I very much enjoyed The Legend of Colton H. Bryant by Alexandra Fuller. It captured me right away in the beginning scene of Colton racing away from the Kmart Kids on his bicycle. I loved how Colton could take a sad event and turn it into a lighter topic. For example, in the first chapter, Colton was being bullied and harassed. Even though he was crying, he made it lighter by chanting his mantra “‘Mind over matter. I don’t mind so it don’t matter.’” (Fuller 7) There are other examples of Colton behaving in this matter. This is an aspect that I enjoyed in reading this book. How she developed her characters and so on made me fascinated.
I need to practice making my characters constant and reliable for the reader. I need to be able to follow the growth of the specific character and to keep them in that character. I had trouble with this in one of my Creative Folder essays, The Frenzies of the Reflected. I had to go back and erase parts that I had written of the character because she kept jumping around. I learned to build her up through her thoughts and then when she was given an action, it wouldn’t seem out of character.
I believe that the purpose of this novel was to show the reader the unfairness and the reality of the big time oil corporations. Also, to show how the same oil companies are the center of the small town Colton grew up in. The author showed the reader of the unfairness of these companies as well as how much the people of those towns rely on the oil companies. They cannot work anywhere else partially because that’s all there is for the most part. This is shown here, “Colton was born with horses and oil in his blood like his father before him and his grandfather before that and maybe his grandfather’s father before t...
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...gs that also impacted me. I am now more aware of those things and actively look for them in my writing. These elements that Fuller uses that also contribute to her writing style include the rhythm of the language, figures of speech, punctuation, and character development, of which I have already explained in the earlier paragraphs. I usually write to develop my characters with every coming scene while also bringing meaning to the overall events. I try to make the type of language the characters uses, as well as the other aspects of dialog, to coincide with the build/reputation I have already given that character. I usually make my stories and characters reflect off myself; to me, my characters are normal with some sort of dilemma internally which they either do or don’t solve.
Works Cited
Fuller, A. (2008). The Legend of Colton H. Bryant . The Penguin Press.
Earl Lloyd was probably the most courageous player of all time. Some people know him as “The Big Cat” others know him as the first African-American to play in an NBA basketball game with the whites; he changed the way people think and look at basketball and black players and coaches. Earl Lloyd loved basketball from a very young age. Earl had two brothers older than him which was Earnest and Theodore. Earl was very dedicated from a very young age. With his high school team he took them to a state championship and won. After high school Earl went off and took his talents to West Virginia State College. While Earl was there his sophomore year they went 33-0 which is a perfect season. Earl’s team won back to back CIAA conference championships and tournament championships.
“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and get to work.” - H.L Hunt. Spindletop was the first big oil strike in 1901, it gave a new shape to the state’s future. In fact, during World War II,Texas produced twice as much oil than Nazi Germany and Japan did combined. Oil didn’t change Texas overnight. You trusted me to find out What story should be told? After reading the documents that you gave me I decided I would do school funds,minorities in West Texas , and divorce rates.
It is important to create complex, progressive characters. Characters should speak with intent and purpose. You can establish who a character is through tone and what they say. You can also reveal character through thoughts and background information. Not all characters have to have an origin; they can just be there. You should have conflicting traits between the characters. Challenging your characters adds
My personal choice memoir was The World is Moving Around Me by Dany Laferrière, it was a memoir about the Haiti earthquake. Throughout the memoir Laferrière conveys not only his emotions, but his peers. His choice of words and phrases made this novel not only about the Haiti earthquake, but the country of Haiti and its people. His fixed descriptions show this event didn’t only move him physically, but mentally. Lastly, Laferrières connection to the people out side of Haiti, specifically the United States is key to show the world wide impact.
Although this book had no major affect on me, I learned how a boy can go through traumatic experiences and still have the will power to keep going on. That was the only thing that really affected me in the whole book.
