Onboard Note

The American colonies revolted over what they perceived to be a lack of disrespect for their rights as British subjects. Britain practiced salutary neglect towards the colonies for years, thus granting them a bit of self-rule unofficially, as the colonists often found ways around following the British navigation acts and British taxation laws. After the French and Indian War, Britain sought to tighten its controls on the American colonies in order to strengthen the treasury. The colonists revolted as they stated that they were not represented in Parliament. Parliament countered that they were not a representative body and that they had a rightful duty to tax British subjects wherever they lived. The American colonies also revolted against British punishments. After the French and Indian War, violators of the Navigation Acts could now be tried in front of Admiralty courts. This meant the lack of a jury trial. Britain also closed down the port of Boston and stationed troops there with th...

“Come on back to the raft, Huck, honey” is, without doub, one of the most famous, most subtle, and, yet, most-overlooked lines of speech, of novel-summary dictum, from the entirety of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” America‘s—and, significantly, American Literature‘s—coming of age Magnus Opus that not only explains why Huck doesn’t—why he cannot—mature during the course of the novel; it, simply, reflects the prevailing storytelling zeitgeist of not only author Twain; but, moreover, of then-prevailing American letters. Summarily, Jim’s otherwise seemingly-kindly words of warning-concern to Huck on the river, as they make their comic-rustic way into and out of one picaresque situation after another, concretely evince, thematically-so, the lark-like core essence of Huck, the great nove, even Twain, himself, and, perhaps even foremost, the age: In 1884, the country was, like Huck (and, even, Tom Sawyer, himself, Huck‘s true closet character-magnitude understudy), just a kid. And, may...

Frost uses a very simple style of presentation for this poem. The language is plain, using words people can easily understand, such as "yellow wood." It's almost as if he is talking to the reader in a conversational way. The poem is divided into four five-line stanzas and relies on end rhymes. For example, in the first stanza, the simple words "would," "could," and "stood" rhyme, as do "both" and undergrowth." Because of the simplicity of the poem, devices such as repetitions and exclamation points stand out. The narrator repeats the word "and" three times in the first stanza, accentuating the narrator's indecision as he longs to go down both paths, wishing he could take both, but knowing he has to make a choice. In the third stanza, the exclamation "oh" and the exclamation mark stop us on the following line: Oh, I kept the first for another day! The narrator at this point shows that he also very much wa...

This interdependency between nations has existed since the Age of Exploration, which initiated the trade of goods, such as spices and slaves, between continents.  Currently, we still trade goods. We are also more connected. Due to the advent of the Internet, we are able to socialize with more people in more places with greater ease. We can also easily access media and cultural products from other countries and learn about the lives of people who are not like us.  With trade pacts, economies become more interconnected. When you go to the supermarket, you may notice that you can buy summer fruit in the winter. This is because trade pacts with countries in the southern hemisphere allow for produce, among other goods, to be shipped north in exchange for goods that we produce. Fair trade practices, which are not universal, ensure that everyone, especially low-wage workers, benefit from the exchange of goods and services. Finally, the perils of climate change have helped us realize that we a...

Sigmund Freud conveniently categorized the human psyche in the early part of the 20th century. His categories (although widely debated by subsequent psychologists) would seem to be a good way of explaining the views of human nature which are presented in Richard Connell's short story "The Most Dangerous Game." Freud divided the psyche into the id, ego and superego. The id is primitive man out to indulge in whatever tends to satisfy his most impulsive needs. It is illogical and fantasy-oriented. In short, a person's id will seek to do whatever pleases it. The superego, on the other hand, is the nagging conscience which knows the difference between right and wrong. The superego's main function is to control the id, especially its impulses toward sex and aggression. Finally, the ego is a person's conscious personality. It is somewhat of a combination of the id and superego. It makes choices by weighing the need for satisfaction and the social norms which govern a...

The narrator in Dickens's short story "The Signal-Man" is intrigued by the signalman he meets because of the man's strange behavior. The narrator notices that "a fallen colour" seems to overcome the signalman's face for no apparent reason, and he continually gets up to peer in the direction of a red light as if in anticipation. The narrator is able to coax the signalman into expressing that he is "troubled." After making the narrator wait until a second visit—part of Dickens's means of maintaining suspense—the signalman explains to the narrator that he once heard a voice call out "Halloa! Below there!" and saw a figure waving furiously as if in warning. When the signalman approached the figure, it disappeared. Shortly thereafter, an accident occurred on the line, causing the signalman to believe that the figure was some sort of portent. What particularly unsettled the signalman was that these were also the first words the narrator...

Things Fall Apart presents a challenge to the positivist idea of history—that conditions continually improve over time—by depicting the change to Umuofia's culture as a result of Christian missionaries. When the novel begins, Okonkwo is a powerful man and a leader in his tribe. He is famous for wrestling and for growing yams, both of which establish his masculinity. Okonkwo lives in opposition to his father before him. His father was a musician and was always poor and asking others for help. Okonkwo resents his father and vows to be nothing like him. In some sense, at least in Okonkwo's mind, his life is better than his father's; he has made progress compared to the generation before him. He hopes that progress will continue with his son Nwoye, but his son is sensitive, unlike Okonkwo. In fact, one of Okonkwo's daughters is his favorite, but he laments that he cannot treat her like a true heir because she is a girl. Eventually, when the missionaries have taken over the ...