The Flicker

My Dearest Banana Socks, John Legend once said, “You’re my end and my beginning, even when I lose I’m winning.” With you, banana socks, I am always a winner. Love is what keeps someone going. It’s the feeling of compassion and affection that allows one to believe that they can achieve the impossible. Love is something no one can live without and this is how I know that I love you. You have been with me through everything, warmed my soul, and shown the strongest loyalty possible. From the very…

For as long as I could remember, I was constantly reminded of when I turned sixteen I would get a job. My parents’ humble beginnings made them value earning their own money. When they started working, their jobs provided them with financial freedom and independence they never believed possible. Consequently, I began working at my local Walgreens one day after my birthday. The ache in my feet and the cuts on my hands were reminders of the world I entered. My first year spent at Walgreens revealed…

remained until the tower clock struck three in the morning. The first broadening of light in the world outside the window entered his consciousness once more. Then his head sank to the floor of its own accord and from his nostrils came the last faint flicker of his breath,” (Gioia and Gwynn 497). In this quote, Gregor lays himself to rest, while always keeping his family the first thought in his mind. In addition, the author uses a great amount of light to describe Gregor’s death. This light…

their body language, especially the eyes. While living at Thornfield, a fortune teller appears and speaks to every lady who is single, including Jane. When it is Jane’s turn, the fortune teller gives Jane information about her face: “the flame flickers in the eye; the eye shines like dew” (211). The flame that the fortune teller speaks of is Jane’s sense of justice. It is her sense of righteousness; the dew on the other hand, is her sense of purity. Although she will go to extreme lengths…

Everyone behaves differently in the morning. Some may wake up energetic waiting to start the new day while others wake up dreary. “Five A.M.” by William Stafford depicts a speaker walking down a familiar street and enjoying the early morning. “Five Flights Up” by Elizabeth Bishop is another poem that takes place in the morning; however, the speaker in this poem is unhappy. “Five A.M.” and “Five Flights Up” both reflect on the early morning surroundings, but they use different techniques to show…

year, underneath the shade of an oak, enjoying the flickering filtered light of leaves beneath the sun dappling his vision. He takes out his books and laptop and begins by lighting another cigarette, inhaling the burning sensation and feeling it flicker around in his mouth. He rereads a few passages, highlights some lines, types something. The Odyssey is a heavy and thick book, both context and size-wise, the paper is a fine yellowed, buckled and dog eared thing with splashes of highlighters…

Zlata’s Diary Zlata’s diary is a nonfiction book by Zlata Flinicopeno. It sold approximately 80,000 copies and was written between 1991-1993. The author is an incredibly brave, observant, and kind eleven year old girl suffering through war and destruction. I chose to read this book due to it’s similarities to “The Diary of Anne Frank.” This story takes place in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. Throughout the book we see a child’s outlook on life. At first it seems to be just a little girl’s…

Weeping that her baby is a girl, Daisy is dependent on men to make her key decisions for her (133, 151): secure in and yet remote from male ownership and ardor, "making only a polite, pleasant effort to entertain or to be entertained" (12-13), she radiates a carefully girlish charm of irrationality and whimsy: "Do you want to hear about the butler's nose?" (14). Woman, it appears, is presented only as romance, in the restless world of glamour where there are only the pursued and the pursuing. As…

the hard dirt. Pebbles scatter the terrain mimicking the large boulder on which a man lies weeping. Gaining composure, he stands to his feet. Hesitating for only a second, the man’s companion places a gentle kiss of death upon his cheek. Torches flicker past the nearest mountain peak as a mob marches in unison, swords in hand. For thirty pieces of silver, Judas forsakes Jesus Christ. Sunlight pours in through the windows lining the white marble wall. Tapestries of navy and gold cascade from the…

In “Of Studies”, Francis Bacon explores the benefits and consequences associated with studies and to what degree they should be used. He claims that “histories make men wise”, which in the context of the Rwandan genocide, seems to mean learning and making an effort to understand the tragedies that occurred there (Bacon 10). To study the historical implications of an event so widely interpreted has the potential to challenge existing opinions about global society and the implications of such a…