Odd Hours Essays

  • Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    Odd What does it take to make a human who they are? What influences affect each person in this spinning world of ours? Is it the parents and how much love each applies to raising an individual? Is it the environment to which they are born into? Humans are unpredictable at best, and when someone says they have humans figured out, they are proven wrong. We are creatures of habit who are never the same because of the very influences around us. In Dean Koontz’s book Odd Thomas a young man’s life is

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    1280 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Mockingbird he has to face many situations where a courageous decision is needed in order to help someone very important. Although there are many characters that are against Atticus’ decisions, he still tries to see them through knowing that the odds of succeeding are weak. Atticus definitely defines courage when he makes the decision to represent a Negro named Tom Robinson, in court. Unfortunately, many people in the town of Maycomb are prejudice and look down upon Atticus for choosing to do so

  • Harvest of Joy

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    neglected since he went into the hospital.  When I uncovered it, I was surprised to find bright green and fragrant parsley. I began to become filled with hope that like that small patch of parsley that was still flourishing in the winter despite the odds, my father would flourish again as well. By the time spring came, my father was regaining his strength.  My father and I tilled and prepared the soil, then began planting the seeds. Though I wanted them to sprout immediately, they had their own

  • Why People Gamble

    1633 Words  | 4 Pages

    alternate limbo between reality and fantasy that can be translated into a sort of mental payoff. The question is: is it all about the money? It couldn't be all about the money, unless the general public was extremely stupid. The odds of winning the lottery are lesser than the odds of someone being struck by lightning (1 in 649,739) or than someone being killed by a terrorist attack abroad (1 in 650,000). (7). It has been said, "If you bought 100 tickets a week your entire adult life, from the age of 18

  • A Reason to Hope in There Are No Children Here

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alex Kotlowitz's book: There Are No Children Here, confronts America's devastated urban life; a most painful issue in America. Kotlowitz traces the lives of two black boys; 10 year old LaFayette, and 7 year old Pharoah, as they struggle to beat the odds growing up in one of Chicago's worst housing projects. Their family includes a welfare dependent mother, an alcholic-drug using father, an older sister, an older brother, and younger triplets. Kotlowoitz describes the horrors of an ill-maintained housing

  • An Act of Courage

    3420 Words  | 7 Pages

    watching television I pondered what topic to do for the paper. Then the sportscaster on the news began an interview with Jim Abbott a well-known major league pitcher. I thought to myself, this is perfect! Jim Abbott is a man who shows courage when the odds are against him. He is fulfilling his lifelong dream of playing professional baseball despite the fact that he was born without a right hand. Whenever I see Jim pitch, I am reminded of something that happened when I was about 8 or 9 at summer camp

  • The Entrepreneur

    3031 Words  | 7 Pages

    by others) and to make sure you don't run out of money when you need it most. " (Timmons 1). To be an entrepreneur, it takes the willingness to prosper with calculated risks; both personal and financial-and then do everything possible to get the odds in your favor. Driven by an intense commitment and determined perseverance, entrepreneurs work very hard at what they do. They excel and want to win. Entrepreneurs are amazing people with a high respect of character. They use their mistakes as

  • Around The World In Eighty Day

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    thousand pounds, remained very tranquil never once to lose his state of mind. The second theme of this story is persistence, shown by Mr. Fogg. Mr. Fogg never gives up on wager of a prolific amount of money, precisely twenty thousand pounds. As the odds turn against him he remains on his path and does not give up. His persistence in the end pays off and Mr. Fogg wins his wager, on who The Reform Club will pay. But did he really achieve a goal by making this unbelievable trip around the world in an

  • Where I Rest My Head

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    the nickels from a dead man's eyes! Leaving the market we pass a gated alleyway and a little hole-in-the-wall of a store owned by a Korean family. I normally purchase breath mints and gum there, but that is all. They sell little knick knacks and odds and ends, but their main source of income is alcohol--they sell enough to get a small country drunk. Five more paces and we are at the lobby entrance of a residential building where I have lived since my parole, but that is another essay. As we

  • The Social Contract, the General Will, and Institutions of Inequity

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    government derives its authority from the "general will" of the people-the desire for the common good. Two elements of European society in Rousseau's time, the rule of aristocracy and the capitalistic economical views of the bourgeoisie, were especially at odds with Rousseau's ideas of equality and social responsibility. To understand the challenge of The Social Contract to eighteenth-century society, it is necessary to understand what, exactly, is the "social contract," and how its assumption of equality

