Analysis of a Play Essay

In Edward Bok Lee’s â€Å"El Santo Americano,† an expert grappler captures his better half and kid as he drives to Mexico, planning to rehash himself and keep his family together. Dirt is a disrespected proficient grappler who drives his better half and child with him to Mexico. There, he plans to rehash himself as a grappler, and not be taken as a joke. He likewise would like to improve his bombing relationship with his family. It is uncovered in the blink of an eye into the play that Clay has in truth taken his better half and child forcibly, when Evalana advises him to stop so she can take a restroom break, and Clay says â€Å"if I stop, you’ll attempt to run once more. † He additionally has carried a firearm with him. As the story advances, Clay pulls over, giving Evalana the â€Å"opportunity† to flee, to which she guarantees she won’t. Mud at that point gives a long monolog uncovering his wrestling life, including when he had at last dominated a game and the crowd really gived a shout out to him, valuing a â€Å"real† coordinate rather than â€Å"so much fake horse crap (they had seen) as the years progressed. †More significantly, during the monolog, Clay uncovers that he had won to give his better half and child something to have faith in, thus his child could for once not â€Å"see his daddy get beat on numerous occasions. † During the long monolog, Evalana incidentally runs off, and Clay points the weapon at himself, in the end simply placing it into his mouth. Evalana in the end returns, and gives her very own monolog. She recounts a family trip she went on to Disneyland when she was about their child Jesse’s age. En route, her dad woke the family up in Arizona, so they could see a major dam around evening time. It was during that time that she was captivated by a rainbow she saw around evening time. The following night, while the family was enjoying nature out, Evalana saw a far off town that captivated her, â€Å"shining with minuscule stars that weren’t truly stars, encompassed by rainbows that weren’t truly rainbows. † She uncovers that she envisioned she was conceived in that town, and that was the spot the family was making a beeline for rather than Disneyland. Following Evalana’s monolog, it is uncovered that Jesse has driven off without them. Earth and Evalana take a gander at one another, the firearm still in Clay’s mouth, and Evalana continues to expel the weapon from his mouth, and points it at him. By and large, this was an effective play which had clashes between the characters, and finished in a bend in which their child forsakes them in the desert. The play uncovers the deplorability of a man who needs to substantiate himself to his family, and his own child surrenders him and leaves both him and his significant other abandoned at long last. I preferred the story and the pressures in this play, just as the closure I didn't anticipate coming. In any case, I didn't care for the long monologs told by both Clay and Evalana, which I discovered hard to follow. Furthermore, the way that no sentences started with capital letters made the play hard to peruse. I feel like the play could have improved in the event that it didn't have such long monologs, and shorter bits of character exchange with one another.

Crime and Punishment

The shopping center character, Rationalism, submitted the homicide of a pawn specialist and her sister which he turned out to be sick with blame. He is blamed as the killer yet denied It until the end where he in the long run admitted and was sent to Siberia. In the novel, Irrationals had an unendurable measure of blame, confronted discipline by Imprisonment, and gave his heart to God for forgiveness.Conflicts he was gotten through lit up the importance of the novel: For all violations, there will be discipline. All through Crime and Punishment, Rakishness' blame got the most exceedingly awful of him. After the homicide, he was called to the police where he caught discussions about the homicide which made him black out. At the point when he recouped, he accused succumbing to the paint and rushed home since his blame made him think â€Å"there will be a hunt without a moment's delay. † (pig 109) Rowdy became sick which was on the grounds that he needed to confront a lot of torm enting guilt.The measure of blame he had in his heart started the significance of the novel which was a type of discipline for his wrongdoing. Toward the finish of Crime and Punishment, Rationalism admitted to the homicide and was detained in Siberia for a long time. Sonic tailed him as â€Å"link† between the family. Raucous felt that a mind-blowing states in jail were not terrible despite the fact that different detainees didn't care for him. He likewise felt that he needed to â€Å"submit to the foolishness of a sentence† in light of the fact that he considered his to be as a â€Å"blunder† in light of the fact that it could transpire. pig 535) His detainment in Siberia was the genuine discipline he needed to look for his wrongdoing. On account of the blame and discipline Rationalism put him self through, he admitted his wrongdoing and turned into a â€Å"good Christian† by doing his time. Sonic had given him the book of the old confirmation which he h eld under his pad at jail however had not opened once in a year. He despite everything didn't open it at that point however felt that he had another life coming yet it would take incredible torment. (pig 542) Sonic gave him a cross which e saw as a way of acknowledgment of his sins.The importance is lit up through this by demonstrating that even through discipline, there is still acceptable. In Conclusion to Rakishness' contentions In Crime and Punishment, he helped flash the significance. His blame was a more noteworthy discipline than genuine discipline. Detainment was a type of discipline for the violations he submitted. At last, by submitting to God and perceiving his transgressions, the subject Is Illuminated by demonstrating that despite the fact that discipline Is confronted, acceptable can in any case originate from crimes.As Frederica Garcia Loran once stated, â€Å"to copy with want and stay silent about It Is simply the best discipline we can welcome on ourselves. † Crime and Punishment By indecency primary character, Rationalism, carried out the homicide of a pawn dealer and her sister which he turned out to be sick with blame. He is blamed as the killer however denied it until the end where he in the long run admitted and was sent to Siberia. In the novel, Rationalism had an intolerable measure of blame, confronted discipline by detainment, and gave his heart to God for forgiveness.Conflicts he was gotten through enlightened the Throughout Crime and Punishment, Rakishness' blame got the most noticeably terrible of him. After homicide which made him black out. At the point when he recuperated, he accused blacking out on the In Conclusion to Rakishness' contentions in Crime and Punishment, he helped flash submitting to God and perceiving his transgressions, the topic is lit up by indicating that despite the fact that discipline is confronted, acceptable can in any case originate from wrongdoings. As Frederica Garcia Loran once stated, â€Å" to ignite with want and stay silent about it is the best

