In Support of Parenting Education Essay -- Child Development

In a perfect world, every child would be wanted and loved, and all parents would shed the capacity and the desire to raise children who are healthy, mentally and physically strong, and displaying soaring moral integrity. Sadly, this is not the case. Some parents are, unfortunately, not much interested in what happens with their children. opposite parents are not pleased with what is happening in the home with their children only when do not know what to do to create effective change. Still other parents are unaware that there is another way, a better way, of parenting. Parent education could help in all of these scenarios.The literature demonstrates that parenting interventions improve the quality of the birth parents have with the children as well as improving child social behavior (Scott, OConnor, Furth, Mathias, Price, and Doolan 2010). Programs have been particularly effective when delivered to motivated, ethnic majority parents, but there has been little study of programs that serve as interventions aimed at preventing a wide range of poor outcomes associated with antisocial behavior, such as involvement in risky lifestyles, low school attainment, and a lack of satisfactory friendships (Scott et al.). There are, of course, problems associated with delivery of parenting programs the greatest challenge is getting parents to participate when there is no mandatary that they do so. Skilled personnel may be another issue urban areas may have sufficient counselors and educators, but rural areas may not. A third issue is cost, although, as pointed out by Scott et al., programs can in theory be justified since in the long run they should reduce the high cost of antisocial behavior arising from increased use of services, higher levels... ...t effective when parents take an interactive part.Works CitedBrannon, Diana. Character fosteragea Joint Responsibility. Education Digest 73.8 (2008) 56- 60. Parker, David C., Nelson, Jennifer S., and Burns, Matthew K. C omparison of Correlates of Classroom behavior problems in schools with and without a school-wide character education program. psychology in the Schools 47.8 (2010) 817-827.Reinberg, S. (2010). U.S. kids using media almost 8 hours a day. HealthDay password January 20, 2010. Retrieved from http//www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/635134.htmlScott, Stephen OConnor, Thomas G. Futh, Annabel Mathias, Carla Price, Jenny and Doolan, Moira. Impact of a Parenting Program in a High-Risk, Multi-Ethnic Community the PALS Trial. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry 51.12 (2010) 1331-1341.

Grants, New Mexico :: Geography Traveling Essays

Grants, New Mexico Surrounded by mountains and turn up in Cibola County, Grants, New Mexico is the perfect place to unpack the camping gear or raise a family. Grants was named after 3 brothers Angus, Lewis, and John Grant, who were contracted to build a railroad through this portion of New Mexico. First called Grants Camp, then Grants Station (which is now a local restaurant) it finally became known simply as Grants. The heart of American Indian country, Grants is about 70 miles west of Albuquerque and 80 miles east of the New Mexico/Arizona border. As of July 2002, Grants had a population of 8,921 residents and growing. Once a small farming connection until 1950 when a Navajo rancher discovered uranium on Haystack Mountain, this town has now become a growing tourist destination.For those like me who enjoy mild and modify weather, Grants is perfect. While I enjoy snow, especially around Christmas, it is a real treat to enjoy the beauty of snow one day and then lance on shorts and a tee-shirt the next day. The average summer high and low is 80/50. The average spend high and low is 40/10. During the winter months, it is not uncommon to see one group of people playing a round of golf at the Coyote del Malpais Golf Course located at the foot of Mt. Taylor, while another group are surrounded by snow high on the mountain itself.One of the first things you allow notice in Grants is the majestic mountains. Rising 11,3001 feet, Mt. Taylor displays scattered rows of gorgeous Ponderosa Pine trees. Blazing a trail through these Pines one can fix beautiful nature trails, delightful picnic spots, and scenic vistas which make you feel as if you have stepped right into a mythical painting. I have played out many a day loosing myself in nature in those mountains only to find myself going back the next day for another area to explore. Mt. Taylor be occupied all year round with hikers, bike riders, skiers, and those inclined towards snowshoeing. One of the biggest eve nts that Mt. Taylor boasts is the Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon. Occurring annually on the Saturday of Presidents Day Weekend, this event includes a 43 Kilometer bike ride, a 3.5 Kilometer snowshoe trek, an 8 Kilometer cross-country skiing leg, and a 17.5 Kilometer run.While the mountains may be beautiful and innocent during the day, they take on a whole other personality during the evening.

