DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 1 Article 60
Fall 12-1-2017
Colophon
Follow this and additional works at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Back Matter is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion
in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
(2017) "Colophon," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 1 , Article 60.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/60
68Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
Gratitude
We are grateful for programming support from Dr. Ann Rondeau, Dr. 
Donna Stewart, Barb Groves, Dean Chuck Boone, Dean Sandra Martins, 
and Cathie Walker. We applaud the constant nudging from faculty, who 
en courage their students to submit work, and we offer gratitude to the 
teach ing staff, who help students revise and perfect their creative submis-
sions. Thanks to Chuck Steele, Shannon Hernandez, Jelymar Mejia, and 
the Office of Student Life for their constant publicity and support. Also, 
thanks to Tim Wayman and Bailey Kovac for their knowledge, patience, 
and printing service at Alpha Graphics in Lisle.
Colophon
Twice a year for publication in the December and May issues, all students, 
faculty, staff, and the College of DuPage District 502 community are 
invited to submit up to four creative works per entrant of original fic-
tion; nonfiction; essays; poetry; graphic essays; black and white and color 
photography; and 2D and 3D artwork of any medium.  A class of student 
editors who are enrolled in English 2210 reads blind entries before making 
final selections through a numerical voting system. The class is guided by 
a faculty advisor, who additionally leads the hiring process for the officer 
positions of Editor-In-Chief, Production Editor, and Marketing Editor. 
Over the course of the semester the Editor-In-Chief leads the team and 
supervises all operations, including assisting Marketing Editors as they 
work to avertise upcoming deadlines and events and oversee PLR corre-
spondence, and assisting the Production Editor as they put together the 
magazine. Final edits are approved by the editorial staff before the fin-
ished product is sent to the p rinters near the end of the semester. 
Cover: 80 Pound matte paperstock
Design: Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5, Adobe Indesign cs6, Adobe Illustra-
tor cs6. Composed on a custom Windows workstation. 
Finance and operation: This publication is funded through College of DuP-
age’s Student Life.
Publishing: AlphaGraphics Lisle.
Paperstock: 70 Pound matte paperstock. 
Photography: All photography in this magazine is provided by the resi-
dents of district 502.
Typography:  OldStyle 1, Barcode Font, Espresso Dulce,  Lemon/Milk 
Light, Hero Light, Lunabar, Rewind. All fonts are open source and free to 
use, or paid for by Student Life. 
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   68 11/1/2017   4:51:19 PM
1
et al.: Colophon
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017


English

Colophon

Lenihan, Alyssa

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 1 Article 46
Fall 12-1-2017
Frost
Alyssa Lenihan
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Lenihan, Alyssa (2017) "Frost," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 1 , Article 46.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/46
50Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
Frost  
Alyssa Lenihan
It’s been two months.  Time presses on sluggishly.  My life is a never 
ending cycle of meaningless interactions and sleep.  Get up, get coffee, 
work, sleep.  I’m not certain why I continue to go, hell I don’t know 
why I even get out of bed.  What happened two months ago...I can’t 
move on.   
Dear Kim,  
I’m not sure where you are, you left so suddenly.  I like to think 
you’re adventuring some ancient forgotten temple.  Like in Unchart-
ed, remember?  Life isn’t a video game though.  Sometimes I forget 
that.  It’s difficult to come up with new ideas once your muse has 
disappeared.  I suppose even the most subpar designs I’ve submitted 
have been enough, but without your light bleeding into them, they’ll 
never become more.   
Cleo passed.  Not long after you left.  She waited for you that night.  
Tail wagging, looking eagerly up at the stained glass of our door.  
The crooked wreath on the outside masking the face of the man wait-
ing for me.  His gloved finger tapped lightly against our rusty door-
bell.  The one I told you I’d replace, remember?  I took it off.  The 
noise makes me uneasy.   
Winter hit last week.  A cold snap killed our garden.  Though I’m 
sure it would have gone soon anyways, without you here to care for it. 
My pen seemed to hesitate.  Writing had become increasingly diffi-
cult, the cold making my hand shake.  The weathered wood of my 
desk under my hand was soothing.  Something permanent.  A gift 
from my mother when I went away for university.  The matching 
chair had a cushion, long since worn from years of wasted time.  
Scrolling through social media, online shopping, not paying attention 
to her.  
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   50 11/1/2017   4:51:19 PM
1
Lenihan: Frost
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
51Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
A glance at the window revealed light snowfall, and hoarfrost crack-
ling against the glass.  The temperature dropped to below freezing 
two weeks ago, killing all plants and trees in the area.  It seemed 
fitting to my mood lately.   
The light, bright first days of winter bled into gray sludge and frozen 
fingers waiting for the bus in the morning.  I should have bought new 
gloves.  The paper crinkled under my fingers.   
You know, sometimes I think back to our dorm in college.  You, me, 
and Amanda.  That first year seems so surreal.  A blur of parties, es-
says, ramen.  None of us could cook back then.  The majority of our 
paychecks went to take out Chinese food.   
I can still smell your usual order.  Tangy orange chicken and white 
rice, with a side of crab rangoon.  Our greasy fingers all over control-
lers as we giggled and yelled at whatever video game you loved that 
week.   
You’re the reason I chose this degree.  The smile on your face...It was 
the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.  Pearly white teeth, rosebud 
lips.  The way your eyes crinkled, and the little snort you emitted 
when laughing.  Those were the reasons I fell in love with you.  I 
remember the night you told me you loved me too.   
It was fall, the leaves had turned golden and red coating the ground.  
You were wearing your favorite worn jeans, with that cute skull 
sweater.  You walked me to a tree, and sat down underneath.  The 
loose dirt crunched as I eased myself next to you.  You had a very 
determined look on your face, as you fished around in your pink 
backpack.  I smiled nervously, picking at a thread dangling from my 
jacket.   
Your sweet voice declared you had loved me since the night we met, 
claiming I was the most breathtaking human you had ever had the 
pleasure to meet.  In your hand rested a box the size of an apple.  I 
gently grasped the blue velvet.  It opened with a snap, revealing a 
gorgeous ring, set with a small opalescent jewel.  Rays of sun spar-
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   51 11/1/2017   4:51:19 PM
2
The Prairie Light Review, Vol. 40, No. 1 [2017], Art. 46
http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/46
52Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
kled against the milky surface of the stone, reflecting shards of a 
rainbow.   
“It’s an opal!” you stated proudly.  I wondered briefly just how many 
hours of work it had taken for you to purchase this.  You eased it onto 
my finger, and kissed me.  Your lips were as soft as they looked, and 
your chapstick tasted like peaches.  You and Amanda never figured 
out why I bought peaches every time I went to the store after that, I 
had hated them before you.   
I hated a lot of things before you Kim.  You shed light where darkness 
lived in my world.  Your breath was a fire, lighting a path through 
the darkened maze of my life.    
You once told me you could destroy every demon that lived within me, 
but it seems as though all you did was banish them to the parts of my 
brain your light could not reach.  Week by week, your light has slowly 
faded.  And they came back, Kim.  Worse than ever.   
Every moment my eyes are open is a struggle.  I wake up and reach 
for you, only to find the bed sheets are chilled.  My dreams are filled 
with your smile, the crackle of fire and the mix of our perfumes.  
Mine, a light bamboo and lime mixed with the heavy floral scents 
you love so much.  Loved.  I’m still having trouble adjusting to that.   
A sigh escaped me as tears began to leak from my eyes.  My engage-
ment band flashed as a car sped by.  A delicate silver ring, set with 
small opals around the entire thing.  My ribs ached from sobs that 
longed to escape.  I told myself I would stop crying after that first 
month.  Waking up to tear stained pillows each morning, sobbing 
throughout scalding showers.  Stray tears had even escaped at work.   
I begged every god in existence to bring you back to me.  For that 
officer to have never rang the doorbell.  I prayed for a lot of things.  
The paper he handed to me that night is crumpled into a ball, shoved 
under our bed.  My bed.  The calls haven’t stopped.  Your dress was 
ready yesterday, I had to tell them to restock it.   
The woman told me there would be a restocking fee, I told her I didn’t 
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   52 11/1/2017   4:51:19 PM
3
Lenihan: Frost
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
53Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
care.  I turned my phone off that night.  I can’t bear to look at the 
lock screen anyways.  It’s still the picture of us on our first vacation 
in Italy.  You loved the food there so much.   
We had walked through the streets without a care, laughing and 
smiling together.  It hurts to think about.  I bought you a necklace, 
a small sun with an opal as the center.  You loved them so much, I 
showered you in them.  You said the shards of rainbow reflected the 
light in my eyes.  I never agreed, but I just loved to see you happy.   
Love always,  
Your Rainbow 
With shaking hands I pulled the cover up, revealing the balled up 
paper.   
Ms. Etheridge,  
This letter is to inform you that Kim Lu has passed away. 
When We Dream,
Mary Sikorski
Photocomposition
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   53 11/1/2017   4:51:19 PM
4
The Prairie Light Review, Vol. 40, No. 1 [2017], Art. 46
http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/46


Frost

Bowers, Alexa

ESSAI
Volume 15 Article 12
Spring 2017
An Era of Resistance
Alexa Bowers
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Bowers, Alexa (2017) "An Era of Resistance," ESSAI: Vol. 15 , Article 12.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/12
19 
An Era of Resistance 
 
by Alexa Bowers 
 
(English 1102) 
 
