Sarah Kroese

  How often do you use electronics? If you are like most people, then you probably use them everyday, maybe every hour! You might not even think about the fact that you are looking at a TV or checking the weather on your phone. Our culture is so integrated with technology that we can hardly do anything without coming in contact with it. Though there are many advantages in having these recourses, could there also be negative side effects? Technology has advanced our world in many ways. In fact, if they were taken away, I don’t believe we would know how to function. Smartphones give use open access to all the information in the world and can store our personal files as well. Smart watches can help people with health problems regulate their own heart rate and blood pressure. Families separated by distance are only a phone call or text away. Boredom is a thing of the past with TV shows and YouTube accessible on any device. Perhaps one of the most important advant...

  Mark Twain is a giant in American literature. His work has influenced millions of individuals and touched as many hearts. However, when it comes to teaching his works, there are many difficulties to overcome. In their article Blame it on Twain, Southard and Muller offer some ideas for dealing with the legendary Huckleberry Finn. These four techniques give us insight into the language of the past and the ideas we currently hold. In Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, many of his characters speak in different regional tongues. At the beginning of the book, Twain even states that, “In this book a number of dialects are used, to wit: the Missouri Negro dialect; the extremist form of the back woods Southwestern dialect; the ordinary “Pike County” dialect; and four modified varieties of this time” (Southard and Muller, p. 630). While this is an amazing accomplishment, it poses a challenge to educators who must teach this historic novel. This is a difficult book to read; how can it ...

  America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. But are we really free? Is there something beyond our sight that keeps us enslaved? Eric Schlosser would answer with yes. America has a control over our minds and the minds of everyone we come in contact with. Abram, a brave soul who travels into Indonesia, experiences this phenomenon when he returns to the United States. By looking through the eyes of Schlosser, the causes of Americanization and brainwashing are shown, while the effects of these are experienced by Abram. In order to apply Schlosser, Abram’s experience must be understood. When Abram visits rural Asia, he discovers a whole new world beyond what he is accustomed to. Reconnecting with nature spiritually awakens him. Abram stated, “I began to see and hear in a manner I never had before” (Abram p.15). He felt a power in nature. The world was not simply around him anymore, it was within him. He experienced several different incredible encounters w...