...Don’t be a Bystander Forgetting to breathe when he hears footsteps outside his cell. The high window that he is not allowed to look out of. The bed made of wooden boards. The tiny amount of bread and water that comes through the slot in the door. This is what it was like for Helmuth in the concentration camp. The Boy who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti is a book based on the story of Helmuth´s life during, and leading up to him being in a concentration camp. Throughout the story, Helmuth sees how much Hitler is hiding from them. Nobody is allowed to do anything that’s not German. Also, he starts to see how the Jews are being treated differently. So, Helmuth illegally listens to a different radio station to get the truth and he makes leaflets with his friends, Karl and Rudi, to give people information about what is really going on with the war. Helmuth gets caught and put in a concentration camp where he later is killed. The Holocaust was a very dark time where people were in need of a hero....
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...While almost all pieces of writing have a theme, some writers use their techniques to show the theme. In pieces like The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, “Teens Against Hitler” by Lauren Tarshis, and “Betrayed By America” by Kristin Lewis, the authors use their techniques to express their theme in a masterful way. In The Devil's Arithmetic, Hannah goes back in time to the holocaust and experiences it herself, meanwhile in The Boy Who Dared, Helmuth looks back at what put him on death row during the holocaust. Then, in “Teens Against Hitler”, A young boy is take to a ghetto, and then leaves to join a resistance group, and in “Betrayed By America”, a japanese boy is taken to an internment camp...
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... we are not introduced to Mount Pleasant immediately, but instead, we jump into an event, just like in medias res. But we must not forget that in the beginning she is introducing her mother, who is described is a very, very strict mother towards her children. Elizabeth’s mother, Mary, is not at any given time in the story described as a good mother nor wife. She is not afraid to psychically abuse her daughters and giving them orders to do as they are told to, otherwise there will be consequences for their actions, if they do not listen properly. As Elizabeth tells us in the beginning: “Mammy'll take to me with a wooden spoon if she catches me up in the attic” Their father, on the other hand, is described as a very loving father, who would do anything to please his children, as long as their mother is not nearby, for example: “Bed, before your mammy comes in and catches you up." The bond between Elizabeth, her sister and their father radiates reciprocated love, because only “Daddy” bring justice to the table whenever Elizabeth thinks her mom is unfair. “But Daddy always gives us five minutes more to finish our games” Elizabeth is no more than 7-8 years old, which we can tell from the text, where she finds an old photo from the addict where she was playing. She describes the boy in the photo no more than 9-10 years old, because he could not be that much older than herself. So we follow the...
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...Hello. Yes, you. The very person who wandered, perhaps by misfortune, into this forum, this website, this collection of my innermost thoughts. How does it feel to look into the mind of a delusional sociopath? It matters very little however to me, what you think or what you may think. I’m afraid I’m well past the point where I am entangled by the ripples of human lives, the cacophony that all living things leave in their wake. I am well past comprehension by the living and I’m at crossroads, with one side awaiting my wake whereas the other extending its bony fingers towards me, with cold acceptance. The dead harbor no grudges and my deeds or my name matter naught when the shadow beckons. I am dying. Not my physical body though. My body is quite hale and healthy and as the God of time walks on, it seems to be filling with new vigor, a new sense of power. Arts I learnt long ago are finding their way back to my flesh and the body remembers what the mind cast into oblivion. Slowly, the muscles of my legs strain to regain their former composure and I find myself giving into my body’s furious demand of both exercise and food. I am no glutton, yet I eat as if it were the first meal I have eaten in a long long time. In its own way, it shows me how my soul is fast dying, as it hungers to replenish itself. For it cannot partake the feast of affection, it turns to drive me to consume what men have to offer. Soon, I shall reach the point when I transcend hunger, eating merely for...
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...In Dr. Seuss’ allegory, The Butter Battle Book he uses external conflict to guide the reader to make a connection between the novel and the Cold War. The external conflict that occurs is revealed when Grandpa says “…the wall wasn’t so high and I could look any Zook square in the eye. If he dared to come close I could give him a twitch.” This allows the reader to understand that Grandpa could be an allegory in himself because he could represent a military figure during a war. The dialect also helps the reader to understand that the wall separating the Yook’s, who ate with their butter side up, and the Zook’s, who ate with their butter side down, grew as tension became greater between the two. This is an allegory because it represents...
