...To Kill or Not to Kill, That is the Question Murderers, killers: A person who performs the unlawful premeditated killing of another human being. When I hear these words, I think to myself, how could a human being just go out and kill another human being? A killer has to be someone who has something going on up in his or her head to make them crazy enough to murder someone. How could a person be that mad enough to even get the motivation to kill another person? Could an individual that has murdered someone not really be considered a killer, but rather the victim? In the story Killings, written by Andre Dubus, and the story A Rose for Emily, written by William Faulkner, I learned that both main characters have a motivation for murder in which they both fulfill in doing. However, after understanding these characters reasons for murder, I do not know if I can really say that they are considered murderers. In Andre Dubus’s, Killings, Matt Fowler’s youngest son, Frank, was shot and killed by Richard Strout. Frank was dating Strout’s soon to be ex-wife, Mary Ann. Strout was not happy about this so he shot and killed Frank right in front of Mary Ann and their two sons. Since Strout shot Matt’s son Frank, Matt then shoots Strout. After understanding the situation as of why Matt shot Strout, one might think that Matt shot Strout simply because Strout killed his son. However, this was not Matt’s only motivation for murder. Matt not only has to deal with his guilt over his son’s death...
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...Zach McKinnell Mrs. Ivey Honors English 9 2\8\15 To Kill A Mockingbird was one of the best books of the twentieth century. It has lots of good morals and shows how people learn lessons. In this book there are many instances where people follow Atticus’ advice. When he says you need to walk in someone’s shoes before you can judge their lives. Throughout the book people learn about this lesson more and more. One example is when Scout walks in Boo’s shoes. During the story Scout was on Boo’s porch and was finally getting a view from Boo’s eyes. She said this is as close as you can get to walking in somebody’s shoes. She realizes Boo isn’t really the bad person everybody thinks he is. She realizes he really has a good heart and is a really kind person. She realized how it would have affected him if Atticus would not have lied. She saw how he saw the town and the people in it. Another example is Atticus and Heck walking in Boo’s shoes. They both realize that they have to lie to protect Boo. They realize Boo doesn’t want all the attention of being a hero. They both see he is a really good man. They see he’s never done anything wrong and doesn’t deserve to be brought out of his comfort zone. They compared it to killing a mockingbird, because a mockingbird does nothing but make pretty music and never hurts anyone, so why kill it? They walked in Boo’s shoes and saw why they should protect him from the attention and everything he doesn’t want. The next example is Jem walking...
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...Love plays a very important role in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes were watching God. Janie spent her days looking for love. She thought of love just as she thought of the elements of springtime: Sunny days, bright skies, a bee pollinating pear tree blossoms. She searched far and wide for this kind of perfect love. Logan Killicks couldn't give this kind of love to Janie. He may not have loved her at all. To him, Janie was just another working set of hands. He treated her almost like another man. He was inconsiderate of her feelings, her hopes, her aspirations. He probably didn't know the color of her eyes. Janie was worked hard by Logan. He made her do all sorts of things that only men should have to have done. He was even going to make her plow the fields-a job that requires a considerable amount of strength: strength that Janie didn't have. Janie complained that nothing beautiful was ever said. She had no love with Logan Killicks. That is why she left him for a man that showed much potential to give the kind of love she was looking for. The whistling man that Janie ran away with was Jody Starks. With Jody, Janie thought that she would forever have "flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything." She thought she'd have "a bee for her bloom". She didn't exactly find this in Jody though. In him she definitely found change and chance, but still not the love she was looking for. What Jody had for Janie was more of a lust than a love. He was very...
