A3. The Thief Lord is about two brothers, who live with their aunt and uncle. When Esther and Max want to adopt Bo after their mother's death so the boys decide to run away to Venice, Italy. The boys arrive in Venice and are taken in by four other orphans: Hornet, Riccio, Mosca, and their mysterious leader, Scipio, or "The Thief Lord." The children survive by selling the things that Scipio steals from wealthy houses to an old shopkeeper, Ernesto Barbarossa. Prosper and Bo settle in to their new life; unbeknown to them, however, Esther and Max have deduced that they are in Venice, and they enlist the services of Victor Getz, a detective,…
The citizens of Leningrad during German’s siege of the city suffered through horrors that left them and their country forever scarred. Somewhere between the opulent officials of the Red Army and the cannibals roaming the streets of Piter were citizens like Lev and Kolya, one a Jewish looter and the other an Aryan deserter. After meeting in a prison cell they are tasked to collect a dozen eggs in exchange for their lives. David Benioff’s City of Thieves is a case study of their unlikely relationship which uses the inhumanities of a besieged Leningrad as a backdrop. The humor employed by the two protagonists as well as their ever-improving relationship is used by Benioff to contrast with the bleak setting in which the book takes place.…
For several years, World War II had been raging in Europe. In 1945, German soldiers surrounded Russia and tried to choke off the train of supplies entering the country. Leningrad, Russia remained under constant bombing by German aircraft. Leningrad was a key location for Russia’s war efforts due to its manufacturing facilities and needed to stay functional. Lev Beniov was on the roof of his apartment building watching the anti-aircraft balloons above the city. It was on this night that a dead German paratrooper landed in front of Lev’s building. As the news reached all the boys and girls on the roof, they rushed down to examine and loot the dead soldier. Within minutes, Russian soldiers appeared. Lev’s friends deserted him and he was arrested and thrown into the Crosses. After spending the night, Colonel Grechko gave Lev a chance to redeem himself for his wrongs and save his life. Through…
Timeless classics throughout the ages are known for their plots and concepts, however these classics tend to follow a similar plot. This monomyth is called the Hero’s Journey, where a similar plot is used every time to create a story proven to be successful. A great example of this would be Disney’s Hercules, a story of the demigod Hercules who loses his powers and must redeem himself by becoming a true hero. With godlike strength, he defeats Hades and proves himself a true hero by being compassionate and chivalrous, and showing anyone can be hero regardless of if they have strength. The plot of Hercules follows the three phases of the Hero’s Journey closely.…
Two of the greatest works ever written, The Odyssey by Homer and The Inferno by Dante, are detailed, multi-sectioned poems about the journey’s of two men. In each story, the main character is given some sort of guidance by another character in order to aid them in their travels. In The Odyssey, Athena is portrayed as the protector to Odysseus on his journey back home from the Trojan War to his family in Ithaca. In The Inferno, Virgil is requested to lead Dante through the depths of Hell in order to save his soul. Many similarities can be seen between the two characters as they both served as advice givers, protectors, and guides for the main character. While the two guides seem very alike in the way’s they help, it turns out that many differences can be observed between their ways. Athena and Virgil can both be perceived as escorts in the main characters’ journey, but they both are leading their pupils towards different endings and these endings can be representative of a much larger purpose that describes the two authors’ views on life at the time each poem was written.…
Percy Jackson is an interesting character. In the book The Lightning theif by Rick Riordan the main character Percy Jackson is somebody that changes a lot. He started as an outcast who gets picked on daily and becomes the Demigod (a demigod is somebody with a normal human parent and one god parent) that everyone wants to be and looks up to.…
I am your typical pseudo intellectual liberal, but don’t get me wrong pop culture does not turn me off. Mention the Kardashians and I won’t run away in disgust, roll my eyes, or give you the side eye. My google searches range from ‘Is twerking a good exercise?’ to ‘What is Putin’s economic/political interest in Syria?’. I don’t find Woody Allen films boring and I don’t think Sharknado is trash. I will argue with any film snob about why the entire Shrek series is more profound than de Sica’s The Bicycle Thief. As you can see I am all over the place as far as my interests, but the most is race. This topic turns off many people and perhaps you’ll read many personal statements about the struggle of being a minority in America, but my story is not that of roadblocks and discrimination but that of enlightenment. Like many of my fellow white passing Hispanics I have used my light complexion to shield myself from racism and my culture.…
