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Challenges faced in writing argumentative essays
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Aspects of a good argumentative essay
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I am reading the short story, “Sheila Mant” by W.D. Wetherell. In this story a boy is obsessed with a girl and a bass. He asks the girl, Sheila Mant, to go on a date in his canoe, and he brings his fishing rod. He catches a bass and has to decide whether to bring it in or let it go, for Sheila who doesn’t like fishing. In this journal, I will be predicting whether the boy will choose Sheila or the bass.
Throughout the short story “Sheila Mant,” the boy must decide between the bass and Sheila. First off, he could pick the bass. One reason to pick the bass is because he automatically took his fishing gear with on the canoe. It says in the story, “Automatically, without thinking about it, I mounted my Mitchell reel on my Pflueger spinning rod and stuck it in the stern” (Wetherell
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2). The boy obviously loves fishing a lot if he automatically, without thinking, brought his fishing rod with him. Another reason the narrator could pick the bass is because he is always practicing his fishing skills when he is not busy with other things.
The story says, “I was back in our driveway practicing casts, and when I wasn’t practicing casts, I was tying the line to Tosca, our springer spaniel, to test the reel’s drag, and when I wasn’t doing any of those things, I was fishing the river for bass” (Wetherell 2). It clearly says that he was always practicing one fishing skill if he wasn’t practicing another, because he wanted to catch those bass. The third reason the boy kid pick the bass is because he knows many facts about bass. It says in the text, “They come into the shallows at night to chase frogs and moths and things. Big largemouths. Micropterus salmoides” (Wetherell 2). Since he knows what they eat, when they eat, and what their scientific name is, he must know and research a lot about bass. Next, the narrator could pick Sheila. A reason he could pick her is because he is always trying to impress her with his swimming. In the story it says, “...and to win her attention would do endless laps between my house and the Vermont shore, hoping she would notice the beauty of my flutter kick,
the power of my crawl” (Wetherell 1). The boy is definitely trying to do whatever he can to catch her attention. Another way the boy could pick Sheila is because he thinks she is very pretty and beautiful. In the text it says, “As beautiful as she was on the float, she was even lovelier now----her white dress went perfectly with her hair, and complimented her figure even more than her swimsuit” (Wetherell 2). He thought she was the prettiest thing in the world, even though she was not really trying. One other way he could pick Sheila is because he knew all of her moods from the way she posed and by stalking her a lot. The story says, “I had learned all her moods. If she lay flat on the diving board with her hand trailing idly in the water, she was pensive, not to be disturbed. On her side, her head propped up by her arm, she was observant, considering those around her with a look that seemed queenly and severe. Sitting up, arms tucked around her long, suntanned legs, she was approachable, but barely” (Wetherell 1). The narrator understood what she was thinking at any time from all of the staring at her he had done. Ultimately, I predict the boy will choose the bass. In this journal, I will be evaluating Sheila Mant. Throughout the story, Sheila can be characterized as self-centered and thoughtless. First, Sheila is self-centered. One way she is self-centered is that she only talks about herself and her life. The story says, “Eric said I have the figure to model, but I thought I should get an education first. I mean, it might be a while before I get started and all. I was thinking of getting my hair styled, more swept back? I mean, Ann-Margret? Like hers, only shorter” (Wetherell 3). Sheila was only thinking about her own future and not asking anything about the boy. Another way Sheila is self-centered is that she is so distracted in her own thoughts that she does not think twice when the boy is hiding the bass. It says in the text, “Reassured, Sheila began talking about something else” (Wetherell 4). She just kept on talking, and she didn’t look back or seem unsure about what the boy said the distraction was. One more way Sheila is self-centered is that she complains about the ride on the boat when they are almost to the fair. The story says, “‘My legs are sore,’ Sheila whined. ‘Are we there yet?’” (Wetherell 5). All she cares about is herself, and she did not care about the boatride. Next, Sheila is thoughtless. A reason she is thoughtless is that she does not wonder or consider if the boy likes her. She never watched him practicing his swimming/diving, or really look at him until the end. Sheila was ignorant of his love for her. A second reason Sheila is thoughtless is that she does not notice the work the boy put into polishing his canoe and getting it ready. In the story it says, “She let herself down reluctantly into the bow” (Wetherell 2). She was not fast getting into the canoe, and she did not even lie and say the setup looked nice. The third way Sheila is thoughtless is that she left the narrator to ride home in another guy’s nice car. The text says, “...to explain that she would be going home in Eric Caswell’s Corvette” (Wetherell 5). She thoughtlessly left the boy to his own little canoe, so she could go ride in a cool, expensive car with a different guy. Ultimately, Sheila can be characterized as self-centered and thoughtless. I believe I deserve an 8 out of 10, because I analyzed my quotes well. Additionally, I think I had good ideas about the bass and Sheila and evaluating Sheila. I think I could improve on adding in more creative vocabulary and figuring out how to analyze my quotes even better.
