Imagine never knowing your parents. Imagine being lied to all your life. Imagine being moved from boarding school to boarding school, year after year. In The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, this had been a reality for 16 year old Joseph “Seph” McCauley. Labelled a “troubled child” and a “pyromaniac” for things he cannot control teaches him that life is full of obstacles and you need to make a claim on the world and the ones you love to receive what you most desire (Chima 458).
Seph is a wizard, orphaned and untrained. With only vague understandings of his magic due to his Sorceress foster mother, he has no idea how to control his powers. His foster mother had told him that his parents died (Chima 18). A trail of accidents followed him wherever he went, “As he grew older. the magic grew stronger, more dangerous, more difficult to control. […] He was always afraid he’d lose control.” (Chima
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The Havens is a boy’s school, lakeside and isolated. The perfect place for ‘problem’ kids such as Seph (Chima 32); also perfect for the story arc, as it was soon revealed the school had ulterior motives. It was the very first day Seph was there that Dr. Leicester, the headmaster, noticed something odd about his new student. Leicester himself was a wizard, and claimed to be all about training and helping young wizards; only to link their powers to his, “taking over, making you do terrible things. It’s like being possessed,” (Chima 346). Luckily Seph never took part in Leicester’s ritualistic and barbaric process, causing Leicester to kill the ones Seph trusted but also managing to keep Seph’s powers for himself (Chima 178). Chima painted Leicester as the perfect villain, controlling but subtle, cruel but clever. Similarly, Seph really got to show his flaws in this portion of the book, though it only made him a greater book hero. However, the minor, side characters were very one
“A nice warm shower, a cup of tea, and a caring ear may be all you need to warm your heart”. Charles Glassman’s quote was exemplified beautifully in the poem “Common Magic” by Bronwen Wallace. The piece took readers through a series of everyday events, explaining how each seemingly meaningless moment contained it’s own kind of magic. Through the use of oxymoron, imagery and characters, Wallace developed the theme that simple pleasures are fleeting and a fulfilled life involves t`21aking time to appreciate everything.
The protective nature that parents have for their children is one of the most important traits that all parents need to have to raise their child well. However, even too much of a good thing can be poison. This is especially true for the characters in both the novel Mister Pip, by Lloyd Jones, and the short story Saturday Climbing, by W.D Valgardson. In Mister Pip, Delores loves her daughter, Matilda, and is extremely protective of her, so when Matilda starts to become pulled towards the world that Mr. Watts presents through the book Great Expectations, Delores takes action in the fear of losing her daughter to another world, but this overprotectiveness results in terrible consequences. Similarly, in Saturday Climbing, Barry is extremely protective of his daughter, Moira, and is afraid of letting her to have too much responsibility. However, she is soon going to university, and thus need to learn how to support herself. The result is the opposite of what occurs in Mister Pip, as Barry eventually accepts that Moira is growing and has to let go, while Delores continues fighting to hold Matilda to the end, until her sudden death by the Redskins. Through the stories of both Mister Pip and Saturday Climbing, Jones and Valgardson show how a parent, no matter how much they try to deny it, will eventually have let go of their child, and depending on the parent’s acceptance, the relationship can be either continue on, although more distant, or be forcibly stretched and broken through conflict.
I am writing about the book The Magician’s Nephew. It is by C.S. Lewis and it is part of the Chronicles of Narnia series. This book is about two children who go on an unexpected adventure. At the beginning of this book, a young boy, Digory, learns that he has a new neighbor next door. The new next door neighbor is a family with a daughter named Polly. One day, they are both playing in their own backyards. Digory wants to meet the new neighbor so he says hello. She says hello. They start talking but their talk soon becomes an argument. Polly finally apologized when he told her about his sick mother and having to stay with his aunt and his mad uncle. After they made up, they became good friends and played together almost all the time. One time
A common theme in the stories we have read is that glory, happiness, and success come in cycles (this theme is commonly represented as "the wheel of fortune"). This theme is present in the Arthurian tales, as well as in Beowulf. Each story tells a tale (or part of a tale) of a rise to glory, and the proceeding fall to disarray. The men always were the kings and warriors, but the women played different roles in the different
My grandmother introduced me to reading before I’d even entered school. She babysat me while my parents were at work, and spent hours reading to me from picture books as my wide eyes drank in the colorful illustrations. As a result, I entered my first year of school with an early passion for reading. Throughout elementary and middle school, I was captivated by tales of fire-breathing dragons, mystical wizards, and spirited foreign gods. A book accompanied me nearly everywhere I went, smuggled into my backpack or tucked safely under my arm. I was often the child who sat alone at lunch, not because she didn’t have friends, but because she was more interested in a wizards’ duel than the petty dramas of middle school girls. I was the child who passed every history test because she was the only kid who didn’t mind reading the textbook in her spare time, and the child who the school librarian knew by name. Reading provided a
“The third day- it was Wednesday of the first week- Charles bounced a see-saw on to the head of a little girl and made her bleed,” (1). In the short story “Charles” written by Shirley Jackson, Laurie, the main character of the story, is a young kindergartener who is able to run around causing trouble at school and at the same time, pretend that it is only another boy in his class that is making the trouble. “Charles” teaches you that parents do not know everything about their child even though the child lives in the same house as them. Laurie’s parents do not know what he is like at school. Laurie is flamboyant, and arrogant yet creative and those characteristics make him the perfect troublemaker.
The article details the problems parents have with the Potter series in saying that magic is appalling, Potter's anti-family behavior was impeding on family values, and children may become...
