Childhood Memories of Dad :: Descriptive Writing Examples

Cold winters, hot summers, pokey gravel, darkness, inconvenient tools and deterioration of the old hotrods. All of this came to an abrupt hault when a father and son's dream became a reality. A place of our own to operate without distractions. A place to bring our thoughts together and mechanically reconstruct cars and repair them within our own limits. This place that my dad and I started building would be known as "The Shop" or a.k.a. "Hopshop." This shop is the last project that my dad started and I was going to finish it. It all started by excavating the ground that would one-day support this shop. The shop plans had been previously made and were followed exactly. After the concrete was poured and steel beams were secured, it was ready to put the metal siding on. Within the concrete is our handprints and names, which makes it even more special to me. This sturdy architecture was unable to be finished because of the lack of expenses, after my dad's death. After that cold lonely winter, leading to the on coming year flew by very swiftly. I finally overcame my fear and decided that it was time to step up and find the will to complete the project. It took some time and money, but finally it was completed. It included automatic garage doors, sophisticated lighting system, a pellet stove for the cold winters and an air conditioner for the scorching summer. I moved all of our air tools, craftsman wrenches, sockets, vises, grinders, and the vehicles. In addition to the shop, there are things within the shop that have stories to them, making it what it is, such as the toolbox, Mustang, and Bronco. The Mustang was my dad's and it has been his since it was first manufactured. We were going to restore it to its original look that was established from my dad's artistic ability. Designing it with gloss black and flames coming from both fender wells. It had 20 inch racing slicks with a 4:11 positive track pushing 400 horses with its 302 boss engine. I remember how it used to smell, like hot dust leather and it used to suck me back in the seat almost giving me whiplash. We called The "Stang." It has been wrecked but only has a minor dent in its front right fender. The engine is now in my dad's 79 Ford but the

Self-Made Misery in Blake’s London Essay -- Blakes London Essays

Self-Made Misery in Blake’s London  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The poet William Blake paints a picture of the dirty, miserable streets of London in his poem, "London". He describes the wretched people at the bottom of the society, the chimney-sweeps, soldiers, and harlots. These people cry out from their pain and the injustices done to them. The entire poem centers around the wails of these people and what they have become due to wrongs done to them by the rest of society, primarily institutions such as the church and government. Are these people really wronged, however? The poem seems to suggest that the injustices they have been subjected to are of their own making. In Blake's poem he says that as he passes through London he sees a "mark in every face [he] meet[s]/ Marks of weakness, marks of woe." (3-4) He talks about how everywhere he hears cries of fear and suppression. The church seems to be ignoring the cry of the poor chimney-sweep in lines nine and ten. The soldier dies on the palace walls with a sigh. These are examples of the wretchedness of the lives that people lead. The central ide...