 
 
ust as in life, for every problem there is almost always a solution. In the medical field, for every 
disease there is almost always a cure. The Golden Age of Microbiology took place from 1875-
1918. During this time, most pathogenic bacteria had been discovered, and scientists began 
working to create antibiotics to kill them. Paul Ehrlich was one of the many scientists; he searched 
for a “magic bullet” that would kill a microbial pathogen without harming the host (J. Malik, 
personal communication, October 20, 2016).1 Ernst Chain and Howard Florey used the work of 
Alexander Fleming2 to treat a police officer who had been dying from a life-threatening Staph 
infection (J. Malik, personal communication, October 20, 2016). Eventually, their short supply ran 
out before they could cure him, and he died (J. Malik, personal communication, October 20, 2016). 
This failure led to one of the greatest discoveries of all time: Penicillin G, the first antibiotic capable 
of curing bacterial infections. From this moment on, more antibiotics have been discovered, and 
today individuals are being vaccinated to prevent these diseases from ever occurring. For those who 
are unfortunate and do get infected with a bacterial disease, antibiotics are readily available to treat 
these patients. 
 Following the eras of pathogenic discovery and antibiotic discovery came a new era, the 
“postantibiotic era” of microbial resistance (Alqallaf & Winit-Watjana, 2015, p. 24). With the 
creation of antibiotics came individuals who abused them. By improperly using antibiotics, multiple 
species of bacteria began to form a resistance to them. Once bacteria become resistant, they gain an 
ability to “survive and resist exposure” to one or multiple antibiotics (Kandelaki, Lundborg, & 
Marrone, 2015, p. 2). To better understand antimicrobial resistance, picture evolution. In species of 
bacteria there are variations within their genetic makeup just as any other species. While most 
species can be killed with an antibiotic, variations within a few may make them resistant to the drug 
and develop an immunity towards it. The surviving bacteria can then reproduce future bacteria with 
the same immunity as their own. This is how resistance grows. The more people who improperly 
take antibiotics, the more likely a resistance is to form, and if it currently exists, spread. The lesser 
knowledge of antibiotics found in underdeveloped countries directly correlates to the expansion of 
microbial resistance and can be prevented by proper education of said antibiotics. 
 In many underdeveloped countries, it is common to see antibiotics being sold over the 
counter within pharmacies. The reason for this is that many medical costs are paid out of pocket by 
the public. To make healthcare more affordable, the government makes drugs available at pharmacies 
without a prescription. That means the public has easy access to these drugs, and can purchase them 
at any time. In the Republic of Georgia, all drugs besides “psychotropic medication” can be sold at a 
pharmacy without an individual needing to go to their doctor to have them prescribed (Kandelaki et 
al., 2015, p. 2). A study including 250 individuals was done in the Republic of Georgia by Kandelaki 
et al. (2015). Ketevan Kandelaki is the Secretary-General for the United Nations Educational, 
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Tbilisi, Georgia. Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg works 
for the Department of Public Health Sciences for Karolinska Institutet in Sweden with Gaetano 
Marrone, who is a statistician. There, almost 95% of the population avoids seeing their doctor, and 
instead chooses to self-medicate without any knowledge of antibiotics (Kandelaki et al., 2015, p. 2). 
This poses a threat to people within countries that have no regulation on prescription drugs because 
they lack knowledge on the drugs themselves, but can still access them without any trouble. 
J
1
Bowers: An Era of Resistance
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
20 
While the Georgia government intends to lower healthcare costs by allowing the public to 
purchase antibiotics in pharmacies, they are increasing the rate at which antimicrobial resistance 
forms. In a cross-sectional study done by Kandelaki et al., (2015) over residents in Tbilisi, Republic 
of Georgia, they found that over 50% had no proper knowledge on what antibiotics were used to 
treat. This goes to show that too much responsibility regarding the purpose of antibiotics is given to 
the population by allowing them to purchase these drugs without consulting a physician first. 
 Although in underdeveloped countries it is easy to purchase antibiotics for treatment, this 
isn’t the case for everyone. Some people cannot even afford to buy these prescription drugs so they 
resort to using drugs already purchased by friends, family and neighbors. Improper self-medication, 
which will be discussed later on in this paper, can result in having leftover antibiotics. The owners of 
these leftovers will either give them away to help someone else, or sell them for money. This can be 
a huge issue in increasing the already existing microbial resistance within underdeveloped countries. 
An experiment was conducted by Oh, Hassali, Al-Haddad, Sulaiman, Shafie, and Awaisu, 
(2011) in Penang, Malaysia on 408 respondents. The authors are all clinical pharmacists that have 
previous educations at the school of pharmaceutical studies at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. There, 
researchers found that 67.7% of their respondents agreed that they would give their medication away 
to a sick family member if they were ill (Oh et al., 2011, p. 340). This is a behavior seen in a lot of 
underdeveloped countries due to lack of funds, but globally as well. 
Individuals without insurance or money will use anyone close to them to gain access to 
antibiotics if it can’t be done so legally. Also, a lack of time, common in what many call “first-world 
countries,” will result in individuals getting antibiotics from people they know. This form of 
medication increases the microbial resistance; by not seeing a doctor, one will never know what 
they’re infected with and whether an antibiotic will treat them. Taking the wrong antibiotics, or 
taking them when they are not needed, is one of the many causes for microbial resistance. Just going 
off symptoms is not enough to properly diagnose oneself. 
 The misconceptions regarding antibiotics make self-medication very dangerous for anyone. 
Self-medication can be defined as “antibiotic use without prescription,” despite whether they’re 
obtained legally or illegally (Kandelaki et al., 2015, p. 2). One of the most common misconceptions 
individuals have is that antibiotics can be used to treat a wide range of infections. This is completely 
false. Antibiotics can be used only to treat a bacterial infection, but many people don’t know this. An 
experiment was done by Alqallaf and Winit-Watjana (2015) involving patients from health centers 
and community pharmacies in Bahraini. Alqallaf is a graduate of Cardiff University, who currently 
works as a coordinator for the pharmacy program at the University of Bahrain. He has contributed to 
seventeen research papers, most focusing on his areas of expertise: diabetes and pharmacology. 
Winit-Watjana has a Ph.D. in Pharmacy Practice, and has made contributions to fourteen research 
articles. His area of expertise is in geriatrics and pharmacology. What their results found was that 
82% knew antibiotics could be used to treat bacterial infections, but in addition, 69.3% believed they 
treated viruses, 37.9% believed they treated fungi, and 21.6% believed they treated insects (Alqallaf 
& Winit-Watjana, 2015, p. 27). Only 19.9% knew that antibiotics could only cure a bacterial 
infection (Alqallaf & Winit-Watjana, 2015, p. 27). Referring to the experiment done in Tbilisi, 
Republic of Georgia, similar results appeared. From the group of 250 respondents, 55% believed that 
antibiotics sped up the recovery of a cold, and the same percentage believed they could be used 
against viruses (Kandelaki et al., 2015, p. 5). This is why it is bad to take antibiotics when they are 
not necessary: the antibiotic attacks the normal flora in the body, bacteria that are beneficial to the 
body and live there naturally. The antibiotic doesn’t kill the cold or virus like individuals believe. 
Antibiotic resistance occurs in the normal flora, then can spread to foreign bacteria whenever they 
enter the body. 
 Two additional misconceptions that go hand in hand are that antibiotic treatment can be 
stopped early, and that leftovers can be saved for future use. The problem with ending an antibiotic 
2
ESSAI, Vol. 15 [2017], Art. 12
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/12
21 
course early is that it doesn’t ensure that all the foreign bacteria in the body have been killed. What 
happens next is any surviving bacteria will then be able to mutate and become resistant to the 
antibiotic, infecting the individual once again and becoming immune to the previously used 
antibiotic. In the Penang, Malaysia cross-sectional study, 37% said they discontinued their antibiotics 
once they began feeling better (Oh et al., 2011, p. 344). In the study conducted in Bahraini, 35.6% 
would stop taking an antibiotic as soon as they began feeling better (Alqallaf & Winit-Watjana, 2015, 
p. 28). This is over a third of individuals who have the misconception that it is acceptable to 
discontinue antibiotic treatment once they begin feeling better. One third of individuals who are 
contributing to microbial resistance. 
When using leftover antibiotics, resistance becomes a risk because the individual skips seeing 
a doctor, so they don’t truly know if they have a bacterial infection. If the individual does indeed 
have a bacterial infection, they don’t have a full course of antibiotics needed to kill the bacteria. In 
the experiment done by Oh et al. (2011), 72.5% kept a stock of leftovers at home for emergencies, 
and in the experiment conducted by Alqallaf and Winit-Watjana (2015), 33.7% believed they can be 
saved and used again in the future. These are just two examples of populations in undeveloped 
countries believing there is no harm in saving their antibiotics; a consequence of lack of knowledge. 
Education is the number one solution in underdeveloped countries to prevent further 
microbial resistance. Unexpectedly, education doesn’t just begin with the consumers, but with the 
doctors. It is common to see that due to misconceptions, many patients believe that antibiotics are 
needed whenever a fever is present, or for a common cold. Those who do go see a doctor, demand 
antibiotics to treat these, and doctors give in. In Penang, Malaysia, 38% of individuals would receive 
antibiotics from their doctor to treat a cold (Oh et al., 2011, p. 345). Another common mistake 
doctors make is the frequent prscribing of antibiotics for viral respiratory infections that go away on 
their own (Oh et al., 2011, p. 345). This brings back the issue of trying to treat viral infections with 
antibiotics which are only effective on bacteria. 
In undeveloped countries, missing a day of work can be devastating, so many demand an 
instant recovery. A survey was conducted on teachers in New Delhi, India, by Kotwani, Wattal, 
Joshi, and Holloway (2016). Anita Kotwani is a professor at the Department of Pharmacology, V.P. 
Chest Institute in New Delhi. Chand Wattal is a microbiologist who works for the Sir Ganga Ram 
Hospital in New Delhi. P.C. Joshi works for the Department of Anthropology at the University of 
Delhi, and Kathleen Holloway is a regional advisor for WHO and works at the Department of 
Essential Drugs and other Medicines in New Delhi. They found that the teachers would ask their 
doctors for strong antibiotics to cure them instantly, and doctors would obey (Kotwani et al., 2016, p. 
368). The problem here isn’t the fact that these doctors don’t have the right knowledge, but instead, 
that they need to be stricter with not giving into the demands of their patients. 
Researchers Kotwani et al. (2016) suggested that the most “malleable user group” within 
underdeveloped communities was students because they spend 7-9 hours a day in school. This can be 
used to an advantage to teach them amongst their peers and educators about microbial resistance, 
being “both current and future users of antibiotics” and “influential advisors to parents” (Kotwani et 
al., 2016, p. 365-366). By adding lessons regarding proper usage of antibiotics and about 
antimicrobial resistance into current curriculums, high school students could be used as a middleman 
between generations. Not only can they further educate their parents, grandparents, and any other 
relative, but they can one day pass down their knowledge to their own kids. 
A final source for education in underdeveloped countries is the pharmacists themselves 
educating the public on the antibiotics they purchase. Alqallaf and Winit-Watjana (2015) believe that 
pharmacies should play a “vital role in patient counseling” to help inform them of the antibiotics 
they’re taking. Kandelaki et al. (2015) suggest that the government should change the laws on certain 
prescription medicines and put pharmacists in charge of teaching consumers about proper antibiotic 
3
Bowers: An Era of Resistance
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
22 
use and the growing resistance. This would allow pharmacies to continue to sell antibiotics, but also 
give them the important task of educating the public. 
Antibiotics have become a blessing and a curse, especially for the public in underdeveloped 
countries. What was once intended to cure people has now become a threat itself. As governments 
legalize their sale at local pharmacies, their easy accessibility puts the public at risk for increasing the 
spread of microbial resistance due to misconceptions they carry. Only urgent education within 
doctors’ offices, schools, and pharmacies to name a few, can help to stop this era of resistance from 
growing anymore. Although the damage cannot be reversed, the war against bacterial resistance can 
be stopped. With the proper education, the knowledge of antibiotics can be taught to underdeveloped 
countries who otherwise lack antibiotic lore, thus preventing any further expansion of microbial 
resistance. 
 
