A Comparison of Vacations
Summer and vacations are synonymous, especially with my family. Does Chevy Chase and summer vacation ring a bell? With a family of six, anything is possible. There are two types of excursions that we take every year. I refer to one as my family vacation and the other as my family trip. My family vacation to the beach is an annual event, but my family trip destination is always different. This past summer my family and I went to Wyoming. Both experiences were the highlights of my summer but for very different reasons.
We begin packing for our beach trip shortly after my grandmother arrives from North Carolina. My dad's twenty-five-year-old surfboard is securely tied on top, and we are stuffed like sardines into the car with the week's groceries packed in every nook and cranny. My dad always insists that we take everything with us; it would be a sin to spend good beach time at the grocery store. The trip down is uneventful, and we make our traditional one and only stop at the Subway for lunch and gas. I was taught early on that there are limited drinks on travel day because bathroom breaks are unheard of. After an early start we arrive to find our three-bedroom, three-bath condo just as we remember it. We especially enjoy having a VCR in each bedroom, After unpacking the car, my family and I head for the beach. The familiar smell of the salty air, the rhythm of the ocean waves, and the gentle breeze across my face are like long-lost friends. The beach routine begins.
Just as we do on the day we leave for the beach, my family and I wake up early to prepare to leave for Wyoming. My dad says that getting my family of six ready to go is like launching the space shuttle. For this trip, luggage is limited to what we can each carry. We all convince my dad that there will be grocery stores in Wyoming. After a quick trip to the airport, we board a jet to Atlanta and take a connecting flight to Denver. The highlight of our plane trip is the long-awaited lunch, which is a real disappointment. My mom and dad nap, while my sisters and I watch a movie.
As I waited to observe the audience as they filled the seats with pencil in hand, I was amazed by the amount of diversity I saw before me. By the time the lecture was ready to set foot, I observed that nearly the entire lecture hall was filled. I would say that the hall where our discussion was being held in could probably hold around 300 people. The majority of the audience was not students forced to write a paper on the Brown v. Board Commemoration events, but rather scholars who were on average in their mid-40s. It seemed as though everyone knew each other to some degree. At one point, I saw a woman walk in with her young son and they were greeted by one of the first presenters. Oftentimes, groups of 2 or 3 walked into the room and they would sit down in no particular section of the seating and proceed to talk moderately loudly and peacefully. There was a sense of joy and rejuvenation in the air. After making my final observations of the crowd, I noted that it was a predominantly white showing! Not something I would expect to see when attending a discussion on slavery. It was a spectacle for me to see a group of Asian Americans nodding in unison when points were made during the seminar relating to black and white race relations. I would say that African-Americans wer...
"Histories, like ancient ruins, are the fictions of empires. While everything forgotten hands in dark dreams of the past, ever threatening to return...”, a quote from the movie Velvet Goldmine, expresses the thoughts that many supporters of integration may have felt because no one truly knew the effects that one major verdict could create. The Brown v. Board of Education decision was a very important watershed during the Civil Rights Movement. However, like most progressive decisions, it did not create an effective solution because no time limit was ever given. James Baldwin realized that this major oversight would lead to a “broken promise.”
In order to understand the magnitude of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, one must understand the hardships that African-Americans had to endure. For example, the case of Davis Knight “illuminate[d] racially mixed communities [,] delineate[d] the legal and social responses to attempts at racial desegregation and black enfranchisement during the era of the New Deal and World War II” in 1948 (Bynum 248). Davis Knight was a 23 year old man from Mississippi who appeared to be a “white,” but indeed was a “black man, who later married a white woman by the name of Junie Lee Spradley” (247). The case was presented to the Jones County Circuit Court where Knigh...
The Stases and Other Rhetorical Concepts from Introduction to Academic Writing. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF.
The case of brown v. board of education was one of the biggest turning points for African Americans to becoming accepted into white society at the time. Brown vs. Board of education to this day remains one of, if not the most important cases that African Americans have brought to the surface for the better of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education was not simply about children and education (Silent Covenants pg 11); it was about being equal in a society that claims African Americans were treated equal, when in fact they were definitely not. This case was the starting point for many Americans to realize that separate but equal did not work. The separate but equal label did not make sense either, the circumstances were clearly not separate but equal. Brown v. Board of Education brought this out, this case was the reason that blacks and whites no longer have separate restrooms and water fountains, this was the case that truly destroyed the saying separate but equal, Brown vs. Board of education truly made everyone equal.
I never predicted this beautiful trip ending up as a nightmare in my existence. I drove for approximately 40 minutes and my partner shared the driving for an additional 40 minutes. We were driving my friend mom’s brand new Toyota Camry XLE; one of the most comfortable cars I had ever been in. We enjoyed the elongated ride with new hit music, and air conditioning set to an exact temperature that met our necessities. On the way to the beach some doubts about going there started to circle around our minds, but the fact that we were about half way there made them a...
“This Course prepares students for reading, research, and writing in college classes by teaching students to consider the rhetorical situation of any piece of writing while integrating reading, research, and writing in the academic genres of analysis and argument. This course is said to teach students to develop analyses and arguments using research-based content with effective organization, and appropriate expression and mechanics”. (1)
Downs, Doug. "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics." Writing About Writing: A College Reader. By Elizabeth A. Wardle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 520-33, 581-594. Print.
The Supreme Court's May 17, 1954, ruling in Brown v Board of Education remains a landmark legal decision. This decision is huge not only because it changed the history of America forever but also because it was a huge step for blacks in the United States. This decision would eventually lead to the full freedom of blacks in America. Brown v Board of Education is the "Big Bang" of all American history in the 20th century.
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.
A traumatizing experience awaited me, an experience that would strike immediate fear into my heart. In the summer of 2011, right after finishing up third grade, my family and I departed off to the group of islands just off the coast of Seattle known as the San Juan Islands. Since it was our first day arriving by ferry from the mainland, we promptly decided onto going to the clear, lovely beach, for it’s so infrequent to find a decent beach in the area of Houston. “Time to finish up here!” my mom announced after 30 minutes of adventuring the flawless sand and expressive waves clearly passed by. The majority of the family which included everyone but my dad and I went to scour for astounding stores since we still happened to be emptying our shoes of sand.
When I was younger my parents would take my sister and I to a spot near Pine Point around the same time in August for the end of our summer vacation. It was something that we could look forward to all year and we knew that no two years would be the same. There were new restaurants that would open up and also places with different types of activities such as a multilevel arcade. It was not the differences that I would look forward to though, but the things that were exactly the same. The camp site that we would stay at was always exactly the same as well as the quality time spent with family. No matter what the weather was like, nobody was worried, because just the time away from home secluded with your family was enough to keep us happy. This is a perfect example of why every time you travel, you do not need to go to a new
Shea, Renee, Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Scanlon. The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2013. 525-529,546-551. Print.
Where to go on vacation is a popular conundrum in many households every year. People enjoy going out of town to relieve stress and get away from work for a short time. The beach and the city are both great places to vacation. They are both open anytime of the year. It depends on what you want to accomplish where you should decide to go. I hope the next few paragraphs help you make that tough decision easier.
Summer vacation is legendary. An integral part of American culture, it is loved by students and loathed by parents. Its influence stretches as far as the economy and media of the country. Nevertheless, such a famed part of American educational customs is unnecessary and even detrimental to students. Its institution hinders learning and it can have a damaging effect on the families and students involved.