The Meaning of Smoke
Sometimes people feel that things are better left unsaid. Such is the case in Chris Avellone's, smoke, which tells the story of two friends who have a good relationship until one speaks the truth that both had been hiding. The smoke in the essay can be looked at as a veil that is concealing the true feelings of the two characters. The setting, which is in a smoke filled bar, can be looked at as a secret hide away that the two friends go to. It is when Kyle starts to bring what is really going on that the conflict starts.
When the story starts, the two friends are at a bar playing darts and drinking beer. When Kyle start smoking a cigarette it is then that Dave starts to open up and let the audience know that the two friends have not seen each other in a while. He also starts to describe his friend physically paying special attention to his eyes. Throughout the story Kyle is very vague when answering Dave's questions about his new relationship. Finally he asks his friend if his girl knows about what was going on between the two of them. Dave tries a first to shrug the conversation off but it is at this point that smoke the cigarette is giving off is starting to make sense. "Smoke curled from his nostrils out onto the table, like some kinda dragon" (Avellone, 3). Throughout the entire story the smoke seemed to make Dave feel more comfortable. It seemed as if the presence of the smoke made him telling the story and him even being around Kyle okay. With the smoke curling from his friends nose the reader is able to get a picture that the smoke is starting to clear. It is only when the smoke seems to be clearing in his eyes, revealing both his and Kyle's true feelings that he started to get uneasy. At this point he attacks his friend and calls him all kinds of vulgar names. He says that he cannot see much because of the smoke and that at that point, "Kyle just faded out into the smoke in Shoop's" (Avellone, 3). We can see here that he knows he has lost his friend to the smoke, which is a representation of his repressed feelings. From his descriptions of Kyle as well as his annoyance at the relationship he is in, the reader knows that Dave is in love with his friend, but the smoke made it all right because no one could really see what was really going on.
Stephen King’s short story "Quitters, Inc." involves a smoker trying to kick the habit, and getting results no matter the means. Dick Morrison meets Jimmy McCann, an old friend, in the bar of the Kennedy International airport. McCann has stopped smoking, gained a promotion, and become physically fir since the last time they met. He tells Morrison about an agency that helped him quit smoking and gave him a business card for Quitters, Inc., which Morrison just put in his wallet. A month later he sees the card fall out of his wallet and decides to go see them. Upon going to Quitters, Inc., Morrison meets Vic Donatti, the man in charge of his case. Morrison signs a contract saying that he won’t reveal anything they do in the course of his treatment. Donatti tells Morrison that he will never smoke again after that day. When he goes back for his next appointment, Donatti starts by punching the cigarettes Morrison had on him whilst still smiling. Donatti then reveals how much they know about their clients by referencing Morrison’s handicapped son who he told them nothing about. Donatti tells him that he is a pragmatist, or someone who is oriented towards the success or failure of something through practical means. Donatti shows Morrison that a rabbit can be taught that eating food will cause an electric shock to occur and therefore after enough aversion training the rabbit will starve itself to avoid the shock. Donatti then explains the various ways they discipline their clients for slipping up, the tenth and last being death. They guarantee you won’t ever smoke again. After a series of non-smoking, Morrison slips up, his wife is kidnapped, and he is called in to watch her get electrocuted for thirty seconds. Afterwards she tells him that she understands what they are trying to do. After months of not smoking Morrison gains weight and Donatti says that if he can’t lose it they will cut off his wife’s pinky finger. After that Morrison passes on the Quitters, Inc business card to a man known only as Crony, and tells him they changed his life. Years later Morrison and his wife meet McCann and his wife at a theatre. When he shakes the hand of McCann’s wife he notices something is wrong. Later the realization hits him that she only had four fingers; her pinky was missing.
