Pure High Note

Ryan DeVuyst Composition II David Cantwell 15 March 2013 â€Å"A Pure, High Note of Anguish† by: Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver’s â€Å"A Pure, High Note of Anguish,† expresses her painful grief in seeing innocent people die without having done anything to deserve it. To Americans, Kingsolver says â€Å"There are no worse days, it seems,† referring that 9/11 is the worst thing that’s ever happened in the world. Kingsolver symbolizes the children dancing in the street as the hatred that other countries have against the United States. Kingsolver believes asking, â€Å"Will this happen to me? is the wrong question because almost always people die without having done anything to deserve it. To Kingsolver, people almost always die without having done anything to deserve it. To this I agree. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D. C. , including more than 400 police officers and firefighters (History). As of June 2006, 1577 Louisiana residents had been confirmed as deceased as a result of Katina (Sharkey). Motor vehicle crashes in the United States result in more than 40,000 deaths per year (Hitti). Each year globally, 12. million people learn they have cancer, and 7. 6 million people die from the disease (CDC). As most people would think, every one of these victims are innocent people who do not deserve to die. As seen above, these causes of deaths can be from attacks, natural disasters, accidents, and diseases. Death is something that occurs in nature and it is both inevitable and final (Cole). No one knows when, where or how they will die. The only thing that is certain is no one deserves to die. Kingsolver states â€Å"There are no worst days, it seems,† meaning that this is the worst thing that has ever happened in the world.Maybe it was the worst thing to happen in the world at that time, but for all of history no. On December 26th, 2004, in Southeast Asia an earthqua ke occurred out at sea in the Indian Ocean, which immediately caused a deadly tsunami to happen. An estimated 230,000 people died (Wikramanayake). Do we Americans believe that is the worst thing to ever happen in the world? Of course not because we think 9/11 is the worst thing to ever happen to us. â€Å"September 11, 2001, stands as the defining event of the 21st century. It was the worst day of my life and the best day.It was the worst day because of the incomprehensible death, destruction and evil. September 11 was also the best day because it put on display the very finest human instincts — compassion, courage, kindness, selflessness† (Giuliani). These are the words of former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani, who was the mayor during 9/11. Kingsolver’s child was wondering why there were children dancing in the streets after the news of 9/11. I actually thought the same and remember vividly watching when this occurred on the news.Kingsolver symbolizes these chil dren dancing in the streets as people showing their hatred towards the United States. Everybody knows there has been much anti-Americanism in the Middle East (Tooley). Yet it is undeniable that many Middle Easterners have good reason, from their perspective, to hate the USA (Tooley). In Iraq, for example, it would be amazing indeed if the ferocious death rate among civilians — especially children — since the embargo and the steady number of civilian casualties from our continued bombing had not created feelings of hatred which would give cause for celebration now (Tooley).Kingsolver and others believe that our country needed to learn how to hurt from these attacks. I believe that is true and that we have also overcome the hurt. Al Qaeda’s intentions of these attacks were to break the United States down. But I believe that it only made the United States stronger as a nation and more aware of threats against us. Psychologically, the nation joined together in a uni ty that had not been seen since the end of World War II (Jensen). When it comes to our national security and our awareness of the threat from Islamic extremists, we are better prepared than we were but not as prepared as we should be. Our intelligence base is better and our airport security is better, for all its frustrations,† (Giuliani). â€Å"Will this happen to me? is the wrong question, I’m sad to say. † The question should really be, when will this happen to me? That question is unknown to everyone. No one can predict the moment of death (Scott). People wake up each day and have no clue what will happen to them.

Causes and Consequences of the Montgomery Bus Boycott Essay

The leader of the Bus Boycott was a local preacher called Martin Luther King who formed the ‘Montgomery Improvement Association’ to orgnaise the boycott – and the protest made him the leader of the Black Civil Rights Movement until his assassination. SO – no Montgomery Bus Boycott, no non-violent direct action, no ‘I have a Dream’ speech, no Million-Men march etc. 5. During the Boycott, the Ku Klux Klan attacked the homes of Black leaders – this turned public opinion against the Whites. From then on public opinion, specially in the north, PLUS the Federal Government – openly supported Black Civil Rights. 6. Rosa Parkes became ‘the mother of the Civil Rights movement’: a role model, not only for Blacks, but also for women. In particular, the bus boycott showed ordinary Black men-and-women-in-the-street that – little as they could do individually – nevetheless, if they stood together and each did their little bit, that ‘we shall overcome one day’.

