Childhood Christmas to Adulthood Christmas Essay Example for Free

Childhood Christmas to Adulthood Christmas Essay Christmas as a child for me was very fun. I got many presents from Santa as well as many from relatives. Christmas was probably my favorite holiday of the year, to me it meant that if I was good enough Santa would bring me presents. Most of the time I was very good and never got into trouble. In my family when you go from childhood to adulthood it becomes a big deal. For starters you open presents with the adults. You also don’t have to worry about leaving with the other kids while the adults open presents. Seeing that I do not have kids I am sort of at a mid point of whether or not to look forward to this holiday. One of the many reasons I love Christmas is because my grandmother makes the best food. There is more food than any of us can eat and we have leftovers for days. My grandma makes most of the food and some people bring a favorite dessert. All of the food is set out on the dinning room table buffet style. We gather around to bless the food and then us kids get our plates first, most kids are picky I sure was at that age. You couldn’t hardly get me to eat anything as a kid so my plate was full of mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, rolls and probably green beans since I was not much of a turkey eater as a youngster. After we filled our plates with food we are free to eat wherever we please and since we are kids we normally go down into the basement away from the adults. After we eat then the dessert comes out. My favorite dessert would have to be pumpkin pie with cool whip on top. I could probably scarf down a whole pan of that stuff. There are only a few people in my family that like pumpkin pie so all of the leftover pie went to me. Every year we have Christmas lunch and presents at my grandparents house in Atwater California. My grandparents house is huge, they built it sometime before I was born. It is a three story house not including the attic, the first floor has a bathroom, living room, dinning room, and kitchen which has a door leading to the huge basement that could be more living space if needed. Then you have the second floor, that has three bedrooms, an office and 2 bathrooms. I love having Christmas at this house because it is the almost the perfect size for everyone to fit. My family’s very funny, they love to joke around with people. They are also very laid back and always on schedule. Every year we have almost the same people during the holidays. A few years ago we lost my great grandma and my great grandpa a few months after that. Four years ago my aunt Nikki and her husband Gary left for Georgia because that is where he got stationed. My eldest sister Elysebeth got married and has two children and they join us for family holidays. Some of my moms side of the family comes and that’s when things get loud considering we are very obnoxious and you basically need a hearing aid to hear anything. Over the past seven years I have gotten used to the change from childhood to Adulthood Christmas. I thought it was so cool to finally open presents with the adults. A few years went by and I started realizing that the transition was not exactly what I had been hoping for, and I did not want to be with the adults but by then it was to late so I got ov er it. Its not as fun as it used to be but I try to do the best I can for the little ones in the family who still believe in Santa. The downside of the food as an adult is that you have to wait for all the kids to get done filling there plates before you can fill yours. Yes, that sounds greedy but I love my food! Something that can also be a downside is where to sit, at this point all the little kids want to sit up at the table right next to you. The only problem with that is there are not enough seats for everyone to sit right next to you. So you have to be the bad guy and tell someone no. The setback about having Christmas at my grandparents house is that there are a lot of people and it can become crowded and overwhelming. From children running around to presents spread out everywhere. Everyone is either sitting in a chair, on the floor or standing up because there is no where to sit. With everyone catching up and bonding the walls sometimes echo and it’s to cold to have be in the backyard. A fly in the ointment for me about there being a lot of people is that I now start buying presents for everyone, which normally isn’t a bad thing because I love buying things for people but I have an enormous family. When you count all of us together during this holiday there is a total of about eighteen, which is a lot of money to spend! Over the span of time since I have joined the adults in the opening of presents has made me realize that it isn’t necessarily about the gifts. Its being thankful for what you have and the people around you. The  overall exp erience for is a great one because it brings family together and shows you what the holidays are really about rather than just opening presents, eating and leaving. I love my family and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Character of Prospero in Shakespeares The Tempest :: Tempest essays