William Gibsons Johnny Mnemonic Essay -- William Gibson Johnny Mnemon

William Gibsons knot mnemonic knot mnemonic, is a short-circuit story written by William Gibson. It appears in a book of short stories written by Gibson called Burning Chrome in 1986. Gibson is a writer of science fiction and one of the first to write in the new genre called hacker. Cyberpunk is a type of fiction that examines a futuristic world dominated by computer technology, massive cartels, and cyberspace. In other words, its an artificial earthly concern created through the linkup of tens of millions of machines (Gibson 904). This is the futuristic world of Johnny mnemotechnical. Even though this story is very elicit in terms of science and technology, it is also interesting in the sense that this short story examines how technology and science can affect the worlds delicate cultures. In this examination of the short story Johnny Mnemonic, I will define what is meant by culture and describe how technology and science has effected the unique subcultures of the Lo Teks a nd Yakuza. Two subcultures that are within the larger cyberpunk cultures described in Johnny Mnemonic. As well, I will describe where the characters such as Johnny Mnemonic and Molly millions , fit in to these cultures, if they do at all. Also on this same theory, I will give examples of how our own cultures in todays world contrast with these fictional cultures in Johnny Mnemonic, but I will also show how we are following in the same path in which those in Johnny Mnemonic have followed. What is meant by the word culture? Culture, according to Websters Dictionary, is the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. These patterns, traits, and products are considere... ...ons nett page. List of quotes by Gibson and others. Internet. 28 April 1995. Available wwwhttp//sfbox.vt.edu10021/J/jfoley/gibson/gibson.html William Gibsons web page Gibson, William . Johnny Mnemonic. Burning Chrome, . 1986 John ny Mnemonic . Dir. Robert Longo. Pref. Keanu Reeves, Ice-T, Dolph Lungdren and Henry Rollins . Tri-stra pictures , 1995. Mohl, Lucy. Why Johnny cant Blink. Review of Johnny Mnemonic. Internet. 28 April 1996. Available www http//www.film.com/reviews/J/johnny.mnemonic.lucy. htmlWhy Johnny cant Blink. Reid, Bruce. No Brainer. Review of Johnny Mnemonic . Internet. 28 April 1996 . Available www. http//www.film.com/reviews/J/johnny.mnemonic.stranger.htmlNo Brainer. The ultimate Gibson Hot list, Links to Gibsons Books and Biography.http//ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/mdrapes/gibson/etc.htm The ultimate Gibson Hot list

Masters and Gautama: A Synthesis of Buddhist Philosophy :: Buddhism Buddhist Philosophy Papers

Masters and Gautama A Synthesis of Buddhist Philosophy disregardless of who we are or where we come from, we are unlucky enough to be subject to a world consisting of modifiers, pre-established social elements, systems of opinion and belief, which, though we may be unaware of them while they work their magic on us, ultimately serve to wrap us in a prison of thought. At the same time, thither exist modifiers which may serve to free us. Depending on the right conditions, the time, we can be fortunate enough to see finished the shroud pulled over our point in time at birth, to the true explanation of why were here, the truth of our existence. Its for this reason that Ive chosen to bring together two articles which, in their knowledge way, relate the story of just such an occurrence- where a person comes to the realization that the world is absolutely different than what their influences in life have led them to stand for of it as. The first is an excerpt from a book, which acquaints us with the history of the Buddha, his exposure and realization of the vagaries of life, and his subsequent pursuit of enlightenment thereafter. The second is the story of a man on death row in San Quentin prison who, very comparatively, through the study of meditation and spiritualism, raises his perception of life to a new level and begins to see through his own veil of thought, recognizing the horrible falsehood of his past.These two texts clearly illustrate the potential every person has to change themselves, their lives, by simply turning slightly and evaluating the way they see and interpret the world. Together they demonstrate how anyone can rise over the problems of their past, reject what theyve grown accustomed to thin ability of as normal, in an perspiration to better themselves.From the book The Worlds Religions, the excerpt Buddhism by Huston Smith gives us an informative, yet summarized look, into the life of a man named Siddhartha Gautama. Born of a king into a lif e of luxury, in what is now Nepal around 563 B.C., Gautama was prophesized to be the world redeemer(par. 9), the one who would see the truth of existence and eventually lead batch from Brahmanism and the vagaries of life. This story has been told by many authors countless times, there is no real unique quality in Hustons telling, but this version of the narrative, with its clarity and straightforwardness, makes it a perfect selection to use for the telling of the Buddhas past.

