“How does Ron Suskind present the difficulties of Cedric’s education in Part 1 and Part 2 of his story?”

In this essay, I will be explaining how Ron Suskind presents the difficulties of Cedric’s education in part 1 and part 2 of his story by comparing the language devices he has used. There are many difficulties Cedric faces at M.I.T in comparison to Ballou High. Ron Suskind presents this by using various language techniques. Cedric goes through many challenges when in Ballou high and M.I.T for example, bullying, and violence. During his time in Ballou High, he has to struggle to get a good education meaning he has to push himself half a mile whilst the school is pushing him down trying to keep him from his true potential. Throughout the articles, Suskind uses various language devices that suggest that it was more than a struggle for Cedric to get an education.

An example of Ron’s array of different language devices is where he says “Failure is persuasive here, even seductive.“ This quotation is personification and also represents that failure is a such a common thing that the students achieve that it has metamorphosed into a presence that lurks around the students enticing them to give in and fail. You can tell this by how Suskind uses the word “persuasive” suggesting that failure is a strong force that is compelling them to give in to failure. Another word he uses is “seductive” meaning that failure is just like how a romantic partner may seduce another making failure almost seem like a common thing and is normal to most students.

Another technique is how he uses the metaphor “The arduous odyssey of Cedric.“ This relates to the question because it is saying that just like the Greek Myth (The Odyssey) Cedric has to travel a long and dangerous journey alone. On this long journey, he also faces a lot of challenging and almost impossible obstacles, but just like the Greek Myth he works hard to prevail. The meaning of the word “arduous” means that it is a long and drawn out process and makes him work up a cold sweat trying to get through school life like a normal student. It also suggests that where ever success may go Cedric will strive to try to follow in its footsteps in hopes of getting a better life at M.I.T just like he dreams for. In comparison to the quote “But where I start from is so far behind where some other kids are, I have to run twice the distance to catch up.” It shows the similarities of how difficult it is for Cedric in both M.I.T and Ballou high. In M.I.T he may have been an outstanding student according to his teachers but he still had to overcome obstacles like bullying and crime.

Suskind shows that Cedric’s education seem difficult by saying that the school is like a “Crime infested ward”. Here the writer conveys the idea to us of violence. Just like a virus, crime is an infection that is easily caught by youths and it is making the students think that crime should be an everyday occurrence and it seems that if you’re not a criminal you’re a nobody. In Ballou High, Cedric received no respect or admiration from his peers and he never had any parental support either. However being popular in a school like this is not a good thing to be proud of.

In part two Cedric is struggling to get the grips of working harder than he ever has before, whereas in part one he is doing well over above average than all his lower achieving classmates. This sudden change is not going well for Cedric as he collapses under the mass workload that he has not prepared for enough in Ballou High. Even with the extra classes taught by his science teacher, he is still under prepared. This makes Cedric defensive to all his peers and he tries to shut everyone out and work by himself, but unlike in Ballou High where being independent pushes you further up the ladder of success by having no distractions but on the other hand in M.I.T working in a collective group gets you further than working alone especially as Cedric is falling behind with his school work. Further in part two Cedric tries to let everyone back into his life but now his peers are too far away and Cedric is just too far behind the rest of his colleges. This really puts Cedric at a disadvantage compared to the rest of his peers, who all come from a higher class school.

In M.I.T Cedric receives no extra support in comparison to the support he received in Ballou High. In M.I.T Cedric is considered the minority. He is only one who hasn’t come from an expensive and extravagant school and him being the minority makes it extremely difficult to be seen as intelligent like the rest of the students. Him coming from a lower class school makes him “unshaped” for M.I.T and he just hasn’t worked hard enough. This puts him at an unfair disadvantage, all because of his different background. We can see this in the metaphorical quote “Being a minority and a high achiever means you have to carry extra baggage about who you are, and where you belong. That puts them at risk” from part two. In this quote the writer describes how being a minority means you have to be at least better than the majority of the white Americans. This shows that Cedric, who has a low social status, comes with “extra baggage” because of his background he has come from a poverty-stricken household. This is different to the quote “But where I start from is so far behind where some other kids are, I have to run twice the distance to catch up.” This is because the first quote is talking about a collective group; the minority students and also how they all are in it together as a whole. Whereas the second quote is talking about Cedric as an individual and how he is by himself who is following behind the whole class, but it also shows that the second quote is more optimistic than the first.

