The Nelson Bench By George Nelson

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey is a critically acclaimed novel produced in 2009 and set in 1965. Described by The Monthly as “an Australian To Kill a Mockingbird”, the book deals with a variety of themes in an intriguing and comedic way. The extent to which the themes in Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey mirror the context of production more closely than the context of the setting varies depending on which theme is being discussed. The wide range means that both years are represented in a balanced way. In the novel, Jasper Jones, half-aboriginal and half white, and Jeffery Lu, Vietnamese, often fall victim to mistreatment, oppression and violent hate crimes because of their race. Their characterisation as victims positions the reader to explore the theme of prejudice in 1965 society. Moreover, Charlie’s (the narrator) characterisation as an open minded person deals with the theme of acceptance. His relationship with both Jasper Jones and Jeffrey Lu represents this. The novel also, perhaps less explicitly, deals with ideas about masculinity. This theme is largely explored through Charlie Bucktin and Warwick Trent and further reinforced in the resolution. In terms of context this embodies 2009 more as the flourishing of the media has changed and created ideals. Themes of prejudice and fear appeal more to 1965. However, acceptance and masculinity mirror 2009.

Harlem Summer is a novel written by Walter Dean Myers. The story takes place in Harlem, New York in 1925 during the Harlem Renaissance. The author envelopes the reader into a rich African American culture of jazz musicians, poets, writers, Negro leaders, and surprisingly gangsters. Mark Purvis is a sixteen-year-old saxophonist. Mark resides with his parents and older brother. They live in the neighborhood with his idol, Fats Waller 's, sister - Edie. He has big dreams of becoming a famous jazz musician. When Fats offers Mark an opportunity to earn five dollars, he immediately accepts the job without any hesitation. Mark thought - why not? I can earn some money, and possibly become friends with Fats. With any luck, we will record an album together on Black Swan Records.

The diversity between Americans has always been evident, and not just by the skin tone or religion, but also by their backgrounds, as well as how their lives are like today. Especially in African Americans and those who wanted to change the ways of religion, and the prejudice against them continues to stick, even today.

Many kids have not been to jail or experienced the loss of a close sibling or parent, and we do not understand the difficulty of being a slave. We can not even imagine that these terrible phenomena can occur. The book Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson depicts two young, black slaves that have survived through the uprising of the Revolutionary War, the immoralities of slavery, and the tragic loss of family members.Throughout the book, Curzon and Isabel suffer through multiple events that have made them chained both figuratively and physically, but the couple of juvenile slaves grow more determined to receive freedom after they go through their hardships.

Wendell Berry’s past is more than just his own in “My Great-Grandfather’s Slaves,” but his past is intertwined with the slaves that grew up with. A quick reading of this poem by Berry would not give the reader that he was connected with the slaves, but rather that they lived separate lives. Berry says he sees the slaves and their activities but does not ever write about how they are connected until the very last stanza. After reading the final stanza it gives the rest of the poem a new meaning and if the reader does not take the time to closely re-read the writing they will miss out on what Berry is really trying to portray. Wendell Berry is trying to show the reader how his past is linked with the past of his grandfather’s slaves with his

Ultimately we all find ourselves in that moment when our last breath is released from our body, dieing is our final destination, but what truly determines the worth of our life is the fight and the will power each individual endures in order to continue living. In the story “Sonny’s Blues” written by Jamis Baldwin, Baldwin writes about the suffering we all face in life and how difficult it is to make it through the darkness when one can not see the light. It is the acknowledgement that one did not give up on his or herself that makes life worth living. Sonny and the Narrator's life chronicle emulates the raw uncensored reality of life. Although Sonny made horrible deleterious life decisions, it is important to acknowledge that these decisions

To be an ethnic American is a culture all on its own. Hunger of memory by Richard Rodríguez gives an insight into the rarely viewed world. A person that no longer falls into either category of family or American community. Such an individual is stuck between two worlds, in which two different cultures collide yet form a rift through family, language and education.

“I think using animals for food is an ethical thing to do, but we 've got to do it right. We 've got to give those animals a decent life and we 've got to give them a painless death. We owe the animal respect.” ― Temple Grandin. Temple Grandin brings up a brilliant point, it’s okay to eat meat but it’s not okay to treat these animals throughout their life as just something that you will be killing. They have the right to live healthily and in a property environment. Throughout the novel The Chain by Ted Genoways it brings a light to all the dangerous conditions animals and workers go through and what actually goes into the meat you buy in stores. Although low prices on farm produced meat sound enticing, the abused caused to animals and the dangerous working conditions for workers cause dangerously poor sanitation, and can affect many Americans health.

The Boys of Summer, a non-fiction book of baseball, written by Roger Kahn. Who tells a wonderful heart aching tale of a simple stick and ball game that helped start the development to push Americans (generally the white population at the time) to change what the country claims to be, a free and fair non-prejudice country that gives “everyone” their own rights/opportunities. Jackie Robinson, America’s first African American to play on a Major Baseball league. He was the first colored-skinned to ever make history not only in the game of baseball. Robinson ignited a spark that sent Americans (mostly the white population) dumbfounded, that a “nigga” a dark colored-skinned individual was more than just a janitor. This book transcends the generation gap as Kahn recaps his boyhood in Brooklyn, his young career as a writer following the Brooklyn Dodgers, and a follow-up of the certain members of the Brooklyn Dodgers during post-playing days. As Kahn nostalgically narrates his story of the transformation of the Brooklyn Dodgers, a dead team who came back to life to make a major impact on the country, to a becoming dead of the last time. Reveals the theme that race play a huge role on American’s reaction to the Brooklyn Dodger, Jackie Robinson, and the aftermath to letting a “Negro” into a white man sport.