Lessons in Life and Marketing Yourself (a.k.a. What I Learned at the River Food Pantry)

Lessons in Life and Marketing Yourself (a.k.a. What I Learned at the River Food Pantry) Last Friday evening I volunteered at the River Food Pantry, the busiest food pantry in my county. The pantry distributes 30 thousand pounds of food to 600 families per weekâ€"I think I personally distributed about 1000 pounds of it, as I was in charge of giving out cabbages. These were not just ordinary cabbages like the ones you see in the grocery store. Some of them were bigger than my head and easily weighed 7 pounds. My cabbage volunteer experience taught me many lessons about life and even resumes. Here’s some of what I learned: I *do* have time in my life for volunteering, and it feels good. All it takes is putting it in my calendar. This time it helped that a group of friends all decided to volunteer on the same day. Volunteering is even more fun as a community and when you can go out with friends afterward! (Maybe you are procrastinating something that would get done if you put it in your calendar and/or made a group experience out of it?) When there are small cabbages and big cabbages, most people do not want the big cabbages. But when there are only big cabbages, people take the big ones. Of course some people simply don’t like cabbage. But if you’re interested in cabbage, the desirability of any given one is all in your perspective. (It is your job to make yourself or your product look desirable when compared to all the other choices around it.) When told, “You can have one of everything on this table,” (a table filled with berries, pumpkins and potatoes in addition to heads of cabbage) people often skip over the cabbage. But when asked, “Would you like a cabbage?” most people will take a cabbage. And when further offered, “A nice big one?” most people will take a big one. This phenomenon reminded me of how simple our minds are. Put whatever you want people to notice in front of their noses; draw their attention to it and they will probably bite. We humans are so suggestible. (This strategy works on resumes too!) People like variety. On a cart to my right there were packs of cut watermelon. No one was taking them. But when they were placed on a table next to packs of blackberries and people were told they could choose two things, they chose variety: one watermelon and one blackberry instead of 2 blackberries. The watermelon, previously unwanted, flew off the shelves. (Workplaces and colleges look for variety too. You might be the right fit just because you are different!) People like things that look pretty. About an hour into my shift, I decided to start cleaning up the cabbages, taking off the outer leaves, before offering them to customers. The number of cabbage takers increased significantly. (Can you see an implication for your job search and marketing documents here?) I like to finish what I started. Even after my friends had completed their tasks, I found it impossible to leave with them until I had given out cabbages to the last patron. I’m sure someone else could have peeled cabbage leaves just as well as I did, but for some reason I felt I needed to see my job through to the end. And so I did. Do you have a tradition of volunteering at holiday time? I’d love to hear what it is! And perhaps this year you can use the occasion as a way to learn some life lessons as well as spread holiday cheer.

Should I Rent My College Textbooks

Renting college textbooks is becoming increasingly popular. Many companies, both big and small, are starting to offer textbook rental services. How can you tell if renting your college textbooks is the smart thing to do for your particular situation? Spend a Few Minutes Pricing Your Books This sounds more intimidating than it really is, but its worth the effort. Check out how much your books cost, both new and used, at your campus bookstore. Then spend a few minutes online searching for how much your books would cost if you were to buy them, either new or used, through an online store (that can often be cheaper than your campus shop). Spend a Few Minutes Figuring out Why You Need the Book(s)    Are you an English major who wants to keep the great works of literature youll be reading this semester? Or are you a science major who knows that youll never use your textbook again after the semester concludes? Will you want your textbook for reference later -- for example, will you want your general chemistry textbook youre using this semester for your organic chemistry class next semester? Check With Textbook Buy-Back Programs If you buy a book for $100  and can sell it back for $75, that may be a better deal than renting it for $30. Try to view your textbook purchase versus rental choice as something that will happen over the entire semester, not just the first week of class. Figure out the Total Cost of Renting Your Textbooks   Youll probably need them as soon as possible; how much will overnight shipping cost? What will it cost to ship them back? What if the company you rent them from decides your books are not in returnable condition at the end of the semester? Do you have to rent the books for longer than you actually need? Do you have to return the books before your semester ends? What happens if you lose one of the books? Are there any hidden fees associated with your textbook rental? Compare, Compare, Compare Compare as much as you can: buying new vs. buying used; buying used vs. renting; renting vs. borrowing from the library; etc. The only way youll know youre getting the best deal possible is to know what your options are. For many students, renting textbooks is indeed a great way to save money, but its worth a little time and effort to ensure its right for your particular situation.

