Win's Thoughts

  In  The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak, the power of words is felt throughout the novel.   Narrated by Death, The Book Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger, a nine-year-old German girl who is given up by her mother to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann in the small town of Molching in 1939, shortly before World War II.  Liesel attends the local school where she is bullied because she cannot read. Hans teaches her to read at night, Liesel quickly understands the power of the written word and falls in love with books. The novel is set in Germany during World War II, under Hitler’s regime.   Because Liesel Meminger is living in the middle of Hitler’s influence. His words are controlling large groups of people. Germany is at war with people who do not fit the prescribed model of a person. Jewish people are being rounded up and taken to be executed and a young Jewish man comes to live with the Hubermann, Max. During this war that began from words, Liesel learns the power of words in a dif

Aboriginal Charter of Rights By: Oodgeroo Noonuccal We want hope, not racialism, Brotherhood, not ostracism, Black advance, not white ascendance: Make us equals, not dependants. We need help, not exploitation, We want freedom, not frustration; Not control, but self-reliance, Independence, not compliance, Not rebuff, but education, Self-respect, not resignation. Free us from a mean subjection, From a bureaucrat Protection. Let's forget the old-time slavers: Give us fellowship, not favours; Encouragement, not prohibitions, Homes, not settlements and missions. We need love, not overlordship, Grip of hand, not whip-hand wardship; Opportunity that places White and black on equal basis. You dishearten, not defend us, Circumscribe, who should befriend us. Give us welcome, not aversion, Give us choice, not cold coercion, Status, not discrimination, Human rights, not segregation. You the law, like Roman Pontius, Make us proud, not colour-conscious; Give the d

  Through the eyes of Kathy H., we are guided through her experiences as a clone growing up in an institution meant to rear the students in human environments.  Ishiguro’s novel was not written as a means to argue the ethics of cloning, however, his novel Never Let Me Go serves as a reference for the bioethical debate. Kathy H.’s narration can help answer the questions of how biologically engineered beings should be treated in relation to their classification as humans, as Ishiguro attempts to define humanity through the eyes of a Kathy H., a clone with experiences much like that of any other ordinary human. The story does not intend to give the novel a futuristic feel, in fact the novel centers on the experience of the narrator and her fellow clones rather than focusing on the scientific aspect of their creation. Never Let Me Go is essentially Ishiguro’s warning that we could potentially outgrow our moral values and become a cold and heartless society of people who live in a harsh

  Rebecca West's work on women suffrage from approximately 1910, can be traced as the beginning of the feminist criticism movement. In addition to West's work, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own from 1929 is an integral text to the movement. Prominent feminist literary critics include Isobel Armstrong, Nancy Armstrong, Barbara Bowen, Jennifer DeVere Brody, Laura Brown, Margaret Anne Doody, Eva Figes, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Annette Kolodny, Anne McClintock, Anne K. Mellor, Nancy K. Miller, Toril Moi, Felicity Nussbaum, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Hortense Spillers, Gayatri Spivak, Irene Tayler, Marina Warner. Modern feminist literary criticism finds its roots in the 1960s second-wave feminist movements. Beginning with the interrogation of male-centric literature that portrayed women in a demeaning and oppressed model, theorist such as Mary Ellman, Kate Millet and Germaine Greer challenged past imaginations of the feminine within literary scholarship. Elain Show

  The Hobbit  is a novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. The story of The Hobbit revolves around the hobbit, the dwarves, the elves, the wizards, goblins, trolls, and other fantasy creatures. Even though the characters in the hobbit are not played by humans, but they possess feelings and behavior as human beings in general.  In The Hobbit  wealth and social position are very influential.  These proved by a storyline that tells the story of the seizure of gold so it can rebuild the city that has been destroyed and also achieving high positions in society. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit  in a difficult situation in England. The book itself was first published on September 21, 1937. After World War I Britain experienced Great Depression. Where social, political and economic development in Britain was not good.  The Hobbit  mirroring the condition of that time where businesses went bankrupt and caused the unemployment increased. In such circumstances there would be a lot of people looking for property to im

