The No-Fear Legacy ~Nicole and Dawn~
It all started on August 23, 2005. It seemed like it was just going to be another average day. Nicole had stayed the night at Dawn’s and now they were both walking down to the bus stop for school. Nicole’s blonde hair blew in the wind while her pink earrings clanked like a wind chime. They stepped on to the bus and prepared for the long ride. Nicole and Dawn started noticing clouds moving in from the ocean. They were moving faster and faster. Every second they got darker. They both remembered watching the news report that morning. It said to expect heavy thunderstorms. They didn’t really think about it and were soon stepping off the bus. They walked into their school, Lincoln Bay High, and headed for their first period class which was reading.
20 minutes into the class the principal, Mr. Goldman, came on the intercom and announced in a nervous tone that Hurricane Katrina was going to hit New Orleans soon. Mrs. Dean, their reading teacher, herded everyone into the hallway and then went to help with other students. Some people were crying, some looked like they were about to go into shock. It sounded like a million freight trains outside. The water plowed down everything and anything in it’s path. The water broke down the school’s doors like they were made of paper. Everyone braced themselves for the worst.
The water rushed through the school and out every and any exit possible. No one was seriously hurt but some still had scrapes and bruises. Everyone just sat there like they were stuck in the mud. About 1 hour later the Red Cross arrived. They tended to the injuries and then evacuated everyone to the nearest command center. Some students were reunited with their families, but som...
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...n’s relief were rowing. They were soon back on the beaches of Miami. They walked along the beach to the convention center and were greeted by Andrew Walsh. He congratulated them on their success and invited them help other people with the fear of water get over it at next year’s convention. They all agreed and enjoyed the rest of Spring Break with their college friends.
~”Epilogue”~
Kobe and LeBron went on to help Andrew Walsh reach out to many more people with the aquaphobia. At the beginning of 2014 they had successfully helped 3,400 people get over their fear. Meanwhile, Nicole and Dawn went off and started their own school, but it wasn’t a school like Lincoln Bay High, or Ole Miss. It offered classes on how to get over your fears for free. They decided they wanted to be their for people just like they were there for each other all along.
Rankine also shares the horrible tragedy of hurricane Katrina experienced by the black community, where they struggled for their survival before and post the hurricane catastrophes. She reports that the lives of black people in the disaster were of no cost for white administration and they delayed the help. She expresses this by writing, “I don’t know what the water wanted. It wanted to show you no one would come” (Rankine 94)(11).
The vast majority of Johnson’s readership only experienced Katrina through news reports, so it’s challenging for an author to help us experience what the disaster felt like in a way that feels authentic. One way Johnson does this is by introducing objects that are familiar to us and then uses them in an unexpected manner. For instance, he describes Nonc, the UPS Driver, as “a guy who has lately improvised toilet paper from first-aid compresses, a miniature New Testament and the crust of Chuck E.’s own pizza” (42). The humor in this passage helps undercut the depravity of the image, helping the reader understand the sadness of the situation without being too mortified to move on. Johnson takes objects that are in-and-of-themselves funny, in addition to the humorous concept of toilet paper, and combines them in a way that is profoundly sad. This disorienting fusion of light and dark is a defining characteristic of Adam Johnson’s writing, and it ensures that the reader keeps turning the
Hurricane Katrina is approaching New Orleans, Louisiana, including the Ninth Ward, where Lanesha and her guardian, Mama Ya-Ya live. The chapter, titled “Sunday”, starts off with the newspapers and the televisions emphasizing the word “evacuate”. Mama Ya-Ya, who is normally up and about, ready to greet the day, is curled up on the couch asleep. Something has been bothering Mama Ya-Ya; Lanesha even sees it when she wakes up.
"Culture of Fear" is a book that describes that it is our perceptions that dangers have increased, and so much the actual level of risk. Glassner explains in all of his chapters how people and organizations use our fears as a way to increase their profit. Glassner also states about the prices we pay for our panics and all the time and energy we spend worrying. Americans are afraid because of the media's broadband expose of crime, violence, drugs and diseases.
Hurricane Katrina has affected the lives of thousands of Americans. According to Anne Waple of NOAA’s National Climate Data Center, Katrina is “one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent US history” leaving “At least 80% of New Orleans…under flood water”. Film director, Spike Lee, in his documentary, When the Levees Broke, looks into the lives of the people of New Orleans that was affected by Hurricane Katrina. Lee’s purpose is to address racial disparities, political issues, and the discrimination against helping victims during the storm. He adopts a straightforward tone from the victims and outsiders in order to illustrate how the residents of New Orleans were affected by failures of the government for the duration of Katrina, before and after. Despite the government programs and their slow attempt to help, the government did not act quickly in the events of Hurricane Katrina because many residents of New Orleans did not receive the great amount of aid they were promised.