Teachers and Technology Essays -- Education, Technology in the Classro

Nature of the Study Teachers overall attitudes towards engineering play a vital role in adopting a make up method in determining how to instruct with wireless laptops (Kervin & Mantei, 2010). Alternatively, the way teachers perceive technology will hypothesize a key determinant of the nature of this quantitative, pre-experimental study. In this study, the reason why teachers do not routinely and effectively use available technology such as wireless laptops in K12 classrooms will be examined. To take full advantage of technology, while reducing possible drawbacks, requires matching the technology with the learning objectives (Lee, 2010). The researcher will use a pre-experimental, quantitative study, which has a cross-sectional web-based, five point Likert-scale survey entitled the Technology Attitude Scale (TAS). The TAS will be administered to collect data during the work of this study. Subsequently, the TAS questionnaire is an adapted version of Swan and Dixons (2006) mode l. The results of the TAS will be analyzed using an experimental and non experimental sample to establish teachers attitudes about wireless technology in the instructional practice. The survey provides and shows the reliability of .92 and showed a proven validity tested through statistical analysis. Swan and Dixon (2006) used the TAS to examine any correlation coefficient between teachers attitudes towards technology and the use of such technology in their study. In this study, a convenience sample instead of a random sample of teachers in a rural southeast Georgia school district will be used because teachers are both accessible and willing to record. Accessibility and willingness to participate are characteristics of a convenience sample (Lee... ...itudes, societal impact, specific negative cognitions or self-critical personal dialogues during actual information processing system usage or when considering future computer use (Ursavas & Karal, 2009). Theory-Driven a massive conventional teaching approaches for the incorporation of traditional teaching and learning approaches (Stewart et al., 2009). radio computing devices that use electromagnetic waves rather than land-based wires to consume a communication signal examples are laptops, clickers, cell phones, iPods, and other such mobile devices, including printers and desktop that operate through wireless signals (Skevakis, 2010, rather than hardware technology. Wireless technology output tools such as laptops, clickers, cell phones, iPods, and other such mobile devices, including printers and desktop that operate through wireless forms (Skevakis, 2010).

Teachers and Technology Essays -- Education, Technology in the Classro

Nature of the Study Teachers overall attitudes towards technology play a live role in adopting a set method in determining how to instruct with wireless laptops (Kervin & Mantei, 2010). Alternatively, the way teachers perceive technology go forth hypothesize a key determinant of the nature of this quantitative, pre-experimental study. In this study, the reason why teachers do not routinely and effectively use available technology such as wireless laptops in K12 classrooms will be examined. To take full advantage of technology, while reducing possible drawbacks, requires matching the technology with the instruction objectives (Lee, 2010). The researcher will use a pre-experimental, quantitative study, which has a cross-sectional web-based, five point Likert-scale survey entitled the Technology Attitude Scale (TAS). The TAS will be administered to collect data during the course of this study. Subsequently, the TAS questionnaire is an adapted version of turn over and Dixons ( 2006) model. The results of the TAS will be analyzed using an experimental and non experimental seek to establish teachers attitudes about wireless technology in the instructional practice. The survey provides and shows the reliability of .92 and showed a proven validity tested finished statistical analysis. Swan and Dixon (2006) used the TAS to examine any correlation between teachers attitudes towards technology and the use of such technology in their study. In this study, a convenience sample quite of a random sample of teachers in a rural southeast Georgia school district will be used because teachers are both(prenominal) accessible and willing to participate. Accessibility and willingness to participate are characteristics of a convenience sample (Lee... ...itudes, societal impact, specific negative cognitions or self-critical personal dialogues during actual information processing system usage or when considering future computer use (Ursavas & Karal, 2009). Theory-Dr iven a massive conventional teaching approaches for the incorporation of traditional teaching and learning approaches (Stewart et al., 2009). Wireless reason devices that use electromagnetic waves rather than land-based wires to carry a communication signal examples are laptops, clickers, cell phones, iPods, and other such mobile devices, including printers and desktop that operate by dint of wireless signals (Skevakis, 2010, rather than hardware technology. Wireless technology output tools such as laptops, clickers, cell phones, iPods, and other such mobile devices, including printers and desktop that operate through wireless forms (Skevakis, 2010).

