Hiding Edith Book Essay free essay sample

Covering up Edith a True Story by Kathy Kacer Elise Peterson I as a rule am perusing a book that spouts over adoration or a dreadful secret novel, however this time I figured I would change things up. I have consistently been truly intrigued by World War two and the holocaust and that is the reason I got the book Hiding Edith, a genuine story by Kathy Kacer. I cannot come to picture the dread that was planted in these childrens heads and would scar them for a mind-blowing remainder. In 1933, the Nazi party, drove by Adolf Hitler, came to control in Germany. Hitler was an unfeeling man who accepted that Germans were better than all over races, yet particularly Jews. I wont really expound on the Holocaust on the grounds that Im sure youve taken the class History! In any case, the principle character, Edith Schwalb was Jewish and was alive when Hitler gradually started to dominate. We will compose a custom exposition test on Covering up Edith Book Essay or then again any comparative theme explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page Edith is a youthful Jewish young lady living with her Papa, Mutti, sister (Threse), and sibling (Gaston) in the city of Vienna. Ediths family is close. Her Papa is a known soccer player and Edith and her sister both go to class while Mutti and her sibling remain at home. Tragically, Vienna was gradually being dominated. One night, Nazi fighters went to the Schwalb family and removed Papa. The young ladies before long quit going to class and fled to another city. Mutti before long understood that the youngsters were not, at this point safe snow that Concentration camps were being set up. All the rage among the Jews was that the town of Moissac had a â€Å"Boarding School† where Jewish families could take their children for security from the Nazis. The town of Moissac is really a town everything being equal. All the Germans think about the mystery house and stay quiet about it. The house is controlled by Shatta and Bouli Simon who are exceptionally kind. At the house, they are appropriately taken care of, dealt with, go to class, and go to chapel. Shatta and Bouli practically become the guardians of the entirety of the youngsters living at the house. The motivation behind why the house is so protected is since the entire town is German, the Nazis will contact the Mayor before they come and quest for Jews so it gives the youngsters time to cover up. So Mutti chooses to drop Edith and Gaston off at the house. At the point when they show up Edith is 7 and Gaston is little child. Threse and Mutti run off to another town to live in a ranch house. Edith and Gaston come to cherish living in the house. Edith turns out to be old buddies with a young lady named Sarah. Throughout the years together Edith and Sarah for all intents and purposes become sisters. Once in a while Mutti will visit Edith and Gaston. Following quite a while of living there, Shatta and Bouli report that they need to close down the house. The two of them concur that the war will before long end since the Americans have joined the war. They send the children to various mystery homes to live. Sarah and Edith are moved to a German Boarding school. This is somewhat hazardous since nobody there realizes they are Jewish. They need to change their names. There at the all inclusive school, they are dealt with gravely and seldom eat. The two of them wind up getting lice and uncovering food from underneath the trash. Once more, Edith and Sarah are moved to somewhere else. This time, a genuine home. They move to the place of the Merleaus who treat Edith and Sarah generous. She just remains there for a brief timeframe in light of the fact that the war closes! Edith is before long rejoined with her sibling, sister, and mother. They discover that there father was murdered in a death camp. The family lives respectively and they all land positions. Edith understands that she needs to have any kind of effect. Her and Gaston wind up returning to Moissac. They volunteer to be consolers for the stranded Jewish youngsters. I actually prescribe this book to anybody! Its a fast read and it truly makes you see through the eyes of a kid during World War Two. It causes you to acknowledge how fortunate we are, here in America and not to underestimate things since they can be removed any second.