 
  
 
Notes 
 
1. Paul Ehrlich was a German physician who focused mainly on developing a cure for syphilis. 
It wasn’t until the beginning of the 1900s when he developed Salvarsan, the first documented 
example of a chemical used as an antimicrobial. This drug was used as a treatment for 
individuals with syphilis. 
2. Alexander Fleming’s work consisted of incubating cultures of the bacteria, Staphylococcus 
Aureus. While doing so, he observed that bacteria growing around contaminated mold 
appeared to be dissolving (J. Malik, personal communication, October 20, 2016). He 
identified the mold as a species of Penicillium and discovered it was producing a substance 
that was killing the bacteria. He was unsuccessful in purifying that substance (J. Malik, 
personal communication, October 20, 2016). 
 
 
  
 
References 
 
Alqallaf, S. M., & Winit-Watjana, W. (2015). Patients' awareness of antibiotic use in Bahraini health 
centers and community pharmacies. Archives of Pharmacy Practice, 6(2), 24-32. 
doi:10.4103/2045-080X.155510 
Kandelaki, K., Stålsby Lundborg, C., & Marrone, G. (2015). Antibiotic use and resistance: A cross-
sectional study exploring knowledge and attitudes among school and institution personnel in 
Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. BMC Research Notes, 8(1), 1-8. doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1477-1 
Kotwani, A., Wattal, C., Joshi, P. C., & Holloway, K. (2016). Knowledge and perceptions on 
antibiotic use and resistance among high school students and teachers in New Delhi, India: A 
qualitative study. Indian Journal of Pharmacology, 48(4), 365-371. doi:10.4103/0253-
7613.186208 
Oh, A. L., Hassali, M. A., Al-Haddad, M. S., Sulaiman, S. S., Shafie, A. A., & Awaisu, A. (2011). 
Public knowledge and attitudes towards antibiotic usage: A cross-sectional study among the 
general public in the state of Penang, Malaysia. Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 
5(5), 338-347. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.cod.idm.oclc.org/ 
4
ESSAI, Vol. 15 [2017], Art. 12
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/12


An Era of Resistance

Hillebrand, Rachel

ESSAI
Volume 15 Article 22
Spring 2017
Representing Ruth: An Actress's Plan for A Raisin
in the Sun
Rachel Hillebrand
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Hillebrand, Rachel (2017) "Representing Ruth: An Actress's Plan for A Raisin in the Sun," ESSAI: Vol. 15 , Article 22.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/22
60 
Representing Ruth: An Actress’s Plan for A Raisin in the Sun 
 
by Rachel Hillebrand 
 
(English 1153) 
 
 
 
eing selected to play the character Ruth Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun 
is the greatest honor of my acting career. Because I believe her role is crucial to the play, I 
want to do the best job I can to represent Ruth accurately. Ruth is one of the most hard-
working, perseverant, and stout-hearted characters I have ever discovered. Through my portrayal of 
Ruth’s mannerisms, appearance, and interactions with the other characters, I hope to transform 
myself into a faithful, forgiving wife; a weary but reliable mother; and a simple, good-hearted 
woman who is faced with hardship and heartbreak but truly endures. 
 My interpretation of A Raisin in the Sun shows Ruth as a fighter who has grown tired of 
fighting, a strong but worn-out woman. She appears as an African American woman in her thirties, 
with a face that once was quite pretty, but shows the wear and tear of her difficult life. In a way, 
Ruth’s appearance is similar to the family’s apartment in that “weariness has...won” (487). Ruth 
should dress simply, in a plain dress of dark blue or gray, with her hair in an orderly bun. She is a 
thin, small woman, and her disappointment with the world must be portrayed on stage with a kind of 
tired pride, keeping her chin up but allowing her shoulders to slump with despair. Through her 
posture and way of speaking, Ruth should at times display despair and discouragement, such as 
heavy, tired steps after she has found out she is with child (519), weary expressions and a subdued 
posture when arguing with Walter, and absolute defeat when the money has vanished (569). 
 When Ruth decides to fight, her mannerisms should change, revealing her deep-rooted 
strength and her determination to choose happiness. There should be a lightness in her step and an 
erectness to her posture, so that she almost looks “real young again” (490). Her gestures should be a 
hint carefree and girlish when she is falling back in love with Walter (550). Her effort to be positive 
and cheerful during the packing and planning for the house should be portrayed through facial 
expressions, a change in her laughter, and how she treats the other characters. 
 Communication and character interplay is complicated for Ruth, since she is a mother, a 
wife, a daughter, and a sister, all at the same time. In the beginning, Ruth seems to harbor hostility 
and displeasure toward her husband, for she is tired of his talking and his dreams (490). The audience 
must catch the sense that Ruth and Walter were in love once, but that their marriage is in trouble 
because of their difficult lives, and that the two are starting to lose hope. Ruth’s discouragement with 
her husband should be expressed in her dejection when she shares her feelings with Mama that 
Walter “needs something I can’t give him any more” (508). But after the house is purchased, when 
the couple’s interactions begin to change in scene III, Ruth must transform into a blushing bride, 
looking at her husband with bright eyes and fresh love (549). Then, when Walter loses the money, 
Ruth’s happiness must dissolve into cold, unforgiving anger toward her husband (570). 
 Regarding Travis, Ruth seems to sometimes overlook or ignore her son, treating him as a 
child and not trusting him with real family matters. She is always telling him to go play outside or 
“go downstairs” (574), but now and then, the audience must catch a glimpse of the loving mother 
Ruth truly is. When she gently teases Travis before sending him to school, Ruth must emanate 
warmth, caring, and teasing, and a hint of the mockery of a mother who is truly fond of her son. Her 
pent-up love and tenderness must be clear when Ruth asks Travis, “Now whose little old angry man 
are you?” (492). Through these interactions, Ruth shows that she loves and cares for her son, but she 
is so overwhelmed by her trials that she doesn’t always make time for him. 
B
1
Hillebrand: Representing Ruth
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
61 
 With Beneatha, Ruth should have a kind of indifference. Now and then she might roll her 
eyes at Beneatha’s unusual actions, but overall, she should seem disinterested in what her 
sister-in-law is doing. During Beneatha’s African dance scene, Ruth should do some housework in 
the background, shaking her head a little at Beneatha’s antics and scolding Walter to “stop acting like 
a fool” (526). Ruth doesn’t care for the deep questions or adventures of the times; she focuses only 
on work that needs to be done and how to do it. 
 With Mama, Ruth should be courteous and respectful. Ruth seems to be able to relate to 
Mama, especially when Walter is concerned. Even Walter senses this, telling Ruth, “You know she 
[Mama] listen to you more than...me and Bennie” (494). Ruth also appears to want Mama’s respect 
and trust in return, telling Travis to “stop asking your grandmother for money” (491). In a way, the 
two should appear as kindred spirits, two weary women who married Younger men, fostered dreams 
and plans, but later experienced disappointment and sadness as life unfolded. 
Perhaps the most important line that Ruth must deliver is in Act III, when Walter has lost the money 
and it looks as if the family will stay in the apartment after all. This is when Ruth protests against 
Mama’s calm decision, insisting, “We got to get OUT OF HERE!!!” (569). This emotional line 
should be delivered with a mix of determination and desperation. This is when Ruth’s world is falling 
apart, when her hope is running out. Her raw emotions must be conveyed in her wild eyes, her 
unwavering tone, and her powerful, erect posture. She knows the family’s only hope is leaving the 
apartment, and this is her final fight. 
 I hope that my interpretation of Ruth reveals how important Ruth is to the play. I believe 
Ruth is the most vital character in the story, since she is the one the audience must understand.  In 
some ways, Ruth represents the average person, who was dealt a challenging hand in life but chooses 
to persevere through it anyway. Her discouragement, her breakdown, and finally her rise back to 
confidence must be clearly portrayed, so that her emotions can be felt by the crowd and stir them 
within. They must understand how Ruth fights through her suffering with bravery and courage; 
maintains her honor and dignity; keeps her family together; and stands up for what she believes. Ruth 
is a model for every woman who hopes to overcome the challenges of life and emerge with joy and 
success. 
 
