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strategies for difficult conversations
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Christmas break had just started and a chilly gust of air blew right through me as I walked up to my front door, still in shock from the night’s trauma.
Dave called me as I was driving home from my boyfriend, Mike’s house and said that he needed to talk to me about Julie, my best friend and his girlfriend. Because we were also good friends, I, of course, agreed. He was driving home from a basketball camp and said he would call again when he was on his way over. I thought nothing of it because I knew that he and Julie had recently taken a break from each other in order to possibly save their relationship, just like Mike and I had done almost three weeks earlier. I figured he wanted to ask me questions about how Mike and I were handling it and what he could do to reconcile with Julie.
He called around nine o’clock and said he had just driven across the causeway and would be at my house in five minutes. I hurriedly threw on a sweatshirt over my long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. Dave came to the door and told my parents we were going out for ice cream. My mother knew better and flashed me a questioning look because I am lactose-intolerant and cannot eat ice cream. But I shrugged it off thinking that he just didn’t want to tell my parents that we were going to go talk about our respective relationship problems.
We climbed into his white Jeep Cherokee and headed out of my neighborhood.
I asked him, “Where are we going exactly?”
And he said, “Down to the beach where it’s quiet and we can talk without anyone overhearing us.”
This should have tipped me off.
We pulled into a parking spot at The Boardwalk, a popular hang-out for high-school students during summer, and climbed out of the car. We walked down the decrepit wo...
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...ng to Louisville the next morning to spend Christmas with my family, and we had to get up at 4:30 am. I walked into my room and locked the door behind me. I was supposed to call Mike back after “talking” with Dave, but I wanted nothing to do with boys. Yes, I loved Mike, but I didn’t know how to explain what happened or what he would think of me. So I just jumped in the shower and climbed into bed, all the time trying to pretend that I hadn’t just been raped by someone who I thought was my friend.
It’s been almost four years now, and I’ve recovered quite well. I am still currently with Mike, who does not hold the fact that I was raped against me. He listens to me when I need to talk about it, holds me when I need to be held, and does so without judging me. Telling him was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. Now all I have to do is tell Julie.
Today, it is often debated whether the Civil War was truly caused by slavery. I would suggest that the people who dismiss slavery as a cause have either not realized that the other potential causes all trace back to slavery, or are reluctant to believe that southern citizens would go to war over such a cause. When even the highly-supported secession documents clearly outline how important slavery was to the southern states, it is hard to deny its fault in the war. The argument that the Confederacy was fighting for states’ rights is the most-often suggested alternative, however all one needs to do is dig deeper and calculate what these
Huckleberry Finn starts as a child with little thoughts concerning slavery and its importance in the south. In the fourth chapter Huck encounters Jim for the first time in the novel; you can plainly tell that Huck is intelligent, but submissive to new ideas. This is discovered when Jim tells Huck of the hair ball oracle. “It felt pretty solid, and only rolled about an inch. But it warn’t no use; he said it wouldn’t talk.” (Huck Finn page 25) Huck finds himself trusting Jim, and this leads way to the overall evolution of Huck’s believes. Further in the novel Huck finds himself arguing with himself over one thing; Whether or not to turn Jim in or not. By this time they have set out for Cairo in search for freedom, and that is what brought this emotion to Huck. He feels morally wrong for stealing Jim from Miss...
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, events throughout the novel suggest that Huck is a racist to Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave, whether he knows it or not. Despite the fact that Huck travels with Jim, he does not care about freeing Jim from slavery. As a result, Twain’s purpose is more focused on the adventures Huck and Jim experience rather than freeing Jim.
Even at the beginning of the novel, before Huck has gotten an opportunity to explore what he feels is right, Huck is growing tired of dealing having society and what culture thinks is right and also civilized. Huck says, "The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me...I got into my old rags and my sugar hogshead again, and was free and satisfied “(Twain 1). Huck prefers living free and having the ability to think what he wishes, rather than being “sivilized”. When Huck escapes from the surrounding society, at Jackson Island Huck runs into Jim and he is very happy to see him. Later Huck takes on a mean trick with Jim. He kills a rattlesnake and puts it on the foot of Jim’s comforters. Huck expects that Jim will react like almost any stereotypically, foolish, black man or woman. But Jim is not really a stereotype, and the joke becomes bad when Jim gets bitten through the snake’s mate. This tests Huck’s morality. Huck senses ashamed for what he did, but does not take responsibility for not understanding that Jim is a human being. This situation shows Hucks immaturity early in the novel.
As mentioned above, first and foremost the war was about the issue and institution of slavery. The southern states depended on slave labor to support and sustain their vast economy. Without slave labor (as immigrants from other countries simply did not migrate to the southern states as such was the case with the industrialized north) the southern economy was essentially lost. The southern plantation owners used slaves to produce crops such as cotton. Cotton became not only the largest source of trade and income for the southern states, but accounted for approximately half of the export industry within the United States as a whole. This fact serves to illustrate the obvious reliance and importance of slave labor for the southern plantation owners. It is important to note however, that although slavery within the northern states was declared illegal, there were in reality, few who opposed it. Although some northerners...