damnation :: essays research papers

Demolishing The Grand Places â€Å"†¦ It is obvious, at that point, that we can't choose the topic of improvement versus safeguarding by a basic referral to sacred writ or an endeavor to figure the aim of the establishing fathers; we should make up our own personalities and choose for ourselves what the national parks ought to be and what reason they ought to serve.†-Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire â€Å"†¦ The distinction between the current supply, with its quiet sterile shores and flotsam and jetsam stifled side ravines, and the first Glen Canyon, is the contrast among death and life. Glen Canyon was alive. Lake Powell is a graveyard.† †Edward Abbey, â€Å"The Damnation of a Canyon†, Beyond the Wall At the point when you love the Desert Southwest, at some point, some place, you will discover the works of Ed Abbey. Like me, Ed was not conceived there; he found his adoration for the spot while riding a train unit through it out traveling over the US; I found mine out traveling through myself. His works helped lead me home, for that is the thing that the desert southwest is to me: home. I don’t live there for one basic explanation, i.e., I have not yet had the option to place myself in the budgetary circumstance I should be in. Until further notice, I visit when I can, for the most part during my long excursions at Christmas. Two or three years back during one of those, spontaneously subsequent to putting in a couple of days in Arches National Park, my significant other and I bypassed to the frigid, frosty south edge of the Grand Canyon. We ventured toward it from the east side yet got turned around at the National Parks’ door; the street was snowed under from that point on up. In the wake of following our means, we headed out down to Flagstaff and went through the night, driving in my four by four truck up toward the South Rim the following day. It was a frightful encounter to remain on the edge of the South Rim and see just cloud; haze covered the canyon’s extraordinary hole, leaving us with visual questions that anything was truly there. Vanquished, we hit the Visitor’s Center and assembled data so we could return at some point in the spring or fall with climate more just as we would prefer. We haven’t done that, yet. This year we had wanted to bring a guided waterway run down the incomparable Grand Canyon. At the present time, that likely won't occur, either, because of other family commitments that eat excursion and other budgetary needs.

Real Life Research

Real Life Research Real Life Research Home›Research Posts›Real Life Research Research Posts1. How else might the decision-making information have been gathered besides ethnographics?For decisions to be made the researcher must be very well informed on what is going on in the field. This means that he can use social scientific strategies other than ethnographics which include Epistemology and research strategies and Ontology and research strategies. This will depend on whether the research is qualitative or quantitative (Kottak, 2005).2. What are the disadvantages to Glad if they only used ethnographics?The major disadvantage of ethnographics is the high reliance on the observation of the observer and interpretations (Fine, 1993). This is risky because the researcher may have some bias on some issues leading to biased results hence misguided decision making.Another major disadvantage is its inability to validate the researchers or observers results or conclusions (Fine, 1993). This is so because th ere is very little numerical data provided if any.In addition, it is close to impossible to eliminate the researchers’ bias since he may have reservations (Fine, 1993).Generalizing the results will not be possible in view of the fact that ethnography considers a single situation; this leaves ambiguity in the study (Fine, 1993).3. Could this research have been done using virtual reality? Why or why not?Yes. This is because virtual reality provides for mimicking of the real situation which can be done in this case. By creating a virtual environment then it will represent the real situation hence derive the deductions expected in decision making (Burdea, Coffet, 2003). This situation will simulate how people deal with their trash.4. Could the location of the ethnographic research influence the research outcome? Explain.Yes. This is because if the researcher goes to a place with a unique character then he/she will observe the characteristic and hence include it in the research; in fa ct this trait may not necessarily be a characteristic of the whole population (Kottak, 2005).

