“The elders know the most, they are the wisest.” Says Johnny Least Weasel as he was being made fun of by other kids. Which happens to be the theme of the book. How does the theme of the book affects what the main character, Johnny does, says, and the benefits, all in The Trap by John Smelcer. Throughout the book Johnny reflects the theme of the story in his actions, which is something he is taught from a young age, to respect others, but mainly the elders, he was made fun of by other kids for being “weak”. They thought he was weak because he respected the elders and cared for them instead of going and getting stronger all the time. Because of this he ends up gaining advantages and being wiser himself. Johnny also shows the theme in what he
Hutch, the main character of The Big Field, has played baseball all of his life. He has always played shortstop, the same position that his father dreamed of playing as a professional. “Hutch, had always thought of himself as the captain of any infield he’d ever been a part of” (Lupica 1). Hutch finds himself being demoted to second base because there is another player, Darryl, on his new team that is expected to go pro and also plays shortstop. Hutch struggles because he does not want to play second base and his father does not support him because he does not want baseball to break Hutch’s dreams like it did his own. Hutch is betrayed by his father and Darryl when he finds them practicing together. Hutch has to learn to adjust and eventually becomes friends with Darryl, the up and coming shortstop. He understands that if he wants to win, then he needs to work together with Darryl. His father also comes around and finally gives Hutch his approval. Students should read this book in a high school English classroom because it demonstrates how relationships can be difficult, but teamwork can help to solve many issues.
Brian Turner's "The Hurt Locker" captures his personal and painful experiences during his time spent in war and furthermore, express the tragic events he witnessed. Brian Turner's poem is miraculously able to gather multiple first hand accounts of tragic, gory, and devastating moments inside a war zone and project them on to a piece of paper for all to read. He allows the audience of his work to partially understand what hell he himself and all combat veterans have endured. Although heartbreaking, it is a privilege to be taken inside "The Hurt Locker" of a man who saw too many things that should not ever be witnessed by anybody. Turner's words bring to life what many have buried deep inside them which subsequently is one of the major underlying problems facing combat veterans today. Reading this poem, I could not help but wonder what the long term effects of war are on a human being, if it is worth the pain, and how does a combat veteran function properly in a society that is unfamiliar with their experiences?
The climax of the story is when Miles is shot by the Bonewoman. The reader comes to realize that Miles’ choice to live life on the safe side was a mistake:
Have you ever wondered why sport coaches have such a huge impact on their athletes? In Bleachers by John Grisham follows the main character, Neely, and all the situations that he encounters as his high school football coach, Coach Rake, is nearing death. This novel begins with Neely meeting his high school classmates after he injured his knee from a football game and disappeared from town for fifteen years. With the town proximity being rather small, almost everyone knew each other fairly well. The town had the same banker, Paul, a coffee shop that that each citizen frequents, and a football field named “The Field” that tens of thousands of citizens and fans visit every football season. Bleachers is a fairly well written novel because it contains possible events that may happen in modern reality such as the different series of events, the characters, and the conflict’s that are involved, but the novel is also semi-poorly written due to its flaws contained in its context.
Johnny’s life hasn’t been the easiest to get through. Raised in Kingsland, Arkansas in a small town of Dyess. In his Encyclopedia article about Cash’s life and career, Mcleod explains that his upbringing was in a bible-belt town that published Sunday School Attendance Figures in the weekly newspaper. He was born on February 26,1932 (Bill Miller). While he was a teenager he worked on his family farm and he despised it very much (Kembrew, McLeod). Being born one of seven children, he always had someone to hangout with. During the mid sixties, Johnny became very addicted to drugs, and alcohol. When he got drunk he had a tendency to like to start arguments and to try and fight people. As the author, Bill Miller states, Cash’s reason for his behavior was that he had to keep up with the “hectic world”. The life he lived was definitely was not the easiest but he tried to make the best of it.
