Literature Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Literature - Research Paper Example † For many African-Americans, America is their home, their mistress, and yet it is also a place of slavery and pain. Garvey-esque escapes to Africa or Jamaica were the province of some, but for most others, the hope was that the promise of America would, like a check marked â€Å"Insufficient Funds†, ultimately be paid them. America was both a land of freedom and a source of oppression and segregation; a land of prosperity and opportunity, and the source of their dreadful poverty; a place of great knowledge, and also of great ignorance. Thematic elements such as Blake's tiger and the bread, a Biblical reference, ground the theme in classical Black cultural traditions such as usage of the imagery of the Bible both to represent the oppressors and liberation from the oppressors (Levine, 1978). Indeed, there is an understanding in McKay's poem that the very sources of oppression could themselves provide the seeds of liberation, the very ideologies that presently kept the Neg ro down being able to be deployed to make clear the necessity for and justice of their liberation. â€Å"Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, /Giving me strength erect against her hate†. The same entity hurting him also gives him vital strength and inspiration, providing a philosophy of freedom, equality, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. McKay makes clear that he does not hate America, despite its oppression. â€Å"Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood. / Yet as a rebel fronts a king in state, /I stand within her walls with not a shred / Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer†. By lifting revolutionary imagery, McKay reminds the reader that America was not always a counter-revolutionary actor that served to oppress, a conservative place, but was the home of rebellion. The use of the word â€Å"bigness† implies not only sheer size and power, but also magnanimity. McKay finally offers a warning much like the warning offered by Ozymandias. â€Å"Darkly I gaze into the days ahead, /And see her might and granite wonders there, /Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand, / Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand†. McKay predicts that the days ahead will be a time of decline, a warning that if America cannot provide a dream of justice, Time will strike it down. Thus, imagery, language, metaphor, symbolism, and references to culture makes the sonnet form that McKay uses pregnant with liberatory meaning. Langston Hughes was one of the most gifted poets of his generation and certainly stands the test of time among the great poets of any generation. Like many great poets, adversity and need shaped and channeled his writing: He was discussing poverty, racism, oppression, segregation, discrimination, dehumanization, and daily assaults on dignity and humanity, as well as hoping to provide a vision forward. His use of language was essential to combine all these tasks. â€Å"Harlem†, one of his most seminal poems, opens, â⠂¬Å"What happens to a dream deferred?† The poem is so short that every single stanza and word deserves careful attention and commentary. Hughes is using both

Fahrenheit 451 Essay Example for Free

Fahrenheit 451 Essay Fahrenheit 451 is a book that was published by Ray Bradbury in 1953. This book tells the story in which intellectual thought and books are illegal. According to the book, the futuristic firemen have the responsibility of setting fire to the books and any place that they reside. Numerous significant symbols occur in this book. In my opinion, fire, the Hearth and the Salamander, and the Phoenix are three of the most important symbols. The title of the book is an important symbol in and of itself. Ray Bradbury titled the book Fahrenheit 451 because 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns. Fire is a symbol of destruction. It’s significant because the main character, Guy Montag, and the rest of the firemen burn books because they are illegal. When seventeen-year-old Clarisse McClellan asks if Montag ever reads any of the books he burns, he laughs and replies â€Å"That’s against the law!† When Clarisse and Montag begin to talk more, Montag is taken aback by the different knowledge that Clarisse expresses to him. She tells him that firemen used to be sent out to stop fires, not start them. Montag couldn’t fight the sudden burning curiosity that over took all of his past beliefs. He began to collect books from each book burning and read them. The Hearth and the Salamander is the title of the first section of the book. Hearths are fireplaces that are traditionally placed in the center of the home and are a source of warmth. They represent the constructive use of fire, which Clarisse unintentionally shows Montag. After walking and talking with Clarisse, he realizes that he is not happy. The book states, â€Å"He felt his smile slide away, melt, fold over and down on itself like a tallow skin, like the stuff of a fantastic candle burning too long and now collapsing and now blown out. Darkness. He was not happy.† The salamander on the other hand was once believed to be able to live in fire without being consumed by it. This represents the destructive side of fire. Salamanders are the names given to the fire trucks and are the official symbols of the firemen. When Clarisse meets Montag for the first time the book describes her as being, â€Å"hypnotized by the salamander on his arm.† The Phoenix is a huge symbol that is mentioned in the novel. Toward the end of the story, the city is completely destroyed. The Phoenix was a mystical bird that would burn itself up and then rise again. Granger explains the legend of the Phoenix to Montag when they are watching the fire. It’s used to symbolize the renewal of mankind. Like the Phoenix, they have the ability to rise from the ashes, and rebuild their society. These extremely significant symbols are what make the novel a fantastic story. Fire, the Hearth and the Salamander, and the Phoenix are three symbols that I chose to go into detail about. They each express a different meaning of the book. The thought of firemen starting fires is something that could possibly change when rebuilding the city. At the end of the book they have one thing in mind and that is to change people’s minds about books.

