Pieces and Their Descriptions

Speech in the Virginia Convention

"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech. The motivation behind the speech was to incite the determination of the Virginia House members to raise a militia, or voluntary army, that would fight against the British army. Patrick Henry's rhetoric was very effective, and his speech has become one of the more famous in American history.

Rip Van Winkle

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Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

?

Harlem (or Puzzled)

??

The Crisis

A collection of articles written by Thomas Paine during the American Revolutionary War

Huswifery

A deeply religious poem that reflects on humanity's relationship with God. Using an extended metaphor related to weaving cloth, the speaker implores God to help him be a good Christian. The poem feels like a kind of desperate preacher's speech, arguing that people should give themselves entirely to God—and, only in doing so, will people receive the full extent of God's love, glory, and majesty.

The Great Gatsby

A novel depicting the picturesque idea of the self made American man and entrepreneur who rose from obscurity.

The Lady or the Tiger?

A person accused of a crime is brought into a public arena and must choose one of two doors. Behind one door is a lady whom the king has deemed an appropriate match for the accused; behind the other is a fierce, hungry tiger.

The Turtle (From Grapes of Wrath)

A turtle tries to cross a road, but is constantly coming across many obstacles.

The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether

A young man is traveling through France with a companion. They pass near a well-known "Mad House" and decide to visit. His companion introduces him to the superintendent, Monsieur Maillard, then leaves. The superintendent informs the young man that the hospital has given up the system of management it was famous for. Previously, patients were allowed complete freedom. The practice had finally proved too dangerous and Maillard promises to show the young man the alternative system he installed after dinner. He escorts the young man to a banquet table crowded with guests and laden with food. To the visitor, the dinner guests seem rather mad as they take turns describing and then demonstrating the delusions of patients. But Maillard assures him that the lunatics are locked up; the guests are keepers. Maillard says the new system was invented by Doctors Tarr and Fether. He describes the dangers of the former system used. In one instance, he says, patients rebelled and imprisoned their keepers while they themselves enjoyed the wines and beauty of the grounds. Suddenly, there is a crash at the boarded-up windows. The visitor thinks it is the escaped madmen. It turns out, however, to be the keepers who were indeed imprisoned by the madmen, tarred and feathered and kept on a diet of bread and water. Maillard, the former superintendent, had gone mad himself and organized the rebellion.

Hop-Frog

About a king who keeps a jester who is also a 'dwarf' and a 'cripple', who has been given the name Hop-Frog on account of his unusual way of walking which was actually 'something between a leap and a wriggle' (owing to his disability). Hop-Frog, and Trippetta, a young dwarfish girl noted for her dancing, had been given to the king as presents by one of his conquering generals, who had brought them back from a 'barbarous' part of the world the king's generals had invaded. Hop-Frog and Trippetta have grown close, thanks to their shared status as slaves at the royal court, and look out for each other. One day the king orders a masquerade to be put on for his amusement, and forces Hop-Frog to drink wine and be 'merry'. When Trippetta begs with the king to leave her friend alone, the king violently pushes her to the floor, and then furiously throws wine in her face. Hop-Frog becomes quietly angry at this, and hatches a plan for revenge on the king and his fat, evil ministers. He persuades the king and his seven ministers to take part in a 'jest' which Hop-Frog calls 'the Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs'. To prepare them for this jest, Hop-Frog gets the men tarred and coated with flax to suggest the fur of the orangutan, and then chains them up. They then make their way into the main chamber, chained together, much to the shock and amusement of the guests present at court. Hop-Frog then has them chained to the ceiling, and proceeds to clamber up and pretend to examine them with his torch. He then announces that this has been his revenge on the king for striking his friend Trippetta, a defenceless girl, before setting the king and his seven councillors alight with the torch. Thanks to the tar and flax, they burn quickly, with the assorted guests unable to come to their aid, able only to look on in horror as the king and his men burn to death. Hop-Frog announces that this was his last jest, and then escapes through the sky-light. Everyone assumes that Trippetta had been his accomplice, and that the two of them fled to their native land, for they were never seen again.

Hills Like White Elephants

Basically a couple on a trains drinking alcohol and discussing whether or not the woman should have an abortion.