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four Essay

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian novel which presents an exagerated version of a totalitarian regime which not only controlled everything but which also could not be removed by any means. Orwell’s novel drew attention, back in 1949 when the novel was published, upon how this world would look like if a totalitarian regime would truly take over. My aim for this essay is to analyze Orwell’s novel with respect to the marxist elements present in the novel and also to illustrate their impact upon the protagonist’s feelings. Marxism and especially Stalinism are present in Orwell’s novel through certain elements: countinuous surveillance, control of the mind, the cult of personality and a supposed â€Å"equality† between the Party’s members. Isaac Asimov, in his essay Review of 1984, considers Orwell as a writer with not much of an imagination, accusing him of not developing in the novel the actual communist actions which were happening in reality. â€Å"Orwell imagines Great Britain to have gone through a revolution similar to the Russian Revolution and to have gone through all the stages that Soviet development did. He can think of almost no variations on the theme. I believe, though, that Orwell was an extraordinary visionary who pictured a society chained in nothing but governmental controll, a society which cannot be defeated. A communist concept presented in the novel is that of the powerless individual and of the high disregard the Party had for individualism. Everybody must form a group with everybody – this is the recipe for power, according to any communism regime. In 1984, history is continuously rewritten and in this way, the population’s memories are restricted only to what appears in the remaining articles after rewriting; it can be seen as another way of mind control. Winston himself discovers that most of what the Party states is lies and towards the end of the novel, when Oceania suddenly becomes enemies with Eastasia, the country with which it had been allies all along, everybody is forced to conceive that they have â€Å"always been at war with Eastasia†. Ramesh K. writes in his essay Socio-Cultural Matrix in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four that â€Å"history is constantly rewritten to suit the current goals of the Party. Only the destruction of human memory will make it possible. Hence the Ministry of Truth (Minitru) modifies history perpetually to the tune of the ideals of the Party†. As a result of the rewriting of history is the loss of memories. Nobody remembers how life looked like â€Å"before† Big Brother, and yet nobody seems to find it as disturbing as Winston does. He barely remembers his family, and he suspects that most of his memories are only a product of his imagination. He has problems recalling maternal love; he sometimes feels guilty for his parents’ disappearance and he constantly regrets his childhood behavior. When regarding history, the only existing proof or better said, evidence, of such distant civilizations, ones before Big Brother, is written in censored books, created by the Party itself, with carefully selected details which attempt to illustrate how life is much better in the year of 1984, with the Ingsoc regime, then before the totalitarian era. Truth is continuously distorted and it can be regarded as close to extinction, since nobody has a correct notion of what is or is not true, anymore. Memories are vague and the ones vivid are imposed, influenced by the Party. The loss of memories the whole society experiences may also be a result of the continuous flow of new information which constantly contradicts the old one and which, in its turn, is recreated over and over again. The process of rewriting history is described in 1984: â€Å"This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs – to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance† (Orwell, Part 1, Chapter 4, p. 1). The cult of personality has a huge influence on Orwell’s dystopia, as on any other totalitarian society. Big Brother has been associated by the critics with Stalin, while his political enemy, another alleged founder of the Party, Emmanuel Goldstein, was seen as the correspondent of Trotsky, Stalin’s enemy in the power struggle from the 1920s. Like Trotsky, Goldstein was deported and excluded from the Party. According to Isaac Asimov, Orwell’s â€Å"enemy was Stalin, and at the time that 1984 was published, Stalin ad ruled the Soviet Union in a ribbreaking bear hug for twenty-five years, had survived a terrible war in which his nation suffered enormous losses and yet was now stronger than ever. To Orwell, it must have seemed that neither time nor fortune could budge Stalin, but that he would live on forever with ever increasing strength. – And that was how Orwell pictured Big Brother†. Big Brother is regarded as immortal, the is no evidence of his actual existence, and even O’Brien hints to the fact that Big Brother is nothing more than the embodiment of the Party. In the fictional book written by Goldstein he states that â€Å"Nobody has ever seen Big Brother. He is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the telescreen. We may be reasonably sure that he will never die, and there is already considerable uncertainty as to when he was born. Big Brother is the guise in which the Party chooses to exhibit itself to the world† (Orwell, Part 2, Chapter 9, p. 262). Big Brother was everywhere: â€Å"On coins, on stamps, on the covers of books, on banners, on posters, and on the wrappings of a cigarette packet – everywhere. Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed—no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull† (Orwell, Part 1, Chapter 2, p. 34). In such a strict society, Winston attempts rebelling against the Party and also falling in love. Once he meets Julia, his double life takes form and he finds himself in a continuous seek for freedom. The relationship between Winston and Julia is, of course, sentenced to permanent influences on behalf of the Party. They attempt to rebell against it but their rebellion is nothing but a narrowed one, with no actual influence upon the Party. In a world where everything, with no exception, has been adapted to completely new rules, where history is continuously modified and the truth is contorsed over and over again, not even love or friendship remain the same. Winston and Julia are supposed to be in love and moreover, they are supposed to be not only friends, but allies in their fight against the system, but in 1984, in this parallel version of totalitarianism Orwell created, friendship and love would always be darkened by the other’s real identity. An example for how love is reduced can be found in the episode when Julia attempts to dress up for Winston, when renting the room above the antiquities shop, a room which does not have a telescreen. She hardly manages to become feminin by using a very bad smelling perfume – which brings about awful memories to Winston – and by wearing ugly – and yet different from the Party’s uniform – clothes. It seems like no one has the ability of being romantic any longer, and even more important, no one has the means of being so. In 1984, no possible love relationship can be imagined and the idea of making love is something strictly forbidden, because making love – and this is something the Party knows very well – makes people happy, and when people are happy, they no longer care for every bad thing that happens in their every day life in the context of a totalitarian society. Julia explained to Winston the Party’s conception: â€Å"When you make love you’re using up energy; and afterwards you feel happy and don’t give a damn for anything. They can’t bear you to feel like that. They want you to be bursting with energy all the time. All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour. If you’re happy inside yourself, why should you get excited about Big Brother and the Three-Year Plans and the Two Minutes Hate and all the rest of their bloody rot? † (Orwell, Part 2, Chapter 3, p. 167). In the eyes of the Party, there’s no such thing as love or friendship, and even the existing feelings can only be pointed towards Big Brother, the totalitarian leader who can only be seen on the posters all over the city, which show Big Brother’s portrait and a terrifying slogan: â€Å"Big Brother is watching you†. According to Isaac Asimov â€Å"the great Orwellian contribution to future technology is that the television set is two-way, and that the people who are forced to hear and see the television screen can themselves be heard and seen at all times and are under constant supervision even while sleeping or in the bathroom. Hence, the meaning of the phrase ‘Big Brother is watching you’. † Love, as already discussed, is distorted, reduced to physical needs (not even physical pleasure). But, as it is easy to notice, throughout the novel, love remains the Party’s greatest enemy against which they are already fighting through manipulating the children – yet only achieving the destruction of parental love. I consider that children betraying their parents are a symbol and nonetheless, an illustration of what Orwell may have imagined about future generations who will do everything for the Party’s sake – even betray their own mothers and fathers. In my opinion, children when regarded as a symbol, are supposed to â€Å"bring the change into the world†. In 1984 they are the reversed, the opposite version of this concept: children will not change anything, from their point of view, the totalitarian society must and will remain as it is, with few corrections here and there in the history books, when actions and facts begin to contradict with others. â€Å"Nearly all children nowadays were horrible [†¦ ] they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it. †¦ ]All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals. It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children† (Orwell, Chapter 2, p. 31). As a conclusion, 1984 emphasizes not only on the impact of a totalitarian regime upon the society, but also on its impact upon the individual’s soul, feelings and thoughts. Winston and Julia’s rebellion may be described as an abstract one, because they do not really achieve anything. Oliver Substance, in his essay The Tendency of Man: Nineteen Eighty-Four, states that â€Å"to truly be a rebel, all of one’s actions need to be rebellious, not just the one’s involving the basic human urges. Rebels need plans, or else they end up the same way as every other would-be rebel: in Room 101. † The impact upon the reader has no limit, since the novel leaves so much space for interpretation and continuation. Finally, I would like to end my essay with the following quote from the novel: â€Å"If you can FEEL that staying human is worth while, even when it can’t have any result whatever, you’ve beaten them† (Orwell, Part 2, Chapter 7, p. 210).

