The Boy Who Dared, by Susan Bartoletti, is simply about a boy named Helmuth Hübener who dared to speak out against Hitler and the Nazi party. Helmuth was a German youth who has to find his way in an entirely different world. The novel is told in flashbacks as Helmuth looks back on his life from a Nazi prison. A few very distinctive traits stand out in Helmuth. Three examples were intelligence, bravery and leadership.…
In the book “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand, we follow young Louie. Louie as a young child adventerous, and bullied. Stalked by his peers they catch him beating him till someone steps in for Louie, this is his life. His brother bounds, transforming Louie. Louie races past his opponents with glee, running toward the Olympic arena.…
Worcester, MA, Mar. 3 – Author John Elder Robison, who is well-known for his book Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s delivers a speech at Worcester State University during the middle of the day on a Thursday to hundreds of people actively listening in the audience. Robison mainly informs the audience about his life and what it’s like to live with autism, leaving the audience interested and curious with questions. "I grew up in the 1960’s before autism was recognized” said Robison, who did not have the best life growing up. It wasn’t until he was 40 years old that he found out that he was diagnosed with Asperger’s and grew up feeling negative about himself. His classmates were making fun of him and calling him names and his teachers…
Golden Goblet In the novel, The Golden Goblet, author Eloise Jarvis Mcgraw explores the story of a boy from ancient Egypt named Ranofer. His older half brother, Gebu, was a wicked stonecutter who was stealing gold from the Valley of the Kings. Ranofer decided to find out what he was doing, which resulted in going into the tomb himself. Ranofer had to convince the queen that his half brother was robbing the tombs.…
In 1949 Joseph Campbell published, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. His book explains what he called the hero’s journey or monomyth. The hero’s journey is the pattern of archetypal stories of heros in all genres. It tells the tale of a hero who goes through certain steps and accomplishes great feats to become who they are.…
Racism is embedded into essentially every American institution and is nurtured by people who have racist predispositions. Ta-Nehisi Coates in Between the World and Me, writes “the ground we walked was trip-wired. The air we breathed was toxic. The water stunted our growth. We could not get out” (Coates, p. 28).…
Punctuation in Natasha Trethewey’s “Myth” What’s the difference between a period and comma? When reading aloud, one might take a breath at a comma, and take a slightly longer pause at a period. But really, who cares about distinguishing a small speck and a slightly elongated speck on a page? In Natasha Trethewey’s “Myth,” however, you’ll find that the almost exhaustive list of substitutions she makes in the second part of the poem makes it read completely differently than the first – which is surprising, as the poem, in essence, is structured as a palindrome!…
Presently, through sharing her personal ‘strategies to cope’ when living with Asperger’s, Hammond powerfully reveals her strengths and rights despite everyday challenges in interpreting social cues and communication. This causes her readers, myself included, to re-evaluate our attitudes, perceptions and tolerance towards the unique abilities each individual has to offer, and to recognise the beauty of diversity. Through such an open manner of speaking and speaking up for her rights, Hammond reveals each individual as having something valuable to offer society, and pushes towards greater acceptance and inclusion within schools and society: “I do matter. I do have a voice not only to speak, but to shout and…
From the beginning of Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, Lauren Olamina, the protagonist begins a search to discover just what she believes. The country in which she lives is a much different United States; there have been economic and environmental disasters and most of the country is a functioning anarchy. Laws are not obeyed, and there is widespread immorality. Religion has decayed to the extent that Lauren's father's church was "robbed . . . vandalized . . .…
The memoir, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is written to be a letter to describe the future issues to be anticipated for his son in American society. Coates wants to show the reality of the difficult life that must be lived if you are African American in the United States. Ta-Nehisi Coates wants to accurately share the trials and tribulations of the stereotypes of our society to protect his fiveteen year old son, and children all over the nation like his. Children who may not yet understand what they can expect from their futures, just because of their race or identity. The memoir begins by describing the history of violence towards other racial groups from white supremacists.…
A Hero’s Journey Laisa Peña The monomyth is a series of steps created by Joseph Campbell which help develop the journey the hero in the book experiences. The Odyssey, by Homer, is a epic poem that tells the tale of a man named Odysseus and his ten-year journey to return home from the Trojan War. He faces numerous challenges along the way and when he arrives he must confront the suitors who have been living in his house trying to marry his wife. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is a book by Mark Haddon which is told from the viewpoint of a teenage boy with behavioral issues. After learning that his father, the person prohibiting him from solving the mystery of who killed Wellington, the dog next door, was the murderer and that…
The life of the American dream can be hard at times. The author of the book is Sandra Cisneros. American dream is the title of this interesting story. The main character of the story is a little girl named Esperanza. The struggles of the American dream.…
For my book report project I read The House of the Scorpions written by Nancy Farmer. The amazing book is about a boy named Matteo Alacrán, Matt for short. He is a six year old boy who lives in a stuffy shack with a woman named Celia. Matt has rarely been outside, and the only real people he knows are Celia and a doctor that comes to visit him once every couple of months. Until three kids discover the hovel in the large flower field behind the Alacrán estate.…
The development of public schools provides children of all ages and from all social classes a free education and a positive environment. Lynda Barry unfortunately came from a family of lower class, and did not have much growing up. In her article, “The Sanctuary of School”, Barry illustrates a time in her youth when she felt the need to sneak out of her house filled with financial stress, depression, and misery. After sneaking out one morning extremely early, Barry felt the need to walk to school.…
The myth of Persephone is an interesting one, especially when considering how the original myth has influenced many modern novels that have been written in todays’ century. Certain aspects of the myth, such as Persephone falling in love with Hades, and the affects Persephone’s being in the underworld has on her mother are being rewritten in new ways and incorporate in popular novels such as the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyers. This paper will look at the Twilight Sega and how the myth of Persephone has influenced the overall story. Many times when reading any of these novels or watching a movie one does not realize that it is the same story that has been told for centuries. Twilight became an extremely popular novel for young adults in…