 
  
 
Works Cited 
 
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Vintage Books, 1994. 486-577. Print. 
 
 
 
2
ESSAI, Vol. 15 [2017], Art. 22
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/22


Representing Ruth: An Actress\u27s Plan for A Raisin in the Sun

Magda, Adriana

ESSAI
Volume 15 Article 24
Spring 2017
Stanley Kubrick -- Auteur
Adriana Magda
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Magda, Adriana (2017) "Stanley Kubrick -- Auteur," ESSAI: Vol. 15 , Article 24.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/24
65 
Stanley Kubrick – Auteur 
 
by Adriana Magda 
 
(Motion Picture Television 1113) 
 
 
 
tanley Kubrick is considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in history. 
Many important directors credit Kubrick as an important influence in their career and 
inspiration for their vision as filmmaker. 
 Kubrick’s artistry and cinematographic achievements are undeniable, his body of work being 
a must watch for anybody who loves and is interested in the art of film.  However what piqued my 
interest even more was finding out about his origins, as “Kubrick’s paternal grandmother had come 
from Romania and his paternal grandfather from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire” (Walker, Taylor, 
& Ruchti, 1999). 
 Stanley Kubrick was born on July 26th 1928 in New York City to Jaques Kubrick, a doctor, 
and Sadie Kubrick. He grew up in the Bronx, New York, together with his younger sister, Barbara.  
Kubrick never did well in school, “seeking creative endeavors rather than to focus on his academic 
status” (Biography.com, 2014).  While formal education didn’t seem to interest him, his two passions 
– chess and photography – were key in shaping the way his mind worked.  His father was the one 
who exposed him from a young age to chess, in an attempt to find something that would interest his 
son. “Chess in particular offers a clue to the elements that constitute Kubrick and helps to explain 
why he made certain films and not others – and why he made them in certain ways and not in others” 
(Walker, Taylor, & Ruchti, 1999).  Kubrick recognized later on the importance of chess in his 
attitude and approach to cinematography: “If chess has any relationship to filmmaking, it would be in 
the way it helps you develop patience and discipline in choosing between alternatives at a time when 
impulsive decision seems very attractive.”  His father also introduced him to photography, when he 
bought him a camera for his thirteenth birthday.  As it turns out, this was an even more inspired 
attempt as Kubrick had an eye for photography.  He started taking pictures for the school paper and 
“at age 16, began selling his photos to Look magazine. A year later, he was hired for the staff of the 
magazine.” (Biography.com, 2014).  Working for the magazine allowed him to travel and expand his 
photography skills, while also saving the money that financed his first filmmaking effort, the short 
movie called Day of the Fight (1951).  His short was bought by RKO, one of the Big Five studios of 
Hollywood’s Golden Age, and played at the Paramount Theatre in New York.  At only twenty-one, 
Kubrick’s success with his first attempt at filmmaking and his youth resulted in him quitting his job 
at the magazine and set in motion a new trajectory for his career.  This change and his curiosity about 
the world turned him into a voracious reader and film watcher, especially at the Museum of Modern 
Art. “But his early curiosity was mainly about technique, not content” (Walker, Taylor, & Ruchti, 
1999). 
 After another short movie commissioned by RKO, “Kubrick raised about $10,000 from his 
father and an uncle to direct his first feature, Fear and Desire (1953)” (Walker, Taylor, & Ruchti, 
1999), which he later referred to as “undramatic and embarrassingly pretentious.”  His second 
attempt at a feature, The Killer’s Kiss (1955), was also financed by friends and relatives. This movie 
demonstrated he was an original new voice in the field of cinematography.  Although he wasn’t 
particularly proud of these two films, they were important because they helped him develop his 
sensibilities and gain more real world experience. Nevertheless, maybe the most important 
consequence was that his second movie created the opportunity to meet James B. Harris and create 
the producer-director partnership that allowed Kubrick to start making professional films. 
S
1
Magda: Stanley Kubrick -- Auteur
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
66 
 Kubrick’s early work demonstrated that he was an original new talent, but it was his first film 
in partnership with Harris that put him on Hollywood’s radar. The Killing (1956), a movie about a 
gang of petty criminals who plan and execute a daring race-track robbery, was well received and 
“critics praised it chiefly for the brilliance of its construction, the precise working out of the racetrack 
robbery in it, and the way in which events that overlap in time are integrated into the suspense by 
audacious and ingenious flashback techniques” (Walker, Taylor, & Ruchti, 1999).  This movie was 
also the starting point for a unique voice and vision that would distinguish itself from all others and 
would become a heavy influence for so many other great filmmakers. Kubrick’s “auteur” methods 
and critical status began to take shape starting with The Killing. From this point forward he would 
take more and more control over his films, from writing to directing, the only exception being 
Spartacus. 
 Stanley Kubrick is part of the New Hollywood film wave and he is frequently cited as a 
source of inspiration and one of the most influential directors by many contemporary filmmakers 
including Martin Scorsese1, Christopher Nolan (Jensen, 2013) and Frank Darabont (Monahan, 2002).  
On the DVD of Eyes Wide Shut, Steven Spielberg comments that the way Kubrick “tells a story is 
antithetical to the way we are accustomed to receiving stories" and that “nobody could shoot a 
picture better in history.” (Spielberg, 1999) 
 Kubrick’s artistry stands out in the remarkable beauty of his pictures, their aesthetics and 
intensity that at the same time entice and unsettle the audience. The careful use of space, shape, line, 
tone, color, rhythm and movement convey emotions and has a lasting impact, as a magnetic force 
mysteriously lures the audience in the universe he creates. Think of the boy riding his little bike 
through the endless corridors of the hotel and his encounter with the twins in The Shining; the 
striking vastness and monumental silence of outer space in 2001: A Space Odyssey; the magnificence 
of the War Room in Dr. Strangelove. The use of classical music as well as silence, the editing, the 
techniques used to show the outer space and the magnificent cinematography in 2001: A Space 
Odyssey ensure that Stanley Kubrick will always have a special place reserved in the history of film. 
In addition, he also contributed from a technical perspective, being one of the pioneers of steadicam 
as The Shining was one of the first films to use the technology (Tiffen, 2016). 
 Trying to answer the question of what is it that made Kubrick the director that he was and 
what made his style recognizable is definitely not an easy task due to the complexity and diversity of 
his work.  In an interview with French film critic Michael Ciment about A Clockwork Orange, 
Kubrick said: “There is no deliberate pattern to the stories that I have chosen to make into films. 
About the only factor at work each time is that I try not to repeat myself.” While his films are always 
different, a recurring characteristic is that he was constantly trying to push boundaries, look for new 
concepts and explore possibilities. 
 Themes in Kubrick’s work include the dehumanizing effects of violence and war, the human 
psyche, society and norms, evolution, man vs. machine.  Although his movies are in essence 
thematically different, there are recurring elements that he seeks to explore from different angles. 
 Paths of Glory (1957), featuring Kirk Douglas, was his first studio film with a major star. It is 
a film about the dehumanizing effects of war and a criticism of military misconduct, themes he 
would also explore in his later movies. Paths of Glory confirmed his talent and further shaped his 
status of up-and-coming auteur.  Douglas then brought in Kubrick as a last-minute replacement for 
director Anthony Mann on his epic Spartacus several years later. However, Kubrick was unhappy 
with the production process and the lack of control he had, making him take further steps into having 
autonomy and implicitly becoming an auteur. 
 
