The scrawny man stood in front of the dining hall wiping sweat off his brow. He wore a gray herringbone tweet jacket, a white button-down oxford shirt, a zebra-striped tie, and mud-colored flannel trousers─a costume befitting the gatekeeper of a distinguished educational institution. His aquiline nose, indiscernible chin, and eyes like shotgun barrels accentuated a pale and oily complexion. Those appeared his most formidable features. His silhouette in the right light painted a bleaker depiction. He scanned the short rise to the North Lawn for familiar faces amidst a sea of polo shirts, preppy blazers, and silky blouses. A bustling crowd in full swing swarmed in every direction. Rustling leaves accompanying shuffling footsteps mitigated the …show more content…
bubbling chatter of a plethora of voices. The kingdom under his watch spewed vitality, a perennial servant of its purpose, buzzing with anticipation, as the bees rushed back to the hive. Heavy traffic jockeyed for real estate in the narrow corridor linking McKinley Hall with both the eastside walkway and the slope to the eastern section of the lower grounds: home to the gift shop, cafeteria, dining hall, and Rothstein Hall─the Social Sciences building. Students, parents, and guests alike, harboring a terminal desire for sustenance and relaxation, swamped the eating establishments after having tackled the red tape and tuition finances. The availability of Eldridge-branded souvenirs, techie devices, and even comfort cookies further attracted the herd. The venue represented the optimum vantage point for the Provost to amplify his visibility, and reassert his authority over the oscillating crowd. The flock swirled about him in a chaotic array of distilled colors, expressing wary apprehension, seemingly conscious of a wolf’s scent among them. He heaved a deep breath and settled on a disarming grin in compliance with decorum. For formality’s sake, he wore the jacket, which also acknowledged autumn’s approach rather than summer’s departure. To obfuscate an inferiority complex and reinforce his portrayal of command, he stood ramrod straight with an authoritative air while entertaining thoughts of his own importance. Sheldon MacAfee shouldered the face of the institution, a welcomed burden for the puppeteer of the “masked ball”, and a man of formidable disguises. During his summer hiatus, he vacationed with his wife and twelve year old son at the exclusive Bermuda Paradisius resort, known worldwide for its annual windsurfing contest. They enjoyed a fine time on the pink sand, though he didn’t attract much sun. The lone annoyance involved his son’s affinity toward the natives. The lad would often play with the resort staff’s children. One time, he even invited a cheeky black kid to join them for lunch. Sheldon wasn’t amused. The boy needed to learn his place and theirs. His son’s objections to the lack of a TV, and exclusion from joining the Junior Rangers with its ethnic Head Ranger, also proved disconcerting. But Sheldon thought the boy would appreciate his upbringing in time and embrace the party line. He invested an hour in his registration day routine: “Hello Mr. Wagner. Hope you get to graduate at semester’s end. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. McMurtry. Your son appears prepared for the challenges ahead. The Eldridge family will certainly provide plenty of support. “Professor Moore, I trust you enjoyed the summer. The administration recognizes the vigor you apply to your classroom’s high standards. Your competence has not gone unnoticed. “Hey Northrup! Didn’t I tell you to wash those trashcans?” And so it continued, until he welcomed, ignored, or chastised a sufficient cross-section of the school’s community to satisfy the requirements of his office. Sheldon embraced everything expected of him. His lips were always puckered. He thought the summer had lasted far too long. The campus gleamed like a new wife’s home with the in-laws coming for dinner.
The ivy clad dormitories and superb landscaping met anyone’s expectations for a New England college. Students and staff alike reacquired old friends and planted seeds for new ones. Sometimes, unfortunates became entangled with Shelly’s eyes, conducting an unsettling exchange of opposing energy. He looked forward to hosting the new faculty welcome party scheduled for late afternoon, and chairing the Academic Review and Disciplinary Board meeting the following evening. The bi-annual exit strategy for those failing to meet their requirements often included his least favorite students. Miguel Carbarone’s prospects and the Jimmy Romanowski resolution further enlivened his mood. If an even three emerged from among the Bishop Hall crew, the autumn semester would taste sublime. Oh well, an opportunity might yet arise. Sheldon bore a napoleon complex with follicles in full retreat. His academic and professional career depicted an exemplary bureaucrat who hadn’t so much as earned a parking ticket, or ever been more than moderately inebriated. He considered himself the model beacon to guide the blind but eager students in their drive toward the …show more content…
light. “Miss Evers, you appear fit for duty this semester.” In Elementary school, he maintained the bullies’ attention for eight-years.
In High School, he broke the record for issuing the most Hall Monitor demerits. As a college Dorm Manager, no one danced the heaving breath fandango under his watch. Finally, at graduate school, he paid a professional to break his nut. “Good day, Williams.” His career began as a Student Loan Administrator, progressed to the Registrar’s office, sidestepped to whistleblower, and leapfrogged to his current, exalted position. He fell convinced his constituent’s best interest lay with applying an idealistic purity in the service of their interests. “Welcome back, Katherine…” After completing the opening overture, he headed back toward McKinley Hall, exuding a powerful sense of purpose. He needed to expedite some paperwork, and conduct a few calls. The fall semester kickoff had proceeded smoothly with the best part yet to come. Something noble resounded about his calling as the quintessential “introductory Shelly”, preparing students for the hundreds of Shelly’s they’d encounter in the world. He took great pride in eradicating the weeds in his garden, which sometimes included healthy trees and vibrant flowers. Oh
well.