Tempest Character Analysis  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's last play The Tempest is a story about Prospero (the rightful duke of Milan). He is betrayed by his brother Antonio and left on a ship with his daughter Miranda to die. Only things are not going according to plan and Prospero and Miranda arrive on an island. Prospero is seeking his revenge. Coming back from a wedding in Africa a ship containing Prosperos enemies is attacked by the tempest and scatters its passengers about the island. Prospero exhibits three major character traits: forcefulness, protectiveness and forgiveness. Prospero is a very powerful person and using his spell books he is able to conjure up some mighty magic. Possibly the most powerful thing he controls is Ariel (a spirit). An example of this is when Prospero says "Hast thou, spirit, Preformed to point, the tempest I bade thee".(718) Ariel had the power to create a great sea storm and Prospero had the power to control Ariel which gave him great power. Another reason why Prospero is powerful is because of his knowledge of Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculos plot to kill the king. So when Prospero reclaims his place in Milan again he'll have some mighty blackmail just incase he needs any favors or they try any thing stupid. This way they'll think twice before going against Prospero. Especially considering that Miranda will become queen. These are the reasons why Prospero is powerful. Prospero is protective of those who are close to him especially Miranda. Throughout The Tempest Prospero slowly makes sure Ferdinands and Mirandas love wont faid quickly. Prospero even called Ferdinand a traitor just to make Miranda seem harder to get. This way the couple wouldn't become a lost cause. When Prospero says "They are both in either's powers. But this swift business I must uneasy make lest too light winning make the prize light" (726) he is revealing his true plan to Ariel that he wants to make Miranda harder to get. This is because Prospero feels their love will be stronger if it is harder to obtain. Prospero is also protective when he says "the strongest oaths are straw to th' fire I' th' blood"(764) this was said to Ferdinand after Prospero makes him promise not to have sex with Miranda before they are married. He is stunned to see that after his promise Ferdinand is playing around with Miranda.

How did poets in the early stages of World War 1 seek to glorify war Essay

‘Who’s for the game’, ‘The Soldier’, ‘In Flanders Field’ and ‘Rendezvous’ are four poems that I feel are apt examples of typical poetry written in World War 1. Poetry throughout this period of time, share similar qualities of which I hope to explore further, one of these qualities is the recurring theme of the glorification of war. The themes of early war poetry tend to same themes that reoccur in most poems. These themes are glory, honour, duty, patriotism and a united front against adversary. All four poems seem initially different, in tone, language, and writing techniques, but all glorify war. I intend to explore how the different writing techniques used in the poems portray the same message, and how their poem glorifies war in its own way. World War 1 was the first major war to affect Britain’s people and the urgency of recruitment for the war created influence for many poets who were opinionated about the war; th e result was extreme propaganda poetry. Many of these poets later changed their approach to writing due to the tragedies of war, and although the poems are more reflective and respectful, they still promote war as a worthy cause for the understood tragedies. The war also created many poets, soldiers who use poetry as an outlet for their thoughts these poems were usually brutally honest, reflective very emotive. Then towards the very end of the war poems became to bare the truth about war, poets found the deaths were to great to justify the glory of them. The poems depicted horrific images of war and mocked people who had previously glorified war. In the early stages of war, poet’s attitudes towards war were positive; many thought the results of war would outweigh the suffering that would occur during. This was due to the fact they had not experienced anything like this and did not know what to expect. They expressed this attitude in the poetry written. Many poets felt very patriotic towards England and felt England had come together to fight a common cause this is reflected by the use of patriotic imagery and language. Poems like ‘Who’s for the Game?’ and ‘The Soldier’ make the patriotism a poignant aspect of the poem, whereas rendezvous and ‘In Flanders Field’ are reflective and sentimental and display patriotism. ‘Who’s for the Game?’ does this by use of its ordering tone, guilt and shame tactics to persuade the reader into thinking the same and in turn feel more patriotic towards England. ‘Who’ll give its country a hand?’ the repetitive use of who’ll/who creates an interrogating tone to coincide with the rhetorical questions. ‘The