Creative Writing Essay Example for Free

Creative Writing Essay Brooke stood outside of his trench now, leaning against the outside wall and smoking a cigarette. He inhaled and breathed out slowly, his eyes brimmed with tears as he stared up at the black sky, which every so often lit up with white light from an explosion somewhere. He closed his eyes and he willed away the tears, but rather than disappearing as he had hoped, they rolled down his dirty, pale cheeks and stung his rough lips. He watched indifferently as men went back and forth carrying stretchers laden with moaning men with horrific injuries. Once they came by carrying a young boy who Brooke thought could not have been any older than eighteen, he was covered in blood and had taken a serious blow to the head as he was blown back by a shell landing nearby. He was still and unmoving as the stretcher-bearers hurried him back to the infirmary barracks. Finally, a sergeant named Truman tentatively approached him. Sir? Yes, what is it? , he replied wearily. Sir, Private Atkinson is hysterical sir, hes frightening the other men and Sergeant Williams cant control him. Williams says can you please come, Sir? Brooke sighed. A deep long sigh. Yes all right, tell him Im coming. When the two men entered the trench all the men in the first battalion looked up with faces as dark as storm clouds and expressions which could melt a heart of stone. Brooke nodded at them as he strode past but they had no effect on him anymore. He marched straight up to where Atkinson and Williams were and sat down beside Atkinson. The boy lay shaking and muttering, he was hugging himself and rocking back and forth with his eyes tightly shut. As Brooke sat down next to him his muttering became louder and louder until he was almost shouting it. Theres no place like home. Theres no place like home. Theres no place like home. Theres no place like home. He kept saying it over and over again. Tears streamed down his face and his movements became more and more rigid. Brooke looked at Williams and then around the trench. Twenty faces stared back at him, watching his every move. He shivered. Atkinson? Atkinson, do you hear me? Atkinson nodded and continued muttering. Brooke noticed a large red mark across the young boys right cheek. Did you do this? he snapped at Williams. Williams shook his head. Brookes sharp grey eyes bore into him; he nodded and looked away. Brooke glared at him then, slowly with all the gentleness of a mother caring for her child, reached out and lifted the shaking Atkinson up to lean against him. The boy buried his head in his commanding officers shoulder and grasped at his shirt, sobbing. Atkinson he said, then continuing in a kind but stern voice. David, control yourself. David, we are all scared, but we must not let our emotions overcome us. Do you hear me? Yes Sir. Now, when you go home to your mother, you will meet a nice young girl whom you love very dearly and you will go on to spend the rest of your life with her. However, to do that you must first get through this. Now, you will survive this, but you have to try. Will you do that for me? Will you do that for your mother? Yes, Sir.   As the train pulled into the country station a man, around twenty-three years old stepped casually off and onto the platform. He breathed in deeply and looked around him; everywhere he looked he saw smiling faces and happy families. Dark memories of war clouded his mind; he shook them away and started at a brisk walk towards the town. He sat in the cool church watching the young couple stood at the altar beaming at each other. He listened to the vicar as he droned on, Do you David Atkinson take Anna Phillips? You see Thomas old chap? Life goes on.. Brooke thought to himself. Victoria Holland 11BM English Coursework Mrs Dukes Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

Baldwin In A Microcosm :: essays research papers

Baldwin in a microcosm "Not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin Racism has been a part of American and world history for centuries, and has become a pattern in cultures. James Baldwin was an African-American author who, like many black men and women, struggled against the inherent hate/racism in America. Baldwin had the opportunity to travel to a microcosmic Swiss village atop a mountain. His story of the native's curiosity towards him and eventually fondness challenges the idea that racism is quickly overtaking the world. A microcosm, by definition is a representation of something on a smaller scale. In the Renaissance age, philosophers considered the world to be a macrocosm hosting millions of individual microcosms: people. The term microcosm signifies the creation of the human being as a complete world. In contrast, macrocosm refers to the idea of the whole universe outside humanity. This idea that an individual person is a world unto himself, surely influenced Baldwin in the writing of his essay pertaining to the small Swiss village that was "virtually unknown" (124). The village that Baldwin verbosely writes about is not specified although he tells us that the warm springs are a tourist draw and that the village is "only four hours from Milan and three hours from Lausanne" (124), but this gives the reader little information about the city. The imagery that forms while reading the passage comes directly from the population of the village. The men, women, and children, are all astounded by Baldwin's skin color and hair texture. Some of the inhabitants believed that Baldwin's hair "was the color of tar, that it had the texture of wire, or the texture of cotton" (125). The sheer astonishment of the village natives took Baldwin by surprise, as did the young children shouting "Neger Neger!" The people of the town, although geographically sheltered, are the same people that Baldwin knew as he grew up. He says that "America comes out of Europe, but these people have never seen America, nor have most of them seen more of Europe than the hamlet at the foot of their mountain" (127). Baldwin grew up in Harlem and suffered from racism in many ways. He recalls be called the very same derogatory word that the children in the Swiss village called him, but the difference was that the children in Harlem had an inbred racism and the Swiss children had never seen a black man before.