  
1 Martin Scorsese talks about Stanley Kubrick on “Charlie Rose” – June 15th, 2001 
2
ESSAI, Vol. 15 [2017], Art. 24
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/24
67 
 One memorable element is the chateau, a place of order and elegance, with mirrored walls, 
baroque furnishing and palatial staircases that somehow has an eerie vibe. Kubrick creates a striking 
contrast through its juxtaposition with the trench world, cutting from the elegance of the military 
establishment to the reality of war.  Through the use of lighting and space he defines the physical 
reality of the world portrayed. An interesting approach is the use of the binoculars view to emphasize 
war as a sport for those high up the chain of command. 
 A particular characteristic of Kubrick’s work is the way he uses the camera to increase 
dramatic tension and to draw the viewer in the middle of the action. He does so by taking advantage 
of the mobility of the camera and carefully planning shooting angles to increase visual intensity. The 
horizontal advance of the camera and the use of zooming on the battleground or the lateral 
movements in the court-martial are ways of visually dramatizing the action. This type of camera 
work is extensively used in 2001:  A Space Odyssey with the same purpose in mind. Through the use 
of space, light and shadows Kubrick creates an environment that reflects the characters’ internal 
emotional state. For example the agony of the men awaiting execution is emphasized in their 
environment that suggests that they are trapped, there is no way out, creating a claustrophobic 
feeling.  A similar approach is evident in Kubrick’s subsequent films, Dr. Strangelove and 2001. The 
sets have an important role as part of the total concept, creating an environment that contains, defines 
and dominates the protagonists, as exemplified by the chateau in Paths of Glory, the War Room in 
Dr. Strangelove, and the Wheel in 2001. Similarly, in The Shining the hotel is a character in its own 
right, determining the fate of its inhabitants. 
 Kubrick moved to England to shoot his highly controversial Lolita (1962), the tragicomic 
story of a middle-aged professor who becomes infatuated with a fourteen-year-old nymphet. This 
was the film that further affirmed his status of auteur. 
 He went on to further explore the comedic territory with a humorous take on the Cold War in 
his satire Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). It was a 
success right away as it was striking a nerve for much of his audience, due to the very real threat of 
global nuclear annihilation. Again the story is Kubrick’s basic ingredient in filmmaking that is 
brilliantly developed through the use of satire and elevated by the actors’ performances.  Time and 
space are central elements to the construction of the film, as the action is confined to a few hours and 
three settings, each being sealed off from the others. Kubrick emphasizes the feeling of helplessness 
that results from being locked in by certain physical circumstances or emotional situations.  
Kubrick’s interest in the idea of man vs. machine becomes apparent, as the crew of the bomber plane 
are not aware of the machinery they have created, a theme Kubrick is to develop further in 2001. The 
machinery takes over and the spinning counters, revolving numbers and clicking codes seal in the 
crew’s fate and ultimately the world’s as the bomber heads to Russia. This idea is reiterated in 2001, 
as HAL 9000 turns against his masters. 
 Dr. Strangelove was followed by Kubrick’s first science-fiction film, considered a very 
influential benchmark effort for the genre as well as cinema in general. It is worth mentioning that it 
was the first time he used color. Probably his most famous film and the one cited most frequently as 
being influential in many filmmakers’ work is 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The film explores the 
theme of evolution, entertaining the idea of extraterrestrial intervention in each step of man’s 
evolution from ‘The Dawn of Man’ to twenty-first century human to astral being. Kubrick wanted 
the audience to interpret the film their way and it is filled with metaphors, open to interpretation. 
However, Kubrick described it as “a mythological documentary” (Walker, Taylor, & Ruchti, 1999). 
He dared to break from the traditional telling of the story through words, and there is no dialogue in 
the first half hour of the film. He used a narrative structure different from most movies at the time, 
creating something that falls in between experimental non-narrative film and the traditional plot-
driven film. The structure, thought-provoking imagery, and open-ended conclusion of 2001 invites us 
to actively interpret and question what we see as well as our senses and perceptions. 
3
Magda: Stanley Kubrick -- Auteur
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
68 
 Stylistically, 2001 reasserts over and over Kubrick’s fascination with visual symmetry, a trait 
apparent starting with his early work. Again, he uses depth and camera movement to allow the 
viewer to step into space, similar to the use of camera movement in Paths of Glory. 
 HAL 9000, the infallible machine designed to control the mission and built to reason 
logically, takes on a sinister higher purpose, following his own agenda, therefore dramatizing again 
the conflict between man and machine. A striking moment is when the two astronauts retreat into the 
pod to discuss HAL’s irrational behavior, without him being able to overhear them. Kubrick uses 
symmetry to signal the crisis, framing the two astronauts facing each other inside the oval window of 
the space pod. We see their lips moving, from HAL’s point of view and we realize that he is able to 
read lips. Another recurring theme is the dehumanization of death, as HAL shuts off the power 
maintaining the crew alive. Kubrick creates intensity and tension through the use of close ups and 
color of the crew’s electronic charts that eventually flat line. Another element that stands out is the 
way Kubrick uses silence, sound and speed for their dramatic purposes. Probably the most obvious 
moment is when Bowman is trapped outside the ship, as there is no sound until he reaches the safety 
of breathable space. 
 The end sequence shows again his ability to create contrast through the use of space. As 
opposed to the spaceship, the bedroom suite at the end is elegant, with period mirrors, side tables, 
vases and a quilted bed. The carefully created sets are a trademark in all of Kubrick’s movies. 
 A Clockwork Orange (1971) is another example of Kubrick pushing film boundaries, with its 
dark humor, disturbingly graphic imagery, visual style and synth-classical score. It is the story of a 
vicious teenage gang leader whose violent free will is stripped from him by an authoritarian society 
attempting his rehabilitation.  Like in 2001, Kubrick creates a complex relationship between music 
and emotion, as well as music and movement. He also pays close attention to the lighting in each 
scene, using only the illumination one would expect to find in the actual environment. An example 
would be the scene where Alex’s brainwashing begins or the War Room in Dr. Strangelove. 
 The Shining (1980) opens with a wide shot conveying the impression of man dwarfed by the 
vastness of its environment. The importance of the set is evident again, the cursed Overlook Hotel 
having an ominous feel and dominating the protagonists. The Shining explores the decay of the 
human psyche, dealing “with a violent personal conflict in the life of its central character, a self-
tortured, reclusive writer named Jack Torrance whose creative juices simply won’t start flowing” 
(Walker, Taylor, & Ruchti, 1999). The Overlook Hotel provides the perfect setting to see Kubrick’s 
favorite framing devices at work. The corridors in the hotel become passageways to another world 
and we see again and again his predilection towards symmetry which suggests impending doom. 
Wendy discovers Jack’s secret, his mania being exposed in the repetition of an old-fashioned 
schoolbook’s maxim. Danny, the son, encounters the former caretaker’s murdered daughters, the 
identical twins at the end of the long hallway who stand very still but invite Danny to join them, 
creating a very creepy apparition.  Kubrick also plays with angles, framing and points of view to 
increase the dramatic tension when Wendy confronts her husband. As the dramatic tension increases 
and despite her being higher on the staircase indicating she has the upper hand, as the framing gets 
tighter, Jack appears to gain control and dominate the situation. 
 Stanley Kubrick was a genius who shaped cinematography as an art form and had a lasting 
impact on many future generations of film makers. His legacy was concluded after a long search for 
a new subject by his thirteenth and final film, Eyes Wide Shut (1999). 
 I believe nobody can describe Kubrick’s work better than Martin Scorsese: “Watching a 
Kubrick film is like gazing up at a mountaintop. You look up and wonder, how could anyone have 
climbed that high?” (The Criterion Collection, 2013). 
 
4
ESSAI, Vol. 15 [2017], Art. 24
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/24
69 
  
 
Works Cited 
 
Biography.com, E. (2014, July 8). Stanley Kubrick Biography. Retrieved December 4, 2016, from 
The Biography.com Website: http://www.biography.com/people/stanley-kubrick-9369672 
Jensen, J. (2013, April 6). To 'Room 237' and Beyond: Exploring Stanley Kubrick's 'Shining' 
influence with Christopher Nolan, Edgar Wright, more. Retrieved December 4, 2016, from 
Entertainment Weekly Website: http://www.ew.com/article/2013/04/06/room-237-stanley-
kubrick-shining-influence 
Monahan, M. (2002, May 25). Filmmakers on film: Frank Darabont. Retrieved December 4, 2016, 
from The Telegraph Website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3578079/Filmmakers-
on-film-Frank-Darabont.html 
Spielberg, S. (1999). Remembering Stanley Kubrick. 
The Criterion Collection. (2013, December 25). Directors Talk Directors. Retrieved December 4, 
2016, from The Criterion Collection Website: https://www.criterion.com/lists/178298-
directors-talk-directors 
Tiffen. (2016, December 4). History of Steadicam. Retrieved from Tiffen Website: 
http://tiffen.com/steadicam/history-of-steadicam/ 
Walker, A., Taylor, S., & Ruchti, U. (1999). Stanley Kubrick, Director: A Visual Analysis. New 
York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 
 
 
 
5
Magda: Stanley Kubrick -- Auteur
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017


Stanley Kubrick -- Auteur

Miklinski, Michael

ESSAI
Volume 15 Article 26
Spring 2017
The Ancient Land of Living
Michael Miklinski
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Miklinski, Michael (2017) "The Ancient Land of Living," ESSAI: Vol. 15 , Article 26.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/26
73 
The Ancient Land of Living 
 
by Michael Miklinski 
 
(English 1102) 
 
