Hansel and Gretel

The ground is soft and dry. The light bears figures out of the bushes and crowded trees. The air smells like dirt and pinecones. The crumbs drizzle behind us as we walk on. We cannot find the crumbs; all that’s left is our bare feet sinking into the earth that grips our toes, again and again. Trees. Trees. Everywhere. Hansel’s hand in mine. Trees. Trees. Hands. Father left us. Father left us in the woods. In the woods. The woods. The sound of my empty stomach fills the empty air. “Let’s go for a walk. You’ll be fine.” Father left us.  I do not know where we were going or even where we came from. Hansel looks confident and at ease as we begin our walk into the dark woods. Hansel’s hand shakes in mine. A chicken bone replaces Hansel’s hand. Dark eyes infiltrate my vision. A Swan. Dark eyes. Fire. Fire. Fire. And finally the sweet smell of trees.

The house is beautiful- carefully crafted out of assorted sweets that I am sure will fill my mouth with the pleasure it has been forever lacking. I cannot even recall the last time my tongue has touched a morsel of food. Time has no meaning in the woods, a vortex of darkness and intoxicating smells. The aura of sweets stemming from the house battles with the clean air that had suffocated us on our dreadful journey. My mind struggles with the physical intoxication of senses and my memories hunger for past sensations. Into the woods. A horrid woman emerges from the mansion of heavenly desire. She waves us in with a single hand motion, calling for our empty stomachs and heavy hearts. Mother said be careful. Mother said we would be safe. Mother said. I go in, begging for the feel of another human, the maternal care I had been lacking. Hansel and I stand at the point where the shadow of the house and the shadow of the tree converge. Keep track of time. Be careful. Mother said. Mother lied.

As we enter I feel the air hit me. The sweetest smell of all the goods I could have ever imagined infiltrates my lucky nostrils and my greedy hands reach towards them all at once. They are gone in seconds. Hansel and I look at each other with the remains on our shaking lips and fattening chins. As a swallow the last bite, I feel my body go weak as exhaustion tumbles over my bones and the rest of me crumples to the floor. When I wake I see Hansel encased in a crusty and compact cage. As soon as I come to terms with my surroundings, hot blood begins to fill my veins. My heart is racing with pure hatred as I stare into the eyes of what I thought was my savior but transformed into a demon. Her eyes are black, dark and weak, a reflection of my own dark blood and my own evil thoughts that fill me with the most animalistic want for revenge. For days I work for the witch who consistently stuffs Hansel’s face with the sweets I had once desired but now renounce. The fresh smells that once fed my soul now split it apart.  I can see his skin stretch with the intake of the treacherous goods that battle his raging blood. Each day, the witch asks for his hands, to check if he is ready to be eaten by her salivating, greedy and destructive mouth, but each time he holds a thin chicken bone out instead of his own ever-growing fat wrist. On the day she decides to eat him, my raging blood finally reaches my brain and tells it what to do, how to fight, how to win. When she orders me to start a fire in the oven, I play dumb and purposefully fail at my one task, forcing her to take over. The second she steps in front of the oven I listen to my shaking body and push her into the furnace with all my might. Her body is easily lit and taken over by the flames of sin. We run.

We then stumble upon a small brook in the woods. The water sings of sweet relief as we wash our dirty faces clean of the sweet’s treacherous remains. Finally clean, we look up to see a large swan, resting on the water, waiting for us. In that one moment I feel clarity in this nature I had previously lost myself in and climb upon the creatures back with my sister. It carries us gracefully across the water. I capture a small flower that is floating in the waves, hold it in my still shaking hand, and let the water take me home.

It's the Little Things That Count

Thesis= In the midst of a technological age, America is slowly losing hold of its past, making even the little things, such as a penny, which serves as a reminder of our country's original and central values, essential to the appreciation and recognition of our nation's past.

