Creative Writing “Into the Darkness” Essay Example for Free

Creative Writing â€Å"Into the Darkness† Essay It had just turned night when Victoria heard the thunder roll in, and the lightening strike against the ground. This worried her for she was afraid of losing power. As the night grew on the storm worsened. Making sure she wasnt forgetting her laptop, Victoria made her way upstairs to the comforts of her bedroom. She decided this would be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of her time and watch the latest shows Netflix had to offer. Settling into her bed with her laptop in hand Victoria reached over to plug her charger in. Just as she did so, the power went out. Startled by the sudden darkness, she reached under her bed for her flashlight. Grasping her flashlight tightly, Victoria headed back downstairs to see what may have caused the power to go out. As Victoria went downstairs she noticed her porch door was ajar. Cautiously she approached the door and peered outside to see who or what may have opened the door. Nothing seemed to be around. Certain that the storm had simply blown out the power, Victoria poured herself a glass of hot chocolate and returned upstairs. Something seemed different to Victoria, but she was unsure of what exactly. Much to her dismay her beloved laptop was missing. Appalled by this discovery, Victoria quickly became worried that someone may be in the house with her. Using her survival instincts she quickly grabbed the flashlight and headed out into the hallway, if someone was in the house with her laptop, Victoria was determined to catch them and get her laptop back. Shaky and nervous she slowly peered out into the hallway, no one was to be found. Once at the stairs she swiftly tumbled down them, only missing a few steps at the bottom, but redeeming herself with style. The power had yet to return, and the only thing Victoria had with her was a flashlight. Determined she would catch the culprit and get her laptop back, she sprang across the room and swung the bathroom door open. Still she found no one. Next she opened the closet, then her office, and finally the last room she had left to check was the basement. Victoria clenched onto the flashlight and slowly turned the nob and entered the dark stairwell leading to the basement. Taking each step one at a time, until she got to the final one. When she glanced around the corner Victoria could see someone standing there. She couldn’t make out the face for it was too dark, and her flashlight was dimming by the second. Victoria slowly inched towards the dark figure, getting closer and closer, until finally she was close enough. Just as she reached out to grab onto the dark figure, she dropped the flashlight. All hopes of seeing who they were went away as soon as Victoria’s flashlight hit the floor. The dark figure quickly turned around tightly grasping the laptop. Victoria got struck in the face by her own laptop, and was knocked onto the ground. When she awoke the power had returned, and the storm had stopped. As Victoria got up off the floors she quickly glanced to around to see if anyone was around. There was nobody to be found, and her laptop was gone.

