In Lynda Barry’s Common Scents, she considers scents a demon for many reasons. One reason being that everyone has his or her own scent preference and scent in general, yet we also judge the way that other people smell. When the woman whose house smelled like a fresh bus bathroom talking about the smells of different Asian people’s houses, Lynda notes that she was “free with her observations about the smells of others” (18). She sprays her house with disinfectant sprays and air fresheners, which to her smells better that whatever her house smelt like before, but to others, such as Lynda’s grandmother, these smells are too strong and are trying to hide the fact that not everything smells good all the time. Scents are a part of my identity
because I have always had a very sensitive sense of smell, which I got from my mother. When I was younger I was able to handle smells more than I can now, but my mom would get mad at me because a lot of the scents that I used or liked would set her off. Now I am much more sensitive and there are a number of scents that trigger a migraine if I smell them. These smells are mainly any cheap body fragrance that is strong and fruity or strong candles, basically anything from Bath and Body Works. Certain bad smells upset me, as I’m sure they do for other people.
With concern over global warming growing, people are starting to turn a more serious eye toward cleaner sources of energy. Instead of solar power making a comeback as the ideal form, we are seeing a growth in the use of wind power. Wind farms are beginning to crop up all around the country. This new trend has gathered significant attention. Questions are being raised concerning the effects wind farms may have, from critics and supporters alike. Michelle Nijhuis, in the article “Selling the Wind” discusses the arguments on behalf of and in opposition to the increasing use of wind power, addressing what the consequences may be on the United States.
One piece of literary work that has changed my life is a book called Every Storm, by Lori Wick. It has changed the way that I look at my family and how much I depend on them for support. This book is set right after World War II and two sisters, Josie and Lorri, are set to head back to the United States (US) from Australia to visit family. On the way back to the US, there is a huge thunderstorm that results in Josie and Lorri’s plane crashing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, Josie and the pilot did not make it, forcing Lorri to survive on a random island alone to fend for herself. Lorri is finally able to reach her home and she is faced with all sorts of challenges physically, mentally, and emotionally. This book has always
As the passage of time continues inventions and traditions come and go, and with them the feelings and memories of those around them. Some of these people will let go willingly, because they had nothing special about them, and they are quickly forgotten. Others, however, hold significance to the societies of their time. In Dearly Disconnected, author Ian Frazier shows the more physical side of this, how old pay phones hold sentimental value to him, and probably to many others in the city. On the other hand,Defining a Doctor, with a Tear, a Shrug, and a Schedule by Abigail Zuger shows the difference between two doctors, one with modern values and one with traditional values, and how ideas and cultures are hard to let go. In both of the essays,
“Canadians have a favorite pastime, and they don’t even realize it. They like to ask – they absolutely love to ask – where you are from if you don’t look convincingly white.” (Hill np). Race is never a really straightforward issue in Canada and hardly a matter of the past. Issues of racial identification and “mixed race” are engaged by Lawrence Hill in the text “Black plus White, ...equals black” an excerpt from his novel “Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada” (HarperFlamingo, 32$). He has struggled to develop his own sense of identity through various experiences, one of them was “straightening out his hair” which was encouraged by his father. From my perspective, although Hill’s father’s action stemmed from good intentions, it resulted in a negative effect on Hill’s confidence with regards to his appearance and his own differences as a child; despite that, generally speaking, his parents still made a great influence on Hill’s identity.
Laura Deeb’s An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi’i Lebanon seeks to rectify post-9/11 notions of political Islam as anti-modern and incongruous with Western formulations of secular modernity. Specifically, Deeb is writing in opposition to a Weberian characterization of modern secular Western societies as the development of bureaucracies through social rationalization and disenchantment. Within this Weberian framework Deeb asserts that Shia communities are in-part modern because of the development of beuorocratic institutions to govern and regulate religious practice. However, Deeb makes a stronger argument oriented towards dislodging the assumptions "that Islamism is static and monolithic, and that
“Ashes” by Susan Pfeffer is about a young girl experiencing the lies and betrayal her father partakes upon her. It shows how he leads her to falling under his plans, all while pulling her farther to believing his love for her is real. Throughout the entire story, young Ashley has felt her dad was the type of man to never do harm. She trusted him, she cared for him, and she helped him out. But what she didn’t know was that he was simply using her to get what he wanted. Deception is the theme of this story because Ashley is ordered by her father to do what he wants through sweet talk and bribing.
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.
The poem "Bitch" by Carolyn Kizer describes the heartache in which most women get out from her former lover, who she had not seen in a long time. The tone of the poem is sad because of the horrible things about her relationship. She describes herself from the outside, pretending that everything are okay, "Fine, I’m just fine, I tell him". However, in her inside, she is fighting and struggling with her feelings, wanting to curl up to him, remembering their time together. An example of this is when she says, "She wants to snuggle up to him, to cringe" . getting to the end of the poem she left and felt indifferent about this man. Another metaphors that Carolyn
During Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Max tries to be able to fend for himself and becomes independent because his mother decided to leave him without any supper or attention. Since he wasn’t getting attention, Max left on his trip to the land of where the wild things are. While he is in the land, he becomes the leader and discovers that he is lonely since his mother was always there to give him love. When he realizes he feels lonely and hungry, he gives up all of his leadership of the wild things and goes back home to where he will get something to eat and not have to be independent. Max is not independent because he relies too much on his mother.
“The Sleep” by Caitlin Horrocks is a short story, written in the first person. In this short story the Rasmussen family lives in a small town called Bounty, which seems to be someplace that is very dark and cold in the winter season, most likely someplace north. The Rasmussen family are going through hard times with the sudden death and the tragic loss of Al’s wife and their children’s mother. The family decides to take the winter season off from work and school in order to sleep, Al seem to believe that this will help heal the family. The people of Bounty see how well the sleep worked for the Rasmussen family, so some of them decide to do the same thing the next winter season. People usually sleep when they are depressed, the
Elizabeth Svoboda, the author of “Scents and Sensibility” develops her claim that true happiness in love is based on scent by supporting her opinions with a scientific experiment and its results as well as identifiable and relatable facts. In the cleverly-named article, Svoboda describes the highlights of a study in which women were asked to identify the “attractiveness” of a multitude of T-shirts worn by several different men. After outlining the basis of the study, Svoboda states the profound results, including how “far more than often would predict, the women preferred the smell of T-shirts worn by men who were immunologically dissimilar to them” and that “the smell of their favorite T-shirts also [suggested] that MHC (major histocompatibility
Throughout this extract, the narrator seems to evoke a secret and an elusive sense of smell which in turn creates interest. As the narrator seems to reflect on his past, he asks the daughter about the familiar smell without revealing reasons. This may suggest that
Educators have an influence on their students that will follow them from childhood to adulthood. In “Models for writers,” Rowen, Carl T. “Unforgettable Miss Bessie,” Raymond, David. “0n Being 17, Bright and unable to read,” and Murphy, Erin. “White Lies,” all influenced a life, however, one of them changed a child’s life for the better and the others could have turned a child future upside down. They still all had the same goals in teaching children, but not the same desire. When adults teach children, it doesn’t always turn out positive. They can either guide a child to success or leave them with low self-esteem and unable to understand a complicated world.
My father spoke in a baffled tone. He did not believe that simply cleaning a painter’s studio would make the smell linger on my clothes, my skin, my hair. He was right. It was as if he guessed that I now slept with the oil in my room, that I sat for hours being painted and absorbing the scent. He guessed and yet he could not say. His blindness took away his confidence so he did not trust the thoughts in his mind.
We all know about those rotten smells that are so bad you have to cover your nose so you don’t puke, well