...does it have to urban living? Well, in the essay Living with strangers, written by Siri Hustvedt, we get some insight into the life of a person living in a larger city. In this essay, we get to know how everyone is a stranger and in New York City, there rules a special unwritten law, which is the law of PRETENDING IT ISN’T HAPPENING. An aspect of living with some complete strangers that Hustvedt is completely fascinated by, is the aforementioned ‘’law’’ pretend-it isn’t-happening-law, and that is an interesting way to get some insight into this urban living. It is a peculiar occurrence because you would think that moving to the cities would affect the amount of people you socialize with, but most of the time you actually spent indoors and isolated from the big world around you. When you finally move yourself out in the big world, then you spend half of the time looking into the ground and straying away from eye contact with strangers. Interactions between humans in our modern world is quite a complex subject to debate and it will be almost impossible, to find an exact answer to how one should act. Should everyone say hi to each and not really mean it, as they do in Minnesota or should they just mind their own business, as they do in New York? Hustvedt does not have an answer therefore; she tries to come closer to the answer by writing an essay. The essay is a subjective collection of her thoughts on this particular issue that she has chosen to divide into three parts, the first...
Words: 928 - Pages: 4
...Phil essay http://philpapers.org http://plato.stanford.edu/index.html (c) Research Essay (35%). (1) Essays must answer (or address) one of the essay prompts provided by the Unit Coordinator of PHIL1001. A PDF document with essay prompts will be posted on the LMS associated with PHIL1001 in the first few weeks of semester. (2) The essay should not exceed 1,000 words (excluding bibliographical information). If an essay is longer than this, the marker may ignore the excess words, or the essay mark may be lowered. (3) Essays are to conform to the following style: • Word processed (if that is not possible, please write the unit coordinator) • Double spaced • 25 mm margins • Referenced using numbered footnotes or endnotes • All sources (e.g. quotations) must be fully and accurately referenced using proper form for references; consult referencing style sheets in library. • Bibliography containing only items that are referenced in the essay (in the text, or foot/endnotes). • An accurate word-count on the front page. (4) An essay must be submitted by the date and time prescribed except where the student has received in writing an extension of time from the Unit Coordinator. Student's seeking an extension must make their appeal to the student advisor for their faculty. The unit coordinator will then take the student advisor's recommendation under consideration...
Words: 1610 - Pages: 7
...Students Feel About Texting And Driving New Jersey has a Cell Phone & Driving law that affects all of its citizens. This law attempts to make the road a safer place, so it affects the lives of pedestrians and those who don’t own cell phones too, because everyone is in danger when a driver isn’t paying attention. In my Argument and Persuasion course, we are discussing this Cell Phone & Driving law, causing the class to take different sides. As opinions become more and more divided, I realize that this issue is very controversial. The New Jersey Cell Phone Law prohibits drivers from using handheld phones while driving. You may, however, use a speakerphone, a Bluetooth, a headset, or install a car kit. If you are caught using your cell phone while driving, you will be fined 100 dollars, and it is a “primary law” meaning that the officer doesn’t need a reason other than seeing your cell phone out to pull you over. Personally, I feel that the 100-dollar fine is too lenient. I have a friend who recently had his car towed out of a parking lot, and was fined 100 dollars, the same amount for using your cell phone and driving. I don't think the fine should be the same for something that is potentially life threating and something that is not. I think the fine should be between $500 and $1000. However, I recognize that not everyone agrees with me; some of my classmates think that the law is too harsh, or just right. In my Arguments & Persuasions class I have heard...
