A Series of Unfortunate Events

Ordeal by Hunger, written by George R. Stewart, expediently illustrates the extreme conditions that the Donner Party had to endure in order to survive and conquer the drastic expedition that was embedded with adversity and death. It (the novel) tells the tale of the ill-fated pioneers while simultaneously epitomizing the great lengths that some will go to, and the sacrifices some will have to make, at the mercy of survival. Stewart was an American historian, and an English Professor (among many…

Humanity is a collective group of thinkers, scattered across time and space, and, as such, no invention can be attributed to a single person, rather several people who continue to make innovations and improvements upon the design. It may then be argued that inventions aren't created, but grown through the ages until it is perfected. Such is the case with Thomas Newcomen, who, through improvements upon the design made by Thomas Savery, led to one of the major catalysts of the Industrial…

“Adversity: an adverse and unfortunate event or difficulties in circumstances.” Generally, when people are unhappy, they will seek for change. There can be very many differences in the ways people try to find or replace that unhappiness, with something that makes them happy. Whether that change could result in dominance of power or an overall result in one's views. People just want to obtain authority, but for what? Are they looking to improve their community around them? Throughout history, the…

Cleopatra VII Philopator, commonly known as just Cleopatra, is one of the most recognizable names in all of history. In a time of only male rulers, she became a female ruler. Cleopatra is a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty. She represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess, Isis. Cleopatra’s need for power is seen in her early years, her return to power and her death. Cleopatra’s journey to the throne is a tragic one. Ptolemy XII’s, Cleopatra’s father, reign is one of the most…

One such event was the English Civil War, which began in 1642. The country was split between those who were supportive of King Charles I and those who were aligned with Parliament. This war, like others in this time period, was short and to the point, not lasting…

Chapter 1 (Every Trip Is a Quest (Expect When It’s Not)) In this chapter, the author explains why a character takes a trip using symbolic reasons. The character does not just take a trip, they take a quest. “The reason for a quest is always self-knowledge (Foster 3).” A quest is usually a person looking for the Holy Grail, going to a store for bread; these tasks of varying nobility. When the character goes on a quest, there is never a stated reason why the character goes on the quest. An…

unlimited refills at the Mexican part of the Super-bar” (Ehrenreich, 2017, p. 919). Ehrenreich is forced to give up quality, healthy food in order to eat. Although she is just experimenting with lifestyles, poor diet in the long run can lead to a series of problems such as fatigue, stress, obesity, and could ultimately lead to death. Perhaps quality food is not just a luxury, but a necessity in order to live a long, relatively healthy life. Ehrenreich's switch from her healthy luxury diet and…

People say you don't know what you've got until it's all gone. At 14, I learned this to be true in the most challenging and mentally degrading obstacles of my life. Bringing me down to the lowest point in my life and forcing me to realize you must work hard for everything in life. Looking back on this patch in my life, you may think that I would have wished it ever happened, but I'm grateful to have been able to learn my true grit. March 7, 2015. The day my life turned upside down. It was a…

Over the course of his career, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed a total of seven justices to the United States Supreme Court. Professor of Law at Harvard, and author, Noah Feldman, focuses on the background and evolution of four of FDR’s most influential justice appointees—Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, and Robert Jackson— throughout his book Scorpions. In the Supreme Court of FDR, and in our modern-day court, one often wonders how justices’ rulings are…

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you will not see a shadow.” This can also mean that the most effective way of getting through a crisis is to have a positive outlook, and not to focus on the negatives. In Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl — a series of journal entries that Anne Frank wrote while she and her family were hiding from the Nazi regime — Anne attempts to have a positive attitude no matter what the circumstances. She fought for her own life and for her loved ones’ lives, and her…