Abstract
This paper describes the author's positive experience backpacking in America. The author talks about the emotionally and spiritually uplifting experience that backpacking can be, as well as its educational benefits in terms of self-sufficiency, responsibility, co-operation, endurance, survival skills, and planning ability.

From the Paper
"Last summer my parents decided to go on a world cruise, which they had long dreamt of. My parents' decision left me with the prospect of a summer with nothing much to do other than laze around the house. In fact, this was precisely what I was looking forward to when a friend suggested that we spend the summer backpacking our way through some of the wilder terrain of America. Initially, when my friend mooted the idea, I demurred since I just could not see myself walking endless miles groaning under the weight of a heavy backpack. However, my friend was highly persistent and persuasive and finally I gave in. Today, when I look back, I am thankful that I did so, for it was a highly rewarding experience in more ways than one. Indeed, I would have never imagined that backpacking could actually lead to the development of several skills. More important, today I believe that backpacking is one of the best ways for a person to get in touch with themselves."

Tags:carrying, pack, back, walking, travel, tourism, nature, interests, joys, countryside

Abstract
This paper is about the author's recollection of a summer he had when he was ten years old. The paper recounts the author's experience with a bitter neighbor and teacher and how the experience of actually getting know this person was a pivotal growing point in his life.

From the Paper
"Back in the distant days when summer was the most important time of the year, there seemed to be something very special about the way that time stood still and how every day, whether a Monday, a Wednesday or a Saturday, held new adventures lurking just around the corner. Summer was also the only time that one could escape from the nagging of teachers, the burden of constant homework and the dreary anticipation of having to get up before dawn in order to catch the bus to get to school on time."

Tags:town, city, summers, innocent, child, teachers, elementary, school, widowed, classroom

Abstract
Backpacking is often regarded as an activity which is undertaken only by those people who have a deep love for the outdoors, adventure or for roughing it out. However, while it is true that backpacking is not for the fainthearted, it is an activity that perhaps everyone should try at least once in his or her lifetime, for backpacking can prove to be an enormously rewarding experience. It is the objective of this paper to describe the benefits of backpacking as well as explore some of its more practical aspects.

From the Paper
"If backpacking allows a traveler to closely experience the environment and cultures in different parts of the world, it appears that backpacking in the wilderness may be the best way to commune with Nature. In America, for instance, there are still many wild spots with beautiful scenery that are best experienced by backpacking. Bialeschki, a professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, says that even the crowded Eastern Seaboard has such places: "A night spent along the banks of the roaring Linville River, in a gorge capable of generating its own microclimate.... Unlike most of the rest of the region, it's a place little changed since the European invasion." (Miller, 2003)"

Tags:travel, sightseeing, hiking

Abstract
This paper explores both the death and aftermath of a young man following his solo backpacking trip to Alaska. During the trip, the author cites authors such as Thoreau in describing the need to individuate in nature. The young man's family is quoted following his death, as they try to come to terms with their loss.

From the Paper
"Alaska proved to be an incredible challenge for the young man. Unknown territory was the most dangerous and threatening to a person such as McCandless. Many locals could not understand how he had let himself drift into such a deserted location. What the locals did not know was that this was McCandless' mission, to live in complete solitude. McCandless just happened to wander into complete solitude at the wrong time. With no one around to help, McCandless' exhausted body could not handle the harmful conditions of the Stampede Trail. Four months on foot traveling the entire west coast would be life threatening to someone as is. For McCandless, the land was his home. Mother Nature provided him with the extra motivation he needed to keep going. In the very beginning of his trip, McCandless took plenty of pictures. Unfortunately his camera did not last very long. McCandless neglected to do any research, all he did was purchase a map and follow where he thought would be a good place to live in solitude. His naive attitude got him in big trouble. Had he gone about his risk taking adventure in a smart way, he would have thought about it as a backpacker would think about every trip. If he would have done some research about the Stampede Trail when he decided that that was where he wanted to go, he would have realized the dangers of going to the middle of nowhere at that time of year. Had he done even a little bit of research, he could have realized that there was a ranger cabin not too far from where he had ended up."

Tags:Chris, McCandless, Thoreau, hiking, starvation

Abstract
This paper presents to the reader the importance of organized summer camps and programs in youth development. A special emphasis throughout the paper is placed on the influence of recreation on child development and personal growth. By defining the effect of the summer camp experience and presenting relevant statistics from reputable opinion leaders, this paper reveals that summer camp programs play a significant role in the youth development. There are three key development areas discussed in this paper, which include social skills, self-identity and physical/ health.

From the Paper
"Camps offer the opportunity for attendees to gain a wide exposure to different people in different walks of life. Campers come from diverse socio-economic classes, different backgrounds and different family structures. Therefore, the development of compassion and empathy for fellow human beings is a core social development area. Camps offer children opportunities to share stories around a campfire, to contribute their thoughts, ideas and suggestions. As children acknowledge the thoughts and feelings of other children, it is natural to develop compassion for each other. Learning to be understanding, to be civil and accepting of other individuals will aid campers in social situations as they grow older and particularly as they become adults."