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...“Trained to kill” Logos appeal: “why our youngest generation is so violent.” “train our Marines to kill.” “humans have a natural aversion to killing one another.” “problem was psychological conditioning.” “We fought each other -- living, thinking, breathing enemies -- the ultimate in realism.” “The realism provided by video games works on young brains the same way.” “ You can't perpetrate these kinds of mass murders with a knife.” “We also need to address the factors in our culture that promote violence.” Ethos appeal: "....why our youngest generation is so violent' 'The military started using human-shaped paper targets" 'The idea was to link reward centers in the brain to accuracy and the sight of a human falling down." "We fought each other -- living, thinking, breathing enemies -- the ultimate in realism." "Here's the problem: children in America don't get that second set of lessons. They only get the first." "Science has since proven that the brain rewires itself based on experience." "The realism provided by video games works on young brains the same way." "You can't perpetrate these kinds of mass murders with a knife." Pathos appeal: "shootings in America are tragic' "so violent" "train our Marines to kill" "humans have a natural aversion to killing one another" "Killing the "enemy" was fulfilling." "We fought " "Marines are ethical warriors" "kill the cops" "exposure to violence" "enormous amount of power" " You can't perpetrate these...
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...In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus teaches his children many lessons about life. Atticus teaches his children the importance of acceptance, how to avoid stereotyping, and lastly how racism shows the people of Maycomb’s true colours. To conclude Atticus makes it clear to his children that they should never judge a person before getting to know them. Firstly,stereotyping is the main thing in To Kill a Mockingbird.Scout and Jem learn from their mistakes or they learn from the people themselves. For example, Scout judged Mr.Dolphus Raymond because she thought he was a drunk and he had mulatto children from a black woman. She thought that it was wrong to speak to a drunkard and to even deal with someone that loves and lives with black people. But he confronts her and Dill, as a result he makes a simple point that he prefers blacks over his kind because they are uptight and are hypocrites. The white people have their views and judgemental ways against the black community. Mr.Dolphus Raymond tells them this so they can change their views on how they see people. "I try to give 'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason... folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whiskeythat's why he won't change his ways... that's why he lives the way he does." (Chapter 20)... I shouldn't be here listening to this sinful man who had mixed children and didn't care who knew it, but he was fascinating. (Chapter 20). People stereotype ...
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...WHY CHILDREN KILL PATRICIA LOAYZA ST LEO UNIVERSITY WHY CHILDREN KILL All through this century, social scientists have been concerned by the idea that crime and violence is too often the domain of juveniles. Even though the number of children who kill is small in the past decade has reached and all time high. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 2008 the murder arrest rate was 3.8 arrests per 100,000 juveniles ages 10 through 17. This was 17 percent more than the 2004 low of 3.3 and three-quarters less than the 1993 peak of 14.4 percent. The search for an explanation of age and violence has led to comprehensive studies that have determined the importance of family and relationship bonds. One of these important studies was led by Cathy Spatz Widom, she studied 1,575 kids between the ages of 5 and 18 and determined that a history of growing up between physical abuse and neglect whether directed at the kids or loved ones around them is a immense contribution in participation of violence in later years, that includes a cycle of violence. Neglect and child cruelty can be defined as failure of caregivers to provide respect, love, protection, food, clothes, shelter and medical attention. In the article written on 15 February, 2010 by Susan Donaldson James for ABC News we can see a perfect example of Widom’s hypothesis; a 13 year old, Michigan boy accused of point blank killing. FarkTechnoratiGoogleLiveMy SpaceNewsvineRedditDeliciousMixx ...
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...-zero all the fucking things they said wouldn't kill me all the things that didn't leave me gasping for air when i felt like the ocean filled my lungs all those fucking things- the problems, the drugs, the sour, age beaten acoholic drinks- you're right. they didn't fucking kill me. they left me with fragments of still-functioning lungs. they fucking left me with tears forever soaking into my fucking skin. they left me lying awake at 4 am they left me wishing- they left me -hoping- that they had killed me. /entwined my body wasn't the majestic temple i wished it was. my body was the mangled branches of the forgotton forest. my body was the church set aflame by the rebels. my body was not white roses and yellow stained daisies. my body...
