July 31, 2009
The novel “Of Mice and Men” is written by John Steinbeck. It is situated in Soledad which means loneliness in Spanish. The novel is located a few miles south of Soledad. The novel was set in the early 1930’s. It was a time when racism was a big issue. Loneliness means being isolated or on your own. In this novel many of the characters are lonely. Steinbeck was born in Soledad so he decided to make this the area in which to place his novel.
In this story, the characters are lonely because although they are all together they all feel very much on their own. For example, Lennie is with George all the time but Lennie always feels on his own and is scared that George will leave him and is always seeking his approval as a child would seek the approval of a parent. George and Lennie do not see themselves as lonely as the other characters because they have each other and a dream to go away one day together. (more…)
July 29, 2009
Imagine driving to work, running late for an important meeting. You are driving the posted speed limit, obeying all traffic laws, and you car is in perfect working order. All of a sudden, flashing red and blue lights are behind you and you’re being pulled over. The officer treats you as a suspect right off the bat, smothering you with questions concerning what you’re doing, where you’re going; yet never really telling you why you’ve been pulled over. Without any warranted reason the officer wants to search your car. After much hassle you are finally free to go, yet still have no explanation as to why you were pulled over to begin with. Now imagine you are black and the officer is white. You have probably just experienced racial profiling.
Racial profiling is a problem which is gaining widespread notoriety in the United States. It may be the most important homeland issue we face today. Racial profiling is a clear violation of the civil rights of United States citizens. Not only does racial profiling affect civilians, but it actually makes law enforcement ineffective. Most efforts to investigate and eradicate racial profiling have failed due to unclear findings and a lack of accountability on the part of law enforcement. New measures must be taken in conjunction with current measures to curb racial profiling. A stringent federal program to monitor and survey our nation’s police officers is needed. (more…)
People are blind; we sometimes are not able to even see what is directly in front of our own eyes because our nativity does not allow it. We want to believe in something so bad that even if the truth is right in front of us we ignore it in favour of the situation that better meets our personal believes. We cannot just simply see things for what they are and we read too much into things. It is a common misconception that Milton’s Satan in “Paradise Lost” is actually the hero. People believe this for the simple reason that we can relate to him more so than we can relate to the omnificent god. Satan is portrayed with human virtues and values: defiance, anger, arrogance, and regret. God is nearly impossible to relate to in Paradise Lost because he is perfect and we can’t sympathise with this.
Satan is an archangel that falls from grace due to his jealously of god’s son. He convinces one third of the angels to follow him in his rebellion. In the development of Milton’s Satan we see into his heart and soul, we see the reasons behind the choices that he makes and we are able to see his inner struggles, (more…)
July 27, 2009
In his book Brave New World, Aldous Huxley subtly expresses his opinion on the thought of a Utopian world and the imperfection of humanity that would make such a paradise impossible to create. Through the characters of the novel Huxley explores this flawed utopia noting the cracks in the structure of the ‘World State’ when something if out of order, or not acting as it should be. This is a world who’s overall stability depends on it’s billion strong population to be blissful in their ignorance and emotional suppression. Therefore, if an individual chooses to seek the truth of the world, to seek love, to search for knowledge then the system begins to crumble.
In the world of Huxley mankind as it is today is completely gone. No longer are babies born, now they are created in laboratories. First their job along with their life is planned depending on what class they are to be. The Alpha and Beta classes are the genetic peak of this hierarchy followed by the Gamma’s all the way to the peasant class of Epsilon, the semi-moronic class that is designed for all the mediocre tasks. The way that the classes are separated from one another is the amount of alcohol that each group is dosed in as a fertilized egg. In this way the intelligence of each baby is altered. The abilities, and the potential of these individuals have now been utterly crushed leaving them with nothing other then to do what they are made too. (more…)
All Quiet on the Western Front is a story of a German soldier involved with World War One. The soldiers’ name is Paul Baumer, a nineteen-year-old student who is convinced to join the German army by his schoolmaster, Kantorek. Some of his classmates are also convinced to join by Kantorek. While in the service, Paul meets many others who play an important part in his life. The time frame of this story is from 1915-1918.
Kantorek is a small man who is said to be stern. Kantorek believes in nationalism and patriotism. Paul refers to Kantorek as being of similar stature as Corporal Himmelstoss, “the terror of Klosterberg”. He finds men Kantoreks size to be the cause of a lot of unhappiness in the world. Although Kantorek preaches patriotism to all of his students, he never would enlist. As Paul receives letters throughout the story, he and his classmates laugh at the irony of the man who writes letter about the “Iron Youth”, yet stays safe enough to write letters from home. (more…)
July 23, 2009
A good dissertation includes clear writing on a topic that is fully defined and easily applied to your degree program. It is essential to develop a topic sentence, a thesis that clearly states the goals of your paper. Your dissertation should be developed, in a number of simple steps that will help keep you on track during the process.
