My Personal Metaphor

Author's Note: This is a personal metaphor created in class.

I am a Martin Brodeur saving every shot
I am a brother supporting at every turn
I am a human being walking the paths of the earth
I am a gamer beating every level
I am energetic living fully every day.

March Madness

March Madness is a time of year when the 64 best NCAAM basketball teams come together to have a playoff. this year I filled out my bracket and I had Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and San Diego State in the final four. I had Notre Dame going all the way because they are my favorite team. 

To Build A Fire

How many times have you seen birds flying south for the winter? They do not read somewhere or use some computer to know that they must fly to survive. In Jack London's "To Build a Fire" we see how that man is sometimes foolish. The man, who is walking in seventy-five degrees below zero weather, lets his learned behavior override his instinct.

He died because he listened to what he has learned rather than his instincts. London's theme is that no matter how intelligent society becomes, we as a species should never discard our basic instincts. In the beginning of the tale we see that the man realizes it is cold, but only sees this as a fact and not a danger. The man spit on the ground to test how cold it was. His test taught him that it was colder than he had first thought, but he never thought that it was really that serious. "That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head". To many times modern man plods along oblivious to the reality that lies one moment or misstep away. The man sees that he is feeling the effects of the cold more and more as he goes along, but he pushes on.


Several times he comments that the cold is making his hands and feet numbed, and frostbite is killing his cheeks. He thinks "What were frosted cheeks? A bit painful, that was all. . ." Again he chose to ignore an instinct that would have saved him. The dog, on the other hand, although guided by his learned behavior still retains his instincts. The dog follows the man throughout his ill faded journey, but after the man perishes he relies upon his instincts to survive. This is witnessed in the last paragraph by the statement "Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where there were other food providers and fire providers".

The theme of London's "To Build a Fire" is how we should all take heed to modern knowledge and learned behavior has its benefits, but our primal instincts should never have ignored. The man in the story had lots of knowledge but neglected to pay attention to his "sixth sense." The dog on the other hand, followed as long as he could but then let his instincts carry him to safety. We can never have enough knowledge to replace the survival skill that nature has provided us.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

What would you do if you lived in a town where the lottery was not about money? The short story “The Lottery” is a story about how things are not always what they seem to be. For example, when thinking of a lottery, death does not come to mind but a grand prize like a new car or lots of money. In this short story the author, Shirley Jackson, uses irony to support the theme of things not always turning out to be what they first seem to be.

When reading the title, “The lottery” the thought of lots of money or a really grand prize comes to mind. After reading the story, the lottery really turns out to be a game of death and not luxury. This irony supports the theme since the lottery really did not turn out to be so grand as the readers expected it to be but one of the worst nightmares of the village residents.

All of the villagers are really scared of because they no it is not for money,it is for their lives.Another bit of irony in the story is that no resident of the little village wants to win the lottery. It could be inferred that no villager wants to win the lottery when said “‘you didn’t give him time enough to take any paper that he wanted. I saw you. It isn’t fair’” In these sentences, Tessie is saying that it wasn’t fair that they got the paper with the black spot on it indicating that they are the winners of the lottery. This is ironic that the townspeople don’t want to win a game that we would think of as grand prizes. This helps to support the theme since winning the lottery usually means winning grand prizes, but in this lottery, winning the lottery means losing your life.

Seeing that it means losing your life none of them want to win. In this short story, The Lottery, we learn that things are not always what they seem to be. For example when a lottery comes to mind, a grand prize is what is usually in store for the winner, but in this lottery, the winner wins the privilege to lose his or her life. Shirley Jackson uses irony to support the theme of things not always turning out to be what they first seem to be.