  • Grandparents' House

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    great day of fun, relaxation, and great food. As I walked around to the back door, my eyes took in the beauty of the grass swaying in the wind and the weathered barn off to the left of the pasture. Inside the barn I could see all sorts of different odds and ends hanging from the walls. When I opened the door to my grandparent's old house, a sweet, sensational smell of cooking food filled my nostrils and made my empty stomach growl. The aroma in the air was always a tease to my stomach and made me

  • Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good

    2155 Words  | 5 Pages

    first penal colony in Australia in 1788-89. The plot is about the first fleet of convicts to the land Australia. It is about the triumph of the human spirit. It is about real people living in a foreign and unfamiliar place, surviving against all odds. Throughout the play, one sees the convicts transform from unrefined brutes into civilized human beings with self worth through putting on a production of “The Recruiting Officer” (a play within a play). Through this creative project the convicts

  • Carl Brashear

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    there should be no doubt about what kind of man Carl Brashear is. The Navy's first African-American Master Diver, Brashear faced difficulties that would have defeated most people. His spirit and determination resulted not only in his overcoming great odds to become a U.S. Navy diver, but also in his surviving the loss of a leg in an accident on the USS Hoist in 1966 - and more amazingly - in his attaining the rank of Master Diver. In the fall, Twentieth Century Fox will release The Diver, the story

  • The Existance Of God

    9147 Words  | 19 Pages

    gamble that it is. Before you put your money on either, examine the odds, says Pascal: One on side of the coin, heads: God exists and there is an eternal heaven to be gained and an eternal Hell to be avoided. On the flip-side of the coin: God does not exist, no heaven and hell to look forward to or fear, no rewards and no wrath. Choose God, says Pascal, If you win you win everything if you lose you lose nothing, though the odds are even, the rewards are not. Choose heads and win, and in the words

  • Sport, Education, and the Meaning of Victory

    3400 Words  | 7 Pages

    courage and justice and show how they are manifest in modern athletic ideals of self-knowledge, discipline, courage and justice. To the extent that scholastic athletic programs develop these virtues, I conclude, their pursuit of winning is not at odds with the institutional mission of educating students. If an athletic program's pursuit of victory allows such character-building to fall by the wayside, however, it deserves no place in our high schools, colleges or universities. As in the world

  • 1950's Culture Exposed in The Catcher in the Rye

    1360 Words  | 3 Pages

    Salinger describes important aspects of the 1950's. Salinger emphasizes several key characteristics of the 50's and criticizes them through Holden. In addition, Holden Caulfield is a very interesting character with several traits that put him at odds with society. Holden attacks various weaknesses in the 50's society. He criticizes nearly everything that he observes, and refuses to pull punches. Often Holden uses his brilliant talent of observation to discover the true motives behind the

  • A Character Analysis of Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    the king and Macbeth. For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name,-disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, which smok'd with bloody execution. (I,ii,16-18) From this we can tell that Macbeth fought bravely and through unbeatable odds against Macdonwald's army.  It also tells us that Macbeth can handle a sword like it was an extension of his own body.  The sergeant also tells us: As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks; So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe: (I

  • Shadowlands: Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?‎

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    If God loves us, why does He allow us to suffer? The central question in Shadowlands challenges traditional religious and moral conventions. It is a question asked by many, with few satisfactory answers. Before attempting to answer the question, and explore its relationship to Shadowlands, let us first define the question, so its implications may be more clearly understood. At the heart of the question is a doubt in the goodness of God, "If God loves us". From the beginning it is clear that God is

  • There are No Children Here: Life in the Projects

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    me see how fortunate I am to be living in a good and safe environment. In this powerful and moving book, reporter Alex Kotlowitz traces two years in the lives of ten-year-old Lafeyette and seven-year-old Pharoah Rivers as they struggle to beat the odds and grow up in one of Chicago's worst housing projects called Henry Horner. Lafeyette and Pharoah live with their mother LaJoe. LaJoe also had three older children, LaShawn at the age of twenty five was the oldest. She worked as a prostitute from

  • Lance Armstrong

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    depending on the circumstances. For instance, my hair." In that small segment, is everything Lance Armstrong, a professional cyclist is made of.. Yes sure, he is among a range of other things. But he has his own definition of ‘odds.' The dictionary says that the word ‘odds' means the probability of something happening. Lance Armstrong has redefined probability. He was hopeful when doctors asked him to make up a will. He is there for those who suffer like he did. He is the type of person to walk