Personal Narrative- Race
Wait. Be still. Don't go over the line. Don't let go. Wait for it. "BANG!" My reactions were precise as I sprung out of the blocks. The sun was beating down on my back as my feet clawed at the blistering, red turf. With every step I took, my toes sunk into the squishy, foul smelling surface, as my lungs grasped for air. Everything felt the way it should as I plunged toward my destination. I clutched the baton in my sweaty palms, promising myself not to let go. My long legs moved me as fast as I could go as I hugged the corner of the line like a little girl hugging her favorite teddy bear. The steps were just like I had practiced. As I came closer to my final steps, my stomach started twisting and my heart beat began to rise. The different colors of arrows started to pass under my feet, and I knew it was time.
"Reach," I yelled to Susan, whom had seemed unusually far away. Yelling, "Slow down, slow down," turned into "Stop!"
Susan halted to a stop as the gold baton fell into her hands and she took off into a dead sprint. The devil colored flag rose. We were disqualified from something that we all dreaded; going out of the exchange zone.
I had never really been a part of a team that had a chance to win something, but the potential was always there. I finally got my chance to be a part of such a team my sophomore year of track. Mr. Jones, the head track coach, had decided to experiment with some different races to gain more team points. Since the girls' team lacked a medley relay, he placed Cindy, Kim, Susan and I in those spots. Cindy would run the 400, Kim would run the 200, and Susan and I would start the race off by each running the 100. We all had worked viciously to earn those spots by running off against our teammates.
Going into the first race we had not expected much since Susan and I had never run this type of race. There were so many crucial things that we had to remember. It wasn't just to get out of the blocks and burn up the track; there was a baton involved, a certain amount of steps to take, and even a certain way to hold the baton.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." Literature Craft & Voice. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 449-55. Print.
Matt Fowler’s thoughts transform into revenge as a way of healing for his family. He plans the assassination of Richard Strout. After months of planning, Matt waits for Strout to get off work: “when Strout came around it alone [the building], [sic] Matt got out of the car, giving up the hope he had kept all night (and for the week) that Strout would come out with friends” (Dubus 112-113). Ironic symbolization: Matt Fowler didn’t really want to kill Richard Strout: however, he had to protect his family and avenge the murder of his son. One murder ultimately justifies the second murder within the mindset of Matt. The story concludes with not only two murders, but also with the insinuation of the second murder being justified by Matt and Ruth
There is no question that the love Matt had for Frank was the motivation to kill Richard Strout. The story ends with two physical killings and a moral death as well. Vengeance comes at a very high price, death.
I picked up my starting blocks and walked over to the white line along with the seven other girls right beside me. I rubbed the bitter cold from my arms, and took a deep breath. I went to work setting up my blocks, dropping the footholds into the slots that fit my specific measurements. The starter announced that we would have two more minutes to take some practice starts before he would call us to the line. I got down in my blocks, rose up, and finally sprang out of them, just as well as I had been doing in practice the day before. I could not have been more ready for my eighth grade Mid-Southern Conference track meet.
First, we will start with Goodman Brown. He is the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story titled “Young Goodman Brown”. “Hawthorne could not escape the influence of Puritan society” (McCabe). I think that Hawthorne’s own past is and complications are reveled in his story about Goodman Brown. I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and is trying to reach beyond his past in order to reach heaven. Goodman has some major problems with his wife, Faith, and everyone else in his community. I think that he is seeing everyone as perfect people, but he is having impure thoughts about himself and his past. In order to deal with these problems within himself, he is making up that everyone has this awful bad side. When he goes into the forest, he believes he is talking to the devil with looks much like his grandfather. The devil is feeding him bad thoughts about everyone he knows, even his own father and his wife Faith. Next, I believe that Goodman Brown has had a rough past and in order for him to overcome this within himself he must search for attention. This attention may not be needed from his wife or community members, I believe it is needed from him. He is feeling overwhelmed with obligations from his wife and peers that he has no time to decide whether this type of life is right for him. So, in search for the answer to his questions about life, he turns to the devil and takes his...