Sedaris changed from a non- smoker to a frequent smoker. In one incident, Sedaris used a cigarette to seem tough when he was faced with an individual who he described to be prison like. Sedaris reacted to this incident with, “I might have simply covered, but now I put a cigarette in my mouth [...] This man was going to rob me [...] but no, ‘give me one of those [cigarettes]’ he said” (2) .Sedaris uses this experience to show a sense that in society one looks tough while smoking, and that they won 't get bothered when they have a cigarette in their mouth. This also shows there is a bond between smokers. This perceived bond between a man who looked like a criminal and a man who puts a cigarette in his mouth made Sedaris feel tough about himself. Even though Sedaris may not admit that, he is an addict smoker, smoking controlled him, as when he states, “When New York banned smoking in the workplace I quit working. When banned in restaurants I stop eating out” (3). Sedaris here is not just a smoker, but a smoker who is so controlled by smoking that he puts smoking over his job and even eating. This definitely shows the negative effect that smoking has had over
The plot evokes deep thought within its characters, as they constantly struggle with their evolving goals and values. Lowell Bergman represents the newsman with integrity, but in his quest to deliver the news, his pledge to his source is compromised and he is forced to balance and prioritize his values. Jeffrey Wigand begins as a family man, but in his crusade he loses everything he once had and has to deal with newly altered values and goals. Wigand is the insider in that he has the information to bring down the tobacco industry, but Bergman is also an insider in that he is the newsman with the power to inform the public. In the end, both men are considered heroes because they got the secret out that nicotine is a
Paz depicts this with his symbol in the cigarette and its simile as a comet. The speaker notes, “It drew a shining curve…like a tiny comet” (p.164). The comet in case represents innocence, as it is the brightness in the dark, nighttime sky. Nonetheless it will always disappear and maybe not be seen for a lifetime. This transition is a necessity as remaining in full innocence may have unintended consequences. In the analogy of the comet the larger and larger it appears to us earth, the closer it is to crashing and wreaking havoc. In terms of innocence, the larger and larger innocence is allowed to manifest, the greater the chances are of problems occurring. The protagonist’s innocence manifests to the point where the machete, “grazes [his] eyelids” (p.165) in the attempt to remove his eyes. Another significant symbol is the cigarette itself, its fire represents innocence in a similar way to the comet. As the fire in the cigarette burns out it gets closer to extinction. While the speaker has the lit cigarette he holds a romanticized view of his surroundings. He remarks that he, “felt free” (p.164) and full of, “such happiness” (p.164). It is only slightly after the fire burns out and he, “[throws] [his] cigarette down” (p.164) that his innocence begins to wane and experience waxes. Experience is necessary so that the mistakes are not
Everyone has a poker face. Everyone has a bunbury. Everyone keeps secrets, and everyone lies. The question is, how does one tell if another is truthful about their intentions? There are many different cases in which one will lie about who they really are, but there is no telling when it is okay and if they can be forgiven. In many different stories that were read in Late British Literature this semester, we have characters that keep secrets from friends and loved ones. The simple truth is, people’s words are often different from the truth.
Using anecdotes from his life were very effective because he shows the stages he went through: the side of the non-smoker who is against smoking, to a smoker, to any individual trying to quit, and adds family examples along the way. This worked very well because the readers get to see how Sedaris has evolved throughout his life. Anecdotes were also effective because of how he addresses his audience. He reaches out to all types of audience, whether you are a non- smoker, or a smoker, or even a former smoker. Knowing that he was once faced with these stages makes Sedaris approachable because he has experienced it all .He has even lost family members along the way due to cigarettes. Sedaris does not say word for word that smoking is negative, but based on his essay we can tell he believes this even through him, himself was a smoker. Using anecdotes Sedaris expresses his understanding of the topic, since he knows what he is talking about because he has experienced himself. This approach of showing the negatives of smoking through anecdotes works better than having a doctor explain all the medical reason why not to smoke because the information is being given from a relatable source. Sedaris uses his own experience to allow induvials’ to take the message however they please. This essay is not written in a pressure some way. If a smoker were to read this essay they could
Highlighting the theme of conflicting perspectives throughout Geoffrey Robertson's, 'The Trials Of Oz,' in particular his essays, The Romans in Britain and The Trials of Oz, is the bias nature of Geoffrey Robertson as he attempts to adopt his view of events, personalities and situations, to convince the reader on the validity of his argument. A perspective is a point of view, and a conflicting perspective is where two point of views clash. Similarly to this, is Jason Reitman's film'Thank You For Smoking' which is a satire of the perception of promoting smoking, but not to the level in which it is disregarded, as no character smokes on film.