The Sorrow of War Book Review - 998 Words

The experience of war brings out the moralities of war and the tragedies of loss and death. Bao Ninh portrays these realizations and tragedies throughout his novel The Sorrow of War. The stories told follow the central character Kien whose story shows the moralities of war and tragedies of loss and death. Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War is a novel depicts the horrors that are a result of war. Kien is the main character whose life is used to depict these horrors; a soldier who’s lost all his comrades, lost his love, and lost his path. Kien’s life is made to be extremely harsh and extremely undesirable by the readers. The novel starts off with Kien gathering the remains of his fellow fallen soldiers, this gathering seems to be the trigger for†¦show more content†¦O’Brien and Ninh both had the unchronological events similar to the style of Quentin Tarantino, however, Ninh seems to tie the events back together further into the story rather than many even ts that stand alone. Ninh tells the events of Kien and Phuong’s love but waits to show the largest events of their relationship until the end. I feel that Bao Ninh’s use of very vivid and extremely graphic imagery to be used very well. With the title The Sorrow of War you’d expect a strong story put forward by the author, the title almost requires that the novel be written in a very graphic style. Ninh did justice to the title in describing the horrors of the war in ways such as â€Å"the blood spreading out, spraying from their backs, flowing like red mud.† (5) Many complain that Ninh was overly graphic and should have toned down his imagery more than he has. I believe this is one of the novels greatest feats to display the pain and the sadness that comes with war. I understand that this novel was originally written in Vietnamese and translated to English, having family that speak English I understand that Vietnamese is a language that is very blunt and isn’t a very poetic language. Being translated to via my parents gives me experience knowing that the true passion and meaning of a speech or a text can be lost in translation. Although I did enjoy The Sorrow of War I believe that this novel could have been far moreShow MoreRelatedThe Sorrow of War Essay1244 Words   |  5 PagesThe Sorrow of War Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War is a novel that is a personal view of the Vietnam War from the perspective of a Vietnamese soldier. Like the American novel â€Å"The things they carried†, this novel brings about the effects of war on people, and especially how it defeats the human capacity for things such as love and hope. Bao Ninh offers this realistic picture of the Vietnam War’s impact on the individual Vietnamese soldier through use of a series of reminiscences or flashbacks, jumpingRead MoreThe Nonlinear Structure of the Sorrow of War and Its Distortion of Kien and Phuongs Relationship to Create Character Depth to Kien1513 Words   |  7 PagesThe Nonlinear Structure of The Sorrow of War and its Distortion of Kien and Phuongs Relationship to Create Character Depth to Kien Bao Ninh is a Vietnamese war veteran and the author of what is said to be one of the most moving war novels of all time (Gareth Smith), The Sorrow of War. In the epic tale, Bao tells the story of Kien in a nonlinear narrative, weaving in and out of stories of young love and war, each failing to complete its own objectives: to come home and live in peace with thoseRead MoreEssay on Coping Mechanisms in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five1679 Words   |  7 Pages People react differently to tragedies: some mourn, some speak up, and some avoid the sorrow. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut suggests the danger and inhumanity of turning away from the discomfort by introducing Billy Pilgrim as someone who is badly affected by the aftermath of the Dresden bombing, and the Tralfamadorians as the aliens who provide an easy solution to Billy. It is simpler to avoid something as tragic as death, but Vonnegut stresses the importance of confronting it. VonnegutRead More Comparing the Theme of Abandonment in Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club and Kitchen Gods Wife737 Words   |  3 PagesJoy Luck Club is that of abandonment. In The Kitchen Gods Wife, the character of Winnie Louie is abandoned by her mother when she was a young child. In The Joy Luck Club, Suyuan Woo has to abandon her twin daughters on the road as she is escaping war-torn China.    In The Joy Luck Club, Suyuan Woo is forced to abandon her twin daughters at the side of the road in a desperate act to give them a chance to live. Throughout her life she is haunted by this memory: When the road grew quietRead MoreConsequences : The Necession Of Suicide And Adolescents1153 Words   |  5 Pagesa more joyful life now that her recollections are no more. Rather, she gets herself overpowered with feelings that she doesnt comprehend, a sorrow that appears to have no place, an affection that appears to have no protest. Her body recollects what her brain cant, and it torments her as she battles to put the pieces together.This is an extraordinary book—so exceptional that I needed to take various breaks from understanding it. Not five-minute breaks. More like month-long breaks.But its incredibleRead MoreLiterature Review Outline : The Boy In The Striped Pajamas1164 Words   |  5 PagesLiterature Review Outline: The Boy In The Striped Pajamas â€Å"The Boy In The Striped Pajamas† weaves a thread of intricate and compelling details through the description of each event that occurs within this book. For example, this novel features a descriptive scene where Bruno (protagonist) encounters a fence, which holds many Jews captive; this event takes you on a journey where you can experience the border that divides us, and how we may deal with that border - as Bruno faces. John Boyne hasRead MoreRetribution : The Battle For Japan1591 Words   |  7 Pagesfor Japan 1944-1945 written by former British journalist and military historian, Max Hastings tells a story about one of the most brutal and horrifying wars in history, the Pacific War between United States of America and Japan. Through a very detailed style of writing, Hastings was able to clearly narrate the happenings in the last stages of World War II, especially the fall of Japan at the hands of America. Through some stories and interviews from the people who were directly involved, Hastings wasRead MoreThe Significance of the Character Shadrack in the Novel Sula by Toni Morrison1556 Words   |  7 PagesThe Significance of The Character Shadrack in The Novel Sula By Toni Morrison The book Sula by Toni Morrison is regarded as one of Morrison’s best work because of the content and structure of the book. Shadrack is an important character in the novel although his appearance in the plot is fairly brief. His significance in the novel stems from the fact that he represents one of the recurring themes of the novel, which is the need for order. Since the need to order and focus experience is an importantRead MoreGrowing Up Of The People s Republic : Conversations Between Two Daughters Of China s Revolution1249 Words   |  5 PagesBook Review: Growing Up in the People’s Republic: Conversations Between Two Daughters of China’s Revolution. By- Ye Weili with Ma Xiaodong Reviewed by: The book is a written as conversational memoir between two women, Ye Weili and Ma Xiaodong about their experience during the first three decades of Mao’s era. The two women had gone through almost similar position and situations in their life, faced equivalent hardships, their approach or attitude towards those experiences in aRead More Saving Private Ryan Essay940 Words   |  4 Pages Saving Private Ryan is a movie that generates strong responses from most people that see it. While interviewing four individuals and reading three movie reviews, I found that each of my subjects would recommend it, not one of the individuals interviewed felt the violence was senseless, and all of them left the movie with a strong emotional response of some kind. It appears that Saving Private Ryan is the kind of movie to which many can relate. Saving Private Ryan is not a romantic, feel-good movie

The Vampire Diaries The Struggle Chapter Fifteen Free Essays

â€Å"Elena, you’re being rude!† Aunt Judith seldom got angry but she was angry now. â€Å"You’re too old for this kind of behavior.† â€Å"It’s not rudeness! You don’t understand – † â€Å"I understand perfectly. We will write a custom essay sample on The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle Chapter Fifteen or any similar topic only for you Order Now You’re acting just the way you did when Damon came to dinner. Don’t you think a guest deserves a little more consideration?† Frustration flooded over Elena. â€Å"You don’t even know what you’re talking about,† she said. This was too much. To hear Damon’s words coming from Aunt Judith’s lips†¦ it was unbearable. â€Å"Elena!† A mottled flush was creeping up Aunt Judith’s cheeks. â€Å"I’mshocked at you! And Ihave to say that this childish behavior only started since you’ve been going out with that boy.† â€Å"Oh, ‘that boy’.† Elena glared at Damon. â€Å"Oh, really?† Elena felt as if she were talking to Damon and Aunt Judith at once, and she looked back and forth between the two of them. All the emotions she’d been suppressing for the last days – for the last weeks, for the months since Stefan had come into her life – were surging forward. It was like a great tidal wave inside her, over which she had no control. She realized she was shaking. â€Å"Well, that’s too bad because you’re going to have to tolerate it. I am never going to give Stefan up, not for anyone. Certainly not foryou!† This last was meant for Damon, but Aunt Judith gasped. â€Å"That’s enough!† Robert snapped. He’d appeared with Margaret, and his face was dark. â€Å"Young lady, if this is how that boy encourages you to speak to your aunt – â€Å" â€Å"He’s not ‘that boy’!† Elena took another step back, so she could face all of them. She was making a spectacle of herself, everyone in the courtyard was looking. But she didn’t care. She had been keeping a lid on her feelings for so long, shoving down all the anxiety and the fear and the anger where it wouldn’t be seen. All the worry about Stefan, all the terror over Damon, all the shame and humiliation she’d suffered at school, she’d buried it deep. But now it was coming back. All of it, all at once, in a maelstrom of impossible violence. Her heart was pounding crazily; her ears rang. She felt that nothing mattered except to hurt the people who stood in front of her, to show them all. â€Å"He’s not ‘that boy’,† she said again, her voice deadly cold. â€Å"He’s Stefan and he’s all I care about. And I happen to be engaged to him.† â€Å"Oh, don’t be ridiculous!† Robert thundered. It was the last straw. â€Å"Is this ridiculous?† She held up her hand, the ring toward them. â€Å"We’re going to get married!† â€Å"You arenot going to get married,† Robert began. Everyone was furious. Damon grabbed her hand and stared at the ring, then turned abruptly and strode away, every step full of barely leashed savagery. Robert was spluttering on in exasperation. Aunt Judith was fuming. â€Å"Elena, I absolutely forbid you – â€Å" â€Å"You’renot my mother !† Elena cried. Tears were trying to force themselves out of her eyes. She needed to get away, to be alone, to be with someone who loved her. â€Å"If Stefan asks, tell him I’ll be at the boarding house!† she added, and broke away through the crowd. She half expected Bonnie or Meredith to follow her, but she was glad they didn’t. The parking lot was full of cars but almost empty of people. Most of the families were staying for the afternoon activities. But a battered Ford sedan was parked nearby, and a familiar figure was unlocking the door. â€Å"Matt! Are you leaving?