Sault Ste. Marie sand and gravel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sault Ste. Marie sand and gravel - Essay Example These exposed rocks pose a challenge to the government in terms of using road as a means of transport. Preference is made on alternatives, which are viewed to be cheaper in transportation of other products. It is believed that the whole of Ontario was once covered by glacial. Glaciation resulted to the emergence of several lakes known as glacial lakes in the region. The lakes are found in the north of Ontario as well as the southern and western boundaries. Sand was left in the middle region with rivers such as the Grand River flowing to the formed lakes. Glaciation leads to the exposure of rocks in the southern region of Ontario which are scattered. Oak ridge moraine is an example of conspicuous events in glaciated areas exposed by the height of land that lies between the Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario. Horse shoe moraines are evident in the Bruce peninsula to the southeast where escarpments extend towards Lake Erie. Deposits and drumlins are also found in the Petersburg region. Further, there is a glacial lake and rain forest region to the south, which is located to the south west of Lake Superior. The forest region is reasonably fertile due to the deposition of the glacial masses. The geographical landscape of the southern region does not favor the construction of roads due to the rugged terrain together with extended water bodies. For this reason, the use of tracks to transport sand to the southern region may not be possible as it would be uneconomical considering the cost of transport and construction of roads. Political issues also play part in the impossibility of transporting sand and gravel to the south. Issues of land ownership and establishment of parks in appreciation of wilderness has caused laxity in constructing roads to the south. Local conservation has been the point of focus thereby taking preference at the expense of road construction in the region for commercial purposes. Much emphasis is made on agriculture as a basis of planning

The Differences in Views About Human Nature Essay Example for Free

The Differences in Views About Human Nature Essay He believes that â€Å"Individual effort was needed to cultivate oneself, but one’s natural tendencies were good to begin with. In this way, Mencius has integrated elements of Taoism into his theory. Basically, people are born well with good intentions, but they must work to maintain their good nature. Mencius says, â€Å"Every person has a heart-mind which feels for others† . He applies this to a famous example – if one witnessed a child falling into a well, it is not possible to not feel anything. Every person has the heart-mind that would be shocked and sympathetic, which may become the motivation to act and save the child. It would not be for the sake on being on good terms with the child’s parents, or be praised by the neighbors . However, if one listens to their senses of desire, â€Å"I don’t want to be involved† or â€Å"If I try to save the child, I might injure myself in the process†, then they would stop themselves from helping. It is important to point out that Mencius did not mention anything about how ones responding â€Å"act†, and that it is having the â€Å"feeling† that counts. On the other hand, Xunzi believed that human nature is bad. Nobody is born with principles accustomed in their nature. For that reason, people must be educated and cultivated in ethics to become good. Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity. â€Å"A person is born with feelings of envy and hate. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to violence and crime, and any sense of loyalty and good faith will be abandoned. † However, he also believed that, although human nature is bad, people still have the capacity to becoming good. For example, a great leader like Martin Luther King was born no differently from Adolf Hitler. They both inherited the same nature at birth. Applying Xunzi’s theory, the differences would be that one practiced benevolence and righteousness, as well as followed the proper rules and standards, and one (Hitler) obviously did not. This also suggests that these elements are principles that have to be known first before being put into practice. It is about the environment that one is brought up with that influences the way one acts. If you do not know a man, look at his friends; if you do not know a ruler, look at his attendants. Environment is the important thing! Environment is the important thing! As for the basis for ruling a country, I would personally choose Mencius’s assertion of human nature is good. For example, if the leader of America thought about Iraq in Xunzi’s perspective, that human nature is bad, they would be on guard and suspicious of the motives of the Iraqi people. This leads to the feeling of unease and both sides are tensed. The inability to trust will result to both countries expecting the worst, and therefore making the situation more aggravated and war will be more likely to break out. While, by thinking in Mencius’s perspective, America would only assume the good in Iraqi people, and that there can be a solution made through a mutual understanding through trust, decency and self-actualization. No more nuclear weapons will be produced and less conflicts will happen, which leads to less innocent people dying. It is better to assume that people are born good, so it is easier to feel security and trust each other. 100% Mencius for everyone is the perfect recipe to WORLD PEACE. That’s right.