Looking back on my three years at Twin Cities Academy, I find myself wondering how all these years came and went so fast. I still watch myself walking through the same halls and sitting in the same classrooms as I did back in 6th and 7th grade and I’ve seen myself grow so much, mentally, socially and physically. I still remember everything that has happened throughout my years, the best of times, and the worst.
In the passages from Confetti Girl and Tortilla Sun, the narrators have points of view different from those of their parents. Write an essay analyzing how these differences in points of view create tension in both stories. Remember to use details from both texts to support your ideas.
Othello is one of Shakespeare’s four pillars of great tragedies. Othello is unique in comparison to the others in that it focuses on the private lives of its primary characters. When researching the subject of Othello being an Aristotelian tragedy, there is debate among some critics and readers. Some claim that Shakespeare did not hold true to Aristotle’s model of tragedy, according to his definition in “Poetics,” which categorized Othello as a classic tragedy as opposed to traditional tragedy. Readers in the twenty-first century would regard Othello a psychological thriller; it definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat creating the emotions of terror, heart break, and sympathy. This paper will focus on what Shakespeare actually intended regarding “Othello” and its Aristotelian influences.
From Fire to Ash: A closer look at "Smoke Signals" and "This Is What It Means to Say Pheonix Arizona"
"Ms. McMulkin, this is Alex. That essay--- how long can it be?" "Why, uh, not less than 600 words." He sounded a little surprised. I'd forgotten it was late at night. "Can it be longer?" "Certainly, Alex, as long as you want it." "Thanks," I said and hung up. I sat down and picked up my pen and thought for a minute. Remembering. Remembering a handsome, dark boy with a reckless grin and a hot temper. A tough, towheaded boy with a cigarette in his mouth and a bitter grin on his hard face. Remembering- -- and this time it didn't hurt--- a quiet, defeated-looking sixteen-year-old whose hair needed cutting badly and who had black eyes with a frightened expression to them. One week had taken all three of them. And I decided I could tell people, beginning with my English teacher. I wondered for a long time how to start that theme, how to start writing about something that was important to me. And I finally began like this: When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride
He goes through many of his life experiences of smoking and tries to find understanding within them. Merriam-Webster defines smoking as; to inhale and exhale the fumes of burning plant material and tobacco; especially: to smoke tobacco habitually. The key word in that definition would be habitually. One who smokes generally is addicted or has formed a habit of smoking. Although distasteful to most people, those who smoke are generally willing to quit smoking, yet they're unable to "kick the habit."
Commencement is a critical juncture in our lives; it is a momentous occasion where we believe we are about to start anew. However, graduation is the bittersweet moment where the forces of past and future are simultaneously acting on us. Consequently, the past is not dead. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, suggests that our past experiences will be with us forever as he states, " [we] are a part of all that [we] have met; yet all experience is an arch where through gleams that untraveled world." That is why graduation, similar to other turning points in our lives, possesses two halves, which accentuate each other. We are looking forward, but the "arch" of experience beckons us to remember, value, and learn from our past experiences. Thus, I feel that in order to appreciate commencement fully, we must remember our own past, and in particular, the last four years:
The story begins with Dave telling the reader a little about himself and his old job as a bouncer at a nightclub. He appears to be your average 40-year-old; he talks about providing for his family, playing with his kids, drinking with his buddies, and watching Fraiser. However, throughout the story, the reader gets a more and more in depth look into the mind of Dave.