† She made her decision instantly. It was too cold to walk all the way to the boarding house. â€Å"Huh? No, I’ve got to help Coach Lyman take the tables down. I was just putting this away.† He tossed the Outstanding Athlete placard into the front seat. â€Å"Hey, are you okay?† His eyes widened at the sight of â€Å"Yes – no. I will be if I can get out of here. Look, can I take your car? Just for a little while?† â€Å"Well†¦ sure, but†¦ I know, why don’t you let me drive you? I’ll go tell Coach Lyman.† â€Å"No! I just want to be alone†¦ Oh, please don’t ask any questions.† She almost snatched the keys out of his hand. â€Å"I’ll bring it back soon, I promise. Or Stefan will. If you see Stefan, tell him I’m at the boarding house. And thanks.† She slammed the door on his protests and revved the engine, pulling out with a clash of gears because she wasn’t used to a stick shift. She left him standing there staring after her. She drove without really seeing or hearing anything outside, crying, locked in her own spinning tornado of emotions. She and Stefan would run away†¦ They would elope†¦ They would show everyone. She would never set foot in Fell’s Church again. And then Aunt Judith would be sorry. Then Robert would see how wrong he’d been. But Elena would never forgive them. Never. As for Elena herself, she didn’t need anybody. She certainly didn’t need stupid old Robert E. Lee, where you could go from being mega-popular to being a social pariah in one day just for loving the wrong person. She didn’t need any family, or any friends, either†¦ Slowing down to cruise up the winding driveway of the boarding house, Elena felt her thoughts slow down, too. Well†¦ she wasn’t mad at all her friends. Bonnie and Meredith hadn’t done anything. Or Matt. Matt was all right. In fact, she might not need him but his car had come in pretty handy. In spite of herself Elena felt a strangled giggle well up in her throat. Poor Matt. People always borrowing his clunking dinosaur of a car. He must think she and Stefan were nuts. The giggle let loose a few more tears and she sat and wiped them off, shaking her head. Oh, God, how did things turn out this way? What a day. She should be having a victory celebration because they’d beaten Caroline, and instead she was crying alone in Matt’s car. Carolinehad looked pretty damn funny, though. Elena’s body shook gently with slightly hysterical chuckles. Oh, the look on her face. Somebody better have a video of that. At last the sobs and giggles both abated and Elena felt a wash of tiredness. She leaned against the steering wheel trying not to think of anything for a while, and then she got out of the car. She’d go and wait for Stefan, and then they’d both go back and deal with the mess she’d made. It would take a lot of cleaning up, she thought wearily. Poor Aunt Judith. Elena had yelled at her in front of half the town. Why had she let herself get so upset? But her emotions were still close to the surface, as she found when the boarding house door was locked and no one answered the bell. Oh, wonderful she thought, her eyes stinging again. Mrs. Flowers had gone off to the Founders’ Day celebration, too. And now Elena had the choice of sitting in the car or standing out here in this windstorm†¦ It moaned through the branches of the oak trees, tearing off the remaining leaves and sending them down in showers. The sound was rising steadily now, not just a moan but a howl. And there was something else. Something that came not just from the wind, but from the air itself, or the space around the air. A feeling of pressure, of menace, of some unimaginable force. It was gathering power, drawing nearer, closing in. Elena spun to face the oak trees. There was a stand of them behind the house, and more beyond, blending into the forest. And beyond that were the river and the graveyard. Something†¦ was out there. Something†¦ very bad†¦ â€Å"No,† whispered Elena. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it, like some great shape rearing up to stand over her, blotting out the sky. Shefelt the evil, the hatred, the animal fury. Bloodlust. Stefan had used the word, but she hadn’t understood it. Now she felt this bloodlust†¦ focused on her. â€Å"No!† Higher and higher, it was towering over her. She could still see nothing, but it was as if great wings unfolded, stretching to touch the horizon on either side. Something with a Power beyond comprehension†¦ and it wanted tokill †¦ â€Å"No!† She ran for the car just as it stooped and dived for her. Her hands scrabbled at the door handle, and she fumbled frantically with the keys. The wind was screaming, shrieking, tearing at her hair. Gritty ice sprayed into her eyes, blinding her, but then the key turned and she jerked the door open. Safe! She slammed the door shut again and brought her fist down on the lock. Then she flung herself across the seat to check the locks on the other side. The wind roared with a thousand voices outside. The car began rocking. â€Å"Stop it! Damon, stop it!† Her thin cry was lost in the cacophony. She put her hands out on the dashboard as if to balance the car and it rocked harder, ice pelting against it. Then she saw something. The rear window was clouding up, but she could discern the shape through it. It looked like some great bird made of mist or snow, but the outlines were hazy. All she was sure of was that it had huge sweeping wings†¦ and that it was coming for her. Get the key in the ignition. Get it in! Now go! Her mind was rapping orders at her. The ancient Ford wheezed and the tires screamed louder than the wind as she took off. And the shape behind her followed, getting larger and larger in the rearview mirror. If she hadn’t been skidding and braking already, the tree would have crashed down on her. As it was, the violent impact shook the car like an earthquake missing the front right fender by inches. The tree was a mass of heaving, pitching branches, its trunk blocking the way back to town completely. She was trapped. Her only route home cut off. She was alone, there was no escape from this terrible Power†¦ Power. That was it; that was the key. â€Å"The stronger your Powers are, the more the rules of the dark bind you.