Argumentative essay - Boy and The Bayonet By- Nia Gause In the story “Boy and the Bayonet” is about an African-American boy (Bud) in a military school doing his cadet march, a competition between other companies. He gets support from his mother and little sister, who cheer him on from the audience. Later in the story, Bud drops his bayonet. He gets very embarrassed and he thinks because of his mess up he caused his company to lose. Bud knows that his teammates are mad at him for dropping his Boyet and possibly messing up their chances at winning. His mother and little sister are worried about Bud and if he's okay. Bud doesn’t want to return to school and doesn’t want to face his team. His mother encouraged him with how his father used to act. Bud doesn’t want to let his mother, little sister, or father down. When Bud goes back to school, the Principal congratulates him and gives him a new uniform. All the support and encouragement from the people around kept him uplifted and not giving up on himself for a mistake. …show more content…
The way he was treated by his teammates after he messed up wasn't the kindest. Some realized that it really could have happened to any of them. He didn’t want to show his face because he knew they wouldn’t be happy with him. His mother tells him how his father never gave up and kept his head high. Either way, if Bud messed up or not, they wouldn’t have won anyway. Bud’s mother and little sister reminded him and reassured him that they were proud of him. If he won or not, they would support him either way and were happy that he was okay in the end. Bud also got support from the officer who was one of the judges, his principal, and the people in the audience during the assembly. The officer and principal complemented his work and how he still kept going after almost dying during the cadet march. He was given a new
The Great Depression of the 1930’s caused widespread poverty, but the popular culture of the time did not reflect this. People wanted to escape from this harsh time so movies, dancing and sports became very popular. Radios broadcasted boxing matches and boxers became stars. The heavyweight champion James J. Braddock aka “Cinderella Man,” gained popularity. James Braddock gained fame by winning many fights and proving everyone wrong when they said he was too old and couldn’t win.
Daniel Brown’s The Boys in the Boat is a book that shows2 the strength of the University of Washington’s crew team. The book teaches many valuable lessons from life in the 1930’s. This piece of literature is based on the interviews, which went on for seven years. Joe Rantz, the star of the crew team, was abandoned by his father and step mom, for the second time at age 17. He eventually found comfort in the Olympic bound crew team. Joe Rantz went through many hardships when he was by himself, as well as the intense team workouts, the following quotes exemplify how Joe channeled his energy to be a great crew teammate, that could trust and be trusted by his teammates.
Junior showed that his life wasn’t always a piece of cake, but he still wanted to make the best out of what he had. Even though he had to endure things like poverty, and bullying he still showed great strength through it all. People should learn from Junior because he can be a source of great encouragement. His strength didn’t come from winning. His struggles just developed his strengths. And at the end of the day he never surrendered to his struggles and that is what gave him such strength. So, live your life full of strength. Never ever surrender to your struggles because there is always at least a little bit of good and hope.
He didn’t take his sport seriously because he knew he was going to get a trophy anyway, whether he won or lost. Giving a trophy to a kid who maybe didn’t participate in a game but tried his absolute hardest in practice to get better is understandable. However, giving a kid who did nothing in practice to make himself better just shows that child that you don’t need to work for anything in life because either way you will get rewarded. “There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.” And what about those kids who aren’t that great at activities, or they don’t show up to practices? Should they still get a trophy? Are they qualified to sit in the same category as a kid who works their butts off in practice, shows up everyday, and is a good sport? I understand showing that everyone is equal, but there comes a point when you have to show a child that they need to work for what they
Tim O’Brien talks about a young girl who had cancer and would wear a cap to cover her head due to the fact that she was losing hair from chemotherapy. Tim O’Brien talks about how they were friends when they were younger and that he loved her. When they would go to school, kids would bully Linda and try to take her cap off. During this time, young Timmy O’Brien had an internal conflict of whether or not he should step in and help Linda. He would decide not to help because he had a “reputation”. THis is shown when Tim O’Brien says, “Naturally I wanted to do something about it, but it just wasn’t possible. I had my reputation to think about. I had my pride”. One day, one student managed to take the cap off of Linda and the entire class saw how she lost her hair. The cap that Linda was wearing on her head was a symbol of how O’Brien failed to be brave enough to help Linda and stop the other kids from taking her cap off. Eventually Linda died from the cancer and Tim would never stop feeling guilty. Even though this event happened when he was a child, it was a major event in his life where he believed he should have been more brave. This is shown when TIm O’Brien says, “For me though, it did matter. It still does. I should’ve stepped in; fourth grade is no excuse. Besides, it doesn’t get easier with time, and twelve years later, when Vietnam
The main character’s self-reflection reveals a past that was full of naivety and invisibility. It is also full of underlying race and class segregation. The dream-like setting of the battle which the main character took part of, even though he had spent his life partaking in good conduct, adhering to the wishes of white folks and being praised by them for his excellent conduct (Charters 295), is symbolic of the racial and class struggles which African-Americans have to partake in simply because they are born with different colored skin, because they were not born White. The glass ceiling, violence and hatred which the main character is forced to confront in the story is reminiscent of the struggle African-Americans face in a Capitalist White America which often overlooks successful African-Americans in favor of White-Americans, further dividing the races and feeding oppression. Segregation and oppression hinders the personal growth of the main character even though he does receive a scholarship to attend an African-American college and a first-class article from Shad Whitmore’s shop
Evil can be glossed over by innocence but in the end subsumes it. This is vividly conveyed by John Boyne in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a powerful narrative of lost innocence set in Nazi Germany.
