For me studying about the Myths made me acknowledge how different we all are from one another, yet so much alike in the same way. The myths were so much alike, they all strived for the praise of something, which is much like how humans are, we want the love of others, yet we want to feel powerful as well. We can be pompous and cruel to get the things we want, and have no feeling for those who get hurt in the process. It made me think of time when I had only thought about myself instead of thinking about how my doings would affect these around me. In a lot of ways we are a lot like the Gods of these stories, especially today, we are power, money hungry beings for the most part. We strive to be the best, and have the best. It made me think about what was important in life. It is not about Strength and possessions but about who we are as people and how we do affect those around us. Are we doing our part in these myths? Let’s say for a moment they were real, would any of the Gods be satisfied by their creation today? I think for the most part the answer would be no. The people are not praising them as they were made for, not taking care of the earth as intended and are so wrapped up in themselves they have forgotten what their purpose is.

Being a Christian these myths made me look at myself in a different way. I believe in God and call myself a Christian, yet I too loose sight of my purpose on earth. I have forgotten that my purpose is to praise God, spread his word, and live by his book. I have let myself become engulfed in things of the earth instead of keeping my sights on The Lord. I know that we must be involved in earthly things and make a life for ourselves here, but that is not the main goal for me, and I tend to forget about that. This has opened my eyes and made me realize once again why I am a Christian, and why I do not believe in other creators or evolution. It also reminds me of why so many people are not Christians and why they do not believe in God. It is hard for people to understand things that cannot be explained, it frightens them and for some people they must have logic reason to believe in something if they cannot feel it or see it. What I would like to know though, is how one can believe in that of what a scientist has layed before us and told us it was an element, or that it had a weight. How can you know for sure it is true ?? You believe it because someone said it was so and it can be proven right? So why don’t people believe in the Bible? Because one cannot physically see God, because it cannot be proven? You cannot see air, yet it is there is it not? Who is to say what is real and what we are told to believe? For those of you who are Christian you will understand that once one has felt God speak inside their soul it forever changes one’s life and from then on out there is doubt as to who we are to live for. I am not trying to push my belief upon anyone. And I am not saying that those who do not believe are foolish, because I do have respect for other beliefs and do not look down upon them, so please do not take this offensively, I apologize if I offend anyone that is not my intention at all.

vThere are a lot of examples of characters suffering from the burden of knowing throughout the book. For starters Lily first has feelings of unbareable pain,abandonment and hurt when she finds out that her mother temporarily left her. She wishes she could go back to not knowing, to the times when she use to have to imagine what it was like, making up scenerios in her head. Because the pain of knowing is so strong and hurtful that she just longs to go back to the days when wonder was all that filled her mind. This at least did not hurt so badly and leave her wondering more, as to why and what she had done to make her mother do such a thing. Lilly moves on from the hurt and the knowledge of what happened, and not that she was ready or had a chance to fully think about what happened and process it, but she was forced to do so. She is filled with bitterness and sorrow. Yet, when she sees the photograph depicting her as a baby interacting with Deborah, however, she then realizes her mother loved her. She feels "burdened by knowing" because her life was so much easier before she had so much to think about, and instead of answering the questions she had about her mother, there are just more that come out of knowing. She sees a picture of herself and her mother and feels sudden burden of knowing, because her mother loved her, and because she now knows that her mother left her it makes her feel bad and remorsful about what she has felt and done, had she not known these feelings would not be an issue. All throughout the book she goes through a bunch of different feelings. She starts out wondering and full of questions about her mom and is filled with the want to know, she then finds out and feels hate, and in the end when she realizes how much her mother did really love her she expereinces acceptance. May feels the burden of others pain. She feels pain an dhurt when others hurt, she feels as though she is carrying the world and its sorrow on her shoulders. This begins to takes its toll on her, and although, she tries to make it stop, she cannot take the sorrow and hurting any longer and puts herself out of her misery of this very heavy burden and kills herself. August has the "burden of knowing" that Lilly is lying about her life story, that her whole story is nothing but lies and her life is nothing of what she has made it seem. She doesn't like lying or keeping the secret, yet she is willing to do this, because she knows that Lilly needs space and time at that moment. She gives her time and waits until Lilly is ready to be straight forward about the situation and talk about the truth. August then becomes a good friend to Lilly and gives her advice about asking for Marys help. There are a lot of examples of characters suffering from the burden of knowing throughout the book. For starters Lily first has feelings of unbareable pain,abandonment and hurt when she finds out that her mother temporarily left her. She wishes she could go back to not knowing, to the times when she use to have to imagine what it was like, making up scenerios in her head. Because the pain of knowing is so strong and hurtful that she just longs to go back to the days when wonder was all that filled her mind. This at least did not hurt so badly and leave her wondering more, as to why and what she had done to make her mother do such a thing. Lilly moves on from the hurt and the knowledge of what happened, and not that she was ready or had a chance to fully think about what happened and process it, but she was forced to do so. She is filled with bitterness and sorrow. Yet, when she sees the photograph depicting her as a baby interacting with Deborah, however, she then realizes her mother loved her. She feels "burdened by knowing" because her life was so much easier before she had so much to think about, and instead of answering the questions she had about her mother, there are just more that come out of knowing. She sees a picture of herself and her mother and feels sudden burden of knowing, because her mother loved her, and because she now knows that her mother left her it makes her feel bad and remorsful about what she has felt and done, had she not known these feelings would not be an issue. All throughout the book she goes through a bunch of different feelings. She starts out wondering and full of questions about her mom and is filled with the want to know, she then finds out and feels hate, and in the end when she realizes how much her mother did really love her she expereinces acceptance. May feels the burden of others pain. She feels pain an dhurt when others hurt, she feels as though she is carrying the world and its sorrow on her shoulders. This begins to takes its toll on her, and although, she tries to make it stop, she cannot take the sorrow and hurting any longer and puts herself out of her misery of this very heavy burden and kills herself. August has the "burden of knowing" that Lilly is lying about her life story, that her whole story is nothing but lies and her life is nothing of what she has made it seem. She doesn't like lying or keeping the secret, yet she is willing to do this, because she knows that Lilly needs space and time at that moment. She gives her time and waits until Lilly is ready to be straight forward about the situation and talk about the truth. August then becomes a good friend to Lilly and gives her advice about asking for Marys help.

