An Essay on Ben Mikaelsen’s Countdown
Countdown is a book written by Ben Mikaelsen and was first published in 1996. It has a total of 248 pages and published by the Hyperion Books for Children company. This book is mainly about sending the first teenager in space. And it is also about finding how a young coward becomes a village warrior.
This story takes place in Big Timber, Montana and in Kenya, Africa. The setting starts off in winter and fourteen-year-old Elliott Schroeder is busy working around his family farm. On the news, NASA announces the first Junior Astronaut program and youth all around the country will get a chance to become the first teen in space.
Meanwhile, in Kenya, Africa, a young fourteen year old Masai, Vincent Ole Tome returns from tending to his family farm also. Vincent was no ordinary boy either, his father had sent him to the “wood school” which is similar to regular school in America. With the education he had received, many boys disliked him and named him a coward for not working as hard in the family farms.
Getting back to Elliott, many things occurred since the announcement of the Junior Astronaut program. Elliott is chosen to become to first teenager in space and begins his nine month training along with his alternate, Mandy Jane Harris. This was it, the only chance that Elliott Andrew Schroeder was going to become a national hero and the only thing in his way was Mandy. Because of that he developed a disliking towards her which almost costed them their privilege to go to space. Then Elliott realized that his disliking had to reasonable justification and they became the best of friends for the last four months of training. Then the day came, when Elliott was really going to become the first teen in space and his only duty was to speak to anyone on earth throughout NASA’s space mission.
While all of this was happening in America, in Kenya, Africa, Vincent is now being tested by the elders of his village along with all other young Masai boys to find who is the bravest of them to become a warrior. Leboo, a not so close friend of Vincent, tries to tear Vincent’s spirits down by naming him a coward.
When they arrived they saw a weird thing on the moon. Bob thought it was an alien but John thought it was a space trooper and he also thought he was upset. So they went to help him and the nice space trooper was so excited that they came. The boys also gave him a new skateboard and they got all of the rocks out of the skateboarding area. The energetic space trooper felt better and he showed his skateboarding tricks to the boys. They were friends and John and Bob had to leave. So they said bye and they left. They went home safely and the trooper was upset because they couldn’t stay for that long and the boys were proud that they could meet a space trooper in
John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, reveals the many dangers and hardships of adolescence. The main characters, Gene, and Finny, spend their summer together at a boarding school called Devon. The two boys, do everything together, until Gene, the main character, develops a resentful hatred toward his friend Finny. Gene becomes extremely jealous and envious of Finny, which fuels this resentment, and eventually turns deadly. Knowles presents a look at the darker side of adolescence, showing jealousy’s disastrous effects. Gene’s envious thoughts and jealous nature, create an internal enemy, that he must fight. A liberal humanistic critique reveals that Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, has a self contained meaning, expresses the enhancement of life, and reveals that human nature does not change.
In A Separate Peace, Gene’s cluelessness leads to an imagined mutual competition with Finny, resembling the war in the setting of the novel, and teaching the reader about ignorance in human nature as a moral to the story. Little knowledge about one’s surroundings, combined with a misconception about one’s own identity, leads to the creation of unnecessary conflicts, actions, and goals. Like characters in great literature, people “see” their enemies in the world around them and engage themselves in a war, ultimately straying them from their natural path. In life, the gain of experience and avoidance of assumptions about the world based on one’s lack of knowledge will lead one to avoid these unavailing engagement with the creations of our own mind, and to realize one’s individuality, and the choices one truly wants to make.
Geoffrey Canada’s characters in Fist Stick Knife Gun use violence to increase their status and honor, and to make themselves stand out from the rest of their group as being more powerful. Canada’s violence is necessary to his characters as it is their only way to distinguish different people’s power. Canada’s characters also use violence to save their lives, as the adults in their life cannot protect the children. Canada writes: “status was a major issue for boys on the block” (Canada 18), a very blunt yet compelling statement that describes the importance of “status” for the boys on the block. “On the block,” respect and power means everything, as social order is decided by these qualities. Canada argues that in the South Bronx this “status” and social order could only be decided ...
The Blast Off was lined with photos of rockets charging into space. George settled into the bar stool, took a drink and put the glass down. Joe recognized this as the preparations prior to the start of a story and hoped he had heard it only a few times before.
Knowles deliberately juxtaposes Gene’s social awkwardness to Finny’s natural athleticism and charisma to suggest an imbalance of power between the two boys. Set in Devon School, described as “very athletic” (Knowles 13), Finny, “an extraordinary athlete…the best athlete in the school,” (16) establishes himself to be popular, tilting the balance of power. Stating there is no one “in this school – in this world – whom [he] could trust” (53), Knowles introduces Gene as a distrustful individual. Gene’s hesitant nature lets the animated Finny take charge of their relationship. To create power imbalance, the author purposefully creates Gene and Finny with wildly different personalities.
James Baldwin tells a story about an African American man named Sonny. The setting of the story takes place in the projects of Harlem New York during the nineteen fifties. The story is narrated by Sonny’s brother and in this story the narrator describes the hardships of growing up in the projects. Sonny was the family screw up for he fell into the life of crime and drug uses. Sonny fell into the life of crime for he grew up in Harlem where he “turned hard... the way kids can… in Harlem” (Baldwin 49). Sonny was especially into heroin or referred to as horse in this story. Because of his drug use he was always in and out of jail “He had been picked up, the evening before, in a raid on an apartment downtown, for peddling and using heroin” (49). Harlem and the society had and impact on the African Americans for they never had the same opportunities to succeed before the civil rights act. Even the narrator who was the good and smart kid who had a college education and who was sober could not afford to live outside of the projects. It seems as if nothing would work for every escape lead them back to the projects. Sonny tried every thing to escape poverty, but never could escape it. Sonny said “I don’t want to stay in Harlem no more, I really don’t… I want to join the army or the navy, I don’t care” (60). Sonny was so desperate to escape poverty that
Some rhetorical devices that were used by Malcom in his article “Dangerous Minds” include different stories and the use of stereotyping. Some different stories include the story of F.P. which was a serial bomber- small homemade bombs, but bombs nevertheless and B.T.K. which stands for “Bind, Torture, Kill.”
Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
The green light signifies Gatsby’s hopes and dreams. Nick thinks back to when Gatsby observes the green light across the bay from West Egg and says, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (180). The “orgastic future” represents the American dream in which everyone has the equal opportunity to live in prosperity and happiness through hard work and success. Gatsby’s dream is full of potential, but the memories in his past end up against him and his potential diminishes as his life
now uses My Father’s Name as an inspirational seminar, for anybody who would like to
In the process of devolution, certain drawbacks—such as local elite capture, lack of executive experience of local politicians and possible financial cost—should be safeguarded. The devolution settlement in 2016 should consider possible legislative specifications and the establishment of supervisory infrastructure. With careful implementation, devolution in Dalmatia will be a promising policy that can drive economic and social development at both local and national
The story provides many sources for the boy's animosity. Beginning with his home and overall environment, and reaching all the way to the adults that surround him. However, it is clear that all of these causes of the boy's isolation have something in common, he has control over none of these factors. While many of these circumstances no one can expect to have control over, it is the culmination of all these elements that lead to the boy’s undeniable feeling of lack of control.
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