† Running water! Throwing the car into reverse, she brought it around and then slammed into forward. The white shape banked and swooped, missing her as narrowly as the tree had, and then she was speeding down Old Creek Road into the worst of the storm. It was still after her. Only one thought pounded in Elena’s brain now. She had to cross running water, to leave this thing behind. There were more cracks of lightning, and she glimpsed other trees falling, but she swerved around them. It couldn’t be far now. She could see the river flickering past on her left side through the driving ice storm. Then she saw the bridge. It was there; she’d made it! A gust threw sleet across the windshield, but with the wipers’ next stroke she saw it fleetingly again. This was it, the turn should be abouthere. The car lurched and skidded onto the wooden structure. Elena felt the wheels grip at slick planks and then felt them lock. Desperately, she tried to turn with the skid, but she couldn’t see and there was no room†¦ And then she was crashing through the guardrail, the rotted wood of the footbridge giving way under weight it could no longer support. There was a sickening feeling of spinning, dropping, and the car hit the water. Elena heard screams, but they didn’t seem to be connected with her. The river welled up around her and everything was noise and confusion and pain. A window shattered as it was struck by debris, and then another. Dark water gushed across her, along with glass like ice. She was engulfed. She couldn’t see; she couldn’t get out. And she couldn’t breathe. She was lost in this hellish tumult, and there was no air.She had to breathe. She had to get out of here†¦ â€Å"Stefan, help me!† she screamed. But her scream made no sound. Instead, the icy water rushed into her lungs, invading her. She thrashed against it, but it was too strong for her. Her struggles became wilder, more uncoordinated, and then they stopped. Bonnie and Meredith were hunting around the perimeter of the school impatiently. They’d seen Stefan go this way, more or less coerced by Tyler and his new friends. They’d started to follow him, but then that business with Elena had started. And then Matt had informed them that she’d taken off. So they’d set out after Stefan again, but nobody was out here. There weren’t even any buildings except one lonely Quonset hut. â€Å"And now there’s a storm coming!† Meredith said. â€Å"Listen to that wind! I think it’s going to rain.† â€Å"Or snow!† Bonnie shuddered. â€Å"Where did theygo?† â€Å"I don’t care; I just want to get under a roof. Here it comes!† Meredith gasped as the first sheet of icy rain hit her, and she and Bonnie ran for the nearest shelter – the Quonset hut. And it was there that they found Stefan. The door was ajar, and when Bonnie looked in she recoiled. â€Å"Tyler’s goon squad!† she hissed. â€Å"Look out!† Stefan had a semicircle of guys between him and the door. Caroline was in the corner. â€Å"He must have it! He took it somehow; I know he did!† she was saying. â€Å"Took what?† said Meredith, loudly. Everyone turned their way. Caroline’s face contorted as she saw them in the doorway and Tyler snarled. â€Å"Get out.† he said. â€Å"You don’t want to be involved in this.† Meredith ignored him. â€Å"Stefan, can I talk to you?† â€Å"In a minute. Are you going to answer her question? Took what?† Stefan was concentrating on Tyler, totally focused. â€Å"Sure, I’ll answer her question. Right after I answer yours.† Tyler’s beefy hand thumped into his fist and he stepped forward. â€Å"You’re going to be dog meat, Salvatore.† Several of the tough guys snickered. Bonnie opened her mouth to say, â€Å"Let’s getout of here.† But what she actually said was, â€Å"The bridge.† It was weird enough to make everyone look at her. â€Å"What?† said Stefan. â€Å"The bridge,† said Bonnie again, without meaning to say it. Her eyes bulged, alarmed. She could hear the voice coming from her throat, but she had no control over it. And then she felt her eyes go wider and her mouth drop open and she had her own voice back. â€Å"The bridge, oh, my God, the bridge! That’s where Elena is! Stefan, we’ve got to save her†¦ Oh, hurry!† â€Å"Yes, oh, God†¦ that’s where she’s gone. She’s drowning!Hurry !† Waves of thick blackness broke over Bonnie. But she couldn’t faint now; they had to get to Elena. Stefan and Meredith hesitated one minute, and then Stefan was through the goon squad, brushing them aside like tissue paper. They sprinted through the field toward the parking lot, dragging Bonnie behind. Tyler started after them, but stopped when the full force of the wind hit him. â€Å"Why would she go out in this storm?† Stefan shouted as they sprang into Meredith’s car. â€Å"She was upset; Matt said she took off in his car,† Meredith gasped back in the comparative quiet of the interior. She pulled out fast and turned into the wind, speeding dangerously. â€Å"She said she was going to the boarding house.† â€Å"No, she’s at the bridge! Meredith, drive faster! Oh, God, we’re going to be too late!† Tears were running down Bonnie’s face. Meredith floored it. The car swayed, buffeted by wind and sleet. All through that nightmare ride Bonnie sobbed, her fingers clutching the seat in front of her. Stefan’s sharp warning kept Meredith from running into the tree. They piled out and were immediately lashed and punished by the wind. â€Å"It’s too big to move! We’ll have to walk,† Stefan shouted. Of course it was too big to move, Bonnie thought, already scrambling through the branches. It was a full-grown oak tree. But once on the other side, the icy gale whipped all thought out of her head. Within minutes she was numb, and the road seemed to go on for hours. They tried to run but the wind beat them back. They could scarcely see; if it hadn’t been for Stefan, they would have gone over the riverbank. Bonnie began to weave drunkenly. She was ready to fall to the ground when she heard Stefan shouting up ahead. Meredith’s arm around her tightened, and they broke again into a stumbling run. But as they neared the bridge what they saw brought them to a halt. â€Å"Oh, my God†¦ Elena!