Another quote is when he says the metaphor “But where I start from is so far behind where some other kids are, I have to run twice the distance to catch up.” This suggests that just like a race he has to be competitive to even stand a chance with the other students but to be able to he has to endure his blistering feet and overcome his tiredness to be accepted.The quote shows us how Cedric has to catch up because of his past school where he didn’t have the resource to study as hard as the other students attending M.I.T who have come from more fortunate lifestyles and families, so Cedric has to run twice the distance to be even capable of being accepted into M.I.T and to be able to have a chance at competing with the other kids. This quote shows the big difference of how far ahead he is from all the other students in Ballou High in comparison to M.I.T. However we can see the similarities between Ballou High and M.I.T  when Ron Suskind says “Failure is persuasive here, even seductive.” This points out that at times Cedric was enticed by failure because it meant the pain would stop and he could finally rest, but Cedric never gave up easily.

In conclusion of this essay, the writer uses various language devices to show that Cedric education seems very difficult across his academic life. Suskind uses metaphors, hyperbole’s, similes and much more over the story. The best quotation that took that into effect was when Suskind uses the metaphor “Failure is persuasive here, even seductive.” This is because of what the meaning behind the quote means. Overcoming such an obstacle of being seduced is already a hard enough thing to do, but when everyone else is falling for it, it becomes easier to give in making his education walk a very thin line. Overall Cedric didn’t actually accomplish his dream except for him experiencing what M.I.T had in store for him, and that was not what he was expecting, at all.

Your Body. Rented Out. Used For Murder.

First, Callie Lost Her Parents.
Then She Lost Her Home.
And, Finally, Her Body.
But She Will Stop At Nothing To Get It Back.

Starters is written by Lissa Price, and is set in a time of war. A new law that is accepted earlier on doesn’t allow adolescents for employment and this law will make surviving in a world with no middle-aged citizens an exceptionally hard task. Children without the supervision of grandparents are gathered up by the Marshals and are place in new homes to be looked after by horrid people, who will most likely put them to work in camps. Those who escape the Marshals, who are hell-bent on capturing children, live squatting in different abandoned buildings and doing whatever they need to do in order to survive.
Callie and her younger brother Tyler are two children who luckily had the luxury of escaping the Marshals. When their mother falls sick, with the killing spores that live in the air from this war, the two children take her to the hospital where she dies in no time at all. After this sad incident their father is soon taken away by the Marshals, and when he figures out that they will not free him, he sends his children an encrypted message for them to run, saving them from being imprisoned.
Tyler, the younger brother, becomes sick and with no access to a hospital, and on top of a poor diet, he increasingly becomes sicker.
However, another refugee from the war, their friend Michael offers to help aid Tyler while Callie investigates the one and extremely dangerous opportunity she has to make enough money to help her slowly dying brother. After hours of walking in the dark she finally gazes upon the building Prime Destinations where she is greeted kindly. The program is explained to her, with a great reward for which seems like a very short and painless requirement.
She takes the contract to share with Michael, to think about it carefully like her father had always taught her, but when Marshals raid the building they are currently living in, quickly leaves them homeless once more, Callie thinks that now she has no choice.
She travels back to Prime Destination. For three rentals, she would have enough money to get herself, Tyler , and Michael a real home.
She hesitatingly signs the contract, and is quickly rushed into their “treatment program”. Washed, hair cut and styled, manicured, scars and acne removed, make up added and new, fresh clothes, clean clothes. When she is presented to herself, she barely recognises the girl looking back at her through the mirror.
An uninterrupted sleep in a real bed is followed next. When she wakes up next morning to be taken for the procedure that will plant a chip in the back of her head. This chip will make an “Ender”, one of the senior population, be able to enter and control her consciousness and body as if it were her own. This all takes place whilst Callie’s consciousness sleeps comfortably in Prime Destinations, she is told.
Most of what she has been told is true, and Callie comes through the first two rentals with flying colours. She is then asked to go on to the third rental which will take place over a course of a whole month. She asks to make a deal. She will accept, once she goes and sees her brother and Tyler, giving them food and the time to explain why she will be gone for so long.
Tyler says she misses her and Callie promises that this will all be worth it in time.
This third rental changes everything. Shortly after gaining control of her body, she finds herself in a place called Club Rune, where the music is loud and the crowd is young and beautiful. Something has allowed her and the renter named Helena to talk and Helena opens Callie to the truth. Prime is taking children off the street and forcing them into service. At first, Callie doesn’t want to believe what her renter is telling her. Helena says that she is looking for her granddaughter Emma, and she is not alone. She introduces Callie to others who have the idea that Prime Destinations has taken their family members as well. Callie is really disturbed when she finds out that Prime Destinations is preparing a new program where a renter can become a new owner of their young rental. The donor would of course, die. Callie joins a group whose mission is to end Prime Destinations, but in unexpected events, she meets Blake Harrison (Senator Harrison’s grandson). Blake and Callie date, and she slowly starts to falls for him. It is her first date, her first crush, and her first heartbreak, all rolled into one guy. How can she have the time to stop Prime, help her brother and Michael, and get revenge of the deaths of so many people and loved ones.
This ticks the list of a rugged individual because, Callie is only a teen with so much responsibility resting on her shoulders. Her brother who she has to protect for many years is slowly dying and she barely has a roof over their head. The sad memories of her mother passing and her father disappearing. Callie has to be so strong for her brother and goes out on so many dangerous encounters by herself. Callie has definitely earned the right to say she is a strong and courageous rugged individual.

