North Dakota Night Dragons, By Johnathan Rand

In the poem “Loch Ard Gorge” by John Foulcher he represents his vision of the world by describing a place called Loch Ard Gorge where there is a constant battle between life and death with death slowly winning. He does this by describing the Gorge in a way that compares life and death with the sea and the land, two places which can not exist without the other yet are difficult to reconcile.

In 1996, I was born into a chaotic world that my infant self had no indication as to what he was going to experience.As I now look back, it amazes me what has happened in just 19 years and is still hard to believe how I ended up where I am today. This is the crude and bizarre ride through I, Wyatt Bishop’s, 19 years in this extraordinary bubble we call Earth.

There are an infinite amount of unique responses to the question “What is the meaning of life?”. However, the majority of people will agree that the true meaning of life is to find happiness and what is really important to one’s self. In Jon Krakauer’s, Into The Wild, Chris McCandless conveys this idealism through his life’s journey as he bravely defies all limitations. Chris McCandless isolates himself from society in his Alaskan Odyssey as a way to defy accepted expectations and to begin discovering the meanings of life without any corrupted influences.

There are many ways in which we can view the history of the American West. One view is the popular story of Cowboys and Indians. It is a grand story filled with adventure, excitement and gold. Another perspective is one of the Native Plains Indians and the rich histories that spanned thousands of years before white discovery and settlement. Elliot West’s book, Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado, offers a view into both of these worlds. West shows how the histories of both nations intertwine, relate and clash all while dealing with complex geological and environmental challenges. West argues that an understanding of the settling of the Great Plains must come from a deeper understanding, a more thorough

The short story, The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas by Reginald McKnight, is about an African American boy, Clint, who is attending a school that is majority filled of white people. In his class there are only 2 other African Americans, Ah-so and Marvin, while the rest of the class is white. Clint hates Marvin, because he gives the negative stereotypes of an African American. Clint hates the fact that the whites stereotype them and wants to prove himself that he can be anything but that. His teacher Mrs. Wickham, disapproves of Clint getting answers correct. She doesn’t hide the fact that she is racist, but states that she’s not. The other kids in the class room aren’t aware the fact they are racist. McKnight sets up very specific details in the story to give Clint a realization in the end of what he has become.

The quote "Character is what you are in the dark" - Dwight Lyman Moody has a few meanings. Mostly it means that you're different when you're alone. When you're around people they are influences of some sort. If you get into a situation when you're with people you might react differently than if you were alone, resulting in a different outcome. A lot of the time people aren't their true self around friends, or family, or whoever it may be for many reasons. A big reason is they don't want to be judged. Maybe they wanna look "cool" or get popular for something. Maybe they think they'll be looked at differently for being who they truly are. So basically fear of what others think keeps us from being who we really are. Fear can make us act different,

What really defines a dreamer? Is it the children who have unrealistic dreams of playing in the big leagues or is it someone who has a plan and will go out of his or her way to achieve it? Both of these options can be true. Dreamers are special in this world because they have hope for something they believe in. Nothing is more fascinating than seeing an individual who never gave up and worked extremely hard to reach their goal. Having read only three sections so far, I have explored the individual’s purpose and passion for the work they pursue. The “Dreamers” section has made me analyze what I have and want with my future career. Overall, the elements of the book defining dreamers explains the meaning of a risk taker, the hard work and dedication involved, and the passion it takes to reach your goals.

