TAKS Practice: The Diary of Adam

In “The Diary of Adam”, Mark Twain portrays Adam as a character of intolerance who solely wants to live in a place of peace and solitude.  Adam states that he wants Eve to just “stay with the other animals” and “wish[es] it would not talk” because the sound of her voice “offends my ear”.  Later in the week, on Wednesday, it rains and Adam proceeds to build himself “a shelter against the rain, but could not have it to [him]self in peace. The new creature intruded”.  No matter how hard Adam tries, he cannot escape the presence of Eve, he even “travelled two days, and built … another shelter, in a secluded place” but yet she still “hunted [him] out”.  Eve’s continued presence frustrates Adam to the point that he only wants her to “go by herself and not talk”.

Oscars TAKS Practice

Both the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times percieved the Oscars as being dull, long, and poorly presented. Neither reporter was impressed with the host, MacFarlane, saying that he was the “least recognizable OScar’s host since…1931” and mentioning the “possibility of being named the worst host in history”.  Of course their were other problems besides just the host.  The musical performances were “a little unnecessary” and “their was no reason for the show to be interrupted half way through”.  The ‘writing for the presenters was so bad that even Melissa McCarthy fell flat” and the New York times agrees that with the “fatuous presentations” even “Melissa McCarthy wasn’t funny”.  The Los Angeles Times and New York Times agree that the Oscar’s was unentertaining and  contained many flaws that brought the show to an unsuccess.

A Time I Helped Somebody (TAKS)

       Bustling around the kitchen, I grabbed tubaware, bags, lids, and any other assorted objects I would need to pack up a meal.  My mom and I had been slaving away in the kitchen for multiple hours; baking and cooking till the point of exhaustion.  This was not just a  typical meal for our family, but for someone else’s.  We wanted to make sure that everything was perfectly packaged and equally delicious.

       A family friend had recently been diagnosed with cancer.  It had been a complete surprise that nobody had even expected, especially her.  Her and her family were distraught over the news and were just trying to cope with it at the time.  We had known the family for years and yet we were completely helpless, except to give our condolences and encouragement.  When nobody was sure how to proceed, my mom and I decided that to help the family, we would do what we do best: cooking and baking.  So we set forth with a mission to do the only thing we could to make these times easier on the family.  We made dinner and dessert for one night and then the next day would deliver muffins for breakfast.  Any thing we could think of that they might like to eat, my mom and I made it.

        While preparing meals for someone may not seem like a great act of kindness or a huge event that changed someone else’s life, it was all that we could do to help in a time of crisis. Just the fact that a simple action by my mom and I could make a family’s day easier, makes me feel good about myself.  From then on, whenever someone is going through a trial or just having a tough time, I make a point to prepare a special treat for them.  Whether it be a meal to relieve some of the daily household stress, or just simpley dropping off a batch of cookies to brighten their day.  I like to think that I can help someone else in a small way which make me feel even better.  

War Attacks on Civilian Populations

People all around are dying. The air is raining fire, shrapnel, and ash; their is no escape, nowhere is safe. Individuals are slowly burning to death, the lucky ones die instantly from one of many explosions. Thousands are crying out for any sort of help, and yet, none comes. They are all alone in a dying city. The planes overhead have not come to rescue, but to kill. No sane person could ever feel good about murdering someone, let alone thousands of innocent people, so why is it that so many civilian bombings have taken place throughout the history of war? Ernest Hemingway said, “So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.” While attacking civilian populations could bring a quicker end to a war, brutally and mercilessly killing and destroying thousands of innocent human beings is completely morally perverse.
On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima and three days later, one on the city of Nagasaki. Combined, the bombings killed over about 200,000 people. All of them innocent civilians. The cities were flattened, completely decimated. After the bombings, not only Japan’s people, but their fighting spirit as well, was killed. Their surrender came soon after and the war was brought to an end. Many say that by releasing the atomic bombs on Japan, the United States saved hundreds of thousands of soldiers’ lives that would have been lost fighting in future battles. During the time of war, Truman believed that this was the best option to bring the war to a close and in the end, he was correct. The atomic bombs quickly and efficiently ended World War II. But was it truly worth it?
While some say that the lives lost in Japan on those days was less than what would have been lost in future fighting, did they count the amount of lives that would be lost in the future because of the effects of an atomic bomb? The horrific amount of radiation that was released with the explosion of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has caused leukemia and birth defects all the way from directly after the bombing until now. Nothing can be done to reverse these effects. Children of the twenty-first century are still dying today because of one decision to bomb innocent people. Truman made a war decision to bomb the civilians of Japan, but he did not make a humane one. Two atomic bombs killed women and children. Two atomic bombs killed people who may not have supported the war cause. Two atomic bombs killed the futures of generations to come.
The excuses of using civilian attacks to end a war are not excuses at all. There is never a reason for the mass murder of thousands of innocent people. It is unmoral and a terrible act by a country. Most soldiers do not consider the effects or even think about the people who are losing their lives, they are simply following orders. But, maybe if someone did think about the victims more often, then there would be fewer victims. If one were to truly consider the damage they are causing then they would be sickened solely by the idea. No sane person could ever feel good about murdering someone, let alone thousands of innocent people.

Slaughterhouse Five TAKS practice

The author of “slaughterhouse five” deglorifies war by showing the humiliation that the American soldiers face when captured by the Germans. Once they have been captured the Americans “formed a fool’s parade” and were forced to march through the streets of Germany while citizens gawked at them. Once at the prison the men are forced to disrobe and the German officials, “measured Billy’s upper right arm with his thumb and forefinger, asked a companion what sort of army would send a weakling like that to the front”, degrading him in front of other Americans and Germans alike. The humiliation that the Americans must feel is exemplified through these scenes.