Cold Sassy Tree By Rucker Blakeslee

Jesus could not obtain his full potential, which the society saw him as the other and therefore,

There are an infinite amount of unique responses to the question “What is the meaning of life?”. However, the majority of people will agree that the true meaning of life is to find happiness and what is really important to one’s self. In Jon Krakauer’s, Into The Wild, Chris McCandless conveys this idealism through his life’s journey as he bravely defies all limitations. Chris McCandless isolates himself from society in his Alaskan Odyssey as a way to defy accepted expectations and to begin discovering the meanings of life without any corrupted influences.

The story “Way too cool” by Brenda Woods is an outlandish story because the main character Aston James changes twice. Before the change he was a teenage norm, trying to comprehend where he belongs and who he really is. The change occurs when he realizes that not being yourself is not cool but foolish. However in the end he changes back to Mr. Cool due to peer pressure and to maintain his stature. Through this last change the author helps me understand that peer pressure negatively affects one’s decision-making skills and self-esteem. This story also gives me an insight into why students give up or even commit suicide due to their peers.

“When you have the kind of disability that Aston has, there’s only one way to handle it.” In the beginning of the short story, “Way Too Cool,” by Brenda Woods, the main character Aston James is portrayed as a short-sighted, single-minded, and image-conscious asthmatic teen. Aston experiences two changes throughout this short story. The first change comes when he realizes there is more to life than being cool. But he immediately returns to his original state of mind of “being cool is everything,” when the second change occurs. At first I thought that he had changed for good and he would remake himself and his life. After the second change occurred, I realized that social stature and being cool meant way more to him then his health or anything else. His changes left me to think about the effects of negative peer pressure and acceptance.

“The Interlopers” by Saki, is a story mixed with man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. self, conflict. The resolution is a very surprising twisted fate however. In the beginning we learn of the three generation long quarrel between the Gradwitz’s and the Znaeym’s. “A famous law suit, in the days of his grandfather” (152). The boys grow up hating each other and wishing each other misfortune, and even death upon each other. “as boys they had thirsted for one another's blood, as men each prayed that misfortune might fall on the other” (152). On that night both of the men separate from their groups in search of each other. After a few minutes of searching they find each other. But as fate may have it, nature strikes both men. Suddenly the harsh

3. Equally important to the first parallel, Thomas writes in verse 31 “Jesus said, "No prophet is welcome in his own village; no physician cures those who know him." Similarly, the author of John 4:44 records “(for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country).” As stated earlier, Thomas has no specific timeline. John’s proverb sits in the context of when Jesus returns to Galilee. Galilee was a country that sits on top of Judea. Nazareth is in the lower part of Galilee. It is known that Jesus was born in Nazareth, but travelled to upper Galilee because he knew the residents there would receive him warmly as they heard of his miracles. Although this statement is ironic when first reading it, it corresponds with the fact that he is from Nazareth; there was no welcome committee to when he began to give God’s words to the residents. It is with assumption that the residents of Nazareth belittled him and did not believe until he performed his phenomenon. This can also be interpreted as although one can be infamous within one’s city or country, but when leaving the city or country that one person is better known outside, as the residents in town will speak about said person until it

The town of Cold Sassy is simply a traditional southern town. From family values to back alley gossip, the citizens of Cold Sassy play the role of southern parody in society. On the outside it appears to be genuine, caring and communal environment, but just like any community, its roots grow far deeper than its outward appearance. This is not an accident either, as author Olive Ann Burns writes this novel, Cold Sassy Tree, to emphasize intentionally the crooked nature of small, southern towns, and by extension, southern heritage as a whole. Through her characters, Burns paints a playful picture of misconception, polarization, conformity, and perseverance, and their weaving in and out of the culture of her fictional town.

Jesus could not obtain his full potential, which the society saw him as the other and

Jesus then goes from speaking to His disciples specifically, to calling out to the whole crowd, in which He goes from speaking plainly to once again speaking in metaphors and riddles. Within this passage Mark uses the words of Jesus to reveal the true cost of discipleship. He tells the crowd that if anyone chooses to come after Him then the condition of that decision is that they must take up their cross and follow Him. So one must ask: What does it mean to deny yourself? What does it mean to take up your cross? And when you follow Him where are you going? So then one must put this into context by looking at what has not yet happened in Mark. When Jesus denies Himself, He is essentially denying the human instinct to self preserve through a fight or flight response. When Jesus picked up His cross, He was deciding to be rejected, tortured, mocked and falsely accused on His way to Calvary where He died for the sins of all. Therefore, if you want to go after Jesus, you must be willing to commit to sharing the gospel with others at all costs, you must be willing to tortured, mocked, and falsely accused and you must also be willing to die, not necessarily for anything that you have done, but so that others can reach salvation. Historically, during this time period, the cross was a well known style of execution in Rome, and so although one reading this might see this as simply a metaphor, it is actually a foreshadowing of reality, which can be seen in the fact that all the

Have you ever ran a stop sign on purpose? Have you ever ran a red light when no one was around? People break society's rules all the time on purpose, but why do they break them?

1. One of the main characters in the book Black and Blue is a woman named Frannie Benedetto. Some of the roles that Frannie had were being a wife, a mother, a Catholic, and a nurse. Her role as a wife was very challenging, due to the fact that she was in an abusive relationship and was married to a New York City Police Officer. Frannie had been married to her husband Bobby Benedetto for almost twenty years. Her entire relationship with her husband has been traumatizing. Numerous times Frannie had been physically assault, raped, and belittled. Bobby physically assaulted Frannie when she was nineteen years old for the first time in their relationship. Frannie recalls many times that Bobby came home drunk and would rape her. Bobby belittled his wife by accusing her of sleeping with the doctors she worked with and by making her feel like she had deserved to get beaten up by him. One of the major reasons that Frannie stayed in the relationship with Bobby was because of their son.

The next ghost is Christmas present. The ghost of christmas present is there to show scrooge that he need to care more about the Cratchit family and the needy. This turning point is different than the rest because it shows Scrooge that Cratchit also has a family and everybody else does too. They care for their family but they need help. The ghost of christmas present shows the shadows of Christmas present for the Cratchit family. The Cratchit family is a happy family who respect and love what and what they have.Nothing special, an ordinary family back then. Cratchit walks in the small house with tiny Tim on his shoulder. Tiny Tim's has crutches and a brace on his leg. As soon as Scrooge saw tiny Tim he is instantly worried about

This essay is about the poem which is called “Gooseberry Season” and it’s by Simon Armitage. I will be looking at the character of father in the poem and look at the different techniques that are used to describe the behaviour of the father. At the start of the poem the character of the father seems to be kind, generous and caring as he lets a stranger stays in the house when the stranger comes and asks for water. This shows his generosity and niceness. Later in the poem he becomes angry and has jealous. At the end of the poem he is a murderer.

Sweetness and Power by Sidney Mintz explains the causes and effects of the use of sugar. Throughout the book, Mintz emphasizes on how sugar had begun as a luxury for all riches until it became a necessity for all people. The consumption of sugar has become quite a sensation within the European countries, particularly Britain. From the analysis in the book, Britain was one of the countries that consumed the most sugar during the seventeenth century. During the evaluation and analysis of sugar, Mintz describes the consumption of sugar to be a process that was quite difficult to understand as it was unsure why there was such a huge consumption of sugar.

The book ‘‘Snow Spider,’’ by ‘‘Jenny Nimmo,’’ is a book about a young man who finds out he’s a magician.