Teenage Themes in The Wave - Morton Rhue Essay -- essays research pape

The Wave by Morton Rhue (Todd Strasser) is a novel from a student’s perspective, as an authoritarian right wing movement called â€Å"The Wave† changes her school. Ben Ross, one of the teachers in the school, created it to try to show his class the reasons for the inexplicable behavior of the Germans when the Nazi movement spread through Germany. Laurie, one of the students, finds out how she is alienated from her classmates when she does not accept their values of conformity through unity. Thus, it demonstrates how easily people can be swept up by a movement not only in Nazi Germany, but also in the modern day classroom, where students are learning about the evil influence of the Nazi movement in World War II. This can be applied to teenagers, as it is a period of their lives where they are easily influenced, and in the book, relevant themes to teens such as bullying, alienation and peer pressure are conveyed. Bullying is the act of intimidating a weaker person to make them do something. As the Wave spread rapidly through the school, those who refused to participate or join as a member were bullied into doing so. Such was the case according to the article submitted to Laurie â€Å"Join the Wave— or else† where a boy was warned â€Å"he’d (I’d) lose all his (my) friends if he (I) didn’t join† by a senior boy. This is clearly an intimidation tactic to make the boy join, and hence you could class it as bullying. Another case of bullying happened when David tried to intimidate Laurie to discontinue producing the magazine that condemns the Wave movement by showing the bad parts to it. He â€Å"held her arm† and when she â€Å"struggled harder to get out of his grasp†, he â€Å"threw her down on the grass.† Immediately after, he realized he had hurt his friend, ... ... instead of following the majority. The issue of peer pressure can relate to teens, as they are in constant pressure to be ‘cool’ or to be in the ‘in’ group. It does not really promote individualism, so people cannot develop their own ideas but rather follow the leader of their group. Overall, the themes of bullying, alienation and peer pressure that are shown in The Wave reflect the negative aspects of the lives of teens. It focuses on how they affect people, in general, by showing the consequences for all the scenarios (e.g. someone being bullied). This is done whilst revealing the important history lesson from the Nazi movement as well as from the school –- you have to be vigilant because it can happen to anyone. Even though the students were taught of the evil the Nazi party was committing, they did not think that they would do the same, although they were.