† screamed Bonnie. Wickery Bridge was a mass of splintered rubble. The guardrail on one side was gone and the planking had given way as if a giant fist had smashed it. Beneath, the dark water churned over a sickening pile of debris. Part of the debris, entirely underwater except the headlights, was Matt’s car. Meredith was screaming, too, but she was screaming at Stefan. â€Å"No! You can’t go down there!† He never even glanced back. He dived from the bank, and the water closed over his head. Later, Bonnie’s memory of the next hour would be mercifully dim. She remembered waiting for Stefan while the storm raged endlessly on. She remembered that she was almost beyond caring by the time a hunched figure lurched out of the water. She remembered feeling no disappointment, only a vast and yawning grief, as she saw the limp thing Stefan laid out on the road. She remembered how he looked as they tried to do something for Elena. Only that wasn’t really Elena lying there, that was a wax doll with Elena’s features. It was nothing that had ever been alive and it certainly wasn’t alive now. Bonnie thought it seemed silly to go on poking and prodding at it like this, trying to get water out of its lungs and so on. Wax dolls didn’t breathe. She remembered Stefan’s face when he finally gave up. When Meredith wrestled with him and yelled at him, saying something about over an hour without air, and brain damage. The words filtered in to Bonnie, but their meaning didn’t. She just thought it odd that while Meredith and Stefan were screaming at each other they were both crying. Stefan stopped crying after that. He just sat there holding the Elena-doll. Meredith yelled some more, but he didn’t listen to her. He just sat. And Bonnie would never forget his expression. And then something seared through Bonnie, bringing her to life, waking her to terror. She clutched at Meredith and stared around for the source. Something bad†¦ something terrible was coming. Was almost here. Stefan seemed to feel it, too. He was alert, stiff, like a wolf picking up a scent. â€Å"What is it?† shouted Meredith. â€Å"What’s wrong with you?† â€Å"You’ve got to go!† Stefan rose, still holding the limp form in his arms. â€Å"Get out of here!† â€Å"What do you mean? We can’t leave you – â€Å"Yes, you can! Get out of here! Bonnie, get her out!† No one had ever told Bonnie to take care of someone else before. People were always taking care of her. But now she seized Meredith’s arm and began pulling. Stefan was right. There was nothing they could do for Elena, and if they stayed whatever had gotten her would get them. â€Å"Stefan!† Meredith shouted as she was unaccountably dragged away. â€Å"I’ll put her under the trees. The willows, not the oaks,† he called after them. Why would he tell us that now? Bonnie wondered in some deep part of her mind that was not taken up with fear and the storm. The answer was simple, and her mind promptly gave it back to her. Because he wasn’t going to be around to tell them later. How to cite The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle Chapter Fifteen, Essay examples

Overpopulation as a Social Problem free essay sample

With these shocking numbers in mind, it is not hard to believe that overpopulation is an issue in the world today, effecting countries on nearly every continent. For the record, overpopulation is not a complete concrete concept; many different opinions exist in determining criteria for overpopulation and deciding which countries should be labeled â€Å"overpopulated. † However in this paper, the following questions concerning overpopulation will be addressed in hopes of developing a better understanding of overpopulation and how it affects many countries of the world: What is overpopulation? Where are some places in the world that are heavily overpopulated? Why is overpopulation a social problem? What are some solutions that have been carried out to address overpopulation? What is overpopulation? In referring to human population, overpopulation occurs when the population of a country, city, or area exceeds the amount of resources available in that area during a given time period. In other words, the concept of overpopulation not only depends on the size of the population, but the ratio of population to sustainable resources available (â€Å"Overpopulation†, 2011). Overpopulation also depends on the way that resources are used and distributed throughout the population, large or small. For example, very low population areas like desert or arctic areas can be considered overpopulated if the amount of resources available is not enough to sustain human life. Essentially, overpopulation affects resources on two different levels: basic life sustaining resources and quality of life resources. An area can be primarily considered overpopulated if resources such as clean water, clean air, food, shelter, and warmth are in shortage, but areas can also be considered overpopulated if certain quality of life resources are in question, such as medical care, education, clean sewage treatment, and waste disposal (â€Å"Overpopulation†, 2011). Where are some places in the world that are heavily overpopulated? The Optimum Population Trust, which is a British organization that advocates population control in the United Kingdom, produced an overpopulation index that ranks countries of the world by assessing three different primary criteria: per capita consumption (ecological footprint) versus per capita biologically productive capacity (measured in global hectares per capita), self-sufficiency versus dependency, and actual population versus