Popular media in our society exposes what we have collectively decided is passable behavior. If it can be published in Hollywood without the backlash of its audience, then it’s socially exceptable. In the case of such movies as Tropic Thunder, as observed by author Patricia E Bauer, while those unaffected by the movie’s harsh language may not care, it shouldn’t be so easy to dismiss those that were. The apathy in regards to the mentally disabled is a testament to a past of fear and lack of understanding towards them. Though the taboo behind the word is recognizable to us at this point, to many it’s still ok to use as long as they “didn’t mean it like that”. Bauer doesn’t have an issue with the word in its intended form. It’s the twisted use…
The most intriguing element of Markus Zusak's writing in The Book Thief, is foreshadowing, and the asterisks he sets up in the page. Foreshadowing is effective because it gives the reader insight into the next part of reading, and it reveals things about characters like their motives and problems. Zusak's asterisks to put the reader in the mind of the character in the book, in addition they give the reader philosophical insight into the book.…
A dangerous village, around every corner there is death. On the other side of Europe there is incandescent farmland and a poor village. Like how the settings are different the stories are different they can be compared with the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey is a guideline of steps that the reader can see the main character go through. Though The Book Thief and the movie Pride and Prejudice are drastically different they both can show us the hero’s journey.…
For example, when Johnny and Pony were brought back to the church by Dallas and they saw the church was on fire, so they ran up there and saved the children and people inside. The author demonstrates real life situations with her writing as she did with the fire. Another example is when the groups had the rumble. If one guy was getting beat up really badly they would go and help fight back, both groups did this. This shows readers that you should have each others backs when they are in dire need.…
When a person’s perspective about the world changes, they are able to see the world through ‘new eyes’. These new eyes could allow an individual to see the world the way another person does, enlightening them with a new understanding of that individual’s life and personal experiences. In “The Lamp at Noon” by Sinclair Ross, the relationship between Paul and Ellen is strained. They are mentally isolated from each other. Paul becomes accustomed to this isolation and does not understand Ellen’s need for companionship and purpose. In order for Paul to understand Ellen’s world, he must first overcome the barriers set between them.…
The heroes of today are not that different than the heroes of the ancient world. They have goals to achieve, obstacles to overcome, and quests to pursue. Their existence is necessary to inspire hope in generations of those struggling to survive and to find meaning in their lives. It could be said that our admiration and devotion to heroes is because we seek something that we can aspire to, whether it be to improve ourselves, to cope with our flaws, or overcome obstacles and succeed. Two examples of great role models, both past and present, for learning how to overcome obstacles and succeed are: Gilgamesh and Superman. During their obstacle-filled journeys of achieving goals, both heroes experience failure and success. In addition, both heroes receive critical help along the way.…
The book “Thunderwith” by Libby Hathorn is about a young girl called Lara; who faces multiple challenges with fitting in and moving on. Firstly she has the challenge of managing her new family and her dad. Secondly, Lara is having to cope with being in a new school and isn’t doing too well! Lastly, she has to move on from her mother’s death which is a hardship she is finding difficult to overcome. Libby Hathorn uses techniques such as symbolism to show what the mood of the character(s). A symbol used in the book, would be the black bird which will hover over Lara when she was feeling down. A second technique used is flash-backs, which was used frequently when Lara saw kindness or books or some particular poem. She would have a flashback of her mother reading to her and precious memories featuring her mother and her previous lifestyle.…
Chaucer uses the paintings on the walls of the Temples in “The Knight’s Tale” to display how the story being told does not necessarily match reality. On the walls of Venus’s temple are illustrations of feelings associated with love, since she is the goddess of love. However, most of these illustrations appear negative. The pictures on the walls are of, “The broken sleep, the lonely sighs, the cold/And sacred tears,” associated with love (1920-1). The words used to describe the pictures on Venus’s temple, such as “lonely” and “broken,” have negative connotations, thus suggesting that love does not always grant happiness. In fact, it often causes sadness. Chaucer portrays these images to show how the love within the story, which appears passionate and romantic, is…