Clay Pipe by Marcel M. Navarra

However the brightness of the day may have dimmed, but not the joy from the people around me.  Everyone is either watching kids play basketball on the old wooden framed basketball hoop or enjoying a match of badminton while the zip-line flies by overhead.  The night however, does bring a mood about the people of the island.  It's a mood of vigor and excitement!  When the sun is beginning to set and the sky portrays a magnificent array of yellows reds and pinks which reflects off the water making a sort of etched painting glistening in the falling sun.  As the sun sets, dinner has just finished and we all part our ways,  many people sit on the back porch overlooking the water, a few go into to the square where people begin to prep for the glorious bonfire.  Although, I choose to sit in Toad Hall, this place is constructed out of old slender burned wooden planks, that have five little rooms cut out inside.  Toad Hall on the outside looks like a little ranch style home with wooden slabs on the outside along with a red tin roof, which is where I like to call my second home.  As dinner comes to an end so does the daylight.  As I walk out of Toad Hall a dark haze has consumed the island and I am excited by the smell of  burnt pine coming from a ferocious.  The fire has seemed to brought people out to see what the light is, buts it's when they arrive they are surprised to see the glorious fire which has brought people together around the old brick fire pit.  Here we tell stories, sing songs and make s'mores until it is pitch black and the crowd has slowly dispersed into their cabins or tents and it is now I say my goodnights to my family and friends and tread my way back on the dirt path.  I can see the gazebo, as I bank the corner, it stands tall in the moonlight and the water has

ii. Fire – “She was putting in a fire now, and he could no longer see her face.”

- During: The wax began dripping down the sides of the candle once the wick was lighted. The flame was blue at the bottom and ombred up to yellow at the top of the flame. The flame was jumpy and not steady.

In the inspiring memoir “The Glass Castle” Jeannette uses the element of fire to discover and comprehend the disfunction of her family and the harm that is caused do to it. Allowing her, to use fire to understand that she does not have to continue hurting herself even if that is what her heart and society tells her to do. Throughout the memoir the symbol is developed through her episodic stories and ties in with the overwhelming theme in the book which Jeannette must admit is true.

Through this first incident, Jeanette’s mother, Rose Mary, encouragingly said, “Good for you. You‘ve got to get right back into the saddle. You can’t live in fear of something as basic as fire” (Walls 9). Soon then, Walls became “fascinated with it” (Walls 9) as she passed her finger through a candle flame, slowing her finger with each pass, watching the way it seemed to cut the flame in half.

“Poor food – hard lodging – cold weather – fatigue – nasty cloaths- nasty cookery – vomit half my time – smoked out my senses – the Devil isn’t – I can’t Endure it – why are we sent here to starve and freeze” In Document C, they show the life of a Soldier. Now, do you see yet why I would leave? We travel too much and not with the right supplies besides guns, but still, I walk around half of the time with no shoes and freeze my toes off, do you know how much frostbite I got, you wouldn’t imagine. We get sick with many things like small pocks putrid fever, pneumonia, and dysentery. Although you may think that, this wasn’t that big a deal most people do and so do I. I love my family too much to go through this

Jeannette was lit on fire. Her body was burned and she had to go to the hospital. She was making hotdogs in the kitchen as a three year old. Her mother was in the other room singing and painting. Jeannette bent over to give her dog a taste of the hot dog and her dress caught fire. She screamed and her mother ran in to help. Rose Mary tarnished the flames but Jeannette received hospital worthy injuries. They put her on a bed of ice while assessing her burns. “One of them squeezed my hand and told me I was going to be okay. “I know,” I said, “but if I’m not, that’s okay too.” The nurse squeezed my hand again and bit her lower lip.” (pg. 10) Even with the chaos of being rushed to the hospital Jeannette still remained calm.

