Ben Day In Dark Places

The setting takes place in present day Texas throughout the whole novel. The main characters were Sunny Reynolds (14) who was the main detective of the novel, and the younger sister of the dead sister, who died in a fire in New York, but was deeply loved by everyone, Deborah Hallard a girl who looked and pretended to be Jasmine Reynolds (the girl who died), but knew everything about her and her family, and Dan and Lily Reynolds the parents of Sunny and Jasmine. Dan had a drinking problem, and Lily was depressed because of her beloved daughter who was dead, Jasmine. The mystery of the story was when a letter arrived to Sunny’s house from her dead sister, two months after her sister passed away. It said that Jasmine was going to come home because she ran away even though she was reported dead. When Jazz arrived at her family’s doorstep, everyone besides Lily knew that it wasn’t the real Jasmine. They weren’t sure who she was, why she was at their home pretending to be someone who she wasn’t, and how she knew everything about the Reynold’s family and their secrets. The detective in the novel was Sunny Reynolds. She was always trying to find clues about the girl pretending to be her sister, calling people to get as much information as possible, and would even look through the girl’s bags even if that risked her getting caught because unlike some people, she had nothing

In the novel Monster the main character is Steve and he is in court and jail for being accused of a murder and robbery. I believe that Steve is innocent in this particular case. The main reason why they are seeing Steve so differently is because he black. I agree with what Steve's defense attorney said which was “the jury already knew their opinion as soon as they saw him walk in.” They saw an African American troubled teen walk into the courtroom who looks like he knows something. In addition, in court they barely let Steve tell his side of the story. I think he had nothing to do with this robbery/murder. He seems like he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Steve says to O’brien “ aren’t you are innocent till proven guilty.” Surprisingly

Chris McCandless as depicted in the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and in the movie of the same name by Sean Penn, was not ignorant and he did have common sense. He had every reason to go into the Alaskan wilderness and to say he had no common sense is ridiculous. He was definitely not crazy and his courage and noble ideas should be admired. He was a man that followed his dreams and did something that most of us wish we had the guts to do. What Chris McCandless A.K.A Alexander Supertramp did, was admirable and worthy of respect.

While reading the books, Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza, and Night by Elie Wiesel, the similarity in person was very prominent. Noticing how closely related these two authors were in their time of struggle and how they conquered their struggles to become survivors. Family, personality, religion, and lifestyle all played separate parts in the story which were told. Though these authors share many similarities, there are still a few ways they differ in the events they were exposed to.

“She was a girl who’d lost her brother, and someone had led her to believe I did it, and in anguish she had tracked me down. If I’d been in her place, would I have done anything differently?”Maria Lu p. 230. This quote shows the ways that Day has grown because of his experience while he was with June. At First , he felt anger while he was June because she betrayed him. However, after making an effort to empathize with her he comes to understand why she treated him the way she did. He also begins to see what he has common with the girl he believes is his enemy. Near the end of the book June finally understand why Day means so much to her and how she can’t let him go, he reminds her of her brother.

In the book Contents of the Dead Man’s Pockets, Tom Benecke is shown to be a dynamic character. How it is shown is through his actions and feelings. Some traits that show he is a dynamic character is that he is ambitious, resourceful, remorseful, and determined. Tom is ambitious because he acted “on a sudden impulse.”(page 148) when the yellow paper flew out the window. Tom followed his instinct and did not think it through to go out on the ledge. Secondly, Tom is a resourceful character because when he was out on the ledge he used every single thing in his jacket to bring attention to himself. He shouted help, then he lights the letters on fire with the matches, after he drops coins down to see if they would land on a pedestrian. Thirdly,

Chris McCandless was a person who wanted to get away from everything in his life.He is still talked about today for no reason. Many people want to hear and see his story in real life but nobody knows what was so special about a guy who went on a journey that he wasn’t prepared for. In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer characterizes Christopher McCandless as a proud and self-reliant.

Elie Wiesel, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his book “Night,” survived through some of the harshest conditions mankind has ever seen. Separated from his mother and sisters at the Auschwitz concentration camp, he and his dad had to keep each other alive while they were being held captive by the Nazi’s. Elie had to manage to survive off of little food, forced labor, and other inhumane living conditions. In the book “Night” by Elie Wiesel, the main character, Elie, is affected by the events in this book by losing faith, becoming less sympathetic, and changing emotionally.

The author uses flashback on page 109 when he writes “Bubby, why did leave me? You ran away. Bubby, why did you run?” This establishes how even though Ben is laying on his death bed, he can still remember what happened and what he didn’t do for his sister. The guilt is trapped inside of him and it brings us back to the memory lane and we wonder what had happened to cause it. And we know there’s a whole

When McCandless decided to go on his pilgrimage he had donated his savings of twenty-four thousand dollars to charity. McCandless was a very confound being, seeing as he at one point he had wanted to become one with nature, cutting off ties with civilization but still making friends and growing bonds with those along the way. As claimed by many, McCandless’s journey was a practical suicide calling, it’s shown he had really done it to escape the wrath of his abusive father an overbearing mother, and to achieve self-confinement; even if it would eventually lead to death. McCandless’s was not really the type survive life on the road, hence his death after a short period of time being away. If he had maybe done a bit more preparation for his adventure and actually studied the frontier he may have actually had a chance for long-term

It was Black Friday when the virus hit the city. When the CDC found out about the virus they had shut down the city with no entrance and no exit. A group of 2 experienced agents was sent in to look for traces of the virus and to bring it back to base for research. They needed a live sample of the virus to search for a vaccine. The agents went in by air and landed near a Dark Zone entrance. The Dark zone is the area where the virus first started and is filled with strains of the virus as well as people roaming the Dark Zone to dominate the city. The two agents, Eric and Jake, hopped the wall into the Dark Zone. “This will be easy, just an easy retrieval mission,” said Jake, as he hopped the fence. “Aren’t there still people in there?” asked

Reminiscent of the days in his youth, Paul Bogard presents the readers of the LA Times with another way humans are detrimental to themselves. Probably the MOST important invention of the last century, electricity has made it into every part of our modern lives. As Bogard explains, as darkness falls “we reach for a light switch,” without any thought of repercussion. However, in his article, “Let there be dark,” Bogard proposes that natural darkness is diminishing, which has health, ecological, and psychological effects on not only humans but every species of earth.

In humanity, people are born with the ability to do both good and bad, and it is up to them to decide between light and dark in the struggle for their conscience. Adam Trask struggles with accepting the contradiction of light and dark within himself. As a member of the draft board, the action of drafting adolescents to their possible deaths represents the dark side of his struggle while his guilt in doing so represents the light.

Offut, Chris “In the Hollow” Harper’s Magazine, Nov 2016, pp. 53-60 In the essay “In the Hollow” Chris Offutt tells strong experiences of his life within his little hollow, that most can relate to. He talks about politics, technology, schooling, social class, etc. But his main point is something I believe we can all relate to, change. Change is something we all go through, or something we wish would happen.

Lars Von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark is a cruel film because the hardship Selma must face and the her tragic ending.When the audience is first introduced to Selma, she is perceived by her petite figure which gives the illusion of innocence. She constantly stays attached to a world of daydream and positivity with bustling musical fantasies. She seems to exemplify happiness in the face of adversity. From the lack of money and the risk of working, tragedy seems to follow Selma, as if it is the norm. From her loss of vision to her struggle to remain a float and nurture her child. Von Trier uses knows how to use effectively upset the crowd with his harsh choice to allow her to die. Her demise is what makes the film so cruel because she is always