Serenea by Ron Rash

“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.

In Alison Bechdel 's Fun Home, there is a focus on a sculpted perception of gender roles produced by society and a great emphasis on how Bruce and Alison challenge these strict gender specific characteristics. Through Bruce’s femininity and Alison’s masculinity along with their homosexuality, they are able to go against the norms and the collection of rules set by society. It is also through their struggle with gender roles that one is able to understand their sexual orientation. Although Bruce and Alison seem fairly different from one another, there are elements that pull them closer together revealing their similarities.

Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal is a strangely riveting play so filled with unlikable characters that it makes one want to scream and throttle which ever one is closest to hand without prejudice as to which persona it might be as they are all equally detestable in their own way. Unfortunately, the infuriating characters are exactly what make the play so fascinating. Each of the characters in the play, originally intended to display that life is an inescapable machine, exhibits many disturbing psychological qualities, and the main character suffers a slew of near textbook psychological misfortune. Whether Sophie Treadwell created her play with this facet intentionally or not is unknown, but the examples are so perfect it is difficult to think

While reading the story Opening Skinners Box wrote by Lauren Slater there was a chapter that made me look at the world like I do and how sometimes the world relates to a story. The chapter was On Being Sane in Insane Places” while reading this chapter I seen and I was thinking that some of the things being said in the book was true. Sometimes people make wrong choices and they chose paths that lead them to bad consequence. Then we have those people that are born with this, bad consequences. Sometimes we have to face the world and how the world is. Sometimes it is not their fault that they are the way that they are. Some of them are just born that way because of their chromosomes that are way too much or some that don’t fully develop.

Holding Onto the Air an autobiography by Suzanne Farrell takes the reader backstage in the dramatic life of the world-renowned Balanchine ballerina. From her childhood in Cincinnati to her retirement from ballet in 1989, Farrell's story is truly a remarkable one. The book describes at length her time with the New York City Ballet as well as her complex relationship with the legendary Balanchine. Although Mrs. Farrell goes a bit too far into the ballet descriptions, her beautiful imagery allows reader to experience the joy of performing on stage.

In the book Serena, written by Ron Rash, one will find that the characters have an overwhelming sense of who they are and what it is that they establish themselves by. Everyone hits their own definition of rock bottom at some point; however, when each character has who or what it is that brings them their sense of security, hesitation is absent– there is no holding back. Although confidence seems like a great quality to represent, there is always a chance that it may lead to destruction, at least that is how the characters of Serena made it out to be. Throughout the reading of Serena, one should notice that some have the tendency to become all too consumed in who they are and the power that they exemplify, proven true when displayed by George

In his book “Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free,” Hector Tobar recounts the story of 33 miners who spent 69 days trapped more than 2000 feet underground in the Chile’s San Jose mines following the collapse of the mine in 2010. According to Tobar (2015), the disaster began on a day shift around noon when miners working deep inside the mountain excavating minerals started feeling vibrations. A sudden massive explosion then followed and the passageways of the mines filled with dust clouds. Upon settling of the dust, the men discovered that the source of the explosion was a single stone that had broken off from the rest of the mountain and caused a chain reaction leading to

Many people have contemplated revenge, but what happens to the few that proceed with their plan? Their lives and the lives of those around them change. This is exhibited in “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne when Roger Chillingworth takes revenge upon both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale for their sins. Chillingworth’s revenge affects both of their laws. Hawthorne explores the idea that revenge changes many of the people who it touches, including the person who is trying to commit revenge, the victim, and the accomplice in different ways.

In the book, Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli uses descriptive details, dialogue, actions, and thoughts to develop the main character of the book Maniac Magee. The character Maniac Magee is kindhearted. Maniac Magee shows this character trait all throughout the text. An example is when he does chores all around the Beale’s house. This shows that he is kindhearted because he does these things without being asked.