A Time of Change in the Market Revolution Essay

1815 to 1860 was a crucial time for American commerce and urbanization that not only had strong economic influences, but excessively altered social and political perspectives. This time period, known as the Market regeneration, stemmed largely from the advancement in technology which led to transportation improvements and the twist of railroads. Banks also contributed to the growing economy by increasing economic input and providing loans to merchants, human raceufacturers, and farmers. The rapid expansion of commerce and transportation had profound effects on American man-to-mans socio-economic goals a sense of self-confidence and domestic ideology surfaced, perpetuating westward expansion.Along with the spread of urbanization came the circulation of literary publications that fostered the spread of popular faiths this eventually became an essential dowry to the many reform movements ultimately caused by the Market Revolution. All of these factors contributed to the republica n ideal of person freedom. Although the Market Revolution promoted economic and social growth done the development of technology and industry, it also led to actions threatening to republican liberties corresponding equation and the inherent rights of man. Concerns of tyranny and disregard to the American Constitution caused many to counsel on preserving the American republic through reform movements.The main driving factor of the reform movements that took place following the Market Revolution was the obscurity of republican values. Despite the positive influences the Market Revolution had on quality of lifetime and transportation, many Americans feared the corruption of their individual liberties. They had proper reason to believe that this would be an fact caused by the unbalanced power that was established during the Market Revolution. One example of this unbalance was the increasing power of banks, more specifically addressed by Andrew capital of Mississippi when he vetoe d the Second Bank of the United States. He asserts that the monopolized bank system undermines the rights of ordinary people because it establishes significant distinctions between classes where the upper class holds the power and dominates everyplace the lower class.In a way, he attempts to reform the government-established powers instilled by the Second Bank of the United States by voicing how it is an abuse of power and limits economic opportunity for ordinary people. In addition to the unbalanced power created by the banks, a prominent deterrent from republican autonomy was the difference that this instability of power caused for individual Americans. The rapid expansion of agriculture and population corresponded to the growth of slavery, which is the most pronounced example of the inequality America experienced during and after the Market Revolution.Slavery was seen by many as a direct violation of the Constitution and the inherent rights of man, which defy republican values. In the Republican National Platform, Abraham Lincoln brings to light that the inequality of slavery threatens national sovereignty, That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution, is essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions and that the Federal Constitution, the Rights of States, and the conjunction of the States, must and shall be preserved. A nationalistic togetherness, plot of ground still maintaining individual freedom, is eminent in establishing and fulfilling republic ideology. Slavery was a direct violation of mans inalienable rights, and therefore many abolitionist movements took place in order to reform the corrupt nation.Acts of slavery and other injustices initiated by the Market Revolution that defied republican values were identified as needing reform, in William H. Sewards speech in 1855 he said, We must redo the demoralized virtue of the nation. We must restore the principle of equality among the members of the State the principle of the sacredness of the absolute and inherent rights of man. The emerging Democratic party was host to many of the promoters of personal reform and social problems, while the Whig party advocated the reform of moralism and state-sponsored entrepreneurship. One of the initial influences of the reform movements was the moral mending that was deemed necessity by Protestants in order to overcome the sins occurring in society, and enact a sense of righteousness. These ideas of self-virtue and societal justice were reflected in the Second Great change and the Temperance movement in the early 1800s.The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival that had a strong influence on women, giving them a voice in society and the ability to make an impact for the repurchase of American values. The Temperance movement had a similar purpose, to promote self-perfection and eliminate the many sins that became prominent in society during the Market Revolution. The movement focused on alcohol abuse and sexual sin, and although it bolstered self improvement for many individuals, a main impact of both the Temperance movement and the Second Great Awakening was the eminent duty of women to speak out against controversial happenings. Both of these movements had strong positive effects on the preservation of the republic because they fostered public regard to individual goodness, which in turn led to other reform movements and the ability for both women and men to speak out against injustices.Both womens rights and slaves rights were distinguished issues that violated the equality of the republic, and therefore certain groups sought reform these corrupt aspects of American society. In the 1830s, the abolitionist movement was initiated in an attempt to dissolve the sin of slavery. Although abolition became the base of immense controversy and even violence, the movement against slavery allowed slaves like Robert Gle nn and Frederick Douglass to share their stories in an attempt to bring to light the corruption taking place in America. These movements did in fact help persuade many groups of people, mostly Democrats, of the Constitutional and moral violations that slavery inhibits. However, westward expansion and distinct divisions between the nation do it difficult to prevent the spread of slavery. Despite the fact that abolitionist movements did not have immediate effects on the eradication of slavery, it did open doors for public opinion and womens rights.In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott spoke out at the Seneca Falls Convention against the unequal status of women and how it reflects tyranny rather than the individual liberties of a republic. They emphasize the main mention of both slavery and womens rights reformations, The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation, because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. These movements did impact the protection of republicanism through the expression of activists who exposed the exploitation and inequality occurring due to slavery and unbalanced privileges of women. The Market Revolution had a domino effect on the fabric of the republic. It propelled economic growth and industrial expansion which then perpetuated unbalanced power within the government.This obscured the political values of individuals and brought roughly such a dramatic shift in thinking regarding opportunity and personal liberties that many people were concerned about the loss of republicanism. Members of the public like the Grimke sisters, as well as members of the government like Andrew Jackson, identified the injustices of inequality that were caused by the Market Revolution and felt as though reform was necessary to preserve the republic. The reform movements that took place, such as the Second Great Awakening and the abolitionist movement, exposed the pollution of republican ideals like individual freedom and egalitarianism. Although these messages were controversial between the sectional division of the North and South, reform movements still established a voice for the republic and eventually managed to preserve the prominent aspects of the republic. 1 . Andrew Jackson, blackball Message, in John Majewski, History of American Peoples, 1840-1920 A Primary Source Reader (Dubuque Kendall/Hunt 2006), 5. 2 . Abraham Lincoln, Republicans Adopt a Strong Anti-Slavery Platform, in Majewski, 50. 3 . William H. Seward, The Dangers of Extending Slavey, and the Contest and the Crisis, in Majewski, 41. 4 . Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage, Hartmann, The American Promise A History of the United States, 330. 5 . Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage, Hartmann, The American Promise A History of the United States, 322. 6 . Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage, Hartmann, The American Promise A History of the United States, 323. 7 . Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage, Hartmann, The American Promise A History of the United States, 324. 8 . Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, The Seneca Falls Convention Advocates masterful Equality in Majewski, 24.

