Under The Lights By Abbie Glines

It is fitting how after sending the text above Maggie speculated if Lacey “even knew what she was talking about” (45). Maggie and Lacey clearly do not connect in regards to the standard mother-daughter relationship, as they struggle to find a way communicate. Thus, these communication problems have taken over Maggie’s relationship with Lacey, which unfortunately further heighten Maggie’s seclusion from this society.

The story “Way too cool” by Brenda Woods is an outlandish story because the main character Aston James changes twice. Before the change he was a teenage norm, trying to comprehend where he belongs and who he really is. The change occurs when he realizes that not being yourself is not cool but foolish. However in the end he changes back to Mr. Cool due to peer pressure and to maintain his stature. Through this last change the author helps me understand that peer pressure negatively affects one’s decision-making skills and self-esteem. This story also gives me an insight into why students give up or even commit suicide due to their peers.

“When you have the kind of disability that Aston has, there’s only one way to handle it.” In the beginning of the short story, “Way Too Cool,” by Brenda Woods, the main character Aston James is portrayed as a short-sighted, single-minded, and image-conscious asthmatic teen. Aston experiences two changes throughout this short story. The first change comes when he realizes there is more to life than being cool. But he immediately returns to his original state of mind of “being cool is everything,” when the second change occurs. At first I thought that he had changed for good and he would remake himself and his life. After the second change occurred, I realized that social stature and being cool meant way more to him then his health or anything else. His changes left me to think about the effects of negative peer pressure and acceptance.

Women throughout history have been continually oppressed and have faced inequality in all aspects of life. In My Forbidden Face by Latifa, this theme recurs many times since the main character has been robbed of all basic human rights because of her gender. During the time period of the book, the Taliban took over and forced the people to take part in a radicalized version of Islam and worship as they saw fit. They made their own rules on how people should live, by taking the words of the Koran and twisting it to suit their needs, without any thoughts of how it would affect the people. The majority of the rules were aimed towards women and how they should live their lives.

The novel What We All Long For by Dionne Brand is another racially and culturally dynamic story about the struggles of a Vietnamese/Canadian girl named Tuyen. Tuyen’s story is related to the struggles that her family had undergone when escaping Vietnam and losing her brothers in transit. Over the years, Tuyen 's brother, Quy, has become a gangster in Thailand, which brings a clash of values to the family. Tuyen is a young woman that tends to view herself as being between the vain world of her parent’s middle class lifestyle, and the chaotic world of Quy’s criminal lifestyle. In this manner, Tuyen brings a postmodern appeal to the story, since she finds an ambiguous balance between the well-to-do lifestyle of her parents and the lower class world that Quy has had to survive since he was separated from his family. This family tension defines Tuyen’s struggle with her father as part of the capitalistic mentality of Asian immigrants that she rebels against by living in lower class apartment. In some ways, Tuyen is a protagonist that embodies the freedoms of a postmodernist hero because she does not give into the temptation of wealth, nor does she give into the criminality and shame that is typically associated with the lower classes. For instance, Tuyen’s father, Binh, does not like to visit his daughter because she has chosen to live in a downtrodden apartment complex:

In life there is jealousy and revenge with in all people. In the book Serena by Ron Rash many underlying conflicts are addressed but jealousy and what a person will do to overcome that jealousy prevails as it does throughout life. Throughout the book Ron Rash leads the reader down a windy path of what Serena will do in order to gain the power and to get back at the people who cost her the most. She uses death and many other vengeful techniques to scare away and hurt the people who have caused her the most problems. Pemberton also gets revenge on the people who cause him hurt and problems rather than letting the problems solve themselves. Galloway acts out so many of her and Pemberton’s revenge killings without hesitation. Ron Rash is trying to show that with life there are many different ways people show their jealousy and revenge.

Underprivileged is a strong word when it comes to classifying people into groups. Some people are called underprivileged based on their name, race, skin color, religion, or even the way they grew up. Many people commonly judge others without even saying a word to them. You don’t know how someone grew up or how they are doing if you don’t talk to them. This could cause trouble between people if the word underprivileged is used without fully thinking about the reaction or finding out something about the person before you say it to them.

When the two kids came walking towards the tree, I was watching from the window. They stopped at the hole in the tree and looked into it. I had spent all day yesterday carving the soap dolls. Of course, I didn’t really have much else to do. It makes me so sad that the children of Maycomb are scared of me. I haven’t

Paul Bogard is a writer and with the article called "Let it be dark" he explains or presents his argument that the next generation of children might not get to see a sky dark enough for the Milky Way galaxy. This was originally published in December 21, 2012 during a time when people were predicted that the world was going to come to an end but of course that wasn't true. But, since then people started to worry more about climate change and environmental issues. Paul Bogard tries to get the audience concerned on whether or not people want to see more darkness by using warning diction and selection of details.

In the book Night over Day Over Night, Paul Watkins tells a story about a boy named Sebastian, who signs up for the SS in 1944. Sebastian’s reason for joining is simply because he believed that you either join the Navy, Army, or the SS when you reach a certain age. Watkin’s book takes you through the boy’s life before he signs up, during his training and combat experience, and what he’s like after all of it.

Sam Houston State University’s performance Masters of Dance featured eight choreographed dance pieces each with their own sound and feel. The show took place on the 5th of April at 8pm in the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center. Of the eight dances the one that stood out to were number three, six and seven, Solid Ground, No Name’s Pass, and The Silent Space, respectfully.

Christopher’s interpretation of the picturesque stone house being encroached on by the mass of trees surrounding the perimeter shows his interaction with nature and reinforces his paranoid feelings towards

Jeff stepped out of the car doubtfully on that first day. The face was plain, green, and colonial, and the garage held only one car. This was hardly the house of his dreams. The boys, however, did not hesitate. Slamming doors, they ran across the yard and began playing among the six stately columns of a giant poplar tree. Before long, weekends and vacations were spent cutting limbs and vines and pulling holly stumps. Now there is an endless play of light and shade. The breeze lifts, leaves dance, treetops sway, and I can

Darkness is known to be needed by people in order to be healthy and needed for certain ecological reasons. Paul Bogard includes an anecdote, appeals to emotion, and states the benefits of darkness to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved.

The next artist I chose is Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is arguably one of the most, if not the most talented person in the world. Jackson is known for his unique type of dancing, singing, and his personal life made me globally recognized. In 1964, there was a band that Jackson was in called “Jacksons 5”, which included their family. They had a couple hit singles such as “Big Boy”. Then in 1982, Jackson was really into film and songwriting, he wrote the song “Someone In the Dark” to the film E.T the Extra Terrestrial. Then the most success album Jackson released was the sixth one, “Thriller”. This album sold 65 million copies which is the most world-wide. Jackson was influenced by James Brown because of Browns energy on stage, as you can