The Secret River

Have you ever needed easier access to the essential items to stay alive? This is specifically what the residents of the North-East thought around the year 1817. Carol Sheriff argues in her book, “The Artificial River” that the residents of the canal corridor actively sought after long-distance trade and therefore consumer goods that markets brought to their homes. The fact that people supported the Erie Canal at all "suggests that at least some aspired to engage in broader market exchange" (p. 11). The transformation of this region because of the Erie Canal is organized around six topics, each of which is covered by a chapter. They include the; Visions of Progress, the Triumph of Art over Nature, Reducing Distance and Time, the Politics of Land and Water, the Politics of Business, and the Perils of Progress.

Kate Grenville’s confronting novel The Secret River, explores the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of human nature by way of ambition and desire. Grenville uses contrasting characters, foreshadowing and symbolism to present the selfishness, atrociousness and remorsefulness of individuals in her novel. The wish for power is introduced as greedy through techniques of contrasting characters that portray the selfishness of humankind. Grenville explores the ugliest facet of humanity using foreshadowing to convey to her readers the consequences of actions emanated from ones’ atrocious choices. Symbolism is used to illustrate that

The most essential parts of active reading are always focusing on an article and thinking more than just passively read, striving to enter into a dialogue with the editors. First, briefly look over the article and read the main points of it, at the same time the readers can also write down their ideas about the topic. These two steps are significant because the readers will be more spirited than usual, so that they can catch the editors’ central idea better and have a deeper understanding of it. Next, make marginal notes or comments. The example of a student’s notes on a poem well shows that take notes can help the readers recall where important points are discussed. Not only can they summarize the article and give assent, but also they can ask questions about it. Finally, the readers are encouraged to keep a reading journal of an essay or chapter in a reader’s own words because this can stimulate one’s own thinking. The given examples are two students’ journals, which show their critical thinking on a poem and their ideas combined with their specific

Mystic River is a film that was taken from an adaptation of a book written by Dennis Lehane. It is directed by Clint Eastwood who worked with Brian Helgeland who was the writer alongside him for this film. Eastwood’s career as a director began in 1971 with the movie Play Misty for Me. This was filmed in the early 70’s after Eastwood was a well-established actor. He has gone on to direct dozens of movies with several different plots all ranging with actors and story lines. An example of the movies he has directed with a wide range of characters are Million Dollar Baby (2004) in this movie Clint Eastwood directed and starred in this alongside Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank. This film shows him as someone who trains boxers. He normally trained

Richard Miller addresses the concept that teaching the literate arts may not be as useful and applicable to students’ lives as many make it seem. He elaborates on the fact that although so much emphasis is put on the importance of making students use strategically critical ways of interpreting what they read, it will not protect them from the real world (423). Miller’s theory challenges Pratt’s in a way. Miller implies the unimportance of the literate arts in the future lives of students in the sense that literate arts cannot attend to the issues in our culture, while Pratt stresses the importance of the literate arts in that learning to use them in a self-reflective way can improve one’s ability to confront the issues in our culture, and confronting the real world may be largely considered a problem of the real world in and of itself.

Neotectonic is the study of the motions and deformations of Earth’s crust (geological and geomorphological processes) that are current or recent in geologic time. This study dates back to the palaeotectonic period. When there are earth quakes in a certain location they cause movements in earth’s crust which lead to growth of mountains, and seismic hazard embodied in these processes. This process can lead to rivers leaving certain channels and go down others, it happens because it causes faults that could lift the ground or lower the ground in certain locations on the river bed.

“How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer Adler is an essay about how one should mark a book in order to actively engage in the act of reading. The essay describes the benefits of writing in books and how writing in books benefits the reader. Many interesting points are argued in this essay about why one should mark a book; however, some of the points mentioned are not entirely true. Even though marking in a book has proven to help a reader actively engage, that is not always the case. Adler’s essay is directed towards a specific reader, the scholarly reader, and ignores the multitude of reading styles and needs, which is biased.

"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark." Reading is essential for success. Surely, as the parents and/or guardians of the students here, you can agree when I say that this is something worth striving for. Members of the P&C, I am here today to argue my case on behalf of the students here in which agree that the selected novel for the Year 9 English unit, The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, is worthy of a place in the Australian Curriculum. After recently reading and comprehending it, I highly recommend the inclusion of the novel for numerous reasons. Three key points of most significance will be used throughout my argument; including the relevance of the underlying message to teenagers, the level of appropriateness

River stopped pacing and thought about that. “Yes Shadow, I see your point. Do you think she will slap me? Are the females of today allowed to do that?” River didn’t know much about today’s modern female and now was concerned he was going to get slapped. The slap would not hurt him, but he was sure it was not a good way to win over your Mate.

Literary theme is the Universal truth the story teaches, or what the main character learns. The common theme between The River and The Ultimate Gift is that life brings both joy and sorrow. This joy and sorrow were present in both Gabriel and Jason’s heart. The loss of a father is something that they both go through but they each get something good out of it.

The Secret River (2013) a play adapted by Andrew Bovell from the book of the same title by Kate Granville, is set in colonial Australia along the Hawkesbury River. It focuses on the Thornhill Family, an English family recently transported to Australia and the Dhurag people, an Aboriginal family already living on the land. The purpose of the play is to bring attention the racist and aggressive actions of white settlers in relation to the native population. It is important that Australia

One hot summer day while walking in a small park in Minnesota, I came across a tiny stream running out of the bank of a hill. It was no wider than my foot. As I stirred up the sand from the stream bed with my toes, the thought ran through my head as to how far that grain of sand would travel if it never settled. What a surprise to come around the bend and see the answer to my question carved into an ornate wooden sign :”You are standing at the headwater of the mighty Mississippi River.” The potential distance that tiny grain of sand could travel was unfathomable. Jesus also said on one occasion, “If you have faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, you can move a mountain.” (Matt. 17:20ff) In my years, I have witnessed how a word of encouragement backed by simple actions of love and affirmation can stir up a chain of events spurred on by God’s blessing.

Trapped. It’s like being in a dream, a dream with no beginning or end. It’s like brick walls, crumbling and collapsing on you, till your lungs screech out as it succumbs and convulse in desperation, for even the slightest gasp of air. Drip by drip, it throttles every last trickle of your soul, as if you are a bug, trampled till you can move no more. Every last trill of blood has emanated from your body. You shriek piercingly within for someone but it is rendered useless as no one can descry you.

As I reach the middle of the pedestrian crossing on the east side of Wayne Gretzky drive, I come to a dead halt. I stand on the bottom of the beige guard railing; pressing my chest against it as I hang my head down towards the North Saskatchewan. My shoulders feel the heat of summer in the black shirt I stupidly decided to wear. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky on this sunny day as the sky gave a bluer than usual tinge to the otherwise murky waters. The wind blew humid and strong, creating lively chop as the river flowed. After a few seconds I back off the railing as the heat of the metal becomes too intense, and I focus my attention to the miniature island just offshore from the river valley. It had been so mysterious and interesting every time I glance at it, and every time the island would remind me of John. Whenever I would go on river valley walks with my mom or dad, I would see the island peering through the rows of trees, but they would never want to go. I remember one walk where John came with us as I finally got my opportunity to explore the island.