...Personal Values and Relationships The theme that interest me the most is Personal Values and Relationships. According to the Caroline Shrodes essays in this section such as, Restoring Basic Values, The Good Soldier, Blue-Collar Roots, White Collar Dreams and My Hyphenated Identity have common themes: how selfhood develops and how we relate to each other (page178). I believe, we as college students that come from different types of backgrounds can learn more about ourselves and each other by these readings. Learning about other’s individuals ideas and personal encounters, social class differences, identity, race, beliefs and personal values. Many times it can be hard for individuals that come from different back grounds to understand one another. I believe that these essay’s can also help us restore basic values in society that has been lost over time. I share similar values and beliefs with these writers. The selections that I picked focuses heavily on personal influences that affect our “sense of self”(page 178). As college students attempt to find their place in the world, we can actually benefit from the writers beliefs. Being able to answer the mysterious questions we ask ourselves, who am I? and how does the influence of my back ground contribute to who I am? Colin Powell, son of Jamaican immigrants wrote the essay, The Good Soldier. Powell makes an interesting point that never to limit yourself because of race, color, background or beliefs (page193). My Hypenated...
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...The Dichotomy of War According to Freud our life is played out in two different, opposing forces. One of them, Eros, is the drive for sex, love, and self-preservation, whereas the other is known as Thanatos, the drive for death and self-destruction. It is the yin and yang of motivations and urges. Put simply, Eros wants us to live and struggle through and with pain and suffering; Thanatos prefers to end it all with death, the equalizer, the dark force, the state of constant peace, calm and rest. My father, a 66 year old retired plumber, is a Vietnam vet seeking treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for the first time in his life. He has two purple hearts and a plethora of mal-adaptive coping skills which have come rather pronounced in his golden years. He lives on a 117 acre ranch in Ellensburg, Washington. His home is off-grid meaning he is not connected to any public utilities and produces his own energy and his home is completely self-sufficient. Most would say this is a remote way of living. Some would say it’s a form of isolation. With all of this privacy at his fingertips, my father still chooses to venture out into the wilderness for days at a time by himself, with his rifle. There is no question in my mind that war gave my father purpose and meaning that is still a part of his identity today but in ways he still doesn’t fully comprehend. As a result of his war experience, he felt pulled in both directions of Eros and Thanatos; the will to survive and the...
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...Ethics Essay Franklin G. Hisole ETH / 316 April 20, 2015 Robert Gennette Ethics and Morality Moral and ethics defines the nature of our society and culture today. They are both complimentary in nature but different in some ways. Moral determines person’s character when an individual interacts in social and personal relationship and Ethics are the philosophical study of morality or moral standards. Utilitarian theory, Virtue ethics, and Deontological are some of the examples of major ethical theories that covered in this essay. Collaboration on personal experiences added as well by explaining the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts. Virtue Ethics The virtue theory approach centered on a belief that a person is responsible for their ethical choices and decision. The central feature of virtue ethics is the focus on decision’s outcome, as supposed to following and setting up specific rules for every scenario. One is responsible for making the best possible choice that morally coincides with his or her beliefs whether it’s breaking the law. One example commonly accepted in the community is the “Robin Hood” method. A person will steal food, money or essential things just to support or give it away to people in need. The act clearly violates the law and may seem like an immoral or unethical act to some people, but that individual believes that an act was virtuous since he helps poor people by providing their needs. The...
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...performing civilian jobs, and the inability to cope with the transition from military to civilian life. The unemployment rate for veterans is 6.9 percent (Norman, 2012). The government and the employers need to work together to make the transition out of the military a smoother process. The Department of Veteran Affairs cannot process the applications for the G.I. Bill fast enough to accommodate the veterans. Veterans lack the job skills necessary to perform jobs in the civilian sector after the military. All military veterans should have special training, skill and mind set for the transition from military to civilian life, provided by the government and employers to ensure employability after serving their country regardless of how many years of service one has served. Veterans lack the special training and skills that are necessary to compete with the civilian population. Veterans often have jobs that cannot transfer to the civilian world (Hefling, 2011). For instance if they are an infantryman, they cannot get a job as a mechanic. Even as a Diesel Mechanic, it is hard to find work in the civilian sector. The military uses different equipment than the civilian sector. Many veterans do not take advantage of the benefits that are given to them while they are on active duty. SPC Black a United States Army Veteran stated that, “I have never used my benefits in the Army” (Nicholas Black, personal communication, February 15,...
