The price of materialism

As time goes by the American dream is becoming more and more materialistic. I believe that the Americans have always been materialistic to a greater or lesser extent, but I’m sure when I say that the world has never been as materialistic as it is today. If we take a look back in time people of course aspired of having a well-paying job so they could live in a nice house in the suburb and own one or sometimes two nice cars. That would be more than enough and more than satisfying. Today everything is different. Not that we don’t longer aspire these things. We just aspire so much more that it sometimes can get sad and terrifying what or who we have become. [Læs mere…]

The Sentry

1. Read the text carefully. You may have to read it twice or even three times to fully understand all aspects of it.

2. Prepare a brief summary of the main points of the story (app 2 min).

The text is about a 10-year-old boy named Bojan. His father was assigned a sentry mastiff called Kaiser, who would stay with them. Bojan had never had a dog and he had therefore looked forward to meeting the dog, but he was very disappointed when he saw “the behemoth”. Although Kaiser was limited by the yard, the dog still dominated the neighborhood. Many in the neighborhood were scared of the dog and the people complained, but always indirectly with reluctance. When Bojan was near the dog he got the feeling of being uncovered. He tried to avoid Kaiser, but they always crossed paths. When Bojan was 11 years, he found his own way to “tame” the dog. It started one day when Bojan pointed an empty gun at Kaiser and fired and finally the dog would obey. The dog began to whine and more often than not, the dog pissed itself. [Læs mere…]

The Whaler

This short story takes place in the Irish county Donegal in an area with hills covered with grass. The hills must be located close to the city because the narrator is carrying this week’s groceries with him: “I had been shopping for my mother”[1].

The narrator is not described in details as he is the one telling the story. However, it is clear that he is doing well in school and he is well read because he has read many books on geography: “”I like geography,” I said. “I’ve been reading books about the world. About the frozen North. About the Arctic.””[2]. [Læs mere…]

The Diamond Mine

The theme of coming of age is often apparent in creative outlets, whether it’s literature, movies, music or the art of painting. All throughout history this transition has been associated with great importance seeing that this is the final step into adulthood. In many civilizations and cultures this rite of passage has been marked with some sort of joyous party or ceremony. These traditions exist even today but hold little to no actual value to the transition itself. It is merely a formal event that has left an imprint of sentimental importance on modern Western cultures – this even includes, but is not limited to, some religious rituals such as the Bat Mitzvah in Judaism or more significantly the confirmation in Catholicism and mainline Protestantism, which many Danish teenagers go along with simply because it is what has always been done. No questions asked. However, the actual rite of passage is to be found elsewhere. It is found with its lips pressed tenderly up against another’s, embracing in what will forever be remembered as the first kiss. It can be found within the expeditious heartbeats of the young lovers and especially alongside their first sexual experience. In modern societies the coming of age theme is evidently associated with the first love and as an extent of that, the first sexual act. [Læs mere…]