Words: 2735 - Pages: 11
...which an outsider like our narrator in “Living with strangers” from the New York Times in 2002, simply will not understand. Whether if it is in the country like Minnesota where greeting everyone is considered obligated or New York City where addressing a stranger would make you seem mental. This observation is what has inspired author Siri Hustvedt to write the essay “Living With Strangers”. The title refers to what apparently is going on in every major city, although the essay never specifically mentions it: We are becoming increasingly isolated while being surrounded by more and more people. Why can this be? Siri Hustvedt describes this through an anecdote from her first apartment in New York. Even though she was living alone at the time, she think of her neighbours as roommates because she was the witness to several acts that should remain private such as an argument from the downstairs apartment or another woman walking around wearing only underwear, for her to see. However, she did not know these people. They lived so close and shared so many private moments and yet, Hustvedt can still not see them as anything else other than “fellow New Yorkers”. That’s why she is living with strangers. In the text Hustvedt is really fascinated by is the “pretend-it-didn’t-happen-law”. The “law” is made so people won’t feel embarrassed. It links to the previously mentioned about never greeting a person you don’t know. It is a peculiar phenomenon because one would think that people...
Words: 1116 - Pages: 5
...with big city life, or rather the feigned state of oblivion. We may all get drawn to it thanks to numerous movies and TV series romanticising it, but in fact adjusting to the big city, where things are getting lively, is somewhat of an acquired taste. This is some of the things that Siri Hustvedt emphasises in the essay “Living With Strangers”. Siri Hustvedt begins her essay with writing about the “culture shock” she is met by when she first moves to New York City. In her hometown in rural Minnesota it was a custom to greet everyone that you walked past even if you didn’t know the person. The most important part of the greeting when passing by someone was to actually speak the word “hi”. “When I moved to New York City in 1978, I quickly discovered what it meant to live among hordes of strangers and how impractical and unsound it would be to greet all of them.” (p. 1, l. 6-8). You will quickly realise that you need to adapt to the new environment and follow the rules that people in the vicinity live by. Another thing that Siri Hustvedt emphasises is a law that she learns is the way to get through the hell that is public transportation in New York City. “The simple law, one nearly every New Yorker subscribes to whenever possible, is: PRETEND IT ISN’T HAPPENING.” (l.19-20). She explains that is it more or less the best coping mechanism to get through...
Words: 1407 - Pages: 6
...will respond to the argument that a state cannot survive without nationalism. For the purpose of this essay, two elements of nationalism are used. The first element states that nationalism maintains the similarity of culture as the basic social bond in the members of the nation1. The second element states that the state has legitimate rights to sovereign rule of a nation. The factors that result from the three elements of nationalism that contributes to the survival of the state are equality within people in the state in terms of the state being meritocratic and the administrative rights of the state. Nationalism results in two main factors that are essential for the state to survive, mainly, the administrative rights of the state and meritocracy. Hence, the state needs nationalism to survive. A nation, defined by Anthony Smith, is “[a] named population sharing a historic territory, common myths and historical memories [and] a mass public culture, a common economy and common legal rights,”2 For the purpose of this essay, all states will be referred to as modern states with a centralized power held by the state and a legal entity with sovereign rule over its people. This essay argues that nationalism is needed in unifying the nation with a common national identity in terms of linguistic and culture homogeneity, which is needed for the state to exercise its administrative right and practice meritocracy. 1 2 Ernest Gellner. Nationalism. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997...
Words: 1628 - Pages: 7
...Living with strangers In the text “Living with strangers” Siri Hustvedt discusses the lack of solidarity and the social rules, one may meet in a big city, like New York City. Siri Hustvedt starts the essay by describing, the big difference she felt, when moving from rural Minnesota to New York City. She begins by briefly describing to the reader, how one was expected to behave, where she grew up. Whenever you encountered someone on the road, whether you knew them or not, you should always greet them. If you didn’t, you would be considered both rude and a snob, which was pretty much the worst thing, you could be in that part of rural Minnesota. Therefore, Siri Hustvedt quickly felt the difference between these two places, when greeting everyone you meet in downtown New York simply isn’t practical. But Hustvedt does not only describe it as impractical, but also as a kind of social code in the city. The title “Living with strangers” refers to a paradox that is apparent in every major city, although never specifically mentioned in the essay: We are becoming increasingly isolated while being surrounded by more and more people. Siri Hustvedt describes this through an anecdote from her first apartment in New York. Even though she was living alone at the time, she represents her neighbors as roommates, because she was witness to several acts that should remain private, such as a heated argument from down stairs and walking around wearing only underwear. However, she did not...