Jewish Women: Keeping the Faith :: Essays Papers

Jewish Women: Keeping the Faith Jewish women in Tucson and Nogales played an enormous role in keeping the Jewish community intact in these areas. Women in these communities did this through their involvement in the religious institutions, including synagogues and other places of worship. The pioneer Jewish women and the Jewish women of today in the southwest had and still have dominant roles in keeping their religion alive in Arizona. To understand the breadth of women’s involvement in the development and maintenance of the religious structure in southern Arizona, specifically Tucson and Nogales I talked to a few individuals who discussed their experiences. Esther Capin and Bette Cooper are Jewish women from Nogales who grew up there during the time when Jews were first coming to that area. Theodore (Ted) Bloom’s family has played a significant role in the history of the Jewish community in Tucson. His grandmother, mother, aunt, and now his wife have truly led the way in keeping the Jewish religious tradition alive in Tucson. Finally, Alma Bongarten lives in Tucson and shared with me information about her own role and other women’s roles in the Jewish synagogues. These people together helped me piece together a very clear vision of women’s involvement in the religious aspect of the Jewish community in southern Arizona. Their involvement includes keeping the religion alive without the presence of a temple, building the first synagogue in Arizona, generally being active members of the temples, bringing the lost traditions back, and by being more present in the synagogues as religious leaders and figures. Jewish women in early Tucson and presently in Nogales have kept their religion alive without the presence of a synagogue. When Terese Marx Ferrin, Ted Bloom’s grandmother, first came to Tucson there was no temple or any place of worship for the Jews of the community. Regardless of this setback, the Jewish tradition was still present. Terese took it upon herself to keep the Torah, the religious book of Hebrew laws, in her own home. It was considered a great honor to house this sacred book. Not only did she house the Torah, but Terese would also host services at her house because of the absence of a synagogue in Tucson.

Are Boys in Crisis in Our Schools? Essay

Introduction There are many issues that concerns education that all educators should be aware of. One of those issue happens to be are boys in crisis. This is important for all early childhood educators to know because in their classroom they are going to have a class full of children and almost half of them will be boys. As teachers we should know how to help all of our students to succeed and grow up to be productive members of society. Our job as teachers is to insure that we are teaching the state standards and that the students are meeting those standards in order to move up in their education. John Dewey believed that all children learn differently and that education should not be resolved around curriculum, but it should be revolved around the abilities of the student. In the following pages I will be discussing both sides of the debate on boys’ crisis and my belief on the issue. First there are a couple articles and a book that support that boys are indeed in crisis. In each of these sources, they talk about how times have changed. It used to be known that girls were considered in crisis, but after a drastic change in the ways school are ran boys are now suffering and being place as the ones in crisis. Then there are a few articles that disagree with boys’ crisis. Most of the articles talk about how boys are doing fine and they are only a little behind academically. Also one of the articles talks boys scoring higher than girls in almost every subject. Lastly, I will reveal my beliefs on the issue as well as how I plan to implement my beliefs in my practices as and early childhood educator. The Debate There are many people in the United States whom agree with the statement boys in crisis. One article talk about how boys are getting left behind girls academically. There is a news article that talks about the gender gap and how boys are lagging. Also there is a book that discusses how boys are in crisis not girls. In the article written by Dan Haley, he talks about how girls are scoring higher than bays in almost every subject and some it is more obvious like reading and writing. He discusses how in 1992, there were study that showed that girls were being short changed by the school and how behind they were in math and science. After the media took a hold of the story of girls lagging academically, school started to change. But, instead of just catching up to the boys, they achieved higher than the boys. â€Å"A new gender gap is widening, this time in reading and writing, and boys are on the bottom end. † (Haley, 