Christopher Paolini

Columbus Found America.. Or did he? As the old saying goes, “Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and found America.” However, this statement might not be as true as we once thought when we learned about Columbus in elementary school. Columbus’ voyages to the new world had many negative impacts because of his harsh leadership and enslavement of the indigenous people which led to many controversies surrounding Columbus into present day. In the 15th century, there was not an…

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus received financial support from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand from Spain to find an alternate route to India. However, Columbus landed in the Bahamas and believed that the Native Americans on the land were Indians. After Columbus’ journey to the New World, the Spanish, the French, the Dutch, and the English began their conquest and exploration to the New World to spread their culture, gain wealth, and spread their religion. As the Spanish, the French…

In his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell seeks to uncover what makes the ‘outliers’ of society so successful. He believes there is a stronger pattern in their success stories than the prevailing thought today. Gladwell stresses the importance of the “world that surrounds the successful,” by focusing on the family someone is born into, the culture they are born into, and the time period they were born in. Malcolm Gladwell begins his novel with the chapter titled “The Mathew…

A major intertextual link can be found to one of Shakespeare’s tragedies, Romeo and Juliet. The plays have many points of likeness, including themes, characters and context. In both plays gender roles affect characterisation. There are many similarities in terms of Hermia and Juliet. For one, they are young lovers of the same status in terms of the social hierarchy, who, due to circumstance, are not allowed to marry who they wish. Both plays were made in the Elizabethan era and the context of…

The Doors of Perception Young adulthood is a time of existence in two worlds. In one world we have the yearning be an the adult, which is filled with excitement of all the unknown. The other world is the world of adolescence, which is controlled and offers protection. This war between the two worlds is not only emotionally forced on a person, but physically, socially, and ethically as well. For Chris McCandless a 22 year old in, “Selection From Into the Wild” this longing to hold on to his…

Into the Wild The story into the wild is written by Jon Karkur soon after the death of Christopher Johnson McCandless. At first he was given the responsibility by the editors of outside magazine to cover the story of Alex real name McCandless who died at the age of 24 while he was hitchhiked to Alaska and walked into wilderness. His article covered the how Alex suffered starvation and vague and how he gave up his name, his bank balance and burned his wallet and gave all his possession to live…

A man’s desire is always to conquer something. Whether it is an object or a task at hand, the nature of man has always been wired to conquering something by adapting, adjusting, and overcoming to whatever is put in front of them. Jon Krakauer, a brilliant writer, delivers and personifies this notion to a tee. An expert mountain climber, Krakauer has been to the highest peak on the face of this Earth, but at times he felt he was at the lowest depths of despair. This sudden swing of emotion is…

The True Man for All Seasons Throughout all spans of time society has exhibited the strange tenacity for assigning labels to anything and anyone. In most instances these affectations are frivolous, egotistical, unnecessary, or wholly misplaced. However, when assigning the singular title of “The Bard,” no such frivolity or error exists. William Shakespeare is The Bard, and a man who shines brighter than any other in the firmament of English literature. The stature of William Shakespeare is…

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu to Nikola and Dranafile Bojaxhiu on August 26th 1910 in Skopje, Yugoslavia and she was the youngest of three children (Spink, 1997). Her parents were originally from Albania, but settled in Yugoslavia, which at the time was formerly known as Macedonia and was an unstable land (Spink, 1997). When it came to her personal life, Mother Teresa was always secretive, and thus most of the information provided about her childhood and discussed below comes from…

Jon Krakauer’s “Death of an Innocent” appeared on the Independent’s website on 11 April 1993. Krakauer, an American writer and mountaineer, mainly known for his works about the outdoors, especially mountain climbing has produces yet another amazing news article among numerous others. This specific news article in fact have been the highlight of his writing career as it paved him to write his best-selling non-fiction books—Into the Wild. After reading “Death of an Innocent” by Krakauer, I have…