What the hawk means to First Nations peoples who live in its habitat Being a bird species native to most of North America, the red-tailed hawk is a part of many First Nations cultures, most of whom view it as a symbol of courage, strength, and power. Since North America is so vast that there are bound to be discrepancies between the beliefs of different First Nations peoples, this writeup shall deal with the different meanings the hawk can have to different tribes, including some in British Columbia. In some cases, literature about the hawk’s importance to First Nations peoples have been drowned out by websites which do not appear reliable; as such, some pieces of information about the similar and much more well-documented hawk are also included in this writeup. The Cheyenne tribe from the Great Plains believe that hawks warn and protect one of impending danger from one’s enemies.…
Early morning yesterday, April 6, 1862, nearly 44,000 Confederate soldiers lead by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston attacked unsuspecting Union soldiers at ground near the log church Shiloh Meeting House at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River under cover of surrounding forest. The Confederate offensive drove surprised Federal forces from their camps, nearly triumphing over Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s command of 40,000. Federals refused to surrender and Rebels soon became disorganized; by afternoon, Union soldiers had definitively and heroically established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornet’s Nest.” Rebel attacks were unsuccessful until massed artillery helped Confederates gain the upper hand as they surrounded Union…
After this extremely traumatic experience, Louie dealt with violent Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: “He was drinking heavily, slipping in and out of flashbacks, screaming and clawing through nightmares, lashing out in fury at random moments” (370). In this time of Louie’s life, rage dominated his mind. Louie searched for a way to reclaim the humanity that had been robbed of him in the two years he spent in Japan, and eventually decided the way to do so was to kill the Bird: “Louie had no idea what had become of the Bird, but he felt sure that if he could get back to Japan, he could hunt him down. This would be his emphatic reply to the Bird’s unremitting effort to extinguish his humanity: I am still a man” (361).…
1. Mooallem, Jon. Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story about Looking at People Looking at Animals in America. New York: Penguin, 2013. Print. 2.…
Briefly introduced, Sven Birkerts was a former lecturer at several colleges in MA and currently a great critic with the Gutenberg of Elegies as his best-known criticism on how reading was drowned in the electronic age. In his essay, The Owl has Flown, Sven Birkets mentions how crucial reading and thinking to one’s life that it would give an impact towards the moral progress. Current education structure is one of the causes that initiate the changes of today’s people reading behaviour, but technology is the most primary. Birkerts makes a clear contrast between people in the earlier day and now, where long ago, books are scarce, all hand-written, and the reader would go over and over again of the same book until he got to comprehend the book…
The Good Lord Bird, written by James McBride is set in the 1850’s-1860’s as the issue of slavery continues to thrive within the free and slave states. The book is based upon a crossdressing slave formerly known as Henry Shackelford, now Henriette Shackelford. He was kidnapped by the determined John Brown and was assumed to be a girl, after John Brown killed Henry’s father and took him in as his own. Now Henriette, received the nickname “the onion” as she was a sign of luck to John Brown.…
Considered by many to be the, “Most talented Rapper of his Generation,” Kendrick Lamar has become extremely influential and popular since the release of his hit album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (Stone). It is this great influence around which his second and most recent album, To Pimp A Butterfly, is based. Throughout the album Lamar struggles in dealing with his wealth and influence: each song is a slow progression from an abusive, wealthy consumer to a wiser man who understands the good he can do with his power and influence. At the beginning of his album, Lamar blatantly abuses his power: he is a carless, all consuming “caterpillar” (Mortal Man).…
Bird by Bird, well that sounds like word by word, and that’s exactly what this book is about. Anne Lamott is trying to teach future writers, including those just taking an English course, that writing is a process that we can only take word by word. Bird by Bird – Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott was published on September 28, 1994 and was intended for those taking a writing course or those trying to become future writers. Anne Lamott tries to connect to the reader, on a personal level, by sharing personal experiences and life stories to help the reader understand her main point. The book is composed of five parts, and each part has sections within them to better break down the main topic.…
In the story, The Birds, Nat Hocken lies to his children. Should Nat have lied ? Yes, Nat was doing what he thought was best for his family. Nat told the children everything was okay for the following reasons: he wanted his children to keep clam, they were not old enough to understand, and it was his job as a parent to protect them. Nat lied for the sake of his family.…
Historical Fiction: Chickadee I have chosen the novel Chickadee by Louise Erdrich for the exploration assignment to address what the historical novel is able to accomplish that a conventional text of the same subject could not. Chickadee is the continuation of a story and fourth book in a series by Erdrich that began with the novel The Birchbark House that introduced a seven-year-old Ojibwe girl named Omakayas. Chickadee takes place in mid-1800 Minnesota and picks up the story with Omakayas eight-year-old twin boys, the quiet Chickadee and the mischievous Makoons. These twins are always together and every member of their family loves both dearly.…
Farid Attar in The Conference of the Birds suggests that in order to enlighten an individual, the individual must have an educator who is willing to destroy their Self. Throughout “The Story of Sheikh San’an”, Sheikh San’an is displayed as an exemplary Muslim who follows the Islamic guidelines and is described as the people of Mecca’s “living symbol of belief” (Attar 1984: 68). Additionally, his pious attributes qualify him to be an educator to many people. However, “every man meets problems on the Way” (Attar 1984: 68) and the Sheikh encounters a Christian girl who needs help finding the Way. Throughout The Conference of the Birds, Attar discusses self-annihilation as being the key to finding the Way to the Simorgh.…
The feathers that the Dani use are an essential part of completing their identities, however there are other important objects in the Dani’s culture that make up their identity. While the men are keeping watch, they do not remain idle. All of the Dani men practice weaving, and one of objects that they weave are long bands that have decorative shells attached to them. These bands are used for three important events in the Dani’s lives. The bands are given at birth, after a marriage, and at the time of their death.…
Whenever one is startled, or caught off-guard, the innate human response is to either flee or fight. Most human brains are wired to run from danger. This runs parallel to when humans are faced with a problem or a difficult situation. Many individuals would rather run away from problems than work at resolving them. The novel “Things That Fly” by Douglas Coupland conveys the themes of Escape as well as The Human Condition in his short story by utilizing the symbols of Superman, the narrator’s messy apartment, and birds’ ability to fly.…
The Civil War was the bloodiest war ever fought on American Soil in which 600 people died in everyday occurrences and only 1 in 4 people have a chance of living through the massacre of events that took place. Until now, the wounded Confederate Soldier, Inman, struggles to attempt to reunite with Ada but has to battle out the encounters of the many life threatening situations. The encounters he face are foreshadowed through symbolism of the black crows which are mentioned throughout the story representing an ambiguous symbol and known as an omen for death and show an appearance in the many crucial moments that endure Inman inevitable fate. The crows also reveal the symbolism between the natures of Inman in their representation of resourcefulness,…
How does a tortoise beat a hare in a race? In the short-story, “The Tortoise and the Hare”, the tortoise teaches many lessons that have impacted my life. This short-story has been very impactful in my life and still is today one of my favorite readings. The lessons that the tortoise teaches are to never judge a book by its cover, always face your problems head on, and to never give up.…