 
 
ourteen thousand years is a large amount of time to grasp and while it is nothing more than a 
small sliver of time in the scope of total history, there are vast, unimaginable differences 
between the life and landscapes of then and today. The region known as North America was a 
completely different landscape; glaciers that measured nearly 3,000 feet high covered much of the 
land mass. These sheets of ice had formed around 1 million years ago and only started to fully 
disappear from the landscape 10,000 years ago (Gregory 2). For millions of years on the North 
American continent, nature had run its course unopposed by humans. Earth had cooled greatly one 
million years ago and subsequently, went through a major ice age. Nearing the end of this period the 
glaciers had started to recede which allowed animals and plants that were living in the south to 
migrate north into these newly reformed lands (Gregory 3). As new land was exposed, different 
species of both plants and animals started to occupy the same areas of the environment where they 
formed new food chains. The rapidly changing climate that caused the glaciers to recede had 
fundamentally altered the landscape which created new, unique ecosystems that would thrive and 
flourish for thousands of years (Page 21). This untouched, natural state continued for thousands of 
years until intelligent creatures arose within East Asia and migrated east by way of the Bering Land 
Bridge around 15,000 B.C. While the earth’s water was frozen within the glaciers that covered the 
Earth, the global sea level at that time was lowered by nearly 350 feet, exposing the continental shelf 
in a shallow area allowing early humans to enter North America (Morgan 19). The introduction of 
early humans caused rapid and significant changes to the new, untouched continent when they 
arrived, writing a new chapter between man and nature, influencing the dynamics of the ecosystems 
and impacting the landscape. 
 Early Man that came from the initial migration across the land bridge made a huge impact on 
the unsuspecting species that lived on the American continent. They “had the stone-point technology 
to kill the grazing mammoth and browsing mastodon, the ground sloth and long-nosed peccary, huge 
bison and prehistoric beavers” (Morgan 24). Untouched lands gave precious opportunities for the 
spread and diversification of the new inhabitants as they took advantage of the ample resources. The 
Paleo-Indians carried with them thousands of generations of knowledge from their ancestors in Asia 
which gave them novel skills and the creativity to survive and prosper within an unexplored, harsh 
environment (Bonnicksen 56). This new group would bring their ancient traditions and knowledge 
into the new landscape that they explored and would have to adapt to survive in the new wilderness. 
 The Paleoindians quickly learned that to survive, they had to be opportunistic and take 
advantage of the natural environment. One group of migrants arrived at an extensive cave in 
Alabama around 13,000 B.C. which provided for their many needs, such as shelter, a natural spring 
and an east facing entrance so the sun could warm them in the morning (Morgan 29-30). Paleo-
Indians at this time relied heavily on what was available in their environment the same as their 
ancestors had for thousands of years. From here on the Paleo-Indians would live their lives in this 
new world with no influence from any other cultures, disconnected from the old lands from which 
they came. It was here that they developed unique lifestyles to fit their environment; they would eat 
wild plants, hunt game or catch fish to sustain their small social groups for thousands of years 
(Morgan 32). A recent discovery near one of these ancient communities had found a naturally 
mummified carcass of a woman in an underwater cave; “the divers called her Naia… she had been 
F
1
Miklinski: The Ancient Land of Living
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
74 
there for more than 12,000 years, along with the bones of dozens of extinct ice age beasts” (Morin 1). 
Death was unavoidable for these isolated, fragile lives as they faced the unrelenting, cruel 
environment of the new world. 
 The Paleo-Indians had many generations pass by without fundamental changes in their 
communities which was most likely caused by the overbearing force of nature. From 8,500 to 4,000 
B.C. changes were minor within these groups, there was little increase within sizes of their 
populations and there was little conflict between other groups. They had short lifespans as a result of 
high disease rates with death from disease far outnumbering deaths due to old age. Skeletons were 
often found exhibiting signs of tuberculosis, arthritis and birth deformities. This most likely 
contributed to their limited societal advancement as poor health kept generations short (Morgan 32). 
Paleo-Indians would soon learn to adapt and utilize resources to their advantage as they sought to 
expand their communities and their populations started to grow. One major new feature of their 
villages was the construction of a shaman healing center which would become a highly valuable asset 
for the struggling communities. We know that they had experimented with early medicinal 
techniques to treat different ailments. In recent archaeological findings, thirty-five plants found 
within these healing centers are still in use today (Page 26). With advancements in health care in their 
societies, an opportunity emerged to control and dominate the once wild and unexpected beast that is 
mother nature. With improvements in health, they could now advance as the dominant force on the 
continent. 
 Paleo-Indians had emerged as the top of the food chain in North America as they managed to 
fight off diseases, allowing them to take advantage of the land they inhabited. Paleo-Indian 
communities started to grow and as a consequence these communities had to obtain larger amounts 
of food to sustain their families. Evidence of bison hunting was apparent as revealed by the discovery 
of a piece of flint “in perfect contact with a bison rib... proof that Early Man had coexisted with a 
species of Ice Age bison known to have become extinct by 6000 B.C.” (Morgan 27). These early 
Paleo-Indians had complete domination over these helpless animals as they cleverly lured and 
stampeded hundreds of bison off of cliffs where nearly 100 dead bison would sometimes be found, 
ready to be slaughtered and brought home to feed their growing communities (Morgan 31). These 
massive hunts would unfortunately have far reaching consequences as some species of bison filled 
very specific niches within their respective regions. A vital relationship between grazing animals, 
grass and moss was affected by the mass hunting of the Paleo-Indians where the grazing animals 
would reduce moss allowing grasses to grow. As the number of bison were reduced, there was more 
competition between grasses and moss for resources. Also at this time, the global climate was 
growing warmer as the Earth was leaving the previous ice age giving the moss an advantage. Moss 
became the dominant species in many regions, reducing the grass which was the food supply for the 
bison, sending both bison and grass towards mass extinction in certain regions (Bonnicksen 58). 
With the loss of a critical food supply for the communities, Paleo-Indians were ultimately forced to 
either adapt or forever be lost to the sands of time as they fought against the powerful force of mother 
nature once again. 
 A novel invention came into existence that would save many of these ancient cultures and 
change history forever; farming had revolutionized the very idea of what a civilization could do and 
it became the center-point of many new cultures and villages. The psychological change within 
groups would be very different from the many generations of hunters and foragers before, as farmers 
did not need to rely on what was merely available in the land anymore, instead taking control into 
their own hands. Whereas before the forager was thankful for what mother nature offered, the farmer 
was fundamentally different, as he enjoyed the fruits of his own labor and he took pride in his work. 
With pride, one would ultimately become territorial to protect his creation. Land became a powerful 
commodity and this would create great conflict between the growing groups of Paleo-Indians 
(Morgan 35). Nature was no longer something the Indians had to rely on as they became self 
2
ESSAI, Vol. 15 [2017], Art. 26
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/26
75 
sufficient and could live within much more stationary societies than what was required when they 
had to follow their sources of food from one location to another. Now they had to rise up and band 
together within tribes to protect not only their families but the very resources that they depended on 
to survive. These tribes clashed, yet they would also band together allowing them to build a culture 
and expand their societies into something that had never been seen before. 
 Many generations passed, engrossed in the new dominant Native American lifestyle where 
bigger communities arose as many were able to sustain their tribes in a mostly sedentary lifestyle 
supplemented by nomadic movements across the continent of North America. Nature was no longer a 
massive threat that Native Americans had to abide by and new cultures rose to prominence. One 
prominent tribe that arose around 100 B.C. was the Hopewell which created vast trading routes 
throughout the continent from their home in the Ohio River Valley to places such as the Rockies and 
the Gulf Coast. As they traded, they spread their ideas and techniques of mound-building to many 
different tribes (Keenan 5). These constructions were examples of early advances in scientific 
understanding as they exhibited their understanding of astronomy at that time. The effigies that they 
built were expertly designed so they would align with astronomical events allowing them to have an 
early iteration of an agricultural calendar (Keenan 3). Native Americans would dominate much of the 
continent for many generations until the arrival of foreign exploration parties from distant 
civilizations. These eager explorers would find the vast new world a very enticing endeavor and 
pushed to expand into the area, competing directly with the Native Americans for resources. In their 
early meetings, they had sought to work together with the natives at first, but things quickly 
deteriorated as relations with the new explorers became violent. While the natives fought to protect 
their lands that they had inhabited for thousands of years, it was a losing battle against the far greater, 
advanced societies that opposed them. The native tribes were greatly reduced and forced onto small 
reservations as the rise of the United States of America saw the natives as an archaic, uncivilized 
society that was incompatible with the new country. This would mark the end of the reign of Native 
Americans, who were the dominant force in the continent for thousands of years. 
 The environment that was in direct competition with the Paleo-Indians did not fare any better 
against the new explorers. The settlers had a thirst for control and domination of the landscape as 
they quickly expanded across the continent to farm and take advantage of the untamed lands. The 
new inhabitants thrived and grew immensely as they started to quickly amass new power from 
industry while having no regard for how it may affect the environment. Pollution and resource usage 
essentially went unregulated for many years as profit and power surpassed the need for a healthy 
environment. We are only starting to realize as a society the problems that we face in the near future 
such as climate change due to wild disinterest in our effects on the environment. Just like the Native 
Americans, we too may be affected by the environment as climate change threatens to pose vast 
problems such as major changes to habitats and ecosystems which ravage the environment while 
increased natural disasters such as floods pose risks to developed cities. We have made progress 
working towards a healthier future as awareness for our global footprint is spreading and we better 
understand how our lives impact the environment around us. Recent efforts between major 
superpowers of the world have taken steps in regulating and reducing pollution and unsustainable 
practices. It is disconcerting however that the very industries these regulations were made to curtail 
have worked to gain ground in politics and seek to undo the progress that has been made towards a 
more sustainable society. We need to more than ever be aware of the problems we are creating lest 
we destroy ourselves as we did the Native Americans. 
 