In Drea Knufken’s essay entitled “Help, We’re Drowning!: Please Pay Attention to Our Disaster,” the horrific Colorado flood is experienced and the reactions of worldly citizens are examined (510-512). The author’s tone for this formal essay seems to be quite reflective, shifting to a tone of frustration and even disappointment. Knufken has a reflective tone especially during the first few paragraphs of the essay. According to Drea Knufken, a freelance writer, ghostwriter and editor, “when many of my out-of-town friends, family and colleagues reacted to the flood with a torrent of indifference, I realized something. As a society, we’ve acquired an immunity to crisis. We scan through headlines without understanding how stories impact people,
Abdulrahnam Zeitoun and his family’s experience with Hurricane Katrina is summarized and documented in the novel Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers. Throughout the events of the novel, the reader learns its purpose is to inform the audience of the shocking tragedy and burden the storm placed on the Zeitoun family. Rhetorical appeals, the Muslim religion, media, the government’s involvement in the city, and the audience the book was trying to reach all play important roles in the story of the storm that devastated all of New Orleans. Egger’s novel not only informs, it also entertains, explains, and exposes, as well as documenting the events of the storm and the Zeitoun family’s story.
“When I saw my house three weeks after the storm, I was glad it stood but I knew it was time for change. Now five years later, I have learned that for me to enjoy the beauty of this place, there is a cost to bear. I love this place and am here to stay, but I have to invest more than I had imagined. The hurricane has greatly affected our lives but not only in a bad way.”
The Dangers of Fear Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worst attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point where they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous examples used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were.
Waters, Alice and Katrina Heron. “No Lunch Left Behind.” New York Times. 19 February 2009. Print.
the lunchroom was silent that morning. The shock felt throughout the school was palpable. by lunch it was so loud; the tears, the prayers, the news coverage.
My day was going well. I devoured a big breakfast, my brother, for once, got out of the shower quick, and no major assignment was pending. Life was very, very good. Then life began to fall into oblivion. I saw on the board in the front of Mrs. Smith's room the journal entry for the day. It was about what would I write about in a narrative essay. Hope faded away. Somewhere on the planet a nuclear bomb went. An earthquake struck in some unknown place on the Earth. A volcano erupted on Jupiter's moon Io and killed a bunch of Ionians. Somebody's red rose just wilted and the petals fell onto the ground. The end of the world was indeed upon us. My jaw dropped and warning bells went off in my head. I went completely and utterly blank. I tried as hard as I could to write my journal. Channel One came on and talked about a nuclear bomb going off in India that caused an earthquake that somehow caused a volcano to erupt on Io (that killed a bunch of aliens). My jaw dropped once again. It was now the floor. As I was finishing my journal, Mrs. Smith went to the front of the room and talked about, du du du, narrative papers. She gave us a cold, white study guide that gave me no hope for survival. She then gave us another evil sheet of pap...
In the summer of 2005 Louisiana’s coastline was struck by one of the strongest hurricanes that has ever been, Katrina. A week before the storm was predicted to hit we were having supper together as a family when my dad’s phone rang. I distinctly remember him bowing his head, taking in a deep
The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, is a book based on a young soldier’s engagement in the Civil War. The psychological conflict that he faces throughout the story is both internal and external. The battles are fought in the reader’s face to show the young soldiers' conflict with himself, other soldiers, and the battle itself. With Stephen Crane’s amazing power of description, the reader becomes engulfed in the battle at hand and feels that the conflicts of the soldiers are becoming his own.
It was just another day of my life. The fourth ring of my alarm woke me up. As usual, I was not feeling to go in school. I slept a couple of more minutes.After while, the shine of the sun coming from the window woke me up.I slowly stretched my arms and slid out of bed. I brushed my teeth and took the shower. Downstair,my mother was calling me for breakfast.I was still undecided what should wear for school. After browsing for while I found something to wear,and finished getting myself ready for school. When I checked the clock, I was running late as usual, which was not a surprised. I quickly ate my half sandwich and left the rest of the sandwich on the table.I took my car key, jump in my black Lexus and made my way to school.During my way to school, I got a call from my friend John. John is my best friend since when we were in middle school. He told me that his car was broke down and he needed to ride to school. Fortunately, my friend house on my school way. I told my friend. I am on my way to pick you up from your house. As I got there, john come out from his house and jumped in my car. With sound of Drake singing and music blasting, it was a