Fiona Apple

The Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller and “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald share a common theme of the American Dream. The main character, Willy Loman from The Death of A Salesman, pretends to be well liked in order to impress his two sons, Happy and Biff. This is just like Jay Gatsby from “The Great Gatsby,” who also pretends to be well liked and makes it look like he is. Both Willy Loman and Jay Gatsby go from rags to riches in their own way to make something out of themselves. In the end, their journey to achieve prosperity and success does not work out in their favor. In order to achieve their American Dream, they had to start from something. For Jay Gatsby, he chose a rough road. In “The Great Gatsby”, it is said by Gatsby’s enemy, “He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter. That’s one of his little stunts” (Fitzgerald 133). As this quote says Jay Gatsby got his start from selling illegal alcohol from at drug stores which he began to use to throw big elegant parties for the entire city. For Willy Loman, he chose the same rough road. As a salesman, he travels around the East, without seeing his family for a week at a time. He decided to lie to his family, when he realized that he was bring home as much money as he used to do. He also tells the lie that he knows many people in the East from selling, but in fact he knows many prostitutes and the only person who knows that is his…

I have read Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” several times, and every I tend to find new insights in it. It is the same old story where a father comes home drunk and mistreats his family. That’s what a reader would think after one reading of it. I expressed I can relate to the son and father’s relationship, along with some of the emotions expressed in the poem. As any poem that you read, it can interpret something different or the same depending on the reader. In the first stanza where…

In general, developing a program is hard work. However, steps are taken to reduce the difficulty, especially when one is looking to develop a time-out program in their own household. The overall goal, in this particular case, is to reduce the likelihood that the child will make nasty comments at his or her parents. In doing so, two different time-out procedures one can apply are exclusionary and observational time-out. The first rule in setting up any time-out procedure is to make sure the…

The True Meaning of “My Papa’s Waltz” The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” can affect the reader in two different ways; Some may see the child and father playing roughly, while others may see the father as being abusive toward his child. “Theodore Roethke, the author of “My Papa’s Waltz”, Was born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan and sometimes went back to draw inspiration for his poems” (Zande 34). The poem is about a father and son “Waltzing” around the house. It starts out as a son smells the scent of…

Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” is a poem that contradicts itself as a whole many times. When reading it, there are two contrasting ideas that can be visualized. He uses certain words that are playful while also using words that have a clearly negative connotation to tell this story between a father and son. Other times, there is ambiguity in the phrases he chooses. Even the rhythm of the poem can have different meanings to different people. It all depends on which words stand out to the reader.…

This is what Shrek had been growing up with his entire life, isolation (1). Yet he was happy because it was all that he knew. It is also mentioned in the movie Shrek the Third that his parents would make him take baths in barbeque and sleep with an apple in his mouth(2). This goes to show how dysfunctional his family may have been around him. These seemingly minor instances can help to further connect people to the character of Shrek. Back to the first movie, Shrek, the main character, Shrek,…

My mind takes me back to a moment of thrill and adventure. The experience began early in the morning. At the crack of dawn, our truck was packed and ready to go. Many hours on the road and a few stops along the way, we finally arrive at Magic Mountain. Magic Mountain was an exciting adventure because of the amusement rides, creepy characters, and the many gift shops. My favorite amusement ride is the Justice League Hall of Fame. This attraction has a 3d laser shooter. On this ride, you are…

Halloween is the only day of the year when wearing a scary costume, asking strangers for food, and scaring people is acceptable. Being a clown would be the best Halloween costume, even though it would be more tricks than treats. To the regular eye clowns seem cute and funny, but some see the real truth behind them. Clowns are sinister. A clown is one of the most scary things, making it the perfect Halloween costume. Clowns are real, unlike monsters or zombies. Clowns are at birthday parties,…

“I’ve heard, for example, that you can change into a rat or a mouse. I confess that it seems utterly impossible to me.” In the fairytale “Puss in Boots”, Master Cat said this quote because he wanted to Ogre to transform himself into a mouse so he could eat him and help Marquis de Carabas, the miller’s youngest son. Trickster tales are usually about a trickster which are sly and mythical animal-humans who deceive their enemy. Trickster tales often follow narrative arrangements, but they may…

When Sedaris finally finds himself taking his Mother’s advice to check himself, the one thing that distracts him from this self-reflection is the television. For example, when he says “here is a boy sitting on a bed, his mouth smeared with chocolate. He's a human being, but also he's a pig, surrounded by trash and gorging himself so that others may be denied. Were this the only image in the world, you'd be forced to give it your full attention, but fortunately there were others. This stagecoach,…