Tags:outdoor, recreation, team, sports, Trail, Blazer, Camps, Girl, and, Boy, Scout

Abstract
This paper examines the book "Summer Sisters" by Judy Blume which revolves around the friendship between Vix and Caitlin and causes two opposite worlds to collide. It looks at how the character of Vix is given the opportunity to escape from the drudgery of her life in poverty and her controlling mother, Tawny by the offer to spend the summer at Martha's Vineyard by the privileged Caitlin and how the next five summers at Martha's Vineyard not only expose her to boys, sex and fun, but also give her a taste of the infinite possibilities that were once beyond her imagination, such as going to Harvard. It provides a brief background to Judy Blume and looks at how she writes with a pithy, simple style, making her stories easy to read for the majority of readers.

From the Paper
"In this work, Blume presents a vast array of men and women, representing a full spectrum of gender roles. The most striking characters who seem to defy the prescribed roles of their gender are Phoebe, Caitlin's mother and Caitlin, who walks in her mother's footsteps. The very first impression Blume conveys of Phoebe is one of an unorthodox mother: "Phoebe, dressed in faux Indian clothes? including her boyfriend of the moment, a guy with long, silvery hair?" (11). Furthermore, she had convinced Lamb, Caitlin's father, of having an open marriage that ultimately did not work (Blume 34). In these aspects, Phoebe represents the image of a new woman who does not stay within the confines of a traditional prescription of a wife or mother."

Tags:mother, poverty, harvard, boys

Abstract
This research paper discusses the need and importance of developing positive summer youth programs in urban areas, focusing on the development of recreational and educational curriculum. Kids in these areas are at risk when there is "nothing to do", during the summer months. The paper looks at how it is important to ensure that the physical activity provided is fun and challenging because recreation is the draw for the children and parents. The paper also emphasizes that it is important to provide an experience that goes beyond just learning to play a particular sport, but one that also helps to develop social skills and plays a major role in the quality of a child's life and the quality of life in an urban environment.

Outline:
Abstract Statement
Problem Statement
Literature Review
Methodology
Body (Lowell Housing Authority Survey)
Survey Results
Statement of Learning
References

From the Paper
"Most rural towns have greater means and opportunity to provide diverse programs for children in those communities. Urban areas often struggle to provide good quality positive programs. Although programs are important all year round to supplement a child's learning process, the summer provides an opportunity for all children to be immersed in programs that have a profound affect upon them. This study focuses on the need and importance of developing positive programming in urban areas. Children in most urban areas have fewer opportunities available to them and are at risk of becoming negatively affected by their environment. The importance of having a summer program available in urban areas is critical and the impact changes the course of many children's lives."

Tags:curriculum, positive, programming

Abstract
This paper explains the importance of a summer mathematic program is because of new requirements in Michigan, which will immediately endanger the graduation track of students who struggle early in their ninth grade Algebra course. The author presents the rational for a summer support algebra program and reviews the literature upon which to develop the project. The paper summarizes this literature by stating the need for new innovative methods of teaching specifically relevant to the instruction of Algebra. In addition, the author states that the traditional algebra instruction methods have left a generation of students who not only see no practical need for algebra but also view it as a frivolous waste of academic time and resources.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Problem Statement
Importance and Rationale of the Project
Background of the Project
Statement of Purpose
Research Objectives
Limitations of the Project
Literature Review
Mathematics Curricula
Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) Programs
Instructional Process Programs
Summary

From the Paper
"Another program used in addressing student achievement in Algebra is 'The Algebra Online Program' as reported by the Louisiana Department of Education - Center for Educational Technology. This program involved a team of planners all of whom are certified in teaching mathematics who met to discuss, design, format, supplementary textbook selection and implementation of the course. This is a distance-learning curriculum."

Tags:alternative, personal curriculum, college-level tutorial collaborative

Abstract
This paper explains that Y. Nasrullah's films typically address some aspect of contemporary Egypt or the Middle East, including issues of leftism and Islamic militancy, and illustrate dimensions of political events and society, which are lesser known or not known to outsiders.
The author points out that "Summer Thefts", set in the summer of 1961, is most worthwhile for its depiction of an Egypt left behind with the arrival of President Nasser's radical agrarian reform agenda that could affect harshly landowning Egyptians and the Westernized bourgeoisie. The paper relates that, above all, this film gives the viewer access to a most varied Egyptian population in keeping with other Middle Eastern powers of which little tends to be known.

From the Paper
"Between June and September of 1961, Nasser nationalized the major heavy and medium industries, banks, insurance, shipping and public transport industries. Agrarian real estate, domestic trade and small industry were left in the hands of a bourgeoisie whose members would often opt to go elsewhere, much of their capital lost overnight to nationalization of commercial and industrial ventures and without confidence in the Egyptian economy to produce new opportunities or demand. The reader comes to see that families such as Nasrullah's in "Summer Thefts" were not just divided by politics."

Tags:photography, expatriate, bourgeoisie, nasser, disenfranchised

Abstract
This paper uses both the new criticism and the deconstruction approach to find deeper insight to the possible meanings and connections in "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?"

Tags:New, Criticism, deconstruction