The Things They Carried Essay -- Literary Analysis, History

Joy Kogawa and Tim O’Brien: two authors that have wielded their mastery of the English language to yield literary masterpieces that reflect not only their own struggles, but the hardships of multitudes around them. In her acclaimed Obasan, Joy Kogawa illustrates the intense discrimination that was faced by Japanese-Canadians during World War 2, and provides many reflective anecdotes to give the reader some insight on her personal situation. Tim O’Brien accomplishes basically the same goal in The Things They Carried by giving the reader many brief stories about his time in the Vietnam War. These two books- though incredibly different on the surface - share a plethora of themes and symbology, as well as many similar events. They do not, however, emphasize or present these ideas in the same way. Each of these authors has a unique way of incorporating their own themes or values into their writing, which gives the reader an entirely different view of what may be happeni ng. The brain is an amazing thing. It allows us to think, blink, walk and talk; it enables us to run, hide, seek, and stride; but most importantly, it allows us to remember. Neither literary work takes a firm stance on their opinion of memories, as both have many different characters with many different opinions. Naomi views and even loosely mirrors Obasan’s opinions on memory; that the past be left to the past and the future will bear what is to come (65 Kogawa). This â€Å"Ashes to Ashes† stance is mirrored by Rat Kiley in The Things They Carried (SparkNotes Editors). Though Obasan has a much tougher exterior and is able to keep her composure, they are both haunted by cruel memories that they are trying to suppress. Rat, however, doesn’t have as much luck as ... ...n previously expected. Things aren’t always what they seem; a concept that applies to the characters themselves. Obasan is more than just a wrinkled old lady, just as Rat Kiley is more than just an infantry soldier. Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t jump to conclusions; everyone is different. Take some time to find out and get to know someone, and you might just be surprised by The Things They Carried. Works Cited SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Obasan.† SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on The Things They Carried.† SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. 1981. New York: First Anchor, 1994. Print. The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. Feb. 22 2012. O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1990. Print.

The Ways to Prevent Influences of Rock Music on Teenagers

The subject of rock has been controversial and a source of conflict between parents and children ever since it first appeared on the scene in the mid 1950’s. When Elvis Presley performed on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time in 1956, the cameras only showed him from the waist up, because adults were offended by the way he shook his hips. The kids loved it! When the Beatles arrived in the mid 1960’s, parents were shocked again this time by the mop-top haircuts. But young people were swept away by the infectious enthusiasm of their music.After the Beatles, more shocks were in store as groups like the Rolling Stones and the Animals popularized a more coarse, gritty, and vulgar style of blues-influenced rock. Rock and Roll has a major impact on our society and the way people acted. Early on the issues of cars, school, dating, and clothing, and the famous artists or bands that are singing them could really influence the minds of young kids. A lot of the songs would also talk about events or conflicts that people listening could relate too.Topics such as sex and drugs that were pretty much unacceptable in the 1950s were starting to be in songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and now today rock artists such as Marilyn Manson sings about everything. Eventhough rock music is one of the arts that promotes creativity and expression, it still has negative effects on our society today, especially among teenagers. The first effect that we can see are rock music is a genre of music that uses guitar, drum and bass, which contribute to its noisy music.Not only that, the most negative part of rock music is its heavy metallic sound, which unconsciously makes its listeners violent. Rock music can cause a phenomenon called nerve jamming which is similar to hypnosis. Rock music also an often-cited example in this case is that of a sixteen-year-old boy in Texas, U. S. A who was taken into a trance like state while listening to rock song that he became violent and unconscio usly murdered his aunt.After hearing the negative effects of the rock music, do we as parents would just sit idly by and continue to let the youth drift with rock music that turned out to have an adverse effect on them? Parents always want the best for their children. Thereby, there are several ways to control and prevent this problem from becoming rampant in our society, especially the youth who always need guidance and advice. The first ways that you can do as a parents to prevent the problem is monitor your children's music the same way you supervise their use of television, videos, and the Internet.Developmental psychologists and other researchers who study the effect of media on children have found that parents who are involved in all their children's media choices have a great impact on taming its potentially destructive effects, such as encouraging aggressive behavior and reinforcing negative stereotypes about women and men. Luckily, as parents of young