In both locust passages in the Bible, the locusts are a destructive force that carries out a specific purpose for God. In the passage in Revelation, however they are described in great details with many similes to describe their power and appearance. They are depicted as a very powerful creature, with the shape of a horse, the head of a crown, the hair of women, the breastplate of iron and the tails like scorpions’. In both Exodus and Revelation the locusts carry out and complete a conquest, and are an enemy to the “antagonist” of the stories (In exodus the antagonists are the Egyptians, in Revelation they are the “men who have not the seal of God”).

In Things Fall Apart, the locusts are likened to “a black cloud drifting towards Umuofia”. But the tone is not dark or negative. The people are happy that the locusts are coming. This reception is a close parallel to the passage in Exodus because the Israelites were no doubt happy that the locusts were, in essence, fighting the Egyptians for them. In Umuofia they settle on “every tree and every blade of grass”. In Egypt the locusts “cover the face of the earth” and “eat every herb of the land”. So in both passages the locusts are very thorough.

Chapter One appears to serve the purpose of setting the scene for the story. We are introduced to Umofia, the african village. We also are introduced to Okonkwo, the main character. The narrator provides some useful anecdotes about Okonkwo so we know some of his important character traits. In addition, the author sets his tone and establishes his narrative voice and perspective as an insider fromt he village. Finally, there is most likely some interesting spots of foreshadowing throughout the first chapter.

John Keats, the author of this poem, seems like someone who thinks a lot about time, life, and death. When I researched him, I found that he dies quite young. This is ironic and sad. Maybe it’s rude to say this is ironic, but oh well. Keats had TB. I’m not sure if he already had it when he wrote this poem, but he no doubt was aware of the threat because it ran in his family. So he no doubt had seen many tragic lives and deaths. This is definitely related to this poem, and sheds new light on it’s meaning. Specifically this is reflected when Keats writes things such as “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” and other deep insights about life and living it. This poem definitely took on greater meaning and emotional impact once I looked up the author and got some context.

If I were to have the opportunity to do this timed write again, I would definitely try to address the prompt better. I know this sounds a bit generic and predictable, but thats really what any criticism of a timed write boils down to, isn’t it? Specifically, I would relate my commentary about language to theme. I didn’t relate the word “meaning” in the prompt to “theme”. I actually think I did a good job of talking about language. I wrote about diction and tone and alliteration. But I needed to really B.S. the crap out of that essay and I didn’t. I definitely should’ve come up with some very fancy theme about nature and the circle of life and Time. My essay would relate the same elements of language that I already discussed with an elaborate and ridiculous theme. Then it would be very good. I think that this change would take my essay from a five to an eight.

A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences add much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.

250 word minimum. This the #5 essay prompt on the common app used by UPS.

War Dances, by local author Sherman Alexie, was a thought provoking piece about life, love, and social interaction. There were too many unnecassary f bombs, which I didn’t like at all. But, if we ignore the controversial diction and focus on the positive aspects of this piece, we can see that as a human being, Alexie is very honest about himself. He admits that he stereotypes his own ethnicity, Native Americans. First of all, that’s a rude but all too common trait to display. But I guess it’s good that he at least realizes it.

I think that Alexie is a very cynical person who thinks he is better than everyone else. The way he responded to the lady behind him in line at Bartell Drugs was a good example of this. Also, just analyzing the way he describes just about any of his interactions with anyone. The one person he is nice towards, though, is his father.

I don’t really see this piece of writing as very literary. It seemed like a lot of dialogue and a lot of Indian jokes to me. But it was surely not a very good commercial piece because it was not very entertaining. Nothing seemed to really happen plot-wise. So I guess I will say that this short story is sitting right on the fence between literary and commercial. It is thought provoking in that it makes you analyze yourself. After seeing how Alexie thinks and acts, I am very comfortable with who I am as a person.

Paul’s case aptly points to the importance of having a dream and the grave consequences of impeding someone’s dream.

Main symbolisms in the story “The Rocking Horse Winner” were: the rocking horse, the money, the whispering, and others that I obviously didn’t find. The rocking horse was, for Paul, an escape. “He knew the horse could take him to where there is luck, if only he forced it. So he would mount again, and start on his furious ride, hoping at last to get there.” The horse symbolizes a way for people to run away from their problems. It is a fitting symbol, because a lot of people try to fix their problems by gambling, whether it be on horse races, or in other forms. The whispering in the house symbolizes greed. The family lives extravagantly even though they have pretty much no money. They are very greedy. The voices in the house whisper “There must be more money” and then they get stronger once the family actually gets some money. This appropriately symolzies the insatiable nature of greed. It doesn’t go away after you get what you want- you just end up wanting more.

The Lottery ought to be renamed “The Slaughtery”. It was very creepy. A major archetype I saw by looking over the story as  a whole was an archetype of savagery and mob mentality. This whole group of people, when they are gathered together, go crazy and stone somebody as a lottery. What the heck? There really is no reading into this story. Its just wierd. The author has serious issues and probably should be denied her right to bear arms. People should definitley keep their distance from her. Another archetype could be one about the leader. In this case, Mr. Summers is in charge of the whole procession, and he asserts himself as the leader. ”Mr. Summers was very good at all this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans, with one hand resting carelessly on the black box, he seemed very proper and important as he talked”.

At first glance, Paul’s case might appear to be the opening “case”- Paul’s meeting with the principal and trying to come back to school. In a sense, this case is like a small court case. But by looking furthr into the story, we as the audience can find a much deeper meaning to the title. A synonym we might use for case could be “plight”. Paul’s plight is his struggle to attain the standard of life that he observes and loves, the glamorous world of celebrities, represented by Carnegie Hall (where Paul works). Paul is stuck in this miserable situation with very poor living conditions and a tough family life. Yet, he feels and wants to be a part of the upper class. He achieves this temporarily whenever he works as an usher. He also achieves this shortly before his death. A main textual support for this deeper meaning is found on page 241: “It was at the theatre and at Carnegie Hall that Paul really lived; the rest was but a sleeping and a forgetting. This was Paul’s fairy tale, and it had for him the allurement of a secret love. The moment he inhaled the gassy, painty, dusty odor behind the scenes, he breathed like a prisoner set free, and felt within him the possibility of doing or saying splendid, brilliant things.” Through the use of striking imagery and effective similes such as in this quote, Willa Cather depicts Paul’s Case as one of finding self meaning and place in life.