The Heart Of The Dust - Original Writing Essay

The Dust Bowl was "the darkest moment in the twentieth-century life of the southern plains," (pg. 4) as described by Donald Worster in his book "The Dust Bowl." It was a time of drought, famine, and poverty that existed in the 1930's. It's cause, as Worster presents in a very thorough manner, was a chain of events that was perpetuated by the basic capitalistic society's "need" for expansion and consumption. Considered by some as one of the worst ecological catastrophes in the history of man, Worster argues that the Dust Bowl was created not by nature's work, but by an American culture that was working exactly the way it was planned. In essence, the Dust Bowl was the effect of a society, which deliberately set out to

“We watched as the storm swallowed the light. The sky turned from blue to black, night descended in an instant and the dust was on us…Dust lay two feet deep in ripply waves across the parlor floor, dust blanketed the cookstove, the icebox, the kitchen chairs, everything deep in dust.” -Karen Hesse’s Diary, April, 1935 (Dust Bowl Diary Entries). In the 1930s, a phenomenon called the Dust Bowl swept the people of the Great Plains off their feet. This paper defines the Dust Bowl and its impact on the US economy and American citizens.

Natural disasters can cause massive damage, but few realize that many barely last a few days. If so much can be done in such a minute amount of time, imagine what a decade would do. The dust bowl was a weather event that lasted for the entirety of an eight-year drought and lingered for multiple years after. The result: Economic devastation for the agriculture of the area. The dust bowl was a large contributor to agriculture’s role in the great depression and defines how we approach environmental protection today.

In what was one of the most fertile areas of the United States, one of the Nation’s worst agricultural disasters occurred. No rain came so crops did not grow, leaving the soil exposed to the high winds that hit the area in the 1930s. Stretching over a 150,000 square mile area and encompassing parts of five states—these being Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico—the Dust Bowl was a time where over 100 million acres of topsoil were stripped from fertile fields leaving nothing but barren lands and piles of dust everywhere (Ganzel). While things were done to alleviate the problem, one must question whether or not anyone has learned from this disaster. If not, one must look into the possibility that the United States may be struck

The 1930’s were a decade of great change politically, economically, and socially. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl wore raw the nerves of the people, and our true strength was shown. From it arose John Steinbeck, a storyteller of the Okies and their hardships. His books, especially The Grapes of Wrath, are reflections of what really went on in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck did not write about what he had previously read, he instead wrote what he experienced through his travels with the migrant workers. “His method was not to present himself notebook in hand and interview people. Instead he worked and traveled with the migrants as one of them, living as they did and arousing no suspicion from employers militantly alert against

I stared down at the dragon, while Kheiron floated in place his soft fur rippling as he sang mysterious melodies concerning the place and it’s magic and chanted about the kingdoms secrets. His words worked their way into my mind.

Discovered that no sword could slice her evil skin, that could not hurt her. Then he saw, hanging on the wall a heavy sword, hammered by giants. From its scabbard, broke the chain on its hilt. The hoary rock, hung in the dragon’s ear. The beast rose angry.

Right." Two meagre hands on his chest and a push sent the man flying from the window, screams coming from his lips as he fell. With a satisfying crunch, his body crumpled into nothing beneath him. "Gladys! Feel free to finish him." An sage coloured dragon swooped down to the ground with a loud and menacing roar. It's crimson wings beat together as it lurched at the inert body beneath it. The dragon showed jagged, ivory teeth protruding from it's snarling mouth ready to devour its

It is an admirable and intelligent creature with some fascinating characteristics, beyond what we are allowed to glimpse in fairy tales and legends. The dragon has often been misunderstood, persecuted and hounded simply because it is different. Like so many other living beings, it has suffered death at the hands of “civilized”

My student selected novel for this nine weeks was Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. This book is a historically accurate depiction of life in Oklahoma during the infamous 1930’s “Dust Bowl”. The story is told by Billie Jo Kelby, a young protagonist who only wants out of the dust. The story is historically accurate in many ways, from weather anomalies to the reactions of 1930 midwestern Americans. First and foremost are the terrible dust storms and economic distress that create the main base for the story. These storms were caused by the rapid conversion of the wild plains to farmland. This caused the land to dry up and become unsuitable for crops. Eventually many crops were blown away or died. The soil had nothing to keep it in place, so when

Children Of The Dust was written by Louise Lawrence and published in 1985. For a author to write about the future is simply shockingly ‘wow’. I’m not sure whether or not back in the 85’s they know anything about psychics, its endless powers, axiomatic truths, telepathy, psycho-kinetic energy and so on. The way the author thought of writing three sections symbolising three generations of a family going through the aftermath of the nuclear bombs is.... wow, basically, like I’m speechless, it’s such a great idea.

Many authors have written argumentative articles pertaining to either Evelyn Waugh or Evelyn Waugh’s works, more specifically, A Handful of Dust. Reading these articles can not only broaden one's view of Waugh, but one could also gain writing strategies on how to construct argumentative papers as well. For instance, when looking “‘Ghastly Good Taste’: The Interior Decorator and the Ethics of Design in Evelyn Waugh and Elizabeth Bowen” by Mary Elizabeth Curtin, “Through Comedy towards Catholicism: A Reading of Evelyn Waugh’s Early Novels” by Michael Gorra, “‘Was Anybody Hurt?’: The Ends of Satire in A Handful of Dust” by Jonathan Greenberg, and “The Waste Sad Time: Evelyn Waugh’s A Handful of Dust” by Jean Ward. Although each of these articles

The book by Ali Eteraz, Children of Dust is a literary book that provides a detailed description of his life as a child growing up as a Pakistani Muslim. Children of Dust at first one would think is about the religion of Islam however; the book is actually about an individual who is attempting to sort out his life and where he belongs within his religion and beliefs. Eteraz's explains his childhood and the events that took place as a young boy, to his journey to America, to his adulthood.

The gods claimed that they did not know they killed Hreidmar’s son, but “killed what appeared to be an ordinary otter” (484). It is never said that animals have a similar ability to make this choice to become human; however, the momentary metamorphosis for a human is depicted to be a magical skill learned from one’s forefathers. Otter’s pattern, of being an otter during the day and man at night, is symbolic of the cyclical pattern of day and night. Andvari is the owner of the hoard, but when he is found he is in the form of “the pike” (485). The thief Fafnir choses to turn “himself into a fearsome dragon to protect the wergild” (487). The creature he shapeshifts into embodies his wickedness and could represent the sin that he committed to obtain the

Dust, written by Judith Wright, discusses the concepts of a destroyed, empty world and a mother reflecting on the days when the “Earth was kinder”. Through her poem she shows the audience her fears for the world and how the world will become barren and “sick” if the environment is not cared for. This is typical of Judith Wright, with environmental themes central to many of her poems. The emotive responses that are evoked while reading this poem are extremely strong. A great sadness is experienced as she describes the barren new word and contrasts it to the previous one. To convey the moral of this poem Wright has employed many different literary and poetic techniques. These range over three major categories, imagery, structure and