D) "popular with the public"-> the American people's need to appreciate the past
"important to our pricing system"-> economic benefits (statistics) (how England still uses such small change)

F) " ' the penny is perhaps the most visible and tangible reminder of Lincoln's significance in American history.' " - importance of penny in remembering America's history, how it serves as a such a representation - talk about Lincoln and how he still is an essential figure in modern society

G) Use pictures to illustrate how the penny is the visual representation of our nation's values

Jaws

WWF’s message is simple but powerful: no matter how terrifying a shark is, the lack of such a valuable and majestic species is far more frightening. The picture itself is as clear as it can be. The only images are of the ocean and a shark fin and only three simple and widely understood words are displayed. This simplicity, this clarity, is the base of WWF’s affective argument and message. It doesn’t take a list of complicated statistics or a Sarah McLachlan song to get their message across. By refraining from these over the top rhetorical techniques WWF has portrayed an argument that both simplifies and clarifies the problem. The image totally overthrows and questions such a common false conception about sharks and their ferocity. Movies and television shows have been antagonizing sharks for years, making them out to be ruthless and therefore are not as valuable but WWF fights that very conception. Their ad proves that sharks’ lives are just as important as the cute and cuddly polar bear’s by implying that the seemingly terrifying shark’s existence isn’t nearly as frightening or worrying as its lack. It alludes to a larger societal problem of endangered species, specifically the hunting of sharks for their meat and skin across the world, in only three words and one picture.

Not Yet In Bloom

Poison was fixed in the ground.

Poison in the pasture the ditches the dark woods.

A pear tree scraped and rasped against the screaming house,

The house surrounded by earth that was bare and sick,

Air full of that thick gray honeysuckle.

The poisoned ones fought in the branch and lodged in the mulberries,

They tried to kick the mud off their feet hiding in the dark woods.

These moaning children could not feel the rain,

With grass crossed into flesh scouring their heads.

The poison oak the jaybirds the trees touched by the Compson curse.

We were all poisoned.

Have A Heart

This striking PETA ad of grafitied Pamela Anderson at first glance seems absurd and provocative but once actually thoroughly examined a deeper, clever message shines through. Pamela Anderson is a widely known actress, model, and former playboy bunny who is usually over-sexualized by the media. This provocative sense that comes with such a celebrity helps the ad dramatically affect anyone who views the image. The idea that a woman, especially one known for her body, is being compared to an animal, specifically the kind that humans as a general population of carnivores feast on daily, reveals that such a celebrity like beautiful Pamela Anderson is physically no different than the cow that was slaughtered for one’s McDonald’s burger. The ad cleverly and simply suggests that eating a Big Mac or any type of meat for that matter is no different than chowing on Anderson’s flesh. Another astounding and convincing aspect of the ad is the caption which reads, “HAVE A HEART, GO VEGETARIAN.” This simple phrase brings up the idea that eating meat makes one heartless, a thought that all humans with any capability of empathy can relate to. The shocking reveal that humans are animals just the same calls for change and redemption. This ad not only delivers its message by shocking the viewers but also carefully plays on their empathy and misconceptions concerning the meat they eat every day.

"All Men Are Created Equal"

The fourth of July by Audre Lorde successfully reveals the ever-present and suffocating racial prejudices prominent during the 1940’s in American, specifically in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. Lorde uses her strong and distinct tone, her word choice, particularly the usage of “white” and irony to not only horrify the reader as they view direct racism but to encourage a fight for equality.

Throughout this essay, narrated by 14-year-old Lorde, there is an overarching tone that flows throughout her pros. Although her story begins with a simple relaxed narrative, once the climax of the tale is reached a repressed rage and disgust shines through her words. This pinnacle of anger is truly revealed when the protagonist and her family is refused service in an ice cream shop in D.C. and Lorde leaves the store “quiet and outraged.” (242) Because the story is told from Lorde’s point of view, the readers, if having any empathy at all, will fill with rage themselves. The innocence of the narrator automatically gives the reader a need to protect them and defend this innocence, but in this climax that innocence starts to shatter, helping to make a more prominent mark on the reader. She leaves the store with an obvious confusion as to the injustice she was subject to, exclaiming that it “wasn’t right or fair!”(242) Of course racism is a pressing awful issue, but it means so much more when told from the perspective of an innocent narrator then by itself, especially when the reader feels that once innocent perspective transform into a tone filled with rage.