The Yellow Wallpaper

Describes that women who are suffering from post-partum depression, or any kind of depression, should be respected and allowed to make decisions regarding their own lifestyle and health. The actual poem is about a woman going crazy in what seems to be a mental institution.

Nature

Emerson asserts throughout Nature the primacy of spirit over matter. Nature's purpose is as a representation of the divine to promote human insight into the laws of the universe, and thus to bring man closer to God.

Self-Reliance

Emerson opens his essay with three epigraphs that preview the theme of self-reliance in the essay. He then begins the essay by reflecting on how often an individual has some great insight, only to dismiss it because it came from their own imagination. According to Emerson, we should prize these flashes of individual insight even more than those of famous writers and philosophers; it is the mature thinker who eventually realizes that originality of thought, rather than imitation of what everyone else believes, is the way to greatness.

Fire and Ice

Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and rebirth, while ice, like the desert, represents ignorance, darkness, sterility, and death.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Harry, a writer, and his wife, Helen, are stranded while on safari in Africa. A bearing burned out on their truck, and Harry is talking about the gangrene that has infected his leg when he did not apply iodine after he scratched it. As they wait for a rescue plane from Nairobi that he knows won't arrive on time, Harry spends his time drinking and insulting Helen. Harry reviews his life, realizing that he wasted his talent through procrastination and luxury from a marriage to a wealthy woman that he doesn't love. In a series of flashbacks, Harry recalls the mountains of Bulgaria and Constantinople, as well as the suddenly hollow, sick feeling of being alone in Paris. Later, there were Turks, and an American poet talking nonsense about the Dada movement, and headaches and quarrels, and watching people whom he would later write about. Uneasily, he recalls a man who'd been frozen, his body half-eaten by dogs, and a wounded officer so entangled in a wire fence that his bowels spilled over it. As Harry lies on his cot, he is aware that vultures are walking around his makeshift camp, and a hyena lurks in the shadows. Knowing that he will die before he wakes, Harry goes to sleep and dreams that the rescue plane is taking him to a snow covered summit of Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Its Western summit is called the Masai "Ngàje Ngài," the House of God, where he sees the legendary leopard. Helen wakes, and taking a flashlight, walks toward Harry's cot. Seeing that his leg is dangling alongside the cot and that the dressings are pulled down, she calls his name repeatedly. She listens for his breathing and can hear nothing. Outside the tent, the hyena whines — a cry that is strangely human.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

In a sentence: Ichabod Crane wants a girl so he becomes a school master but then gets chased by a headless horseman and dies. Or runs away—unclear. The end.

The Minister's Black Veil

In the small Puritan town of Milford, the townspeople walk to church. As they're settling into their seats, the sexton points out Milford's young minister, Reverend Hooper, walking thoughtfully toward the church. Hooper is wearing a black veil that covers his entire face except for his mouth and chin. This sight disturbs and perplexes the townspeople, and some think that Hooper has gone insane, but when he delivers his sermon for the day, they are unusually moved. Afterwards, Hooper goes through his usual practice of greeting his congregation, but no one seems to feel comfortable interacting with him... Years pass, and Hooper grows old and sick. On his deathbed, he is nursed by Elizabeth, who has continued to love him despite never marrying him. A group of clergymen, including the young Reverend Clark, gather around Hooper and praise him for his moral reputation. They beg him to allow them to remove his veil, so that they may see the face of a good man. Hooper shouts that his veil must never be lifted on earth. Confused, Clark asks Hooper what crime has caused Hooper to hide his face. In response, Hooper asks why Milford has been afraid of him for so long, and says that they should be afraid of each other. He can only be condemned, he continues, when all humans are completely honest and open with each other. With his dying words, Hooper says that he looks around and sees a black veil on every face. Shocked and impressed, the clergymen bury Hooper with his face still covered.

Paul Revere's Ride

It begins with the now-famous lines, "Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere" and depicts a dangerous, midnight ride as Revere warns the colonists about the British attack. The poem recounts his lantern signal system in the lines "one if by land, two if by sea."

The Law of Life

Koskoosh is expected to freeze to death, most likely, to starve, or to be killed and eaten by animal predators. In the society of the story, everyone is expected to contribute to the tribe. His family leaves him behind so he does end up dying.

