What is the genre of this story? Why is it so quiet? Why can't I move? And why is it so dark? I try to recall where I am, but I cannot remember. Blackness surrounds me.
I hear a familiar voice that makes my heart flutter like a thousand butterflies. It is the voice of my friend, Maddy. She visits her grandparents here on the Gulf of Mexico every summer. She usually brings me crumbs, but today, I cannot smell anything except the sour smell of oil.
Her voice sounds worried, different from the usual cheerful greeting that she calls me with every day at dusk. I try to turn towards her, but I can't move very well. My feet feel mired as if in quicksand.
I hear her come closer. Her words help me understand that something has happened to my home.
"Oh, grandma! What is all this? They are all covered in it! It's black. Ugh! The smell is so strong I can't stand it." Maddy's tears stream down her face, mingling with mine. I hear her crying, but all is dark, like a moonless night. Where is the smiling sun? I try to stretch out to feel the warmth, but my wings do not respond.
Dazed, I call out to my friends hoping they will find me in the blackness, but everything is so still. I hear nothing, except for Maddy's desperation. Her sobs, uncontrollable.
"Go get some towels, Maddy. Run!" Her grandma tells her, a quiet urgency in her voice.
"Hey little one," grandma coos as she bends over me. I can feel her breath on my head. "We've got you and you are going to do all we can for you." All they can? I hear Maddy's hurried footsteps and feel the towel's softness enveloping me as she picks me up in her arms. She is gentle, her sobs quieting as she takes me to her home, seemingly miles and miles from my nest along the shoreline.
I hear the phone ring. I hear the news on the television.
"Spill...oil...negligence...BP...bl ame..."
"What are we going to do?"
I hear the door banging and neighbors' voices, shrill and urgent, coming in and out of the house. All of the sounds tell me that the emergency is intensifying.
I still cannot see anything. Maybe it is good that I cannot see. If I could, I might see my home, blackened with the oil of a mishandled well deep in the ocean. I would see my friends, covered in slick crudeness. I would desperately observe the choking, billowing smoke, polluting the Gulf sky, my home. I would see my family unable to fly through the air, unable to dive into the ocean for the delicious meals we used to find there. I fear our fish are no more; they are stuck in the depths of the black, watery grave.
What are we going to do? What are we going to do? I hope the humans will do something to bring light to all of the blackness.
I hear Maddy, making sweet, soothing sounds as she begins to clean my feathers gently. I hear that sound often. It's the sound humans make on the beach when their babies are frightened.

Fantasy, Science fiction, Mystery, Historical fiction, Realistic Fiction, Autobiography, Biography, Informational, Essay, Comedy, Tragedy, Monologue, Improvisation, Sonnet, Free verse, Haiku, or Limericks?

read this excerpt from “incidents in the life of a slave girl.”

i went about my evening work with trembling steps. mr. flint twice called from his chamber door to inquire why the house was not locked up. i replied that i had not done my work. "you have had time enough to do it," said he. "take care how you answer me! "

i shut all the windows, locked all the doors, and went up to the third story, to wait till midnight. how long those hours seemed, and how fervently i prayed that god would not forsake me in this hour of utmost need! i was about to risk everything on the throw of a die; and if i failed, o what would become of me and my poor children? they would be made to suffer for my fault.

at half past twelve i stole softly down stairs. i stopped on the second floor, thinking i heard a noise. i felt my way down into the parlor, and looked out of the window. the night was so intensely dark that i could see nothing. i raised the window very softly and jumped out. large drops of rain were falling, and the darkness bewildered me. i dropped on my knees, and breathed a short prayer to god for guidance and protection. i groped my way to the road, and rushed towards the town with almost lightning speed.

what is the main idea of this excerpt?

harriet worked for a man called mr. flint who became very impatient when she did not finish her work.

harriet waited until after midnight to run down the stairs and jump out of a window into the rain.

harriet was a frightened young girl who found the faith and courage to leave her home for an unknown life.

harriet felt very nervous about running away because she did not like being alone in the darkness.

explanation:

they insisted that there was not enough time to learn everything.  

explanation:

if they were going to steal the answers that is simply because they insisted that there was not enough time to learn everything.  

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)