Steven Knight's The Hundred-Foot Journey

The Open Boat, written by Stephen Crane is discusses the journey of four survivors that were involved in a ship wreck. The oiler, the cook, the captain, and the correspondent are the survivors that make onto a dingey and struggle to survive the roaring waves of the ocean. They happen to come across land after being stranded in the ocean for two days and start to feel a sense of hope that they would be rescued anytime soon. They began feeling down as they realize nobody was going to rescue them and make an attempt to reach shore. The story discusses an external conflict of man vs nature to help state clearly the central idea. The central idea of the story conveys man’s success against nature when ones’ abilities are combined together to increase the chances of survival. The use of 3rd person limited omniscience and character analysis helps to explain how the journey of the men’s survival to get out of the ocean and reach shore is able to succeed while Stephen Crane uses symbolism to demonstrate the unity created amongst the survivors.

Anthropology and genetics are two fields that, when put together, discover some amazing things. Most of these amazing things are written in the book The Journey of Man, by Spencer Wells. In it, he explains where humans originated from, and how we came to populate the entire globe. It is both humbling and riveting, and a great start to understanding how much work truly goes in to studying our past.

Two books can seem completely different from each other when judged by characteristics such as genre, plot, and theme. However, if people were to look at the books together and as a whole, they might notice one striking similarity between the two. That striking similarity is known as the hero’s journey. First observed and documented by Joseph Campbell, the hero’s journey is a concept in which heroes, or people who commit actions for the greater good, follow a three-step cycle known as departure, fulfillment, and return. At the first stage of the hero’s journey, the hero receives a call to an adventure that takes him from the comforts of his home. Next, at the most important stage of the hero’s journey, the hero begins to experience life

“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.” – Buddha. The greatest adventure in life is discovering your inner self and finding the purpose of it, It is the roots of everything that we do and where we base our actions on. The book “The Uninvited” written by Tim Wynne- Jones, is a story set in the modern time in a remote and distant little town in Ontario, Canada. It is set in three different points of view of the characters Mimi Shapiro, Jackson Page, and Cramer Lee. Mimi Shapiro is a quirky and bold student from New York, she comes from a wealthy divorced family and is using this opportunity to escape from a weird relationship with her professor. When she arrives at the cottage where she accidentally discovers her half brother Jackson Page who is a musician and songwriter. They spend the summer together along with Iris Wu, Jackson’s girlfriend and discover awful secrets about the little town. Cramer Lee is an awkward boy who often breaks into Mimi and Jackson’s cottage and steals a few valuable items. Cramer also follows around and stalks Mimi every so often but he sincerely cares about Mimi and wants to love and cherish her. During Mimi’s visit, they become mature over the experiences and occurrence while looking for the answers along with Jackson and Cramer in “The Uninvited”. By using the examples of the setting of the story, the narrative point of view and the character development it contributes to the story’s development

Without realizing it initially, each Wes Moore has been greatly affected by the life events occurring as they grew up because as they matured physically, they also matured mentally by gaining self-knowledge; the same way a hero does throughout a heroic journey. However, while both have gone through the heroic journey, their fate was not identical because of poor choices and irreversible mistakes. Wes Moore, the successful author of his book, has specifically divided his book into 8 chapters, where each shows a year that had a decisive impact for him and Wes. Similar to his book, the hero’s journey also consists of 8 parts where the hero goes through the most important stages of the journey. The correlation between the life events and the patterns of a heroic journey intertwined because both only point out the most crucial parts and have the same end results, leaving the characters to go through each event or stage only as they mature.

In William Barney’s article, “The Quest for Room,” he analyzes the differing opinions between the North and South regarding the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired Western territories. The author argues that the West would have been important to slaveholders as a place to expand slavery if the territories had not been free-soil. The reason for this article was to show us how prominent the sectional differences were in the nineteenth century because of the argument over slavery. This, in turn, led to the secession of the Southern states from the Union as they formed the Confederacy; this dug the nation into a deep-pitted civil war.

Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Last Crossing is a Western of subtly crossed borders. Vanderhaeghe elicits a sense of blurred lines between opposites, giving the illusion that boundaries are not so statically fixed. The historical figure Jerry Potts illustrates that the division between Indigenous and white is not so easily distinguished by ways of appearances, languages, and relations. The lines of health and illness intertwine as the reader follows Addington’s syphilis, Custis’ mystery ailment, and the Indigenous peoples’ struggle with smallpox. Justice, punishment, and the law become subjective in the novel with regards to Madge’s death, Addington’s military massacre, and Indigenous resistance against unfair treatment. Distinctions between

In Eric Foner’s, The Fiery Trail: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, is a biographical look at Abraham Lincolns life from when he was growing up in Kentucky all the way until his unfortunate demise as President. In this book, the authors view on the historical events that occurred during the 16th president’s life time are expressed and Lincoln’s changing view on slavery throughout his life time.

William Deresiewicz is a contemporary writer, reviewer, and literary critic. He taught at Yale University from 1998 to 2008. This essay, "The End of Solitude," that Deresiewicz wrote, explains with the mixture of new technology it is becoming almost unheard of for people to be alone. He also goes on explaining that newer generations have no aspiration to be alone because they are afraid to be alone. But once upon a time it used to be the situation that people extremely respected alone time. Deresiewicz also explained that technology came at a point in time where children were scared to play outside for fear of crime on their city block or in their city. Technology came at a great time to connect people, plus entertain and teach kids. He then goes on that the idea of boredom is a very negative concept. The newer generation people fear that being bored is like being alone. His main points overall can be outlined back to a fear of loneliness and solitude.

Some people believe that lies will always be bitter in the end, no matter how sweet you make them in the beginning. In William Gass’ The Tunnel, he expounds the validity of this belief by taking the reader on an emotionally evolving journey, as he recounts the self-realization of a young boy, who’s frightening lie unravels in front of not only his own eyes, but also the readers. Gass successfully enriches this story with striking imagery, symbolism, and comparisons; exposing how no matter how sweet you make a lie in the beginning, it will always turn bitter in the end.

“A chess game can very rarely be won - any more than a battle can be won - without sacrifices”, this quote from the chilling short story written by Kurt Vonnegut “All the King’s Horses” concisely refers to the climax and turning point in the story. Main character and protagonist Colonel Kelly makes a clever, yet sacrificial move in the sinister chess game by sacrificing one of his sons and using him as attractive bait. The move initially causes chaos among the American prisoners and guards, and eventually leads to the “Chinese girl” into killing the psychotic guerilla chief Pi Ling. This death was essential to the survival of the remaining prisoners, as “Pi Ling’s object was not to win the game quickly, but to thin out the Americans in harrowing,

Guy Vanderhaeghe’s The Last Crossing is a Western of subtly crossed borders. Vanderhaeghe elicits a sense of blurred lines between opposites, giving the illusion that boundaries are not so statically fixed. Vanderhaeghe creates an underlying fluidity of social and cultural connotations and the essence of well-being. The Metis disestablish the distinction between Indigenous and white through appearances, languages, and relations. Addington’s syphilis, Custis’ mystery ailment, and the Indigenous peoples’ struggle with smallpox draws the conclusion that health and illness are not opposites. Madge’s death, Addington’s military massacre, and Indigenous resistance against unfair treatment prove that justice is not equivalent to the law. Lucy Stoveall’s paranormal abilities, Simon and Addington’s dreams, and the land of the dead exposes the openness of interpretation and the inconsistency of the natural world. The Last Crossing fights the illusion that concepts are resilient. Within the novel Vanderhaeghe affirms the flexibility of health, law, nature and culture with their opposites.

John Updike’s attitude concerning the difficulties about writing a novel are compared in his poem, Marching Through a Novel, to the actions of the military. He especially utilizes vivid imagery, martial diction, and metaphors to convey his message of the troubles faces as a writer to which he then compare with the actions of the military.

The relationship between Christianity and myth should not be a negative one, however a positive one for it is still an avenue to learn. A Christian can develop their imagination through reading myths, so myths should not be shunned as object of evil. That is not to say that all are uplifting, nevertheless many can serve as a great escape from the harsh reality that can depress a Christian. Thomas Howard in his essay “Myth: A Flight to Reality” points out how “Excursions into that world are never a flight away from reality; they are, rather, a flight to reality” (Howard 418). As a Christian in this present world that is failing, they may focus on the negative, though God has something so much exceptional for Christians after death.

Plot summary: Amir flashbacks to when he was twelve years old in Afghanistan. He lives with his father, Baba, and has two servants, Ali and Hassan, who are also a father and son duo. The latter two are Hazaras, Afghan’s minority, and as such, are subjected to racial slurs and cruelty. Amir and Hassan are playing when Assef, Kamal, and