Autobiography (A Petition of the Left Hand)

Literally about how people neglect their non-dominant hand (most people's left hand)

The Speech of Polly Baker

Main character has been charged five times with having children outside of wedlock, and has been punished by both fines and public humiliation. She questions the fairness of the law in general. She states that in her eyes, the law is unreasonable and that she has done nothing wrong. Polly says that her life has been inoffensive, and that she has never committed a crime. She says that she has brought children into the world, risking her life and doing everything she can to allow them to live and grow up.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.

The Snow Child

Set in winter, this tale follows the Count, who wishes for "a girl as white as snow" who is "as red as blood" and "as black as that bird's feather", and is rewarded with the "the child of his desire". The Count takes her onto his horse. The Countess swiftly begins to plot how she will get rid of the girl. During this process, as the Count denies her requests veiled to trick the girl, the clothes of the Countess shift from her to the child as a representation of the Count's wealth and attention. In the final attempt to be rid of her, the Countess orders the girl to pick a rose for her. The Count allows this and so the girl picks a rose. She pricks her finger and falls down dead. The Count dismounts his horse and rapes the girl's corpse as the Countess watches. When he is finished, the corpse melts away. The Countess reclaims her clothing. The Count retrieves the rose and, bowing, hands it to his wife. She drops it, proclaiming, "It bites!" The story derives from "Snow White" by the Grimm Brothers. In the traditional version the mother wishes for Snow White to be created, whereas, in Carter's version, the Count wishes for Snow White to be made from his specific sexual desires. Carter uses this to portray masculine control over the female identity. As he is only interested in her appearance, being the creation of his desires, Snow White becomes his sexual object and is helpless to do anything other than please him.

Dialogue Between Franklin and the Gout

The Gout wants Franklin to be more active but Franklin uses excuses such as it's too cold, warm, windy, and moist. Franklin uses these excuses 199 times a year, but the Gout continues to tell him to be active. Includes the quote: "our debts and our sins are always greater than we think".

The Stinky Cheese Man

The Stinky Cheese Man, a counterpart of The Gingerbread Man, is afraid to be near anyone because he thinks that they will eat him...but they are really trying to get away from his horrid smell.

Of Plymouth Plantation

The author records the history of his colony, promising to write in a plain, honest style that reflects his commitment to the truth.

The Wonders of the Invisible World

The author's understandings of the Salem Witch Trials. Ultimately, the writing defends his position and the dangers he believes that witches pose to the colonies. Heoften cites Saducismus Triumphatus by Joseph Glanvill as evidence of the existence and threat of witches. He writes with a certain amount of Puritanical paranoia. He expresses great fear that witches are everywhere and that they have a direct connection to the devil. He fears that the settlers are at risk of being overthrown by witches. While he attempts to position himself as an unbiased observer of the trials, it is clear throughout that he believes witches are a direct threat.

Declaration of Independence

The document announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. It was the last of a series of steps that led the colonies to final separation from Great Britain.

History of Virginia

The narrative describes important moments for the settlers, such as the author's encounters with the Native Americans, including Pocahontas. In fact, it is the important alliance that the author forges with Chief Powhatan that helps keep the people of Jamestown safe. VERY BIASED.

On the Quai at Smyrna

The narrator retells a story that he heard from a senior officer who was at Smyrna. There is a recollection of screaming--"they" would not stop until they sent search lights over "them." Interestingly, those who were screaming are never named. There also was a Turkish officer who approached in a rage after feeling insulted by one of his sailors. The Turkish officer accuses the gunners mate of the offense, though he apparently is very inoffensive (especially since he knows hardly any Turkish). After a conversation with this sailor, the senior officer finally sends him aboard the ship with instructions not to return to shore for the rest of the day. He becomes great friends with the Turkish officer after assuring him that the gunners mate will be severely dealt with on the ship, even though this is a lie. He remembers the dead babies as the worst part of his experience. Women would not give up their dead babies, often holding on to them for six days until finally they had to be taken away. He also describes an old woman who died and immediately went stiff and rigid. He told this to a doctor who claimed that such a thing was impossible. In the narrator's recollection of the conversation, the senior officer also talks about the harbor and things floating around in it. He says this was the only time in his life he dreamed. He also mentions that he does not mind nearly as much the women having babies as those holding dead ones. Finally he describes the Greeks as "nice chaps." He described how they murdered their baggage animals when they evacuated: they broke the mules' forelegs and pushed them into the shallow water.