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...Generation Kill is written by Evan wright as a personal narrative first hand account of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. As Evan wright lands in kuwait on a Marine corps base, Camp Mathaila. It is very hot an average of 110 degrees everyday with men and tanks getting ready. As the men of bravo company, second platoon, Hitman 2 are waiting to step off. When he arrives he walks into a large tent with rows of cots and the marines are sleeping, reading or joking around with boredom eating away at them.It smells of chewing tobacco and body odor.With all the commotion and the marines cussing and making fun of eachother, Evan goes unnoticed for some short seconds, But when he is everyone goes silent. The men know that they were getting a rolling...
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...Olivia Tanner Mrs.Polen English 8 Position paper What does Catcher in the Rye, Harry Potter, Fifty Shades of Grey and have in common? They have all been banned in the 21st century. If you wanted to dive in the magical world of Hogwarts with Harry or wanted to follow Holden Caulfield’s mind on all things that are phonies then you have to hope that they aren't banned from your library. Catcher in the Rye should not be banned because it is relatable , has themes that we don't often see today, and there are worse things that are online. Sometimes when you are reading a story the characters are too perfect or don't seem to think about certain topic the way people do in real life so you disconnect from them. But, when you can relate to a character, like Holden from Catcher in the Rye, you start to question yourself and begin to learn about yourself more and even other people. Throughout the story you follow Holden’s point of view of his interactions with other people. Like when Holden comments about the crowd’s reactions to Ernie’s piano playing, “ You should've heard the crowd though, you would’ve puked, They were exactly the same morons that laugh like hyenas in movies at stuff that isn't funny. People always clap for the wrong things” (J.D. Salinger). In the article, The Case for Censorship in the New Social Age, discusses how censorship is sometimes needed on social sites to prevent hateful behavior...
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...The classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird has ended up on thousands of classic to read list, school’s required reading, some school even banning the book all together, only to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, become a Academy Award-winning film, and is going to be talked about for hundreds of years. So what is it? This tale told by Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, a girl ageing between seven to nine, in Maycomb County a small town in Alabama, lives in a world she soon realizes is not perfect, and struggles to understand why things are the way they are. From race, sex, and all between, this classic tales takes the perspective “innocent eye” to a new level. Scout mother died when she was two, so she does not even miss her, but Jeremy (Jem) does. Jem,...
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...28/6/2011 In what ways does Harper Lee engage your sympathies for Tom Robinson during the trial? During the trial, Harper Lee makes the reader become sympathetic towards Tom Robinson due to many techniques, for example she paints a picture of him as being incapable of doing such a crime due to him being handicapped. Lee illustrates that Tom Robinson is not capable of committing a crime that could cost him his life when we first meet him. This is at the beginning of the trial when Tom takes the oath and tries to place his ‘rubber-like left hand’ on the bible but it slips off. Tom tries again but the same thing happens. The reader’s sympathy is engaged here as they can clearly see that Tom is incapable of taking Mayella Ewell around the neck and raping her. As well as being physically handicapped, Tom has a handicap that he has no control over, his skin colour. Harper Lee Makes the reader feel sorry for Tom Robinson before he has even given his testimony so that the readers see the rest of the trial through sympathetic eyes towards Tom. The reader feels that Tom Robinson is being accused by a bunch of rough people, the Ewells. The examples of the Ewells being rough compared to Tom is shown through their speech. Tom’s dialogue is very respectful towards Atticus and Mayella, this is shown when he testifies and says ‘Miss Mayella, Sir’. The exact opposite can be said for the Ewells, when Mayella loses her temper and describes Atticus and the other...
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...of To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during three years of the Great Depression in the fictional "tired old town" of Maycomb, Alabama. The narrator, six-year-old named Scout Finch, lives with her older brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer. Jem and Scout become friends with a boy named Dill who visits Maycomb to stay with his aunt for the summer. The three children are afraid of their neighbor "Boo" Radley. The adults of Maycomb don’t like to talk about Boo and for many years, few have seen him. The children feed each other's imaginations with rumors about his appearance and reasons for remaining hidden, and they fantasize about how to get him out of his house. After two summers of being friends with Dill, Scout and Jem find out someone is leaving them small gifts in a tree outside the Radley house. Boo makes gestures to the children but is never seen in person. Atticus is assigned to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Although many of Maycomb's citizens disapprove, Atticus agrees to defend Tom. Atticus discovers that the accusers—Mayella and her father, Bob Ewell, the town drunk—are lying. It also becomes clear that the friendless Mayella was making sexual advances towards Tom and her father caught her in the act. Even with convincing evidence of Tom's innocence, the jury convicts him. Tom is soon shot and killed while trying to escape from prison. Harper Lee wrote To Kill a MockingBird...