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Medicine River by Thomas King focuses primarily on communal life. It talks about the theme of mixed blood and how such people fit in to the society. The issues related to social life, intermarriages and the significant roles of the community. The novel follows through the experiences of Will Thomas and the trickster, Harlen Bigbear. The novel highlights the journey of the photojournalist’s integration in to the native Indian community, helped greatly by the trickster, Harlen Bigbear. With reference to Harlen’s character, it is assumed that he has a narcissistic personality.Let us first divulge in to the interiors of narcissism. Narcissism is defined as having an exceptional love and admiration for ones self, according to the Webster’s online dictionary. (Webster, Pp1) This implies that a person having a narcissistic personality would be absorbed in himself. His priority would be self-defined; if the outcome would benefit him, he would be ready to go for lengths f or it. Such people are usually hard-workers and are ready to burn midnight oil in order to achieve success. For them societal norms and values; traditions and beliefs play a very minimal role.They believe that their thoughts and ideas are above everyone else. In fact, they try to impose them on others for they tend to believe that it is they who are correct. Due to this over confidence they are highly sensitive to criticism and often respond in excessive rage. Such people are not worried about the welfare of others. Their world consists of, I or me and not them or they. This insensitivity towards others greatly hinders with their social life. They will refrain from putting themselves in situation s where they know they will fail. In short they contemplate a great deal before involving them selves in some project.Thus, they expect that due to their success they should be considered superior to others. (Library of the national Society, Pp1) With this explanation in view, it appears co ntroversial to assert that Harlen Bigbear. While as a trickster, he appears to be confident and successful. As a native trickster he has been upgraded to a divine level. His dialect and his actions speak for his self-confidence. As narrated by Will Sampson, â€Å"I used to have conversations with Harlen that didn’t make much sense and didn’t seem to go anywhere† (Thomas, pp. 169).Through this quote two narcissistic attributes come in to the spotlight: Harlen’s confidence and his feeling of himself being better than others. Since, he as the trickster, considers himself above others he tends to transfer his thoughts to others, his thoughts which he considers wise. The persistent repetition of this particular attribute of Harlen accounts for his narcissism, to which Will does not speak against. Thus, like a narcissist person, Harlen meddles in the affairs of others, trying to impose his wisdom on the society. (Siemerling, Pp 71)This is because of his belief in himself, which is left unchallenged.Thus, as a narcissistic trickster, Harlen tends to interfere with things not related to him, In order to do good to the society. This is reflected several times in the novel, typically when Harlen interrupts Will in his studio. However, this same trait of Harlen also provides comic relief for the reader which is why the role of Harlen received so much significance. However, this particular trait of Harlen also contradicts deeply with his reference as a narcissist person. This is because there is an eminent goodwill in all that Harlen operates. This goodwill of Harlen is present at various instances throughout the novel.Harlen’s insistence of Will residing in Medicine waters shows his inclination towards making the son of a woman who married a white man become blended in to the society. Harlen wanted to make Will a part of the native community and take him out of his life of isolation that he lived in Canada. Harlen’s goodwill is a lso mirrored when he uses his social contacts to provide a living for Will. Perhaps this is one reason why Will states that â€Å"Harlen Bugbear was one of the most charitable people I had ever known. No matter who it was, Harlen Big bear would go on looking for good in a person.† (Thomas pp. 151) this trait is also reflected when Harlen, while meddling in the affairs of Louise heavy man, tries to find her a male counterpart. Partly because she is unwed and expecting a child. To do her good he coaxes Will to escort her, which leaves the community thinking that Will is the father of the child. This ultimately results in Will naming the girl as â€Å"south wing† and also looking after her, when she was in distress. Another fact that also refutes Harlen’s narcissistic personality disorder is when he encourages Will to act as a father figure for some people of the community.(Lundquist Pp, 175) He tends to bring Will closer to the natives and the natives closer to wi ll so that they both accept each other. He involves Will in the native basketball team, encouraging more interaction with the locals. His hard work bears fruit when ultimately Will is asked by the people to also be a part of the photograph that he is shooting. Thus he succeeds in blending Will in to the society as a part of the society and not as an outcast for he was considered one due to the fact that his mother had married a white man.All these evidences point towards the fact that Harlen‘s interests were in working for the betterment of the society. He intervenes to make the world a better place and as his world is that of the native Indian community he tends to work for its people. As per the work of a trickster, he seeks to end conflict and maintain decorum in the society. He is the emblem of the good spirit of the community. His narcissistic attribute s is refuted by the fact that nowhere in the novel does Harlen boast about his superiority in terms of success.Rather he falls short as well: he can not read maps and also catches flu. The only indication that Harlen’s character provides its readers is that of his good will for bringing the society together. For not letting superficial norms and values come in the way of the welfare of even one individual of the society. This is why we see that he helps not only the unwed woman who is expecting a baby, but also the ex-convict who is released from the prison and also Will, an outcast in the society. References: Thomas King ,Medicine River , Edition: reissue Published by Penguin Books, 1995.Pp 151 and 169 Suzanne Evertsen Lundquist. Native American Literatures: An Introduction. Published by Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004. Page 175 Library of the national Society. Narcissistic personality disorder. Retrieved from http://www. medical-library. org/journals2a/narcisistic_personality_dis. htm Winfried Siemerling ,The New North American Studies: Culture, Writing and the Politics of Rec ognition. Published by Routledge, 2005 . Page 71. Webster Online Dictionary, Narcissism. 2009. Retrieved from: http://www. websters-online-dictionary. org/definition/Narcissism