2009) Haley believes that there should be a movement for the men, just like they had for the girls. Test score showed even more how girls are better academically in many areas such as reading. â€Å"As a public policy issue, this has barely made its way into radar screen of policy makers. † (Haley, 2009) He thinks that the boys’ crisis has to do with not a how boys are being taught, but more about schools not trying to teach the children the way they learn best. â€Å"Unless k-12 leaders get serious about changing the way they teach boys, we’ll all suffer. † (Haley, 2009) Next in the news article written by David Kohn, he talks about how girls are leaving the boys behind academically in school. He starts off talking about how girls use to become nurses and teacher, but nothing high than that. After the equal opportunity laws were passed girls we able to become doctors and principal. Now a days the boys are the ones that need a little more help in school because they are lagging behind. â€Å"Far more boys than girls are found at the very bottom of the academic rank. † (Kohn, 2003) Many states have reported that boys are getting out of school and the girls taking over. It has been proven that â€Å"Girls outperform boys in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college, and graduate school. † (Kohn, 2003) He believes that boys are getting mixed message on what will make them good students and what will make them good men. Kohn talks about how boys are expected to be athletes and don’t get supported for doing well in school. â€Å"Boys are falling further behind girls in reading and writing, and still, there’s no public outcry the way there was for girls, and we wanted to find out why. †(Kohn, 2003) Boys’ crisis will not end unless people stand up for them as they once did for girls. Lastly, in the book written by Christina Hoff Sommers which talks about how the tables have turn from girls in crisis to boys. â€Å"Students who dominate the drop out list, the suspension list, the failure list and other negative indices of non-achievement in school are males at a wide ratio. †(Sommers, 2000) She talks about how boys rather rush through their homework to be able to go outside and play unlike girls who take their time to prefect their work. Boys are suffering in education more than ever because everyone believe that girls were in crisis and teachers started to focus on their needs and stop focusing on the boys needs to succeed. â€Å"Studies showing the existence of a serious educational gender gap adverse to boys began to surface. † (Sommers, 2000) The boys’ crisis also has to deal with boys not having enough contact with their teachers because they â€Å"believe that there is no one they can turn to for help† (Sommers, 2000) Sommers believes that â€Å"we should raise boys like we raise girls. † (Sommers, 2000) That way we can get them out of crisis. However, there are people that disagree with the statement boys in crisis. There are many articles that talk about boys having trouble in school, but it doesn’t mark them in crisis. There are articles that talk about how schools focus more on girl needs than on boys. Also there is a study that says that boys are scoring higher than girls in some areas. Deborah Perkins-Gough wrote an article that discussed why boy are falling behind girls in school. She believed there were many reason and one was, â€Å"today’s classrooms are too structured, ignoring boys’ energetic natures and their need for physical movement. † (Perkins-Gough, 2006) Most schools want the children to sit still and be quite in order to learn. For boys they need to be able to move around. It isn’t easy for them to be in a quite environment and that is why they are always being disciplined. In the last decade it is proven that boys are scoring higher than they did before according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. They even say that in some areas boys are achieving higher scores then girls, but other areas they are scoring less than girls. In her article she does admit that there is a â€Å"gender gap in education attainment in the areas of grade promotion, high school graduation rates, and college attendance. †(Perkins-Gough, 2006) She talks about how education policymakers should not focus on boy crisis, but rather look at the gaps among students of different races and class. They should also take in concentration that, â€Å"In the past 30 years, the numbers of boys labeled as learning disabled or as having ADHD has â€Å"exploded†; boys now make up two-thirds of students in special education. † (Perkins-Gough, 2006) she believes that policymakers, educators, and parents should not worry about boys being in crisis because they are doing just fine. They need to be more concerned finding more reach on how to help all children learn through their learning styles. The next article discusses that boys and girls are