One could argue that Hamlet is truly insane, but that would mean ignoring the inconspicuous signals of his sanity. Hamlet is a character of both thought and power. His complex way of thinking and rationalizing is simply not comparable to an insane persons quick and careless judgment. Hamlet was able to discern his friends from his foes, to realize that the ghost could have played him, and to overcome his thoughts of suicide. These things could not have been accomplished if Hamlet had not been clear minded. The fact that Shakespeare made Hamlets insanity appear like true madness to countless readers today only goes to show the extent of his knowledge and the magnitude of his theatrical skill.
One of the primary inquiries that arises from Shakespeare’s famous work,Hamlet, is whether the protagonist is truly insane or whether he is just pretending to be so. Unlike some of Shakespeare’s other work such as Macbeth where the “discerning eye” can determine whether the character is actually insane or not and where the madness was born, Shakespeare leaves Hamlet’s madness up to interpretation. In the play, Hamlet’s madness can be viewed as rational or viewed as completely crazy. Hamlet’s madness is shown through his rash decisions, mood swings, and his “nutty as a fruitcake” speeches. The method behind his madness can be reasoned through the fact that in his madness he is protected by the king, he makes fools of king and everyone around him, and he gets plenty of time to plot his revenge against Claudius for the murder of his father.
In her narrative essay, “FYB”, Zadie Smith expresses her belief that if one redirects their mindset to a more limited perspective and uses the limitless Manhattan mentality at certain times, one can arrive at their beach. A beach is a mentality, and Smith finds her beach by coming to peace with Manhattan’s beach. The idea of a person’s “beach” being hard to discover may be observed through Smith’s personal background, as it is almost mythical for this English writer living in Soho, Manhattan to come by a beach.
At eight in the morning, my classmates and I boarded the bus which would take us to Homer and to an exciting adventure down by the beach, Bishop’s Beach to be exact. An adventure to the beach was a wonderful idea , we were all excited about it. After an hour drive from Nikolaevsk School we , the students along with Mr. Klaich, Mrs. Pancratz and Mr. Sellers were greeted by two scientists. Once we were in our gear, (boots, hats, and warm coats) the scientists began their explanation on beach etiquette and the rules. Once everything had been explained, we all set out on our half a mile trek down the beach to the tide-pool area.
The smell of the restaurants faded and the new, refreshing aroma of the sea salt in the air took over. The sun’s warmth on my skin and the constant breeze was a familiar feeling that I loved every single time we came to the beach. I remember the first time we came to the beach. I was only nine years old. The white sand amazed me because it looked like a wavy blanket of snow, but was misleading because it was scorching hot. The water shone green like an emerald, it was content. By this I mean that the waves were weak enough to stand through as they rushed over me. There was no sense of fear of being drug out to sea like a shipwrecked sailor. Knowing all this now I knew exactly how to approach the beach. Wear my sandals as long as I could and lay spread out my towel without hesitation. Then I’d jump in the water to coat myself in a moist protective layer before returning to my now slightly less hot towel. In the water it was a completely different world. While trying to avoid the occasional passing jellyfish, it was an experience of
This was the long-awaited activity—walking the whole two-and-a-half miles of the Ocean City boardwalk! We would usually start from the south end of the boardwalk. My favorite one-stop shop was Manco & Manco's Pizza! I say “one-stop shop” because this was where I filled up on pizza—almost so much so that I could not eat anymore! Needless to say, I still did eat after stopping at Manco & Manco's Pizza. Boy . . . did I ever. In addition, there was the renowned Original Kohr Brothers Frozen Custard. There was no way you could depart Ocean City without getting to experience the disorderliness of the ice cream melting and running down your arm. Even so, this makes the experience all the better and much more worth it! As we continue down the boardwalk, it is almost as if confronting a mist of aromas! Each and every inch you move, there is a new flavor, sight, and sound! That, however, does not discount, yet again, the repetitive screeches of seagulls, the laughter of others nearby, and the distant crashes of waves. Once I fill up on all of the food I can handle—and I swear to you that I fill up more than I do for Thanksgiving dinner—I people watch. I am normally the only one to do this out of my family, but it brings me so much joy to simply observe people naturally. I see children with the brightest smiles on their faces, I see people playing games, purchasing an endless amount of souvenirs, and I see people relaxing. Everyone is
Jeanine: I was raped when I was fourteen by six guys in my high school class. It was at a party we all had been drinking. I thought they were my friends. I had an abortion, but it wasn’t my fault. My mother she made me do it, she would not let me have the baby.
Some people do not have the desire to learn English, particularly those who do not use it in their daily lives and business. This situation often occurs where English is regarded as a foreign language.
Experiencing those days where people would laugh at other for the broken English; the grammar and pronunciation are the toughest parts of the language. People with English as a second language always stumble upon difficulties; however, the determination of learning a new language do not decrease easily as the motivation is still surrounding one’s mind. Today, English has become an international communication; even the teaching and learning of the language has already spread throughout the world. English is known as one of the most common use language and has been offering classes everywhere for years especially around Asia; additionally, the world common language has now become the number one language uses in every fields of career that is being offer everywhere. Non-American students should be required to take English class as a second language in school
But we did go on the boardwalk almost every night. Every night seemed to be different. We tried to experience everything in a different way. Coastal Highway, not unlike the ocean, seems to go on endlessly. When we were near Coastal Highway, I put my window down and let the smell of the sand and sea waft into the car. The rain had started, but it was only a light mist. The temperature had cooled off now too. I decided to take an evening swim. Some of the waves were raising nearly 10 feet. In the evening when we all entered the beach some lifeguards were announcing that tides are so strong. Though I was not