Freeman frequently used Government documents to tell some stories of these men and sometimes interviews from various articlesto cross-reference the amazing heroic rescue stories of some of the 500 American air men, after most where shot down during the bombings of German petroleum Fields during Operation Air Bridge. For instance,in the beginning he tells Mike McKool’s story from the summery of the account he provided in Operation Air Bridge, along with newspapers articles from 1946(48). Than he goes on to tell the story of Thomas Oliver and how he “was flying a barrowed plain” from His summary of his account he provided in his unpublished manuscript (49). At the end of the book he gives notes to prove that his facts or sources are creditable. He does supply enough info to insure his facts are indeed respectable. The only down side to his sources is that he didn’t personally interview these men, due to the fact that many aren’t around now days.

The short story On The Bridge by Todd Strasser is about two boys, Adam and Seth, who are hanging out after school on a bridge that overlooks the highway. Seth was the character that demonstrated maturity towards the end of the story. He showed some examples of this when Adam got them into some trouble. For example, when Adam flicked his cigarette onto the windshield of a car below the bridge, the drivers came up behind them. “But suddenly he [Seth] noticed that all three guys were staring at him. He quickly looked at Adam and saw why. Adam was pointing at him.” It was this point where Seth started to question his friendship with Adam, because they had gotten into trouble because of Adam, and then he blamed it on Seth. After the men left, Seth

In the book Half Brother, by Kenneth Oppel, Ben Tomlin is a very thoughtful person because he is considerate, caring, friendly, and kindhearted. Ben Tomlin, the main character in the book, lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada with his mom, dad, and a chimpanzee, Zan. Some things about Ben is that he has curly hair, he likes to play Risk and pinball, and he does cross-country and photography. First of all, Ben is a thoughtful person because he is considerate of others, especially his friends and family. An example that proves this is can be found in Half Brother, by Kenneth Oppel on page 371, said by Ben. “I paused, because this part was hard to admit. ‘I didn’t love you at first, Zan. I thought you were weird, and I guess I was jealous, and sometimes I didn’t want you at all. But that didn’t last long. You were my little brother. I really felt that. That was never fake.’” This quote explains that even though Zan is a chimpanzee, Ben still loves him because he cares for him and wants what’s best for Zan, which is a family. Another time where Ben shows his thoughtfulness by being considerate of others is when he understands why Zan is being crazy. Even though Zan is fooling around and he can’t stop him, he is not mad at Zan because he knows that Zan is an animal after all, even though his family is raising him like a human. He knows that Zan is only having his temper tantrum and he knows that he can’t stop him because he is an animal, not a human. In Half Brother, by

The protagonist in the short story “Big Black Good Man”, written by Richard Wright, is a sixty year old man named Olaf Jenson. Jenson works as a night porter at a hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. Jim, an American sailor, enters the hotel and requests a room. Jenson is startled by Jim’s usual black complexion and gigantic size. Before meeting Jim, Jenson views himself as respecter of all men. In fact, Jenson justifies his belief by dawning upon his experiences as a sailor, which exposed him to many different cultures and peoples. However, his encounter with Jim causes Jenson to realize his racial prejudices. Although Jenson refuses to accept this revelation his words and actions testify otherwise.

One of the most, if not the most, controversial and heated debates following the United States independence was regarding the institution of slavery. In the introduction to his book Half Slave and Half Free, Bruce Levine quotes Carl Schurzs’ observation as the “slave question not being a mere occasional quarrel between two sections of the country divided by a geographic line, but a great struggle between two antagonistic systems of social organization (p.15)”. The Nouthern states that allowed slavery benefited from the agricultural labor that those slaves provided. The Northern states that prohibited slavery did so for moral and pragmatic reasons; they felt it was morally wrong to deny another human any form of rights, and did not like the economic advantage it gave to the Southern states. With the use of slavery largely concentrated in the South, the movement against it came from the North and was led by abolitionists; those who were committed to bringing an end to the practice. In this course we have defined “Practice” as the conduct of policy, such as opinion, election, parties and law-making (Lecture). We define Policy as the goals of politics, those being sovereignty, defense, and a collective well-being (Lecture). The following analytical essay will examine antislavery sentiment and practices in the Northern states and the reaction of Southern states. Additionally how the pressures from both sides influenced the Policy of the United States following independence then

Shortly after the civil war the fourteenth amendment was passed which granted citizenship to all individuals born or naturalized in America; this group included slaves both former and current. However, individuals of African American appearance would be treated like aliens in their own country for years to come. In the eighteen eighties Jim Crow Laws were passed that segregated Black individuals and often subjected them to humiliating conditions. These conditions exasperate and trouble all of the characters in the novel Black No More. In this novel by George Schuyler Blacks are degraded and oppressed because of the color of their skin. This oppression is caused by ignorant prejudices that individuals in the novel hold. Schuyler uses satire, elevated language, and imagery to further support the idea that ignorance can be as great a power or greater than the greed caused for money.