different and that many schools are too girl friendly. In this article it talks about the point of view of Michael Gurian. He â€Å"believes that boys are not being well-served by what he calls our â€Å"girl-friendly† schools. † (It’s a male thing, 2006) 70 to 90 percent of boys are receiving grades that are no higher than D’s and F’s, that boys are 90 percent of the discipline problems and are 80 percent of the high school drops out. They also make up less than half of a college campus. In Gurian believes this has to do with the fact that schools are more girl-friendly. When he says girl friendly he means, â€Å"success in school comes more readily for students who can read and write well-areas in which girls tend to do better than boys. †(It’s a male thing, 2006) Gurian say that boys work better and learn better when they are allowed to move around. The reason they are more likely to be in trouble is because they have to sit still. He also finds single-sex classrooms beneficial because it can focus on a gender based instructions where as other look at the reduction of distraction in the classroom that you have when both boys and girls are in the same class. Gurian’s solutions for boy to be at the same level as girl is to â€Å"address the needs of boys include some physical changes in classrooms, as well as modifications in curriculum and learning materials. † (It’s a male thing, 2006) Many would not agree, but more research is being done to prove that Gurian is right. Boys are not in crisis, but need their learning styles met in order to succeed. Lastly, we have an article written by Muna Husain and Daniel Milliment talking about how boy crisis is a myth. They discuss how they â€Å"step back and assess the validity of â€Å"The boy crisis† in US primary schools by analyzing the gender gap in math and reading. †(Husain, 2009) In figuring out their conclusion that boy crisis is a myth they did a nationwide test on students from kindergarten to third grade. This test let them see if boys have gained or lost ground in the first four years of their academic careers. Even though this test is similar to how other people figure out the racial achievement gap, Husain and Millment did not just focus on the average achievement gap, but they also focused on the differences across the distribution. Conducting their test this way they end with the result that â€Å"boys outperform girls in math across virtually the entire distribution by the end of third grade, and gain ground across the entire distribution over the first 4 years of school. † (Husain, 2009) This proves that the conceptionof boy crisis in the United States is indeed unclear do to the fact boys are better in math. ? Advocacy for one side of the Debate I disagree with the statement boys in crisis for the following reasons, schools are more girl-friendly rather than boy, boys learn in a different way than girls, and depending on how a child is raised can affect how they do academically. It is true that boys are having trouble in school, but that doesn’t quite mean that it is a crisis. That just shows that boys have needs that are different to girls. When it is saying that boys are in crisis, it is actually saying that boys are in an uncertain and painful period of time that must be addressed in a timely matter in order to avoid disaster. In my opinion that does not sound like what boys are in crisis. They do need helped academically and behaviorally, but in each article I read that disagreed with boys in crisis talk about how boys are a little behind or are scoring higher in subject compared to the girls. To me this proves that boys are not in crisis. Ethical standards are always thrown around when policy makers are making new policy. What is the best way to handle certain situations? The ethical standard I believe that would best support my given position of boys’ are not in crisis would be the principal of fairness. I believe that it is unfair for schools to only meet the needs of the girls’ population leaving the boys to having trouble behaviorally. If schools were fair they would try to adapt the way students are taught to fit the needs of both the boys and girls. The UN rights of a child states in article 3 â€Å"The best interests of children must be the primary concern in making decisions that may affect them. †(UNICEF, Factsheet) I believe this support my debate because it is not in the best interest to title boys in crisis. Boys need teachers to teach them in the best way that will help them learn instead of teaching the boys like they teach the girls. Another right that the UN gives children is talked about in article 28 the right to an education. This is because boys are still learning and are benefitting from the education even though girls in some case are doing better academically. People need to realize that education means to acquire knowledge in a school type of setting