The door of Renee’s lunch room opened. Two men came in. They sat down at the counter.
“What do you want, bossman.”Jaydon asked. Jaydon was the counter-boy at Renee’s lunch room.
“I dunno.”said Rameriez. What do you want.”
“Err, two thighs and chips.”said Deshaun.”Hold the Mayo.”
Deshaun was wearing a grey track suit and a red bandanna around his neck. Deshaun seemed to have red blood-like liquid on his new 110’s. Rameriez on the other hand had more class. He had tight ripped jeans on tucked into his all-black Timberlands. A baggy Supply And Demand shirt covered his many tattoos. His hair was slicked back creating a man-bun. The one hair out-of-place covered his left eye. The sun seemed to have went down when they were receiving their order.
“Nah fam, what is this, are you finna tryna mock it cuz.” Deshaun said with anger.
“What happened.”Rameriez asked.
“Bossman put bare Mayonnaise on my chips.”
“Is that it?”
“Nah, he’s taking me for a mug.”
Deshaun pulled up his bandanna grabbed the gun he came equipped with.
“Don’t Deshaun”Rameriez said.”You know the consequences.”
Deshaun said nothing.
“If you get locked up in jail, who would look after your dying mother?”
“Leave my mother outta’ this.”
“No, you keep hiding behind our excuses, and im sick of it.”
Deshaun once again said nothing. Hand still gripped to his gun.
“No wonder why your girlfriend left you. Your in an abusive relationship”
Deshaun’s eyes went red. his lips started to quiver.
“Ai, bro im sorry.”Rameriez was scared of what Deshaun might do.”That was uncalled for.”
“Nah fam, that was deep, you know how much i loved her.”
“I know bro, im sorry”
“Sorry ain’t gonna fix it.”
Deshaun finally pulled out his gun he was holding so dearly. However he never aimed at Jaydon, the counter boy, but Rameriez.
“Bro what are you doin’, you’re going metal cuz.”
Deshaun’s finger trembled on the trigger.
“Don’t f***ing do this man, its not worth it.”
“Trust me mate, it is.”
BANG
A empty gunshot shell was heard bouncing on the floor, with steam pulsing off it. Drip.Drip.Drip.Blood was trickling on the floor. Deshaun dropped to the floor. Blood running down his neck. In the back of Renee’s lunchroom, Jaydon was visible with a handgun clenched to his hand.
“You f***ing idiot, you shot him!” Rameriez fell to his knees. Rameriez pulled the bandanna of deshaun’s face.
The blood was gushing down his neck , creating a pool of blood. Deshaun was shaking in the blood shivering.
The tear from Rameriez dropped on Deshaun’s warm cheek.
“Why did you do this man?”
“I’m sorry fam, all i saw was red, it was never supposed to be this way.”
“I know mate, I know.”
In the background, police sirens were heard , approaching fast.
“You need to run, Ram.”
Deshaun coughed up blood, he released his hand from the blood-gushing wound to cover his mouth.
“I am not leaving you here, D”
“Don’t risk your future, and life, for me.”
“I will miss you bro.”
“Likewise”
Deshaun smiled knowing these were his few minutes. Rameriez ran off through the double door. The doors slowly shut behind him.
“I’m sorry.”

