...as a Native American to write raw and unvarnished texts that bring forth complicated emotions. You can see an example of Alexie’s unique writing style in the quote above where he boldly states the way violence takes place in his story. As a writer, Alexie targets young adults and teens who may be struggling in their younger years just as he has. Throughout his life, even as a young boy, Alexie had been dealing with struggles and problems in his life. At six months old, Alexie underwent a brain surgery which had a high risk of death or mental disability if he survived (The...
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...Immediately setting his tone for the whole story, Holden foreshadows the series of events he will be talking about and makes an allusion towards his opinion on them, suggesting that the events that took place might come off as dramatic and emotional. Yet he takes back the whole statement claiming "he doesn't feel like it", giving his character an attribute of laziness or carelessness as expressed through out the story and often shows itself in external or even internal conflicts. A saying told to Holden referring to how life has certain rules that you need to follow in order to win or become successful. By mentioning this quote it might suggest that Holden might not be following the rules of the game and isn't on the track to success according to how he compares to other students at his school....
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...Ethical movie review Title: Blood Diamond Year: 2006 Studio: Virtual Studios Producer: Warner Bros. Director: Edward Zwick Country: United States of America 0.1 Introduction The following essay will examine ethical issues addressed through the movie “Blood Diamond”. The two main issues identified and discussed are; child soldiers and conflict diamonds. My main lens of ethical theories will consist of the four western theories, this includes, egoism, utilitarianism, ethics of duties and ethics of rights. Even though these theories are based on ethical absolutism, I will still try to apply a pluralistic view. Additionally, some of these theories will be expanded and other theories that do not tend so much towards ethical absolutism will be added. The following section will concentrate more on how these issues occurred and try to give some potential answer to the problems. In order to do so descriptive ethical theories will be tools in the examination. Finally the conclusion will be presented by a combination of a film review and a short summary of the findings in the text. 1.1 Children with guns The first of the two ethical issues that will be examined is the use of kids as soldiers. In order to do so I believe I have to take a subjective role on the subject, looking from a rebel soldier. The reasons for this is because I believe objective or western views on this topic will in the end state that this is neither moral or ethical. In order to get a more interesting...
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...members of the “Foreign Correspondents Club” on the issues of democracy. I stand before you, as a representative of Hong Kong’s democracy, as a honorary Knight Commander, but first and foremost, as a local and proud Hong Kong citizen, to address the recent controversial issues regarding protests held in opposition to political change initiated by the Central Chinese Government. In light of recent announcements made by the Hong Kong government, obviously on the behalf of the Central Communist Chinese Government, our freedom and very way of life we have safeguarded for the past century comes under threat. In the streets of Central and Mong Kok, our youth, our future, are rising up and challenging the oppressive...
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...for being a decent man creates a potion that is able to separate the good and bad of a person into two different personalities. Dr. Jekyll soon realizes that his very appearance changes along with the transformation into this other form and gives this form the name of Edward Hyde. At the beginning of these experiments, Dr. Jekyll is satisfied with the results, he feels more youthful and more energetic than ever before, however his alter ego, Mr. Hyde, enjoys indulging in acts of evil and malevolence and grows stronger with each passing moment until Jekyll is not able to suppress him any longer. Soon the conscious of Dr. Jekyll and conscious of Mr. Hyde fight for control of the body that they share. Stevenson uses characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, to symbolize two core parts of human nature, good and evil, to depict the conflict that is experienced by an individual in everyday life. Character is a very prominent element throughout the story and is often used to depict the good and innocence of Dr. Jekyll or the evil and cruelty of Mr. Hyde. At one point, Dr. Jekyll is recounting the effects of the transformation potion and the fact that it has given him “two characters as well as two appearances, one was wholly evil and the other was still the old Henry Jekyll” (Stevenson 96). Dr. Jekyll’s character develops throughout the course of the book. He transitions from being more-or-less of a static character who remains the same through the entirety of the novel to a dynamic character...
