I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

In Larry Lankton’s text, “Beyond the Boundaries” we gradually enter an unknown world that is frightening yet filled with immense beauty for miles. Due to the copper mining industry, a gradual increase of working class men and their families start to migrate to the unknown world with unsteady emotion, yet hope for a prosperous new life. In “Beyond the Boundaries”, Lankton takes us on a journey on how the “world below” transformed the upper peninsula into a functional and accepted new part of the world.

In our book groups we discussed two essays “The Connection Between Strangers” by Miles Goodwin and the essay “The People Who Love You When No One Else Would” by Cecile Gilmer. In my group we said that “no matter how big or small your act of kindness is, it could change someones life” was demonstrated in both essays. In the first essay, “The Connection Between Strangers”, shows this because this little girl walked up to this solider and congratulated him. Little did she know, that the small action had changed the soldier’s life, as he said in the essay, “That girl undoubtedly has no memory of what happened years ago… It doesn't matter why she gave me the magazine. The important thing is she did” (Goodwin 83).

Argument: Dubus includes references to Kenneth having an inner conflict between being the man of the house, or letting his transgender feelings show.

The Essential Conversation: what parents and teachers can learn from each other, written by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, focuses in on the “essential” discussion that occurs between parents and teachers when it comes to a child’s education and life while looking further into the hidden meanings behind this exchange. Lawrence-Lightfoot describes how often times the dialogue that occurs between parents and teachers has hidden undertones such as anxiety along with parental ghosts from the past along with several other trajectories that may impact how effectiveness of parent and teacher discussion/collaboration. The theme of Lawrence-Lightfoot’s book can best be summed up in a quote she shared about parent-teacher conferences; “Beneath the polite surface

The Book Thief (2013), directed by Brian Percival, is about a young old girl living in Nazi Germany (between 1939 and 1943) in the fictional town of Molching, Germany. Death narrates the story of the main protagonist, Liesel Meminger, beginning when she is nine years old and suffering from the death of her brother and separation from her mother. Liesel then goes to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann (played by Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson). When Liesel arrives, she is illiterate and is made fun of in school by the other children. Hans, a painter and accordion player, teaches her how to read, using the book Liesel took from her brother's burial: The Grave Digger's Handbook. Over the course of the movie, Liesel develops a love for reading and decides to steal books because of the economical hardships associated with World War II. Liesel's foster parents also decide to help a young Jewish man named Max, whose father fought with Hans as in World War One as German soldiers. The Book Thief illustrates a different perspective in regards to the Nazi Regimen and its effects on the German people, specifically children.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a story set in Germany during World War 2. This novel follows the life of Liesel Meminger, a girl who develops greatly. With Death as the all knowing narrator of the story, the reader has the ability to see various perspectives. It tells the story of oppression, portrays the power of words, and shows the human ability for kindness or cruelty. I chose to do option four, in which I have chosen important sections from the novel.

In 1994, a conflict the US couldn't understand, between clans and tribes it didn't know, in a country where there were no national interests, occurred. The Rwandan War of 1994 did not deserve US intervention. There are four contentions on why the US should not have gotten involved in this Rwandan war. The Black Hawk Down incident, how the UN was there previously there, there being no Possible Gain, and having nothing to do with us. Through the examination of the novel, An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina, it is Obvious that these key points are valid.

The author of “The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War” is David Laskin. Laskin, born in New York, attended the New College, and earned MA in English. Laskin wrote several books about history, travel, and literary biography. In “The Long Way Home”, Laskin shares the struggles the immigrants had to face in America; an endeavor to start over in the land of opportunities, and the ordeal of their return to Europe in uniform to fight.

A major factor of what made the book itself was the historical context tied into

I felt extremely connected to the true story Into Thin Air, written by Jon Krakauer, because of the people written about. I personally felt a connection to Beck Weathers. He is a doctor with strong political opinions that he knows how to back up. I am not a doctor, but I do have strong political opinions that I know how to support. I, like him, get into multiple political rants. Some of my friends warn other people, like Krakauer’s fellow clients warned him, not to get into political arguments with me or to ask me political questions, because I will argue my point and disagree with you for as long as possible. Rob Hall, another one of the climbers written about, gave me a special impact. He reminded me of my father. Like Rob Hall plans his

In the poem “Facing It”, by the poet Yusef Komunyakaa, he himself is the one who is speaking, the poem is about his own life experience at the Vietnam Memorial. The way a person can tell if the own poet of the poem is the speaker is by the use of first person. In this case, the poet uses words like “I” and “I’m” that support the fact that he is the speaker. The Vietnam War was a Historical event taken place in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Which was one of the first War that African Americans were integrated with White people, and the majority of the soldiers were African Americans. Komunyakaa, being an African American soldier in the Vietnam War and surviving, is an honor, as not many African American’s survived. For Komunyakaa all his bad

Words can influence the mind in many ways that thought may not be able to. They are carefully placed and shared in different ways by each and every individual. Words have powerful impacts and can majorly impact how one may think, feel, or even lead others to feel. Written by Markus Zusak, “The Book Thief” describes a story of an innocent foster girl, Liesel Meminger, who resides in Munich, Germany at one of the most troubling time periods in history, Nazi Germany. A tale narrated by the one and only Death himself, shows the perspective from his point of view, as well as others, describing how Liesel had been seized away from her birth mother at a young age, and put into a foster family. Her new family, the Hubermanns. As she matures and grows into a more critical thinker, understanding and analyzing everything that carefully happens around her. Her foster-father, Hans guides her and teaches her how to read, which little does she know sparks her journey, the art of stealing books. Liesel soon discovers that words aren 't simply lines on a page, they are strong emotions packed into a form that merely is held in her delicate hands. Not only did she hold the pages of emotion, she held a power, a dangerous weapon of words, a weapon of control, and every book that she had stolen was giving her unimaginable power that made her think in ways that she would’ve never thought she could have. As with Nazi propaganda, and a gift that enabled her to broaden her worldview. Liesel evolves

According to the new data from UNICEF, fifty seven percent of marriages in Afghanistan involve girls that are under sixteen. In Afghanistan, located in the southern Helmand province, as many as 144 forced marriages were reported. In particular, farmers have been forced to abandon their daughters to the creditor as pay off for his debts. After the daughter is sold, she would be forced into marriage with anyone the creditor chose. This pertained to girls that were six years old or some even younger. These types of marriages were deemed valid in Afghan society and were quite frequent as well. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a man named Amir has an arduous time trying to deal with his past as he moves from Afghanistan to America. The text cites several examples of how some types of marriages were forbidden in Afghanistan. Common marriages are comprised of forced marriages, arranged marriages and love marriages in Afghan society.

Chapter 4 of “Generation Me” by Jean M Twenge; a professor of psychology at San Diego State University. Twenge explains that Generation Me is going through depression at a higher rate than the previous generations, causing loneliness and isolation. Twenge does a fantastic job showing all the statics from Americans born before 1915, compared with Americans born in Generation Me. Twenge describes how college students are stressed after college trying to find a job. Twenge says that student’s loans used to be payed off with a part time job in college thing have now changed. Twenge also states on how the economic system is changing. Twenge shows that things are changing for Generation Me, chapter 4 is a true warning sign for Generations to come.

“When a rule is enforced, the person who is supposed to have broken it may be seen as a special kind of person, one who cannot be trusted to live by the rules agreed on by the group. He is regarded as an outsider.