Free Narrative Essays - Before You Leap :: Personal Narrative Essays

Before You Leap One bright Easter day about four years ago, my family had gone to my grandparents' house to celebrate Easter like we usually do each year. We talked, ate, and had fun. Little did we know when we drove up to the house that, by the end of the day, we would be in a hospital emergency room. It all started when my cousin suggested that we have a water fight. We had water guns and "water Easter eggs." These were plastic eggs filled with water that would come open when you hit someone. My cousin Ryan and I were on one team and my cousins Philip and Lance were on another team. We played outside the house and also on a deck extending from the second floor of my grandparent's house. For about thirty minutes we played and got a little wet but nobody had been hurt. At one point during the game, when I was inside, my cousin Philip, who was on the deck, said "I've had enough. Come out here." "Is this a trick?," I asked. It seemed a little suspicious. "No, of course not. I'm just sick of this game." "Well, okay." I hesitated then decided to go out to the deck. "Ha! Got you!" said my other opponent, Lance, who was hiding behind the door with a water egg in his hand. "Liar!," I yelled at Philip. My instant reaction was to jump off the deck onto the grass below. I had done it many times before and knew that I would be okay. That way I could get away from Lance and I would not lose the water fight. The water egg whizzed right past my head as I vaulted over the railing of the deck. I shouted "Missed me!" without thinking about or looking at what was below me. The only thing that I was thinking about on the way down was not getting hit with that water egg. This thoughtlessness was my big mistake. Since I was not paying attention on the way down, I lost my balance and landed on my left foot in a painful fall. "Are you all right?