Honour & Shame Essay

One Sunday morning I was driving my children back from their regular soccer game. It was a warm summer day, sun shining ever so brightly, making the uneven town picturesque. As I drove along in my Holden with rigid brown seats and the windscreen wipers that didn’t work, I looked over to my sixteen year old daughter sitting next to menodding and shaking her head rhythmically to, in her words, ‘legendary’ music band One Direction. An image of Asreen flashed through my mind†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Kiran?† the voice on my mobile phone was barely more than a whisper. â€Å"Kiran? Is that you?† .The train ride back home was a typical for Friday eveningIt was very busy Friday evening train ride back from work, â€Å"Are you able to speak up a little?† I asked, raising my own voice overagainst loud chatterschatters from fellow passengers and rattling noise from the train. â€Å"I found your number in Indus Age, My – † the line went suddenly went dead. Indus Age is a local monthly newspaper. iIt has largest circulation to Indian and South East Asian community in the country. I was interviewed a week ago concerning about my plight with honour based violence. After two years of lengthy legal proceeding over evidence of injury which included tampered medical records I managed to get a divorce. I was sure that such crimeshonour based violence against women was prevalent and practiced behind closed doors, after my divorce I wanted to assist other women in similar situation and have my phone number published in the newspaper. I thought I lost her but then, few minutes later, she was back. â€Å"Sorry I had to hang up I thought someone was coming. My parents are forcing me to marry a 35 year old man who I don’t even know. I am a prisoner in my own house. I can’t take it any longer. I need help.† She stopped for breath. â€Å"Please help me,† she said in a trembling voice. She sounded frantic; it seemed that she was at the mercy of her family. I didn’t know who I was talking to but I knew I had to help. I spoke quickly, â€Å"Can you get out? There are all sorts of help available if you can get out.† I knew from my own experience that if a girl has made up her mind to run she usually finds a way to do it. This woman could be anywhere in the country but she was desperate and I had to reassure her. â€Å"There is help for you,.† I said. â€Å"There are women refuge houses, people to support. I would support you. You’ll be okay.† â€Å"But how†¦Wait, that’s Dad. He’s coming. I have to go† Her phone went dead. I felt anxiousiety, my pulse shot up as I tried as best I could to get on with my daily household choresroutine and parental responsibilities. Later in thethat evening while I was preparing dinner my phone rang again. I tried hard to understand but couldn’t make out anything except the gasping sound panting. I turned off my range-hood and enquired, â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"It’s me, Asreen,† she spoke, her voice penetrating as if she was right next to me. â€Å"I did it, I ran away† â€Å"Where are you?† â€Å"Redfern.† â€Å"Asreen, you have to call the police. DailDial 000† I had put my phone on speaker as I washed my hands. â€Å"No, I don’t want police. My family will never see me again. My community will disown me,† she said claimed almost hysterical. I could imagine why Asreen didn’t want police to be involved. She was in a state of fear and frustration. Her parents who loved her dearly until very recently changed overnight and now consider family’s honour more important than that of their daughter’s well-being and happiness. â€Å"Meet me at Redfern railway station in 45 minutes,.† I said cleaning up my kitchen. â€Å"Please don’t be late,.† she hung up. I called on my children and explained them that I need to go out on an emergency. I drove as fast as I could past the motorway speeding up to maximum limit. I reached Redfern at 8 p.m. it was crowded, people pushing one another to get ahead in line. Few country trains hurried past while the intercity trains stopped at the platform for passengerss dark and deserted. I walked across the automatic ticket machine to find myself staring at a tall slim woman leaning against the closed door humming what I could understand a very popular song. from Justin Beiber. She looked no more than sixteen dressed in a traditional outfit her head was covered in a veil. I caught her eye and she smiled and then waved at me. â€Å"Kiran,† she said enthusiastically. â€Å"Yes.† I walked closer I could see her eyes swollen lips dried smeared make up over her face. I offered her a bottle of water and walked with her to my car. No one spoke, the two minute walk felt like an eternity. Breaking the silence she spoke softly, â€Å"Thank – thank you Kiran. You saved my life. I read your story and only after I spoke to you I found courage to leave my house.† I didn’t know what to say, I was in a state of shock. I felt rage I could barely focus on my driving I wanted to say something. Asreen continued, â€Å"There were bolts on all doors and someone from the family was always home. I didn’t know how to get out. And if I did, where would I go?† We talked about family, food, school, fashion and many other issues on our way back. We talked as if we were best friends and had known each other for many years. I introduced Asreen to my children Maya and Vicky and offered her rice and lamb curry for dinner. It was close to midnight she looked very tired and fell asleep as soon as she sat on the lounge. I imagined her situation; it was her mother who arranged her marriage. She grew up knowing that one day the subject of her marriage would come up but didn’t expect it when she was sixteen. She was one of the smartest girls in her school; she wanted to become a psychiatrist. One day when her parents woke her up and told her that she was going to get engaged Asreen said bluntly, â€Å"But I don’t want to.† For the next few days I enquired at women’s refuge centre, department of community services, legal aid and other community based organisations. What followed was another court proceeding lasting more than 12 weeks. I became Asreen’s foster parent while she continued her education. Later that year Asreen and I started Honour to help other women from South East Asian family facing honour based violenceI sat next to her contemplating on the events of the day. I wanted to help Asreen and reach out to other women in similar situations confronting criticism and oppression from inside their communities and often close family members for not being obedient to the traditional rules set by men for thousands of years. â€Å"Are you alright?† Asreen said waking up suddenly. I realised that I accidentally dropped my glass on the wooden floor breaking it into pieces. â€Å"Why can’t I live like any other sixteen year old girls? Why can’t I have boy-friends like girls from my school?† she cried while cleaning up broken pieces of glass. It was close to two, I was so exhausted I could barely feel any strength in my legs. I could hear Asreen’s voice slowly fading away. With my eyes closed I tried to seek explanation for such acts against own daughter. The issue of status of women is always in question in a patriarchal society. For thousands of years people from Indian sub-continent had considered daughter a painful burden, a potential source of shame to her father. Family is vital principal group and marriage hallowed as sacred. Women are deprived of their freedom and those who rebel or go against the norms faces threat the people of the community so much so that they are even killed for honour. †¦perhaps this comes out as it makes it like a newspaper article, not a narrative. †¦ As we arrived home I hugged my daughter tightly and said with tears running down my cheeks, â€Å"I love you.† The time frame here doesn;’t work, you’ve already taken the story on years but now go back to the present†¦