Soldier’ creates similar feeling but in a different way, it does it by the continual use of the personification of England. ‘A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,’ the dust being the soldier, English man, and England personified as its mother. In this first few years of war realism was sparsely use in poetry war was depicted as an event that would change a man for the better and horrendous truth of war was forgotten this point is made known in all four poems but prominently shown in ‘Who’s for the Game?’ by Jessie Pope. An example of this is the running metaphor depicting war as a game. Its attitude about war is very optimistic for England’s soldiers and that would be hardly any loss from the war. All poems written at the start of the war although influential in themselves were influenced by the desperate need for people to enlist this encouraged A vast amount of forceful propaganda poetry that used extremely powerful writing tactics to persuade the reader to join beyond any logical reasoning. Although the majority of poetry written at the start was propaganda there were some reflective and sentimental poetry however even these poems contained underlying propaganda to get people to recruit. ‘Who’s for the Game?’ is a typical extreme propaganda poem it’s forceful in its approach, using imperative and declarative sentences. This sense of goading the reader combined with glamorisation and undermining of war creates a much enhanced propaganda poem, although logically contradicting in the sense that if the war were as glamorous as its portrayed it would not need to be forced upon the reader. ‘Rendezvous’ on the other hand is not as obvious in recruiting people but was probably effective in doing so. ‘Rendezvous’ continuously personifies death, linking death with nature creating the image of death as a friend and a natural and peaceful occurrence. This is propaganda in a subtle way as it shows death as something that shouldn’t be feared therefore war shouldn’t be feared if the worst that can happened is death, this is a theory that was present throughout ‘Who’s for the Game?’ and is a very unrealistic and misleading point of view on war. ‘In Flanders Field’ is more of an introspective than propaganda poem respectfully attributing those who have died. Yet, it establishes the conflict and hatred towards Germany; ‘Take up the quarrel with the foe’ asking people to fight for those who died. This places guilt on the reader and creates more seriousness. It also has a relaxed atmosphere of the dead speaking as if death was a worthy sacrifice, a theme that runs through most early war poetry whether the poems are propaganda, respectful or pensive. The use of language and the form and structure differs from poem to poem but contributes to the overall effect and tone of a poem. ‘In Flanders Field’ the form of the poem has a constant rhythm and rhyme. Each line has eight syllables apart from the twice repeated line ‘In Flanders Field’ which has four; this makes this line stand out in contrast to the rhythm of the rest of the poem as this is an important line. There is fluctuating rhyme pattern the main rhyming sounds in this poem are ‘O and ‘I. This makes the poem flow more and creating a familiarity within the text and establishes links between lines. ‘The Soldier’ a patriotic thus persuasive pro war poem is also emotive and a tribute to the soldiers. This respect and love for England is shown through the form of the poem, the poem is a sonnet commonly used for love poetry. It consists of 14 lines but is split into eight lines and six by the rhyme as it changes after the eighth line signalling a slight change in context. ‘Who’s for the Game?’ consists of four stanzas and has a constant 1,2,1,2, rhyming pattern to concur with the statement sentences and commands. ‘Rendezvous’ has a structure of three stanzas each stanzas progressing in idea and length from the last. In the need to be so influential and persuasive early war poetry are lined with writing devices that accentuate the main themes they try to get across to the reader. Such writing devices were rhetorical questions to interact with reader and create an informal relationship between the reader and writer. To shame and persuade reader to recruit guilt tactics were used. Scare tactics to show realities of war, later in WW1 era. Each poem has used different writing devices and in different ways to harmonize with the themes and style of each poem. ‘The Soldier’ and ‘Rendezvous’ both use personification throughout their poem; ‘Rendezvous’ personifies death as a friend, and ‘The Soldier’ personifies England as a mother. They both also use repetition of a main word that is important to the theme and motives of the poem itself. ‘Rendezvous’ use of the word death accustoms the reader towards it ‘The Soldier’ achieves the same effects by repeating the word ‘England’ so as to familiarise it as a friend. ‘Who’s for the Game?’ uses hyperbole to exaggerate and a continuous metaphor of war a game to glorify war and represent it as fun and it exaggerates the supposed glamour of the war. it also uses forceful shame and guilt tactics. ‘Who’ll give its country a hand?’ making the reader feel more patriotic through guilt and a sense of obligation that they have to be patriotic. ‘And who thinks he’d rather sit tight?’ shaming the reader who hasn’t joined yet implying that there missing out and makes them feel wrong for thinking they shouldn’t go to war. Like in ‘Who’s for the Game?’ ‘In Flanders Field’ uses guilt tactics but for a more emotive result ‘If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow’ its up to the reader to join the war for those who died so they did not die in vain. It also frequently uses a linking imagery of poppies and the dead soldiers and the poppies symbolise remembrance making the poem more reflective and stirring. Rhetorical questions were used in many war poems and ‘Who’s the Game?’ uses rhetorical questions almost all the way through as mentioned earlier rhetorical questions are used to interact with the reader and help the reader connect and relate with the contents of the text in turn the writer will persuade the reader to share the same view point. The rhetorical questions used in ‘Who’s for the Game?’ are used to interact with the reader but also used in a style of interrogation this gives Jessie Pope control over the reader making his views (glorification of war) valid to the reader; so the reader responds and is influenced by them. After reading all four poems I have a general idea of the style and motivations of typical early poetry I have come to the conclusion that it is not just the poems itself but the way the writer use writing methods to manipulate the reader into thinking the same way. It is therefore the interpretation that these methods insight that causes the response it does; influencing men to recruit. All four poems were similar in theme, and the motivation to inspire people to enlist by glorifying war or applying a sense of obligation and pressure on their target audience, young men. It is in my opinion that the more abrupt style of poem like ‘Who’s for the Game?’ would have been more influential on the reader at that time as it question the man as a person and is so aggressive it would of been hard to dismiss at the time under the circumstances. In retrospect, it would not be as influential now as people are not as patriotic. Poems with a more emotive tone as ‘In Flanders Field’ and ‘The Soldier’ contained propaganda promoting war but as it wasn’t very prominent so may of influenced many without them feeling as manipulated as they would with the more extreme poems. The emotion in ‘Rendezvous’, ‘The Soldier’ and ‘In Flanders Field’ made me inclined to feel the emotion also. The glorification of war was revealed by the poem by the overall language, tone, form and structure of the poem.

The Day That Changed My Life - 1083 Words

It was the month of November and the year was 2008. I did not plan on going to the hospital on this day but my mother received a phone call. That one call was my reason for being waken up at 4 a.m. listening to my mom as she reused me to get dressed. One call changed my life forever. A person from the hospital called and said that my grandmother was not breathing normally. After we got to the hospital we find out that the cancer she was diagnosed with has affected her breathing, which caused tubes to be placed in her to make sure she stays alive. I remember hearing all these doctors and nurses ask me and my family to make decisions on the plans for my grandmother. I was only fifteen years old so I did not understand what was really going†¦show more content†¦As inspiring as my grandmother was, in return, I hope I am making her just as proud. Once my grandmother passed I took her obituary and put it under my pillow so every night I felt as if I was sleeping right next to her. I found doing that was comforting to me because it would help me cope with her death. I then began to use other pictures I had of us when I was younger as a way to help ease the pain I felt along with reminding me of the memories we shared which made me feel as if she was still here. My grandmother’s death was the first death I have experienced in my family. I have learned to deal with it but I still have not overcome it. It taught me how to be strong and what memories really can do. I am thankful that she got to spend fifteen years of my life with me so I can share everything I learned from her to any person I meet. If it was not for her unconditional love andsupport I would not be able to call myself a freshman at the University of Michigan all my years living, she has been the most influential person in my life as my mentor and friend. 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The day that I knew that with a simple piece of paper my life would be filled with endless possibilities. On this day I graduated high school. To some this is not what they would call a milestone in life and that it could be achieved by anyone but to an eighteen-year-old, African American, female, living in a small rural town that is heavy laden with poverty, this is the most memorable moment of my entire life and somehow I imagine that this