Book Review: Goodbye Stranger By Rebecca Stead

When referring to writing, tone is described as the writer’s attitude toward their subject matter and audience. To analyze any literary essay, recognizing tone is vital to understanding how the writer feels about the subject he has written about but also the underlying message he is trying to convey. In the essay written by the investigative reporter Jessica Mitford entitled, “To Bid the World Farewell” Tone is very pronounced and effective in getting the main point of the essay across. The author uses many different tones, from which I have selected three to analyze. All three off them use the good principles of writing a convincing and informative essay. Her ability to sarcastically familiarize the general public with the ‘dark arts’ of the embalming industry is both suggestive and engaging. She also uses an abundance of euphemisms, hiding the disturbing truth under a string of organized connotations. Her last method of tone is to inform the reader of the embalming methods by explaining with the wordy and often misunderstood colloqialisms of an actual ‘dermasurgeon’, in which she provides multiple quotes to further convince the reader.

While reading The Stranger I noticed that traits that Albert Camus character depicts in the book are closely related to the theories of Sigmund Freud on moral human behavior. Albert Camus portrays his character of Meursault as a numb, emotionless person that seems to mindlessly play out his role in society, acting in a manner that he sees as the way he’s supposed to act, always living in the moment with his instincts driving him, and if the right circumstance presents itself the primal deep seeded animal will come out. I believe that most of the character’s traits fall under Freud’s notion of the Id and Ego mental apparatus, and don’t believe that his idea of the super-ego is represented in this book.

In the article, "Talking a stranger through the night" written by, Sherry Amatenstein, writes about her experience being a holocaust survivor that influences her to work for the help line services which, requires her to answer phone calls from people encountering depression along with suicide thoughts. Although she received harassment calls, she also got a call from a woman contemplating suicide that was able to get help from Sherry. Her listening to the woman's life story made the woman feel better as if she was okay to go on her way. In result of helping that woman, Sherry realizes that she loves her job and continues to help souls in need.

The point of view in the story is the third person because there is a narrator who

When we have strong love for others, we take risks, we go against our beliefs, we put ourselves in danger, and we let our loved ones go. Without love, there would be none of that. In this book, The Dead and the Gone, written by Susan Beth Pfeffer, a comet smashes the moon closer to earth and it creates all sorts of problems. Alex, a teenage boy with two sisters, starts a long journey of survival and risks. This story is so realistic, at times was hard to read. You start to ask yourself these tough questions, like what you would do in a specific situation. Through out the whole story, love is definitely a recurring theme. It shows you how well love can hold a family is distress together.

The Stranger The Stranger exhibits a society that has confined itself with a specific set of social standards that dictate the manner in which people are supposed to act. This ideology determines the level of morality, and how much emphasis should placed on following this certain "ethical" structure. Albert Camus's main character, Meursault, is depicted as a nonconformist that is unwilling to play society's game. Through Meursault's failure to comply with society's values and conform to the norm, he is rejected and also condemned to death by society.

Leaving the comforts of the first world, Jessica Alexander abandons her job, fiancé, family, and home to venture into the misleading volunteer work of Humanitarian aid. Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid by Jessica Alexander is a conglomeration of stories that are written from Jessica’s memory. “It is a true account based on [Jessica’s] best recollections of the events and [her] experiences.”.

Most curriculums being taught to students withhold a mass amount of history. Some may do this because they feel some events do not have the same importance as other topics being taught. Such topics for example would be the rape and sexual exploitation of thousands of African American females during the time periods where racism and segregation was the norm. It is important for people to be educated about the horrific events that these women went through without justice. It is also essential because it shows the amazing activism Rosa Parks took part in. Most people are often just taught about Parks’ actions on the bus. At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire shows how Rosa Parks and many other dedicated their lives to receive equality not only for themselves, but for all African Americans in the south. Danielle L. McGuire’s work is an amazing way for people to not only learn more of Rosa Parks story, but to get a better understanding of what all African American woman had to deal with during this time period. The realism of sexual violence and its dominant impact on the African American women was one of the many events that helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement. McGuire wrote At the Dark End of the Street in order to resolve the negligence of this reality.

Scientist are researching genetic modification for many reasons. Some people think we are not good enough the way we are, and want to create a ‘perfect’ person. We have been given the ability to learn how to heal sickness and fix wounds with science. However, we have a responsibility to use this information wisely. We have been created with unique gifts and those gifts are important to the enhancement of life. Likewise, while researching about the Author of “The Perfect Stranger”, Amy Sterling Casil, I have discovered that she also has similar feelings about the gifts that we have all been given. We need to consider a few things as we review Casil’s story “The Perfect Stranger”. First, medical advancement is a great thing. Next, we need to make sure we are taking responsible steps while advancing and not creating even more division in our society. And lastly, we need to make sure we don’t lose our diversity and unique qualities. Although, some people believe genetic modification is what we need to better the human race, in actuality genetic modification can be dangerous, because overstepping our boundaries will produce something that is no longer authentic or that is unable to relate on a genuine level.

The current generation is quizzical of the importance that religious teachings hold in our evolving pro-choice society. In past generations, spiritualism was a method of uniting the community and nurturing the young. However, we find that faith has the adverse effect. While separate from other religions, a rise in hate fueled discrimination and separatism is observable between different communities in all corners of the globe. In this generation, it is only logical that as religion is taught, after learning from present and past events, the very essence of the teachings is skewed and put into question.

Each of these 5 perspectives are effectively told in first person, through cell phone texts, journals, and homework assignments, which helped me understand the way the characters think, feel, and act. The author made the characters’ way of speaking match their personality. ““Screw this!” Izzy blurts. “I am SO outta here.” She moves towards the door, but Nerd Girl jumps up and blocks her.”(27). Most chapters end with amazing cliffhangers that make the reader come back for more. “She looks up from her phone, her face white. Her voice a whisper, she says, “...it's not a drill.””(27). The sentences the author wrote were fairly easy to understand as were the characters. There are also a few parts that are somewhat poetic. ““This is real life. Not everything has a story.” Alice smiles. “But every person does.””(85). The author incorporated several references that high school students have, most likely, read or watched in their life. “I read Hamlet in Dunne’s class.”(86). “She knows I love comics. Especially Star Wars

In Joshua Foer’s essay, “The End of Remembering” (found in Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, published 2011) he explores the history and current state of remembering and how technology affects it.

Without any credit, the environment leads people to make choices that shape their lives and thoughts. Even though people might have similar backgrounds it doesn 't mean that they share the same opinions. Everyone carries a different opinion of a stranger in his/her mind depending upon there past encounters with strangers. This is evident in the works of Toni Morrison and James Baldwin.

Albert Camus creates a series of characters in The Stranger whose personality traits and motivations mirror those that are overlooked upon by the average man. Camus develops various characters and scenarios that show true humanity which tends to have been ignored due to the fact of how typical it has become. Camus incorporates abominable personality traits of the characters, variety, consistency, and everyone’s fate.

In the novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault the protagonist, becomes drawn into a “senseless” murder that has to face the absurdity of life and because of his actions, Meursault is presented as a danger due to his lack of “morality” to society. Meursault who is not able to take control of his life but respond to what life offers him believes in the simplicity of life. He tries to understand the living through logic and objectivity, which ultimately turns futile, as he himself cannot maintain proper control over his thoughts and emotions. From the interactions between Marie, to the murder of the Arab, and the meeting with the Chaplain, Meursault overcomes his indifferent views to form an opinion about what life really means. The central theme presented by Camus is how the threat of mortality becomes a catalyst for understanding the significance of life.