“Looking for Alaska” was John Green's first novel written for young adults in the year 2005. The following year it won Printz award and became a bestseller. Green’s inspiration for the novel came from his own high school experiences at a boarding school. Green was able to implicate his own high school experiences and observation of what it was like at boarding school into the main characters life story. In an interview with John Green he explains that “ while the novel is fictional, the setting is not.Although the novel is fictional the characters are loosely based of similar people he attended high school with. “ Looking for Alaska” is a fictional novel that takes place at Culver Creek Preparatory high school in Alabama. It is about a high school junior who recently moved to Alabama, and would describe himself as “obsessed with last words”. As Miles has just moved to the new boarding school on the first night he is kidnapped by the “Weekend Warriors” also known as the rich kids of the school. Miles attracts a close net friend group, which are Chip, Takumi, and Alaska. Throughout the story Miles develops a close connection with Alaska while he tries to understand the famous “ last words” of Simon Bolivar. The story also revolves around the “boarding school experience” as it talks about how they would smoke,drink, and break the rules. Eventually Miles develops feelings for Alaska but she insists they aren't mutual because she loves her boyfriend,eventually she helps him
Throughout the passage “A woman who went to Alaska” by May Kellogg Sullivan, the author uses words with a lot of inference and meaning. Sullivan uses imagery and descriptive words in the passage to relay the message that the passage is dangerous, and the sense of peril. Sullivan uses a lot of descriptive words like “dangerous,” “death-dragging,” and “cautious” to emphasize how harsh the conditions are. She also uses this by also bringing imagery into her descriptive words like “floating on cakes of ice.” She also uses this statement to back up the uncertainty that comes with trying to float with the ice without knowing where they are.
After reading the excerpt from Looking for Alaska by John Green it is evident that the speaker is an extremely introverted individual who feels indifferent towards his guests. He mentions how he could “feel their pity”, but then goes on to say that “they needed more pity than I did”. This implies that although the speaker is most certainly an introvert he does not feel the need to make acquaintances with others. He does not have any desire of becoming friends with people who only speak to him out of pure pity. The speaker also mentions how the dip and chips were “intended for my imaginary friends”, which shows that he does not usually expect company any ways. The fact that his friends are “imaginary” clearly shows that he never had any friends
Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Jonathan Edwards was a renowned Puritan preacher. He is the author of a very known piece of rhetoric called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” This sermon was given to persuade the people in America to either convert or become better religious people. To fully reach the audience’s emotions and thoughts Edwards uses multiple rhetorical devices. Imagery is commonly used throughout Edwards sermon. his extremely descriptive language portrays images of what Edwards is saying into the audience’s minds. Allusion references historical works of art, this work of art is known by his whole audience. Edwards strategically uses imagery and allusion to most effectively direct his sermon.
During the 1800’s, lives changed for many people. The Klondike Gold Rush began. In the article Klondike Gold Rush written by the Public Domain, the passage from A Women Who Went to Alaska written by May Kellogg Sullivan, and the video City of Gold made by the National Film Board of Canada and narrated Pierre Berton, the points of view of each show the miners’ lives. Each piece has a point of view, which helps the reader understand the miners’ lives through the word choice, and the tone
The Book of Unknown Americans, by Cristina Henriquez reveals the struggles that many immigrants face when coming to the U.S., focusing on the story and experiences of the Riviera family. The Rivieras moved the the U.S. to get a special education for their daughter, Maribel, who had serious brain damage. Previously in Mexico, Maribel fell off of a ladder and injured her brain, causing her to have mental instability. This moment changed the lives of the Riviera family, especially Alma and Arturo, Maribel's parents. After the accident, Arturo was quick to blame Alma for it, placing a strain on their relationship and obstructing their honesty with each other.
In the book Looking For Alaska by John Green, we learn about a quiet and very shy going to his graduation party with only two friends from high school. The young man's name is Miles halter and he is leaving for prep school at Culver Creek Preparatory School. This young man seems to have a personality that's very shy and antisocial. It even says in the book “Said cavalry consisted of exactly two people: Marie Lawson, a tiny blonde with rectangular glasses, and her chunky (to put it charitably) boyfriend, Will. (Green 1)” What this shows is that Miles doesn't like to do many extracurricular activities and is very shy in school. The point when he decides to not become shy and step out of his shell is when he decides to smoke a cigarette. In
“How does the geography of Alaska make it difficult to explore and settle:” both during the Klondike gold rush and still today?” Well, to start this off simple, the cold. The cold is one of the key things, if not the most important reason in this essay. Sometimes in Alaska it can go below freezing, and the cold seems like a very simple answer at first, but! They need to settle, work, and climb in it, the things that they need to do to get what they need, in this case oil, it will not be a very simple job. And most of the time they come back empty handed, so the payoff is worth it, and the money they waste is not the thing they worry about. Because sometimes they go home empty handed, but sometimes they don’t come home at all. And it’s more than you think.
