sentence of a short essay by Ian Frazier appearing in the New Yorker magazine, February 2011. You know – like mountain tops, the Grand Canyon, the Empire State Building or the bow of the Titanic (before it sank). Maynard and Stow offer remarkably few opportunities to be in a place where distant vistas are a view. Once upon a time Summer Hill, now tree-covered and trail-crossed, was open pasture. History Society pictures taken as recently as World War II show an expanse with few trees. Decades earlier, state surveyors installed an official stone marker atop Summer Hill, with the expectation that from that point, clear viewing was available in all directions. Marble Hill, at 440 feet, the highest elevation in Stow, is similarly tree-obstructed. Stow does offer a hill with a present-day view. Stories hold that ships’ pilots in Boston harbor used the stand of pine trees atop Pilot Grove Hill as a navigational landmark, suggesting that in the reverse direction a person atop the hill could see Boston’s skyscrapers. Alas, not so. Mayhap from a treetop, but not from ground level. However, Birch Hill Road, elevation 370 feet, does offer a glimpse of Mt. Wachusett, twenty miles to the northwest. Bridges can offer vistas. White Pond Road over the Assabet River, on the Stow/Maynard border, offers good views up and down river – albeit less than...

Words: 772 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

North American Fiction

...Literature is in itself and which pieces of writing we can include within this label. It is believed that when a piece is written in North America, more precisely in the USA, it would automatically be given this epithet. But it should be taken into account that this idea is quite broad and doesn’t reflect the real essence of the term. However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know, their community was also governed by the concept of Predestination. This belief was based in the idea that we are saved or condemned...

Words: 12691 - Pages: 51

Premium Essay

Informaion System

...Running head: GROUP SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT Team Programming Environments Information Technology for Teams Course Team Programming Environments Programming teams are achieving advances in deployment of more modular software products through the use of adaptive techniques in software development. Companies implementing large scale enterprise planning and control systems, product data management tools and complex back office systems for global service and support are finding these techniques to be more cost effective, adaptable and lean improving user requests for changing software functionality, processes and improved deployment strategies (Applegate, Austin, & McFarlan, 2002). This paper will compare and contrast three team oriented programming environments including Rational, Unified Modeling and Extreme Programming and will describe the impact of these programming environments on group software development. Literature Review of Software Trends The traditional methods of systems planning and investment decision making in the last century have given pause to leaders who witnessed costs in design, implementation and deployment of software skyrocket, created armies of support teams to operate and manage the software products and forced many firms into bankruptcy. Companies who have successfully implemented enterprise systems are now seeking more adaptive infrastructure deployments, software end-user functional value, and more adaptable...

Words: 1921 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

A Comparative Essay

...“Love in L.A.” vs. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” Comparative Essay Amy E. Peche LITR201-1304A-04: Literature: A Reflection of Life Colorado Technical University Prof. Eric Wright October 18, 2013 Abstract No two stories are ever the same, there may be a ton of similarities between the two but unless they are mere copies of each other, they are different. Two stories can be based in two completely different settings, have two different tones, and completely different characters, but they could expose the same message to the readers. Throughout this paper, I will discuss how “Love In L.A.,” and “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” is similar, different, what their settings are, describe their characters, tone and reveal their messages. A Brief Overview “Love in L.A.” and “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” are two short stories that portray the characters as arrogant, self-centered, triumphant people, but allows the readers to envisage the true demise of the characters from the beginning. “Love in L.A.,” revolves around a young man in his mid-twenties who goes by the name Jake. In the beginning of the story, you can tell that Jake is an unemployed jerk, which only cares about what he can get for everyone else, without having to lift a figure; he does not care what the cost may be as long as it does not cost him anything. He is the true definition of a con artist, he does not care about anyone other than himself, he is extremely shallow, and in all...

Words: 1940 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Baseball: an Evolutionary Marvel

...they represent. One sport in particular has transcended all other games, has continually been a psychological shelter from pain and hardships of life, and also a cultural rocket breaking through the social barriers in the American society. That sport is simply the most beloved American game of all, baseball. The purpose of this essay is to critically explore a myriad of aspects of life that have been changed due to sports, all the while concentrating on baseball as the main focal point. Further, this work will continually pose the question of how it is conceivable that a single and simple sport could greatly impact a country the way baseball has the United States. At the time of the first foreign inhabitants of North America, life was more difficult than someone of the twenty-first century could have imagined. The hardships were endured by every colonist nearly twenty-four hours a day, with little to relieve their minds of the complexities of early American life. Nonetheless, there was at least one aspect of life that offered them the ability to escape the perennial cruelties of life, and that was sports. Throughout the colonies, no matter north or south,...

Words: 4860 - Pages: 20

Premium Essay

Literature

...Poetry, prose, sonnets, drama, plays, short stories and novels are concepts that first came to my mind when I think in the question “What is literature?” The definition of literature has change over time. The only thing that is certain about the meaning of literature is that the definition will change. The concepts about what is literature about also change over time. In order to get a clear understanding of exactly what literature is, first we need to know its definition. According to the Merriam-Webster, literature is defined by “the body of written works produced in a particular language, country, or age; the body of writings on a particular subject: printed matter.”  Literature has to do with letters, but some people often think that literature is only one thing, not knowing that it is composed by several elements that we use every day. These important elements include poems, prose, sonnets, drama, plays, short stories and novels. Poetry is created from the soul. It comes from your emotions and it needs every piece of creativity inside you. It has been called the art of “saying the unsayable” because trough this you can express your feelings with no limit, and nobody can tell you that is wrong. If you make a poem and you think it is not good enough, well it is no good. You as the author or the reader, can only judge if it is good or but for you but maybe for some one else it is the opposite as it is for you. A good place to start when looking back at how poetry...

Words: 4267 - Pages: 18

Free Essay

Kinds of Essay

...Character Sketch MY FRIEND LIZ My friend Liz is the most amazing friend anybody could ask for. We’ve been through so much together, we’re basically like sisters. We met on the first day of school in sixth grade, both of us terrified by the massive size of the middle school. She had the locker right above mine. I told her I didn’t know anybody in our class and she said “You do now.” We’ve been friends ever since. Most boys think Liz is cute. She has long red hair, cascading over her shoulders. She laughs about everything and when she does, you see about a hundred white teeth – so bright, you almost need sunglasses. When she laughs, her eyes grow wide, glowing emerald green. Liz likes to dress kind of skater-ish, in camouflage pants, sweatshirts, and wristbands. But, she’s unpredictable, too. Sometimes she’ll wear overalls or a fancy dress. She must have three closets full of clothes, because she barely ever wears the same outfit twice. Liz is the most lively, animated character I’ve ever known. She’s always rushing around, trying to get the latest scoop on everybody. It’s like she’s in the FBI. Right before she shares important news, Liz tosses back her hair, takes a deep breath, and quickly looks side to side, to be sure the coast is clear. She never says anything mean about people, she just wants to know what’s going on. She always supports me in everything I want to do. Not many girls in our group of friends play sports, but when I told Liz I wanted to go out for basketball...

Words: 4097 - Pages: 17