Brutus is very ideal for his perfect character in Julius Caesar, while Cassius is highly pragmatic, but both are in the running for being leader. Brutus is more of a people person whilst Cassius is a fast thinker. Who will win the people’s love for Rome, and who will grieve for their losses.

Brutus is known for his love for the people in Julius Caesar, while Cassius is highly pragmatic. Brutus is more of the opposite to cassius, he is very high maintained when it comes to his honor. An example of this is when Brutus says these words, in Act 1 Scene 2: “For let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor more than I fear death.”
Brutus is telling Cassius that he loves honor more than he fears death. This is a very noble act on Brutus’s part. Back in the Roman era it was an essential to have honor and Brutus displays how much honor means to him.

Brutus wants to be known for his nobility whilst Cassius is very sneaky and can make people feel different emotions with his devious vocabulary. Cassius knows what to say at the right moment to get what he wants, and he does this fairly frequently throughout the play. Here is an example of him trying to steer Brutus in the direction of killing his friend.“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
In act 1 scene 2, Cassius is trying to persuade Brutus that, in the best interests of the people of Rome, Julius Caesar must die before becoming king of Rome. Brutus knows that Caesar is trying to persuade him, and is torn between his the bond of his friend Caesar and his love to the country. Cassius reminds Brutus that Caesar is just a man, not a god, and that they are the same as Caesar. So why would they want to bow to an ordinary man? This phrase is meant to mean that fate is not written in the universe but inside their mind.

The audience may believe that Brutus shows high qualifications of being a better leader throughout the play by checking out the decisions he makes on numerous events. The reason being is that although Cassius does prove himself to be a leader when he is the founder of the group, and being the one to put this elaborate plan together, he lacks the requirement of being trustworthy and loyal. For example: When Cassius is talking to the conspirators, he tells them that he wants Brutus in the conspiracy just to have the feeling of ‘assurance’ from the people of Rome. This is a smart move, but it is also quite misleading and questionable when facing the fact that we do not know how loyal Cassius really is. Cassius is also proven a very crafty leader, when he fakes all the handwritten letters from the “people”, which was entirely written by him , just so that Brutus could be manipulated into the assassination.

On the other hand, Brutus managed to proved his worth of being able to control his mind over his body. His mind was more powerful than his own body and he was able to control his emotions and his state of mind. Brutus, throughout the whole play, remains in control even when tragic events happen, and this shows that he is strong-minded and follows through with his actions. This personality of his proves that he would be an outstanding leader because a leader should always have bold characteristics and keep things in order, like they should be, and Brutus does just that. Even when Brutus’ wife kills herself, by eating scorching coals, like a true Roman, he kept a level head about it because he knew that he had a war on his hands and managed to brush it off his shoulder like she meant nothing to him. To have the ability to do such a thing is outstanding.

Another reason why the audience may lean on towards Brutus of being a better leader is because of the actions he pulled in the battle held at Phillipi. Brutus said, in act 5, that he would rather die then be captured and taken to Rome as a prisoner. By saying this to Cassius, this surely proves to the audience that Brutus was the real definition of a true leader. He indicates that he would die as a proud and true Roman soldier, before being taken captive by the enemy. This statement undoubtedly supports the view of the audience about how Brutus is unquestionably the better leader of the two.