Old Man at the Bridge

The narrator, a soldier for the Republican (left-wing) side, spots the old man as he crosses the bridge to see if the enemy, the right-wing Nationalists or Fascists, are advancing behind them. When the narrator returns, most of the other evacuees are gone but the old man is still sitting on the ground. The narrator engages with him, trying to rouse him to keep moving toward safety. The old man says that he came from the town of San Carlos, where he was taking care of animals. The narrator wonders why the old man is telling him this until the man explains that he didn't want to desert his creatures, so he was the last person to leave his village. He worries about the goats, pigeons, and cat that he has left behind to die. Meanwhile, the narrator worries about the advancing forces who will surely try to kill them both.When the narrator urges the old man to try to walk until he can catch a truck that could carry him away, the old man can only fall back down, repeating, "I was taking care of animals." The narrator concludes that he cannot help the old man, and presumably leaves him to die there.

Mother to Son

The poem follows a mother speaking to her son about her life, which she says "ain't been no crystal stair". She first describes the struggles she has faced and then urges him to continue moving forward. It was referenced by Martin Luther King Jr. several times in his speeches during the civil rights movement, and has been analyzed by several critics, notably for its style and representation of the mother.

The Unknown Citizen

The poem is a kind of satirical elegy written in praise of a man who has recently died and who lived what the government has deemed an exemplary life. This life, really, seems to have been perfectly ho-hum—exemplary only insofar as this man never did anything to question or deviate from society's expectations. On the one hand, the poem implicitly critiques the standardization of modern life, suggesting that people risks losing sight of what it means to be an individual when they focus exclusively on the same status symbols and markers of achievement (like having the right job, the right number of kids, the right car, and so forth). The poem also builds a frightening picture of a world ruled by total conformity and state oppression, in which a bureaucratic government dictates and spies on its citizens' daily lives.

Out, Out --

The poem is set in rural Vermont, where a young boy cutting wood with a buzz saw is called in for "supper" by his sister. But just as he turns to come in, the saw suddenly makes contact with his hand, causing an outpouring of blood that ultimately proves fatal. This tragedy, a young boy losing his life in such a wasteful and shocking way, implicitly questions the value of life itself. Indeed, the narrator's matter-of-fact presentation of the boy's final moments, and the way in which everyone soon goes back to their daily business, suggests that death is a mundane fact of daily life.

Upon a Spider Catching a Fly

The poem's subject is a spider, who weaves a web to catch his prey. A wasp lands on the web and fights ferociously to escape. The spider, knowing the wasp can sting, gently creeps and taps its back. When the wasp tries to attack, the spider retreats. Next, a fly is caught on the web. The spider quickly approaches the defenseless insect and kills it. The poem becomes more universal, and it explains that Satan tries to entangle man into his trap through sin. God, however, can easily break Satan's web and save man. Because of God's goodness and protection, man can live in joy, like a nightingale singing in a cage.

The Second Coming

The poem, in summary, prophesies that some sort of Second Coming (traditionally, this is the return of Christ to Earth, as was promised in the New Testament) is due, and that the anarchy that has arisen all around the world (partly because of the events of the First World War, though the tumultuous events in Yeats's home country of Ireland are also behind the poem) is a sign that this Second Coming cannot be far off.

Harlem

The poet narrates his disappointment of deferred dreams. The poem begins with a question as he compares the dreams or goals with a raisin, meat, and sweets. The poet has used these analogies to evoke the image of a postponed dream. Each image enables the reader to feel what exactly has happened to the speaker's dream and the impact left on his mind. The description shows that his vision does not vanish so easily; instead, it goes through specific processes before reaching the actual state of decay.

Upon the Burning of Our House

The speaker grieves the loss her home and all her material possessions, but also argues that this tragedy was God's way of teaching her a spiritual lesson about the value of piety and faith. The speaker takes comfort in the belief that no amount of earthly "wealth" comes close to the spiritual wealth that awaits the faithful in the afterlife—where God, "that mighty Architect," has built a heavenly home furnished with "glory."

