Dana's Personal Hell: A Summary

Unknown to the main character and readers at the beginning of the novel, Dana is only transported back in time to save Rufus’s life. Exclusively transported back in time when Rufus is in danger, Dana has two choices available to her: save Rufus or let him die. However, since he is her ancestor, if she were to not save him, she would never be born. Every time Dana chooses to safe this brutally vicious man, she has feelings of conflict. She knows she could stop the emotional and physical pain being inflicted on herself and other slaves but at the same time she knows killing him will result in the killing of her modern day self.

This time when she comes back she is saves Rufus’s room from burning down. Dana ask Rufus a series of question such as why she is here, what year it is, and why did he try to burn down his house. Rufus replies saying that he is upset that his father has sold a horse that he wanted. Dana also discovers that she is traveling back in time to save Rufus which is her great grandfather. She understands that she needs to keep him alive in order for her to live. When Dana realize what time period she is in she is frighten because it is during slavery. At this point Dana understands that she has gone back into time to experience the horrors of slavery and prejudice first hand. Dana tells Rufus that she needs to get out of his room because his father could come in his room at any moment. So, Rufus tells Dana of a little girl named Alice that lives not far from his house her mother and her are free blacks. When Dana sees them she believes that they are her ancestors. While at Alice’s house she sees physical abuse and she also endures the abuse herself. As Dana fights for her life she faints back into the present. When Dana is back at home in the present time she understands that when Rufus is in trouble and she is called to his side and when she wants to return to the present time she put her own life in jeopardy.

Games in the society work in a comparable way as the parlor walls and the “shell”. They show aggression and gore in every single one of them; whether or not it is a real life game or a video game. Seeing so much violence numbs their minds to all of the happenings around them. Clarisse mentions, “I 'm afraid of children my own age. They kill each other. Did it always used to be that way? My uncle says no. Six of my friends have been shot in the last year alone. Ten of them died in car wrecks” (30). Even if mass genocide were happening around them, they would brush it away like shooing away fly. Being apathetic, they would not question anything

Even though Dr. Seuss was voted “least likely to succeed” (“Grahame-Smith” 14) in college he quickly proved everyone wrong. He was widely known for his great books written for children. “Many of his books were initially composed of his sketches”(“Dr. Seuss” St. James). Dr. Seuss successfully wrote and illustrated sixty books for children (“Dr. Seuss” Biography). Dr. Seuss was able to impact the lives of many people with his constant hard work and creativity.

Dana makes a total of six trips to the past. After her second trip, she realizes this phenomenon occurs only when her grandfather, Rufus, falls into a fatal situation. Each time Dana jumps, she leaves behind her home and more importantly her husband, excluding her third trip when he travels along with her. The idea of home plays a significant role in her transformation. Home is more than just a structural or tangible place. Home is more of an preconceived notion where one is surrounded by a familiar culture or a place where one feels safe. Dana and Kevin had only recently moved into their new home in California before her trips begin. In the present time, her travel through time begins on June 9th and concludes on July 4th. She has only lived in her house in her time for a little over a month,

These violent role-playing games are influencing bad behavior in adolescents. “High-Jinks: Shoot Out,” by Guy Martin reveals the dangers of these games. “All other players are anonymous, so that in the days leading up to the game the school becomes a souk of intelligence-gathering and disinformation.”(Martin) This quote is stating the fact that as the game gets nearer kids start to lie to each other. Lying is something that kids have been taught not to do since they were little. But when they play this game lying becomes okay.

The kids play Centrifugal Bumble-puppy, an erotic game designed to increase consumption as well as desensitize the children. The director even remarks that old games that used a simple ball and net were not enough. New games that call for more manufacturing are better for the World State.

Dana’s relation with her husband Kevin for the most part is quite normal, however, gets trapped in another time, which complicates their relationship as husband and wife. In particular, when Dana finally brought Kevin back he was different, not necessarily in a negative way but not a positive one either. Kevin has recently returned to his home, nonetheless he has gone through a traumatic experience of being stuck in another time completely different from the one in 1976 California. The one person he can talk about his experience is with Dana, which is a bit restrictive, but he does not wish to come off insane to others when he is only speaking the truth. In addition, after Kevin’s experience Dana is soon being sent back to save Rufus, yet Kevin