McDonald’s Faces “Millennial” Challenge Essay

McDonald’s has been around for nearly 60 years and is accustomed to dominating the fast food industry. However, McDonald’s is losing that dominance to the more modern fast-casual restaurants such as Chipotle and Panera Bread. People of ages 22-37, also known as millennials, are a major reason for the decrease of McDonald’s success because they seem to prefer the healthier and more modern option. Fast-casual restaurants big selling point is the freshness and healthiness of the food they provide. While it may be slightly more expensive than the combo-meal choices at McDonald’s, millennials seem to care more about the quality and freshness of their food over paying bottom dollar. Take a fast-casual restaurant like Chipotle, for example. Their â€Å"claim-to-fame† is that they use the freshest meat available and allow the customer to see the food they are getting before they order and eat it. Another popular characteristic of Chipotle is that there is no set menu. There is a list of ingredients which you can pick and choose from; on the contrary, McDonald’s has an extensive menu of pre-selected combo choices which doesn’t allow for much personalization from the customer. Because of this wide variety of options at fast-casual restaurants, McDonald’s is beginning to lose many of its’ â€Å"millennial† customers. Not only is McDonald’s losing customers in the United States, but they are also experiencing a sales and customer decline globally. One recent crisis in China involved the selling expired meats to customers. McDonald’s reported a sales decrease of 7.3% in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East, and African regions. Recently, McDonald’s has admitted to having and overly large menu which resulted in slow service times to customers. In conclusion, McDonald’s will need to make some necessary changes if they wish to regain the coveted business of millennials. First, they could have less preset combos and allow the customer to pick which stuff they would like to pair up. The more power that is in the customer’s hands, the happier that customer will be because they are getting exactly what they want.  Another thing that needs to happen is to become healthier and more modern. Recently, McDonald’s has incorporated wraps into their menu which is a good start. Fast-casual restaurants are appealing to most millennials because they have the healthier/fresher foods. In order for this fast food chain to survive and thrive once again, they will need to make the changes necessary to get them there.

Political Spectrum

The Political Spectrum is a term given to the different ideologies of political parties or organizations. The Young Men's Christian Association is one organization on the left side of the Spectrum. The YMCA provides after school programs for both children and adults. A right wing group is the John Birch Society which dedicates itself to restoring and preserving freedom under the United States Constitution. The Young Men's Christian Society (YMCA) was founded in London to improve the spiritual condition of young men engaged in the drapery and other trades during the 1800s. Today the YMCA appears in over 124 countries and help promotes a healthy, balanced lifestyle regardless of beliefs or gender. This year on, April 27 2007, Durham YMCA held an open house for their new Y-Knot Abilities Programs. This program offers children and youth with physical disabilities access to the YMCA programs. The Y-Knot creates an â€Å"Equal Playing Field† for disabled youth. The Y-Knot Abilities program shall run every Friday from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in the gymnasium. Through the years, the YMCA has setup the YMCA Strong Kids Fundraiser. The money raised helps provides, families YMCA memberships, Children and Youth a chance to go to camp, renovations on community YMCA's and the fees for training new employees. Their goal from the fundraiser is hope on providing children and families with the tool they need to succeed. The YMCA's goal to create a positive attitude both physically and mentally in the community is achieved through a balanced leadership style. The organization creates both fundraisers to decrease membership fees, improve community recreations and increase daily activities to achieve their goal. There is no force by the organization to the community in participating in fundraisers and activities. The John Birch Society (JBS) is a right wing organization established in Indiana in 1958 by a group of twelve â€Å"patriotic and public-spirited† men. The society opposes socialism, communism, Nazism, and fascism, and strongly agrees to a limited federal government under the Constitution of the United States. The JBS plans many campaigns to help preserve freedom for themselves and American families. A recent campaign was called the â€Å"Repeal NAFTA† campaign. Goals are to withdraw U.S. membership form in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The society has dedicated time in creating pamphlets and written articles to approve in the withdrawal of NAFTA. The JBS has also organized the â€Å"JBS Freedom Campaign†. The campaign was designed for all Americans who want to preserve their cherished lives of freedom for themselves and their family. Through this campaign they will have the opportunity to participate with other Americans to help defeat some of the biggest threats to their way of life. The campaign acts like umbrella against issues such as illegal immigration and the North American Union. The JBS goal to preserve freedom for themselves and American families is achieved through an authoritarian leadership style. The society sets campaigns against the government to set regulations or eliminate different acts such as Illegal Immigration and NAFTA. The group forces people to join through riots, publicity and the internet. The YMCA on the spectrum is located at 3 o'clock on the left side due to being a beneficial organization to many communities. YMCA holds programs, clubs, fundraisers and teams to help create a positive attitude physically and mentally in the attitude. The JBS society would be located between 9 o'clock and 10 o'clock along the right side. The JBS is a group against communism and socialism, which are mid. to high left wing characteristics. The society opposed the â€Å"Civil Rights Movement†, an act of equality between colored and whites. Both organizations are clearly opposites due to the way they achieve their beliefs and achieve them.

