As I Lay Dying

confidence that nothing could stop him. I admired him, I still do to this day. Though all good things must come to an…

she was dying, “But the knowledge that such strength was within me gave me the courage to go on” (Klein 100). The pain and suffering Ilse went through to move on with Gerda was immense. All of Ilse’s energy was completely gone. These poor girls were being tortured, starved, and beaten, but they never gave up on their lives. While Ilse was dying, Gerda knew she could not just leave. Gerda had to comfort her best friend and be there for her, especially in times like this. As Ilse lay in…

Ernest Hemingway’s “Now I Lay Me” (1927) covers the effects of post traumatic stress disorder on Nick after he is wounded in the war. Nick suffers from some form of panic as his mind creates a severe terror after he is bombed in the night. Unable to sleep because he is afraid of dying, Nick instead chooses a form of self-care which relies heavily on his own memory of scenes from his life before the war, his religion and his favorite pre-war pastime. While it seems that Nick is coping with his…

each other across the park until the familiar tune of the ice cream truck entered their ears. “ICE CREAM!” they yelled as they rushed to their parents for money. By next week Alex had long forgotten about the death of Michael’s cat, but the memory lay fresh in Michael’s young and impressionable mind. He feared that someone else he cared about might die too. Death plagued his dreams and turned them into nightmares. For the first time in his life, Michael didn’t mind holding his mom’s hand when…

I was in hell. Try outs were a pain in the ass. I had never ever been through so much in one day. I loved basketball so much, I just love it. We warmed up and introduced ourselves to each other. Then the pain began, we started with the basic drills that everyone should know. We did lay ups, passes, and then we ran! Running will always be a natural thing, but me a person who hates running? I rather get a burn then have to run, but it’s part of the game. There was about 20 of us trying out. Our…

All Quiet on the Western Front This novel on All Quiet on the Western Front by Enrich Maria Remarque talks about the experiences of German soldiers during the war. Remarque describes World War I as a grueling place to be that affects you physically and mentally. He also describes the brotherhood of the soldiers and how much of a patriotic idealism affected many young soldiers. We get to see Paul Baumer’s experience on this war and how many of them loss their innocence. We also get to see how…

in one of the bestselling books and movies out there and there is no secret that The Hunger Games tosses around some very serious moral and ethical issues. For a quick explication about the Hunger games for people that may not know much about it is I think quite interesting. So, it is takes place in a time that their government is at a weak point and the rebellion of not wanting the Games gets out of hand. The main leader is Katniss Everdeen and she is the face of the rebellion, also known as…

I cannot believe how many soldiers have come in from the battlefield. I think at this point it must be on the upwards of 5,000 soldiers with casualties. The battle of Antietam Creek sure is a bloody one. What a shame. My care to the wounded can only go so far. Amputation after amputation it only gets harder and harder to see the intense pain they go through. One soldier came in with a bullet wound above the elbow. He asked me, already knowing the answer, “What can you do to save it” All I could…

I am an eighteen-year-old all American girl with the world waiting at the tip of my pen. I am the apprentice on her way to becoming the master of her own story. With my mind, I can delve into any place that lays beyond the outskirts of an ordinary imagination. I dream and I live those dreams within an infinite number of pages. With my writing utensil, I press pen tip to paper and by doing so I say, "here I am, baring my soul. Criticize how you will." Through the words I utter into the quiet…

to sit where I was sitting that day. From here, I could see the scribbles I had etched into the wood that day, trying to relieve the stress bestowed upon me by the birds that had been flapping their wings as if they were still learning to fly, only now the scribbles were darker than and not as fresh as before. I had a similar view as before, but now a tuck-shop had opened beside the ice cream shop and you could see the shadow of the skyscraper they were building. When I looked up, I could see…