July-Day 18 I can barely pull myself out of bed today, it's cold outside the blankets that have kept me safe since my descent to dreamland where I have been since 6:30 PM. I've slept for 12 hours and I want to keep sleeping. I want to stay in bed where nothing happens to any extremes. I dreamt of lighthouses and the light it casts out over the clear blue gulf sending a signal of safety to those passing by. I wonder about all the things that are like lighthouses to me.…
The Terrible Glorification of War in “Chickamauga” To those who have not seen war through the eyes of a soldier, the prospect of going to battle for one’s country, land, rights, or religion may seem glorious, or even romantic. But to those, like Ambrose Bierce, who fought for the Union Army in the Civil War, war is a deadly game that can leave its survivors physically and emotionally scarred. Bierce utilized his talents as a writer after the war to share the horrors that he witnessed and experienced with the public. Young men are killed, maimed and mangled. Families are torn apart and bystanders are annihilated – collateral damage.…
What's It Like to Be Depressed? David Scharf, a university student, takes a creative approach on explaining the difficulty of dealing with the real world and the depression brought about by it, in a short animated film called "The Forest". The video starts out with a 12 year old girl narrating her life. She doesn't like school; she feels alone among people; her father pushes her very hard. To escape the pressures and sadness of the real world, the girl spends much of her time daydreaming about a beautiful forest, her happy place.…
There was once an individual, young of body, old of soul, and not-quite-human, despite how she may appear. She was, In fact, a Druid, a sorceress of days olde and knew of the last of her kind. She walked the world on her own, distant from all; for what can one lose if they have nothing to begin with? This was a mantra she repeated to herself across the centuries, for this seemingly young woman was anything but.…
In the novel The Devil’s Highway, author Luis Alberto Urrea describes the seemingly impassable struggles immigrants must overcome when travelling from Mexico to the United States. The story follows the deadly journey of a group of undocumented male immigrants who in 2001 attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona through a desolate area known as the Devil’s Highway. Urrea provides the reader with not only a compelling story but also a complex historical compilation of information on the Mexico-United States border conflict in terms of culture, geography, power dynamics, and immigration policy. The novel is organized into four major sections, with each divided further into separate chapters. Part one provides…
The term soulmates has always flown about, scarf-like, through the whims of youth--as if tethered to some mythical upshot of the essence of life. But I know the truth. Oh, how they will tell tales of us, My Dear! How the pallid wash of grey-stone was enough to curse her alabaster heart.…
This scene displays the theme that there is always hope,” Tessa took a deep breath, she did not know if what she was about to do was even possible, or simply madness. As Armoros raised her with his hands, she closed her eyes, reaching out with her mind, reaching into the clockwork angel. She tumbled for a moment through dark space, and the gray limbo, seeking that light, that spark of spirit, that life--. And there it was, a sudden blaze, a bonfire, brighter than any spark she had ever seen before. She reached for it, wrapping it around herself, coils of white fire that burned and scorched her skin.…
Sylvia Plath’s “Fever 103°” is a dramatic narrative poem made up of eighteen stanzas, with three lines each stanza. She utilizes a great deal of imagery, sensory words, and metaphors in her writing. The tone of the first half of the poem is sounds anguished and agonizing and often references hell, fire, and pain. In the second half of the piece, Plath shifts from the demonic to the divine, yet still keeps up the references to fire. As is easily gleaned from the title, this poem follows and portrays the feelings that accompany the course of a fever, however, underneath, there is a divine comparison: heaven vs hell.…
His shirt rose up slightly to expose a slither of a hipbone. Louis looked once then turned away, nibbling on his lip. He made a mental note of the ink stains that lay there, pressed against his skin and wondered what exactly the whole image was, wondered if he would even have a chance to see the tattoo in its…
The sun is beating. Your body is aching. Your fingernails broken, ripped, and torn out. Backs covered with strips of cold, dried blood. The stinging in your back rides up your spine from the lashes.…
Flames engulfed my blurred vision as my sobbing, curled up figure choked and convulsed. Oxygen depleted from my lungs as the smoke quickly drew in to replace it. The blazing inferno roared in my ears -- over my piercing screams -- demanding that it be heard. I could feel the intensifying heat, but I was numb to the imminent burns; I was numb to everything. The sky began to blacken, as did my perception.…
The young sun burned so bright that my feeble eyes were no match. I shut them and let my other senses take hold. It smelled of pine and smoke and happiness. I burst with laughter as the cold water sent warm shivers down my spine. The river water curiously tasted like heaven.…
These quotes from the first paragraph of the story set the tone for the rest of the story, informing the reader that the rest of the story will not be a heartwarmer. The author continues on from this rough beginning, progressing the story a tough decision that the family makes. After the family deciding it was too much of a hassle to keep the protagonist around, “It was decided that [she] should die” (Atwood, 5).This gloomy statement continues to use somber tone that the author opened the story with, making the reader sympathize with the protagonist as she continues through her struggles. The story closes with on an interesting line from the protagonist; “Perhaps in Heaven I’ll look like an angel. Or perhaps the angels will look like me.…
Compared with the Violin Concerto no. 1 op. 77 (1948), and Quartet no. 4 op. 83 (1948), the oratorio Song of the Forests op. 81 is seemingly foreign due to the optimistic atmosphere of the oratorio, the simple melody, the modes, and the original text of the song no. 7 that praises Stalin as a gardener. Therefore, the oratorio Song of the Forests op.…
Workers off work, relaxing and imbibing. A few throwing darts and marking their gaming progress on authentic chalk boards. Although hundreds of years ago the darts didn’t contain integral safety mechanisms that exclude the possibility of bodily injury. It 's difficult to extend the illusion of Vicky 's repressed era to the blue-skinned, four-armed female with active tattoos, multispectral glyphs aglow and moving.…