Essay on To Build a Fire
“No man should travel alone after fifty below,” were the words of the old-timer on Sulphur Creek. Although he had warned the man, he wasn’t going to listen. The man was simply too arrogant. In this short story, called “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, the man is traveling along the Yukon trail with a dog. There are many conflicts in this story, but the main conflict is that it is incredibly cold. Although the man is well equipped for the extreme weather, he still has doubts in the back of his mind about making it back to the boys. The man simply gets so cold and frostbitten from the weather conditions that his body isn’t able to take it anymore. He should have listened to the old-timer and not gone out in the -75°F weather in this irony.
This story is an irony because it begins with chaos. The man and the dog are traveling in very cold weather conditions and are freezing. The conflict gets very serious, for it is a matter of life and death. The main character, the man, is weak in power. Mother Nature plays the part of the evil, which is the frigid air. Because the man ends up dying, nature is certainly the dominant force. This book can also be classified as an irony because it makes you realize that your life is not so bad.
Although the man’s name is never mentioned, you can tell a lot about his personality. He does not act very caring towards the dog, and you can tell that he doesn’t have a “man’s best friend” relationship with it. He seems to be very arrogant, and thinks that he can handle anything. An example from the story is when he is thinking, “Those old-timers were rather womanish, some of them. All a man had to do was to keep his head, and he was alright. Any man who was a man could travel alone” (London). Those thoughts only exist until he actually gets out on the journey. He gets very cold and frostbitten, and soon wonders if he will make it to camp with the boys. Although the man learns his lesson, his stubborness costs him his life.
In addition to the man being cold, the dog shows need for heat as well. Dispite its fur coat, it gets very uncomforable when it is not by fire. It looks upon the man as the “fire provider” (London), but that is about the only reason that he stays with the man. The man’s voice threatens it to whip lashes, and so it obeys him. The dog does not treat the man like his owner, for the man does not treat the dog well in turn. An example is when the dog gets pushed out by the man onto the ice when the man is testing to see if he would fall through it. This shows that the dog is not well cared about by the man. Although the dog is not treated so well, he is very brave and smart.
The man in this short story should have listened to the old-timer. He ended up not making it because he was too stubborn to consider the advice. He started hallucinating and died from the cold. The dog was loyal and stayed with him, and eventually started back to camp. Although the man should have listened to the advice, he also could have made the right choice by taking a chance. It was possible that he could have made it if he had been more prepared for the weather. What do you think he should have done?
Essay on Harrison Bergeron
By: Evan Hicks
They were sitting in the living room, staring at the television, the pains of the community gear bugging them as usual. The earpiece in George’s head kept buzzing and beeping. The gear on both of their shoulders was almost too much to bear as well. The community had tried to create laws to make everyone equal in this short story, called “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. The laws had completely changed the world of living. Suddenly, the TV switched to breaking news. Their couple’s son, Harrison, came on. He had broken in to the news studio and was protesting against the laws. Then, the tragedy occurred. It’s too bad that George’s earpiece caused him to forget, before he even knew it happened. Poor Harrison should have gotten more people to team up with him on the protest in the studio. The laws of the community should be changed. There are many problems that do not get resolved in this tragedy.
This story could be classified in the mode of literature as a tragedy. It begins with the family being in conflict with the world. They have many strange laws in the community, and they are greatly enforced with threats of punishment. The laws are both physically and mentally painful, like having to wear an earpiece if you are elderly. There is a tragic flaw, which is the family realizing that their son, Harrison, is endangering himself on television. The tragic fall is that they soon forget about it, and they don’t have a single clue what happens to Harrison. He ends up dying after being shot, and so they are at a loss.
To begin with, George takes the loss well. There is simply nothing that he can do to know about it, because the earpiece changes his thoughts almost immediately. He doesn’t seem to complain very much about the weird laws, but you can tell that they stress him out. An example is when Hazel tells him to lay down and rest his handicap bag. He said, “I don’t mind it. I don’t notice it any more. It’s just a part of me” (Kennedy and Gioia). George tries to be strong and deal with what he has.
This story is a science fiction because it takes place in the future. The world hopefully won’t turn out like this in the future. They have all different kinds of peculiar laws. The community wants everyone to be very equal in just about every way. They make everyone wear handicap bags with things in them that weigh the people down, so that everyone will weigh the same. They make the people that are over average in intelligence wear buzzers in their ears, so that they don’t “Take advantage of their brains” (Kennedy and Gioia). This community has many unusual rules, all because of the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers.
George and Hazel seem to get along well, although the death of their son is devastating. They take it hard, although it is too bad that George’s buzzer goes off. He barely even knows that his son is gone. The laws are mean, cruel, and overwelming. The government should back off on the laws and trying to make everyone equal. The world would be a whole lot better off if they allowed more diversity. It is also possible that the community is doing the right thing. Maybe it shouldn’t be any different. What do you think should happen?
Free Write Poem
Who inveneted Poems?
I wonder who invented poems, for I really do not know
Maybe the first one was about the snow
Many people do not think about it, and I wonder who does
Don't ask me why, for I'll say, "Just because."
Superhuman Power
If I could have a superhuman power, I would have invisibility. I could walk around without people even knowing. I could go to theme parks and get in for free because the workers couldn't see me. I could go to a movie for free. When I get embarresed, I could just dissapear. I could work for the police and spy on criminals. I could do many great things if I were invisible.
My Favorite Book
My favorite book is a fiction story about 6 kids that go on a mission. They find a valuable baseball card and take it to a collecter. The collecter tells them that it is only worth 200 dollars and buys it from them. It is not until later in the story that they find out that he is a criminal who purchased the million dollar baseball card from them for only 200 dollars. The kids must team up and use their skills to steal it back.
This book is called Swindle, which is a very good title for the book. It is also written by my favorite author, Gordon Korman. Swindle has two other sequals, which are Zoobreak and Jailbreak. These are very good stories as well. I would recomend this series to anyone who likes reading.