“A Pair of Silk Stockings” was written by Kate Chopin in 1896 during a period of intense feminist activity in the United States. It explores the theme of a woman searching for a balance between responsibility for family and personal satisfaction. Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Sommers, a thrifty and unselfish mother who knows the value of bargains. However, by the end of the story, having been subdued by the intensity of materialism due to the possession of an unexpected fortune, she is transformed into an egocentric woman who spends lavishly on extravagant objects. Mrs. Sommers then enjoys her experience with this vast sum of money, which includes splurging on a pair of silk stockings, having gloves fitted in a department store, buying an expensive pair of boots and also buying glossy magazines. She also goes to a nice restaurant to have a meal, and then goes to the theater. Mrs. Sommers takes in the entire experience of the theater, the play, the people, the surroundings etc. She

             The stages of genocide proposed by Stanton (1998) reflected in The Book Thief and Between Shades of Gray as follows. 1. Classification During the Holocaust Hitler divided the Germans and the Jews which is featured in The Book Thief . Hitler favored his ideal Aryan race (blonde hair, blue eyes, and pure German blood) the stereotype of Jews being the opposite of that, put them in grave danger. Rudy Steiner is mentioned as having hair the color of lemons, and considered lucky to not have and resemblance to a Jew. As Zusak describes it in the novel "He was eight month older than Liesel and had bony legs, sharp teeth, gangly blue eyes, and hair the color of a lemon" (48). Rudy has the ideal Aryan race that is blonde hair with blue eyes. In Between Shades of Gray , classification is shown by the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. As described in the novel, “They've deported people from Estonia and Latvia too” (Chapter 32). Stalin wants to t

Independent Girl and Unindependent Girl I am going to compare/ contrast the two novels; “Twilight” and “Vampire Academy” - how vampire is represented in both novels but in different ways. “Twilight” was published in 5 October 2005 by Stephenie Meyer. It explores the theme of a love triangle between a vampire, a human and a werewolf. The novel was spawned from a dream Stephenie had about two people in kind of a little circular meadow with really bright sunlight, and one of them was a beautiful, sparkly boy and one was just a girl who was human and normal, and they were having conversation. The boy was a vampire and he was trying to explain to her how much he cared about her and yet at the same time how much he wanted to kill her. That dream became Chapter 13 of Twilight. And “Twilight” has sequel there are “New Moon”, “Eclipse”, and “Breaking Dawn”. The story starts out in the perspective 17-year-old Bella Swan as she moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her fat

Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813, although Jane Austen had written it between October of 1796 and August of 1797.  This was at a time when women were expected to stay at home and just be a pretty face, not think for themselves, and not involve themselves in politics or careers. Men were authors; women were not.  Austen’s father first submitted Pride and Prejudice to a publisher in 1797, under the title First Impressions, but it was rejected probably for the sole reason that it had been written by a woman.  Even when Pride and Prejudice was finally published in 1813, Austen’s name did not appear as the author of the book, and in fact, Austen was never given credit for being the author of any of her works while she was alive.  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen tells us the relationship between Fitzwilliam Darcy, a wealthy young man, and Elizabeth Bennett, the second eldest daughter of a man of modest means. The five Bennett daughters are in desperate need for husbands,

     In ”Harrison Bergeron”, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. explores the theme of forced equality in American society. Vonnegut creates a world in which all living people are equal in all ways at future day. All that equality was due to the Amendments to the Constitution. People are told they are made equal by handicapping devices which bring them down to the normalcy level in the story, which is actually below-average in intelligence, strength, and ability. These devices include weights to stunt speed and strength; masks, red rubber clown noses, or thick glasses to hide good looks and to make seeing difficult; and radio transmitters implanted in the ears of intelligent people, which emit a variety of sharp noises every 20 seconds to prevent sustained thought. Society is trying to stop them from thinking. The stated intent is so that nobody will have an advantage over anybody else.        In this case Handicapped is setting someone at some sort of disadvantage for the benefit of someone else: soc