The Speaker's Voice In The Dare By Roger Hoffman

Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his bold novel, The Scarlet Letter tackles a variety of themes that include: sin, guilt, redemption, postfeminism, and organized religion's abuse of power. Hawthorne spoke in a somber and grim tone, designed to arouse a sense of suspense for his readers. The audience in which he was addressing would have been conservative Christians and women suffragettes, all of whom reflected the ideologies during this time period. By instilling clever diction, Hawthorne exposes hypocrisy in Puritanism and objects against the religion's superfluous punishments; which force individuals to endure unnecessary and extreme suffering.

This story is a about a boy named Roger who was intelligent and got A’s on everything unlike his other friends who didn’t, was struggling to make the cut in a tough Atlanta grammar school. He was teased by his friends that he’d never be one of the guys in junior high if he didn't dirty up his act. To prove that he wasn’t just a goody-goody, he accepted the dare by his friends to dive under a moving train. This essay is well structured and provides a clear setting and introduction to the main event. This was the day that changed Roger’s viewpoint on life. Hoffman uses metaphors as stylistic devices when he describes himself accepting the dare. Hoffman was afraid to do the dare but he accepted it anyways, just to prove a point. To soothe his anxiety, he created an image about a “friendly train” and runs next to it. He also uses imagery to describe the small details on what's exactly going on while he’s doing the dare. “Even under pure sky, though, I had to fight to keep my eyes open and my shoulders between the rails.”, meaning that he was very afraid that

In An Argument for Being a Poser, Liz Armstrong describes the crucial dilemma every young person faces about their identity, and to which subgenre do they belong to. Armstrong argues that such question can be both totally ridiculous, and actually very important; which leads to beginning of the process of discovering “who you are.” Furthermore, she describes the fictional subculture that you chose for your escape; within your chosen subgenre you don’t have to pretend to be different, and people understand you. In other words, your chosen subgenre is your place of escape, it is the place where acceptance and freedom is present. Besides, the fact of looking for a hidey-hole, she informs us with a life changing situation at the age of 16 years old. She describes the experience as being life changing, the kids she came across were simultaneously were role-playing and professing as being someone which they weren’t part of. Consequently, Armstrong used that moment to adapt to new change, which she describes as “not dressing up or being normal again.” She describes herself looking like a punk one day with a spiked collar, a crushed-velvet mini skirt the another day. Thus, for that reason she couldn’t fit in with honor students, nor the art kids. She couldn’t fit in with the honor student because for them she was too weird, but for the art kids she couldn’t draw. For this reason, she went from being a straight-A student to a what she describes a poser. Furthermore, Armstrong argues

Could the killing of an unborn disabled child be considered acceptable in today’s society? Selective infanticide is a very controversial topic that many have argued about over past years. In her article “Unspeakable Conversations” disabilities activist and lawyer Harriet McBryde Johnson demonstrates her viewpoint on this issue. She writes this article as a story, with herself being the narrator. It follows her journey as she feuds with Peter Singer, a Princeton University professor, who has an opposing perspective regarding the killing of unborn disabled children. With this in mind, Johnson reveals her point of view using the strategy of a Rogerian argument and the rhetorical elements of

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a story written in the first person about a young girl named Melinda Sordino. The title of the book, Speak, is ironically based on the fact that Melinda chooses not to speak. The book is written in the form of a monologue in the mind of Melinda, a teenage introvert. This story depicts the story of a very miserable freshman year of high school. Although there are several people in her high school, Melinda secludes herself from them all. There are several people in her school that used to be her friend in middle school, but not anymore. Not after what she did over the summer. What she did was call the cops on an end of summer party on of her friends was throwing. Although

In the short story “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, Millicent Arnold is a narcissistic teenager undergoing her initiation into the most prestige social group at Lansing High. Despite being aware of the risk at losing her best friend, Tracy, Millicent eagerly seeks the opportunity to be part of a close-knit group and as a result, she is mistreated and forced to conform to the group’s narrow standards. Plath explains how being part of a social group does not necessarily help one grow individually, but rather assimilates them into what is portrayed as esteemed social status. As Millicent goes through the downgrading initiation process, she discovers the value of friendship and realizes that being associated with a certain group will not help her achieve confidence in her true self.

