The Opposite Of What's Real By D. R. Meredith

The history of publishing has been plagued with literary hoaxes — from the somewhat harmless Ern Malley hoax to the most recent Belle Gibson scandal. Unfortunately literary hoaxes will continue to happen, unless publishers begin to fact check manuscripts before publication. Publishers claim they are unable to do this due to the financial cost of the procedure and this is a believable claim. If you spoke to an average person they would say that the print industry is dying, thanks to the rise of digital technology, and there has been a downturn in profits.

Sometimes, when one is hurt emotionally, recovering from the pain may be difficult, “Your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal.” (15). This indicated that one will have to deal with the pain or push through it because it can be difficult to heal it all at once. As well, when the negativity becomes extreme, overcoming and not caring about what others think is very important, “When they slip war and hatred under your door…” (58). One must believe in themself and appreciate the beauty of who they are to get over the rude things that others are saying. Furthermore, having a small mindspace and not thinking about the positive rather than the negative can lead to one being weak and

“One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me,” (pg. 115, Wiesel). The author’s message is revealing how someone should be able to overcome their struggles if they truly have confidence in themselves. Being that almost everyone goes through struggles at least once a day, the message about looking pass through the obstacles that seem really hard by thinking that it is achievable. It connects to everyone because of how people go through hardships in their life time varying in their age drawing out the conclusion that everything is achievable if only you believe that it is possible to do.

Everything is a lie. Every spoken word is false, every written text is fallacious, and every form of media is erroneous. The speed and ease of information sharing has allowed people to submit anything they want into the mass jumble of online data called the Web. In his article, “Truth Lies Here,” Michael Hirschorn argues that the Web has become a place of fabricated facts and because of the massive amount of false information on the internet, nobody believes anything. “[D]isturbances in politics and media feel like symptoms of a larger epistemological, even civilizational, rot” (Hirschorn 64). Though this article may support Hirschorn’s argument, it is not strong, to say the least. This article lacks originality nor is it informative, it does little in addressing the opposition, and it contains numerous logical fallacies. All in all, this article is not persuasive.

Major Depressive Disorder has claimed the lives of up to 15% of those suffering from the disorder through suicide (Belmaker & Agam, 2008). Different people are effected by depression in different ways. Some individuals, like Raquel, suffer from loss of interest, feelings of worthlessness, along with thoughts of suicide (Fave & Kendler, 2000). Others go on with their daily routine with a smile on their face, while hiding their emotions. Although most individuals will experience depressed mood or general loss of interest in activities they once enjoyed (Spaner, Bland, & Newman, 2007).

The book Ordinary People by Judith Guests is about a seventeen year old boy named Conrad Jarrett. Conrad is diagnosed with depression and tries to commit suicide. His depression developed after his brother Buck dies from drowning. In the book we find out even though Conrad 's depression developed after Buck 's death, his mother 's arrogance and his father 's assertive behavior of teaching him how to grow up are all factors of his depression. Depression is a type of mental disorder and all mental disorders need to be given proper treatment. Unfortunately the way the world works, is that people can be given proper treatment and care if and only they have money to pay for it. Treatments of mental disorders all depend upon which class the mentally ill fall into.

And it’s only in that time that we can see one another, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs” (302). This explanation shows us that only when people are capable of exposing themselves, can others truly understand them, and they can understand others. This perception shows how we can only gain true understanding through hardships and false

Published in 1997, Marie Howe’s anthology of poems, What the Living Do was written as an elegy to her brother, John, who passed away due to AIDS. Howe’s anthology is written without metaphor to document the loss she felt after her brother’s death. Although What the Living Do is written as an anthology, this collection allows for individual poems to stand alone but also to work together to tell an overarching story. Using the poetic devices of alliteration, enjambment, repetition and couplets, Howe furthers her themes of gender and loss throughout her poems in her anthology.

Have you ever looked into a mirror and try to look closely to see if it will tell you something about yourself? These two stories are about the mirror, in the sense of who do you want to become as a person. A person who doesn’t care about other people or are you a drum major who wants to make changes, and stand out in a crowd by doing what’s right for the good of other people.

Throughout “The Disappointment”, Aphra Behn critics the established gender roles in the society particularly sexually. This can be seen in the relationship between Lisander who is the male figure and Cloris who is the female one. In this poem, Cloris can be seen as the object of desire while Lisander can be seen as the sexual object which challenges the pre-established roles in society.

In a desperate attempt to keep the Tomkey’s from stealing his candy, the speaker eats as much of it as possible, destroying the rest until his mother walks in. She demands that her son look at himself. The speaker describes this request as a trick to redirect the angry feelings he experiences towards the Tomkey family on himself. However, the speaker acknowledges the unappealing, animal-like image he creates in desperately shoving candy into his mouth despite being allergic to chocolate. The fact that the speaker feels his mother’s words are a trick shows that his behavior convicts him, albeit slightly. Often, when someone asks to look at ourselves in response to a situation in which negative emotions such as anger or hate are involved, we find it easier to blame another individual instead. Instead, refusing to reflect on one’s self in such an instance only causes negative feelings to fester. Thus, in the speaker’s case, it is much easier to simply turn the negative feelings he has about his own life towards the Tomkeys. As the speaker admits, it is easier to simply hate the Tomkey family, going as far as to claim he finds pleasure in doing so. This hatred is evident at the end of this excerpt. Just when the reader suspects a catharsis, or at least an acknowledgement that the Tomkey family does not deserve to be hated, the speaker simply tosses the idea of self- reflection aside. Instead, he delves back into the television’s distractions. This happening reinforces the idea of simply keeping the focus on others flaws instead of one’s own problems. Rather than considering the possibility of being in the wrong for his actions, the speaker lashes out towards something as petty as the costumes the Tomkey children were wearing. If the speaker would have turned inward, perhaps he would

Reality can be two different things, objective and subjective. Objective reality is what is truly real. This is formed by the facts and truths of the world. Reality for people can be what they experience the world to be. This is subjective reality.

Waking up to smiles and laughter. Running free from worries and wonders. Seeing a bright sun and dressing to warm weather. That is what most people want, right? Instead people wake up to wondering what mask one should wear? Will the mirror one looks into everyday lie again? Society has a way of putting people down, yet at the same time pressuring them to be okay. It is this constant idea that when one shows that you can no longer hold on any more other should not know about it. The feeling one has should be unnoticeable. Amanda Chatel states in her article that “... wanting to be happy is a good thing”(1) but then people keep themselves from enjoying who they are. One encloses the thought of stress and piles more devastating feelings onto their

In the poems "Richard Cory," by Edwin Arlington Robinson and "Glass Ceiling," by T.R. Hummer they talk about how they're masking their feelings. They pretend to be happy when in reality they are sad they make people think they're happy because they think no one cares or that they don't matter. This actually happens a lot. Many people are depressed or pretend to be happy to avoid confrontation. This is what todays society does to you.

The Age of Realism speaks to me in a way I can understand. As a person who lives an everyday life, I am all about realism. Unlike the other eras we’ve learned about this semester, The Age of Realism has the ability to connect to me. At times all I’ve ever wanted to do was escape reality, yet life doesn’t operate that way. Getting caught up in a fantasy can only lead to life of disappointment, or worse. Realism has a way of helping me cope with everyday struggles. Some of the greatest novels I’ve read are underlined by the age of realism. The novelist Ellen Hopkins, a New York Times bestselling author, of “Perfect,” a day-day examination of four seniors whose goals to perfection are as different as the paths they take to get them. This book