Lorde also uses plenty of useful adjectives throughout her essay, but the one word that holds the most power throughout is “white.” This originally simple adjective used to describe color becomes a character itself. Since racism is not a tangible enemy, this color takes on the persona of an antagonist to blame for injustice done to the family. Towards the beginning of the story the adjective “white” is glorified and idolized particularly when she describes the month of July as a “dazzling white.”(241) But after the display of blatant and cruel racism in the ice cream shop, Lorde’s view on this once magical color is reversed. It starts to represent everything in the world she either cannot have or cannot be, saying “the waitress was white and the counter was white and the ice cream I never ate in Washington, D.C., that summer I left childhood was white, and the white heat and the white pavement and the white stones.”(242) Lorde used her skillful writing to transform this harmless adjective into one filled with loaded symbolism of racism in America and the restrictions it brings.

Another common device that Lorde adapts to connect and influence the reader is irony. The irony in her story lies in the setting itself, Washington D.C., a city which is usually represented by ideas of “freedom and democracy,” is shown containing hateful and disgusting racism. (242) The government buildings that this city holds and the history of the city itself define its reputation as a symbol for hope and justice. This idea of this perfect city is then shattered due to the obvious racial prejudices which Lorde and her family experience. Even in America’s “fabled and famous” capitol, a supposed beacon of equality, injustices are being executed onto the innocent. (239)

Lorde gives a shocking and horrifying first hand telling of racism, but the most fascinating part of her essay is how she does so. Her use of effective techniques like tone, word choice and irony pushes her simple narrative to a story that fills readers with strong emotions and gives them a desire for change.

This song effortlessly displays a certain inability to grapple with the true meaning of one's life and the refusal to accept that the life one is living is anything below extraordinary, thoughts that Willy Loman often struggled with. He eventually let these thoughts control him, acting as a catalyst for his tragic downfall.

Cute, Cuddly and Dead

This advertisement for the organization Humans for Animals exposes the truth of animal cruelty and shatters the many misconceptions and denials on the subject. Fur coats are common in modern day society, especially in the winter months and are a staple of fashion culture. But there is a general naiveté concerning these exceedingly warm and glamorous coats. Many of the buyers tend to ignore the reality as to where the coats inevitably come from. This image uses it boldness and gruesomeness to horrify and expose this generally ignored truth. The bear stares straight at the camera, it’s head alone looks cute and furry just as the world likes to imagine these animals, while it’s torso is completely stripped of fur and skin. It’s disturbing and disgusting and immediately evokes a feeling of guilt from all viewers. It forces people to look at the consequences of their actions as buyers and therefore enablers. It also finally shows the truth of where those beautiful coats come from and how our consumer needs are affecting the rest of the natural world. The image is clearly effective for it provokes thought, guilt and reveals the awful consequences of making and wearing fur coats for our selfish, personal needs.

A Wasted Life

I was not too surprised by the most prominent words the wordle showed to be in the poem but honestly I really do not think that it should matter. In my opinion the crux of a poem should have nothing to do with the number of times it appears. It should depend solely on the individual and how they read the poem and what about it effects them the most not the most commonly used word.

The crux of the poem in my opinion is “this is the cactus land”. This was the line, for me, that let me really understand the hollow men and the lives they are living.  A cactus is a prickly and seemingly useless plant that sits in the middle of a desert. Deserts do not give too much to the rest of the earth. They’re barren, dry and ignored. But cactuses all have water stored inside them. The hollow men have all this built up potential and life inside them that will never be used. Just like how a cactus is rarely opened up to see the water inside. It literally hold the one thing necessary for life inside but no one ever sees that. These hollow men act like they are nothing. They live meaningless, isolated lives and fake their way through it. But, inside all their ambition and life is going to waste. It just sits there, never being accessed. But, just like a cactus, if accessed, it can help the dead world around it. It can give life to everything surrounding it and help the world grow and prosper, but instead, like the hollow men, they just sit in the dead ground and let their lives go to waste.