Ibsen A Dolls House

The play â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Isben brings to light the realities of middle class society and its values. A woman’s place in 1800’s society was very different than it is today. Women did not have the same freedoms that they have today, in spite of the fact that they were strong and intelligent. Nora used this strength and intelligence in play and was punished for it.The play opens up with Nora arriving home and being greeted by her husband in a condescending manner. Torvald says to his wife, â€Å"Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again?† He also calls her a lark and a squirrel. However, Torvald is unaware that most of the money he gives his wife is going towards a loan that she secretly took out to help him. In the 1800’s, it was illegal for women to take out loans without their husband’s signature. Torvald was ill and the family needed money to help him. Nora secretly takes out a loan by forging her fatherâ€⠄¢s signature. This is illegal, of course, and later leads to Krogstad blackmailing Nora. When Torvald finds out he threatens her.The way Nora handles her situation is inspirational. She had been treated like a doll by both her father and her husband, but she has the strength to stand up to her husband. She decides to leave and start a new life for herself. The human spirit will not be trampled on. Nora has done something that is not wrong, and she has done it for a very good reason. She begins to question everything she has always blindly accepted, including being a wife and mother, and her religious training. Even though Nora was held down her whole life, she realizes that she has â€Å"duties to myself.† She knows that most people would think that what she was doing was wrong, but she stays true to herself. In the end, Nora does what she has to do to survive.â€Å"A Doll’s House† starts as a play about a typical middle class family. Nora goes through challeng es and realizes that they cannot do what society expects out of her. She goes outside the boundaries of what she is allowed to do as a woman for a reason that she feels is noble. But she is punished  for that action and cannot accept the fact that she is reprimanded for it. In the end, when Nora decides to leave her husband and family, her decision opens up a possibility of a new life and personal growth for her. I was left wondering how that life will be, and wishing her success and happiness.

Sexual Harassment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sexual Harassment - Essay Example The aim of this study is to present scenario of the sexual harassment that occurs in the school environment. This stirs great concern because approximately 81 percent of students experience any form of sexual harassment during their stay in school and 27 percent repeatedly encounters such situations. These students may encounter harassment from other students, which comprise 85% of the student while 40 percent from the teachers and other personnel of the school ("Sexual Harassment Information for Teens" 2006). Sexual harassment is one issue that has a subjective definition. Its meaning varies on the context of different groups, organizations or bodies that implement sanction against harassment. To this effect, teens and adults encounters confusion on the grounds of sexual harassment, thus, they may not voice out such experiences ("Every Teen Counts" 1997). As quoted on the study conducted by Susan Strauss, according to the National Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs sexual harassment is any action that attacks the sexuality and the sexual aspect or a person acquired with the emphasis on the authority over students that can hindrance the development of full potential and capabilities (1993). Some forms of sexual harassment that female students encounter may include having physical contact, making sexual comments, receiving unwanted communications and indecent propositions. Physical contact can occur in different ways like grabbing or holding sensitive areas of the body and kissing against the will. Giving offensive names, starting rumors or sexual jokes about a person along with bad gestures are forms of sexual harassment. Also, any form of communication that is not welcomed, which may be hostile or distressing to the recipient, is considered as sexual harassment. This may include calls, letters and any form of stalking. Another action that is considered as harassment is indecent proposals. For students, this usually comes in the form of higher grade or academic standing in exchange for sexual favors ("Sexual Harassment Information for Teens" 2006). A survey of the American Association of University Women on 1993, whose results were quoted by Kathryn Wells Murdock and D avid Kysilko in their research, other forms of sexual harassment in school includes any actions that assault the sexuality of a student. Oftentimes, being called gay or lesbian, and other acts of gender-related public humiliation toward same or opposite sexes are included in the grounds for sexual harassment. More than half of the respondent students, 66% were victims of sexually-offensive jokes or actions, which are frequently considered as harmless stunts. This is a misconception because it leaves marks on the victim's personality (1998). Effects of Sexual Harassment Being the object of sexual harassment causes changes in a person's physical and emotional well-being. Effects can be observed in the significant changes in the behavior of a victim of sexual harassment. Some of the indications include self-consciousness, lost of self-esteem, depression and anger towards the attacker. With regards to emotional aspect, female students have more observable indications of sexual harassment experiences compared to male students, although the percentage of the female and the male students that experiences harassment is almost the same. Physical indications