The History of the Odometer

An odometer is an instrument that records the distance that a vehicle travels. It is different from a speedometer that measures the vehicles speed or the tachometer that indicates the speed of rotation of the engine, although you may see all three on the dashboard of an automobile. Timeline Encyclopedia Britannia credits Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius with inventing the odometer in 15 BCE. It used a chariot wheel, which is of standard size, turned 400 times in a Roman mile and was mounted in a frame with a 400-tooth cogwheel. For each mile, the cogwheel engaged a gear that dropped a pebble into the box. You knew how many miles you went by counting the pebbles. It was pushed by hand, though it may never have been actually built and used.   Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662) invented a prototype of an odometer, the calculating machine called a Pascaline. The Pasacaline was constructed of gears and wheels. Each gear contained 10 teeth that when moved one complete revolution, advanced a second gear one place. This is the same principle employed in the mechanical odometer. Thomas Savery (1650 - 1715) was an English military engineer and inventor who  patented the first crude steam engine in 1698.  Among Saverys other inventions was an odometer for ships, a device that measured distance traveled. Ben Franklin (1706 - 1790) is best known as a statesman and writer. However, he was also an inventor who invented swim fins, bifocals, a glass harmonica, watertight bulkheads for ships, the lightning rod, a wood stove, and an odometer. While serving as Postmaster General in 1775, Franklin decided to analyze the best routes for delivering the mail. He created a simple odometer to help measure the mileage of the routes that he attached to his carriage. An odometer called the roadometer was invented in 1847 by the Morman pioneers crossing the plains from Missouri to Utah. The roadometer attached to a wagon wheel and counted the revolutions of the wheel as the wagon traveled. It was designed by William Clayton and Orson Pratt and built by carpenter Appleton Milo Harmon. Clayton was inspired to invent the roadometer after developing his first method of recording the distance the pioneers traveled each day. Clayton had determined that 360 revolutions of a wagon wheel made a mile, he then tied a red rag to the wheel and counted the revolutions to keep an accurate record of the mileage traveled. After seven days, this method became tiresome, and Clayton went on to invent the roadometer that was first used on the morning of May 12, 1847. William Clayton is also known for his writing of the pioneer hymn Come, Come, Ye Saints. In 1854, Samuel McKeen of Nova Scotia designed another early version of the odometer, a device that measures mileage driven. His version was attached to the side of a carriage and measured the miles with the turning of the wheels.