This book is titled, The Secrets of Harry Bright by Joseph Wambaugh. It was published in 1985. I have read other novels by Joseph Wambaugh. He is a very intriguing author. He has a way of capturing his audience that is paralleled with few authors. In essence, he relates his writings to everyday life woven into crime, drugs and sex. It appeals to a more mature audience, which can appreciate Wambaugh’s rough portrayal of urban life. My first thought of the book was it lacked historical significance. Upon further thought it became apparent to me that history isn’t simply war or catastrophes; it’s an accumulation of everything that has preceded the time we live now. This novel made many references to Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and even William McKinley. It also viewed America as it was in the 1980’s. A time sometimes forgotten or often neglected to be mentioned. Through this novel you begin to grasp this time period and develop a sense of appreciation for it, because it did take place and is apart of our history. I believe Joseph Wambaugh is one of the forerunners in enlightening the American Public on a period, which deserves more recognition. And I believe strongly that Wambaugh set out to highlight this decade in our history and he most certainly succeeded.
Growing up as a child everyone loved the movie “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and you also had younger kids who enjoyed reading the book or having someone read the book to them. The Wizard of Oz book had so many different versions to it you had the book that had the pictures that popped out as you flipped through the pages keeping the kids fascinated as they read along and then you had just the regular version that you were able to read. With that being said everyone knows the storyline to the Wizard of Oz they are also familiar with most of the characters in the movie but little did they know the Wizard of Oz has a meaning behind the story and its very interesting seeing as though I never knew anything about it growing up even now that I’m older
In movies, novels, and life, people are named as heroes. The heroes we establish and the heroes we recognize, however, may not meet the criteria for a mythic hero. A mythic hero ventures forth on his journey, and comes forth from the hero’s path to greatness. Joseph Campbell, a mythologist who studied many of the great human myths and religious tales, realized, in studying these myths and tales, that there were certain steps that every hero went through. Campbell called this “The Hero’s Journey”; it is based on Carl Jung's idea that all human beings have an archetype. After Campbell studied a lot of the great myths and realized this pattern, he published his findings in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Ever since then, authors have used “The Hero’s Journey” as an outline to tell their stories. “It is important to note that not all of these individual steps are present in every hero’s tale, nor is it important that they be in this exact order” (Vogler 20). The Hero with a Thousand Faces gives a sense of significance as it looks into the inner mind and soul. The author, Joseph Campbell, performs two extraordinary accomplishments: compelling his readers that myth and dream, those are the most effective and everlasting forces in life and a unification of mythology and psychoanalysis with a gripping narrative. One well-known example of “The Hero’s Journey” from popular culture is the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling. In the novel, Harry Potter, the main character, is the chosen one and “The Hero’s Journey” applies to his life from the moment he is attacked by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as a baby.
The portrayal of female characters in British literature has most often reflected the larger perception of women by society during the time of a work’s publication. In this regard, the immensely popular Harry Potter series written by author J.K. Rowling is certainly no exception. The circumstances for women in late 20th century Britain have improved and in many ways are nearing equality with men, yet a notable upper barrier to success still remains. Rowling captures this gender dynamic throughout the Harry Potter series by including a diverse cast of resilient female characters who are not allowed to take on the same leadership roles dominated by the men at Hogwarts, at the Ministry of Magic, in quidditch, and during the Triwizard tournament. The novels also center on an important theme of motherly love that Rowling uses to explore the sacrifices women must make in order to raise their children well. Such issues have been present in British literature for well over a century, with each generation seeing steps toward equality, both for the fictitious characters and the women of a given time period. The Harry Potter series, therefore, constitutes a reflection of female status in modern Britain that has advanced, but remains perpetually flawed.
The book Kingdom Keepers Disney after Dark written by Ridley Pearson was about fourteen year old Finn Hudson and his new found friends lives had been turned upside down. Finn had sign up to become a DHI (Disney Host Interactive or Daylight Hologram Imaging) at Disney World unknowing of what was about to happen. That night after the filming for DHIs at Disney world finn had a strange ¨dream¨ about a man named Wayne who claimed to know Walt Disney. This kept happening to finn and the other DHIs at disney, later he found out that is was no dream but a crossover to the Disney park after dark. Wayne told Finn that the park was in danger from the overtakers who have planned to destroy the disney dimension and only Finn and the other DHIs can stop them by solving the riddle of the stonecutter's quill.
In the novel, “The Heir,” there were many situations that caught my attention. A problem from the story was that, Baden, a member of the Selection, had a fight with Eadlyn, a princess. So, how the problem started was that, Baden basically asked Eadlyn out. Eadlyn was friendly to Baden for about an hour and then, she walked away, as if nothing happened. The next day, Baden showed up at Eadlyn’s front door, explaining to her how he wanted to leave the palace and how he felt when Eadlyn “shot him down” the night before. To elaborate, that was when they got into a fight. Eadlyn tried to explain herself to Baden, about how she was extremely busy and she never really said “no” when Baden asked her out. After a while later, Eadlyn decided to give
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” (Aristotle). Broken down, chapter by chapter and piece by piece, Jamaica Kincaid’s Mr. Potter tells many different stories about a man who curses God, a little girl asking her estranged father for money to buy school supplies, a woman stealing the life savings from a man she loves, and many more. As a whole, however, the book not only illustrates the author’s search to understand her father’s life, but also conveys the idea of a world without love. When viewed as a part of the entire book, Chapter Four refines this theme through Mr. Potter’s relationship with his mother and her abandonment of him.
Many people can name a specific experience that changed their world view, whether it be a significant event, a piece of art, an influential coach, or a religious experience. My view of the world changed significantly when I began to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. This wonderful work of literature opened my eyes to the power of imagination and allowed me to develop my passion for reading. However, it also brought me to a realization, one that every young child must face: that every word an adult says is not necessarily true. After becoming aware of the ability for adults to be mistaken—or even to lie—I began to understand and realize that to be trusted by others, one must have respected reputation, and that trust in adults begins with a knowledge of their integrity.