The Wednesday Wars by Gary G. Schmidt

In 1967, Holling Hoodhood’s life in Long Island New York was complicated and confusing for a 12-year-old boy. In this work of fiction, Wednesday Wars, Holling felt that his family, friends and teachers hated him and he didn’t really know why. His parents didn’t support him , he didn’t know what loneliness and silence was till he really looked at his perfect not so perfect family. His friends made him the butt of their jokes. As a punishment, his teacher Mrs.Baker, who he thought hated him, made him read Shakespeare, was it a punishment or did he learn to like the stories?

“A thief is a thief whether he steals a diamond or a cucumber”, Unknown. In the novel The Wednesday Wars, authored by Gary D. Schmidt, the protagonist (Holling Hoodhood) is faced with many complications. Holling was unfortunate enough to involve one of these complications with his father’s work. Holling was explaining his father’s idea (architectural plans for the new school) to a friend named Meryl Lee Kowalski. This poor action resulted in a far greater consequence than Holling imagined. Meryl Lee told her father the splendid idea causing her father to take the design and present it as his own.

During the novel The Wednesday Wars, Holling changed a lot during his 7th grade year. He had many great influences to make him do so. I have three main influences I think made him do so. Mrs. Baker, Shakespeare, and his sister Heather.

At the beginning of the passage, Petry uses imagery in order to set the environment in which the main character is introduced. Petry starts off with “a cold November wind blowing through the 116th street” in order to show the environment as cold and breezy by saying the “cold” wind that is blowing around they urban city and the “dirt blowing around into people’s eyes” to introduce the setting. She then goes to further introduce the setting by talking about the scraps of paper flying around and how it did everything it could in order to “discourage the people walking along the streets.” This allows the reader to picture the urban setting by appealing to their sense of touch where you can feel the cold climate in the city and create a picture in their mind of garbage and paper flying around and hindering the people’s lives. Petry uses this in order to highlight Lutie Johnson’s eventual introduction to the urban setting and her unfamiliarity with the urban by letting us predict the challenges Lutie Johnson will soon face there. Petry is able to create images in our head in order to show Lutie Johnson in the urban setting; you are able to feel the cold,

Over 150 years, the Civil War had been the bloodiest war in the American history, also known as “The War Between the States” or “Brother Against Brother”, it was fought between the Union or the United States of America and the Confederate States of America. The war lasted four years from 1861 to 1865. What motivated these men to fight and what is the cause of the Civil War is a subject that many historians tried to find out.

7. The setting is used as a reflection of the woman's inner emotions. The sun shines and birds sing with no sign of gloom because she is not actually mourning as she thinks to herself. The lack of sorrow from the woman cause the setting to seem even more lovely to her as she realizes she is feeling joy. The details used by the writer portray a sense of well being and positivity. The woman reaches out towards the window as if her joy is tangible, this is a vey important

“It was a bright cold day in April” initially a description of the sight is given to the reader so they could get a sense of the location.

"Battleground America," written by Jill Lepore, provides a strong history of guns and the way they have changed in the eyes of the American through the years. She proves her point with strong evidence throughout her article, sprinkling it with opinion and argument that is strongly supported. She presents her argument to convince her audience that the open availability of guns allows citizens to undeservingly purchase them by displaying the credibility in her sources, using negative connotations in her speech, and the strength and objectivity only a strong logos appeal can provide.

In “War and Massacre” by Thomas Nagel, Nagel argues that there are limits on what can be done to an enemy even its for the sake of overall good. He believes that such an idea is grounded on the principles of Absolutism, where morality is determined by the action itself (deontology). This is contrary to the view of Utilitarianism, which relies on the premise that Morality is determined by its consequences (Consequentialism). Although could one in fact generate such a moral structure around war? Do the ends justify the means in War? Through identifying with a real-life example, I will look to expand on Nagel’s account where an action taken by a country in war would be prohibited even if it were for the overall good.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is a classic work of military science fiction depicting a war between the human race and an unfamiliar alien entity known as the Taurans. The overall plot line follows a fairly typical path, but Haldeman’s real genius is realized through the interactions that take place between the protagonist, William Mandella, and the Earth he returns to between military operations. Developing beneath the ever-present war of the two species lies a much subtler conflict between generations of human thought and culture. Brought about by the way troops are transported in space, time dilation creates an interesting dichotomy between the early soldiers of the war and the rapid evolution of human society and culture remaining on Earth. The Forever War questions the stability of human nature by creating a scenario where its fluidity is exposed through an invariable link to time. The expression of human nature changes as cultural and personal identities adapt to new situations; viewing these changes through Mandella, we begin to see how different expressions of human nature can impact human nature itself.