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...Fight At The Investment Club It started with a fight over Big Macs. The members of the Golden Years Investment Club rarely disagreed with each other about where to put their money. In fact, most times they left the final decision to Lenn Width, the septuagenarian leader of the group, whose 34-year track record with Golden Years had led Business Week to call him "a dazzling role model" for individual investors in a cover story last May. But on this crisp October evening in 1992, one of the newest members -- David Korn, a young architect who had joined the 26-member club a year earlier -- decided it was time to dump one of the group's longtime holdings. "We should sell McDonald's," Korn announced. "It's a stagnant company." Width was taken aback. He'd been a loyal McDonald's shareholder for years, and had no intention of bailing out now. "It's a growth company," he countered angrily. "Brinker International and Buffets -- those are growth companies," Korn shot back in a voice that now carried an unmistakable tone of condescension. "They're growing at 20, 30 percent a year." The other members sat in shocked silence; no one ever talked to Width this way. "They're too speculative," Width said, his voice rising. Finally, Korn couldn't take it any longer. "I despise McDonald's," he practically shouted. "The bathrooms are filthy, and the food isn't that great." This is not the sort of exchange that you normally read about in the press coverage of investment...
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..."A GOOD HEAD AND A GOOD HEART ARE ALWAYS A FORMIDABLE COMBINATION Nelson Mandela ZAMBIA POLITICS IN GENERAL The Zambian politics especially those exhibited by the ruling Government or in certain sectors of the opposition today has become alarmingly volatile over the past few years. In the olden days when Zambians very well understood who they were, as a dignified and well cultured people of good moral standing, it was unheard of, for individuals in the same community to publicly demean one another in the way many politicians in the ruling Government and certain sectors of the opposition talk about each other today. There is no doubt that society would reprimand any citizens for not respecting each other or for publicly bringing down their dignity to disrepute. UPND believes that Politicians are supposed to be individuals of integrity and responsible leaders of our country, yet actions of some politicians in the ruling government appear like people who do not want to serve the interests of the Zambians but their own interests. It shouldn't be a mystery to anyone why things don't get done in Zambia when we see how the ruling Government and some opposition leaders talk to one another other. The question is why have our politicians that are in Government become so malicious toward those in the opposition over the years? • Is it that they do not have true leadership attributes, • Or is it that they are just power hungry, • Or is it that our culture has lost...
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...Introduction Mass culture would have most readers and viewers believing that the Post-modern American male is a simple creature. Common stereotypes margin male satisfaction in a minimal setting – a Lazyboy armchair in a lounge with a flat screen TV playing ‘the game’ along with primal banter regarding women. More often than not, this is washed down with a beer. With this array of comfort and leisure we are inclined to believe that male lifestyle has reached its peak on the timeline of satisfaction. This was until David Fincher took Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club and made it into a big budget Hollywood blockbuster. With the male demographic being the hardest to pinpoint in the literature sense, David Fincher’s adaptation helpfully put Palahniuk’s thoughts into the cinematic forefront. This increased the popularity of Palahniuk’s other works and placed him in the cannon of Post-modern American fiction. It is the issues of modern masculinity that grasps critics’ attention more so than any other Palahniuk themes. It is very apparent that masculinity has changed as a natural progression of modernisation. This dissertation will analyse masculinity as it is depicted in Palahniuk’s writings and explore Palahniuk’s intentions and beliefs. I will interpret the responses of select critics in order to gain some understanding of what Palahniuk deems to be the ideal model of masculinity in the modern world, beneath his post-modern twists, transgressive characterization and...