Stan Eale’s surreal industrial based depiction of society brings to mind the pinnacle of industrial corruption, a modern day society where greed and ethics overcome the basic principles of society, through the words "Think of it not as pollution, but as the sweet fragrance of prosperity." With the opinion of the CEO, it shows the sentiment towards power,greed,money, and ignorance. Also with dumps, gray skies, numerous factories, and smog; emphasizing how today our society values the depiction of progress through industry and pollution rather than clean ways to make money. Although with the words “sweet fragrance of prosperity” the quote shows that the CEO thinks the current status quo of how business operates is the pinnacle of a prosperous

Revenge has always been an exciting theme to incorporate into any literary work. This revenge adds conflict, action, and contrast to any story. There have been hundreds of thousands of stories and tales which cause readers to experience similar feeling to that of the main characters. With revenge, the reader may side with the main character whether or not the main character is morally right or wrong. By human nature, people around the globe have always been trying their hardest to come out on top in arguments or fights (Price 2009). As humans, they want to win. This is how a story about revenge is so well loved and experienced by many as it relates well with human nature and how a person would react to these situations. It is a natural feeling every single person feels at some point in their lives. Two well-known tales call this vengeful mode of literary artwork their own as they both portray characters who strive for revenge. These stories are Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Sophocles’ Antigone. Shakespeare, a very famous playwright created his play with the intention of showing the audience how revenge returns to haunt the vengeful. He also showed how seeking revenge is not the ideal way of dealing with a situation. Sophocles created his play to show how justice can be better and more worthy than just seeking revenge. But he also how to be careful for seeking justice can turn into seeking revenge and a full circle back to the demise of the vengeful as well. There

The 2014 film Wild, directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, chronicles the journey and transformation of Cheryl Strayed as she hikes the Pacific Crest Trail. After the death of her mother, Cheryl begins to behave recklessly, engaging in sex with strangers and becoming a heroin addict. This takes her down a dark and destructive path that ruins her marriage. Following the divorce of her and her husband, Cheryl makes a rash decision to take a 3 month hike from the Mexico border to the Canada border, in search for a new life and healing. Completely inexperienced and naïve, Cheryl faces many challenges on this journey, but also encounters generous people who help her along the way. There are instances where Cheryl struggles greatly, such as suffering from dehydration, encountering a rattlesnake and even facing predatory men. However, there are also times of happiness and triumph, such as when Cheryl takes her short break in Ashland and her pleasant encounter with a young boy and his grandmother. As Cheryl tries to survive in the wilderness, she struggles internally as well, battling her inner demons and having flashbacks of her abusive childhood and the loss of her mother. Through all of this, nevertheless, Cheryl was undeniably transformed and was able to have a fresh start. Cheryl states at the end of the movie, “After I lost myself in the wilderness of my grief, I found my own way out of the woods.” And indeed she did. After completing the hike, Cheryl began to live a healthy and

- There are such plays which I want to play, - Natalya Gogoleva explained a play choice. - Because there are many different played roles, but there are still some edges in human relations. Desire to try to lift very difficult subject – a loneliness subject, a subject of love and perception of life. It is somehow difficult to speak about it, there is no wish to be instructive. There is a strong wish that everyone carried out from this performance, something for itself. I hope that we will touch souls of the audience.

In this passage from the novel, Belinda, Maria Edgeworth uses romantic diction, a third person point of view, and a distant tone to convey Clarence’s development from being kind and arrogant to being spiteful and vicious.

Another one of Vitale’s stunning images that shows the world the remarkable difference in standard of living is her photo of a young boy of possibly seven (figure two). Vitale’s comment on the image details that it is set against the slowly rising sun in the vast arid bushland of the Ethiopian and Somali border, the focal point is the boy. A child who at this age already holds a significant amount of responsibility for his family. The caption of the photo recognizes that the boy’s job is to make sure the family’s goats get out to graze every day. He appears to be staring off into the brush possibly imaging what the day’s work has in store. This image in particular is a great example of unforeseen challenges for it focuses on a child. A youth