The Scrivener Essay -- Literary Analysis, Moby-Dick

I think the events preceding the writing of â€Å"Bartleby, The Scrivener† are just as important to understanding the story as the events transpiring within the tale itself. Melville, when he wrote the short story, was coming off of two failures, Moby-Dick and Pierre, that he thought would cement his place in the literary cannon; â€Å"Bartleby† is his way of addressing this chaotic time in his life. In the tale, Melville is being brutally honest with himself and his work: addressing the concerns of his critics through the narrator, while using Bartleby to admit his own faults in failing to gain the recognition he thought he deserved. When Moby-Dick was published in late 1851, it was met with mixed reviews. â€Å"A reviewer for the London Britannia declared it ‘a most extraordinary work’; and a reviewer in the New York Tribune proclaimed that it was ‘the best production which has yet come from that seething brain, and †¦ it gives us a higher opinion of the author’s originality and power †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (â€Å"Herman Melville† 2305-2306). Many critics, however, were â€Å"unhappy with the novel’s length, philosophical abstractness, and mixing of genres, and the novel quickly vanished from the literary scene without bringing Melville the critical admiration that he had expected† (2306). A particularly damning review came from the prestigious London literary magazine, Athenaeum: â€Å"The style of his tale is in places disfigured by mad (rather than bad) English; and its catastrophe is hastily, weakly, and obscurely managed† (Parker 18). What’s most interesting about Moby-Dick is that it seems to be exactly the kind of book Melville always wanted to write, knowing full well that no success would come of it. In a letter to Hawthorne he wrote, â€Å"‘What I feel most moved to wr... ...arrator to talk reason into Bartleby occurs in the scene before the new landlord calls the police to have him escorted to jail. â€Å"‘Bartleby,’ said I †¦ ‘will you go home with me now—not to my office, but my dwelling—and remain there till we can conclude upon some convenient arrangement for you at our leisure? Come, let us start now, right away.’† Responds Bartleby, â€Å"‘No: at present I would prefer not to make any change at all’† (Melville 2385). Bartleby isn’t willing to meet the narrator half way. â€Å"Bartleby† isn’t about whether or not the narrator did enough; it’s about whether or not Bartleby did enough. Concerning Melville: it isn’t about whether or not the critics did enough to understand his new way of writing; it was about whether or not Melville did enough to help them try and understand. In â€Å"Bartleby†Ã¢â‚¬â€through Bartleby—Melville is admitting that he did not. The Scrivener Essay -- Literary Analysis, Moby-Dick I think the events preceding the writing of â€Å"Bartleby, The Scrivener† are just as important to understanding the story as the events transpiring within the tale itself. Melville, when he wrote the short story, was coming off of two failures, Moby-Dick and Pierre, that he thought would cement his place in the literary cannon; â€Å"Bartleby† is his way of addressing this chaotic time in his life. In the tale, Melville is being brutally honest with himself and his work: addressing the concerns of his critics through the narrator, while using Bartleby to admit his own faults in failing to gain the recognition he thought he deserved. When Moby-Dick was published in late 1851, it was met with mixed reviews. â€Å"A reviewer for the London Britannia declared it ‘a most extraordinary work’; and a reviewer in the New York Tribune proclaimed that it was ‘the best production which has yet come from that seething brain, and †¦ it gives us a higher opinion of the author’s originality and power †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (â€Å"Herman Melville† 2305-2306). Many critics, however, were â€Å"unhappy with the novel’s length, philosophical abstractness, and mixing of genres, and the novel quickly vanished from the literary scene without bringing Melville the critical admiration that he had expected† (2306). A particularly damning review came from the prestigious London literary magazine, Athenaeum: â€Å"The style of his tale is in places disfigured by mad (rather than bad) English; and its catastrophe is hastily, weakly, and obscurely managed† (Parker 18). What’s most interesting about Moby-Dick is that it seems to be exactly the kind of book Melville always wanted to write, knowing full well that no success would come of it. In a letter to Hawthorne he wrote, â€Å"‘What I feel most moved to wr... ...arrator to talk reason into Bartleby occurs in the scene before the new landlord calls the police to have him escorted to jail. â€Å"‘Bartleby,’ said I †¦ ‘will you go home with me now—not to my office, but my dwelling—and remain there till we can conclude upon some convenient arrangement for you at our leisure? Come, let us start now, right away.’† Responds Bartleby, â€Å"‘No: at present I would prefer not to make any change at all’† (Melville 2385). Bartleby isn’t willing to meet the narrator half way. â€Å"Bartleby† isn’t about whether or not the narrator did enough; it’s about whether or not Bartleby did enough. Concerning Melville: it isn’t about whether or not the critics did enough to understand his new way of writing; it was about whether or not Melville did enough to help them try and understand. In â€Å"Bartleby†Ã¢â‚¬â€through Bartleby—Melville is admitting that he did not.