Many people in America are unsure where they belong or where they should be. Some people choose to explore the world by traveling while the others choose to rot in their boring lives. Life in America is hard, there are highly expectations from people and the judgment is in every corner one turns to. The two novels, Travels with Charley and Into the Wild are two unique novels about separate individuals who choose to travel in order to seek what they are looking for. McCandless, from Into the Wild, is a young man who travels to Alaska to seek for the freedom he wanted and to escape from the reality he was living. John, from Travels with Charley, is a retired citizen who decides to go on a journey to witness what the American people have become. John comes across New Orleans, a place in where judgment is an ordinary act of the people. New Orleans is part of the racist south, as for John; he had no negative feeling towards color people. Alaska is a beautiful place to explore due to its nature and wilderness, making it a peaceful place to escape to, while New Orleans is revolved with judgment and discrimination.
On the road near Fairbanks, Alaska, a hitchhiker calling himself Alex is picked up by a truck driver passing through named Jim Gallien. Alex explains his goal of walking out into the wilds of Alaska and surviving off the land on their way to the Denali National Park where he requested to be dropped off. Jim at first disregards him for being another delusional traveler visiting Alaska, but during their ride together, he discovers that Alex is actually quite insightful and educated, but lacks equipment – an ax, snowshoes, waterproof boots, a compass, a large enough rife, more food - necessary for his journey.
May immigrants sacrifice who they are, what have and their cultural beliefs and identity when immigrating to a new country. These experiences and struggles are clearly echoed in Cristina Henriquez’ novel, The Book of Unknown Americans. These immigrants leave behind their roots and their cultural awareness behind in order to reach a land that promises freedom and financial growth. I just wonder if the sacrifice is worth the struggles and emotional losses immigrants encounter during this journey. The story of Maribel Rivera keens closely to me because it resembles my journey as well as the journey of others who bring or send their families to the United States.
When my sister saw John Green’s Looking For Alaska sitting on our kitchen counter, she assumed it was about someone trying to find the state of Alaska, not a heartbreaking journey of a group of friends looking for answers after Alaska’s sudden death. Looking For Alaska has been both praised and banned since it was originally published in 2005. People do not understand what Green is trying to convey in the novel and write it off as inappropriate. Looking For Alaska is much too well written for it to cause these negative reactions.
However, McCandless was content being away from pressures of society for the rest of his life, even if that meant the rest of his life was going to be short. In Chris’s philosophy, “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure,” he says that in order to live life to the full spirit, a person must find a passion for a life adventure (Krakauer 57). In Chris’s case, he took this straight into the wilderness and away from the society that crushes those spirits of adventure. In other works of literature, other characters have escaped society and died in the process. Looking for Alaska, written by Kenyon College graduate and recipient of the Michael L. Printz award John Green, is about the mystery behind the sudden death of a young adventurous girl named Alaska who dies in a car accident. She ran off crying from her room after a phone call crying, and she drove off drunk to her death (Green 132). Her death was a mystery of whether or not she died because of a drunk accident or she was finding a way to escape her “labyrinth” that everybody’s lives were trapped in. Throughout the book, she explained her discontent with society, wealth, and people that corrupted it. Both Chris and Alaska shared the same idea that adventure and risk brought out the
To some, teenagers appear to be the same in their attitudes and choices. However, this common stereotype is false. Individuals have various personalities and deal with different struggles mentally and physically. In the book Looking for Alaska, Miles Halter and Chip Martin, the main protagonists, both seem like average teenagers on the surface; but they each have their own unique qualities. Over time they learn more about each other and grow. During the development of their friendship, they see how they differ from each other. Although they may seem like average teenagers on the surface, Miles Halter and Chip Martin are different because of their origin, physical traits, and attitudes.
Looking for Alaska is a book about a boy named Miles that goes away to a private school called Culver Creek were he meets a group of friends that he starts to hang out with throughout the year. He becomes very good friends with everyone and they begin to let him in on their secret spot called "the smoking hole", where they all smoke their cigarettes without getting in trouble. Soon he starts to get a crush on a girl named Alaska, which seems to already have a boyfriend. As soon as Miles starts to fall in love with her a horrible thing happens. Alaska dies in a terrible car accident, which turns into a very mysterious and confusing death. When Miles and the other boys get the news, they start fighting to find out the truth on what really happened. After reading this novel, one is left with the question, "How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?"
The book uses imagery to give the reader a picture in their mind of what Chris would see in the Alaskan wild, and also involves a mystery of finding what lead to his death. The author describes a thrilling and adventurous journey of the wild, and shows how the wild shapes Chris’s life.