John Keegan describes his book, The Face of Battle, as "a personal attempt to catch a glimpse of the face of battle." This personal aspect that Keegan mentions is essential to his book and is excellently articulated, driving home his point. Keegan, who taught at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for over 25 years, begins by acknowledging his uneasiness with the fact that even though he taught British cadets military history, "I have not been in a battle; not near one, nor heard one from afar, nor seen the aftermath . . . And I grow increasingly convinced that I have very little idea of what a battle can be like." Keegan is clear to state his proposition that almost all military history has functioned simply as a “battle piece” description in which one can see all the larger moving aspects followed by the outcome. However, this sort of recounting fails to acknowledge the personal side of war, the experience of battle. What really ensues when a cavalry unit meets an infantry unit? What are the vital features in determining whether soldiers stand and fight or turn and run?

Individuals go through many experiences in life, and through their experiences they learn about the world, and how to react to the way it treats them within a society. A society has many expectations that mold people 's attitudes and moods. Throughout life, people are constantly changing themselves to fit into the society and once people fulfill its requirement to meet its expectations they can fit into the world, because the world is built on society’s expectations. The society can make people distant from themselves, when they are busy, and are always being pressured to complete a certain task on time. The society can impact people 's decisions by alternating their ways of treating them. They can be strict, and force people to put their ego aside, while in other situations they want the the people to only think about themselves, and what they want, and how they should value themselves more often, Especially children, who at a young age are trying to find their place in society. In “An army of one” by Jean Twenge, many children are surrounded by coloring books, and other activities that support their self-esteem, hoping to build a concrete understanding of the importance of self. In “Project Classroom Makeover” by Cathy Davidson, students are surrounded by rules, and regulation, that always lead to standardization, and a way for students to forget about themselves, but Davidson wants to change that with technology and restore the students’ self-esteems. The ability for an

Death; destruction; crawling, bloody men without jaws; and a child in the middle of it is just a glimpse of the grotesque short narrative “Chickamauga” by Ambrose Bierce. Chickamauga Creek is an area near Chattanooga, Tennessee and northwestern Georgia, plagued by war, suffering, and bloodshed from the Civil War (Bohannon). Bierce served in the Union Army during the American Civil War (Campbell). Many Americans then, and today, romanticize war with glory, heroism, and patriotism. Bierce defied literary status quo, creating graphic accounts of war, in an age of sentimentalism and melodrama (Morris). Lesser publicized were the perspectives, thoughts, and realities of the soldiers after serving and surviving in the civil

For the first major essay of this semester, the class was assigned to analyze and defend a poem of our choosing from the Poetry Foundation website; however, there was catch; we were only allowed to choose one poem to save from a massive destruction if the website decided to banish. The poem I chose was “The Powwow at the End of the World” by Sherman Alexie because I love his work and the fact that he is a famous Native American writer. Despite the interest I had for the poem, writing this essay had some ups and downs.

These shows an extreme emphasize on the weathers importance, he could never escape his father’s clutch, and he can never idealize his own independence. The weather also helps the reader understand the pressure that Stephen is faced with; both literally and physically “The world was a maelstrom of darkness and wind” (Nowlan Pg__). This further reinforces Stephens’s unclear confused mind, and the harshness of his father’s expectations. “The wind struck his back like an alder switch” (Nowlan Pg__). The shadowing of how Stephen feels the confusion and coldness he faces. “The wind howled until Stephen expected it to wrench the roof from the camp” (Nowlan Pg__). Basically Stephens world was collapsing on him and his father’s disappointment was overpowering. “The wind hurled pellets of frozen snow against his face” (Nowlan Pg__). The adversity he faces, weather to be submissive to his father or to pursue his dreams. Through repetition and imagery, Nowlan emphasizes the effect that the weather and his father has on Stephen. After the friendly talks that Leka has had with him, Stephen was mislead by the Polack into think he was finally man. “He was no little boy to be cowed into obedience” (Nowlan Pg__). He believes he is now a man, and won’t be cowed into obedience. He believes that he has finally satisfied his father. This is later juxtaposed again, as later Stephen only