Words: 923 - Pages: 4
...Tani’qua Jones Dr. Boyd American Lit. After reading and analyzing de Crevecoeur’s essay, “What is an American,” one could argue that the entire purpose of the essay was to describe an egalitarianism society, a society which has never existed in his eyes. De Crevecoeur was raised in a family of Counts and Countesses, experiencing the fortune of being born into a wealthy and prosperous family, while witnesses the misfortune of those who weren’t. Through the details and images described, from his experiences, in Letters of an American Farmer we obtain the true sense of being English or French; something de Crevecoeur wasn’t all too proud to be called. John de Crevecoeur was more honored to be called an American, working as a farmer, a life vastly different from the comfort and riches of being a Count. In “What is an American,” De Crevecoeur compares Europe and America to define the nature of being an American. And he illustrates throughout the essay, why the great American frontier is preferred by the vast majority. Although de Crevecoeur was born in France, he sees himself as an Englishman who has come to settle in America. Through his eyes we explore the differences he encounters in America that he would never discover in England. Most of these changes are based on his experience of being an American farmer, working on the beautiful open frontier. Here de Crevecoeur sees the industry of his native country displayed in a new manner, “there are no great manufacturers employing...
Words: 1547 - Pages: 7
...of this essay is to inform you of my beliefs about an author named Lenn Goodman, who wrote a journal, called In “Some Moral Minima. This essay will explain his remarks about when he states and argues that there are certain things that are simply wrong. And I will explain my reason for if I agree with him or not. I will also share with you the challenges of the explore of Goodman presents to relativism, and which will determine whether I think there are such universal moral requirements. When reading Lenn Goodman journal I have to strongly (agree/disagree?) with him when he argues about that there are certain things that are simply wrong. There are so many things that goes on in this world that are just simply wrong like for example, raping, killing, discrimination, abuse, the justice system and so on. Goodman also discusses that every person whether they are man, woman, or child has the right to live and to be free from any and all inhumane treatments. In my opinion it's just wrong to act upon certain crimes and then also if you are accused of the crime you may or may not get the proper conviction time that should be granted to you. These issues are not just going to simply go away, we are born into sin so the wrongful things that we have done are in us, you simply don’t have to make those choices, you can choose the right path instead of the wrong path (Goodman, 2010). Remember to include citations when you use information from the article. I believe that everyone should...
Words: 1234 - Pages: 5
...for the knowledge of the State of Natural Rights of human being which is the establishing bases of our government. We can understand that The Second Treatise of Government and the Declaration of Independence are very identical in their message, which clearly substantiate Locke's work influenced Jefferson. Unpredictably as it is, Jefferson has been suspect over the times for plagiarizing John Locke. The most significant similarity between both writings is that they are strongly focused on the belief that all men are created equal and have the right to be happy in their life. Locke enlightens us that humans have natural rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of property. Jefferson restates this claim as absolute rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Simply both documents mention that no person is above or superior to another person and that everyone is equal. The natural law of man is not under the authority of man, but ruled by the Natural Laws. Also they state that those natural rights...
Words: 907 - Pages: 4
...Mary Wright 10/28/12 English 1301 Essay # 3 Persuasive Essay Many times in places where alcohol is sold, the server or cashier has to deal with problems with the customer. Some range from simple problems like when a customer is just in a sour mood; to the more difficult problems like when they have to judge the age of the customer for alcohol sales. Most of the time it is easy to judge the age, but there are times when it is hard to tell if the customer is over the age of forty so they can buy alcohol without being carded. The only way to solve this problem is to require that everyone, by law, is to be carded regardless of their appearance of age. When it comes to dealing with a law, many people feel that they are above the law and can get away with anything. Cashiers and servers have to deal with the customers who are just old enough to buy alcohol, and think they don’t have to be carded anymore; and the ones who are don’t look quite like they are forty and still have to card them. The law does require us to card anyone who appears to be under the age of forty. Most of the time the customers have their I.D.s, but there are many times where they “forgot”, sometimes they truly forget, and still hope we sell the alcohol to them, but legally we are not allowed to sell the alcohol to them if we ask for their I.D. A lot of the time making the decision of carding a person can make us very uncomfortable, and scared for our jobs. For example a few weeks ago I had two customers...