At a young age, Jeannette’s experience with fire has showed her that the world is full of danger. She sees that the world “at any moment could erupt into fire.” Jeannette’s thought of “if the fire had been out to get me”, shows that she believes fire is a reoccurrence in her life. The element of fire serves as a symbol of how one misfortune event is connected to another in Jeannette’s childhood, like the way “all fire was related.” It also foreshadows that Peace for Jeannette only lasts momentarily. Throughout the story, Jeannette and her family encountered countless struggles. However, these struggles had trained Jeannette and her siblings to be strong individuals. It also required the children to take care of each other and appreciate what

I heard Dr. Albigence mumble under his breath, “eyes are almost spoil’d with continual smoke,” while he was operating on me. (Albigence 151 ) I felt disgusted that my own doctor barely see, and became fearful that he might amputate in the wrong spot and cut off my whole hand instead of one finger. More grumbling from Dr. Albigence was heard by one of my fellow soldiers. He said that the doctor vomited and asked if he was alright. Dr. Albigence replied, “I am sick...Vomit half my time.”(Albigence 151) The thought came to my mind, if the doctor dies we will have no medical attention, which could lead to death. Not too long ago I saw a list that notified us that from December to June an estimated 1,800 had died due to illnesses during encampment. (Busch 147) Despair dawned on me, I came to the realization that so many people died therefore I have an even higher chance of dying. I was strolling by the medical tent when I heard Dr. Albigence arguing with General Washington, “I can’t endure it” my surgeon said. (Albigence 151 ) A fear that our doctor might quit on us saddened me. Death and illness has caused me to not re-enlist because Dr. Albigence might die or quit which might cause me to die or get sick. With the high possibilities of death and illness, I would rather go home for a chance to

For centuries, war has consumed millions of souls. It has caused heartache and has torn families apart. Today, properly educated doctors and nurses can treat wounds and injuries with proper care, but this taken for granted assistance wasn’t always readily available. In the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, nearly 30,000 American soldiers died. However, rather than being killed on the battlefield, the majority of soldiers died while being treated in medical tents. More often then not, the work of doctors and surgeons resulted in worsening the state of their patients, frequently causing their death. Medical practitioners did more damage than deed to soldiers during the American Revolution to the War of 1812 because of their little attention to individual patients, housing for patients, poor work ethics and habits, lack of knowledge and because major medical advancements weren’t achieved for another half-century.

While the soldiers risk their life on the front by adapting to different attacks from opposing sides, they are forced to uphold themselves through the tough circumstances with minimal food that is scarce with poor quality; the food a civilian would throw away is something soldiers are forced to be grateful for. On top of having little food, corpse-rats, often filled with diseases, gnaw on the soldiers food that they received, forcing them to “cut off the bits of bread that the animals have gnawed” (Remarque 102). Not only is the bread they get is poor quality and minimal, but they have to cut off pieces eaten by animals; forcing them to choose when to eat their only meal of the day wisely. While having scarce food affects the condition of the soldiers, it is also just one of the many reasons why soldiers are usually in a poor condition; which makes experiencing death daily in the life of a

At the time, many that were drafted into the war didn’t know what they were fighting for and why they were there. Not only is war physically exhausting, but many soldiers suffered from psychotic breaks and from PTSD. A method to interpret Tim O'Brien's experience in war is to look at his mental state through Psychoanalytical Criticism.

Next he moved into the common room and lay a fire in the black stone fireplace, brushing the ash from the massive hearth along the northern wall. He pumped water, washed his hands, and brought up a piece of mutton from the basement. He cut fresh kindling, carried in firewood, punched down the rising bread and moved it close to the now warm stove.

The flame had been extinguished, the feel of it snuffed out between his fingers nowhere near comparable to the heat scorching through his veins. His Grace had never been like this, had never scoured every nerve inside his vessel as it grew, it had always been warm, been comforting even in the most desperate of times and yet now. Why? Gabriel let his fingers brush over the heated wax, letting it conform to his fingertips before he pulled them back and watched it quickly dry. Pale nubs sat top his index and middle finger, twisting them slowly back and forth as he studied it before her voice caught him off guard. The wax was easily discarded, pulled off and set back at the base of the candle as he turned, almost uneasy at the fact that he hadn’t realized she woken up sooner.

Anne Sullivan struggled throughout her family, childhood, and adult life. Life was unpleasant at the Sullivan’s family and became an orphan at a young age with physical disabilities. The research mentioned “Her parents were poor, illiterate Irish immigrants. Her mother was suffered from tuberculosis and died when Anne was about eight years old. Her father was unskilled and alcoholic, who soon abandoned his children.” She wasn’t well taken care of and it was difficult for her family to make a living. Her father was sometimes abusive, so she had to endure the pain of the beating and try to look after her sick mother. After her mother’s death, she was overwhelmed with grief and a huge responsibility to take care of her brother fell on her shoulder. On the other hand, “She was unschooled; hot tempered; nearly blind from