Great Memory

Memory†¦ is the diary that we all carry about with us† is a quote by Oscar Wilde that in my personal opinion describes memory pretty well. Memory is something that people carry with them all the time. It is a powerful thing and something that most people never want to lose. In some cases memories can be of something good or they can also be a bad memory. It all depends on how you want to remember it. Samuel Taylor Coleridge talks about memory in one of his poems he wrote called â€Å"Frost at Midnight. † Also there is talk about memory in â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† written byPercy Bysshe Shelly. Both of these poems show how the authors are using their memories to write the pomes. Both writers talk about a memory they have and they tell a story using it. Coleridge talks about how he feels now and reflects to how he felt as a child while raising his own child. Shelly talks about how he wishes he felt different now and how he wants to feel like he did when he w as young. Both authors I think are sort of depressed. In their poems the tone is kind of melancholy and sad. In â€Å"Frost at Midnight† it is winter time hence the name.And in the winter is when he feels lonelier. The author lives in a cottage and it is very late at night. In the poem he talks about it being so quite. In the poem he says â€Å"The inmates of my cottage, all at rest. Have lett me to that solitude, which suits abstract musings: save that at my side my cradled infant slumbers peacefully' (as cited in Damrosch, 2004, p. 344). Everyone is asleep even his child is sound asleep; he is the only one up. And he is starting to feel lonely with all the stillness. The only other thing that is up is a piece of soot in the fire place.As Coleridge says in the poem â€Å"Only that film, which fluttered on the rate, still flutters there, the sole unquiet thing. Great Memory 3 Methinks, its motion in this hush nature gives it dim sympathies with me who live, making it a comp anionable form† (p. 344). This piece of â€Å"film† or soot makes him think back to his childhood. This is where the memory part comes into play. He is thinking back to his child hood. He is thinking about his birthplace, the old church-tower, and the bells of the poor man and thinking about this is making him homesick. Then he talks about how he was a lonely child.In the poem he says â€Å"save if the door half opened, and I natched a hasty glance , and still my heart leaped up, for still I hoped to see the stranger's face, townsman, or aunt, or sister, more beloved, my playmate when we both were clothed alike† (p. 344). This is when I think that the author is most depressed in this poem. Reflecting back to his childhood makes him sad and feel lonely. Reflecting back on his childhood and how he felt that loneliness he talks later on about how he wants better for his child. He doesn't want his kid to feel the emptiness and loneliness that he is feeling and has fe lt as a child.He says â€Å"but thou, my babe! Shalt wander like a breeze by lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags of ancient mountain, beneath the clouds, which image in their bulk both lakes and shores and mountain crags: so shalt thou see and hear the lovely shapes and sounds intelligible of that eternal language† (p. 345). He wants his child to have better childhood than he did. He wants his child to have more and be better than he was a child. He says that he wants all seasons to be sweet for his child. In this poem he uses his 4 memory to tell a story and he was as a child and how he doesn't was his child to row up feeling like he did as a kid.In â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† Percy Shelly is talking about a storm that is going to hit. In this poem he talks about being weighed down and he wants to be free again. And he feels like this storm will do that for him. In this poem he wants the wind to inspire him to write poetry, and wants new thoughts. The writer doe sn't even care that this storm is going to hit. He is welcoming it with open arms. The wind is blowing the leaves and clouds and is blowing over the ocean. He wants to be the wind. Memory is talked about in this poem when the talks about how he wants to be ree again.He wants to feel Joy and emotion again. He feels like this storm can do that for him that's why he wants it to come. In the poem he says â€Å"The impulse of thy strength, only less free than thou, o uncontrollable! If even I were as in my boyhood, and could be free the comrade of thy wanderings over heaven, as then, when to outstrip the skiey speed scarce seemed a vision, I would ne'er have striven† (as cited in Damrosch, 2004, p. 401). This says if he was in his boyhood he would be free and as an adult he is not. So that is why he refers to going back to his childhood to be ree again. His childh memory is a g one.And as ne got older ne teels like ne isn't free and wants a free spirit. I think his tone in this is also sad. But when he talks about his boyhood I think he is feeling better. In both of these poem that I discussed go back to a memory. But however, both of the memories are different. In Coleridge's â€Å"Frost at Midnight† the memory he refers to is sad and Great Memory 5 not one that a person wants to remember. He talks about how lonely he was as a child how he hoped he would see someone he knows while he was at school. Every ay he hoped that he would see someone threw the window that he would know.And he hoped that his child would never feel like this. He wanted to make sure his child had better and felt better than he did. In Percy Shellys â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† the memory also goes back to his childhood, but in this poem his childhood was a good time. In this poem he talks about how he wished he was back in his boyhood because was free then. As an adult he doesn't feel free, he feels weighed down. That's why he wants to storm to come he feels it will make h im feel something again. This memory is a happy one. One that a person would want to remember, not like the one is Coleridge's â€Å"Frost as Midnight. In both of these poems I think that there is a common theme of emotion and nature. Both of them describe how they are feeling. One is lonely and one feels no joy. But they both use nature to describe it. Coleridge uses the winter and the frost. And Shelly uses the big storm that is about to his to describe how he feels in the poem. With both of these poem is shows that a memory is not always good or bad, happy or sad. They can be both. And In the two poems I picked to write about the authors, Samuel Coleridge and Percy Shelly, talk about memorys they had.Both of them happen to be different. One is a happy memory and one that he wants to remember. And the other is one that is not so happy, more of a gloomy memory that he doesn't want to remember. Memories are what you make of them. You are the only person who can decide how they are going to be remembered. Great Memory 6 No one else can tell you how to feel or how to keep things in your memory. â€Å"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things ou never want to lose – From the television show The Wonder Years† I think this is a perfect quote for memory.