The story begins with the description of a deep night and two men bent by their lonely fire. These men are speaking about a strange, mysterious creature, which seems to ruin everything on its way. They are talking about a dreadful dragon, which is described with much detail: “This dragon, they say his eyes are fire. His breath a white gas; you can see him bum across the dark lands”, “Passing, the black brunt of its shoulder smashed the remaining horse and rider a hundred feet against the side of a boulder, wailing, wailing, the dragon shrieking, the fire all about, around, under it, a pink, yellow, orange sun-fire with

Darkness at Noon, written by British novelist Arthur Koestler in 1940, is a criticism of Stalinism and the methods used by the Communist Party in the USSR. The novel was set in 1938 during the Stalinist Great Purge and Moscow show trials. Even though the story depicts actual occurrences, it does not specifically name either Russia or the USSR, but the characters do have Russian names while other generic terms are used to depict individuals and associations. For instance, the Soviet government is alluded to as "the Party" and Nazi Germany is alluded to as "the Dictatorship." Joseph Stalin, a terrorizing dictator, is represented by "Number One." The novel is a strong and moving picture of a Communist revolutionary caught up in the terror

Garrett Morgan, an inventor of the 20th century, saved many lives with his inventions. The Scope article, “The Fire Breather”, Informational text, “Could You Be the Next Garrett Morgan?” and the Discovery ED video “Garrett Morgan” all give good evidence on Garrett's most remarkable inventions and his perseverance.

Clint from “The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas”, by Reginald Mcknight, heavily scrutinizes everyone in his class; the white black and kids. He feels like he is better than his fellow black student. For example, he describes Marvin as vicious and dark skinned. On the other hand, he holds more respect towards Ah-so describing her as grand and iconic and later on soft and gentle. He says “There was something unshakable about her, some core so impenetrably solid, you got the feeling that if you stood too close to her she could eat your thoughts like a black star eats light”(387).

For this paper, I read the graphic novel, One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry. Barry’s novel is similar to Kochalka’s series, American Elf since her life is the main plot and focus. Like the title, Barry divulges into instances from her life that could be considered a demon, or something negative. For example, the first demon she discussed was about her first love and how much he differed from one of her boyfriends. This was considered a demon to her because of how he treated her and how she felt better off without him. In a way, this novel is Barry’s method of expressing her negative moments and sharing them to the public. Not only does this graphic novel encourage others to speak about their demons, Barry is healing herself from her negative

One of the opening quotes from Brian Dunning's film, Here Be Dragons says, “...It gave some comfort to at least be able to label the unknown”. I think about this a lot when it comes to death. I was raised in a heavily religious Catholic family, but as years went by, I questioned whether all of these religions were just one giant hope mechanism. They give hope and satisfaction to people and comforted them with the idea of death. There were a couple of the World’s modern day dragons that Dunning talked about that I questioned and would like to look into to see if they should actually be considered dragons. I think the ones that I questioned and that shocked me the most includes: fish oil and vitamin supplements. As far as I have been taught,

Nighthawks, was painted in 1942 by Edward Hopper (1882-1967) an artist who was known as “a great master in the ranks of America realists.” (Levin, Gail) Hoppers paintings were first hung in “retrospective in 1933, Hopper played host just three years later to the first major show of surrealist art in New york.” (Levin, Gail) Hopper grew up in Washington Square, and lived there for most of his life. “ Hopper excelled in creating realistic pictures of clear-cut, sunlit streets and houses, often without figures.” (Levin, Gail) “He offers a brand of realism not bound to reality, and the places he depicts are familiar and foreign, comfortable and disquieting,” said the USA Times. The painting resides in the Art institute of Chicago. Nighthawks just like many of Hoppers paintings give a feeling of loneliness, and isolation as well as a feeling of darkness due to the dark hues. The picture leaves the viewer with thousands of words and interpretations with a third person view of an isolated man as he sits in a small parlor and ponders. The painting was created in 1942, which took place during the time of the great depression.

In the book, the author tries to define the dragon and states that it was seen to look like a giant snake. He also explains how people saw dragons as sacred whereby it was seen as some type of guardian to the people and provided them with protection and natural needs like rain. The book also tells of people, who had negative beliefs against the dragons; these were mostly Christians who to some extent even fought with the dragons. The belief that dragons were strong and mighty was seen as true since people who defeated dragons, mostly armies, were remembered as very great men. The popular belief that dragons guard great treasures in their caves is seen in this novel whereby the author states that people in those days tried to enter dragon caves which were guarded by these dragons.