In Mary Downing Hahn’s “The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall,” Downing Hahn shows that sometimes the best of people who deserve the best end up getting the worst. In this companion book, you will see the difference between the two main characters; Sophia and Florence. You will also find out about the setting and what dangers can go on at Crutchfield Hall. You will see what something in the book symbolizes, including the cat and the mice, and the cold. I will show you Sophia’s mind and her thoughts, and what she is planning on doing, more about her death, and possibilities of what could’ve happened.
“She grieved over the shabbiness of her apartment, the dinginess of the walls, the worn-out appearance of the chairs, the ugliness of the draperies. All these things, which another woman of her class would not even have noticed, gnawed at her and made her furious.”
“The honored guests moved silently upon the platform, herded toward their high, carved chairs by Dr. Bledsoe with the decorum of a portly head waiter. Like some of the guests, he wore striped trousers and a swallow-tail coat with black-braided lapels topped by a rich ascot tie. It was his regular dress for such occasions, yet for all its elegance, he managed to make himself look humble” (Ellison 114)
in English and taught as a part time instructor. It’s a garden that he describes as “overgrown and seemingly unmanaged...perhaps the only place left at the university that is not meticulously landscaped and stage-managed for tour groups and the website”. While the “aesthetic conformity” of the school is not the only issue, DeBoer’s portrayal of the campus sets the mood of his statement. The juxtaposed descriptions of the natural versus managed spaces on campus reflect the bigger picture; namely universities are more focused on marketability than education. He backs this up with other information, but it is this personal example that will likely stick with the audience. The garden might seem like a trivial issue, but it represents DeBoer’s personal stake in the subject. “That’s precisely why I love the garden: It’s one of the last little wild places left at Purdue”, he says, “Naturally, it’s slated for demolition”. This particular statement is a powerful ending to his introduction because it depicts the weakness of campus culture and freedom against university
This hopeless place provides a stark contrast between the low-status people living here and the high-status people living in West Egg and East Egg. In the end, Myrtle’s death in her home in the Valley of Ashes further associates the place with pain, misfortune, and despair, a place where nothing ever good
In the comparison of the college student's two expressions of his first impression of his dorm, Hall disregards the first passage as 'sloppy – slangy and fragmentary.'; He praises the second passage as suspenseful and detailed and suggests that the author has 'made great strides'; and has 'put some thought into creating a scene.'; I, however, find the second passage to be dull and watered-down, over-edited, and false sounding. Although the first passage could be improved by explaining where he was, what the disaster entailed, and who the funny-looking guy was, its honesty far outweighs the literary correctness of the second passage.
Another emotion portrayed through the narrators language is disappointment. The center of the work is where the story takes a deep turn downward - and the black cloud presents itself. Mr. DonLeavy's presence was insult enough, but to say he was "glad to be here to see the work going on just as it was in the other schools" (838)...
I soon found myself at the open door of Mrs. Walker’s office. I could hardly contain my excitement as I situated myself in the cushioned black chair in front of her. She said to me delicately with compassionate eyes, “I know how bad you want to go, but only one student from our school was selected to attend. It was not you.” She encouraged me to pursue other opportunities over the summer, but her words went in one ear and out the other. I left her office with a pout on my face, feeling somber and
In her first year as a Resident Assistant, Andrea Robinson received a Christmas card from a resident named Charlotte, thanking her for helping Charlotte adjust to her new life at college. Robinson recalled that Charlotte was overcome with homesickness, as many first time students can be, and to help boost her spirits, she went with Charlotte to an opening week picnic. That made a huge difference for Charlotte and her gratitude she conveyed in the card. But the message had an extra meaning to Robinson. “I was just doing my job,” Robinson said. But knowing the difference she had made to Charlotte, she asked, “Why wouldn’t anyone want to do this for the rest of their life?”
On that same day a few yards away, Frank Levi Trimble stretched his legs out in his bed in Hope College dormitory. As a third year student, Trimble had sat through a similar convocation ceremony just a few years earlier. The memory of the experience lingered in his mind this morning as he readied the room for his new roommate, John Hope.
“The subject was lame in neither foot, and he was neither short, nor hugely tall, but simply tall. As for his teeth, the left ones has platinum crowns, the right - gold. He was dressed in an expensive gray suit and wore foreign-made shoes of the same color. A gray beret was cocked rakishly in his ear, and under his arm he carried a ...
Nathan, R. (2005). My freshman year: what a professor learned by becoming a student. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
With both hands resting lightly on the table to each side of his white foam cup, Otis stared into its deep abyss of emptiness with his head bowed as if willing it to fill again, giving him a reason to enjoy the shelter that the indoors provided. I could almost touch the conflict going on inside of him, a battle of wills as if he was negotiating with an imaginary devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. I sensed a cramp of discomfort seizing his insides, compelling him to flee, then a silent resolve, as if a moment of clarity had graced his consciousness.
Nathan, R. (2005). My freshman year: What a professor learned by becoming a student. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
I nervously opened the doors to my future, hoping for the best for myself. At first, I believed departing to class would be simple, but when the bell rang for the first time I had no idea what class room goes where and how busy the halls were going to be. Suddenly, the entire world around me scrambled to class, and on occasions bumping each other along the way; it was a widespread panic for most of the freshmen. Fortunately, I found some wonderful teachers to direct me to my rooms that I will spend the next year