3
Miklinski: The Ancient Land of Living
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
76 
  
 
Works Cited 
 
Bonnicksen, Thomas America’s Ancient Forests: From the Ice Age to the Age of Discovery John 
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000. Print.  Primary and Secondary source: Includes accounts from later 
Indian tribes which described tales passed down through their generations of hunting and 
beliefs. Presents a perspective from the ecology and environment that existed during this time 
period. 
Gregory, Ted “Scientists want to strip away ice age past: Federal money sought to map glacial 
deposits” Chicago Tribune, Tronc Inc. January 12, 2014.  Secondary source: Explains what 
the weather and landscape was like before 10,000 B.C. 
Keenan, Jerry “Ancient Iowa Effigy Mounds Honors Ancestors Who Predate Columbus” Chicago 
Tribune May 11, 1997 Tronc Inc. Secondary Source: Details the outcome of Paleoindians as 
they matured as a culture. 
Morgan, Ted Wilderness At Dawn: The Settling of The North American Continent. Simon & Schuster 
Inc., 1993. Print.  Secondary source: Provides background information on how Native 
Americans traveled and arrived to the continent and how they lived in their early groups. 
Morin, Monte “Watery tomb of Ice Age life: Analysis describes oldest remains in Americas” 
Chicago Tribune May 16, 2014 Tronc Inc. Secondary Source: Evidence showing what the 
time was like that the Paleoindians lived in and contrasts the differences between ecology and 
creatures from then and now. 
Page, Jake In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-year history of American Indians Free Press 
May 3, 2004. Print.  Secondary source: Provided information on the communities that early 
natives lived in and the general resources and land that they lived on. 
 
 
 
4
ESSAI, Vol. 15 [2017], Art. 26
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/26


The Ancient Land of Living

Montgomery, Tiffany

Command and Control: A Moral Framework for the Development of Artificial Intelligence

Parvanova, Deyna

ESSAI
Volume 15 Article 30
Spring 2017
The industrial revolution was the force behind the
New Imperialism
Deyna Parvanova
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Parvanova, Deyna (2017) "The industrial revolution was the force behind the New Imperialism," ESSAI: Vol. 15 , Article 30.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/30
96 
The industrial revolution was the force behind the New Imperialism 
 
by Deyna Parvanova 
 
(Honors History 1120) 
 
 
 
ew Imperialism is a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United Sates, and 
the Empire of Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Europe had colonies 
scattered all over the world before that, but at that time the amount of influence Europe had 
on these regions was minimal. Things changed at the end of the 19th century to a more aggressive and 
extensive form of imperialism. In this ‘New Imperialism,’ European countries took over most of the 
rest of the world between the years 1870 and 1914, and had formal political, economic and social 
control over the new territories. 
What was the force behind this New Imperialism? 
The industrial revolution was the force behind this New Imperialism, as it created not only 
the need for Europe to expand, but the power to successfully take and profitably maintain so many 
colonies overseas. 
The industrial revolution created the need for Europe to take over colonies around the world. 
An empire always wants to add colonies as a measure of national greatness, but now there was an 
additional push to conquer new territories. Because the Industrial Revolution increased the 
production capacity of Western states astronomically, there was an enormous hunger for raw 
materials to satisfy demands. Thus, the Western powers sought colonies where raw materials were 
abundant and where they could be appropriated at little to no cost. Of course, their eyes were on 
Africa, which was rich in oil, ivory, rubber, wood, cotton, cocoa beans, copper, gold, iron, cobalt, 
diamonds, etc. 
The American Civil War created a shortage of cotton supply. This prompted the main 
purchasers of cotton, Britain and France, to turn to Egyptian cotton. With the ending of slavery in 
1865, there was not enough labor to plow, seed, prune, and harvest the cotton in the South. With 
hundreds of thousands of workers finding employment in textile mills, these supplies and outlets were 
crucial to securing the social stability of European and North American societies. To maintain an 
industry so important required a global reconstruction of the empire of cotton; a search for 
innovative combination of land, labor, capital, and state power (Empire of Cotton). The cotton 
industry needed a new source of raw material supply and labor. The Western countries looked at 
western Africa, India, and China for that. 
Additionally, the colonies gave the Western powers a ready-made market for their goods, as 
the colonized people were left with little to no legal recourse to produce their own finished products. 
Asia’s textile markets were vast, and winning them was the grand prize for European imperialism. 
India, in particular, became a huge market. It was the most important customer for British 
manufacturers. Africa too was seen as a place to sell products. There are 40,000,000 of naked people 
beyond that gateway, and the cotton spinners of Manchester are waiting to clothe them (King 
Leopold’s Ghost), said Henry Stanley to the Manchester Chamber of Commerce in 1884 on behalf of 
Belgian King Leopold’s International Association of the Congo.  
The Industrial Revolution increased production capacity drastically. A bigger demand for 
these products had to be generated. Controlling the rest of the world gave the option to suppress their 
capability of producing goods and created a market outlet for their own products. The stirring race 
and hunger for colonization is best described in a diamond magnate Cecil Rhodes’ words I would 
annex the planets if I could (King’s Leopold Ghost). 
N
1
Parvanova: The industrial revolution was the force
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
97 
The industrial revolution gave Europe the capability to take over so much of the world very 
quickly. The Western powers used their superior weapons and powerful iron warships to conquer 
much of the world, especially lands in Africa and Asia. In 1800, Europe controlled 35 percent of the 
world's land surface; by 1914, they controlled 84 percent. Western imperialism placed millions of 
black and brown people under the control of white people. The tools were critical, for they would 
soon allow a few thousand white men working for the king to dominate some twenty million Africans 
(King Leopold’s Ghost). Thanks to the Industrial Revolution, Europeans had an advantage in the 
quality of their weapons and military training, and took advantage of the decline of the great empires 
in Asia and Africa. The Maxim gun, an early edition of the machine gun, was far superior to the 
native tribes’ muskets or spears. As the poet Hilaire Belloc wrote: Whatever happens, we have got 
the Maxim gun, and they have not (King Leopold’s Ghost). 
The heavily armed ships with hulls of iron and steam-powered engines could navigate the 
non-tidal sections of rivers, allowing access inland. The steamboat was an instrument of colonization 
throughout the nineteenth century, serving everyone from British on the Ganges in India to the 
Russians on the Ob and Irtysh in Siberia (King Leopold’s Ghost) and on the Missouri River in the 
United States. 
There were also new advancements in medicine, allowing (to an extent) Europeans to better 
survive malaria and yellow fever. Africa, especially the western regions, was known as the 'White 
Man's Grave' and years earlier only one in ten men could survive. With the new medicine to combat 
malaria, European explorers could venture much deeper into Africa, and therefore make more 
accurate maps for future Europeans arriving on the continent. Also, armies now suffered much less 
attrition damage when moving through the African land. Therefore, larger armies could arrive in 
Africa to effectively dominate the local cultures and peoples. 
Also, tonic went well with gin! It was discovered that quinine (made from a cinchona bark) is 
a powerful medicine that not only treats malaria but also prevents it. Quinine was so bitter, though, 
that British officials stationed in India and other tropical posts took to mixing the powder with soda 
and sugar. “Tonic water,” of a sort, was born. Schweppes’ introduced in 1870 “Indian Quinine 
Tonic,” a product specifically aimed for the British who were overseas and had to take a preventative 
dose of quinine daily (Schweppes.eu). It was only natural that at some point during this time 
someone would combine his daily dose of protective quinine tonic with a shot (or two) of gin. Rather 
than knock back a bitter glass of tonic in the morning, why not enjoy it in the afternoon with a 
healthy gin ration? The gin and tonic was born - and started saving lives. 
Without the innovations of the Industrial Revolution, the Imperialistic powers would not be 
able to penetrate deeply in the colonial countries. Their access would be limited to the ports.  
The industrial revolution gave Europe the power to efficiently maintain and profit from so 
many colonies around the world. Humans had never gone faster than horses could carry them, but 
now steam-powered trains and ships moved people and goods faster and cheaper than ever before. 
The impact of infrastructure projects was staggering. A journey on a steamer from Bombay to 
Liverpool was accomplished in twenty-one days thanks to the newly opened Suez Canal (Empire of 
Cotton). Railroads were built and penetrated rural areas. In Asia and Africa, the “great 
transformation” reached, for the first time, into areas remote from port cities. Thanks to the telegraph, 
orders could be wired and received over great distances in a short amount of time. 
Industrial capitalism brought a new form of global economic integration. The rising power of 
manufacturers, and the particular form of capital they controlled, created a relationship between 
capital and territory as well as the people who dwelled on it, and allowed for new ways to mobilize 
their labor. New form of labor, including new forms of coercion, violence, and expropriation, spread 
over the globe (Empire of Cotton). At the Berlin Conference of 1884 and again at the Brussels 
Conference of 1889-1890, the European powers set out rules for claiming territory in Africa and 
agreed on the duties of a colonizing power: preventing Africans from trading in slaves, arms, or 
2
ESSAI, Vol. 15 [2017], Art. 30
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/30
98 
liquor. Africans were perceived as disorderly and incapable of self-control or economic progress, and 
Europeans were viewed as responsible and disciplined. 
Because of growing racism, or the belief that one race was superior to another because they 
were more technologically advanced, many Europeans and Americans felt they had the right to 
dominate people of other races. To Europeans, Africans were inferior beings: lazy, uncivilized, little 
better than animals (King Leopold’s Ghost). In fact, they were treated and put to work like animals. 
Some were brought to fair exhibitions and displayed as animals in zoos along with monkeys. Many 
of the natives were illiterate and like the Congo case, the Congolese had no written language. The 
only way to hear their stories is from notes written by colonizers and settlers or missionaries like the 
Swedish missioner C.N. Borrison. An imprisoned woman told him about the soldiers’ attitude: 
Whether they cut off our heads or that of a chicken it is all the same to them . . .  (King Leopold’s 
Ghost). The rage of racism and brutality were constantly there. 
Despotism is a legitimate mode of government in dealing with barbarians, provided the end 
be their improvement wrote John Stuart Mill, the great philosopher of human freedom in On Liberty 
(King Leopold’s Ghost). The colonial powers used various administrative systems (direct and 
indirect) to facilitate control and economic exploitation, but no matter the system they were all alien, 
authoritative, and bureaucratic, and distorted the local political and social organizations. Along with 
this, they undermined their moral authority and political legitimacy as governing structures. 
The most frightful and terrifying story is probably of the Congo, where the framework of 
control was from the military. After all, without armed forces, you cannot make man leave their 
homes and families and carry sixty-five-pound loads for weeks or months (King Leopold’s Ghost). 
Massive amounts of deaths happened as a result of the forced labor system. Leopold's army mutilated 
or killed any African who did not produce enough of the coveted, profitable resources. The 
Europeans burned African villages, farmland, and rainforest, and held women as hostages until 
rubber and mineral quotas were met. Due to this brutality and European diseases, the native 
population dwindled by approximately ten million people in the Congo alone. 
In cotton producing countries, as the prices of cotton were going down but food prices up, 
starvation and famine were widely spread. In India alone, the British medical journal The Lancet 
estimated that famine death during 1890 totaled 19 million, . . . people died like flies (Empire of 
Cotton). The situation was no different within the rest of the colonies. 
Europe grew rich thanks to the Industrial Revolution and diverged from the rest of the world 
by stemming their development and natural evolution. Imperialistic powers collected large fortunes 
from their colonies, all obtained from low paid or free labor and natural resources, but left the local 
population without any means of support. The subsistence agriculture in the colonized countries was 
destroyed. When the European powers stepped up their colonization of Africa in the 19th century, 
they caused tremendous harm to traditional farming and herding practices. For centuries, local 
farmers had adapted to changing environmental conditions. The Europeans considered such farming 
techniques wasteful and unsuited to the export crops they hoped to cultivate. Throughout the African 
continent, the imperialists grabbed the chosen lands and reoriented production towards cash crops for 
export: like cotton, coffee, sugar cane, and cocoa. One immediate result was that food production for 
the poor majority was neglected. 
At the same time, large-scale export agriculture led to massive environmental degradation. 
Western commercial interests cleared millions of acres of brush and trees for plantation agriculture. 
This removed a source of organic replenishment. In addition, intensive commercial farming of 
cotton, peanuts, tobacco, and other crops leached nutrients from the soil. Soil erosion, deforestation, 
and the expansion of desert resulted. Farmers were pushed on to more marginal lands that became 
overgrazed and overexploited. 
The industrial revolution increased production capacity and efficiency in western countries. 
The greater power to produce more created their need for raw materials which resulted in the 
3
Parvanova: The industrial revolution was the force
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017
99 
necessity of a bigger market to sell their products. Industrial Revolution innovations such as the 
steam-powered ships and trains along with the staggering infrastructure projects like the Suez Canal 
and railroads allowed for fast and cheap transportation of products and people around the world. This 
technological improvement gave them an ever-increasing advantage over the rest of the world. New 
sophisticated weapons gave their army the opportunity to conquer less developed countries at a faster 
rate. The Telegraph facilitated communications between the motherland and colonies. New medical 
advancements also helped European travelers and armies survive otherwise deadly diseases. Without 
the industrial revolution, such atrocities committed by the Europeans would not have occurred the 
same way and the world would not be what it is today. The technical advantages of the Industrial 
Revolution gave the Europeans the belief that they are above the other races. Thus, this transformed 
into racism. As a consequence of this superiority, unremitting despotism came as a natural (or no 
compunction) form of control by the colonizers, which allowed them to profitably maintain so many 
colonies overseas. The industrial revolution helped the European countries accumulate more capital 
and become wealthier while subjugating the rest of the world under their control. Having this slave-
master relationship, vital resources were snatched away from them making their society crumble for 
life. 
 