Here is a short list of items you will want to accomplish to write a good dissertation:
• Review course materials for a topic of interest.
• Research your chosen dissertation topic to learn more about the topic – history and current events.
• Refine your topic and develop a dissertation topic or thesis statement –Will your paper aim towards the science community, business world, or a more general audience? Does the paper include research, studies, or surveys? A statement that requires more work than you wanted may not be the direction. For instance, a 40-page dissertation is probably not the appropriate length for a full study to be presented. (more…)
July 21, 2009
Today we are discussing how to write a good thesis. First, it is important to note that a thesis can vary between educational institutions – in some colleges a thesis is your final paper for your master’s degree, some colleges it is a paper regarding the thesis statement you will use in your dissertation, and in other colleges, a thesis is interchangeable with a term paper.
Either way, there are some key points to consider:
• Clearly define, refine, and develop your topic. Your topic must not falter in your pages or the paper will lose its meaning and fail to convey a point.
• Use appropriate sources – avoid unqualified sources found online, your paper losses its impact if the sources are unreliable, or worse, wrong.
• Formatting is important, colleges rely on formatting for many reasons, but the biggest and most important, is to avoid plagiarism. Your in-text citations will demonstrate where the information is found in your references pages, and will allow the reader to access the same information you found. (more…)
July 17, 2009
Smoked in cigarettes or pipes, mixed with food and beverages is marijuana, a Schedule one drug. Ever since the early 1900’s, the possession or intoxication of marijuana is prohibited in the United States. The popularity of marijuana began in the 1960’s. Marijuana’s usage declined in the mid 1970’s, although its usage has been rising since the mid 1990’s. Marinol, a capsule containing THC, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1985. Marinol helps people with serious medical conditions, such as AIDS and cancer. Some states have passed laws allowing the usage of marijuana for medical purposes. The usage of medical marijuana is illegal in the United States. People in the states who use medical marijuana legally, are still illegal drug offenders in the U.S.
Even though illegal, one out of three American adults admits to smoking marijuana (Hightimes 73). Made from dried leaves and flowering hemp plant tops, marijuana’s usage is widespread in the U.S. Grass, weed, pot, Mary Jane, hash, dope and reefer all refer to the drug marijuana. Pot creates a different type of high for every user. A person high from pot experiences a type of dreamy relaxed state, in which the user is more aware of senses. A high created from pot neither affects a person’s life nor lasts long, but the numerous uses for marijuana change people’s lives and will continue on forever. Marijuana should be legalized. (more…)
What is culture anyway? Bacteria grow in it. Anything made by man and depicted on a map is referred to as culture. I think it’s safe to state that people think of the word in terms of past traditions and a desire to maintain them. Some people want to “freeze” a tradition as it existed somewhere in time and often recounted by grandparents while believing it to be something to protect and preserve against all attempts to introduce change. This frequently takes place through legends, song and dance and it’s good that it’s done.
Today’s young students will one day think back on the classroom culture of today’s computer lab and wonder how anything could be accomplished on such primitive machines. So culture changes along with one’s mindset and the march of time. The dictionary defines “culture” terminology as the following: “the development and refinement of mind, morals or taste. The condition therefore produced; refinement. The specific stage in the development of a civilization and the sum total of the attainment and learned behavior patterns of any specific period, race, or people.” Nehru once said, “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.” Matthew Arnold in the Preface to Literature and Dogma wrote: “Culture - the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world.” Selected tools for cultural enrichment are: education, exposure, travel, language, etc. Opportunities for such enrichment can be experienced in: museums, libraries, zoos, universities, lectures, theaters, concerts, ethnic customs, cuisine, religions, observatories, planetariums and other people, places and things and, of course, profuse oratory contests, (of which American politicians and some writers exhibit an abundant measure). Do people confuse “culture” with “traditions” or are they one and the same? (more…)
July 15, 2009
A lot of American citizens think immigration is a major problem here in the United States. Do you think so? Immigration is the act of going to a foreign country to live. Immigrants who flee their country because of hardships are known as refugees.
People leave their homelands and move to a different country for many different reasons. Some emigrate for adventure, or to avoid starvation, yet others wish to escape terrible family hardships. However, the main reason has almost always been economic opportunity.
In just the 1980’s, millions of refugees fled from warfare in Afghanistan, Iran, Uganda, Southeast Asia, and Central America. From the late 1700’s to the 1860’s, Britain transported prisoners to Australia to relieve overcrowding in British jails (World Book 80).
Before 1920, about 30% of all immigrants returned to their native lands that had lived in the United States. Now only about 15% return home.
Immigrants have made enormous contributions over the years to the culture and economy of nations such as Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and even the U.S. But these achievements have been made with great difficulty. Many of the receiving countries have restricted immigration to maintain some kind of a society in which all the people share the same ethnic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds. (more…)
