Girl With a Pearl Earring, lies at the heart of Tracy Chevalier’s novel, an historical novel that doesn’t read like an historical novel.

The novel has a strong plot and engaging first-person narrative voice. It centres on Vermeer’s prosperous Delft household during the 1660s but also the poorer household of the narrator’s family. Griet, the quietly perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant and turmoil follows. Vermeer next employs her as his assistant -and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model. He realises she has a painterly eye and an instinctive affinity emerges between the maid and the master. One character refers to her as “wide-eyed,” suggesting both her innocence and her keen vision. Continue Reading »

After reading “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” I can not help but see a Christian value rising up out of this story. Once I had reflected back on what I had read I realized that the number three has stood out to me, and that in the bible the number is of great significance. The tap that the Green Knight dealt to Sir Gawain is another symbol that stood out to me as well, this is Sir Gawain’s punishment and when he had ask the Green Knight his name at the end of the story, it symbolizes Sir Gawain’s shame after it is all through. Sir Gawain is a young and noble knight, but he is not with out fault just as most of us today are not without fault. Continue Reading »

The short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez exposes the tendencies of human nature and society in general. The reactions of all the members of the community to the events in the story reflect their inclinations as human beings, both good and bad.

Pelayo lives in rural area with his wife and child. One afternoon he was shocked to find that a very old man with wings was lying face down in the mud in his courtyard. At first he was frightened and ran to retrieve his wife to see what she would make of it. Upon her arrival they had both stared at the man together in a mute stupor for quite some time. This is a typical reaction from most people in such a situation. At first they were in a state of fear, fear of the unfamiliar. When people are exposed to a scenario that is out of the ordinary for them and conflicts with their everyday lives they grow afraid and even hostile. Then a stage of curiosity follows, Pelayo and his wife quietly observe the man from a distance as to gather any information they can about him. Continue Reading »

Elie Wiesel “was born on September 30, 1928 in Sighet, Transylvania, which is now known as Romania.” (The Story of Elie Wiesel, 2003) He grew up speaking in different kind of languages. He “spoke Yiddish at home, Hungarian, Romanian and German in public.” (The Hall of Public Service, 2003) Elie had 2 older sisters and 1 younger sister. Elie loved mystical, traditional and folk tales of the Hassidic sect of Judaism. When going to school, Elie learned how to speak in Hebrew. Elie’s father in the time, encouraged Elie to study the modern Hebrew language and concentrate on his secular studies. The most important thing in his life was his religious book. The people that influenced Elie is, his grandfather, mother and father. His father taught him how to reason and how to reach his mind. It was not until at the age 15, where him and his family were deported. At that very time, life would never be the same. Elie Wiesel with all that happened, struggled to survive and as a result became a successful writer in telling others of his story. Continue Reading »

Sula, written by Toni Morrison, is a very powerful novel. Not only is this novel a National Bestseller, but it has also been the winner of the Noble Prize in Literature, in addition to being one of Oprah’s top chosen books, which in her opinion everyone should read. This could be because of the many lessons that can be learned from it, if one is willing to search deep enough to find its true meanings. The most valuable themes in Sula deal with mother-daughter relationships, the judging of people, and friendships.

The mother-daughter relationship was a very crucial part to the story. Morrison wanted her readers to learn that although a mother may not always show it, she always loves her daughter. The mother-daughter bond is one that can never be broken. The love between Hannah and Eva and Sula and Hannah was always there, even though it was not always out there in the open. Continue Reading »

The world is a very big place with a population of 6,234,250,234 people and always growing. The world and its important resources are being destroyed by populations growing in such small areas. Many of these small areas have many problems of their own because of over population, such as hunger and many poor people.

China is the largest country in the world with a population of 1, 284,304,705 people and ranked the third largest in size in the world. In the year 2050 the population of China will be about 1,322,435,000. The population in china is growing by about 87% a year. China is controlling the population by the one-child policy. The one child policy was created in 1979 to help control the growing population of China. How the one child policy works is that families are only allowed one child but if that child can’t work the family can adopt another. Continue Reading »

In the summer of 1952 while playing “Cowboys and Indians” with her older brothers, Alice Walker at the age of eight years old, was blinded in her right eye by an errant BB gun pellet shot by one of her brothers. Alice became so self-conscious of the large white scar tissue left in her right eye, that she no longer held her head up because she felt ugly and ashamed of herself. When she was fourteen years old, her brother Bill had the “cataract” removed for Alice by a doctor in Boston, but regretfully her vision never returned. For so many years Alice Walker wanted nothing else but to be beautiful. Then one day she remembered what the doctor had said to her, “Eyes are sympathetic. If one is blind, the other will likely become blind too.” For so long, Alice had taken what that doctor had said and made it a reality. Continue Reading »

Philip Arthur Larkin was born August 9, 1922 in Coventry England. He attended Saint John’s College, Oxford and graduated with honors in 1943. His first published book of poetry was entitled “The North Ship,” and released in 1945.

Although this book is not considered to be some of his best works in some passages we see glimpses foreshadowing his later more mature style, which showed up in full force with his next volume of poetry called “The Less Deceived,” published in 1946.

This change was accounted to the introduction of Larkin to the poetry of Thomas Hardy who there after became a strong influence in his works from that point on. With this second publishing Larkin became a mar key poet of his generation spearheading a splinter group of poets in what he called “The Movement.” This was a group of English writers who were disenchanted with the current scene of neo-Romantic writings like that of Yeats and Dylan Thomas. Continue Reading »

When an intoxicated individual makes a decision to sit behind the wheel of an automobile and drive home, he endangers everyone on the road. This one decision, which may not seem important at the time, can have a crucial impact . When the choice whether or not to drive under the influence of alcohol faces a person, he often does not realize the consequences of his actions, and therefore makes an extremely uneducated decision. Many people believe that increasing fines for drunk driving offenders will play a significant part in the cutting down of driving under the influence. However, while stiffer DUI laws will look affective on paper, they will not make a substantial step in the fight against drunk driving.

The only benefit of increased drunk driving fines goes to the law enforcement agency that collects the fines. Because the majority of DUI stops happen to individuals who do not believe that they have become drunk, a person who chooses to drive does not even consider the fine that he may receive, no matter the amount. If an intoxicated person believes that he has the ability to drive home safely, a new law passed by state representatives will not stop them. Continue Reading »

Wessex
The fictionalized region of southwest England in which Hardy set all of his fiction. This region was somewhat backward in the late nineteenth century. Although industrialization had made the north of England and the region around London prosperous and modernized, southwest England was still rural, agricultural, and quite poor. Modern advancements in farming techniques were slow in coming to this region, and the transition to modernity was not easy. Hardy, who grew up and lived in the region, is particularly interested in showing the ways in which Wessex is caught between its old, traditional culture and modernization; little details showing this dilemma appear throughout Tess of the d’Urbervilles and his other works. In some ways Wessex is as much a character in Hardy’s work as any of the people he depicts-and indeed, Tess is very much identified, physically and emotionally, with her surroundings in Wessex. Continue Reading »