True Grit by Charles Portis

In “Homeboy”, Malcolm X, a prominent leader during the Civil Rights era, discusses discrimination within the black community itself through the use of thoughtful imagery, eloquent diction, and symbolism throughout the essay.

Argument: Dubus includes references to Kenneth having an inner conflict between being the man of the house, or letting his transgender feelings show.

In 1996, I was born into a chaotic world that my infant self had no indication as to what he was going to experience.As I now look back, it amazes me what has happened in just 19 years and is still hard to believe how I ended up where I am today. This is the crude and bizarre ride through I, Wyatt Bishop’s, 19 years in this extraordinary bubble we call Earth.

After General Custer’s death, Ralph K. Andrist’s The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indians analyzes the general’s temperament. Following Uncle Amos’s death, Robert P. Tristam Coffin’s “My Average Uncle” reflects on his uncle’s nature. Both Andrist’s The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indians and Coffin’s “My Average Uncle” describe their respective subjects’ character in order to convince American readers that each person possesses a paradoxical persona. While Andrist and Coffin communicate a similar purpose, they take a different approach in their incorporation of consistent tone, connotative diction, and structured syntax.

“Indians are like the weather.” With his opening words Vine Deloria Jr. sets up the basis for the rest of his witty yet substantial manifesto, Custer Died for Your Sins. The book, which describes the struggles and misrepresentation of the American Indian people in 1960s American culture, is written in a style that changes from ironic and humorous satire to serious notions, then back again. Through energetic dialogue that engages the reader in a clever and articulate presentation, Deloria advocates the dismissal of old stereotypes and shows a viewpoint that allows the general public to gain a deeper understanding of what it is to be an American Indian.

Listening is ‘Not an attempt to understand something that is being said’ but ‘Just an attention to the activity of sounds’

“I am just going to Joliet Junior College”, said about half of my classmates my senior year of high school. People everywhere make community college out to be something that is looked down upon and for people who were not as bright. In his essay “Blue Collar Brilliance”, Mike rose explains the reputation community colleges have acquired over the last few decades depicts two year schools as a place for people who could not make it into “real colleges”, also known as four year colleges (276). Although four year universities have reputations for quality education and excellent programs, students can get the same quality, if not better education at a two year college at a better convenience.

When someone is devoted in life, they can most likely achieve their all time life goals. Mattie Ross from Charles Portis 's True Grit and Ray from Charles Portis 's The dog of the south show devotion throughout their novels: obsession showing devotion, revenge showing devotion, and bravery leading to devotion.

Jimmy Cross, a college student, is carrying a great burden being the lieutenant of his group of soldiers. A chapter from The Things They Carried titled “In the Field” states, “Jimmy Cross did not want the responsibility of leading these men. He had never wanted it … he had signed up for the Reserve Officer Training Corps … because it seemed preferable to letting the draft take him” (160). The use of the word “never” to describe Cross’s want for being a lieutenant displays that at no point in his life had he ever desired to lead a band of men in the war. Even though Cross in no way wanted to direct this group of men, it seemed like a better option than being drafted in the war. To him, being drafted in the war sounded even less desirable than

Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, and Charles Brockden Brown’s novel Edgar Huntly were both written during a time of discovery, exploration, and the questioning of identity in America. The frontier was considered the wild place of the unknown, and in these two works, the wilderness of the frontier and characters of “civilized” society interact to form compelling stories. Mary Rowlandson’s narrative and Brown’s novel Edgar Huntly both use the theme of savagery, in which the world of the frontier enables self-proclaimed “civilized” people to rationalize savage behavior, showing that everyone has the capability of savagery, and all have inner, dark impulses that are an inherent part of one’s human

Creed, is a movie that performances by Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Johnson, Apollo Creed’s son, Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, and Tessa Thompson as Bianca was directed by Ryan Coogler. Adonis Johnson, who is the son of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, was living in the youth facility when Mary Anne, Creed’s widow visited him and decided to adopt him. Adonis work as a professional, but he was not satisfied with his current life. Mary Anne was so disappointed with him because Adonis’s father passed away in the ring, and she did not want Adonis to follow his dad’s step. Despite the fact that he wanted to pursue his dream to work as a professional fighter, he gave up his current job and went to Philadelphia. He found Rocky Balboa there and he requested Balboa to become his mentor and trained him. In the process of becoming a professional fighter, Adonis went through challenges. Even though Adonis faces challenges in life, he overcomes them because he never gives up.

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.

Mr. Frank shows courage, compassion, and sacrifice. This book shares the story of a young girl and her family hiding during world war 2. She goes into hiding in a small annex for two years with another family and two other men. This book shares the story from Anne’s point of view. it’s a great book to read and tells you how they survived for 2 years.

Fictional/semi-fictional sources like ‘The Pox Party’ and non-fictional sources such as ‘The Cover Wagon Women’ and ‘Andrew Jackson’, craft a realm in which current historians can narrow down the strength and weaknesses of early American society. Although it is not able to give its readers a credible account to what actually happened during those times of American development, it is able to give us a vivid image of what people thought was important during their time. Readers are able to witness strangers’ dreams, their views of history and most importantly, what our ancestors found to be relevant enough to document. Authors like Sean Wilentz and M.T Anderson shape and somehow make a clear elaboration of the paradoxical nature of life in the early Americas and the development of American society. These sources are able to help us narrate a more flamboyant story of our own on how things were in the past and how certain aspects and factors of life aided tremendously to the up’s and down’s in American history. These theatrical sources delineate on the strengths and weaknesses of American history such as the rise of a new nation that grew to become one of the “first world” countries as well as the dark shadows of enslavement of various races. Furthermore, how the role of literature and personal items such as diaries and letters can convey heart-warming yet heart-breaking stories from beyond the grave.

American history teaches us that, going west has always been a regarded as progression. From the earliest settlers to the “new land” to the idea of Manifest Destiny, progressive movement and thinking has always traveled west. The west is always thought of as being more liberal more free. “True West” A compelling play written by Sam Shepard, developed characters that “struggle to define and assert their identities.” <1702> By using the idea of going west Shepard’s play’s “ present a picture of America torn between its idealistic values and the painful realties of frontier paved over for a parking lot, and cowboys enclosed in a move and television screen.”<1702> By comparing and contrasting the lead characters Austin and Lee, Shepard shows the reader that “going west” does not always mean a change in the right direction.