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...introducing two main characters: racoons Bingo and J’miah. The first scene included Daddy-O and Little Mama (Bingo and J’miah’s parents) leaving their kids on their own to be Information Officers, a specialized branch of the Official Scouts. The Official Scouts (only racoons) watched over the Sugar Man Swamp. The Scouts were actually started by the Sugar Man himself. The Sugar Man is a being (like the Sasquatch) that inhabits Sugar Man Swamp, which is named after him. It also introduces Chap Brayburn and his mother, who live near the swamp and harvest its sugar cane to make their sugar pies (source of income) *picture= Daddy-O and Little Mama walking away from Bingo & J’miah In this story, there are two forces that are both trying to destroy the Sugar Man Swamp: the Farrow Gang and Sonny Boy Beaucoup. The Farrow Gang is a group of wild hogs, consisting of Buzzie, Clydine, and their litter, who are planning eat all the sugar cane crucial to the Brayburns’ sugar pies. Sonny Boy Beaucoup currently owns the swamp and...
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...The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel in which the theme of savagery versus civilisation is explored. Some British boys are stranded on an isolated island at the time of an imaginary nuclear war. On the island we see conflict between two main characters, Jack and Ralph, who respectively represent civilisation and savagery. This has an effect on the rest of the boys throughout the novel as they delve further and further into savagery. The theme of savagery versus civilisation is first introduced to us through the symbol of the conch shell which we associate with Ralph as he is the person who first uses it and becomes the elected leader of the boys. This symbolises authority amongst the boys. At the first assembly Ralph says “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak…he won’t be interrupted”. This suggests civilisation as Ralph is allowing each boy to have an equal say and opinion. If they have the conch, no matter who they are or what age they are they will be given the chance to speak and will be listened to by the rest of the boys. The boys have created the island to be a democratic place which shows a civilised side to them as they try to mimic the homes they have just left. Contrasting with the symbol of the conch is the symbol of the beast which comes to be associated with Jack as by the end of the novel he is almost devil worshipping it. The beast begins as a “snake thing” but by the end of the novel it has become “the...
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...determine what we do or that our fate is already paved for us, but I think we get to choose. In A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, Grant, an African American teacher, is obligated to go see a black boy in prison due to wrongful conviction. His assignment was to make him a man before he was sent to the electric chair. Grant was obligated to go but, It came down to him making the decision to visit him. Throughout the book, Grant faces many people who either feel superior to him or more educated than him. When Grant confronts these people, it makes him want to leave town. Grant never left Bayona because he knew that he had to be their for the kids and Jefferson because he he committed to seeing him. Matthew Antinone, a mulatto (a person of mixed white and black ancestry, especially a person with one white and one black parent) teacher, who taught Grant says...
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...“The boy is safe, and it was I I I, that caught Nag by the hood last night in the bathroom.” Why is the bravery of Rikki Tikki affective to the story? The theme of the fictional story Rikki-tikki-tavi by Rudyard Kipling is “ Love brings out the bravery inside of you.” Rikki Tikki is a very brave character in this story. An example is , “H’m!” said Rikki-tikki, “that is very sad , but I am a stranger here , who is Nag?”(para #21). This is demonstrates Rikki Tikki’s character traits because his protective side is showing which is by his bravery. This demonstrates the thesis because it’s caused by love and uses bravery just like the thesis. Another example is, “The boy is safe, and it was I—I—I—that caught Nag by...
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... in many countries sex pre-selection is permitted, irrespective whether there is a medical reason or not. So if you could choose the gender of your baby, what would you choose? A boy or a girl? Well, you don’t even have to answer my question, because I do not think, we people have the right to decide on this matter. It is unethical and immoral to do so. Therefore my thesis is the following: Parents should not be able to select their baby’s gender! I will start of giving a number of arguments that supports this thesis. Then I will discuss some arguments that supporters of sex pre-selection give. And I will end with a conclusion. First of all, whether parents had a girl or a boy has always been left up to nature to decide. To date, no-one has dared interfere with the genetic workings of the body, mainly because the technology did not exist to do it. But now, with the dawn of the twenty-first century, that technology has arrived and mankind is faced with the decision: whether or not to “play God” and manipulate the gender of their child to suit their preferences. I think we should let nature to take its course! After all, humans have been reproducing and multiplying for thousands of years, without any technologic interference. So why should we mess with mother nature now? And who are we to decide? Sex pre-selection will only create an imbalance between man and woman and...