Is Compassion Really a Crime? Essay

Imagine standing in a hospital room watching a man suffer in agonizing pain day after day and not being able to do anything about it. This is the situation that Barbara Huttmann faces in her essay â€Å"A Crime of Compassion.† Huttmann, a nurse, is forced to watch Mac live in agonizing pain without legally being able to let him die. The message that she displays in her essay is suffering people should be permitted to die if they aspire to do so. Using various rhetorical devices, Huttmann portrays her message by first introducing Mac to the reader, then illustrating his suffering and finally letting him die. Huttmann opens her essay by introducing Mac, a young police officer who is diagnosed with lung cancer. She uses imagery to recall the day that Mac first â€Å"walked into the hospital with 32 pounds of attack equipment, looking as if he could singlehandedly protect the whole city, if not the whole state† (420). This image allows the reader to visualize and characterize Mac prior to his cancer. Contrastingly, Huttman later illustrates the Mac’s condition six months after he is diagnosed. At this point Mac has lost â€Å"his youth, his wit, his macho, his hair, his bowel and bladder control, his sense of taste and smell and his ability to do even the slightest thing for himself† (420). Huttmann creates contrasting images to show the horrific changes Mac has gone through due to his diagnosis. In the first image, Mac is depicted as a super heroic figure who is indestructible. As he enters the hospital, he carries with him a fearless attitude that enables people to look to him as a figure of protection. However, in the second image, his health has disintegrated and he has wasted away to nothingness. He can no longer perform basic tasks let alone protect anyone. While not yet relating to the message, these images begin to show the tragic course of events that Mac has fallen into in comparison to the previous state of his life. Huttmann continues her essay by illustrating Mac’s immense suffering. At this point, Mac â€Å"had wasted away to a 60-pound skeleton kept alive by liquid food [the nurses] poured down a tube, i.v. solutions [they] dripped into his veins, and oxygen [they] piped into a mask on his face† (420). This  hyperbole portrays the inhumane-like treatment Mac is receiving. The doctors and nurses are manually filling Mac’s body with the basic necessities of life just to keep him breathing. It is made clear to the reader that the life Mac is living, is not really living. He has essentially been reduced to a corpse that is unable to do anything but lie in pain. Everyday Mac’s body is being manipulated and preserved by the nurses, and every night Huttmann prayed that his â€Å"agonized† eyes would never again beg her to let him die (421). The word â€Å"agonized† implies his intense, prolonged state of suffering. Not only has his body shut down, taking with it his independence, but the medicine that the doctors are giving him to ease the pain have had no significant result. Due to his horrifying situation, Mac is left to lie still as he is consumed by immense pain. Following this scene, Huttmann questions what gives her along with other doctors and nurses the right to force life on someone who had begged to die. She describes the work of the doctors as â€Å"meddling† in the plans of God (421). Here, Huttmann is implying that the doctors have no right or invitation to prolong Mac’s life and are therefore unwantedly interfering with his fate. Through all of these devices, Huttmann is portraying the awful state of Mac and showing the reader that allowing him to die would be a permanent solution to all of his pain and suffering. Huttmann concludes the essay by describing how she was finally able to let Mac die. After the fifty second time he had stopped breathing, she held his hand and watched as his face transformed â€Å"from person to empty shell†. Huttmann is comparing Mac’s face to a shell that has been abandoned by its owner. Mac, a man who was once full of life, wishes, hopes and dreams, is now nothing but an empty body. All of the traits that had made him human, and given him value had at once visibly escaped his body and left behind it a corpse that feels no pain and is eternally at rest. This metaphor ends the essay and successfully delivers the message to the readers by giving them a sense of peace now that Mac’s constant state of agony has reached an end. By the end of her essay, â€Å"A Crime of Compassion†, Barbara Huttmann is successfully able to use rhetorical devices to convey her message that dying people should be allowed to die if they aspire to do so. It is made clear to  the readers that Mac’s life has drastically changed due to his cancer. He has gone from being a strong, fearless, super heroic figure, to being so ill he’s barely human, to finally being void of all life. Therefore it is indicates to the readers that Mac’s death was the only way to end his misery once and for all. Technically, Barbara Huttmann’s actions were illegal – she was not legally permitted to allow Mac to die. However, if her actions were morally just, do they really count as a crime?

International Human Rights

ABSTRACT: Armed conflict, either internationally or internally, has caused great sufferings to the victims and society as a whole. It constitutes a situation where the rule of law is absent and human rights are no longer respected. Even though various preventive endeavours have been campaigned and implemented by the international community, the occurrences of armed conflicts are still inevitable due to political fluxes and fractions or disputes over power, which proved that preventive measures alone are not enough. This grave situation calls for the role of transitional justice to tackle the repercussions of armed conflicts in post conflicts situations, which in the long run can enhance the preventive measures in preventing the re-occurrences of armed conflict. However, the implementation of transitional justice in post conflict situations showed to be problematic due to various factors. The most prominent factor that impedes the implementation of transitional justice is the preference of States in applying realpolitik and amnesty laws to perpetrators of gross human rights violations in order to gain political stability. In responding to this problem, it is of the opinion of this thesis that under international law, accountability for gross human rights violations should remain to be the main purpose of transitional justice in implementing its approaches to establish justice and peace in post conflict situations. Based on that point of view, this thesis is aimed to discuss the implementation of transitional justice in post conflict situations in general. Firstly, it will discuss the implementation of transitional justice approaches over the history to come to terms with past atrocities and to establish a new starting ground for society in post conflict situations. Secondly, the thesis will also hold a discussion about transitional justice under the framework of international law, especially on the relation between the concept with international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Lastly, this thesis will use a study case from Indonesia concerning post conflict situations in Aceh and Papua after the downfall of the New Order regime in 1998 as a testing ground to apply the analyses on transitional justice approaches under the framework of international law and to asses the problems occurred in implementing transitional justice approaches in Aceh and Papua.