Cruddy by Lynda Barry

Lynda Barry has provided a thoughtful, interesting, and provocative novel about Roberta Rohbeson featuring, on the surface, two diverse, but related story lines. The graduation exercise is the story of Roberta as a sixteen- year-old girl and details what happened to her to cause her to be grounded for a year for dropping two hits of acid in September of 1971. It is Roberta who gives the password its name. While grounded in her room she begins to write in her diary with an ominous none of her intended suicide, I planned this way before the drugs were a dissociate of my look. . . .It was my idea to kill myself (Barry two pagers before 1). This plot thread is interwoven with a more detailed sinister thread that took place five years earlier when Robertas parents separated and, at her mothers insistence, Roberta hide in the back of her conveys car and accompanied the Father, as she calls him, on a bloody, murderous, cross-country spree fueled by the near constant drinking by her alcoholic father. The spree ended with her father as the prime suspect in the gilt Chief Motel whipping and with Roberta walking through the Nevada while covered with blood (Barry).It is unclear however whether either of the plot threads actually occurred within the world of the novel or whether they are the imaginings or hallucinations of a teenage girl being punished for misbehaving. Unlike many books that deal with teenage angst by portraying the protagonist as a person with a woe is me attitude, Cruddy distinguishes itself by not falling victim to this self-indulgent trap. Roberta is detached from her family. Like the impersonal description of her father as the father, Robertas mother is called simply the mother. Roberta views her younger half-sister Julie with the usual contempt of teenagers who are forced to share a bedroom. Roberta has a matter of fact attitude toward the events in her life and blames no one for her actions. She remembers and acts upon some of the philosoph ical aphorisms her father espouses. DO NOT HESITATE. NEVER, NEVER HESITATE and L. L. S. S. , (loose lips sink ships) (Barry 30, 99). The book features a large number of oxford gray drawings that illustrate the accompanying text. These pictures provide the reader with the best physical description of the father.Page 22 features a portrait of a hard looking man with recessed eyes and a cigarette drooping reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart. The picture reveals an independent man who will brook nonsense from no one and will not hesitate to use violence should the need or opportunity arise. The fathers face reveals no compassion for anyone, not even his daughter Roberta whom he calls Clyde. Ostensibly the alcohol binge and crime spree of the father starts at the time of the separation of Robertas parents.When the father discovers that Julie, the younger sister, is not his, but the child of his wifes boss he snaps because of the extend caused by the discovery. Combined with the apparent su icide of his father known as Old Dad, it was more than he could bear. The newspapers covering the story of the murders alleged that the father steal Roberta in the middle of the night and left a note threatening to kill Roberta if the mother calls the police or tried to find them (Barry 23). According to Roberta this is for the most part a fiction put on by her mother to get her picture in the paper.The real story is the mother made Roberta hide in the car and accompany her father. At the novels beginning the father was due to inherit the family business, a well-known local shopping mallpacking plant where he casted as a butcher and had developed a good reputation locally. Instead of leaving the business to his son Old Dad sold it out from under the father and left him unemployed and without funds. Allegedly Old Dad placed the money into three Samsonite suitcases none of which he gave to the father. Then Old Dad hanged himself in the meat cooler.He believes his father, Old Dad, h as cheated him and that he is on the dot getting back what was his by natural right. Allegedly much of the fathers pauperization lies in hopes of recovering the suitcases and the supposed money in them. However, it is difficult to determine if there is any truth at all to the story of the three suitcases of money. Supposedly the meatpacking plant was heavily mortgaged and sell the plant was necessary to pay the debts, at least Im not leaving you in the hole, said Old Dad.If this were the case one would expect him to open the suitcases as he found them and make use of the money, but he does not do this. When he finds the first suitcase he merely holds it up and says, not a scratch on it . . . Its Samsonite We could do a bleep commercial (Barry 25-38). This peculiar behavior calls into question whether this plot thread ever existed. Nonetheless(prenominal) with this theoretical motivation the father packs his butcher knives and leaves his wife. Blood has played an important role in the fathers life.Although he spent time in the Navy, being a butcher was his work as a butcher that he believed that he would achieve success. He takes pride in the work he does and has hopes of challenging even the big packinghouses and that stores were pass to come back and buy their meet from Rohbesons Slaughter House (Barry 25). At the end of a workday he and his clothes were often covered with blood. He is devoted to his knives and goes so far as to name them. Little Debbie is his favorite and he gives it to Roberta to protect herself. The nature of the fathers profession was inherently violent.The violence manifests itself throughout the novel. He kills people in a variety of ways including homicide by car and shooting people. When Roberta is injured and receives a small cut on her finger that becomes infected, he casually uses Little Debbie to remove the finger at the knuckle while promising that Roberta would not feel a thing (Barry 198). The name of the combination slaugh terhouse, restaurant, and shut where they stay for a time is the Knocking Hammer, presumably a reference to a notorious method of killing beef about to be slaughtered by hitting them in the head with a hammer.The violence in the fathers life also occurs in Robertas world. Shortly after the father amputated her finger Roberta found herself thought about killing the father and the others who live at Knocking Hammer (Barry 214). Shortly afterwards Roberta uses Little Debbie to cut the throat of the deputy sheriff while he is driving her to the institution where her father has committed her. By the end of the novel Roberta has killed her father by slicing his throat with the knife named Sheila. She also killed the others staying at the Lucky Chief Motel.Roberta has become a serial killer. It is unclear whether or not examining the father helps understand his blood thirst. By the books end the two plot threads have virtually merged and it is no longer clear how much of the events in th e novel actually happened. It appears likely that the thread where Roberta gets grounded for dropping acid is true. However, it is less clear the other thread occurred at all. It may be the acid induced hallucinations of Roberta. It may be a story made up to check her friend Vicky.Both threads may be the imaginary world of a teenager trying to get back at her parents for grounding her for a year by imagining one of them an unfit mother and the father as a homicidal, alcoholic maniac. The novel works in all of these fashions and leaves the reader unsure just what is what. In any case the world where Roberta lives, whether it is real, imaginary, or the product of drug-induced delusions is a violent one. Works Cited Barry, Lynda. Cruddy An Illustrated Novel. New York Simon & Schuster, 1999.