“A Summer in the Cage” is a documentary filmed by Ben Selkow that shows his friend Sam battling with a manic-depressive illness known as bipolar disorder. The main theme of this film is the struggles the main character Sam goes through when battling bipolar disorder. Selkow firsts meets Sam while filming a documentary about street basketball. Ever since that day, they became close friends. Sam decided to help make the documentary with Selkow. Selkow begins to realize after spending so much time with Sam that he had something off about him. At this time, Sam was having is first manic episode. When Sam was eight years old, his father committed suicide due to battling the same disorder. Throughout this documentary, Sam tries to escape that same
The Killings by Andre Dubus Plot is defined as, "the authors arrangement of incidents in a story it is the organizing principle that controls the controls the order of events (Meyer,64). " The element of plot is heavily relied on in the short story, "The Killings" by Andre Dubus. The plot which is completely made inside the imagination of an author (Meyer,64), gives the audience important insight to people, places, and events in the story (Meyer,64) . "The Killings" provides a somewhat conventional plot pattern, where the character is confronted with a problem and is then led into a climax, which late leads to the resolution of the story (Meyer,65). The conventional plot is easy to follow and serves as a basis for movies and other forms of fictitious entertainment (Meyer,65).
The Cheese and the Worms is a book based upon the documentation of an Inquisitional case and execution. It attempts to display the life of an unique miller during the counter reformation. The author, Carlo Ginzburg, is an italian history writer who was written many dissertations and books based upon ancient religion and history. This book’s entire substance is based upon records of an investigation case upon a man named Domenico Scandella, his confessions, and the books he mentioned. The point of this book is to show that you didn’t have to be of noble birth, or in the church to be educated, and to show a glimpse of the lower class during the counter-reformation period.
He knows that Ponyboy has a chance because he is very smart. How they both reacted to not having parents shaped and effected who they are. “Johnny was high-strung anyway, a nervous wreck from getting belted every time he turned around and from hearing his parents fight all the time(2).” This explains how Johnny was effected by his parents. His parents constantly fighting and beating him made him who he was. A part of him was effected by all the chaos and pain he had to go through every day. “We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next. Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while. I don't mean I do things like that. Darry would kill me if I got into trouble with the police.” Social roles are a part of self-image that makes a person who they are. In the novel Ponyboy explains the groups that the Greasers and Sochs were split into. This
The first important theme in the novel is the significance of tradition. In the story, keeper tells, how tradition is transferred from one generation to the other generation. For example, he explains “drum like this always belongs to the people. Same as the song you sing with it. Old man taught me some of
Before Johnny died from his severe burns and broken back he gave Ponyboy a book, Gone With The Wind, he found a note from Ponyboy saying “stay gold”. Ponyboy’s friendship with Johnny is so strong that he is persuaded to write an English assignment about his experiences. Johnny mentions that saving the children was worth sacrificing his own life. Johnny thinks sacrificing his life for the children is worth his life, because they still have their whole life to live and Johnny was going to get arrested if he would have lived. Johnny wants Ponyboy to do better for himself, and he believes he can achieve anything because he is strong.
In conclusion, there are various themes in the book. The theme of education is evident from the beginning to the end of the novel. Atticus Finch stresses the need for education to his children and also to the people of Maycomb during the trial of Tom Robinson. The theme of courage is also an important part of this novel. The children learn from Atticus and Mrs. Dubose that courage and strength are not necessarily physical, but actually they are present in the hearts and minds of people. The theme of prejudice is present throughout the novel in the first part against Boo Radley and in the second part in the form of racism against Tom Robinson. The understanding of prejudice helps the children change from childhood innocence to a point of maturity and acceptance of people who are different from them.
Just as Johnny’s courage shines through so does his fast maturity from child to adult. His childhood was stolen away from him by his illness but instead of sulking he pulls himself together. He takes every difficulty in stride, and gets through them. Even when he is feeling down he hides it for he does not want anyone else to feel his pain. Being a seventeen year old boy he wants to do the things all other seventeen year old boys do.
"When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line and finds himself unable to swim about freely, he begins with a fight which results in struggles and splashes and sometimes an escape. Often, of course, the situation is too tough for him."
George Herbert throughout his poem “The Collar” puts his thoughts, feelings and complaints on paper on freedom restrictions. He resolves to break free from the binds fastening him to the life he fights to be free from. In various ways, countless things hold down and confine us from doing certain things daily. All the way through history people fought for the rights that tied them down for what they believed in. Herbert explains in his poem that one requires some restrictions even if we cannot understand the motive behind it.