Summer Reading Assignment

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Summer Reading Assignment

The novels The Loved One, and Endurance can both easily be related to my life, and the world that I live in today. Each of these stories has a meaning that is timeless, and contains morals that can never be dated. Each story has something to offer the reader on many levels. It may teach a lesson, reveal a truth or just simply entertain. Out of these stories I will make a connection to one or more of my personal experiences, a text-to-text connection, and a connection between these novels and the world today. While reading these novels, one gets a feeling or a sense of frustration. It becomes difficult at times to understand the emotions that are running through the characters minds. Ultimately though, significant similarities can be linked to my own life experiences. Waugh and Lansing’s novels are classics in which many people can relate to. Everyone has hurdles and hardships in their lives that must be overcome in order to succeed.

An aspect from the novel The Loved One that is similar to one of my life experiences is how Dennis’ job is looked at as an abnormal thing to be doing with his life. Although I cannot relate to his feelings exactly; I certainly know what it feels like to be looked at as an outcast. When I moved to Jacksonville from New Jersey a week before freshman year, I felt as if I was an alien on a different planet. Feeling out of place and knowing that my peers recognize that is one of the worst feelings. That must have been

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how Dennis felt working at the Happier Hunting Grounds. “ We limeys have a peculiar position to keep up, you know, Barlow. They may laugh at us a bit- the way we talk and the way we dress;” (Waugh,11). Sir Ambrose says this referring to Dennis’ feeli...

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...ers were portrayed in both of these stories. Each character has a personal story that most people can relate do on a couple different levels. A common thread can be found in each of these books. It is easy to relate with these characters because no matter when these stories were written, the themes can be timeless. Parts and pieces of the novels can still be found in our world today and in our day to day life. Perseverance and courage is a trait that can be brought away from reading both of these books.

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Works Cited

James, Henry and James Danly. Washington Square. New York: Modern Library, 2002.

Lansing, Alfred. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1999.

Mccullers, Carson. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. Boston: Mariner Books, 1967.

Waugh, Evelyn. The Loved One. New York: Penguin Books, 1951.

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