Basic Health Patterns Are Designed By Marjory Gordon

Gordon Functional health patterns are designed by Marjory Gordon in the year of 1987. This pattern consists 11 questions. These questions asked by nurses to gather health information. These questions help to gather information on Values health promotion, Nutrition, Sleep/Rest, Elimination, Activity/ Exercise, Cognitive, Sensory, Self, Role, Sexuality, Coping. In this article Author interviewed a Muslim family with family name Khan. There are five members in this family. Husband age 34 years, wife 32 years and there are three kids of age 9 years old girl, 5 years old boy and 1.5 years old boy. Mr. and Mrs. Khan both are working in this family. They both are working opposite shift to take care of their children. Mrs. Khan works the morning shift as HHA and Mr. Khan works night shift as a taxi driver. Health perception and values are emphasized on the individual’s perception of their health, beliefs and values (Edelman, 2016). The health perception of every family is different. In the Khan family, their health perception seen centered around maintaining their current health by regular checkups, immunization of the kids and they always try to eat healthy. Mrs. Khan developed gestational diabetic’s when she was pregnant with her first child and has been diabetic since. Mrs. Khan takes oral forms medications as prescribed by the physician but her blood sugar levels are always on high side. Reason behind this is, her busy schedule with work and kids, she does not able to do

The Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath - 1274 Words

In the novel The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath the prime character, Esther Greenwood, struggles to handle life in her own skin. She feels as though she is trapped in a glass bell jar with no escape because of her incapability to comprehend herself. For example, in chapter one Plath states, â€Å"‘My name s Elly Higginbottom,’ I said. ‘I come from Chicago.’ After that I felt safer. I didn t want anything I said or did that night to be associated with me and my real name and coming from Boston† (Plath 11). In this quote, Esther alters her life story demonstrating her lost sight of her true identity. In addition, Greenwood talks about losing control over her life as a stormy cloud rolls in, shadowing her every move. To further explain, Greenwood voices, â€Å"Only I wasn t steering anything, not even myself. I just bumped from my hotel to work and to parties and from parties to my hotel and back to work like a numb trolleybus. I guess I should have been exci ted the way most of the other girls were, but I couldn t get myself to react. (I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.)† (Plath 2-3). This citation exemplifies Greenwood’s inability to grasp her life through her boredom with traditionally enjoyable activities. Greenwood has difficulty steering her life in any direction because of she fails to discover her inner self. In addition to the conflict with identity in The Bell Jar, the novel,Show MoreRelatedThe Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath1318 Words   |  6 Pageswe live. Many authors who seek this understanding fall short of their expectations and find themselves questioning life to an even greater extent than they had prior to their endeavors. One example of this would be author and poet Sylvia Plath, whose novel The Bell Jar parallels the tragic events that occurred throughout her own life. This coming-of-age story follows the life of Esther, a very bright and introverted student from Boston. She spends a month in New York City as a contest-winning juniorRead MoreThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath1211 Words   |  5 PagesOn January 14th of 1963, Sylvia Plath had finally completed The Bell Jar after approximately two years of writing. This novel could have been considered a partial autobiography, because the main character Esther Greenwood eerily represents Sylvia Plath. There are a number of references to Plath’s real life throughout the book, too many for it to be considered a mere coincidence. Within the story, Esther Greenwood considers and attempts suicide quite frequently. Could this novel have been foreshadowingRead MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath Essay1438 Words   |  6 Pagesthe novel been translated into nearly a dozen different languages, but it is also the only novel under the American writer and poet Sylvia Plath. She wrote this novel to resemble her life whenever she was dealing with mental illness. It was published in 1967 and was not published in the United States until 1971. After the first publication in the United Kingdom, Plath committed suicide in a very tragic way.   