Regeneration by Pat Barker The war in 'Regeneration' is explored 'back home'. Rather than portraying the war in terms of fighting on the frontline in the battlefields of France, Barker demonstrates the effects on the soldiers 'back home', both physically and mentally. The soldiers are those who have been injured, shell-shocked, or had a breakdown and are being treated with the intention of sending those who are able, back to France or at least resuming some kind of war duties. The war is explored, essentially in terms of the psychological effects of those who fought it. The physical traumas and horrific injuries suffered are widely known. However the mental traumas are probably less known and not fully understand. It is from this perspective Barker writes. The book poses as an alternative to the novels written from the perspective and experiences of the soldier who is fighting on the frontline. I Regeneration we learn of these experiences from those who were there but learn them in such a way that we are allowed to understand the real and devastating effects they can have on individuals. Barker manages to provoke the vivid and agonising pain of the First World War through her characters and portrayals of how their lives and they themselves have come to change as people as a result of their involvement in the war. This is seen most clearly in patients such as Sassoon, Burns and Prior as well as Dr. Rivers. Through these characters she challenges the assumptions about the relationship between doctors and their patients - some patients describe Rivers as a father figure, between men and women - Prior finds comfort in a woman who learns nothing about his devastating experiences, and yet there are sub... ... middle of paper ... ...become a rickety sack of skin and bones. There is an episode in Regeneration of his suicide attempt and we learn more about Burns trough his actions rather than his words and emotions. Burns was almost certainly never going to be able to overcome his condition and suffered badly from terrifying nightmares. Burns portrays then men who came back but already had lost their lives. Burns would never be able to return even slightly to the man he once was because his ordeal was too overwhelming and incredibly hard for him to forget and overcome. He is compelled with his thoughts and reminded of his experience in every nightmare and every time he eats. He would rather die and this is what Barker tries to communicate with us - that there were some whose experiences were so devastating that they will never get over them and therefore have already lost their lives.
In the article Skin Deep written by Nina Jablonski and George Chaplin, they discuss and look deeper into the diverse differences in skin color. Our skin color has developed over the years to be dark enough to prevent the damaging sunlight that has been harming our skin and the nutrient folate that it carries. At the same time out skin is light enough to receive vitamin D.
The fourth Chapter of Estella Blackburn’s non fiction novel Broken lives “A Fathers Influence”, exposes readers to Eric Edgar Cooke and John Button’s time of adolescence. The chapter juxtaposes the two main characters too provide the reader with character analyses so later they may make judgment on the verdict. The chapter includes accounts of the crimes and punishments that Cooke contended with from 1948 to 1958. Cooke’s psychiatric assessment that he received during one of his first convictions and his life after conviction, marring Sally Lavin. It also exposes John Button’s crime of truancy, and his move from the UK to Australia.
The fraud in the story “Skinwalkers” was committed for the sole purpose of getting back at the American government. The reasoning behind the fraud was because a treaty that was signed at Fort Summer decades ago. This treaty promised things to the Indian people things, which were never delivered, such as one teacher for every thirty residents. Basically Dr. Yellowhorse was now making the government reimburse the hospital for the bills of people who had already been released and even for people who were already deceased. The reason this was done so easily was because there were no death certificates for the deceased and many people that were dead had no date of death along with there name. The cases where Dr. Yellowhorse easily covered up people that were still living because he worked in the hospital and had access to the financial data. This meant it was almost effortless for him to file faulty reports as often as possible.
I enjoyed reading Disciplined Hearts by Theresa O'Nell because i find that many people today do not know a lot about the Native American culture and what they have been through. Their cultures history is not talked about as much the African American or Hispanic's are. Most Americans know about the hardships that the African American and Hispanics had to overcome to assimilate to the level that they are today. I think O'Nell is trying to talk about the history of the Native American culture because, she believes that the reason that their culture is not well-known because of the fact that they have chosen to keep living like their ancestors and not assimilate to the American culture.
Bringing Life or Seven Years in Afghanistan is a story from an Engineer alumni from ORU, Joshua Atkinson, that recounts destitution and honor from working to develop a devastated Afghanistan. His memories from the dreaded 9/11 attacks has detailed Atkinson's journey to Afghanistan for working with the nation and the people during the outbreak of the war. His novel has only great telling from life in Afghanistan to showing difficulties in rebuilding the country to even the calling God has called to him for.
"In the novel Buried Onions by Gary Soto, illustrates the trials and tribulations of a young boy named Eddie in the rural town of. Fresno,California. The theme of this novel is that you can't escape your past. One has to learn to accept it is a part of who they are and then move toward the future. Eddie, a young Mexican American, fights to make something of himself in Fresno, California. Coming off the death of his father, his best friend, and his cousin, he must fight a constant battle against negative community influences such as guns, drugs, lack of opportunity, and cultural stereotypes. On the ruff streets of southeast Fresno, Eddie is just trying to get by. All he wants is to forget his violent past, find and hold down a job, and walk the right path,But after his cousin's murder, Eddie finds himself slowly drawn back into the cycle of violence and going against the scrim of a city sweltering in the grip of poverty, crime, and unfulfilled dreams, this is a story of a young man struggling to survive in a world spiraling out of control.
