The rocket was ready to fire, its round placed securely in the tube, its fuse hanging loosely from the top of the tube, its fuse lit and running evenly. The tube seemed right; the explosive seemed off. The tube, a little fiberglass wonder, was the barrel tube to our stemless mortar shell. The fuse went up to the lip of the tube, down to the middle, into the round. We all braced ourselves for the launch as the fuse went into the tube. Crack! We searched for any shrapnel and searched for anyone hurt and searched for what went wrong. We were all astonished: none of us understood. Wondered what happened, we all did. So what caused this loud explosion? We all looked for a solution, and thought, and contemplated, and found a simple answer quickly. We all knew what had happened , we all looked at one another anyway, we all thought this to be funny, yet ridiculous, the rocket was upside down.
Showing posts with label English 11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English 11. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Pink and the US' abundance of abundance
Pink's humorous criticism of American's abundance sheds light as to how America is evolving today. Pink explains that "during the twentieth century", most middle-class Americans aspired "to own a home...." He then states that "more than two out of three Americans own a home in which they live. The use of the word aspiration in Pink's sentence paints a picture that owning a home was more than a simple goal to Americans that could be easily reached. Also, Pink uses a bit of his humorous criticism by later saying that "in fact, some 13 percent of homes purchased today are second homes. This new abundance has left Americans more capable of satisfying one of their needs of survival: shelter. This idea of the elimination of the fight for survival is driven home as Pink describes that "abundance has freed literally hundreds of millions of people from the struggle for survival" and has "made it possible to extend the quest for self-realization." The use of the word "struggle" suggests a kind of air that a great burden is lifted from many people by our abundance. This example explains how abundance has taken away the fight for survival (the use of the words "from the struggle for survival" greatly represents this point) and let people start exploring the right-brain parts of life, thus evolving.
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