Even though this novel can be viewed as â€Å"dark†, many english classes read this world wideRead MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath1099 Words   |  5 PagesThe Bell Jar by: Sylvia Plath Depression is a serious topic throughout the world, especially in America. Depression can result in someone feeling completely alone. There is no direct cause for depression in adolescents, but it can be brought on by the maturing process, stress from failure in some sort, a traumatic or disturbing event such as death, or even a break up. Sure, everyone has an off day here and there, where they feel like they shouldn’t even bother getting out bed in the morning, butRead MoreThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath1211 Words   |  5 PagesSylvia Plath Research Paper Title The Bell Jar place[s] [the] turbulent months[of an adolescent’s life] in[to] mature perspective (Hall, 30). In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath uses parallelism, stream of consciousness, the motif of renewal and rebirth, symbolism of the boundary-driven entrapped mentally ill, and auto-biographical details to epitomize the mental downfall of protagonist, Esther Greenwood. Plath also explores the idea of how grave these timeless and poignant issues can affect a fragileRead More The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath1820 Words   |  7 PagesIdentity is fragile and is a characteristic that every person must discover without hiding behind inexperience’s and excluding themselves from the outside world of reality or else their own personal bell jar will suffocate them alive. The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel written by Sylvia Plath portrays how a young woman with too many identities and unrealistic expectations overwhelms herself to the point that she contemplates and attempts su icide multiple times. Esther Greenwood, a young collegeRead MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath942 Words   |  4 Pagesdevelopment of her relationship with many characters in the novel, The Bell Jar. Esther is mentally and emotionally different than a majority of the people in her community. As a result of this state, she often has difficulty taking criticism to heart. Her depression continues to build throughout the novel as she remains in the asylum. It does not help that she has no aid from her loved ones. In the novel, The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath utilizes the relationships that Esther shares with Buddy Willard MrsRead MoreThe Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath1554 Words   |  6 Pagestrials and triumphs in their personal life, their relationships with others and their surroundings. In the Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath explores the role of women in society in 1950s New York City through her relationships and interactions. Esther Greenwood is the major character and is therefore central to the no vel. The book is considered to be a â€Å"roman a` clef† portraying the painful summer of Sylvia Plath’s psychotic breakdown in 1953, and contains â€Å"thinly disguised portraits of her family and friends†Read MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath1940 Words   |  8 PagesAccording to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the definition of the word â€Å"bell jar† is, â€Å"a bell-shaped usually glass vessel designed to contain objects or preserve gases and or a vacuum†. Sylvia Plath’s title, The Bell Jar, symbolically represents her feeling towards the seclusion and inferiority women endured trapped by societes glass vessel during the 1950’s. The Bell Jar, follows the life of Esther Greenwood, the protagonist and narrator of the story, during her desperate attempt to become a womanRead MoreThe Bell Jar By Sylvia Plath851 Words   |  4 Pages The bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is a bildungsroman fictional novel, and documents a first person account of Esther Greenwood’s struggle with depression from her late teens to early twenty’s. During Esther’s final path of destruction, her encounter with Marco leads her to one of many revelations about societies expectations for women and this reality along with many other factors sends Esther to her near demise. Before Esther’s encounter with Marco she was experiencing life in New York

Life and Death Themes in the Sandbox and Everyman Free Essays

string(132) " of medieval morality plays was to communicate the religious message of the day to the mostly uneducated and illiterate population\." Research Paper – Life and Death Themes in The Sandbox and Everyman COURSE # ENGL-102_D22_200940 COURSE TITLE: English 102 SEMESTER OF ENROLLMENT: D Fall 2009 NAME Glen MacDonald Glen MacDonald Professor Smith English 102 December 5, 2009 Research Paper – Life and Death Themes in The Sandbox and Everyman This paper explores the perception and treatment of death at points in history some 500 years apart by using two dramatic plays as a portal into their respective time periods. The anonymously written 15th century play Everyman and the 1959 Edward Albee play, The Sandbox provide two extreme points of contrast to demonstrate the significant changes and similarities in man’s living conditions and his perceptions and treatment of death. An overview of life in medieval England about the year 1500, and life in America in 1959 is provided up front to establish the realities of the time period in which to review each play. We will write a custom essay sample on Life and Death Themes in the Sandbox and Everyman or any similar topic only for you Order Now Both plays will be examined by referencing research regarding their respective authors, the works themselves and by incorporating other materials that provide insight into their significance and meanings. The paper will conclude by providing a summary of insights and points of interest regarding the