One of the most destructive forces that is destroying young black people in America today is the common cultures wicked image of what an realistic black person is supposed to look like and how that person is supposed to act. African Americans have been struggling for equality since the birth of this land, and the war is very strong. Have you ever been in a situation where you were stereotyped against?
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
In "Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne, through the use of deceptive imagery, creates a sense of uncertainty that illuminates the theme of man's inability to operate within a framework of moral absolutism. Within every man there is an innate difference between good and evil and Hawthorne's deliberate use of ambiguity mirrors this complexity of human nature. Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, is misled by believing in the perfectibility of humanity and in the existence of moral absolutes. According to Nancy Bunge, Hawthorne naturally centers his story upon a Puritan protagonist to convey the "self-righteous" that he regards as the "antithesis of wisdom"(4). Consequently, Young Goodman Brown is unable to accept the indefinable vision of betrayal and evil that he encounters in the forest. The uncertainty of this vision, enhanced by Hawthorne's deliberate, yet effective, use of ambiguity, is also seen in the character of Faith, the shadows and darkness of the forest, and the undetectable boundaries that separate nightmarish dreams from reality.
Wind howling, heavy breathing, spikes clicking on the ground, coach’s yelling. The most intense race of the season. The wind was very powerful for this course on the Tell City Country Club through these enormous green hills of the golf course. Dead grass and brown leaves were blowing nonstop. All nine of the schools slowly started walking up to the starting line. Everyone was looking at each other while representing their own school with showing their school color off with pride. There were three teams total that knew that would be an extremely close score. My team and I stood in our red jerseys knowing that we were going to be the ones to win. I could feel the jitters going through my body. Boom!(personification) The gun went off. Nothing
The dialogue, action and motivation revolve about the characters in the story (Abrams 32-33). It is the purpose of this essay to demonstrate the types of characters present in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” whether static or dynamic, whether flat or round, and whether protrayed through showing or telling.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” captivates the reader through a glimpse of the Puritan church. The story also shows the struggle of good versus evil in the main character Goodman Brown. The role of the Puritan church is crucial in shaping Goodman Brown’s personality and helping the reader understand why he was reluctant to continue his journey.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss organizational change and the management of that change. I will talk about the different drivers of change, the factors a leader needs to weigh to implement change effectively, the various resistances a leader may encounter while trying to implement change, and how various leadership styles will effect the realization of change. I will also discuss the knowledge I have gained through the completion of this assignment and how I think it might affect the way I manage change in my workplace.
At a young age, third culture kids gain an expanded worldview by living in a country and culture that is different from their home culture. They observe many geographical differences around the world, and they learn that people view life from different philosophical and political perspectives. For example, people in some parts of the world think of Saddam Hussein as a hero, while people from other parts believe he’s a villain. Western culture is very time oriented, while relationships are of far greater importance in Eastern lands....
Cross-Culture Kids are more typically defined as: “A person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture . . .. [He/she] builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into [his/her] life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background” (Moore & Barker, 2011, p. 553). In knowing this, it can be said that childhood experiences are important for consolidating identity development and culture membership. Childhood is thus and accordingly the time when a young person may grow to understand the world around them and learn important social rules and behaviors that are appropriate for survival in their cultural environment. When there is differing information about one’s cultural membership, one might then experience difficulty attaining a solid cultural, ethnic, or racial identity (Hoersting & Jenkins, 2010). This is important when it comes to language socialization within the peer culture.
Humans have used maps since ancient times; they have been the tool of explorers, politicians, armies, and navigators. Throughout recorded history, we can see endless examples of maps being used to depict a part of the earth, giving people a visual illustration of their surroundings. While maps are useful in finding out where a place is, they are merely a representation. In the late 19th century, a French photographer named Felix Tournachon decided to use a recent invention, the camera, to create a new kind of map. Using a hot-air balloon, Tournachon hoisted his camera into the sky and took a photograph of the ground. What resulted was the first known remotely sensed image of the earth’s surface, a simple photograph showing a birds-eye view of the photographer’s surroundings (NASA). The advent of this new technology revolutionized not only map-making, but the way humans see the earth. Where once there were only drawings of where a place is, now it was possible to not only see where a place is,...