I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.
Student Comments : I have felt strongly about a lot of things during my lifetime, even though it has not been a very long one. I take a lot of things seriously in life, and I feel that some things, especially these days are looked beyond and seen as jokes. Why? I feel it is because people are scared to face the truth, to see things as they really are, they cowered and turn their backs to things that do not make sense to them or take away from their own personal being or personal lifestyle. It really irritates me that people are so selfish, I understand that at times it is necessary, but if the whole world were only concerned for their own well being where would we be today? I have learned a lot about a lot of things in the past couple of years. I have learned that people will be selfish, use you and throw you out like some piece of garbage. I do not understand how people can sleep at night or look at themselves in the mirror after betraying friends and sometimes family. It sickens me to no end. I have recently learned that doctors sometimes keep patients on Chemotherapy in order to keep their paychecks coming to them at the rate and amount they like. They give patients and their family’s false hope, and this to me is devastating, and it breaks my heart. I cannot imagine going through so much suffering and finding out it was for nothing, and that’s saying I find out about the lies, which most people do not. I feel very strongly that people should be told their condition I understand people want hope and doctors are to give them that hope, but I do not see the use in lying just in order to keep a consistent paycheck. Doctors are supposed to have the patient’s feelings ahead of their own; I feel if this is not the mindset of a doctor then they should not be in the career field in the first place. These are not just people coming in for upset stomachs, these are people who are fighting for their lives, dealing not only with physical pain, but emotional as well. How dare someone make them continue to go through such pain and suffering just for their own benefit, it is wrong. I know that sometimes doctors truly have the patient’s best interest in mind, and want to make sure there is nothing left to do for them, and I try to think this happens more often than not. When taking these things into consideration and talking about them I feel deep sorrow, and my heart goes out to these people. I suppose I cannot say I feel like one animal unparticular, because I have so many mixed feelings about the subject, I hurt yet, I want to hurt someone else, make them feel the pain they cause others. Taking this into consideration I feel like a lion, whom hasn’t been fed in weeks and is ravenous, yet my heart aches and I feel like someone, maybe even that lion has ripped it out of my chest. I feel like the prey and the hunter. I want to show my hurt through showing others how they have affected families and how this in turn affects the world as a whole.