perception and treatment of death during both eras. Life in 16th century medieval England was considerably different than American life in 1959. In addition to the substantial difference in day to day living conditions, such as a roof over ones head or heat and light, life in medieval England was brutal by today’s standards. Many aspects of daily existence that we take for granted in modern American cities such as sanitation, nutrition and medical care were mostly non-existent in a medieval English city. The limited availability of health and basic services, contributed to high rates of disease which reduced the average life expectancy to approximately 40 years old. According to Carolyn Freeman Travers, a Research Manager with Plimoth Plantation, the rate of infant mortality and death from childhood disease was much higher during that time period than it was in 1959 (1). Travers points out that many people did live to be older than the 40 year average, but it was only if they survived childbirth and then navigated the disease prone childhood years to make it to adulthood (1). By comparison, life in America in the late 1950’s was much easier, as is reflected by the life expectancy statistics. According to the U. S. Department of Health’s, Life Tables for 1959, the average life expectancy in the United States in 1959 was approximately 70 years of age (76). This 30 year or so difference in life expectancy, although significant on its own, when combined with the medieval childhood death statistics and the fact that death most often occurred within one’s home, the average medieval adult would have likely had a great deal of personal experience with death, likely within their own families. This is not the case in 1959 America where death often happened in a hospital setting or where the mature funeral business quickly whisked a body away from the home setting. Another interesting reference point for the two time periods is religion, and the level and significance of participation in organized religion. According to Chris Trueman, a British history teacher religious participation has changed dramatically during the past 500 years. The Medieval Church played a far greater role in Medieval England than the Church does today. In Medieval England, the Church dominated everybody’s life. All Medieval people – be they village peasants or towns people – believed that God, Heaven and Hell all existed. From the very earliest of ages, the people were taught that the only way they could get to Heaven was if the Roman Catholic Church let them. Everybody would have been terrified of Hell and the people would have been told of the sheer horrors awaiting for them in Hell in the weekly services they attended. (1) (Trueman, Chris. â€Å"The Medieval Church. History Learning Site. N. p. , n. d. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. ) Although accurate estimates for religious participation in the United States in 1959 were not readily available, it is likely that between 80% – 90% of Americans participated in regular religious activities during that period of time. Even though this participation number is not significantly lower that the medieval participation number, it is evident that organized religion no lon ger plays the dominantimg src="http://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png" / role in the daily life of western culture that it did during medieval times. It seems that even though the majority of people continue to participate in organized religion, that adherence to traditional Christian based beliefs, rituals surrounding death, personal morals and family values all have deteriorated significantly in western culture since medieval times. An example of this change in family values is evident by the way in which we care for elderly parents today and how in many cases parents are treated with the out of sight out of mind mentality which is very pervasive in western society today. This trend is highlighted by the significant increase in the number of old age homes springing up across America. As Ruiping Fan reported in The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy in 2007, â€Å"Across the world, socio-conomic [sic] forces are shifting the focus of long-term care from the family to institutional settings, producing significant moral, not just financial costs (1). Fan goes on to discuss the increasing move away from filial piety (respect and responsibility for parents), which had been a staple in eastern culture, towards more western oriented cultural norms, which includes institutional care for elderly parents (2). Fan explains the reasons for these cultural changes saying, â€Å"It is just not feasible for most of us to undertake family care in today’s society because most of us are living in a household where both husband and wife are working to support the household† (7). In looking at how the author of Everyman perceives and treats death, one must keep in mind that the primary purpose of medieval morality plays was to communicate the religious message of the day to the mostly uneducated and illiterate population. You read "Life and Death Themes in the Sandbox and Everyman" in category "Life" In this case the play’s author demonstrates the high significance of his message regarding death by immediately and dramatically introducing