The first connection is the idea of environmental injustice. As we learned earlier in class, a lot of times people of color or lower economic backgrounds get the brunt of environmental unfriendly practices. This is clearly seen in the film, the people that Fox interviewed lived in what looked like poorer communities and in some cases rundown houses and they were the ones who had the wells in their yards. This is similar to the article on environmental injustice in Warren County by Eileen McGurthy where lower class African Americans are fighting against having a toxic waste dump put in their back yards. This is the idea of “I don’t want it in my backyard” that is seen with many different instances. If you are wealthy, you can buy your way out of a situation like a natural gas well in your area, but when you are poor and have no monetary power there is not much you can do. Another way that this film connects to concepts we have talked about in class is the idea that America is always wanting to produce more, more and much more. Many times in the film you see miles upon miles of different drilling sites just covering the landscape. Throughout the course we have read articles that have talked about how America is constantly wanting to produce more, a good example of this is the dust bowl. One of the reasons the dust bowl happened was because we did not know when to
Imagine. You are sitting in complete silence, even the nearby crickets won't dare to let out even the slightest of croaks. You stare down at your cluttered, dimly lit desk. Your hand grasps your pen, and the other rubs back and forth across your temple in angst. Your eyes pass over each paper, containing each incomplete thought, and your mind floods with memories of your past. Trapped by writer’s block, you are all alone with only your experiences, surroundings, and philosophy aiding you in the fall that is the dark reality of alcoholism and depression. For renowned authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, these influences all played a crucial role in identifying their style techniques, as well as determining similarities and differences
From a more romantic perspective one might be inclined to say the main theme behind this story is choices made by man as a unit when obstacles and circumstances arise, perhaps perseverance through hardship. But this book rarely displays romantic or idealistic interactions among the characters or moments in the plot. Although there is one example of slight romantisicm at end, the book for the most part is an excellent illustration of naturalism in a piece of literature. To shine this main theme under a naturalistic light, the reader must be allowed to examine the deep psychological, emotional and physical connection between man and his land so often demonstrated and greatly emphaisized throughout the book. The cliffsnotes state that this connection is a basic fundament to the Jeffersonian agrarian theory. A great example of when Steinbeck incorporates this philosophy is when the representatives of the bank are telling the tenant farmers that they need to get off the land. They feel that since they lived and died on the land, it is rightfully theirs. "Funny thing how it is. If a man owns a little property, that property is in him, it's part of him, and it's like him (37)." Since the bond between the farmer and his property is so strong, once it is broken the people loose their self-respect, dignity, and meaning. Steinbeck uses this idea to foreshadow and help explain the events of Grandpa's death and to further drive the ideas Casy preaches. Casy suggests at the funeral that Granpa died the moment he was torn from his land. He also speculates that only if the band together and make sacrifices for the unit, the Joads and the Wilsons can they survive. "We on'y got a hundred an' fifty dollars. They take forty to bury Grampa an' we won't get to California (140)." They decide that for the family the best thing to do is to bury him on the road.
Many authors have a reason for their writing style. Sometimes their style is due to certain events that have happened throughout their life, where they write to try to prevent the same thing happening or others. The things writers go through and write about may not be “appropriate” according to school boards and “concerned” parents; but they teach lessons and in some occasions, help save lives. Ellen Hopkins, a well-known young adult author, has written many books that have changed the readers paths in life; seeing what the real possibilities are. Many people disagree with her writing style, but she writes these novel so people can avoid and see the consequences of bad decisions.
Paul “Bear” Bryant was one of the top coaches of college football, winning more games than any other coach in history. Paul Bryant, an American college football player and coach, was best known for his time as the longtime head coach at the University of Alabama. Before, Alabama, he coached at the University of Maryland, Kentucky, and Texas A&M. Bryant took an active interest in the players' lives outside of football, but he also was a strict disciplinarian with his players. The legacy of Paul Bear Bryant can still be seen today throughout college football.
She lists ideas in swift successions, often choosing to forego coordinating conjunctions such as “and,” “if,” “or,” and “but” in order to get the same point across in fewer words. She also utilizes hyphens and em dashes rather than periods or semicolons. This is an effective strategy in that it implies an interruption, and then recommencement, of ideas. Her writing is polished and organized but still depicts a visible thought process. For example, in Loud & Clear, Quindlen writes, “...Penelope Leach, T. Berry Brazelton, Dr. Spock. The [books] on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education - all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, they are battered, spotted, well used…. What those books taught me, finally, and what the women on the playground taught me, and the well-meaning relations -- what they taught me, was that they couldn't really teach me very much at
How could a character’s life actually be influenced in a story? At the beginning of the story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, Miss Emily’s father has just died, making it hard for her to actually accept it until she meets Homer, a man from the north. She begins a relationship with Homer even though the whole community reader does not actually approve of it. Finally, at the end of the story, the reader finds out that Homer is dead and leaving the reader to believe that Miss Emily murdered him. In William Faulkner’s, “A Rose for Emily,” he reveals just how much every event in the character’s life influences them through the use of theme, conflict, and character.
Shorter, more concise sentences clarify complex ideas (Grellier & Goerke, 2015). This is the area my academic writing needs the most work. Good writing is writing that achieves its purpose by conveying the ideas in the mind of the writer to the mind of the reader with minimum confusion, distortion, and delay. In addition to the KISS principle proposed by Grellier & Goerke, (2015) I also want to focus on the ‘six Cs’ suggested by Hay, Bochner & Dungey, (2002) who state good functional writing uses the six Cs – clear, complete, concise, considerate, concrete and correct. They do however go on to state you must make your writing as accessible as possible without sacrificing depth of content or shades of meaning. I will measure my improvement
For any character there are three main ways of learning about them. Firstly, how the character themselves thinks and behaves. Secondly, how other characters respond to the character. Lastly, how the author discusses the character is very revealing. Each of these views of Mrs. Norris is provided by the author.
Themes and Characters of Coffee for the Road by Alex la Guma, The Green Leaves by Grace Ogot and See me in me Benz and T'ing by Hazel D. Campbell