Home Test: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

1. tomcat Sawyer and huck Finn ar best friends that hand many things in common and many things that are non in common. Tom is better at using his imagination. In the beginning of the Adventures of huck Finn Tom checks a robber band with the realm boys. Huck soon decides that it is boring because they were not doing anything that Tom promised they would. Huck could not pretend that they were doing what Tom said they were doing. This is again illustrated in the end when Tom and Huck are trying to free Jim and Huck evidently cannot see the use of what Tom is doing with all his talk about(predicate) rope ladders and messages on the walls.Huck is wiser, more(prenominal) sensible, and more grown up. He thinks that Tom is rather silly and nonsensical because he is talking about matters that are not important in the spot of rescuing Jim. Huck understands that the topics that Tom is talking about are not of use. Tom is more daring, civilized, and pushy than Huck. Tom lives with his aunt Polly and wears store bought clothes. He can make Huck do what he wants him to do. Tom is daring enough to help Huck steal Jim and Tom spearheads the mission and he adds all the extra effects. both Huck and Tom are loyal friends.They did not bowl over each other a fashion when they were living with Aunt Sally. They both knew Jim and they helped him escape from his prison hut. neither of them are afraid to lie, in fact, most of the make is contains at least one of them lying. 2. Yes, Twain portrays Jim very realistically for that time period. Back in those days, obscure hoi polloi did not go to church. They fell back on superstition because they were ignorant. Education was rare among white people and even rarer among blacks. Jim is very loyal. Black people were loyal to kind masters and people who helped them.The way Jim is portrayed is not demeaning. He is not portrayed as stupid, just as uneducated. 3. The role of the river is simply that it the mode of transportation th at Huck and Jim are using to get to Ohio. No, it is not a character. It is not animate and it cannot talk to Huck or Jim. It cannot make decisions that motley or forward the plot. It can take Huck and Jim to places where the plot is forwarded, but a horse and carriage could do that. It cannot take Huck and Jim anywhere that it would not take anybody else. 4. Superstition fuels p inventions of the book. It becomes a motive for important actions. 7.Over all Twains attitude is rather hostile. He does not real equal it and enjoys making fun of it. He shows that he thinks it is just another type of superstition. Huck gives up praying in the very beginning and thinks that it is stupid. He likewise does not like to learn about the Bible particularly the people because as he said I dont take no stock in dead people sic. He thinks Christians are pathetic and easily fooled. He illustrates this when the King swindles a whole church out of near a hundred dollars by pretending to be a pirat e who had reformed and was going to be a missionary to reform other pirates.He shows it as ineffective and as an unnecessary tradition that everybody had simply because it was tradition. This is well exemplified when the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons go to church with their guns and sit through a sermon about friendly love then go right back to feuding. Mark Twain did not like Christianity. 8. No, I do not agree that it is a racist novel. Racism is when someone is demeaning because someone else has a different shade or color of skin. Jim, the main example, is not portrayed as stupid, just uneducated and superstitious, like Huck. Jim is not portrayed as less than human. He is Hucks best friend.Racism is looked down upon in this book. When the King and the Duke are inhuman to black people, the moral tone is that their cruelty is bad. Those who think blacks are property are not depicted well in that respect. Miss Watson, when she is going to convey Jim, is not represented well char acter wise. Black people are also considered property for parts of the book simply because that is how it was in those times. To say Adventures of Huck Finn is racist would be to say that everyone in those times was racist. 