death in Everyman. He accomplishes this by quickly and specifically orienting the audience to the play’s theme of death and by introducing the Death character to the audience. The introduction of Death takes place at the end of God’s speech where He calls upon death by saying â€Å"Where art thou, Death, thou mighty messenger? † (line 63). This is somewhat nusual for a play of this time as Allen Goldhamer notes in his 1973 journal article where he says: In order to understand the play’s greatness, one should bear in mind that Everyman’s presentation of death is highly unusual. The dramatization of death usually occupies the latter portion of the final act of a play and is often handled sensationally or sentimentally. In Everyman the hero begins to die near the opening of the play, and the focus of the dr ama is on a man involved in the stages of death. (87) (Goldhamer, Allen D. Everyman: A Dramatization of Death† Quarterly Journal of Speech 59. 1 (1973): 87. Communication ; Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. ) For those attending a circa 1500 performance of Everyman, the dramatic delivery of this play combined with the pertinent messages of redemption and salvation along with the death theme would have both captivated the audience and instilled extreme fear in them. As noted by Dennis Moran in his 1972 paper on â€Å"Everyman,† in speaking about the play’s character Death, he notes that â€Å". . . Death physically quits the stage with four-fifths of the play remaining and the terror aroused by his summons almost wholly subsides with Everyman’s return to sanctifying grace† (324). Speaking in today’s terms, this would have translated into a prime time television commercial for the Roman Catholic Church, representing the only way in which one could access God’s salvation, achieve eternal life and not be dammed to hell. It is also interesting to note the evident Roman Catholic theme regarding Good Deeds as the measuring stick of one’s earthly life, the price for salvation and entry into heaven upon death. This is highlighted when Good Deeds says â€Å"All earthly things is but vanity: Beauty, Strength, and Discretion do man forsake, Foolish friends, and kinsmen, that fair spake – all fleeth save Good Deeds, and that am I† (lines 870-73). As you read this play and visualize watching the play from the audience’s perspective or maybe even being placed directly in Everyman’s literal situation, one becomes aware of the specific knowledge the author portrays regarding the mental manipulation involved in dying. This is evident as the play’s author leads Everyman through the initial stages associated with his impending death, first where he demonstrates a lack of recognition of Death, then by asking Death for more time and then by attempting to bribe Death with ? 1,000, all which happens before he starts to consider and then later accept his fate. As Goldhamer notes in his paper, this process closely parallel’s modern psychological thinking on death as he alludes to when he says â€Å"There is no reason for us to assume that earlier ages possessed any less profound insight than our own in the matter of death† (88). In complete contrast to Everyman is Edwards Albee’s 1959 play The Sandbox, where death is turned into the farcical backdrop for this generational satire. The death of Grandma is used to highlight the absolute nonsense that goes on in many multi-generational family relationships, and highlights how elderly parents are often treated like children or even worse, like pets, by their own children. Unlike in Everyman, where death pursues our protagonist based on God’s command to do so, in The Sandbox, Albee uses the aggressive Mommy and the meek grumbling Daddy characters to drag Grandma to her death. They bring her on stage against her will dumping her cockeyed in the sandbox where the Angel of Death is hovering near by. According to Mathew Roudane in his book about Albee, he notes Albee’s use of death as a common theme in many of his plays and then adds that â€Å"Albee continually returns to exploring the darker side of the human soulscape† (6). Later Roudane makes reference to comments from an interview with Albee regarding his perception of death, here he recounts Albee as saying â€Å"how we lie to ourselves and to each other, how we try to live without the cleansing consciousness of death† (23). Although one could interpret Albee’s comments a number of ways, he is pretty clear that he feels death is an important theme in â€Å"The Sandbox† and in his other plays. It appears that he uses the death theme to tell people to wake up and live life completely, because life is short and ends abruptly with death. The life and death contrast he is alluding to is made evident in The Sandbox by how alive Albee makes the soon to die elderly Grandma character appear in contrast to the emotionally dead characters of Mommy and Daddy. Aside from the Angel of Death played by the young man, The Sandbox contains no directly visible religious references. In a literal sense, Grandma’s death is portrayed as strictly the physical act of dying, much like the treatment of death in modern American culture where rituals associated with death and the proceedings at some funerals appear to be surreal. However, Albee has built additional metaphors into this play by using