I feel like the whole poem was a figure of speech, although in line five I feel it gave a feel for the rest of the poem and set the scene for itself. It explains about how the women leaves the house, it feels like she has taken everything else with her. Her presence made things swift and relaxing, and without her there, there is no order to the house. The house was a part of her and she a part of the house. The person explaining the women feels like her absence has put a restriction on all of his doings and he cannot think of anything but her and how he longs to see her, to have her bring grace back into his house. Although, we learn, if I am correct that it is not a house at all, that he is a sailor and is out to see. So I think he is homesick, and longs for his significant other, for her touch and the comfort of his home, but he lets the reader know just what home is for him and how he ties her in with it. He has a bunk aboard, and food, and probably other things from home, but without her, it is not much of anything, it is just a place where he lays his head at night.

I feel the whole poem is speaking of how a women makes a house a home, of how her touch and doings around the house are overlooked by others living in the home. I know that it is probably not intentional, but women do a lot around their homes, and I will tell you first hand it is not an easy task, it is tiring, but in the end when your man gets home and he see the work you did and appreciates it, that is simply enough and to also see the work you do yourself is rewarding.

Religion, when hearing this people think of a higher power, something that people live for and believe in. Everyone, everywhere has something they believe in. Even evolutionists, they believe that we evolved from one single cell, but where did that cell come from??? How is this to be proven scientifically? I know there are theories, and they may be able to explain these things, but I think that scientists have a hard time believing it because it cannot be explained. This is called faith, and every religion is based upon belief and faith. I think that learning other peoples religion is important. I am a Christian, and I believe that Jesus died for my sins, and that if I live the correct way I will one day be forever in paradise. I do not feel that God cares what we wear, he wants us to be modest, faithful, honest, and live for him.

I am from Rapid City, South Dakota, and grew up there. I went to Open Bible Christian Center which is non denominational. I moved to Lancaster in 2007 to go to college. I moved in with my dad, and he is a Baptist, I wanted to go to church so I went with him. It was hard for me because at his church they are very strict about what you wear, and appearance. I agree that you should not be wearing skimpy things to church, and that modesty is good, but the “rules” they have are a bit much. I wanted o be in the choir and was not allowed because I had my nose pierced, and the first thing that came to my mind was what is the difference between a nose piercing and an ear piercing? There isn’t one if you ask me, except for placement. I do not feel that having a nose piercing makes me a bad person, and I feel that God loves me just the same, I did not do it out of spite. Also, during sermons people did not say amen or get into it like at my old church. I loved the fact that at Open Bible people rejoiced and got excited about God, I enjoyed it greatly. I have no disrespect for the Baptists at all, this is the way they have fellowship and if that is what satisfies them then that is good. The problem was with my dad, he wanted me to be a Baptist, and I wanted to go to a non denomination church, we had many quirrels about the issue. I eventually started going to a church that I absolutely love, and my dad still does not like my choice, but I am happy and to me that is what truly matters, that I have a relationship with God. I think it is important to learn about other religions because it opens your mind, and it can either be a better choice for you or you can really appreciate that of what you have. I think when learning about other religions people should be open minded, because just as your religion is to you, this is how other people see their religion, so even if you do not agree with it you should be respectful to other peoples beliefs, and tell them about your religion, because you could show them a light they have never seen before, and change their lives for the better, and that is one of the greatest gifts of all.

I feel the poem is talking about how cultures either deal well with death or look at it as a disasterous horrible thing. In the poem it states " the cliff shall rise or subside until the plate of earth is without fissure.(ryan)" I think this is stating the different ways culture handles death. When someone dies we find it sad and if we are close to the person we morn and it is hard for us to look past the dying part, the fact that they are no longer in the world with us. We see them as being out of reach from ourselves, and think about how we will never see them in this life before. What most people forget or look past during these hard times, given their religion is that they have a chance to see this person again some day. There is always a way to think about the posatives of dying, and in my religion it is based on how the person lived their life. My grandmother recently passed away, and it broke my heart into. She was the most loving, caring, happy, religious woman I have ever known, and just knowing she went to Heaven made her death easier. I'm not saying I was not sad, but knowing that I will one day see her again and that she is with the Lord rejoicing and all her pain and sarrows are gone, it makes my heart happy. I will admit I am selfish at times and that sometimes I wish she were still here, because she was always there for me, no matter what and now with her gone I find it hard, because I will have a problem and go to call her then remember I cannot do this. I think that the poem is saying that even though people die, life still goes on, the world still revolves, and will not stop because people have left it. So if someone close to you dies, remember this, and even though it will be one of the hardest things to do, remember them and think of what they would have wanted for you. Sometimes people are in denial, and live life like nothing has happened, this I feel is one of the worst things to do, in any situation for that matter. To ignore something completely will only make it worse when true realization comes about. It is not healthy and in the long wrong will not make things any easier than before. The poem is insisting that even though souls have gone it is a cycle of life, people will leave, things will change, but this will change nothing given the world view. Everyday babies are born, and for every death there is life. I think this is what "All shall be restored(Ryan)" is getting at, that death is natural and even though it is hard to deal with or even understand why it happens, but for death there is life. I think a lot of people have a life change after a death, I have seen and experienced this myself, and I beleive it is because they realize that life is too short, and even though they may have known before hand, death is like an eye opener.