I completely agree with you Dana! I love that this history book shows both sides of the story as well. Its very interesting and helps me stay engaged because the whole time I am reading and I am thinking about all the possible sides and stories that go along with each event. I haven’t ever read anything like it. To respond to your thoughts on women in the work place, I too present my self as perfectly capable as my male coworkers. While I haven’t experienced discrimination as far as pay (In fact I am actually one of the highest paid managers) I have definitely experienced different treatment because I am a female. For instance, the men at my work will always ask if I need them to help me take out the trash or bring boxes to storage even though

Some people think kids shouldn’t play violent role playing games because they think it gets kids to stalk other kids, but i think it’s good because it promotes teamwork, strategy, and espionage, all three of which will help the student in the future. At St. Ann's high school a game lasts two and a half weeks and has built up a seventeen-point rule book, a map of the safe zones around the school, a judge, and an entry fee, all for a harmless water pistol game. In the end this was all just about Killer, a last-man-standing game of water-pistol ambush, just because people considered it a violent role playing game even though it teaches the kids a lot and is just a water pistol game and if you still disagree with me go out out and try it for yourselves

Sometimes what seems like fun, can really be damaging and destructive. The novel, Gotcha!, by Shelley hrdlitschka, shows a game where every grade 12 student pays $10 to play, they get a bead and a victim they have to tag. When they tag their victim they take their bead as well as their victim. If you collect all of the beads you get the prize money. The game starts off amusing for the grade 12 graduating class, but soon becomes dangerous and unhealthy. "It's that time of year again, time for Gotcha... we all know what has happened in previous years, how things got extremely out of hand" (pg 7). As the next batch of graduates get ready to play the game, they all know that every year, kids take extreme measures to win the prize money and people get hurt while doing it. But, they still decide to play the game because the risk is engaging. The graduates soon learn that in the past year students have torn apart their limbs.

‘whenever people play games, they are stepping into one of three scripty roles: Persecutor, Rescuer or Victim’. (Stewart & Joines 1987:236)

‘The games, rhymes and stories might have been found in anywhere in Britain. The only differences lie in the local names ad rules for games.’ (Opie,1993,pg. VII) Based on these findings they believed that childhood is far from disappearing. Peter and Iona Opie argue that children have their own separate culture that is not connected with the adult’s culture. For example, ‘Children also create pretending games, using ingredients from life, books, or television programmes… Minor traditional games are the stand-bys of the playground: Trains, Horses, Chiggy-Backs…’ (Opie,1993,pg.12). This shows that children are not like adults; they have their own set of mind and play their own games that adults would not understand meaning that childhood may not be disappearing. This evidence also contradicts Postman’s argument as it shows that childhood has not changed and it is the same as it has always been. Even though this evidence can provide us information on how children may act, a criticism of this research is that it could be considered as aged biased, Peter and Iona Opie only looks at children in primary school and does not consider children under the age of 7 or over the age of 10 meaning that findings cannot be generalised to over age

The mining industry in developing nations often lacks the enforcement of ethical principles, laws and regulations. I therefore believe developing nations are better off without large mining companies operating within them. Mining majors can use force to get there way and this often includes political involvement and corruption. Mining companies often overlook the artisanal miners, that use the mine as their lone source of income, and move them out from the mines. The impact on locals is not usually not taken into account when a new mine is set up. Mining companies often disregard the citizenship, fairness and dignity principles of the Global Business Standards Codex to improve profits.

Video games are and interactive environment with a low cost and absolutely no risk. Games allow the gamer to have an active role in creating to the fullest extent (Video games act as educational tools). Games are worlds in which anything can be done, and the player is exposed to creativity with no limitations. When this creativity is exposed over and over, the creativity becomes stronger. Even very violent games like Grand Theft Auto 3, have educational background to them, this game allows the player to determine what type of person he will become. Gee goes on to say that “everybody plays that game (Grand Theft Auto 3) differently, they’re getting to explore identities, values, and ideologies.” (Video games act as educational tools). Also historical games such as Medal of Honor and Battlefield 1942, involve players into battles that happened in World War 2. I have learned about many battles while playing these games. I realize after playing, what type of climate the solders endured, what they fought against, and what was need to be done in order to win. These games give an accurate portrait of what the battle may have looked like, including bullets, expulsions, and historically accurate vehicles. Games like these show the students what they are actually learning. Also when the students tend to want to learn more about a particular battle, and remember information easily. Some other video games, such as