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...My Personal Responsibility Essay Jonathan G. Castro Gen/200 September 26, 2012 Mr. Thomas Swan My Personal Responsibility My definition of personal responsibility is the act of taking charge of your own actions and living with the results. Personal Responsibility is putting fear, shame, and struggles aside and doing what you have to do to accomplish your goals. Personal responsibility is the willingness to both accept the importance of standards that society establishes for the individual behavior and to make strenuous personal efforts to live by those standards. Author Haskins (2009) stated, “But personal responsibility also means that when individuals fail to meet expected standards, they do not look around for some factor outside themselves to blame” (para.1). When you thing about it being an American you have the huge responsibility to your country. Obeying the laws of the land like taking care of Mother Nature by not littering or polluting are just some examples. There are other lawful responsibilities as American citizens that we have to abide like “no drinking and driving”. The way society is today most young generations just don’t care about their responsibility and just want to do their own thing. As parents it is our responsibility to raise our kids to follow the right path of life but in reality they need to learn the hard way. They will fall once or twice but they can always get back up. “The demise of personal responsibility occurs when individuals...
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...James Cameron Mr. Randolph Engl. 210 9/21/12 Tainted History in Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard Passion, precision, and technique are all synonyms used to describe Natasha Tretheway’s Native Guard that take the reader through the heart of the south and the heart of the family. This essay will examine the contradictions of (African) American life, especially concerning themes of history and memory. “Southern History”, “Incident”, and “South” will demonstrate these contradictions of (African) American history and memory. Serving as a scribe, Tretheway writes these poems for those people history has muted and closed the veil on. Southern History, Incident, and South; poems from section two of her book, depict racism during slavery and the Civil War, which is a part of forgotten history in the eyes of “Americans.” These historic experiences have not been given the proper examination, discussion, or acknowledgement. Tretheway refuses to allow African American history to remain as footnotes and brings out the real “American” history in her collection of poems. Tretheway’s personal experience growing up as a mulatto in the South is seen in her poem “Southern History”. This poem shows that even after more than a hundred years after the Civil War, history is still tainted. History is imperfect and at times intentionally false as textbooks in this time period were used to misinform students; keeping them bound and restricted from the real history of America. As Tretheway’s...
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...of how they both saw things in different light but at a meaningful level they both thought the same about the government even through they expressed there ideals in completely different ways. Their ideas cross on many different paths as to which even Bedau talks about Thoreau in his essay in regards to being “responsible” for your actions. The main premise of Bedau’s argument in his essay of “civil disobedience and personal responsibility for justice” is to compare the idea of what is civil disobedience and who is responsible for the actions. Bedau spends a great...
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...Wallace In this paper I will give a personal evaluation of the book, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, and the movie, Braveheart. In the movie Braveheart, I was able to see better what William Wallace’s feeling and emotions were than in the book. I believe in all movies that are based off of books, the audiences are always given a better sense of who the character is. I will also tell you what is false in the movie Braveheart. I have some conflicting issues with movies because they do provide false information also. This is a little background information on William Wallace. (2012, September 20. lordsandladies.org Alchin, L.K.) William was born at Ellerslie (now Elderslie), in Paisley, Parish in 1272, and he was exicuted in Smithfield in 1305. The name Braveheart was given to him as a nickname, for he was nicknamed this because of his character he showed to others; brave, charismatic, stubborn, and tenacious. He was born into a lower social class, as his dad was a small land owner with a small farm. William was knighted Guardian of Scotland after he led the victorious battle in Stirling. Wallace was heroic outlaw, for he was a hero and legend all over Scotland, but the English despised his rebellious actions against the king, Edward I. (The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, pg. 431) “May foul things befall you, since one has put all of you to confusion”. In this quote, the English lord was talking to his soldiers. His soldiers had ran into William Wallace and...
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...prescription drugs such as, promethazine, codeine, and all the violence and crime that ensues. Although it is a considered an eye opening dark side to rap with very explicit content, what is most appealing about this type of music is the very well produced trap beats, and lyrics. Trap has once again risen the bar to another level. The evolution of hip-hop has taken many directions, but what always stays the same is the art of lyricism, its delivery, and musical composition. “The Culture of Hip-Hop” by Michael Eric Dyson opens up the understanding of the original style of hip-hop and gives context to the then misunderstood genre. I recommend his essay to anyone not familiar with why people enjoy listening the hip hop, and even to people that like it. There is nothing to lose with a little extra knowledge about rap and how it came to be. Dysons essay gives us insight on the reasons why hip-hop was met with resistance in the music industry, and how it overcame those obstacles. Dyson also explains the culture of the community involved in rap, and how rap was used to express the everyday experiences of these...