In "Imagine There's no Heaven" it is as though he is confused as to what to beleive himself, but it sticking to a point of letting the child know the options of the world. When thinking about all the religions in the world, when it comes down to it they all have some higher form of power, whether it be one or more, there is something greater going on than what humans are expereincing. Everyone beleives in something, even those who say the big bang theory is true, it is the wanting to know more about our existance and understanding it. Why are we here? Where did we come from? I think that looking to a higher power than ourselves gives us hope that one day we will have something better, more meaningful than the life we live on earth, because if there isn't than what is it exactly we are living for? Possessions never matter in the end either way, no matter what route you take, when you leave this earth everything you own stays, so beleiving that good doings and following certain rules and living with morals of beleif will get you into a better place is much more promising than beleiving it's all for nothing. I can't imagine not beleiving in something higher than myself, I did not just appear or evolve, and if I did evolve those creatures had to come from somewhere as well and although the theories are testable, they can not be proven either. I think it is the power of religion, to make you have faith to make you beleive without seeing. You cannot see it, you cannot hear it, but it's there and you feel it, something within your soul is touched and it is unlike any other sensation in the world. I would much rather live my life based upon dogma, than to choose unbeleif. I may not be able to prove existance of my God, but I know that he is there, and I will not argue against other religions, if you have felt something that shakes you to the bones and makes you want to raise your hand and rejoice I think that is fantastic. My beleif is my stability in life, and I will stand by it until I die.
I think humanity is something that goes along with religion though, it is something given to us to study and all of it at some point will lead back to religion anyhow. So to say that you are choosing humanity over dangerous divinities is odd to me. I do not understand it fully to be honest. Are the dangerous humanities the religions, the beleif of a higher power? How may I ask are they dangerous? Because of the wars they cause? The conflicts? In all reality wars would be going on without religion, people want things, they want and want and want and are willing to fight for it, alot of the fighting and crime going on is based on things, not spiritual conflict. Although I will say that there is religious conflict, clearly with the war and all we know this, but to say that they would stop completely and we could live in peace without religion is ridiculous.

I believe that the things we wear, listen to, and watch are only little matters as to defining ourselves. I know that you can tell a lot about a person by what they watch and listen to, but I think that clothes are simply something we wear, people may want to define themselves through clothes, and some may truly beleive their clothes define them, I think that ones actions are what is important when meeting someone, yes I would like to be compatible in what we watch and listen to, but I also love music so any music is fine by me. I think it is better to be defined by ones beliefs and actions rather than their looks.
On a different note, I do believe that the things I carry can define someone. For example I do not go anywhere without my ipod and phone. Many girls carry purses, and while I do carry one,l I do not take it everywhere, it is not attached to me like a fifth limb. I think my cell phone is important because it keeps me connected to the people I love the most and my closest friends. As for my ipod I adore music, it is something that can fit any mood that I am in, and comfort me no matter what. I am not a big fan of rap, although, I do find it catchy and tend to "like" most songs for this reason, not because the lyrics are good, because let's be honest, most lyrics these days are inappropriate and stupid. I think by this one can tell that I am conservative. I think the things said on the radio now a days are way mature for the age that is listening. Then we wonder where our children learn certain things.
I love clothes, they are something I can always have fun with and feel comfortable in. Even though I love them though, I do not feel like they define who I am, my style changes day to day I can go from lazy sweats and a t-shirt, to skinny jeans and a baby doll shirt. I think my style could say that I like to switch things up, I like trying new things and seeing how I like them, because you will never know if you do unless you try. I say this only to things that will not harm my body, I would never try something that could harm me. I think a lot of people are into labels when it comes to clothes and I don't feel it is important at all, as long as I like what I am wearing, who cares if it has an american eagle tag on the inside or not. Money is not something I am worried about, of course we all need it to live and to do extra things, but having the best of the best to me is not crucial. I like my knock off purses that I paid 1/3 of what someone would for an original. People get to caught up in owning things, with possessions, when in the end it will never matter what kind of car you drove, or what brand of pants you wore, what matters is the type of person you were, the kind of life you lived. It's not things that define us, it is our personalities that tell who we are, everything else is just like icing on cake, and some people just aren't crazy about icing.

