This Boy's Life

Practice Work “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly,” which was said by Langston Hughes, connects to Robert Frost’s “Out, Out” due to how the boy does not have a break, no time for dreaming or for thinking of the future. The main boy is doing yard work, when he has his hand sliced open by a buzz saw. He had been taken to the doctor’s, and eventually dies. After this, everyone just goes on with life which is an interesting elongated metaphor.…

love you," Shiro says, fingers curling to grasp the blanket. He feels Mitsuki's fingers pause, then resume softly raking through the pale white strands, even gentler than before. Shiro turns his face slightly, pressing his cheek against the other boy's thigh. He grips the blanket tightly with trembling fists. "I love you," he repeats, and even he can hear the way his voice wavers. He clenches his teeth, jaw locked, as he feels a shudder rack his body. Mitsuki's hand stills in his hair and trails…

exploration of his character's emotions. Having the characters become the main focus of the novel strengthens the emotional attachment of the reader. In this context, McCarthy uses dreams in “The Road” to provide more background on the man’s emotional traumas leading to his physical and mental decline, to illustrate the themes of love and sacrifice and to…

Both written and directed by Babak Anvari, 2+2=5 (2011) is a short film which highlights important social notions like human rights, natural freedoms, societal order and violent promotion of certain behavioral norms. In 2012, it was nominated under Best Short Film category for the Bafta Film Awards but never won, unfortunately. Anvari’s narration implicitly gives a hint to certain negative historical events of the humanity which should be avoided from repeating in the future. Namely, it reminds…

“And the Earth Did Not Devour Him” by Tomas Rivera is the story of a young boy who lives his life as a Chicano migrant field worker along with his family. The book is not a straight narrative but is divided into several short scenes in the span of a year. From the many scenes in the book, one of them stood out to me and the relation to the theme of this course. The first scene, Rivera called it “The Children Couldn’t Wait,” he argued that the farm owners were often very cruel. Even when days…

Billy Collins is an coming to age poem about a young boy’s mind reflecting on his childhood and his reactions on turning ten and becoming older. The poem has a tone of melancholy and thoughtfulness towards it. The speaker is reacting on his sadness about turning ten, "the first big number” and how he has to leave his “imaginary friends” and realize reality has hit him. He understands his experience in becoming older is a bittersweet moment in his life. Although, he is getting older he does not…

sustain and create life. What happens if it can no longer serve its purpose? In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, the world can no longer be seen as lush, green, or even inhabitable. Animals and vegetation have rapidly died off and there less consumable matter exists as each day passes. Similarly, humans are struggling to survive the harsh conditions of this reality; some people turn to cannibalistic habits in order to receive their next meal. However, this novel follows two outliers in this grim…

Childhood is something we all experience as well as, it is the most essential part in our lives. We can see this in the poems: “Half-past Two” by U.A. Fanthorpe, “Hide and Seek” by Vernon Scannell, and “Prayer Before Birth” by Louis MacNeice. Each one of these poems present childhood from a different perspective; the first two poems portray childhood as an exciting experience, taking it stereotypically. However, “Prayer Before Birth” conveys childhood as an imagination of the unborn child and…

for England inspired Robert to publish, “A Boy’s Will” and “North Boston”. By the time Robert came back to America, he was considered, “1920’s most celebrated poet in America” and to this day, his poems are still being taught in high schools and colleges across America. In Robert Frost’s, “the road not taken” I believe the theme he was trying to convey was, that in life, one will find themselves at a crossroads, and must choose how the rest of their life will go on.3 SENTENCE THESIS STATEMENT…

“You must learn to lose, child. Some people is born to keep. Some is born to lose. ” This is a quote by mother from Sounder written by William H. Armstrong. This quote also addresses the book Our Town written by Thornton Wilder. Part of life is death and although many people fail to understand the concept, it is true. Everyone has at least one encounter with death during their lifetime that is not their own. In both Sounder and Our Town most of the characters have to experience the feeling of…