 
  
 
Works Cited 
 
Beckert, Swen. Empire of Cotton. Vintage, 2015. 
“Discover the Rich and Original History of the First Tonic in the World...” Schweppes, 
www.schweppes.eu/heritage/#launch-of-the-iconic-indian-tonic-water.  
Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial 
Africa. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 2005. 
 
 
 
4
ESSAI, Vol. 15 [2017], Art. 30
https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/30


The industrial revolution was the force behind the New Imperialism

Flinker, Kelsey

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 2 Article 10
Spring 5-1-2017
Bedroom
Kelsey Flinker
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Flinker, Kelsey (2017) "Bedroom," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 10.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/10
Give Me Booze or Give me Jesus 
  
Give me booze or give me Jesus 
If we listened to the bottom of the vodka bottle, 
or finished the last chapter book of Revelation, 
the spirits toss in the cards, the chips— 
pray for a gambler. 
Listen to summer sun, birds that chirp, 
these are the beginnings and where it ends. 
Maya calendar.
Micheal Lee Johnson
Bedroom
Ink by Kelsey Flinker
Spring 2017    11 1
Flinker: Bedroom
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2016


Bedroom

Laird, Jeff

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 2 Article 32
Spring 5-1-2017
A Bad Egg
Jeff Laird
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Laird, Jeff (2017) "A Bad Egg," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 32.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/32
A Bad Egg 
A bad egg. 
I never thought of those three words 
as anything more than an idiom. Like 
“the black sheep.” A miscreant. Trou-
ble. I get it. 
I had no idea. 
Last summer, we bought some farm-
fresh eggs from the Amish in Indiana. 
Those Amish, they’re always up to 
something fresh. “Watch out, though,” 
the Amish warned, “Every so often you 
get a fertilized egg mixed in.” 
“How can you tell,” I ask the Amish, 
“Do baby chicks burst forth when you 
crack ‘em?” 
“Well, not exactly,” the Amish replied, 
not unlike the ominous character in 
the first act of a horror film. “But you’ll 
know.” 
I had no idea. 
A week or so later, at the peak of the 
July heat wave, the temperature outside 
hit 100 degrees and, to me, some farm-
fresh egg salad sounded delicious. So, 
I placed a few of the Amish eggs in a 
pan of water and set it to boil. 
A few minutes later, I noticed that one 
of the eggs looked wrong. It had bro-
ken through its brown shell in a way 
not unlike the Hulk tears through his 
purple pants. The egg white was not 
white, but dark gray and something 
even darker—and wronger—seemed to 
lurk within. 
“A bad egg,” I thought, shrugging it 
off as no biggie. It happens. I didn’t 
want to spoil the rest of the batch, so I 
carefully removed the abhorrent thing 
with a large spoon. 
Warning: If you ever find yourself 
in this situation, carefully wrap the 
nastiness in a paper towel, take it to the 
farthest reaches of your property and 
bury it in the ground. Do NOT put it in 
the garbage disposal. 
I had no idea. 
I placed it in the sink but it was too 
engorged to fit down the hole. I gave it 
a slight tap with said spoon to push it 
through. It was like setting off a bomb. 
The reaction was swift. The smell…
oh, the smell…scampered like an evil 
sprite up my nose, slithered down my 
throat, grabbed hold of the contents 
of my stomach and gave a painful tug 
north. Before I fell into a full on retch, 
I managed to push it the rest of the way 
down the disposal, blast the water and 
flick the switch. The sound was thick 
and crunchy. Was there a faint scream 
escaping the drain, or was it rising from 
within me? I dashed for the powder 
room off the kitchen holding my breath 
and desperately on to my breakfast. 
My wife entered the kitchen. “What is 
happening!?” 
I could barely respond, afraid that a full 
explanation might be punctuated with 
vomit. “Lemons!” I gurgled. “Shove 
lemons down the disposal!” I’d noticed a 
couple of lemon wedges as I’d retracted 
the eggs from their farm-fresh carton in 
the fridge. 
She did, gagging and opening the win-
dow. We opened all the windows; the 
smell was horrid. Thick. Suffocating. 
Remember, it was 100 degrees outside. 
And no breeze. 
We did not have egg salad for lunch. 
I had no idea. 
 
I do, however, now have a greater appre-
ciation for the term, a bad egg. 
 
Jeff Laird
32    Prairie Light Review 1
Laird: A Bad Egg
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2016


College of DuPage

Not a member yet