Words: 947 - Pages: 4
...Neguisa Sheikhpour Civil Disobedience In his essay, “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau discusses the injustice of the government and how it wrongfully forces people to do its will. Thoreau believes “that government is best which governs not at all,” but he also acknowledges that government serves a purpose. He writes, “It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation I which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.” Thoreau realizes that society is not ready to live free government control but he sees that people are blindly obeying authority without listening to their conscience. It is not enough for one to have the right opinion, one must take action against what they consciously believe is wrong. According to Thoreau, there are three ways to deal with unjust laws: ignore our own opinions and obey the laws, obey the laws while trying to change them, or break the laws and accept the consequences. Thoreau admits that it is not practical for everyone to fight the government but he asks those people “at least, to wash his hands of and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give is practically his support.” There is no problem with respecting the law, but when the law is so wrong and so unjust, people have a duty and obligation to make it right. Some would say that Thoreau is an anarchist because of his reference to a “government that is best which governs not at all,” but that...
Words: 346 - Pages: 2
...Illegal immigration, citizenship, and peoples rights are all things many people don’t know much about, and some things people know aren’t completely true, what they do know is usually someone else’s perspective rather than the truth. I hope that this essay sheds more light on what the law of soil, the law of blood, birthright citizenship, anchor babies, illegal immigrants, the 13 amendment, and the 14th amendment really are. There are four ways you can gain United States citizenship, one of these is by being born in the united states or one of its territories, another way is for both of your parents to be American citizens. Third, you can be a citizen through the naturalization process, which generally involves applying for, and passing,...
Words: 465 - Pages: 2
...times; this was brought to the attention of the general manager and he failed to act on behalf of the female employees also. It was later found that this manager has a history of having made sexually charged comments towards female employees himself. This has put these employees’s into a sexually hostile workplace, which is against the law. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was alerted to the situation and has taken action. A brief Summary of the function of the EEOC United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination” (EEOC, 2013). This discrimination includes several different situations as in a job applicant or a current employer from being discriminated against because of the color of their skin, their religious faith, disabilities, and genetic information. If a female is pregnant this can not be held against her either. The types of situations that the laws cover are hiring, firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits. The EEOC investigates complaints of discrimination and tries to determine if the complaints are true. If they are, then they go in and try to mediate the situation without including the law. If the EEOC is unsuccessful then they can file a lawsuit to protect the rights of employee’s involved and the rights of the public but a lawsuit is...
Words: 1084 - Pages: 5
...of Law Enforcement are found in the theories of Immanuel Kant. Kant’s main theory is that we all have the wisdom to make right decisions. We make those decisions based on our “duty” to morally exhibit good behaviors, regardless of the consequences. The duty of law enforcement officers is to enforce the good will and morals of society. This essay with show the links between Kant and Law Enforcement. INTRODUCTION Every profession is governed by a Code of Ethics. This code is specific to each individual profession, and shows the underlying values of that profession. This code also serves as a behavior guide for business professionals to follow. In a perfect world, everyone would make ethically moral business choices. German philosopher Immanuel Kant developed a moral philosophy/ethical theory based on this. In summary, his theory states that as humans, we are to act moral because, it is our duty to; it is our duty to make good decisions, with respect to the expectations of society, regardless of the consequences. In A Kantian Approach to Business Ethics (2008), Norman E. Bowie writes, “Kant argued the highest good was the good will. To act from a good will is to act from duty. Thus it is the intention behind an action rather than its consequences that make that action good,” (p. 57). From a Kantian perspective, law enforcement is built on the premise of duty, and moral standards. This means that law enforcement officers are bound, by the law, to...
Words: 1499 - Pages: 6
