Death at Devils Bridge by Cynthia DeFelice

Most children are not very fond of reading books in school. I was one of those children until I read a novel called, “The Other Side of Dark” written by Joan Lowery Nixon in the 4th grade. My school had held a book fair during the week of open house. As a child, all children want the toys and games they had at the book fair, not bothering to even glance at the books. My mother told me to look for a book that was not only easy for me to read but something that I would enjoy. I walked around our petite library, which was where the book fair was being held, and scanned the various novels that were displayed until one caught my eye. I was only 10 years old looking for a book without the knowledge of what types of literature that interested me. As I turned the corner at the end of the library I caught a glimpse of a hardcover novel called “The Other Side of Dark”. On the back of novel I read the synopsis which was about a 13 year-old girl who was shot and put into coma until she was 17 years old waking up to discovering that her family was also murdered by the same person who shot her 4 years ago. I was quickly captivated by this summary on the back of the novel and persuaded to read further. Open house was coming to an end and my family and I headed back to our house in La Mirada, California. One of our homework assignments was to read at least 20 minutes a night to improve our reading skills. We quickly arrived at our home and I

Nature presents itself around us every day, sprouting between the sidewalk and the street, potted on a porch or controlled and planned out in sectioned off lots often accompanied by a playground. Living in the city, we are not often presented with the unpredictable qualities of wild nature, an environment that is more likely to make the average person feel like an explorer of uncharted territory than a trip to the neighborhood park would ever make us feel.

The beautiful blossoms that bloom in Californian spring, the summer daisies alongside the cooling lake, long after the summer the trees have lost their leaves entering autumn to fresh white snow out in the mountains. Nature is able to show us its true beauty without any falseness and modifications. After all, is it not ironic how people go to museums to look at paintings of colorful flowers, green hills, and clear water streams; those are beauties that can easily be observed in real life outside of the urban environment which are surrounded by them, or how people buy recordings of the calming sounds of nature, similar to what you would listen to at night in the woods or smell nature aromas of the candles. What we are doing is trying to mislead our minds and pretend to think that we are in the woods but are instead cornered inside our small, well-furnished, and full -with-technology apartment.

This report is based upon the book Dead Until Dark, written by Charlaine Harris. This book is

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent was published in 2013 in Sydney. This reveals the book is new which then implies that the topic is relatively modern, new and set in Australia due to Hannah Kent being a young Australian writer. These presumptions are both entirely false as the book is set in Iceland in the 1800s. Looking at the cover of the book it does not correctly show you these facts or the story line.

“A vash hall of light, received not along from the windows on all sides but from the dome, the point of which was a hundred feet above … The walls were frescoed in mellow tints, to soften without absorbing the light that flooded the interior …” -- Edward Bellamy, Looking Backwards

The central idea from “Desiderata” by Elizabeth McCracken is communicated through facts, examples, anecdotes, and observations. For instance, in her first sentence, McCracken provides a definition, which is a type of fact. This supporting detail is so important because it leads to the central idea of the selection. It does so by providing the meaning of desiderata. Next, McCracken states an example; I come from a family strong on documents. This will help to show how the author communicates her central idea and even give background information to help support why McCracken thought what she thought. To illustrate, McCracken uses anecdotes, brief stories that illustrate a point, to help show the central idea. She writes about her sisters and

In modern day society, Americans are immersed in unnatural cultural norms. These set of cultural guidelines do not allow us to experience nature in its beautiful and natural form. We ignore it. Everyday Americans go through the same routine: wake up, go to work, come home, watch TV, go to sleep, and repeat. This routine is abnormal because we waste our lives away by not seeing the world as it is meant to be seen.

Henry David Thoreau once explained an experience where he “went to the woods because [he] wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life.” Nature is not only a place where there is recurring activity among plants and animals, but also a refuge where people can develop their thoughts. The outside environment is like a library for students in need of a quiet place to study. Thus, Thoreau realized that all the answers to life's problems are distilled throughout the tranquility of nature.

The last time I remember, was when I read a poems in high school from English literature class. Simply to say, I never really fancy poetry unless I am mandatory to do so, until I read this book of poems by Ada Limon, Bright Dead Things.

Feelings of security, happiness, are invoked when I think of nature. Nature is kind, healing, and relaxing. John Muir captured the essence of these characteristics while conveying these exact thoughts. Furthermore, Muir expresses the freedom mountaineers have while climbing as they are cradled in the quiet peace of nature. Muir believes that anyone can regain their sense of freedom and find inner peace by being out in nature and exploring it. In fact, Muir indirectly suggests that if the world kept in touch with the wild places around them, it would resolve many issues and stressors that plague humanity today. If people, myself included, spent more time outside and in nature, it would leave them and myself feeling refreshed, relaxed, and

There’s so much to see in the great outdoors when I say outdoors I mean outside the reasons why most people love to be outside is because the sunlight fresh air, space,and scenery. One of the many things people love outside are animals,trees,birds and the bees. And there’s plenty of space because if you stay in your houses all the time you will get bored at some point and every house leads ends at some point not to mention it’s probably crowded.more space=more fresh air.

Death is often difficult to deal with. The death of a loved one brings strong feelings of grief, mental distress associated with the painful loss. In her book On Death and Dying, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross determined through her research with medical patients that when people grieve, they go through five distinct stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Ordinary People by Judith Guest follows Conrad 's difficulty recovering following the death of his older brother, Buck. Unsure of the meaning of his own life, Conrad tries to commit suicide. The novel follows Conrad’s healing process from his suicide attempt and the loss of Buck. The course of his recovery was often not very clear, as sometimes he seemed to be making progress, while sometimes he seemed very saddened by the tragedy. However, Ross’s model of grief explains how and why Conrad feels many different emotions regarding his loss. As he struggles to heal, Conrad 's attitude towards his brother 's death changes in line with the stages of the Kübler-Ross model of grief.

Areas that are managed in natural settings such as parks, zoos, and reserves help create support and social context for interactions with nature. Not only do these managed areas provide interactions, but helps nurture an environmental identity that is inhibited in urban living situations. The natural settings that are found within the urban living areas encourage a perception that people should convene with nature. Maller et al. (2005) refers to the belief that was promoted during the Civil War which claimed that the influences of the natural environment has an effect on people’s

Many psychologists have known that there are positive effects of being in nature, but scientist had to figure out why. Studies and tests that evaluate people’s mood from when they are in nature versus not being in nature has helped scientist realize how much nature can impact the brain. In our world today, too many people are stressed or are depressed about life, and I wanted to find a way to combat this problem: When looking for solutions to this problem I kept on finding sources saying that nature was the best medicine to treat these negative feelings. Furthermore, I decided to make a video showing different naturescapes in local parks in hopes of getting people to want to go out and enjoy nature for themselves. This idea seemed like a good one since research has consistently said that being in nature reduces the chance of depression, stress/cortisol levels, and it improves the cognitive process.