and both boys and girls are doing so even at different rates. As an early child care provider I will take into consideration that boys and girls are different when it comes to the way they learn. In my classroom I will meet the needs of all my students by having times where it is quite and the students must listen to lectures. Also I will have times where students can talk to each other and move around the room doing hands on activities. This will help all of my students succeed and be on the same page. There are many leadership roles a teacher may find themselves using in their teaching career. In my practices I will be using transformational leadership because I am creating an environment that will help all of my students. Also I want to be able to inspire my students to adapt to learning together that fit everyone learning style and maybe help the students to succeed no matter how they are taught. Using this leadership in my class will help not only the students, but it will help my fellow teachers that might have my students in years to come. Also I will be providing a servant leadership because I will focus on the needs and goals of my students to achieve their potential success and above. These are the best leadership skill to enhance the way my classroom will be run and how it will benefit the students in the long run. This will also help to keep both the boys and girls falling into the category of being in crisis. References Anonymous (2006). It’s a male thing. American Teacher, Vol:90 Issue 4. From http://wilsontxt. hwwilson. com. ezproxy1. lib. asu. edu/pdffull/04575/168yt/dsv. pdf Haley, D. (2004) Leaving our boys behind. The Denver Post. Pg. B-07 From http://www. lexisnexis. com. ezproxy1. lib. asu. edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?. shr=t&csi=144565&sr=HLEAD(Leaving+our+boys+behind)+and+date+is+August,+2004 Husain, M. and Millimet, D. L. (2009). The mythical ‘boy crisis’? Economics of Education Reviewer, vol:28 Issue1 38-48. From http://www. sciencedirect. com. ezproxy1. lib. asu. edu/science? _ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VB9-4S7J5M1-2&_user=56861&_coverDate=02%2F28%2F2009&_rdoc=1& _fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000059542&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=56861&md5=969cbbac9b77650ac70954fdfbd2bfe7&searchtype=a#sec1 Kohn, D. (2003). The gender gap: boys lagging. CBS.

Brush Yo Teeth

Brush your teeth added 8-7-97 Original Author Unknown Sung to: â€Å"Row, Row Row your Boat† Brush, brush, brush your teeth. At least two times a day. Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, Fighting tooth decay. Floss, floss,floss your teeth. Every single day. Gently, gently, gently,gently, Whisking Plaque away. Rinse, rinse, rinse your teeth Every single day. Swishing, swishing, swishing, swishing, Fighting tooth decay. * Brush twice a day with an ADA — accepted fluoride toothpaste to remove plaque-the sticky film on teeth that's the main cause of tooth decay. Floss daily to remove plaque from between your teeth and under the gumline, before it can harden into tartar. Once tartar has formed, it can only be removed by a professional cleaning. * Eat a well-balanced diet that limits starchy or sugary foods, which produce plaque acids that cause tooth decay. When you do eat these foods, try to eat them with your meal instead of as a snack-the extra saliva produced during a meal helps rinse food from the mouth. * Use dental products that contain fluoride, including toothpaste. * Make sure that your children's drinking water is fluoridated.If your water supply; municipal, well or bottled does not contain fluoride, your dentist or pediatrician may prescribe daily fluoride supplements. * Take your child to the dentist for regular checkups. What Brushing Techniques Can I Show My Child? You may want to supervise your children until they get the hang of these simple steps: * Use a pea-sized dab of an ADA-accepted fluoride toothpaste. Take care that your child does not swallow the toothpaste. * Using a soft-bristled toothbrush, brush the inside surface of each tooth first, where plaque may accumulate most.Brush gently back and forth. * Clean the outer surfaces of each tooth. Angle the brush along the outer gumline. Gently brush back and forth. * Brush the chewing surface of each tooth. Gently brush back and forth. * Use the tip of the brush to clean behind each front tooth, both top and bottom. * It's always fun to brush the tongue! When Should My Child Begin Flossing? Because flossing removes food particles and plaque between teeth that brushing misses, you should floss for your children beginning at age 4. By the time they reach age 8, most kids can begin flossing for themselves.What are Dental Sealants and How Do I Know if My Child Needs Them? A dental sealant creates a highly-effective barrier against decay. Sealants are thin plastic coatings