In the autobiography Kaffir Boy, Mark Mathabane, a black boy, describes his life during the Apartheid- a system of racial segregation in South Africa which begun in the year 1948 to the year 1994 - and how he became an exception by creating his own identity through his determination and intelligence. By using his talents in tennis and by taking advantage of his education, Mark was able to create a new life in America and escape the ghastly Apartheid which consumed his childhood. In the course of Mark’s childhood, he constantly underwent an internal struggle regarding his life, his opinions, and his thoughts about how he was going to transition from a life of constant hardship and struggle to one of ease and equality. Mark was able to find opportunities and interests which he found as an “escape” from the chaotic and unjust outside world from the help of his mother and grandmother. Such opportunities included sports, reading, and learning. Not only did these opportunities act as an “escape” for Mark and help keep him out of trouble, but they also enabled him to connect to the white community.
The story, The Boy on the wooden box, is a memoir by Leon Leyson describing what it was like to live in Poland during the Holocaust. Leon was one of the youngest people on Oskar Schindler's list. Throughout this time he had to work in a factory in order to stay out of concentration camps. Leon describes the horrors he saw, and experienced first hand some including, severe beatings, near-starvation, and the fear of death every day for six years. While in hiding, Leon heard about the mass murders of the people in the concentration camps; he held onto hope despite the fear he felt. This story is told through the perspective of a real survivor during the holocaust; this makes it easier for the reader to imagine the events and struggles he went through.
This story describes how war turns friend against friend, brother against brother. It takes every good morsel of a persons body and makes them do the unthinkable. A friend as close as a brother can turn against the other in an instant. In war, no side really wins. Each side receives success and each side suffers tragic loss. No matter the outcome, it cannot erase the heartache of losing a soldier at battle. No one is safe from the danger and sadness that war brings. It will fill them with agony, pain and guilt. It is their will to survive that pushes them to do such horrific actions.
James J Braddock, a New Jersey native, was the American heavyweight champion from 1935-1937. The time in which he was at his prime, also happened to be during the Great Depression. This was the economic disaster that faced America from 1929-1939. During the Depression, Americans everywhere felt the devastating effects, all rooted in the lack of opportunity and wealth. In the movie Cinderella Man, Braddock is a well-off boxer with kids and a wife, whose life changes from the Depression.
“5 things ‘The mountain between us’ can teach us about life” Be grateful for what you have, when you have it. The mountain between us is a truly unique book in many ways. It’s different compared to other books with similar plots. For example, Hatchet is also another example of a book that includes a similar theme.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Opinion Essay “Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow” -Elie Wiesel. The Holocaust is a very common topic to read and to be taught about, especially in the form of fictional books. It is usually taught to make people remember what really happened in the past so that history doesn’t repeat itself.
Do you know who Phoebe Prince is? Do you know what she did? Do you know what her peers did to her? Phoebe Prince is a fifteen year old girl who committed suicide on January 14 of 2010. Phoebe Prince was bullied every day for three months. Her peers caused her to have such as low self esteem and low self image that she committed suicide. Seven out of ten girls in the United States suffer from low self esteem, which can lead to mental problems, suicide, and many poor life choices. Teen girls should take a class on raising self esteem because low self esteem affects girls negatively, most self esteem issues are family related, and there are much recourse to help girls.
Boy of Winander: How Nature Is Able to Guide Us In early American literature, Nature was interpreted in varying ways. Poets such as John Keats, William Wordsworth, John Clare, and Robert Burns were all able to represent Nature differently in their works. These poets all depicted Nature as a strong force in our everyday lives. One of these poets was able to present Nature as a teacher for all humans; a guide for when all is lost.