children, you are like ly to be involved in buying the tapes or CDs, or borrowing them from the library, so music choices should be easy to monitor. But remember. The monitoring should be done on an ongoing basis.There are other ways you-can maintain control such as stay involved and listen to your child's music choices with him. If you find something objectionable, clearly explain in specifics why you're concerned so that he begins to understand that you're not just being mean and also you have valid reasons and particular values that you'd like him to understand and adopt. Also, don't make the mistake of dismissing your child to his room to listen in private to music you don't like: The more privacy he has, the less control and awareness you have.You also must to make sure the rules apply to everyone. One way that young children are often exposed to music that may not be appropriate for their ears is through older siblings (and parents). If you don't want your 6-year-old listening to music that offends you, you probably don't want your older kids listening to it, either. Lastly, you can share your favorite selections with your child and make an effort to appreciate his music. Encouraging your child to explore different kinds of music is likely to benefit him in many ways.In fact, our research shows that children whose parents introduce them to, and encourage them to listen to, a variety of music do better in school. Teenagers tend to get their style of dress from musicians that they like. Singers and songwriters have always set the tone for fashion trends. The music and fashion industry have become so intertwined that recording artists are now using their fame to sell their own fashion line of clothing. The rock fashion including black nail polish, waist chains and black makeup fashions are from rock music.For example Sleeveless T-Shirts Rock Band became very popular sense awesome bands like AC / DC, Metallica, Poison, Ratt, Ozzy & others made prototypes all the Rage. The band Nir vana brought the Grundge look to the masses in the 90's. Although this look started out in the city of Seattle, USA, it quickly became a popular fad. Even now in our country, we can see that young children wearing head skin pants, leather jackets, cut rock hair style and so on, where they take advantage of clothing shows how the singer or bands that they like. Follow clothing trends favored artist directly cause teenagers tend to follow the development of the artist.Parents should better monitor and take care of what are their children wearing even where they are, especially the teenagers because this group is more likely to follow changes in fashion and always want up-to-date. Parents can control with a fashion review and selection of children's clothes when they go out shopping. In other way, although the parents just give children pocket money for the teenagers to buy their stuffs or things that they want parents need to find out what fashion and how clothes and the bought by the ir teenage children.As a conclusion, rock music seems to be the most controversial but it also has many positive influences that should be taken in to consideration. There are some negatives that come with it, and those should be filtered out by the parents. So, the next time your child wants to listen to a song they like, instead of immediately refusing, listen with both ears. You will learn much of what your child likes and dislikes. You will gain insight into the thinking of your child. You will also learn what to absolutely deny your child.

Road to Ielts - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1077 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/09/11 Category Advertising Essay Did you like this example? Syllabus Road  to  IELTS  General  Training Unit  1:  Ã‚   Leisure  Ã‚  entertainment Words: Words and phrases to talk about leisure activities, sports, games and equipment Listening: A talk about places to eat out in a town; a conversation about a survey on popular forms of physical activity Reading: An article about a new top spot to visit in London; a brochure from a museum of games Writing (1): Practice exercises for writing a letter of introduction Writing (2): Practice exercises for compositions discussing advantages and disadvantages Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for answering general questions about yourself in Part 1 of the Speaking Test Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Road to Ielts" essay for you Create order Unit  2:  Ã‚   Language  Ã‚  communication Words: Words and phrases to talk about language and varieties of language Listening: A talk about ways to improve your English; a conversation about endangered languages Reading: A guide for effective letter writing; an article giving advice for job interviews Writing (1): Writing (2): Practice exercises for letters giving advice Practice exercises for compositions discussing arguments for and against Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for talking about a topic in Part 2 of the Speaking Test Unit  3:  Ã‚   Travel,  tourism  Ã‚  transport Words: Phrases to talk about traffic-related problems and solutions; words and phrases to talk about air travel Listening: A conversation about a plane trip; a lecture about a tribe of Native Americans P a g e   |  1  Ã‚  Ã‚   www. ClarityEnglish. com    © Clarity Language Consultants Ltd, 2009 Syllabus Reading: A brochure about the quickest way to get from Heathrow Airport to central London; an article about backpacking Writing (1): Practice exercises for letters asking for information Writing (2): Practice exercises for compositions giving an