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...Bibliographic Essay on African American History Introduction In the essay “On the Evolution of Scholarship in Afro- American History” the eminent historian John Hope Franklin declared “Every generation has the opportunity to write its own history, and indeed it is obliged to do so.”1 The social and political revolutions of 1960s have made fulfilling such a responsibility less daunting than ever. Invaluable references, including Darlene Clark Hine, ed. Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); Evelyn Brooks Higgingbotham, ed., Harvard Guide to African American History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001); Arvarh E. Strickland and Robert E. Weems, Jr., eds., The African American Experience: An Historiographical and Bibliographical Guide (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001); and Randall M. Miller and John David Smith, eds., Dictionary of Afro- American Slavery (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1988), provide informative narratives along with expansive bibliographies. General texts covering major historical events with attention to chronology include John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans (Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000), considered a classic; along with Joe William Trotter, Jr., The African American 1  Experience (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001); and, Darlene Clark Hine, William C. Hine, and Stanley Harrold, The...
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...Omar Ashmawy's essay Ten Years After 9/11, We're still in the Dark, published on September 9th, 2011 by The Washington Post, he explains that since the 9/11 attack, he believes nothing has changed. In this essay, he explains that America has not moved one step closer to understanding Islam and Arab ways. Because of the ignorance on America's part, we, as a nation, are not protected from being attacked again. An appeal of ethos is supported through the writer's credibility. I believe that Ashmawy is credible because he has been in the military and realizes that Americans, as a whole, do not understand Islam and Arab culture, and therefore, we are in great danger of being attacked again. In his essay, Ashmawy provides evidence and facts to support his view through an appeal called logos. Ashmawy also uses his personal experience of being in the military and what he knows to present this evidence. Ashmawy also uses an appeal of pathos through emotionally loaded words used throughout his essay. Logos, ethos, and pathos have been used throughout this essay to stress the importance of the danger America has faced...
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...offensive change the United States’ public perception and military plans regarding Vietnam?” The essay will compare and contrast how the United States reacts to Vietnam before and after the Tet Offensive, while also evaluating any other factors that might also had a role. Since the Tet Offensive is a series of events, the essay will analyze all effects since the start of the offensive through the end. Source 1: “Tet” section of “Vietnam: A history” by Stanley Karnow Stanley Karnow worked for Time, Life, the Washington Post, and NBC to cover Asia from 1959-1974. He started to write this secondary source book when he arrived in Vietnam on July 1959. The book serves to...
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...the country, he was worried that he and his family would lose their social reputation due to his actions so he ends up going to the war. Throughout the novel narrator talks about his company’s soldiers and shares their story with us. The main theme of the book is to show story truth is truer than happening truth. O’Brien wants his readers to know that when we hear a story based on feelings rather than facts, it usually has a great impact on our spiritual life. Journal 1 “I was no soldier. I...
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...Mark R. Peattie, Edward J. Drea, Hans J. van de Ven, eds. The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2010. Illustrations, maps. 664 pp. $65.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8047-6206-9. Reviewed by Roger H. Brown (Saitama University) Published on H-War (December, 2012) Commissioned by Margaret Sankey The Sino-Japanese War of 1937-45 was immense both in its scale and consequences. Nevertheless, Western military histories of World War II have focused overwhelmingly on the campaigns of the European and Pacific theaters, and those specialized studies of the conflict that do exist deal primarily with such matters as diplomacy; politics; mass mobilization; and, in more recent years, Japanese atrocities and public memory. Indeed, as the editors of the volume under review attest, “a general history of the military operations during the war based on Japanese, Chinese, and Western sources does not exist in English” (p. xix). In 2004, Japanese, Chinese, and Western scholars gathered to remedy this situation and in the belief that such a close study of the operations and strategy of the Sino-Japanese War would “illustrate that, in this period, warfare drove much of what happened in the political, economic, social, and cultural spheres in China and Japan.” They further recognized that because “much of the best scholarship on WWII in East Asia is naturally produced in China and Japan,” there was a need to “bring...
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...MarQuez Oglesby Midterm Exam March 6, 2014 Professor Stuart Midterm Exam Essay Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong political leader with set beliefs about society. He took it upon himself to enhance society with his unique perspective on social change and through active attempts to influence others. His beliefs, methods and philosophy greatly influenced society of which made Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and iconic American social leader just like President Barack Obama. President Barack Obama is one of the nations strongest political leaders that we have in our society today. His beliefs on society are shaping the way we Americans look at situations differently now. Marriage Equality is one of the main issues that our President is trying to get established today in our society. According to thinkprogress.org Barack Obama had an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts about Marriage Equality and stated: “ I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors and when I think about members on my own staff who are incredibly committed in monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are fighting on the behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important to go...
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