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...Andrew Holloman ENG 1101 11/13/12 Compare and Contrast Essay Similarities between Harper Lee’s Childhood Life and Scout Finch’s Childhood Life The To Kill a Mockingbird novel written by Harper Lee is commonly considered one of the twentieth century's most widely read American novels. The vast majority of people that have read the novel are of the belief that the events contained within the novel are based on Harper Lee’s childhood experiences growing up in the South. However, absent of Harper Lee actually confirming the inspirational source for her novel; it’s still an assumption made by the masses. Nonetheless, we all have to agree that there are some very distinct similarities between Harper Lee’s childhood life and the childhood life of Scout Finch’s in the novel. Similarities that exist between Harper Lee’s childhood life and that of Scout Finch in the To Kill a Mockingbird novel were the facts that they were both raised in small rural towns, both of them were tomboys during their childhood years, and they both lived through times of racial prejudice. The first similarity between Harper Lee’s childhood life and Scout Finch’s childhood life is that they were both raised in small rural towns in Alabama. Harper Lee grew up in the small rural town of Monroeville, Alabama that. The town has a small closely knit population where everyone knew their neighbors and knew their neighbor’s business. Aside from this the town of Monroeville is riddled with poverty and racial...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird: Essay Explore the growth to maturity of Scout in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Maturation is one of the most important themes in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, and one of the characters to whom this theme applies the most is Scout Finch, the narrator. Starting out as a young, tomboy character who is naïve and immature, over the years in which the novel is set a change in her behaviour becomes prominent, as she acquires more grown up behaviours and beliefs. Arguably the most important change in Scout’s character is her learning to understand other people and their desires and needs, rather than just her own. A notable example of this is her treatment of Boo Radley. At the beginning of the novel, the children’s games concerning his lifestyle and family history demonstrated childish and immature fantasies and, ultimately, a selfish obsession with him, revealing no thought of Boo’s feelings or point of view. Atticus advises them against this habit, telling the children to “stop tormenting that man”. The Radley games is also the one of the first times in the novel when Atticus uses one of his commonest pieces of advice: to “climb into his skin and walk around in it”. However, as the novel progresses, it is obvious that Scout and Jem do become more thoughtful of Boo Radley, stopping their constant annoyance of him, and starting to realise Boo’s sentiments as well. This is shown when Jem has an epiphany that the reason “Boo Radley’s stayed shut...
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...To Kill A Mockingbird Essay “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” Being compassionate is understanding someone and their needs, and being sensitive is more about yourself personally . Scout is a really smart girl who we learn is joyful and caring in the beginning, but as the book goes on, she sees the tough life of growing up in a racist community and the problems that come along with it. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout demonstrates sensitivity and compassion towards other people. she feels like everyone should be treated equally which she learned from her father Atticus, and she puts others first. Scout wants to give to others even if sometimes she can't. Scout shows compassion and sensitivity because she wants everyone to be treated equally. Scout wanted to play with Walter but Aunt Alexandra didn’t let her. “‘But I want to play with Walter, Aunty, why can’t I?’ She took off her glasses and stared at me. ‘I’ll tell you why,’ she said, ‘Because- he – is – trash, that’s why you can’t play with him. I’ll not have you around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-what. You’re enough of a problem to your father as it is.” (Lee 227) Aunt Alexandra obviously doesn't want scout associating herself with Walter, she thinks Walter is below everyone else because his family is poor. Scout doesn't care about his social class .Scout knows the only reason she can’t hang out with Walter is because of his social class; She wished that...
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