Capital Punishment The Death Penalty - 1838 Words

Capital Punishment The method of capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, has been used by courts for many years to punish criminals for their heinous acts. As time has progressed since the origins of the death penalty, its methods have evolved and improved. When the death penalty first began, its methods were much more barbaric than they currently are. Previously, those sentenced to death were burned alive, decapitated, drowned, and more. Presently, capital punishment is carried out in ways such as lethal injection and hanging, which can be considered as less brutal forms of execution. There have been many arguments against capital punishment, with many opponents stating that no matter how it is carried out, capital†¦show more content†¦The sufficient solution to the problem of innocent people on death row would be to eradicate the death penalty entirely. Capital punishment is faulted by discrimination within the court system as well. Capital punishment is often a strong example of institutionalized racism. â€Å"Capital Punishment: Should capital† states that â€Å"more often than not†¦ death penalty cases involve black defendants on trial for allegedly murdering white victims, facing sentencing from an all white jury†. Black defendants accused of murdering white victims had a much higher chance of conviction, whereas white defendants accused of murdering black victims often were not convicted; demonstrating that institutionalized racism within the court systems is common. The percentage of death row inmates is much higher for minorities, in which â€Å"of the 1,058 prisoners on death row by Aug. 20, 1982, 42 percent were black, whereas about 12 percent of the United States population is black† (Meehan). While only a small percentage of the United States population is black, a large percentage of death row inmates are black. Meehan furthers her argument by stating, â€Å"those who receive the death penalty still tend to be poor, poorly educated, and represented by public defenders or court appointed lawyers†. Discrimination within an unjust court system leads to minorities and poorly educated defendants with a higher probability of receiving capital punishment. The most logical way to prevent this type ofShow MoreRelatedCapital Punishment : The Death Penalty1482 Words   |  6 PagesMrs. McElmoyl 12/12/14 Capital Punishment As stated by former governor of New York, Mario M. Cuomo, Always I have concluded the death penalty is wrong because it lowers us all; it is a surrender to the worst that is in us; it uses a power- the official power to kill by execution- that has never brought back a life, need inspired anything but hate. (Cuomo 1) This is one of the main arguments against capital punishment (also known as the death sentence.) Capital punishment is the ability for a governmentRead MoreThe Death Penalty And Capital Punishment931 Words   |  4 Pageswritten down (Robert). The death penalty was applied for a particularly wide range of crimes. The Romans also used death penalty for a wide range of offenses. Historically, the death sentence was often handled with torture, and executions, except that it was done in public. In this century, the death penalty, execution or capital punishment, whatever you’d like to refer it as, is the result for committing capital crimes or capital offences and it is not in public. The death penalty has been practiced byRead MoreCapital Punishment : The Death Penalty1410 Words   |  6 PagesCapital Punishment in America In 1976 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled the Death Penalty constitutionally permissible. The debate over capital punishment has always been a topic of great controversy. 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It is the highest law punishment available that can prevent future murders by developing fear within them. Capital punishmentRead MoreCapital Punishment And The Death Penalty1017 Words   |  5 PagesName: Lucas Falley Topic: Capital Punishment Background: Capital punishment, or the death penalty, has existed for thousands of years. For as long as there has been organized society, the death penalty has existed in numerous cultures and civilizations. Throughout the years the methods have changed, but the use of capital punishment is becoming a pressing matter. Amnesty International reports that there are 140 countries worldwide that have abolished the death penalty, while over 50 countries stillRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is A Capital Punishment1271 Words   |  6 Pages What is the death penalty? The death penalty is a capital punishment that is punishable by death or execution. This is usually given to people that have committed serious offences or capital crimes. There are 31 states in the United States that are for the death penalty. Crimes that are punishable by the death penalty, vary from state to state. Examples of such crimes are; first degree murder or premeditated murder, murder with special circumstances, such as: intende d, multiple, and murder whichRead MoreCapital Punishment And The Death Penalty1539 Words   |  7 PagesCapital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty, has been the center of debate for a long time. Capital punishment may be defined as the â€Å"[e]xecution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense† (Capital Punishment). Up until 1846, when Michigan became the first to abolish the death sentence, all states allowed legal practice of capital punishment by the government (States). Currently, there 32 states still supporting the death penalty and 18Read MoreThe Death Penalty Of Capital Punishment1480 Words   |  6 Pagesjustice system, such as the death penalty. Capital punishment has been used many times in history all around the world, and it was quite popular. Many people argue that capital punishment is useful in deterring crime and that it is only fair that criminals receive death as punishment for a heinous crim e. On the contrary, others see the death penalty as a violation of the 8th amendment. It restricts excessive fines, and it also does not allow cruel and unusual punishment to be inflicted upon criminals