The World We're In by Will Hutton

In Robert Cormier’s novel, We All Fall Down, is a young-adult thriller that explores the evil side of humanity through a number of corrupt characters. Cormier, to a large extent, accurately depicts manipulative and dishonest behaviour whilst also showing the evil lurking within the prominent characters of Harry Flowers, Buddy Walker and Mickey Stallings who showcase the dark side of humanity. Cormier explores this through Harry Flower’s manipulative actions that result in the suffering of others. Additionally, the constant dishonest behaviour is shown predominantly through the main protagonist of Buddy Walker, who deceives the one he loves. Cormier continues to depict the evil lurking in society through the theme of appearance

Out of the possible books from the list offered to us, “The World Without Us” by Alan Weisman caught my attention by its title. I thought that a title like this would suggest a very fascinating premise, which turned out to be the case with this book. The premise was intriguing – what would the world look like if every single person living on this Earth would suddenly disappear. Being a person, who is always curious about the things to come, I decided that this book would be a great read not only for the sake of doing the book review assignment, but also for the general knowledge that I would receive. I have never read a book that would talk about the history of humanity, our environment, and what effect our presence on our planet has in regards to future consequences. Because of that, I did not have many expectations on the type of information and material offered in Weisman’s book; but I really wanted to learn what kind of a perspective or perspectives Mr. Weisman would take, when approaching a topic so complex as this.

“Where Worlds Collide” is an essay by Pico Iyer who talks about the expectations and reality of Los Angeles through the perspectives of travelers from different backgrounds. In “Where Worlds Collide,” Pico Iyer argues that even though Los Angeles is depicted as a vicinity to receive wealth, happiness, and many opportunities- it is actually the antithesis, and instead, many harsh prejudice and unending craziness will occur instead; Iyer argues this by using allusions, anaphoras, and juxtapositions to help convey what he is saying.

In some novels it is blatantly obvious what the author’s view on a certain topic is. Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World, made it known that he is not a supporter of totalitarianism. His works have illustrated his opinions on this topic. Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, analyzes the dangers of losing one’s individuality based on the main characters’ struggles and refusals to conform. This book is set in a futuristic society where the government controls everything including the conception of human beings. Huxley’s view on this type of society is extremely apparent in this story. His purpose of writing this novel was to warn his readers of the chilling possibilities of this type of society.

Brave New World is a dystopian fiction by Aldous Huxley, published in 1932. It takes place in a futuristic society, which is shaped by a political ideology, shared by all. The society’s (World State) motto – “Community, Identity, Stability”, sums up the purpose of the entire society. Although the novel was written several decades before, one can explore many similarities and differences compared to the modern society we live in. Furthermore, one can even analyze this once fictitious society by Huxley, to an ideal modern world society known as the caliphate, created by a terrorist group known as ISIS.

“Brave New World is an enduring masterpiece of classic science fiction, a bleak future vision as concerning today as it must have been over 80 years ago.” – Antony Jones, SFBook Reviews

In the Romantic Period, William Wordsworth wrote “The World is Too Much With Us” to talk about his feelings towards the Industrial Revolution. It is about the clash within nature as well as humankind. He states “The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers” (Wordsworth 1-2). Wordsworth is stating in this sonnet man is blowing away his chance on earth by not acknowledging the nature around him. It is as if he is warning people that they are dismissing what is important in the world which Wordsworth believes is nature. He hopes for a considerably less complex time when the advance of humankind was tempered by the limitation nature forced. He felt like people were absorbing themselves in material

In Eavan Boland’s It’s a Woman’s World, the complex ideas of the many roles that a woman plays and her role in society are stated and discussed through figurative language and rhetorical devices. Boland begins he poem with a statement that summarizes the view: “Our way of life has hardly changed since a wheel first whetted a knife.” She uses a metaphor to describe this steady position.

In the summer of 1919 America had an increased rate of hate crimes and riots towards the black race by the white community. In the poem “If We Must Die” written by Claude McKay, this author speaks about these issues and encourages the people in his community to fight back and take a stand. The speaker uses different types of imagery, rhyme and meter and symbolism to express the injustice being committed. Using these techniques the author demonstrates a call-to-arms for the black community.

In “The World is Too Much With Us”, William Wordsworth accuses human evolution to have lost its connection with nature. In the first line Wordsworth says, “The world is too much with us" this phrase likely meant that the world is too full of humans who are losing their connection to divinity and even more importantly, to nature. The speaker tells the reader that everything in nature including the ocean and the wind is in synch with each other, but mankind has fallen away from this connection and is now “out of tune." Humanity has become an inconvenience to the world because we are out of harmony with nature. Wordsworth explains that people, through their consumerist lift styles, can no longer identify with the natural world and have lost their

Journal Entry 1: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. Entry written by Matt Kruse.

In “The World Is Too Much With Us”, William Wordsworth tells a message that the people today must hear: “Enjoy nature”. For too long have the citizens of the world ignored the beauty of Mother Nature and have traded enjoying the fresh air for looking at a glowing screen. One can easily look around and note that instead of acknowledging the world’s natural spectacles, humans turn their backs to them, as stated in the sonnet. Instead, they stay glued to their technology and only glance at nature when it is “worth noticing”. If one wanted to admire nature’s show, he or she would not just glance at it or outright call it nothing. As Wordsworth has stated, the world is too full of people who turn a blind eye to the gifts of nature.

The Wretched of the Earth is Frantz Fanon's manifesto on decolonization. It covers the effects of colonialism on the mental health of the colonized in this work, the use of language as a tool of oppression, and the need for a (violent) revolution against the colonial, ruling class, is portrayed very well. Fanon exposes the problems of certain paths to decolonization taken by countries in Latin America. In the first section of the book, Fanon argues that the solution to the recurrent problems of decolonization can only be realized through a violent uprising of the masses Fanon reasons that violence is the only language that a colonialist society understands: "colonialism is not a machine capable of thinking, a body endowed with reason. It is

The Romantic period is a time when artists, poets, and writers turned their views from the eighteenth century focus on reason and thinking. They now emphasize imagination and beauty in nature. Reason and thinking are no longer the way to see how the world works, how to gain experience, imagination is. Literature, writing, and art during this time find a new respect and love for nature, the common man and childhood, senses, individual, and imagination. People at the time were also intrigued by darker and exotic things.

When listening to a really good song, it’s only natural to get that, “I need to know the writer!” urge. 99.9 percent of the time, this leads to a hardcore investigation of the artist, his/her relationships, and about every other song they’ve composed. “Belong to the World” is one of the more sinister pieces from Abel Tesfaye (AKA. The Weeknd)’s 2013 album, Kiss Land. The song portrays of a man, the author, falling in the spell of a woman who equally traits his cold and deadened heart. Written as a message to his lover, the author conveys his sterile feelings through counterarguing himself with the fact of knowing his attempts to pursue her would always be futile. He implies recognizing the fact that someone is unhealthy for you will not cease you from loving them; the song’s symbolization, repetition and varied background music contribute in constructing an empty mood, and also allowing as a passage to connect to the speaker's perception and experiencing his struggles first hand.