Short Story : ' Quiet, Rich Boy '

“Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow. In the end it is a story of the ineluctable conflict between good and evil, daylight and darkness, the White City and the Black.” (xi) This shows the contrast between the White City and the Black City. One, perfect, beautiful, magical, the other dark, filthy, evil. The two work together yet against each other in the battle to win over the hearts of the people who visit, and those who decide to stay

“…dragged from the house on his knees. His face was bloody and when he tried to speak he cried with pain.”

Complete intelligence of the mystery of nature is an impossible task. Ron Rash’s short story, “Something Rich and Strange”, displays that human nature does not allow individuals to comprehend the mystery of nature while living. Authors use literary elements to add depth to their writing and help support the meaning. In “Something Rich and Strange” Rash uses symbolism and plot to show the reader what understanding characters such as the drowned girl, the sheriff, and the diver have obtained about the mystery of nature.

Wear a mask, a sunglass , carry a bottle of water and an umbrella. This is how you walk in Kathmandu,Nepal, if you don’t want to be sick.Living in an unhealthy environment can bring a lot of health complications.You get sick and spend most of you time getting well. It was a surprise to visit baltimore ,because it was a very clean and green place. There were lots of trees and parks. It wanted to stay in baltimore, until I explored the outer county. I found there weren’t any bus shuttles, the houses were not managed properly , it looked dirty and most of all it smelled foul. And there are a number of people living in such poor conditions in Maryland.The contrast between the inner and the outer baltimore made me think, why is the outer

1. Re-read from page 72 “Confused motions of rebellion stormed in him” to page 74 “Tears rose in his throat and slowly burned their way to his lids.”

Much of the struggles fall on deaf ears. The demonstrations shown are clearly driven by real problems, yet reality is different from the visions of higher ups. Vincente talked about his daughter being electrocuted in the street due to exposed wires. These dangers are shocking and cannot be dismissed at all. Empty political promises bring hope momentarily, but eventually fall flat, crushing those who need help the most.

His employer was trying to shaft him. He fought for his rights, not knowing what the outcome would be, but knowing this was something he felt he must do.

The novel, Midaq Alley, written by Naguib Mahfouz, tells the story of various characters living in a poor alley in Egypt during World War I. Of all the people in Midaq Alley, Hamida is the one who lusts most for an escape from tradition and poverty. She despises her traditional culture, and longs for a life free from the social and cultural constraints that fall upon her. Hamida is introduced as a strong character; however, the temptation of modernization guides her towards a more enticing lifestyle. Hamida’s character portrays how easy it is for one to abandon their culture, traditions and values.

This is the symbolic use of the item as an award for excellence. Zahra’s friend is rewarded with purple shoes by her father upon excelling in her studies. The third prize in the inter-school racing contest comprises of a camping retreat and most importantly a pair of shoes. The latter aspect acts as the impetus for Ali’s participation in the contest with an aspiration of winning the third prize that would aid in a replacement of the lost pair. In terms of housing, the structures in which the children live in are quite pitiable with the environment laden with dusty and water laden allies that are a common occurrence in semi-permanent settlements and slums (Tapper, 2002). This is in sharp disparity to the housing in Tehran, which is inhabited by an affluent class of

In the doorway, a petite, hairless dog laid either asleep or dead. Upon entering, an employee asked us to tie a colorful silk wrap around our waists to cover our legs out of reverence. We complied and entered the cathedral. The ceilings were lofty, and the altar was composed of marble trimmed in gold and ornamented with statues of saints and paintings of cherubs. As I was taking it all in, Jose hurried us out. Once again, we marched the streets of Havana in the sweltering heat. The sweat beaded on my forehead as we hiked, for what seemed to be miles, to a cigar bar in the heart of Havana’s historic district.

The thick and dense San Francisco fog twists and turns between the magnificent arches of the Golden Gate Bridge; my father’s old 4RUNNER cuts through the intimidating fog like a hot knife through butter. It is August 28th, 2012; the first day at my new school, Stuart Hall for Boys. My heart flutters as the pistons of my father's car drive me into the unknown. That day the Golden Gate Bridge was my desert, my limbo, my passage from Pharaoh’s reign into The Promise Land. But, who knows, across the grand bridge could lie another Pharaoh, another escape, another long journey across the unknown desert.

The graphic novel combines the ability of the image to elicit an emotional response and pull the audience in with the flexibility to allow the audience to go through the piece at their own pace. This allows Sacco to take more risks and gives him time to depict moments that do not have the shock value necessary to become the subject of traditional journalism, and these mundane daily moments are often the most powerful. One such moment occurs when Sacco goes to see the Egyptian boarder. He sees a woman yelling through the boarder fences and his companion informs him that she is having a conversation with someone in Egypt. The boarder, Sacco informs us, “was bulldozed right through Rafah, a Palestinian town,” leaving “a few thousand,” of the towns former inhabitants “stranded in Egypt,” (244). As he is leaving, Sacco sees two women “sitting on rocks waiting for a friend or relative on the Egyptian side to show up…”(244). In the next panel the women are seen through a matrix of the chain-link boarder fence and Sacco is visible behind them, following his companion away, under the caption, “we leave them to their waiting…” (244). These two panels contain no graphic images and minimal action, and yet they give such a haunting imagery to the plight of the Palestinians, a people forced to wait, eternally staring through fences at what was once home. Another simple but loaded moment that gives the reader a powerful sense of

Tehran, the capital of Iran, has its highs and lows. It is polluted by everything it encompasses. The city is jam packed with rapid highways, stentorian neighborhoods, and idiosyncratic citizens. City of Lies, written by Ramita Navai, perfectly sums up the way that this cryptic and disturbing city works. The novel follows eight very unique characters on Vali Asr Street who have a connection to the city that changed each of their lives. Each of them have very different backstories and personality traits that make them different from the last. But in the end, what brings them together is that they are all polluted by the city they call home. These characters, throughout their lives in Tehran, experience difficult pasts and hardships all because of the different ways of pollution in the city. This is evident when we read about Dariush’s environmental realization during his return to Tehran, when we read about many woman characters dealing with sexism and prostitution, and when when we read about the citizen’s opinions on the politics and organizations.

In the novels Midaq Alley and The Yacoubian Building, we are shown the ongoing, daily struggles of the working-poor in both colonial and postcolonial Egypt. Both share central, overarching themes such as debauchery, desperation, and unstable political situations. The two settings are both examples of microcosms, “cities within a city”. Midaq Alley is a small, dead-end neighborhood in 1940’s Cairo that consists of various shops and apartments. Within each of these buildings are characters that live completely separate lives but all have the same aspirations, to experience the world outside and the wealth it has. The Yacoubian Building is also set in Cairo during the turbulent 1990’s. Similarly, the characters were all tenants of a large apartment building, living in cramped and decrepit spaces.

At last after a fury of plunges he wrenched himself free. His tormentors set off towards Jones's Road, laughing and jeering at him, while he, torn and flushed and panting, stumbled after them blinded with tears, clenching his fists madly and sobbing (Joyce 82).