9. Huck Finn did not know too much. He had gone to school for at least a small period of time and could read at least a little bite.When Huck is trapped in his dads cabin and he escapes, that is just ingenuity and street-smarts. Huck knew about traps and ways of catching animals but he picked that up from his dad. about people tend to pick up things get through the streets. By listening hard enough Huck could have figured out where Cairo was. When Huck is talking about the kings, he had a book and he could read so he was most likely reading out of the book. Besides he was making up a lot of what he said or it was superstition. Most of what Huck knew was common knowledge or now unlikely that he would know because he was a young man.Most of the time when Huck is talking about educated things, they are not true. This is demonstrated when Huck is talking to Joanna, the hare-lip about England. Almost all of Hucks educated conversations are bluffs, superstitions, or not true. The others may be true but Huck could have learned the information in school or through a book. 10. 11. The end of the book is no different than the rest of the book. It completely fits Twains plot of two mischievous boys having a bit of fun and adventure. It is just like Tom and Huck to devise a roguish plan to free a slave.It is completely within character for Tom not to tell Huck that Jim was already free so he could have some fun. The only thing that I could see as lacking criticism is the two boys had an unrealistic amount of influence over everyone. Even someone as uneducated as Jim would not trust those two boys so implicitly. 12. The central irony is that both overarching conflicts have been resolved. Huck is running away from his dad because he is abused by him and Huck does not want to give his dad all his money. But in the very beginning of the book, when Huck and Jim are about to go down the river, they find a floating stomach with a dead man in it.The dead man was Hucks father. The other conflict of Jim running away from Miss Watson because he does not want to be sold is resolved because Miss Watson dies shortly after Huck and Jim leave. In her will she sets Jim free. Neither of them have any reason to be running away. 13. This irony is that the river is taking Huck and Jim further into the slave states when they are trying to set Jim free. During this time the United States was divided into two parts. The free states were in the north and the slaves states were in the south. The Mississippi River has a current that runs to the south, not the north.To set Jim free they are going further into the slave states. This makes no sense because they are trying to set Jim free and are going in the wrong direction. 14. My dearie minor characte r was Emmeline Grangerford. She is hilarious. She is obsessed with death and separation of lovers. Emmeline wrote comical poems that were obituaries and she was grave at it. The people always went to her so she could write her tributes. It is surmised that she died because someone went to undertaker before they went to her. Twain is making fun of the literature and art of that period with her character. 15.My favorite part of the book is when Huck escapes from his fathers cabin. He shows himself to be a genius young man. He displays great ingenuity and plays a first-class practical joke. I like this part because I wish I was that talented and could play practical jokes like that. It is also humorous and I like to be entertained. 16. Adventures of Huck Finns greatest strength is that it is highly ironic and makes fun of everything and everybody. The book makes fun of the literature of the period with Emmeline Grangerford. It also makes fun of the art of that period with Emmeline G rangerfords art.Mark Twain pokes fun at feuding with the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons. They end up killing everyone in each others families (except Harney and Sophia) over something they do not even remember the cause for. Twain ridicules Christianity as is shown by the King and his sob story, Hucks praying and his attitude about learning the Bible, and the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons church service. He mocks Shakespeare with the speech given by the King. He laughs at the state of education with all his characters, especially the state of education about foreign countries and kings.These are just a few of the ironic and funny parts. Anyone could read this and laugh till their sides split. 17. The books greatest weakness is the way it is written. The grammar and spelling is awful. It makes it hard to understand what Twain is saying. Twain wrote it that way on purpose but he could have produced the same effect by using proper English and grammar. It would have been better if Twain had just written the dialogue in the dialects he uses and wrote the majority of the text in proper English. It would have saved me and many others from a bad headache.

