Midterm report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Midterm report - Essay Example The most important in the book is the topics it addresses; it is anthology of life in the USA because it traces local understanding of basic human values and needs people face in their lives. Each story in the book is an independent essay with developed story line and its characters. Out of all the stories, Im Jumping  Off  the Bridge by Kevin Sampsell is very special. Narrated in the first person, it tells a story of a man who convinces other man not to commit suicide. The savior, however, is trapped by suicidal thoughts and he has to survive a night fighting with his inner controversies to make the decision to live or not to live.   The other story, Confessions of an Ex-Mormon by Walter Kirn addresses the issue of religion and belief. It follows the narrator on his way from and back to Mormonism, showing how difficult it can be to find belief inside one’s heart. In His Last Game, Brian Doyle manages to render invisible connection between two brothers who are already grown up, but they keep their inner children alive thanks to each other.   Other stories, also written in the first person, deal with economics, politics, relationships, inner struggles, desi re to live, state of mind and many other vital things people can find interesting in literature. This collection of essays reflects current values of people in America. If one wants to have a glimpse in American culture and identity, these stories in their concentration comprehensively represent this hidden knowledge. They are not too philosophical or sophisticated; most of them are written in terms of ordinary daily life with the same ordinary problems. These stories do not offer solutions to global issues of greater gaps between the rich and poor or cure for lethal diseases. They offer a fresh look, a new point of view and ideas to think about in the future. They teach people to appreciate what they have here and now and love their closest people. They show that

Rhetorical Analysis of House of Blue Leaves Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of House of Blue Leaves - Essay Example Guare a chance to associate hope of a better life to Vatican and Hollywood. At the time, there was war at Vietnam and America was in the verge of losing thus forcing everybody to look for a way out. As such, in the play, all the characters who are middle or working –class in this black comedy, sought refuge in celebrity life from their humdrum lives. This mix of black comedy with social commentary and real drama faced many critics who thought that the play fails to address serious issues due to its comedic nature (Shapiro 1966). Nevertheless, it enjoyed equal support and indeed went ahead to record 337 performances and won several awards including the Best American Play in the New York Drama critics Circle Award. This paper will address an arguable claim related to the play. The clam is that, â€Å"isolation or a feeling of not belonging forms the foundation of the play, The House of Blue Leaves. All characters in the play seek to move from their status to a presumably better position.† The main character is a middle-class married zookeeper, acting as Artie. Artie is not comfortable with his zookeeping job and he has a conviction to achieve better things. As such, he does the zookeeping job during the day and attends amateur night to play his original songs despite being the oldest person in the amateur. He is destined to make a for wand move though some circumstances limit his quest. Indeed, we can sense his dissatisfaction and sense of not belonging where the play opens with him on the stage of the El Dorado Bar & Grill playing the piano as he sings his songs. However, his frustration manifests when he cannot get a spotlight and the audience ignores his singing. Nevertheless, he continues to sing and when he finishes with no applause from the audience, he quits a disappointed man with an urge to become a better songwriter. He claims his aspirations are old enough despite his middle age and thus his urge to achieve this bothers him so much. His p ursuit to become a songwriter is seemingly absurd as he even plans to abandon his schizophrenic wife, Bananas, and their unstable soldier son for the sake of realizing his dreams. Actually, he desperately seeks to escape to Hollywood with his mistress, Bunny Flingus who stays just downstairs. Most unfortunately is the fact that despite his absurd ambitions, most of his songs are terrible. Indeed, everybody can sense that he has no talent and his dreams may be in vain. Nevertheless, he is prepared to do anything to become a songwriter who will win Oscar awards. As seen herein, the main character is in a world that he does not enjoy a feeling of belonging. Indeed, despite his age, middle –class status, family commitments, and a schizophrenic wife, Artie is still convinced that he can become celebrated songwriter and thus puts a lot of effort to it (Shapiro 1966). In fact, despite his current songs being terrible and the audience showing no interest in them, he aims to be at the top. However, his dreams draw some absurdity where he even plans to abandon his needy family to pursue his ambitions in Hollywood. Again, Artie is not comfortable with his schizophrenic wife and therefore does not have a feeling of belonging to her hence looking for a mistress just downstairs. Another character who is seemingly not enjoying his status is Bunny Flingus, the downstairs neighbor of Artie. Indeed,