Throughout a lifetime, one can run through many different personalities that transform constantly due to experience and growing maturity, whether he or she becomes the quiet, brooding type, or tries out being the wild, party maniac. Richard Yates examines acting and role-playing—recurring themes throughout the ages—in his fictional novel Revolutionary Road. Frank and April Wheeler, a young couple living miserably in suburbia, experience relationship difficulties as their desire to escape grows. Despite their search for something different, the couple’s lack of communication causes their planned move to Europe to fall through. Frank and April Wheeler play roles not only in their individual searches for identity, but also in their search for a healthy couple identity; however, the more the Wheelers hide behind their desired roles, the more they lose sense of their true selves as individuals and as a pair.
What more is the point of learning and understanding human history than obtaining the knowledge and structure between what is right and what is wrong? We continuously believe that we as humans have the ability and intellect to learn from the lessons taught in our past in order to enrich our future. In comparison to the time frame that is human history the one hundred year period of time we discussed in the second halve of this semester is nothing but a slight blimp on the map that we have traversed. Yet, throughout our recent readings we can easily assimilate into the idea that although time may pass, and that we may attempt to learn from our history it is simply in human nature to repeat the mistakes that we have
“Wind-blighted letters barely visible on her flayed skin: Hyperion” I breathed, “It’s her,” (Oppel 13). This quote is talking about the exalted Hyperion. The Hyperion is an airship (zeppelin) that has great treasures inside. The main character, Matt Cruse, who is a shipmate on these airships, spots the Hyperion. Cruse is the only person on the planet earth who knows the coordinates to the ship. This is very bad because many people will try to kill or beat the coordinates of the Hyperion out of Cruse during the book. Cruse assembles a team consisting of Kate de Vries, Hal Slater, Nadira, Miss Simpkins, and fellow ship crew. Rath a red-haired man comes and tries to negotiate with Cruse to get the cords, but Rath is unlucky. During the journey
The fundamental characteristic of magical realism is its duality, which enables the reader to experience both the character’s past and the present. In the novel, Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson uses this literary device to address the the trauma and mistreatment of the Haisla community in Canada by unveiling the intimate memories of the protagonist, Lisamarie, and the resulting consequences of this oppression. Monkey Beach illustrates how abuse in the past leads to another form of self-medication in the future - a neverending, vicious cycle for the members of the Haisla community. Many characters in Monkey Beach are scarred from childhood sexual abuse and family neglect, and resort to drug and alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism. These appalling memories are an account of the impact of colonization on the Haisla territory which continues to haunt the Aboriginal community throughout generations.
Sidewalk is a book written by Mitchell Duneier, an American sociology professor at Princeton University, in 1999; where the book has gained a lot of favorable reviews, leading its winning the Los Angeles Times Book prize and C. Wright Mills Award. Similarly, the book had become a classic in urban studies, especially due to the interesting methodology, which was used by Duneier while he was conducting his research. The book is based on observations, participant observation and interviews, which gave the author the ability to live and interact with the book and magazine vendors on daily bases. Although, this gave him an insight into the life of the sidewalk, many methodological issues have concerned scholars and students of sociology since the day this book was published. Duneier had admitted during the book that he couldn’t be completely subjective while conducting his research and writing his book due to his involvement and personal relationship with people who work and live at the sidewalk, which raise the question, whether the research is still relevant if the researcher is only giving us an objective outcome?
After the Bomb written by Gloria Miklowitz is a thrilling novel that takes place before, during, and after a bomb which supposedly was sent from Russia by accident. L.A. and surrounding cities are all altered by the disastrous happening.
In today’s world, everyone has a sense of security that is born from the technological developments that science has given to society. While they may feel safe, there are much larger threats of disaster that people are not prepared for. These include natural disaster and human error. Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales aims to educate the people on how to better protect themselves and prevent death. The novel accomplishes this through sharing personal stories and stories of others who have survived near death experiences. This is an important subject in our culture and its importance is verified by professional reviews. To further express this importance, there are a plethora of popular television shows in pop culture that seek to entertain as well as educate its audience. Although modern technology makes it feel relatively easy to avoid and escape life threatening situations, basic survival skills, like those taught in Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales, are a useful tool to have in any situation. These thoughts are reflected in qualified book reviews that further show the significance of the subject in today’s society.
In the essay “Everything Now” Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers, author Steve McKevitt blames our unhappiness on having everything we need and want, given to us now. While his writing is compelling, he changes his main point as his conclusion doesn’t match his introduction. He uses “want versus need” (145) as a main point, but doesn’t agree what needs or wants are, and uses a psychological theory that is criticized for being simplistic and incomplete. McKevitt’s use of humor later in the essay doesn’t fit with the subject of the article and comes across almost satirical. Ultimately, this essay is ineffective because the author’s main point is inconsistent and poorly conveyed.
What should our goals be in life? Bill Strickland makes the point that no matter who you are you can do anything you put your mind too. In his book “Making the impossible possible” he explains his own struggle and how he made it through life to be able to help others. He explains his young childhood. He talks about how he had to live through riots and the racism. He talks about how he wanted to help people make their lives better. He explains his struggles with trying to maintain these buildings and how he made great connections. He tells about his love for pottery and his want to help others. His book was truly an inspiration and turned out to be more than I took his book for in the first few pages. His book made me think about my life and how I can relate to him.