Lord of the Flies Essay on Pathetic Fallacy Essay

This is our island. Its a good island. (Golding 35). Contradictory to this quote, nature is never to be claimed by man, nor is always good- it is man that is controlled by the dynamically changing nature. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding reveals the natures beauty and power by personifying the island into a master sentience that both rewards and punishes civilization and viciousness. In allowing the natural elements to influence the boys behavior, Golding uses the relationships between the individual boys and the island, with consequences for their actions.The benevolent and generous side of the islands nature is seen with Simon, the most genteel and humane individual in the group. When Simon walks alone through the forest in chapter 3, his delicate and admiring attitude towards nature is immediately rewarded. When Simon is rushed by the littluns who were frustrated by unsuccessful attempts at raiding a tree of its fruits, he is compensated by double handfuls of ripe fruit ( 56). Here we see the stark struggle in the islands treatment to the disrespectful and the respectful.Golding uses the islands personification that rejects those who cry nintelligibly (56) while cherishing Simons gentle nature to magnify the islands abundant, yet unappeasable natural touch onting. The islands nourishing treatment to civilization doesnt end there, as it continues to prove its comforting nature when Simon is alone by himself. After demonstrations of Simons respect towards the island- such as when he places fallen leaves back into their places-, green sepals drew back a little and the white tips of the flowers rose delicately (57). Golding uses this latria of the island towards Simons presence to enhance the original gentleness of the islands atural cathode-ray oscilloscope. Nature is emphasized in this particular part of the novel as peaceful and comforting.Golding breathes sympathy and gentleness into the islands personality to magnify and augment its natural be auty. However, despite the island is pleasant and rewarding -it is a good island, after all- Golding makes sure to reveal the judgemental and great(p) side of the island to the savagery of the other boys. The sentience of the island effrontery by Golding is provoked first by the boys- as soon as they get together, they decide to set a fire.Initially starting a rescuation signal fire, the boys end up creating a massive inferno that laid hold on the forest and began to seize with teeth (44). The pain that the island goes through is reacted towards by the boys with shrill, excited cheering (44). This ecstatic sensation of destruction of nature stimulates the boys wild instincts that later evolves into savagery and bloodthirst, that becomes the ultimate key to their self-destruction.The savagery that is launched from the fire, becomes an uncontrollable state of uneasiness the boys experience in the island. Even Jack, the savage hunter, dmits, youre not hunting, but- being hunted. (5 3). Golding uses this state of fear to emphasize that the nature is an intimidating, and coercive force that can not be tamed by man. The natural setting of the island is enhanced through this relationship between savage Jack and the straining island reminds the reader that nature is a force that is far greater than an individuals power or ego. The boys attempts to conquer the island and destroy it only brought their submission into brutality and a hard lesson that man will either compromise with nature, or else suffer.Golding personifies the island in order to establish silent relationships between the inanimate and actual characters. These relationships modify in many ways for the author to enhance both the beauty and intimidation of the islands natural settings and give depth to the storys given physical environment. Furthermore, one must also note the intricate ways the island adores civilization while punishing savagery not only enhances the plot setting within, but creates philosophical sophistication and complexity of characters that enhances the novels general completion and execution as a literary classic.