Lastly, when Brutus unfortunately dies in act 5 scene 5, unlike Cassius, Brutus gets a summary on the man he previously was underneath all the past events that have happened. He is even provided with the comment, said by his enemy Antony: “This was the noblest Roman of them all.” By having said this, it proves to the viewers that even his nemesis respected him, which shows that he was the true definition of a leader.

So now you could suggest that Brutus was a much better leader compared to Cassius, because of the never-ending amounts of praise he got for his knowledge and actions. He lived his life as a noble Roman, and he died as a noble Roman.

Brutus is known for his love for the people in Julius Caesar, while Cassius is highly pragmatic. Brutus and Cassius are both are in the running for being leader. Brutus is more of a people person. Brutus wants to be known for his nobility whilst Cassius is very sneaky and can make people vulnerable with his words. Who will win the people’s love for Rome, and will grieve in defeat.

“For let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor more than I fear death.”
In act 1 scene 2, Brutus is telling Cassius that he loves honor more than he fears death. This is a very noble act on Brutus’s part. Back in the Roman era it was an essential to have honor and Brutus displays how much honor means to him.

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
In act 1 scene 2, Cassius is speaking with his friend, Brutus, and trying to persuade him that, in the best interests of the people of Rome, Julius Caesar must die before becoming king of Rome. Brutus knows that Caesar is trying to persuade him, and is torn between his love of his friend Caesar and his love to the public. Cassius reminds Brutus that Caesar is just a man, not a god, and that they are the same as Caesar. So why would they want to bow to an ordinary man? This phrase is meant to mean that fate is not written in the universe but inside their mind.

“For let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor more than I fear death.”
In act 1 scene 2, Brutus is telling Cassius that he loves honor more than he fears death. This is a very noble act on Brutus’s part. Back in the Roman era it was a essential to have honor and Brutus displays how much honor means to him.

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
In act 1 scene 2, Cassius is speaking with his friend, Brutus, and trying to persuade him that, in the best interests of the people of Rome, Julius Caesar must die before becoming king of Rome. Brutus is aware of that Caesar is trying to persuade him, and is torn between his love of his friend Caesar and his love to the public. Cassius reminds Brutus that Caesar is just a man, not a god, and that they are the same as Caesar. So why would they suddenly have to bow to an ordinary man? This phrase is meant to mean that fate is not written in the universe but inside their mind.

Brutus is a very ideal character in Julius Caesar, while Cassius is highly pragmatic, but both are in the running for being leader. Brutus is more of a people person whilst Cassius is a fast thinker. Who will win the people’s love for Rome, and will grief in defeat.

Continue reading

Define the following keywords and provide example.

Personification                                                                                                                                                                                                       -Personification is when you assign the actions of a person to something nonhuman (e.g. the evil tree was lurking in the shadows) or (the pistol glared at me from its holster.)

Anthropomorphic
-The definition is the act of giving the traits of a human to an inanimate object or animal. Anthropomorphism is generally used in cartoons. (e.g. Jake the dog is given the ability to talk and dance though dogs do not have the skills to do neither.)

Simile                                                                                                                                                                                                                      -A simile is a figure of speech including the comparison of one thing to another, used to make a description more expressive or vivid (e.g. they are as different as night and day.)

Metaphor                                                                                                                                                                                                                -A metaphor is a word or phrase that is used to make a comparison between two people, things, animals, or places. (e.g. the dinosaurs teeth are white daggers.)

Assonance                                                                                                                                                                                                              -assonance (also called ‘vowel rhyme’) is the repetition of a pattern of similar sounds within a sentence that contain two or more words close to one another that repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds. (e.g. “A long song”.)

Sibilance                                                                                                                                                                                                                  -The definition of sibilance is when something has an s or sh sound. An example of sibilance is (the hissing of a snake) or (she sells seashells by the seashore)

Allegory                                                                                                                                                                                                                   – The definition of an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.