I surmise that he will choose the Bass, but there are many reasons as to why he would pick Shelia as well. The Narrator is extremely intrigued by fishing, and this is one reason why I believe he will choose the Bass. He has purchased name brand fishing equipment, and just loves to talk about Large Mouth Bass and fishing in general. He also states in the text, “I never went anywhere that summer without a fishing rod.” This statement clearly shows his devotion and love of the sport. I consider another reason is that he is quite knowledgeable about Bass. In the story, he is able to tell by just a “splash” that a Large Mouth Bass is swimming in the river. He also knows what types of food the fish typically eat and how to catch them. The last point I am going to make is the fact that the Narrator has always had the experience of fishing, and the love for the sport. The Narrator shares how he fishes all summer long and how the Bass, currently on his line, was the most extraordinary fish that he has seen to date. Even though he may lose Shelia if he reels in the fish, that may just be a risk that the narrator is willing to take. There are also many reasons as to why the Narrator may pick Shelia over the Bass. The boy has been
Have you ever had something of great value be taken from you and then feeling emotionally empty? In Celia Garth, Gwen Bristow desires to share the important message of Celia Garth’s past to the characters and readers. Memories prove that Celia got through the war and the bells provided a stress free period. Her memories were resembled through the bells of St.Michaels Church. The past demonstrated in Celia’s eyes about the war and what the bells reminded her of.
In "The Bass, the River, and Shelia Mant", the speaker fell in love with a beautiful girl named Shelia Mant, which was the only thing that he loved more than fishing. He watched her everyday sunbathing on the dock. He watched her so much that he learned what mood she was in by the position she was laying. When the summer was almost over he got up enough nerve to ask her out. To his surprise she said yes. They went to see a band, however, since he was only fourteen they took a canoe. While rowing the canoe he had his fishing pole on the back, because he never left the house without it. Little did he know that Shelia thought fishing was dumb. So, during the entire canoe ride he is trying to hide the fishing pole, which is hanging o...
This book is about a girl name Ellen Foster who is ten years old. Her mother committed suicide by over dosing on her medication. When Ellen tried to go look for help for her mother her father stopped her. He told them that if she looked for helped he would kill them both. After her mother died she was left under her fathers custody. Her father was a drunk. He would physically and mentally abuse her. Ellen was forced to pay bills, go grocery shopping, cook for herself, and do everything else for herself. Ellen couldn't take it any more so she ran away her friends house. Starletta and her parents lived in a small cabin with one small bathroom. One day at school a teacher found a bruise on Ellen's arm. She sends Ellen to live with Julia the school's art teacher. Julia had a husband named Roy. They were both hippies. Julia and Roy cared a lot about Ellen. After Ellen turned 11 years old she was forced to go live with her grandmother. Ellen didn't want to leave Julia and Roy but her grandmother had won custody. Her grandmother was a cruel old lady. Ellen spends the summer with her grandmother. Living with her makes her very unhappy. Since her grandmother owns farmland she forces Ellen to work on the field with her black servants. Ellen meets a black woman named Mavis. Mavis and her become good friends. Mavis would talk about how she knew Ellen's mother and how much Ellen resembled her mother. Her grandmother didn't think the same. She thought that Ellen resembled her father. She also hated that man. Her grandmother would often compare her with her father. Her grandmother would torture her because she wanted revenge from her father. Her grandmother also blames her for the death of her mother. While Ellen was staying with her grandmother her father died. When her father died she didn't feel sad because she had always fantasized about killing her father. Ellen just felt a distant sadness. Ellen cried just a little bit. Her grandmother was furious because Ellen showed some emotions. She told her to never cry again. After that Ellen becomes scarred for a long time. One day her uncle Rudolph bought the flag that had been on Ellen's father's casket. Her grandmother turns him away. Later that day she burned the flag.
I enjoyed reading Disciplined Hearts by Theresa O'Nell because i find that many people today do not know a lot about the Native American culture and what they have been through. Their cultures history is not talked about as much the African American or Hispanic's are. Most Americans know about the hardships that the African American and Hispanics had to overcome to assimilate to the level that they are today. I think O'Nell is trying to talk about the history of the Native American culture because, she believes that the reason that their culture is not well-known because of the fact that they have chosen to keep living like their ancestors and not assimilate to the American culture.
James Duncan’s book entitled, The River Why, focuses around the main character, Gus, and how he changes throughout the book. In this book Gus is discovering what life really is and that the whole world does not revolve around fishing. After moving out of his erratic house he spends all of his time fishing at his remote cabin, but this leaves him unhappy and a little insane. He embarks on a search for him self and for his own beliefs. Duncan changes Gus throughout the book, making Gus realize that there are more important things to life than fishing, and these things can lead to a happy fulfilled life, which in turn will help Gus enjoy life and fishing more. Duncan introduces a character, Eddy, who significantly changes Gus’s views on what he needs in his life and she gives Gus a sense of motivation or inspiration. Eddy changes Gus by their first encounter with each other, when Eddy instills in Gus a need to fulfill his life and when they meet up again, completing his need. Fishing is Gus’s first passion but he loses it after he puts all of himself into it, and when Eddy comes into his picture Gus feels a need to have more in his life, like love. Through finding love he re-finds his passion for fishing and learns more about himself. When Eddy and Gus finally get together, he sees this “equilibrium” between his old passion, fishing, and his new one, Eddy. Duncan’s use of Eddy gives Gus a new found sense of purpose and to have a more fulfilled life is a critical step in Gus’s development as a character. This is why Eddy is the most important character to this book, because she gives Gus inspiration to find himself.