the somewhat simple stage setup including the background of sea and sky along with the sandbox and a few chairs. As Lucina Gabbard states in her 1982 review of The Sandbox: â€Å"In this play, the sandbox is the entrance hall of life, the hospital dying room, and the grave. It is located on a sandy beach near the sea, whose waters symbolize both birth and death† (28). Gabbard goes on to point out how the characters support these additional metaphors as she writes â€Å"As the action of the play proceeds, the symbolism deepens. Mommy and Daddy, seated opposite the sandbox, perform two rituals simulta-neously [sic]: baby-sitting and death-watching† (28). Albee stretches out the play’s climatic event, the death of Grandma, with extreme patience, all the while emphasizing each character’s role and thought processes. For Grandma, she recounts her life from a serious perspective as a wife and mother when talking about living on the farm with her now deceased husband and then from a less serious perspective when she says â€Å"I had to raise that big cow over there all by my lonesome† (1068). The offstage noises signal that Grandma’s death is looming closer, which causes the silly dialogue between Mommy and Daddy to increase, thereby focusing the audience on the contrived nature of Grandma’s disposal from the family. Finally after Mommy and Daddy prepare to leave and Grandma is nearing her end, Mommy says â€Å"We must put away our tears, take off our mourning . . . face the future. It’s our duty† (1069). The ending and ultimate death of Grandma incorporates the only noticeable moment of love in the entire play, this kiss between the Angel of Death lets Grandma leaves the world with a final contented line â€Å"You’re . . . you’re welcome dear† (1069). In the end Albee treats the death of Grandma with the love and compassion you would hope for and expect in real life. Although these two plays, Everyman and The Sandbox appear at opposite ends of the spectrum in many ways, they both deal directly with issues surrounding death and provide insight and a historical perspective of the prevailing culture. At the time that Everyman was first playing, the Roman Catholic Church held the monopoly on the rituals associated with death, and they were striving to educate the population on how to live within the context of honoring Church and God. Although this is meant to be a very serious play, the dry humor and embedded entertainment value is made evident by how the plot and characters combine to ensure salvation for Everyman. At the other end of the scale, Albee establishes a very novel approach to communicate his message of abandonment and how American culture has evolved into a self-centered miserable existence for the masses. This play makes the point that without a purposeful, intentional life including thought and reflection regarding ones own death and even one’s eternal life, that life itself can become an irrelevant meaningless struggle. Both these plays hit the cultural mark of their respective historical periods by providing enlightening insights into death and other relevant issues of the day by incorporating some comedic value into the entertaining dramas. Works Cited Albee, Edward. â€Å"The Sandbox. † 1959. Perrine†s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. 10th ed. Ed. Thomas R Arp and Greg Johnson. Boston:Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. 1064 – 1070. â€Å"Everyman. † Everyman and Medieval Miracle Plays. Ed. J M Dent. North Claredon: Tuttle Publishing, 1993. 197 – 225. Fan, Ruiping â€Å"Which Care? Whose Responsibility? And Why Family? A Confucian Account of Long-Term Care for the Elderly. † Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 32. 5 (2007): 495-517. Philosopher’s Index. EBSCO. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. Freeman Travers, Carolyn. â€Å"Myth and Reality. † Plimoth Plantation. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2009. . Gabbard, Lucina P. â€Å"Edward Albee’s Triptych on Abandonment. † Twentieth Century Literature: A Scholarly and Critical Journal 28. 1 (1982): 14-33. Hofstra University 10 Dec. 2009 Goldhamer, Allen D. â€Å"Everyman: Dramatization of Death† Quarterly Journal of Speech 59. 1 (1973): 87 – 98. Communication Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. Moran, Dennis V. â€Å"The Life of Everyman. † Neophilologus. 56. (1972): 324-30. MLA International Bibliography. Gale. Liberty University. 11 Dec. 2009 . Roundane, Mathew C. Understanding Edward Albee. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1987 Trueman, Chris â€Å"The Medieval Church. † History Learning Site. 1. , n. d. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. . U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Public Health Service. â€Å"New York State Life Tables: 1958-61. Vol. 2. Washington: n. p. , 1966. 76. Center for Disease Control Web. 13 Dec. 2009. . How to cite Life and Death Themes in the Sandbox and Everyman, Essays

The Art of Forgiveness free essay sample