Anwar Sadats Domestic and Foreign Policies were from 1970 to 1981 Essay

The ‘Hero of the Crossing’, Anwar Sadat undoubtedly bought pride and peace to his fellow Egyptians after the rule of Nasser’s defeat and humiliation to his socialist country. His pragmatic view on the way Egypt should be ruled bought him success and failures in both the foreign and domestic policies, despite his premature death in 1981. Some saw the ‘heroic face’ of Egypt as a traitor to Pan Arabism and all that the surviving Nasserites fought for. But it cannot be denied that he placed Egypt’s foot firmly through the door of peace with the area surrounding them and internationally through his spectacular, radical commitments to making peace with Israel, following the legendary Camp David accords. Firstly, Sadat’s main aim with his foreign policies was to gain permanent peace with Israel, and on the 17th September 1978, he set it in stone at Camp David. On this date, Sadat took a bold, historic step towards peace with Israel – one which turned the back on the period of Pan Arabism that went before him it marked the beginning of the Middle East peace process, one which still holes peace between the two nations today, far beyond his reign. Sadat wanted to gain permanent peace with Israel to cut military costs and therefore boost their economy. Although Camp David had seen a momentous agreement between two very different nations, with a background of war and unrest, relations with other Arab states had detiriated. Sadat knew that bringing Palestinian problems to the table at Camp David would make Israel less likely to promise any sort of peace deal. Therefore, many states in the Middle East didn’t look too kindly upon Sadat due to the feeling of Pan Arabism, thinking he was ‘back-stabbing’ the theory. But, looking back at the concept around that time, it was relatively dead as it was fundamentally unrealistic due to the greed and selfishness still apparent in each nation. Consequently, Sadat’s peace aims were successful and the argument with the Middle East would have expired by the Camp David accords. Sadat was also the first Arab leader to enter into Jerusalem to talk about peace deals with the country. As the first person to enter into the Holy Land, he lost a lot of followers also, but his pragmatic ways taught him that making peace with Israel would cut down military costs tremendously as they would never have a war in the near future. It is clear to see that the extended effort that Sadat put into making strong bonds with Israel at the time did pay off as to this day there has been no unrest between the two countries to the current day, showing that his aim to gain permanent peace with Israel was met and he was extremely successful as later on he received a Nobel Peace Prize as being recognised internationally as making troubles end in the Middle East, troubles which Sadat thought were unnecessary. The second aim of Sadat was to improve the economic state of his country through gaining strong relations with the US and losing links with the USSR. He had to get out of Nasser’s shadow and gain independence for his country. He was very forward- thinking compared to the previous leader. He wanted to boost the economy in Egypt and he was looking towards the West for the helping hand with his domestic problem. Firstly, he expelled his Soviet advisors in 1972, which received high praise from the West. He knew that with the US’s greatest enemy out of the country, and then they would be prepared to help them out financially. His gamble finally paid off for Sadat as they eventually became one of the largest recipitants of foreign aid from the US. Sadat’s’ country could finally have private investment from the biggest nation of the world and therefore be at the foreground in the Middle East that no other country would wish to fight as they had such strong help. These investments also led to greater links with Israel as the US were both their allies now and therefore there would be no need to go to war and spend surplus amounts of their money on the military. Sadat’s domestic policy for the economy also introduced large changes to the country as he tried to step out of Nasser’s shadow once again. Sadat’s mind-set was completely different to that of Nasser, as he strived for private foreign investment and controlling inflation through fixing prices. This meant that Sadat could be sure there would be no higher wage demands and that the economy was more predictable, liberalising Egypt’s economy for the better, or so he thought. In the last years of his reign, there were a series of ‘Bread Riots’ protesting against his economic liberalisation, through the public out roar to Sadat’s lifting of prices led to his government having to take control of the prices – reversing themselves. Sadat’s economic domestic policy was very unpopular with the majority of the public – especially the Nasserites. Although there was a lot of public unrest at the time, the rich Egyptians were in favour as they were benefitting from his rule. They lapped up the foreign investment as the lack of control on basics such as bread did not affect them as much. US investment as well made lives for the rich under Sadat’s rule very good, but there was left beneath them a very widening gap between them and the poor. It cannot be disagreed that Sadat was not a large change in the regular leadership style of the Arab states in the Middle East. The greed, Pan Arabism and selfishness were not apparent in the leader as he strived for peace with Israel and other countries, boosting the economy and making greater links with the western world – all things which were unheard of in the Middle East at the time. Many people did not follow his new way of thinking, the pragmatic style did not agree with them, or was it that perhaps they were not ready for him? And that Nasser had such a large influence on the country that they were indoctrinated in a singular way of thinking, with no room left for different out looks on leadership. Evidence suggests that Sadat was not a failure, he just followed someone with such a great sway on the country that he could not lead without riots and rebellions as they did not want change. The ‘Hero of the Crossing’ was a great leader with the interests of Egypt at heart, and if only his life wasn’t cut tragically short, there could have been plenty more he could have done for the area as a whole. Â  