applied to the chewing surfaces of a child's permanent back teeth, where most cavities form. Applying a sealant is not painful and can be performed in one dental visit. Your dentist can tell you whether your child might benefit from a dental sealant. What is Fluoride and How Do I Know if My Child is Getting the Right Amount? Fluoride is one of the best ways to help prevent against tooth decay.A naturally occurring mineral, fluoride combines with the tooth's enamel to strengthen it. In many mu nicipal water supplies, the right amount of fluoride is added for proper tooth development. To find out whether your water contains fluoride, and how much, call your local water district. If your water supply does not contain any (or enough) fluoride, your child's pediatrician or dentist may suggest using fluoride drops or a mouthrinse in addition to a fluoride toothpaste. How Important is Diet to My Child's Oral Health? A balanced diet is necessary for your child to develop strong, decay-resistant teeth.In addition to a full range of vitamins and minerals, a child's diet should include plenty of calcium, phosphorous, and proper levels of fluoride. If fluoride is your child's greatest protection against tooth decay, then frequent snacking may be the biggest enemy. The sugars and starches found in many foods and snacks like cookies, candies, dried fruit, soft drinks, pretzels and potato chips combine with plaque on teeth to create acids. These acids attack the tooth enamel and may le ad to cavities. Each â€Å"plaque attack† can last up to 20 minutes after a meal or snack has been finished.Even a little nibble can create plaque acids. So it's best to limit snacking between meals. What Should I Do if My Child Chips, Breaks or Knocks Out a Tooth? With any injury to your child's mouth, you should contact your dentist immediately. The dentist will want to examine the affected area and determine appropriate treatment. If your child is in pain from a broken, cracked or chipped tooth, you should visit the dentist immediately. You may want to give an over-the-counter pain reliever to your child until his/her appointment.If possible, keep any part of the tooth that has broken off and take this with you to the dentist. If a tooth is completely knocked out of the mouth by an injury, take the tooth to your dentist as soon as possible. Handle the tooth as little as possible — do not wipe or otherwise clean the tooth. Store the tooth in water or milk until you g et to a dentist. It may be possible for the tooth to be placed back into your child's mouth, a procedure called reimplantation. Fine motor and measuring Toothpaste Putty In bowl, mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon white glue, and ? teaspoon toothpaste (not gel).Add ? teaspoon water. Stir until mixture is soft like putty. Putty may begin to harden in 20 minutes; to soften add a drop of water. Projects will dry hard in 24 hours. The more you pull and stretch this like taffy the better it gets. I also keep a small container like a tuna can on the table with a little water in it. This putty dries fast and if the children just dip their fingers periodically in the water and then handle the putty the few drops of water restores the texture. You can make a picture recipe of this and each child can follow the recipe to make their own personal amount of this dough

buy custom Technology Tools for Communication essay

buy custom Technology Tools for Communication essay Communication is essential for any business success in the world today. It is therefore important to employs technological tools for communication between potential customers and company to enhance efficiency. There are a variety of technology tools for communication in the business world today. Video and web conferencing is one of the very important tools for communication. This technology helps in transmitting and receiving sound and pictures in real-time. Web conferencing is a technological advancement in communication that allows the sharing of documents and applications. This communication tool is aided by a teleprecence conference room which includes ultra-high definition cameras. Again, the conference rooms have large screen with discrete sound to create in person experience. Another technology tool for communication is Skype. This system can do conferencing with up to 24 people. Its audio quality is excellent though on a one to one communication at a time. Skype is a tool for communication that gives free Voice Over IP (VoIP) program that allows the user to have Instant Message (IM) or call (VoIP) through the users computer. In addition, smart tools like the electronic whiteboards have been employed in classroom lessons for teaching. They allow the instructor to display information from the computer to the electronic board allowing students interaction with the displayed information. Online chat tools are