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...Malala is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was born on July 12, 1997, in the Pakistani province of Swat Valley. In 2012, she was shot in the face on a school bus by Muslim extremists for the crime of wanting an education. Although the victim of a brutal crime committed by Muslims, she remains a devout follower of Islam. While born in Swat, which is in Pakistan, she considers herself to be more a Pashtun than a Pakistani. Though she's a Sunni Muslim she embodies many of the values at the heart of Christianity. In Matthew chapter 5 Jesus tells his disciples to not take revenge on anyone who wrongs (Mt 5:38-39) but rather to turn the other cheek. Malala, a devout Muslim and proud Pashtun can, nevertheless, see conflicts in the philosophy of life that they teach. "That's why I have problems with the Pashtunwali code. We are supposed to take revenge for wrongs done to us, but where does it end? ... There is no time limit." (P59) She believes"that if someone kills your brother, you shouldn't kill them or their brother, you should teach them instead."(p60). Her "only regret" about her attack is "that I hadn't had a chance to speak to them before they shot me.......I didn't even think a single bad thought about the man who shot me- I had no thoughts of revenge" (p. 238). A few years before her...
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...lived evidence reveals that Charlie lives in Pittsburgh in 1991. Plot Charlie is a 15 year old boy starting his sophomore year in high school. Charlie is a very smart sophomore and loves music. His English teacher often gives him books to read because he believes that he is smarter than most kids. In this novel letters are sent to an unknown person describing Charlie’s experiences. The letters talk about friends and family. His parents are complete opposites, His mother is shy while his father is very strong and stubborn. Charlie’s brother is away at Penn State and is a football player. Charlie and his brother only meet when the family has big events and him and his sister never got along. His sister is a senior in high...
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...belly through the deserted street to a cauldron of soup that stood unguarded in the roadway. The other prisoners look on with fear and envy, all of them consumed with hunger, at the man risking his life in quest of a little soup. When the famished man finally manages to pull himself to his feet and reaches into the cauldron, he is shot and falls dead beside it. Wiesel notes that, despite the danger to themselves from the bombing, the inmates were not afraid but glad to see the camp being bombed. “Fear was greater than hunger” this man showed mutiny and rebellion towards the SS officers just so he could survive , he put himself in danger in order to live this reason is why everyone-including the SS officers watches in disbelief as one man who dared committed suicide for a ration or two more of soup. Just when he was “looking for his ghostly reflection” in the soup, when everyone thought that he had succeeded, the SS shot him and fell to the ground “his face still stained by the soup”. The Jews were more petrified of dying than of finding food in order for them to live. Wiesel says this to mean that when they thought there was hope for them yet, just when they began to live, the SS shot...
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...the sacrifice." And he invited Jesse and his sons to the service. When they came, he looked at the sons of Jesse very closely. The oldest was named Eliab, and he was so tall and noble-looking that Samuel thought: "Surely this young man must be the one whom God has chosen." But the Lord said to Samuel: "Do not look on his face, nor on the height of his body, for I have not chosen him. Man judges by the outward looks, but God looks at the heart." Then Jesse's second son, named Abinadab, passed by. And the Lord said: "I have not chosen this one." Seven young men came and Samuel said: "None of these is the man whom God has chosen. Are these all your children?" "There is one more," said Jesse. "The youngest of all. He is a boy, in the field caring for the sheep." And Samuel said: "Send for him; for we will not sit down until he comes." So...
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...personal demons. Okonkwo is a product of the years of suffering he endured with his father Unoka. Unoka has a strong and influential role contributing to why Okonkwo’s tenacious behaviour and unpremeditated actions lead to his downfall in the novel, “things fall apart”. This downfall happens as he tries not to become like his father which is ultimately ironic. Okonkwo is a fierce worrier who rules his household with an iron fist, his word is deemed final and he is revered by many in his clan. Okonkwo’s is said to “had had no patience with unsuccessful men” and Unoka was a very unsuccessful man. He died without title and in debt. To the majority of the clan of Umuofia, he “was a failure”. Okonkwo “was ashamed of him” and due to this he tried with every fibre of his being to be the exact opposite of his father, he was determined not to be a failure. Achebe then introduces irony with Okonkwo’s eldest son Noweye, who is said to be feminine, weak, and lazy. Infect he has traits like Okonkwo’s father. This situation is very ironic because the person Okonkwo tries to be in stark contrast, the man who he is said to be “ashamed” of, his son resembles the most of any of his children. It is almost as if Unoka is reincarnated in Nwoye. Nwoye however does begin to display masculine qualities, but converts to Christianity which Okonkwo sees as the ultimate act of betrayal. To some readers Noweye may not seem feminine or weak at all, we see at this point the themes of varying interpretation of...
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