Depletion Of The Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Depletion Of The Environment - Essay Example The man has survived on this planet, even when the great dinosaurs had died out, become extinct. The instinct for survival is the strongest instinct in any living being. The man survived through the ages because of this and also using his superior intelligence and powers of adaptation. And now it is as if the man is bereft of his powers of reasoning, it’s as if he has suddenly succumbed to a death-wish. It’s as if, like the lemmings of the tundra, he is hell-bent on committing suicide en masse. If we go on in this crazy manner by the turn of the next century, mankind as species will have become extinct. If we take preventive action with immediate effect and a long-term perspective in view, we can arrest this problem now. But the tragic thing about it is the fact that there is only one group of people who can really help in this matter and those are the politicians. In a way, you cannot blame them. All their actions are governed by their tenure of five years sometimes ev en less in these times of political uncertainty. Their imagination refuses to stretch beyond this time limit, with the result that they cannot or are afraid to make any long-term decision. In the meantime, humanity suffers. In spite of the warnings of experts, these politicians refuse to see the problem that is facing all living beings, for what it is. And in collusion with some greedy, grabbing industrialists, they are hell bent on destroying life, the most fragile, the most divine of all things on earth.

Strategic Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategic Business - Essay Example According to the official website of Red Cross, the history of Red Cross is very interesting and it dates back to 1859, when a Swiss Banker, Henry Dunant whilst travelling in northern Italy came across the aftermath of the battle of Solferino. The huge disaster encouraged him to found a nonprofit organization in 1863 with the name International Committee of the Red Cross and after about 140 years, more than 186 National Red Cross societies were present all around the world. In Australia, Red Cross was established in 1914 by Lady Munro Ferguson after nine days of First World War. Australian Red Cross office is located in Melbourne and it is offering services in more than 60 communities there. The different kinds of community services provided by Australia Red Cross include the disaster services, refugee services, first aid and health services and blood services. Australian Red Cross Shops have been established by Red Cross organization and they are offering stock of big fashion at very reasonable and small budget. More than 35 shops are operating in the state (Red Cross n.d.). Australian Red Cross Shops are offering a variety of products including new and pre-loved clothing, medical equipment, baby products, baby kits, electric homeware, car seat etc. The Red Cross Shops are staffed by the volunteers and the income generated from shops is a source of fund for Red Cross. The political factors directly impact the operations of the organizations in Australia. For example, on 2 May 2010, the Federal Government of Australia declared the agenda for future tax system of Australia and this announcement affected all companies, small businesses and nonprofit organizations (Third Sector Magazine 2010). The review specially focuses on not-for-profit organizations which according to the review face inconsistent state and federal regulations in Australia. Since the corporate sector is the major

Video summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Video summary - Essay Example E.g. if they would breed with the normal salmon. However, the company that is involved has argued that these fish are sterile. The FDA is yet to decide if the genetically modified fish will carry a special label. Farmers in Arkansas are facing huge losses because their crops have been infested with a type of weed known as the ‘pigweed’. The weed is native to North America. Farmers have over the years been able to fight the weed using special chemicals. However, the chemicals have suddenly stopped working. The weed has adapted to the herbicides that were being used to kill them. The weed grows 3 inches a day and kills crops and destroys farm machinery like combine harvesters and cotton pickers. The farmers have now resulted to the traditional way of dealing with weed (using manual labor) which is slow and expensive. Scientists believe that the weed is now resistant to the herbicides used to kill it and a new herbicide needs to be developed. This might take close to seven

MTV Culture And Music TV In Popular Culture Research Paper

MTV Culture And Music TV In Popular Culture - Research Paper Example With the desire to have huge following and cover, mass media engineered strategies to influence as many people as possible. Some of these strategies revolve around creating a culture that is consistent with the needs of the people, the products being advertised, and that can influence the beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes of people regarding certain products and services to the targeted audience. Music TV, MTV culture in popular culture One of the most popular culture edifices is music. Music stalks all life realms and it is impossible to find an individual who does not like any kind of music. Since its establishment in 1981, MTV has had a great influence in the way popular culture, especially in the music industry, has evolved and developed. It is hard to distinguish pop culture, MTV and music TV. There is no other mass media communication network that has had such influence and control over popular cultural evolution than the two networks (Rojek 199). MTV as a mass media communication network has greatly impacted the way people hold beliefs about politics, dressing, public figures, and other life elements that the network communicates to the audience. One of the credits that MTV has had is the way it has shaped the music industry. MTV and other music TV networks have taken a revolutionary turn by airing certain types of music that are conversant with the audience. For example, MTV has shaped people’s taste of music through repeated airing of pop music and gangsta rap that dominates the world popular culture.