also part of the technology tools for communication. This is any type of communication that is over the internet though one to one and text-based. This tool for communication is used in place of email where there is need for live communication. Moreover, internet has become a very important tool for communication. This tool is basically applicable with search engines such as Google and yahoo. Many business organizations communicate to their clients through web postings and in these search engines. Other technology tools for communication include mobile telephones such as Smartphone. They have large screen with an open operating system offering improved capabilities with computer-like functions. Smartphone can incorporate advances features such as e-mails and internet as well as e-book functions. Technology and internet have made communication fast and efficient which has in turn improved business communication and education systems in the world today. Buy custom Technology Tools for Communication essay

Free Essays on Tim Obrien

Tim O’Brien â€Å"†¦The literal truth is ultimately, to me, irrelevant. What matters to me is the heart-truth. I’m going to die, you’re all going to die; the earth is going to flame out when the sun goes. We all know the facts. The truth – I mean, does it matter what the real Hamlet was like, or the real Ulysses – does it matter? Well, I don’t think so. In the fundamental human way, the ways we think about in our dream-lives, and our moral lives, and our spiritual lives, what matters is what happens in our hearts. A good lie, if nobly told, for good reason, seems to me preferable to a very boring and pedestrian truth, which can lie, too.† -Tim O’Brien 1999 Tim O’Brien manipulates the reader’s customary understanding Tim by giving the narrator of â€Å"The Things They Carried† his own name and many of his own biographical details (date of birth, military record, and so on) while simultaneously stressing, throughout the narrative, that all the characters (including the narrator) are fictional and all the stories (including those in which the narrator takes part) are invented. It could be said that, in â€Å"The Things They Carried†, everything is true but nothing is authentic (Wharton). O’Brien’s readers have experienced immense difficulty when trying to get to grips with the slippery nature of the so called â€Å"authenticity† (or in fact the inauthenticity†) of O’Brien’s writing. Of all the devices used to blur the boundaries between truth and fiction, the books narrator seems to present the most difficulties for the reader. To understand O’Brien’s writing, it seems to be essential to make a clear distinction between Tim O’Brien the fictitious narrator (â€Å"The I-narrator) and Tim O’Brien the real, living author (â€Å"Tim O’Brien† or â€Å"O’Brien†). Tim O’Brien is an author still living and writing. He was born in 1946, in a small town in Minnesota (Gale Group, 1999). After graduating... Free Essays on Tim Obrien Free Essays on Tim Obrien Tim O’Brien â€Å"†¦The literal truth is ultimately, to me, irrelevant. What matters to me is the heart-truth. I’m going to die, you’re all going to die; the earth is going to flame out when the sun goes. We all know the facts. The truth – I mean, does it matter what the real Hamlet was like, or the real Ulysses – does it matter? Well, I don’t think so. In the fundamental human way, the ways we think about in our dream-lives, and our moral lives, and our spiritual lives, what matters is what happens in our hearts. A good lie, if nobly told, for good reason, seems to me preferable to a very boring and pedestrian truth, which can lie, too.† -Tim O’Brien 1999 Tim O’Brien manipulates the reader’s customary understanding Tim by giving the narrator of â€Å"The Things They Carried† his own name and many of his own biographical details (date of birth, military record, and so on) while simultaneously stressing, throughout the narrative, that all the characters (including the narrator) are fictional and all the stories (including those in which the narrator takes part) are invented. It could be said that, in â€Å"The Things They Carried†, everything is true but nothing is authentic (Wharton). O’Brien’s readers have experienced immense difficulty when trying to get to grips with the slippery nature of the so called â€Å"authenticity† (or in fact the inauthenticity†) of O’Brien’s writing. Of all the devices used to blur the boundaries between truth and fiction, the books narrator seems to present the most difficulties for the reader. To understand O’Brien’s writing, it seems to be essential to make a clear distinction between Tim O’Brien the fictitious narrator (â€Å"The I-narrator) and Tim O’Brien the real, living author (â€Å"Tim O’Brien† or â€Å"O’Brien†). Tim O’Brien is an author still living and writing. He was born in 1946, in a small town in Minnesota (Gale Group, 1999). After graduating...