Flight By Sherman Alexie: The Cruelty Of Life

Most people live a relatively normal day to day life even if we may have our share of mundane problems. If we are asked to describe our emotions, at the very least we can say happy or sad or fine. When we truly love something or take great pleasure in something, most of us tend to wax poetically. In contrast, there are people like Ishmael Beah whose lives started off quite normal but then it took a major wrong turn. From the tender age of ten years, Beah witnessed the horrors of war in his home country, Sierra Leone.

An Analysis of The World's Cruelty After reading journalist Leonard Pitt's article entitled, "Sometimes, the Earth is Cruel", I saw the disaster in Haiti in a whole new light. What is on the surface an article based on the terrible earthquake that shook Haiti on January, 12, 2010, is in actuality a riveting, eye opening piece of human re-evaluation. An article that looks beyond ordinary human conventions and presents a broad picture of who we truly are and how we truly operate. The overall theme, however, is present in the first line; Sometimes the earth is cruel and Leonard Pitts expresses this through his description of the Haitian people's actions after the earthquake, his language comparing the Haitian people with nature and his overall response to the way Haitian people responded to their unfortunate tragedy.

Throughout the opening paragraphs of Joan Didion’s essay there is a detailed description of the human experience with the Santa Ana winds. This description demonstrates a distinct feeling and point of view towards the natural disaster known as the Santa Ana winds. Her writing describes several interactions and reactions to the wind allows the reader to understand the relationship between the Santa Ana winds and human beings. Overall Didion’s diction along with the use other stylistic elements clearly conveys her feeling of anxiety towards the winds.

Zoie Collinson Mrs. Gonder ENG4U May 11th, 2015 Do as I say, not as I do. A comparative essay. Do as I say, not as I do. Religious hypocrisy can be described as: Using the values, virtues and beliefs of religion to motivate and manipulate others while degrading these things in one's behavior.

In the essay “The Things with Feathers That Perches in the Soul “, Anthony Doerr asks “What lasts? Is there anything you’ve made in your life that will still be here 150 years from now? Is there anything on your shelves that will be tagged and numbered and kept in a warehouse like this?” (Doerr 97). The idea the author is trying to imply there are things in this world that will fade.

“We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts… For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for

Although he did make it out of the forces of savagery, his new knowledge about mankind’s evil nature will change him forever, leaving him “weeping for the loss of innocence, and the darkness of man’s heart”

He never gave up on what he wanted to know about. He spend hours doing research to bring life from death. He didn't not even think about any consequences about bringing something that is left back to life. He even spends time away from his family in order to accomplish the goal that he had for himself. All of this causes him to suffer because of the negative consequences that it brought him.

Francis’ life is one filled with death, destruction and general unhappiness worse than the average person living during the same time

This caused him even more woes and tribulations than his soul could manage. The deception led him to feel suffer and guilt tenfold in chapter

His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God, How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (1.2.133-138) He’s stating the futility of life after the death of his father and taking of his throne. This scene takes place soon after he learns about his misfortune. He’s driven further into insanity when he learns that the man who stole his

What would one expect from a father who kept his daughter locked in a cell for decades to Abu Ghraib? Tracy K Smith, in Life on Mars, shows herself as the poet of extraordinary ambition and rage. In No-Fly Zone, Smith has ambiguously talked about a girl (can be the poet herself) tracing a growth of African-American girl who must learn hard lessons of puberty and early adulthood and linking it to the history of America by depicting what it meant to be a black woman. With the use of elegy, figurative language, socio-political commentary, and metaphors in the third section of her collection, mainly in No-Fly Zone of Life on Mars, she talks about the ambiguity of what a girl has to fear in the society, her loneliness without parents, and why a girl has to save herself for her husband. (Writing about the theme of the poem……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..)

It is delineated by natural inclination that people sympathize with others who undergo an unfortunate circumstance or event. However, this type of behavior is dependent on how one uses prior knowledge to judge whether someone is worthy of sympathy. The idea that people tend to draw conclusions based on other people’s decisions and character remains as one of the many underlying themes in literature. In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, Amir’s character is considered worthy of sympathy by his redeeming actions towards the end of the novel, his good intentions toward Baba, and his ability to empathize with others.

This shows that he is not thinking of his doing, he was not a “Victim of fate” only, but a “victim of passion”. What he seems to care about is just knowing the truth under any circumstances, even if it caused the destruction of

In the poems “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen and “The Bright Lights of Sarajevo” by Tony Harrison, both poems present the truths of war. However, both differ in terms of setting and contrast that help depicts the similarities between their theme. Disabled takes place within World War I as Owen vividly describes the subject’s amputation, but the poem is centered around the subject’s adjustment to civilian life after war. In The Bright Lights of Sarajevo although Harrison discusses the consequences of partaking in war in the town, he illustrates the way in which life goes on regardless the horrific impact. Through use of setting and contrast, both poets contribute to presenting the theme of the realities of war.