Edgar Lee Masters

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” said Theodore Roosevelt. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi a mongoose, had put himself to the task of protecting the garden and his human family from the evil cobras Nag and Nagaina. A mongoose looks and is very similar to weasel, however, mongoose comes from cat family. Mongooses are predators in other words they are meat eaters, that are prone to hunting one of most deadly animals on the planet, cobra. The mongoose is immune to the venom of…

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus exhibits courage throughout the whole book. Atticus is the lone parent of two who live in the South. In Maycomb, a fake district in Alabama, many of the citizens are prejudice against African Americans. In the 1930’s, Maycomb was devastated by poverty and unemployment because of the Great Depression. Atticus overcomes all the obstacles and threats he faces, however, he demonstrates courage by taking Tom Robinson as a client, standing up to racists…

Roald Dahl's characterization of innocent Billy reveals an overall message and theme that being innocent it can lead you into misfortune and uncomfortable situations. In the beginning of the story Billy is looking for a place to stay, after hearing someone's suggestion for a good hotel, on the way there he finds another place that is a bed and breakfast. The bed and breakfast place cost, “Five and Six pence a night, including breakfast.” In the passage is also states that the bed and breakfast…

The narrator seems to be a lost. The narrator Jackson is describes as a homeless Powpow American Indian man. Jackson is also seen as an alcoholic and a generous man. When Jackson compares Junior and himself, Jackson describes himself as damaged and appears as a Indian after Columbus and Junior as a Indian before Columbus. This shows Jackson had a negative outlook for himself. Jackson describes himself and the way he lives as poor and gives the readers a feeling of pity for Jackson. Jackson first…

Gaines’ “A lesson before dying” takes places in a period where justice seemed unquenchable for the African American. Grant is bestowed the undesirable duty of helping Jefferson, who is wrongfully accused of the murder of a white man, to come to justice with himself after no justice was shown in his trial. Grant is able to search for justice, and understand it through his interactions with Jefferson, friends, and family. Grant’s view on justice is giving someone what they deserve. Grant is…

Human Indignity “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.” (Martin Luther King Jr) Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines, and Fences by August Wilson are all pieces that are set in the South during the darkest times of segregation and racial violence. Devil in a Blue Dress takes place in 1948, a time where blacks are neither accepted nor enslaved. Although they are not…

says, "This morning Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he'd get him if it took the rest of his life." Mr. Ewell was furious with Atticus and wanted to kill him because of the outcome of the trial. (Lee, 290) If Jem was on the jury with eleven other boys like him, Tom would be free and the vote would be fair. All the men that were actually on the jury for the trail, based their vote and opinion off of racism. Because Tom was black there was no…

Atticus takes a stand “Simply because we’re licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Lee 101). In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the main characters, Atticus Finch, is given a case to defend a black man. This changes the people of Maycomb, Alabama’s views on Atticus. Many call him names and mostly white people hate his choice to defend Tom Robinson. Taking the case put his children, Scout and Jem, in danger. However, Atticus knew that…

“Not guilty of a crime or offense.” When you think of what innocence is, that’s the definition that pops in most people’s heads. However, as is with most words in the English language, there are multiple definitions of a word that can come into play depending on the context it is being used. Robert Cormier’s After the First Death, is a prime example of how knowing the context behind the characters in the novel, gives a different side to innocence that isn’t as straightforward as simply being not…

Crowd or Mob, Group or Outsider A crowd can easily turn into a mob because of uncertainty and or anger. Support for this statement is shown in the book “The Outsiders” by S. E. Hinton, a story about a boy in a lower social class who gets involved in a killing which leads to the death of some of his friends and a social class fight. It is also supported by the play “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street” by Rod Serling which is a story about a town in which weird events happen and chaos takes…