In “Hanging Fire” The fourteen year old is seeing life in the now, but questions what would happen if she died, before he could do any of the things she wants and needs to do. She thinks about all that needs to be done, but states that she states she has nothing she wants to do. Which makes me believe that all she does do is not for herself, but to impress those around her, and fit in so to speak. The fact that she is fourteen thinking about death so often is worrisome to me, why would a fourteen need to think about death so much. Why would she be worrying about all that needed to be done, if it wasn’t what she wanted in the first place? Are they things she feels should be done, or things that someone has put in her head have to be done? She is also very repetitive with the fact that her mothers’ door is always closed, which makes me believe her mother is not around a lot.

In From “The Diary of An Almost-Four Year-Old” The child is questioning what will happen when she gets her fake eye, what will she see, what will she miss? I don’t feel she thought about death imparticularly, but about the lives of others, such as the nine month old. She is not old enough to understand why she was the victim, why she suffered? She the baby didn’t know any better, why is a almost four year old in the middle of shootings and soldiers, and why are soldiers shooting her in the first place? It reminds me of war times, and the fact that children actually go through these things saddens me greatly. She imagines about how her life will be with the new eye, how her view of things will change. She imagines it to be strange, I think she fears not being able to see everything the same way everyone else does, she isn’t sure how her life will be affected by it.

The one has had a near death experience while the other one thinks about what would happen if she were to die. They both seem to be in hard situations in life, stressed, and not really sure what to think about the world around them. The fourteen year old expresses her feelings on growing up by explaining her room is too small and she needs to learn to dance by the next party. She hates her braces, which will benefit her one day, but she going through the changes of puberty does not understand how. The child on the other hand isn’t thinking about growing up, but about the now in her life, and how bad things are in the world she is living in. Both girls are going through changes in life, both not having any control over it at all. Neither of them chose their fate, and neither of them fully understand what is going on, they have questions that cannot be answered to satisfy them. The one thing they are both sure of is that it is not fair.

The ending of the story “Tiger Mending” is a big shock that I had not seen coming. Just like the woman I had expected some human to be causing the pain and anguish of the tigers. The thought that the tigers did to themselves never even occurred to me. I honestly had many different emotions going on. For one I was relieved that a human hand had not been the source of the tigers suffering. Yet knowing that they do it themselves had as the writer put it been “unsettling”. Not only was it unsettling, but it made my heart hurt. Why would a living thing hurt itself, and to the point of needing to be mended? It is a scary thought that not only humans, but animals as well do things to hurt themselves and it cannot be explained. Is it like that of a human, do they do it for attention, affection, out of boredom maybe? Or is it something beyond that? Is it something that we as humans cannot understand and connect with? Is it a learned behavior, or instinct? It makes me ill that they damaged themselves beyond their own repair, and then after all of it seek out help to repair the damage that they themselves have caused. I cannot help but see it through human eyes. Do they need that love and attention, a way to have a bond with something outside of their species? It is odd that an animal could have that sort of human instinct, I have never heard of such a thing before, especially from such a wild animal in which we are told to fear. Also, throughout the story she gives a very mellow feeling to the story, this makes the ending more surprising. When she first agree to do the job it was surprising to me that she was not at all interested in what it was, she just agreed to it, like sewing was something that calmed her, and as long as she was doing it, it didn’t matter where or what particular task she would be doing, so long as she got to sew. In the beginning when the tigers first start coming I had the thought, that they were being tortured by humans. It amazed me that she felt she had to know what was happening to them in order to fix them properly, I suppose when you love something that much you want to know why exactly you are doing it to feel accomplished. I am not exactly sure how I would have felt upon seeing them rip themselves open, I would be torn between disgust and pity. When finding out what was happening to them I did not feel like a curtain had opened to a window and I could clearly see. It was a completely opposite feeling, such as a heavier drape had been hung over an already dark and mysterious window that I could not look through. I was unsettled, but more confused than anything.