opinion Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for taking part in a discussion in Part 3 of the Speaking Test Unit  4:  Ã‚   Environment Words: Words and phrases to talk about environmental problems and geographical features Listening: A conversation about adopting a zoo animal; a lecture about the structure of the Earth Reading: An article about making plastic; an article about a danger to a variety of birds Writing (1): Writing (2): Practice exercises for writing letters of complaint Practice exercises for compositions discussing the causes of a problem and suggesting solutions Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for answering general questions about yourself in Part 1 of the Speaking Test Unit  5:  Ã‚   Art  Ã‚  culture Words: Words and phrases to talk about art, cinema, theatre and national treasures Listening: A telephone conversation about booking theatre tickets; a lecture on the history of British cinema Reading: A catalogue from a book store; an article discussing tourist information for Bath, in southwest England Writing (1): Writing (2): Practice exercises for letters giving information Practice exercises for compositions discussing advantages and disadvantages Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for talking about a topic in Part 2 of the Speaking Test P a g e   |  2  Ã‚  Ã‚   www. ClarityEnglish. om    © Clarity Language Consultants Ltd, 2009 Syllabus Unit  6:  Ã‚   Mass  Media Words: Words and phrases to talk about television, newspapers and jobs in the media Listening: A talk given by a guide to visitors to a media museum; a conversation about news consumption Reading: A brochure about SummerSkill Sydney; an article about the press Writing (1): Practice exercises for writing letters saying thank you Writing (2): Practice exercises for compositions discussing arguments for and against Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for taking part in a discussion in Part 3 of the Speaking Test Unit  7:  Ã‚   Health  Ã‚  fitness Words: Words and phrases to talk about medical conditions and symptoms; food-related vocabulary; words to talk about the causes, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases Listening: A talk about keeping healthy in winter; a conversation about insects and human diseases Reading: An article about keeping your teeth healthy; an article about food and health myths Writing (1): Writing (2): Practice exercises for letters of apology Practice exercises for compositions giving an opinion Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for answering general questions about yourself in Part 3 of the Speaking Test Unit  8:  Ã‚   Work  Ã‚  business Words: Verbs we use at work and words and phrases to talk about a variety of work-related issues Listening: A talk about writing a CV; a conversation about changes in womens employment Reading: A brochure about working at a funfair; an article about the first ball P a g e   |  3  Ã‚  Ã‚   www. ClarityEnglish. com    © Clarity Language Consultants Ltd, 2009 Syllabus Writing (1): Writing (2): Practice exercises for letters of application Practice exercises for compositions discussing the causes of a problem and suggesting solutions Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for talking about a topic in Part 2 of the Speaking Test Unit  9:  Ã‚   Society   Words: Words and phrases to talk about social issues and crime and punishment Listening: A telephone conversation between a student and a campus security officer about a burglary; a lecture about old age and society Reading: An article about Neighbourhood Watch schemes; an article about changes in life expectancy Writing (1): Writing (2): Speaking: Revision exercises for Writing Task 1 Revision exercises for Writing Task 2 Video clips and practice exercises for taking part in a discussion in Part 3 of the Speaking Test Unit  10:  Ã‚   Education Words: Words and phrases to talk about the education system and university education Listening: A conversation between an admissions officer at an evening school and a prospective student; a talk about methods of study at universities in the UK Reading: Course information about Learndirect; an article about learning to read and write Writing: A letter asking for information; a composition discussing arguments for and against Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for answering general questions about yourself in Part 1 of the Speaking Test P a g e   |  4  Ã‚  Ã‚   www. ClarityEnglish. om    © Clarity Language Consultants Ltd, 2009 Syllabus Unit  11:  Ã‚   Developing  world Words: Words and phrases to talk about a variety of development issues and aid Listening: A radio talk about an international charity; a discussion about a British invention Reading: An article about development projects; an article about improving living conditions for Maasai people Writing: A lette r of advice, and a composition giving and justifying your opinion Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for talking about a topic in Part 2 of the Speaking Test Unit  12:  Ã‚   Science   Words: Words and phrases to talk about the Internet, astronomy, sciences and scientists Listening: A telephone conversation about a faulty washing machine; a lecture about setting up a website Reading: An article about the British Broadcasting Corporation; an article about the differences in men and women Writing: A letter of praise; a composition discussing the causes of a problem and suggesting solutions Speaking: Video clips and practice exercises for taking part in a discussion in Part 3 of the Speaking Test P a g e   |  5  Ã‚  Ã‚   www. ClarityEnglish. com    © Clarity Language Consultants Ltd, 2009