sustainable population. According to this index, the ten most overpopulated countries of the world are Singapore, Israel, Kuwait, Korea Republic, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Belgium. Although China and India are two of the most typically conceived overpopulated countries, they respectively rank 29th and 33rd on the index because they are marginally less dependent on other countries for resources (â€Å"Overpopulation index†, 2010). The Optimum Population Trust states that this helps to demonstrate that overpopulation is not just a matter of population size or density. Why is overpopulation a social problem? The lack of resources that defines overpopulation makes overpopulation a social problem and leads to other social problems. The most obvious result of overpopulation is in land usage. Close to 90% of the worlds food is produced on land. The more land that is required for living decreases the amount of land that can be used for production. Land is a limited resource and will eventually run out. Other essential resources such as food, water, and shelter also become limited as humans use of land increases. Since these resources are no longer available to everybody in surplus; malnutrition, dehydration, and starvation become worse problems as population increases. These limited resources then increase crime rates as people struggle to get necessary supplies to survive. High population in confined areas also increases the amount of pollution, lowers the living conditions, and decreases personal freedom (â€Å"Overpopulation†, 2011). Several people argue that overpopulation is not a social problem. One claim references the fact that the entire world population could relocate to the United States and the population density would be less than 2,000 people per square mile. When this population density is compared to larger United States cities that are typically home to around 10,000 people per square mile, the claim is made that the United States alone has sufficient resources for the world population and that overpopulation is not a problem on a global scale. This claim is made under the false belief that land and population density are the only factors that are affected by overpopulation (Williams, 1999). With 2,000 people per square mile, there would be no room for enough food production and massive levels of starvation would exist. The amount of available fresh water in America would be another overpopulation problem caused by this scenario. North America is currently home to about 15% of the world’s fresh water and does not have enough to supply to everybody in the world at a sustainable rate (Postel, Daily, Ehrlich, 1996). The Population Research Institute makes the claim that overpopulation is a myth and increased population leads to a greater increase in production(â€Å"Overpopulation is a myth†, 2010). While population increases have increased living conditions in developed countries that can produce or maintain sufficient resources, this idea vastly simplifies the problems that overpopulation can cause. As mentioned previously, overpopulation is a problem because of limited resources. Since every resource in the world is limited the sustainable population also has a limit. This means that at some population point the world as a whole will consume more than they produce. This is already happening in several countries, including the United States, where local overconsumption is forcing the import of foreign goods to maintain a healthy society. The most overpopulated countries in the world have a mix of developed countries that have the ability to import the large amount of resources that cannot be produced and poor countries that do not have these capacities. The common theme is that these countries cannot produce sustainable amounts necessary resources and must import items to maintain a healthy living environment (â€Å"Overpopulation†, 2011). Trade is a zero sum gain and countries that have high imports must be offset by countries that have large amounts of excess resources to exports. When the excess resources in these countries disappear, the sustainability of these overpopulated countries will also disappear and the social problems will be undeniable. What solutions have been carried out to address overpopulated areas? While there is no sure solution to overpopulation, measures have been taken to address the issue and limit the negative stresses that it places on the world. Two common solutions that have been carried out to address overpopulated areas are the concept of sustainability and curbing reproduction rates. As previously stated, overpopulation occurs when the population of a country, city, or area exceeds the amount of resources available in that area during a given time period. The concept of sustainability focuses on the second part of that definition: the amount of resources available in that area. An attempt to curb reproduction rates focuses on the first part of that definition: the population of a country, city, or area exceeds, or is in excess. While these two measures directly focus on different aspects of the overpopulation issue, they act as one to solve the problems that overpopulation creates in the world today. Firstly, sustainability is the practice of conserving resources to ensure that people will have enough resources throughout their life and the lives of future generations (Pitts, 2011). Sustainability is practiced by conserving energy, resources, and materials, as well as using new technologies and attempting to monitor reproduction rates in the world. Sustainability is important to preventing a depletion of key resources in our environment because depletion of these resources usually leads to poverty, disease, malnutrition, and sometimes death (Pitts, 2011). Secondly, curbing reproduction rates is an attempt to decrease the population growth of an area by focusing on birth rates, rather than immigration and other issues.