To a Waterfowl

The speaker is out walking one day and sees a waterfowl overhead. He wonders where it is headed so late in the day. Since it's getting late, and getting dark, he knows that any potential hunters have no chance of catching this guy. That gets him thinking: just where is the bird headed? Then he realizes something. The bird isn't just aimlessly flying around. It's following a path laid out for it by a mysterious spiritual Power. The waterfowl keeps flying and flying, refusing to leave the cold air of the atmosphere for a nice nest down below. Suddenly the speaker can't see the bird anymore, but the bird's lesson will always be with him: God, or something very much like Him, will be there to guide him when he feels most alone.

The Ephemera

The story about a fly lol

Dr. Heidegger's Experiment

The story begins with old Dr. Heidegger inviting four elderly friends over to his rather eerie study: Colonel Killigrew, Mr. Medbourne, Mr. Gascoigne, and the Widow Wycherly. The four old folks have all fallen a long way from their prime; each squandered his own type of fortune (youth, money, power, beauty) and is now in a miserable state. The narrator also informs us that, when they were young, the three men used to fight over the attention of the Widow Wycherly. Heidegger's creepy study contains, among other things, a bust of Hippocrates with whom Dr. Heidegger consults from time to time, a magic black book, a skeleton in a closet, and a mirror that supposedly contains the visages of Heidegger's dead patients. The Doctor presents his guests with four empty champagne glasses and an ornate vase full of clear, bubbling liquid. He takes an old, withered rose, drops it into the vase, and shows his guests that it has in fact been rejuvenated to a fresh-blooming flower. Dr. Heidegger then claims that the liquid in the vase is water from the mythical Fountain of Youth. He would like their help in an experiment: they drink the water, he sits back and watches. The guests are clearly skeptical, but they agree. Before they drink, Dr. Heidegger warns them not to make the same mistakes they did the first time they were young. The guests drink, and they believe they have grown young again. (Whether or not they actually are physically transformed is ambiguous.) Of course, they act like fools, and the three men end up wrestling each other for the Widow's attention. In their tussling they knock over the vase, which spills the elixir all over the floor. It doesn't take long for the effects of the potion to wear off, and the four guests find that they are old again. Dr. Heidegger does not regret the spilled elixir; he has learned his lesson by watching his guests, and would not drink the water for anything. The guests, however, have learned nothing, and vow to travel to Florida, find the fountain of youth, and drink from it day and night.

The Black Cat

The story's narrator is an animal lover who, as he descends into alcoholism and perverse violence, begins mistreating his wife and his black cat Pluto. When Pluto attacks him in self-defense one night, he seizes the cat in a fury, cuts out one of its eyes, and hangs it. That night a fire destroys his house, leaving him in dire poverty. He later adopts a one-eyed black cat that he finds at a low-life tavern, but after he nearly trips on the cat, he attempts to kill it too. When his wife intervenes, he kills her instead and calmly conceals her in a wall. In the end the black cat reveals the narrator's crime to the police.

War Prayer

The stranger's prayer asks for God to give misery to both the enemies' soldiers and civilians. He asks God to break their spirits and cause grief to the enemy. He ends the prayer by stating that God is a god of love and is a refuge to anyone who seeks his help. The people later believe that the stranger was crazy.

The Jungle

This 1906 work by Upton Sinclair pointed out the abuses of the meat packing industry. The book led to the passage of the 1906 Meat Inspection Act.

Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold

This poem briefly described as the God's creations. He explains the specification of how God's hand created such beautiful and magnificent species. In the poem he is speaking of how a human is with and without a human soul. It also shows how God can revive his creation using his love. How can such a small species heal itself? A wasp, this is like magic, God is powerful in creating such creatures.

I Hear America Singing

This poem is written to express the importance of every type of jobs. Also, the poet praises the American working class and acknowledges their significant role in American society. He talks about the carpenters, woodcutters, masons, boatmen, and mechanics.

Walden

Thoreau extolls the joys and satisfactions of a simple life.

Civil Disobedience

Thoreau's Civil Disobedience espouses the need to prioritize one's conscience over the dictates of laws. It criticizes American social institutions and policies, most prominently slavery and the Mexican-American War.

Letters from an American Farmer (What Is an American?)

Written by Crèvecœur centering around various topics of the time period, including the birth of American nationalism and aspects of the slave trade

The Author to Her Book

Written by the author after she and her family had emigrated from England to America. In the poem, the author explores her own feelings towards her one published collection of poetry, The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America, which was supposedly published without her knowledge. The poem expresses doubt and disappointment about her work from start to finish. This is achieved through an extended metaphor that characterizes the book as the "ill-form'd offspring" of the author's "feeble brain."