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...In literature, a hero/heroine, or protagonist, is the principal character of a story, which may be known for special achievements. It´s sometimes used to simply describe the protagonist of a story, or the love interest, a usage which can conflict with the superhuman expectations of heroism. [1] Hero and heroine came to refer to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice, that is, heroism for some greater good of all humanity. In modern movies, the hero is often simply an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances, who, in despite the odds being stacked against him or her typically prevails in the end. [2] The villain usually is the antagonist, the evil character in the story, who tends to have a negative effect on other characters or serves as an obstacle the hero must struggle to overcome. In other words, the villain typically a charismatic evildoer who represents, leads, or himself embodies the struggle the hero is up against. [3] Animal Farm is a vivid and eloquent novel written by George Orwell, who aims to prove that human nature and diversity prevent people from being equal. It also successfully presents how the mechanism of propaganda and brainwashing works in totalitarian regimes. Snowball is described as a vivacious pig, which is quick in speech and more inventive. He´s the best at writing; painted out `Manor Farm´ and in its place painted `Animal Farm.´ During he´s...
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...The Freedom Rides in the U.S were one of the many events that further inspired Indigenous Australian activists and protesters to replicate events of their fellow activists in the U.S in Australia to bring equality to Indigenous Australian. . A major example of this are the Freedom Rides that took place in the segregated Southern States of the U.S that later took place in the rural state of NSW led by Charles Perkin and fellow student Jim Spiglem. He had led many peaceful protests around Australia for a push for recognition and equality for Indigenous Australians. Role of the media was a major one throughout the push for indigenous equality as well as for African Americans especially as the media gave large exposure of the injustices against the African-Americans and the Aborigines. This brought a big opportunity for the Indigenous Australians to surge in their cause for land rights and recognition of their ownership of the land. The freedom rides of the U.S were a enormous factor in bringing a push for activism, equality, recognition and peaceful protest for Indigenous Australians. This thesis will be further backed through the body paragraphs about the 1961 US Freedom Rides, the influence on Australian freedom rides and other peaceful protests and the influence on Aboriginal activism and Recognition. On May 4, 1961, a group of 13 African-American and white civil rights activists launched the Freedom Rides, a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation...
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...James Thurber By Rahul Patel/10 [pic] Rahul Patel Mr. Hurdle Composition 11 May, 2012 James Thurber Part I: “Authors of light pieces have, nobody knows why, a genius for getting into minor difficulties: they walk into the wrong apartments, they drink furniture polish for stomach bitters, they drive their cars into the prize tulip beds of haughty neighbors, they playfully slap gangsters, mistaking them for old school friends” (James Thurber). James Thurber was a cartoonist and an author. He was born on December 8th 1984 to his parents, Charles and Mary Thurber. Thurber’s father was a clerk and a minor politician, while his mother was a practical joker and very strong-minded. For example his mother would tell visiting guests that she was in love the post man and she had to be kept in the attic because of it. She would also tell people that she was a cripple and then she would suddenly stand up and tell everyone she had miraculously healed(James Thurber 1 of 5). James Thurber also had two brothers, William and Robert. When Thurber and William were little, they were playing with a bow and arrow, and William shot James in the eye. This led James to be partially blind and because of this injury he couldn’t participate in any sports or activities, but this injury developed a very creative imagination in Thurber’s mind. A neurologist at the time had a theory that he might have Charles Bonnet Syndrome, which is a condition that...
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...In the Name of Identity: Who are you? What makes you, you? How are you recognized as a human being? What makes you different than every other person in the world? These questions contribute to your identity regardless of what you look like or where you come from. Every single person in the world is different whether it is visible to others or not. Although we are all different, we connect and form relationships through common ideas, values, and goals. In the novel Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, by Barack Obama, he recalls many different issues involving his identity as a whole in addition to the communities he lived in and principle values he was raised to believe. Throughout the story Obama creates a theme of struggle involving his own identity. He relates these issues towards his own community and explains how certain occurrences shaped his character values and personality. The word individual can be defined in various ways. It is a word that can apply to many different aspects of life as well as raising questions about who exactly we are as individuals and how we became the who we are today. Some factors that contribute to shaping our identities are social, educational, economic and historical. While Obama was growing up, identity was something he struggled with deeply. He was constantly moving, which forced him to experience different communities and ultimately aided in forming his identity. Looking back on it now, it seems beneficial, but at...