Responding to literature

We respond to literature in various ways, and everyone responds differently. How we respond also depends on how familiar we are with the material. If what we read or listen to something that we can connect to and understand chances are we will have a more in depth response. Some people use personal connections to respond to literature, as others may respond with things they have seen or maybe even read or heard about. Not everyone is willing to put their true feelings out in the open, and this is the reason that one may choose to respond by recalling something that didn't particularly involve them. One must analyze the reading to understand it more in depth. When one reads something sometimes once is not enough, one must look beyond the words, to fully understand the message or story. Writing down ones thoughts about literature allows one to construct meaning through writing which allows for the ability to think critically. Asking questions is also important when responding to literature. There are very few times when one hears or reads something and doesn't have questions about it. By asking and answering questions you will have to support the answer with evidence from the information, and therefore you will have to pay more attention to the literature. Good questions are those such as what a word or phrase means, or why you did or didn't like the work. Writing questions like these gives an opening for discussion.
Looking at the story from a different point of view is also good for response, in literature it is always good to have more than one way of seeing things, it allows for us to learn more and may clear up questions we had before hand. By responding to literature we are challenging ourselves to learn and teach ones self. It is about looking at something and instead of expecting it to explain itself, one has to analyze it themselves and make interpretations as wehll. Responding to literature also teaches one more about how different writers writing styles can be.
I believe that by responding to literature effectively we can learn a lot more than me enitially may have. If you simply read or listen to something and only hear or see the words what was the point of waisting your time with it? If I am going to read or listen to something I am going to make it worth my while. I want to understand what is happening and why. By aknowledging the words for more than words or phrases we can get more out of things, and learn more as well. We learn how to teach ourselves, and interepret things. It may even give us insight in how to handle situations in life, if we can take someones words and read into them we may have a deeper understanding of what they mean.
Being able to respond efficiently to things not only to reading and writings but to people as well is an important part of life.

Literature, when I hear the word I automatically think writing, although I believe that literature is much more than just writing. Literature offers an escape in my life, when I sit down and read something I forget about all of the things that are weighing on my mind, and am fully induldged in what I am reading. Alot of the times I feel I can connect with the characters in whatever it is I am reading, and when I can do this I feel like I am more connected to the book itself, and it makes me want to read more and more. Relating things from books to my own life makes me feel better with certain situations in my life, like I am not the only one going through certain trails. Literature is the base of so much in the world, wiathout it I would not know nearly as much as I do today, there would be no tv entertainment, and I would be a very bored young woman. This is why it is important to me, it has had such an influence in my life and without it our society would deffinetly not be what it is today.

I greatly enjoy reading, although I agree with the literature textbook in that when I go to read a textbook it is like my brain tells me that I will not enjoy what I am about o read and that it will be of no interest to me simply because it is something I hankve to do, not want to. I had never thought about it before, but it is true. Now that it has been pointed out I realize that I do think this most of the time when doing school work. I am going to try and change that, because a lot of things that we read in textbooks, especially literature books are very interesting and make one think about a lot of diverse things and situations.

Literature changes me everytime I read it, it puts ideas in my ldhead and inspires me to do things within my life that I probably would not have thought of doing if I hadn't read about it somewhere. It changes my views of things as well, I may see a homeless man as a drunk, but if I were to read a story about a man who sold everything he had to get his daughter through cancer I would no longer see him in this way. Not that when I see homeless people I think they are drunks, but just as an example as to how it can open someones eyes up to something.

I believe that all books are informing, even if they are not telling facts. When reading I can get an idea about how the writer thinks, and how they view the world. The way a writer describes things is important and will let me know if the book will be a good read or not. I like to be able to feel like I am in the book, like a character of it. So when reading I like great detail, if the writer is vague I will probably not be interested in reading that particular book as much as I would one with vivid descriptions.

While writing this I realized how much literature is used in the world, and how my life would be so much different without it. It made me realize that a lot of the things we have today would not be if it had not been for literature. So many things are based on literature and yet everyday it goes overlooked. Just this one assignment has informed and changed me.