A Very Short Story

a World War I soldier and a nurse named "Luz" fall in love as she tends to him over the course of three months in the hospital. They decide to marry, but when the soldier returns home to the United States, he receives a letter from Luz with the news that she has fallen in love with an officer. Later she writes that she has not married, but the soldier ignores her. Shortly afterward, the soldier contracts gonorrhea from a sexual encounter in a taxi.

Moby Dick

a former schoolteacher, Ishmael, famously signs up as sailor on a whaling voyage to cure a bout of depression/being a misanthropic dirtbag. On his way to find a ship in Nantucket, he meets Queequeg, a heavily tattooed South Sea Island harpooneer just returned from his latest whaling trip. Ishmael and Queequeg become best buds and roommates almost immediately. Together, they sign up for a voyage on the Pequod, which is just about to start on a three-year expedition to hunt sperm whales

The Sentence

a piece of work that is literally just a sentence

War is Kind

a poem about the Civil War, meant to show the harsh reality of the war and how people were brushing it off.

The Werewolf

a retelling of little red riding hood

Fruit and Words

a woman and her husband decide to go to las vegas but then her husband leaves her so she has to drive all the way back home. she starts to crave a mango and literally goes CRAZY over trying to find one. then, she finally finds a shop with many fruits. this shop also has words made out of different materials. the word "apples" is made of actual apples. she explores the shop and sees that the seller is also selling liquids and gasses. then she accidentally breaks some gasses and the seller wants to kill her. literally wtf

Theme for English B

a young African American college student works on an assignment - he must write a piece about himself that is true. He walks home and sits down in his Harlem apartment, explaining who he is and what he likes. He wonders if his writing is "colored" because he is "colored." He eventually concludes that he and his white instructor are inextricably connected and can learn from each other.

O Captain! My Captain!

about the death of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Well received upon publication, the poem was Whitman's first to be anthologized and the most popular during his lifetime.

Young Goodman Brown

goodman brown has a gf with pink bows and she is nervous to leave him alone. turns out, goodman brown has sex and meets the devil in the woods. goodman brown lives a fearful life and the ribbons turn red? i think

Visitors to the Black Belt

his poem seems to be about the set assumptions of those outside of Harlem, of those outside the black community. This speaker, who I think of as a black speaker, is critiquing how the "visitors" see his world, presumably they are white, in my mind.

The Road Not Taken

is an extended metaphor in which the road "less traveled" symbolizes the path of nonconformity. The speaker, when trying to choose which road to take, looks for the road that seems less worn.

2BR02B

obvious

Harrison Bergeron

obvious

Hoodwinked

obvious

Of Mice and Men

obvious

Shrek

obvious

Slaughterhouse-Five

obvious

The Balloon

obvious

The Crucible

obvious

The Dark Knight

obvious

The Scarlet Letter

obvious

The School

obvious

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

obvious

A Fly Buzzed When I Died

poem about the dying speaker who illustrates her last moments alive. the speaker illustrates the quietness, the people gathered around her, and a fly buzzing around

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

poem that describes the narrator's casual carriage ride with death as the suitor on an everlasting journey.

Hymn

short story about mother's having children made of different materials

Death Watch

story about 10 men who go to 10 doctors and found out that they all have 2 weeks to live. this turns out to be false. one commits suicide, one is HAPPY because he was suicidal (but he doesn't even die), etc.

To Build a Fire

story about a newcomer to the Yukon who travels through the extreme cold with his dog, despite warnings that it is too dangerous. The man falls through a thin patch of ice. Knowing that he'll freeze to death if he doesn't dry his feet, he tries to build a fire, but fails. He ends up freezing to death and his dog runs off.

I, Too

the speaker claims that he "is America" even though he is forced to eat dinner in the kitchen when guests come. Someday, he knows that he will sit at the table and everyone will see how beautiful he is.

Dreams

the speaker counsels the readers to hold on tight to their dreams, for a life without dreams is comparable to a "broken-winged bird" and a "barren field."

Game

the story with the man playing jacks... the men have to shoot each other if the other one acts strange. they are isolated from society