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...Jackie Robinson, Why Him? The story of Jackie Robinson has become one of America's most iconic and inspiring stories. Since 1947, American history has portrayed Jackie Robinson as a hero, and he has been idolized as a role model to the African American baseball community. It is an unarguable fact that he was the first to tear down the color barriers within professional baseball. The topic of Robinson’s role in integration has long been a point of discussion amongst baseball historians. Researchers have accumulated thousands of accredited documents and interviews with friends and team mates such as short stop, Pee Wee Reese, and team owner, Branch Rickey. However, few journalists have asked why Robinson was selected and what was Branch Rickey’s motivation? While Robinson was the first Negro player to break into the ranks of professional baseball, it can be argued that he was not the first to attempt the undertaking. In actuality, Jackie possibly was not even the first player the Brooklyn Dodgers’ organization considered for the job. The Warner Brothers film, 42, The Jackie Robinson Story (2013), highlights the accomplishments of Jackie and rightfully so, as he was an amazing man. The story actually starts prior to 1947 and ends years later in 1959, three years after his retirement in 1956. Early in his career at Ohio Wesleyan University, where Branch Rickey played and coached baseball, an incident occurred with one of his young black players, Charlie Thomas, which...
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...Tyler Clark 11 June 2015 Evaluation Essay People say you learn things from movies, American History X is a prime example for opening other’s eyes to life lessons. Life is too short to hate everyone for no reason. Our life expectancy is very short for human beings to hate so much. Be kind and loving. Those qualities will always be remembered. Hate can change the person you used to be. American History X was played in theatres back in 1998. Started Edward Norton, and Edward Furlong, two famous actors that were in popular movies as well. Edward Norton played in Fight Club and Edward Furlong played in Terminator 2. Like Danny Vinyard says “Hate is baggage, lives too short to be pissed off all the time.”Derek Vinyard used to be a straight-A student until he became part of the skinheads and a leader of the white supremacists in his hometown. But what influenced his change was his father’s death. Derek once said to a news reporter about his father’s death, “Yeah its race related! Every problem in this country is race related not just crime. It's like… immigration, AIDS, welfare those are problems in them. The Black community, the Hispanic community, the Asian community, they're not white problems.” Danny Vinyard, a 14 year old boy who was the younger brother of Derek Vinyard, who soon became corrupted. He had a great future ahead of him until he wanted to become like his big brother. Like any other younger sibling, right? So he soon developed that skinhead mentality and a...
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...Living with prejudice - xenophobia and race CINDY WARNER and GILLIAN FINCHILESCU report on a study conducted with a group of refugees in Cape Town through which they explore the ways in which refugees experience xenophobia, and how they explain it The contemporary anxiety about the perceived flood of illegal immigrants is well documented. A 1997 survey conducted by the Southern African Migration Project found that South Africans showed the highest level of opposition to immigration in any country where comparable questions have been asked (Mattes, 1999). The hostility towards foreigners living in South Africa has translated into extreme acts of xenophobic violence. In 2000 and 2001, Amnesty International’s annual online reports on South Africa singled out attacks and ill treatment of asylumseekers and suspected illegal immigrants as a major source of concern. The 2001 report also recounts reports of abuses of undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers. These included unlawfully prolonged detentions, poor conditions and beatings of detainees by guards at Lindela Repatriation Centre, assaults by police officers involved in the arrest of suspected illegal immigrants, and arbitrary and verbally abusive conduct towards asylum-seekers by Department of Home Affairs officials (Amnesty International, 2001). Xenophobia is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as ‘fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners or of what is strange or foreign’ (Mish, 1997). The literal meaning of the word suggests...
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