In his essay “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence criticizes Hester’s immoral behavior for her adulterous actions. Lawrence views her as a shameful member of Puritan society and centers his argument on her sin and its effects on the story’s plot. D.H. Lawrence’s use of different literary techniques strengthens his claim that Hester is not the heroine through his sarcastic tone, abrupt syntax, and biblical allusions.

I am in this building who habitants are insistent that I learn, fulfilling my role as a student undertaking a challenge presented to me. To this 14 year old, education is my chance. I can’t play sports and get a scholarship. This 14 year old would be compelled say that school is an opportunity that tests my logic, my mental capacity, capabilities, and sometimes my sanity. The thought of being challenged

How do people perceive others’ limits when they've never had a chance to prove themselves? Miles Corwin, a newspaper reporter from the gang roaming streets of South Central, wrote And Still We Rise to enlighten the lives of the children who, despite the challenges they face around them, are madly driven to finish high school and seek better lives. The author wrote about twelve gifted students at Crenshaw High School, filled with hidden potential, to show that the neighborhood wasn’t just a place full of gang activity, but rather a place filled with students who wanted to grow up and make something of themselves knowing education was key. The targeted audience of the book were individuals who had similar problems to the students; Corwin

As statistics show, science fiction has long been a genre produced and consumed by nerdy, middle aged, white men, with little to no social skills. The content of science fiction has typically revolved around intergalactic interaction and male dominated adventure and exploration, most certainly do not imagine that science fiction can be used to write about feminist thoughts or ideas. However, this is exactly what Octavia Butler does in her short story “Speech Sounds.” Many scholars believe that feminist science fiction writers write toward a utopian society. Butler, however, tends to write more towards a confrontation with dystopia. A dystopian society, or anti-utopia, is a society

Leading a meaningful life meant breaking away from the fear of criticism or rejection; conforming to society limits Illgunas’ definition of life. Illgunas’ suburban upbringing makes the danger of social conformity clear to him. Surrendering to society would consequently cause him to completely lose himself. After graduating from high school, Illgunas and his classmates follow the conventional path towards a higher education. Illgunas explains, “My high school class and I moved like a school of fish: we graduates were capable of going off on our own, in whatever direction we chose, but something demanded we all swim as one…” (6-7). Parallel to the claim Illgunas makes, graduates that do not attend college are stigmatized. Society has created a paradigm: after graduating high school, students should attend a traditional four year university, and then enter the “career world.” In Illgunas’ perspective, people in

Judith Bradford and Crispin Sartwell in their essay “Voiced Bodies/Embodied Voices” helps articulate the difficulties of being heard. One voicing their opinions to others is not going to always work as planned because of the many biases of others as well as the social construct of society. Bradford and Sartwell explain the three conditions that allow individuals to have their voices heard. Physically being in a position where one can speak to certain people is one of the conditions. This notion means that if people are physically in an area where there is an agreement being made, they can have the ability to voice their opinion since they are present at the event. Another condition is if one has the ability to speak. Words and phrases need

Have you ever done something that you knew was wrong? If so, it was probably just before or during high school as an adolescent, when many kids start to rebel against their parents. I guess you could say what I did was rebellious. On that beautiful, June day, I learned that if you try something different, like I did with my friend, Addison, it doesn’t change who you are, it’s just a way of learning more about yourself.

He impressed his father when he was little by kite fighting, but when he grew older he stopped conforming and focused on his true passion: writing. Even though he had been a victim of conformity, he was able to stand up for himself and take a hold of what he wanted to do in life. This shows that even if peer pressure dominates a person’s life, they can still turn things around and head in the right direction.

The Voices is directed by Marjane Satrapi and written by Michael R. Perry released in 2015. The movie was focusing on the importance of mental illness, crime and even romance. It touches comedy to horror. There were mixed reviews in the public getting both good and bad reception.