Using Verb Tenses in Chinese

Using Verb Tenses in Chinese Western languages such as English have several ways to express tense. The most common are verb conjunctions which change the form of the verb depending on the time frame. For example, the English verb eat can be changed to ate for past actions and eating for current actions. Mandarin Chinese does not have any verb conjugations. All verbs have a single form. For example, the verb for eat is Ã¥ Æ' (chÄ «), which can be used for the past, present, and future. Despite the lack of Mandarin verb conjugations, there are other ways to express timeframes in Mandarin Chinese. State the Date The simplest way to  clarify which tense you are speaking in is to directly state the time expression (like today, tomorrow, yesterday) as part of the sentence. In Chinese, this is usually at the beginning of the sentence. For example: æ˜ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ Æ'è ± ¬Ã¨â€šâ€°Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ¦Ëœ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ Æ'çÅ' ªÃ¨â€šâ€°Ã£â‚¬â€šZuà ³tiÄ n wÇ’ chÄ « zhÃ… « rà ²u.Yesterday I ate pork. Once the timeframe is established, it is understood and can be omitted from the rest of the conversation. Completed Actions The particle ä ºâ€  (le) is used to indicate that an action occurred in the past and has been completed. Like the time expression, it can be omitted once the timeframe has been established: (æ˜ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©)我å Æ'è ± ¬Ã¨â€šâ€°Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã£â‚¬â€š(æ˜ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©)我å Æ'çÅ' ªÃ¨â€šâ€°Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã£â‚¬â€š(Zuà ³tiÄ n) wÇ’ chÄ « zhÃ… « rà ²u le.(Yesterday) I ate pork. The particle ä ºâ€  (le) can also be used for the immediate future, so be careful of its usage and be sure to understand both functions. Past Experience When you have done something in the past, this action can be described with the verb-suffix  Ã© Å½ / è ¿â€¡ (guà ²). For example, if you want to say that you have already seen the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (è‡ ¥Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾ /Ã¥  §Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾â„¢ - wà ² hÇ” cng long), you can say: 我å · ²Ã§ ¶â€œÃ§Å"‹é Å½Ã¨â€¡ ¥Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾ Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ · ²Ã§ » Ã§Å"‹è ¿â€¡Ã¥  §Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾â„¢WÇ’ yÇ jÄ «ng kn guà ² wà ² hÇ” cng long. Unlike the particle ä ºâ€  (le), the verb suffix guà ² (é Å½ / è ¿â€¡) is used to talk about an unspecific past. If you want to say that you saw the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon yesterday, you would say: æ˜ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã§Å"‹è‡ ¥Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾ Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã¦Ëœ ¨Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã§Å"‹å  §Ã¨â„¢Å½Ã¨â€" Ã© ¾â„¢Ã¤ ºâ€ Zuà ³tiÄ n wÇ’ kn wà ² hÇ” cng là ³ng le. Completed Actions In The Future As mentioned above, the particle ä ºâ€  (le) can be used for the future as well as the past. When used with a time expression such as 明å ¤ © (mà ­ngtÄ «an - tomorrow), the meaning is similar to the English perfective. Take for instance: 明å ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ ° ±Ã¤ ¼Å¡Ã¥Å½ »Ã¥  °Ã¥Å'â€"ä ºâ€ Ã¦ËœÅ½Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦Ë†â€˜Ã¥ ° ±Ã¤ ¼Å¡Ã¥Å½ »Ã¥  °Ã¥Å'â€"ä ºâ€ Mà ­ngtiÄ n wÇ’ jià ¹ huà ¬ qà ¹ TibÄ›i le.Tomorrow I will have gone to Taipei. The near future is expressed with the combination of the particles è ¦  (yo - to intend); Ã¥ ° ± (jià ¹ - right away); or Ã¥ ¿ « (kui - soon) with the particle ä ºâ€  (le): 我è ¦ Ã¥Å½ »Ã¥  °Ã¥Å'â€"ä ºâ€ WÇ’ yo qà ¹ TibÄ›i le.Im just going to Taipei. Continuing Actions When an action is continuing to the present moment, the expressions æ ­ £Ã¥Å" ¨ (zhà ¨ngzi), æ ­ £ (zhà ¨ng) or Ã¥Å" ¨ (zi) can be used, along with the particle å‘ ¢ (ne) at the end of the sentence. This can look something like: 我æ ­ £Ã¥Å" ¨Ã¥ Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ zhà ¨ngzi chÄ «fn ne.I am eating. or 我æ ­ £Ã¥ Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ zhà ¨ng chÄ «fn ne.I am eating. or 我åÅ" ¨Ã¥ Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ zi chÄ «fn ne.I am eating. or 我å Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ chÄ «fn ne.I am eating. The continuative action phrase is negated with æ ² ¡ (mà ©i), and æ ­ £Ã¥Å" ¨ (zhà ¨ngzi) is omitted. The å‘ ¢ (ne), however, remains. For example: 我æ ² ¡Ã¥ Æ'é £ ¯Ã¥â€˜ ¢WÇ’ mà ©i chÄ «fn ne.I am not eating. Mandarin Chinese Tenses It is often said that Mandarin Chinese does not have any tenses. If tenses mean verb conjugation, this is true, since verbs in Chinese have an unchangeable form. However, as we can see in the above examples, there are many ways to express timeframes in Mandarin Chinese. The main difference in terms of grammar between Mandarin Chinese and European languages is that once a timeframe has been established in Mandarin Chinese, there is no longer any need for precision. This means sentences are constructed in simple forms without verb endings or other qualifiers. When talking to a native Mandarin Chinese speaker, Westerners may get confused with this lack of continuous precision. But this confusion arises from the comparison between English (and other Western languages) and Mandarin Chinese. Western languages require subject/verb agreements, without which the language will be glaringly wrong. Compare this with Mandarin Chinese, in which a simple statement can be in any timeframe, or express a question, or be an answer.