I’ve often been taught that God moves in mysterious ways, and that He speaks to us through a canvas of sky and a language of love. With love comes trial and tribulation, and upon overcoming these, the heart develops a new kind of strength. Some people have a defining moment in which they have a revelation about this love, and ultimately, about their character. My moment came on the fifth day of a rainy December. Reluctantly, I stepped off the afternoon bus and into a thick atmosphere. With effortless, instigating talent, the wind whispered some of my flaws. Cowardice. Selfishness. Grief plagued my mind, and I did the only thing I had known to do for the past five years. I retreated to my bedroom; my sanctuary, with an armful of oil pastels and an endless pulse of memories. December 1st of 2001, my baby brother was born under fatal circumstances. We will write a custom essay sample on The Art of Forgiveness or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Lack of oxygen rendered him lifeless for nine minutes. Resuscitation proved to be a miracle; however that did not save him from serious heart and brain trauma. After seeing the furrowed brows of several medical professionals, my parents decided to pull the plug on December 5th. I was in fourth grade at that time, and had never previously experienced the death of a family member. The expression on my ten year old face must have been one of both disbelief and incredible confusion. After the initial shock, our household had reasonably succumbed to a state of depression. As my vision clouded with the dark tapestries and umbrellas of the burial, my hand responded with the smudge of charcoal on a blank canvas. Art has always been a path of relief and self expression for me. In this instance, my neutral usage depicted the numbness I felt. What began as abstract shapes and lines took a symmetrical turn. Before I knew it, I was creating the patterns and features of Jeremiah’s perfectl y sculpted face. Subtle movements for his long, baby eyelashes and soft gestures for his hidden cheekbones provoked a sensation I hadn’t felt since the funeral. My sketches came to life in a flicker of imagination. His newborn gaze shifted toward the artist, his arms came into view, and small hands reached out off the paper to link life and death. I sat helplessly on the edge of my bed with the thought of him invading my senses. I sad wordlessly at the hurt I had tuned out for so long; the same hurt that was bleeding out of my portrait and staining my fingers hueless. My eyes wandered out the window to a cemetery just down the street. Jeremiah rested footsteps away from my front door in a place where birds withheld their song. He had seen a collection of serious faces showing respect in a strictly business-like fashion, but what of his family? His sister sat comfortably in a house on a hill, with no concern for her past actions. I jumped out of my position to fix what was bro ken. Along with the circulating storm overhead, a sickening feeling circulated in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to run back inside and embrace the security I was accustomed to. Stubbornly, my feet would not submit. My mind screamed at its disobedient exterior until I reached the iron entrance to the cemetery. All was still. In the general location of his tiny tombstone, I began to scan the names. Baker. Cooper. Yates. Stone and marble figures loomed above, watching my every move. Adams. Oaks. Whitehouse. Another gust of wind nearly knocked the breath out of me. Jones. Ellis†¦Johnson, it read. Jeremiah Johnson. December 1st, 2001, to December 5th, 2001. Clean and crisp, the engraved letters spelled out a message from my mother. My Sweet Jeremiah. I sat eye-level to his memorial stone, unsure of what to expect from myself. The air came to an uncomfortable halt. â€Å"Thought I’d see how you’re doing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I bit my bottom lip in embarrassment. How was I s upposed to address this situation sensibly? How could I reach my closure in a way that was predictable and formal? Everyone else seemed to have mastered this technique, why couldn’t I? I tried again. â€Å"I’m sorry I missed your birthday†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My eyes glazed over. I had so many thoughts to express, and no words to say them with. I was at war within myself; my heart for justice, my mind for contentment. I closed my eyes and bit my tongue. It was then that I got an answer to my question, and then that I began to release my feelings for the first time. Just let go. Ever fiber of my being reacted to these three words collectively. Years of self conflict exploded in an incoherent babble, and I collapsed face-first into the dirt. I screamed and spat until I had to gasp for air. I apologized to Jeremiah for refusing to accept his death. I apologized to my friends and family for passing judgment on whatever ways they were able to cope. I repented for blaming God in a situation where I needed Him the most. I surrendered my body and soul, both works of art, and He gave me the strength I needed to lift myself off the ground. Anyone within hearing distance could tell it was a visitation long overdue. Some people may consider my resolution that day an act of humiliation, but I disagree. I had passed a test of strength, and the wind no longer had the authority to whisper to me my flaws. Recognizing me as a worthy opponent, it swept in a gift on inspiration. Water droplets plummeted from competing rain clouds. I wordlessly witnessed the transaction of art from Heaven to Earth. That day, I found beauty in the art of forgiveness.