The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing - 1033 Words

No matter an individual’s confidence or intelligence, all tests create amounts of anxiety and stress. In most students’ or previous students’ academic careers, an exam has stressed them out. But, are these tests without any reasoning? Do these tests prove a student’s true intelligence? Are they valuable to students further into their lives? Standardized tests are a widely debated topic globally, whether or not the use is beneficial, or really useless to students. Using standardized test results to determine a student’s future may not be a comprehensive indicator of a student’s full potential for success. Standardized tests are taken by millions of students yearly. Different districts in different states may take different approaches to†¦show more content†¦Along with that, educators are given an unbiased view of test effectiveness. Upon review of the test and scores, the effectiveness is still unable to be measured fully:  ¨A test is completely reliable if you would get the exact same results the second time you administered it. All tests have `measurement error ´. This means an individuals score may vary significantly due to testing conditions or the test-takers mental or emotional state. ¨ ( ¨What ´s Wrong) These tests are also commonly used in an attempt to display student abilities. Although two large life skills- creativity and critical thinking- are barely tested, if at all. As stated previously, large portions of these tests are multiple choice exams. Phillip Harris asserted â€Å"standardized tests inadvertently create incentives for students to become superficial thinkers—to seek the quick, easy, and obvious answer†. Which in return means that neither any critical thinking, or creating a student’s potential solution, the material can be memorized. Now, advantages of testing may be present and minimal, majority of disadvantages provide an excellent argument. Starting off, school districts spend a copious amount of money on these tests. School districts (across all fifty states), spend one billion eight-hundred million dollars yearly on testing (â€Å"Standardized†). Teachers are given material every year that they are obligated to teach to their student s. Although, forShow MoreRelatedPros And Cons Of Standardized Testing801 Words   |  4 Pagescontroversial topic Since Middle School, I was not opposed to standardized testing. I thought of it as a way of testing us of what we have learned. Although, after reading some articles about standardized testing I am re-thinking the pros and cons. From personal experience, I thought of it as a challenge to pass them. But now that reminisce about it, I noticed some of the cons of standardized testing. I remember having a week or two dedicated for testing, and in case of students failing they had to take timeRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1400 Words   |  6 PagesEven though there are many downsides to standardized testing there are still viable reasons why they are still being used today. One of the main reasons includes the easy and quick access of testing students. Standardized testing allows schools to quickly access a large amount of students at one time. This is also one of the cheapest ways to tests such a large crowd due to machinery that grades which results in low tests costs f or students. These tests also help by setting a national curriculum forRead MoreThe Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing1050 Words   |  5 Pageseducational world is standardized tests. All fifty states have their own standards following the common core curriculum. There are many positives and negatives that go with the standardized tests. A standardized test is any type of â€Å"examination thats administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner† (Popham, 1999). These standardized tests are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Schools use achievement tests to compare students. There are pros to standardized examinations as toolsRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1025 Words   |  5 PagesWhat are standardized tests? Standardized tests are exams that are administered, scored, and interpreted in the same way for all students. Now there are many pros and cons of standardized testing however, I believe that public and private schools should just abolish standardized testing all together. These tests determine a student’s academic performance and each student is given the same test with the same questions and answers. These tests are designed to measure the students learning capabilitiesRead MorePros and Cons of Standardized Testing583 Words   |  2 PagesStandardized testing has its pros and cons I do not believe in it but I will give you proof for and against the testing. We will cover some the history and where the testing came from and why we do it. I will talk a little bit of how I feel about testing and how much we should focus on ho w the students do on the test. I have interviewed a few teachers that I had when I went to school and some personal friends that are teachers now and how it effects how they teach. Most historians trace the beginningRead MoreThe Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing Essay674 Words   |  3 PagesStandardized testing is a down fall to many students but also an opportunity for many others. Standardized testing has its pros and its cons. It can be the make it or break it factor into getting into colleges you are hoping to attend or the scholarships you want to earn. Some people may have their opinions about the test, whether they hate it or not but the fact is that it’s here to stay. What exactly is standardized testing you may ask, it is a test which measures the knowledge among differentRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1491 Words   |  6 PagesStandardized testing was introduced by French psychologist Alfred Binet in 1905. The test originated because Binet was commissioned by the French government to create a tool to identify which students needed remedial studies. Over time, the standardized tests evolved into multiple different tests in multiple subjects for varying age groups of students. The tests were initially seen as a way to test a large sum of people with the same general questions to see an individual’s knowledge. Some peopleRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1511 Words   |  7 PagesOver the years the educational system has faced various controversial issues, but the most recent one making a negative impact on students, is standardized testing. Standardized testing is a type of testing used to evaluate stud ents academic abilities . It is a way to measure if standards are being met but does not provide a variation in the type of administration based on the students needs (Sacks, 2000). In other words, all children are provided these test to track their learning progress basedRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1100 Words   |  5 Pagesscience, history, and science. Then, every year, students typically take one big standardized test, or even more. These tests are claimed to give educators an objective that’s unbiased. Standardized testing supposedly helps identify the natural tendency of individual students, identifying skill development and progress. However, are these things what standardized testing really do for students? Standardized testing only measures a small portion of what makes education substantial. This means thatRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1201 Words   |  5 Pages Standardized testing is all based on your performance as a student on a specific day, time and place. What it doesn’t show is how you perform on a day to day basis. These types of test can be given in any type of form that requires test takers to answer the same questions, and is then scored in a â€Å"standard† or consistent manner. Students should not have to take standardized test because of many reasons. As a human I have days where I’m tired and didn’t get enough sleep the night before or it is