Every individual has two lives, the life we live, and the life we live after that. Nobody is perfect, but if one works hard enough, he or she can stay away from failure. The Natural is a novel written by Bernard Malamud. It is Malamud’s first novel that initially received mixed reactions but afterwards, it was regarded as an outstanding piece of literature. It is a story about Roy Hobbs who after making mistakes in his life, he returns the bribery money and is left with self-hatred for mistakes he has done. Hobbs was a baseball player who aspired to be famous, but because of his carnal and materialistic desire, his quest for heroism failed, as he was left with nothing. In the modern world, the quest for heroism is a difficult struggle, and this can be seen through the protagonist in The Natural.
In the story, The Natural, certain characters and events are portrayed in a distinctive way that makes this story unique to other books and shows the typical writing style of the narrator. The author uses a repetitive writing technique that is impossible to overlook. The writer of this book is able to catch the reader’s eye with his concept of the importance of beautiful description. The Natural, by Bernard Malamud, uses great imagery that makes the story appealing.
Love, an emotion that grips over people in intense ways, and holds them for an everlasting time. In the short story called “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” written by W.D. Wetherell shows how love, or having a passion for someone, or something can drive a person into doing things in different ways. The story deals with the narrator trying to impress and go out with a girl named Sheila Mant, but at the same, the narrator loves fishing very much, so these two different passions would go in conflict with each other in the story. The theme of the story is not letting your love of something be overshadowed by anything else. The story portrays the theme through literary devices such as; the characterization of the narrator, the ironies involved
In the Maclean family, fly-fishing was portrayed as the link that brought the father closer to his two sons. Not only did the family strongly believe in their Presbyterian values, but they believed that fly-fishing was an important way to release their frustrations and just relax together every Sunday after church. In Norman Maclean’s novella, A River Runs Through It, a sport that started out as a hobby transformed into a tradition that brought discipline and structure into a family that seemed as though they would never be able to get along. In everyone’s life there is one activity that brings him or her these same feelings and emotions, it is just up to them to find it.
According to Brenda Allen in the chapter “Power Matters,” she mentions that there dominant ideologies of identity that “reflect perspectives and experiences of ruling groups, whose members construct and circulate beliefs that will most benefit them.” We live in a country where there are dominant ideologies of organizational hierarchy, which “arranges job positions in a stratified structure, with power flowing from the top down.” This exemplifies the ideology of domination, which is a belief system in America that the “superior should rule over the inferior” (32). This ideology is so embedded into our system that most people believe it is natural. The American society we live in values patriarchy, white supremacy, heteronormativity, and a specific culture of wealth and poverty; any identity that falls outside of these dominant ideologies is marginalized and placed in the lower strata of social power.
He teaches the kid what to do in order to successfully reel in a large, beautiful fish. Ironically, the narrator is the one who learns from the kid in the end. At the beginning of the story, everything is described negatively, from the description of the kid as a “lumpy little guy with baggy shorts” to his “stupid-looking ’50s-style wrap-around sunglasses” and “beat-up rod”(152). Through his encounter with the boy, the narrator is able to see life in a different way, most notable from how he describes the caught tarpon as heavy, silvery white, and how it also has beautiful red fins (154). Through the course of the story, the narrator’s pessimistic attitude changes to an optimistic one, and this change reveals how inspiring this exchange between two strangers is. This story as a whole reveals that learning also revolves around interactions between other people, not only between people and their natural surroundings and
In her essay, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Margaret Fuller discusses the state of marriage in America during the 1800‘s. She is a victim of her own knowledge, and is literally considered ugly because of her wisdom. She feels that if certain stereotypes can be broken down, women can have the respect of men intellectually, physically, and emotionally. She explains why some of the inequalities exist in marriages around her. Fuller feels that once women are accepted as equals, men and women will be able achieve a true love not yet known to the people of the world.
The Friday Everything Changed” written by Anne Hart describes how a simple question challenges the
"A Woman’s Place", the name of the commencement speech given by Naomi Wolf at the Scripps College graduation in 1992; contrasts the independent and the dependent woman. In today’s society, there are two different types of women: the woman who has a good head on her shoulders and knows where she is going in the world, and the woman who seeks dependence within the masculine world. Just as they were thirty years ago, women are still not considered to be equal to men. They are more or less looked at as being second to men.