The Solution of Human Freedom Essay

The Solution of Human Freedom Essay The Solution of Human Freedom Essay There are three main categories of philosophy concerning the level of human freedom: free will, determinism and compatibilism. All they give solution to the question how much freedom does a person have. However, each of them have their certain strength and weakness, so none of these position can be a singular solution. Free will gives a solution, that states a possibility of any person to make an individual choice without the interference of any circumstances (Caouette). The strength of it is that according to this learning the person is independent from anybody or any occasions and that he or she has the ability and right to do any actions. It means, that persons actions is only under his or her responsibility and that there is no participle from any superior forces. Determinism is a philosophy position, that asserts that human does not have any control of his fate and that it is determined only by the will of God (Hannan, and Lehrer 49-54). Its strength is that whatever mistake a human could do, it is explained as the Gods will, which takes off any responsibility for these actions. Consequently, person should not worry about the rectitude of his or her actions, as they are providential by God. Compatibilism is a philosophy position, that permits the coexistence of free will and determinism (Hannan, and Lehrer 49-54). The strength of its position, that person could live according to his or her decision and at the same time to believe that their actions could be justified by the Gods will. From this state comes the conclusion, that person could do anything according to his or her decision, but it is important to remember that any action will be followed by the God. However, there is a list of weaknesses of every category. The weakness of free will is that according to this position person might have too much freedom. Therefore, if person cannot realize rational borders of his or her freedom, any action, that harms other individual or is pernicious for the society, can be justified, as person has the absolute right to do whatever he or she wants. Talking about the determinisms weakness, it can be said, that any fact in persons life, no matter it is positive or negative, is validated upon the Gods will. Thereof comes the conclusion that human does not have any ability to change its life and that it is doomed to already written script of life. The only choice, that is left to person is to live humbly according to the Christian morality, as any efforts to change his or her life are senseless. The weakness of compatibilism is that according to its definition, the concept of freedom is abstract. Person thinks that he or she actions relatively to pers onal choice, but actually these actions are predetermined by the God. The conclusion of it is that its position becomes the same to the position of determinism and that even if person considers own moves as the own choice, there is no freedom in fact. No matter which of these philosophical concepts the person holds, none of their solution of human freedom is perfect. It is difficult to find the rightest solution, so every person should choose it according to individual convictions and views. It is also important to find a compromise with people of different views to this question. You can also hire a professional essay writer to have your philosophy paper written from scratch. Our essay writing service is committed to provide students with high-quality custom papers.