...Jonathan Swift's satirical essay "A Modest Proposal" was published anonymously in 1729. The author draws a reader's attention to problems related to poverty in Dublin, Ireland. Swift recommends his own solution and explains how the problems can be solved. In an outrageous way, he proposes that Irish infants can be sold, eaten, and used for other purposes as well; "instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of many thousands" (832). Swift goes further and suggests, "Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flea the carcass; the skin of which artificially dressed will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen" (834). The author's essay is full of examples, numbers, and descriptions which undoubtedly shock a reader. After describing all the details related to his proposal, Swift lists the advantages of his proposed solution. He ensures that his offer will have a positive impact on the economy, society, and marriages. This essay is a proposal because the author suggests a concrete solution. We can consider it modest when we read the last sentences of his work, "I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive then the public good of my country, by advancing our trade...
Words: 397 - Pages: 2
...The concept of identity is a complex and ambiguous one to say the least. What is it about society that makes us feel the need to add the footnote: Jewish, Black, Muslim, etc., to our existence? This self-imposed segregation of our own species thus far, has only served to assist discrimination and hysteria. The blight this casts on society according to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, entertainer Bill Cosby, and writer Tony Judt, is caused by ourselves, creating these race and religious identities in order to feel safer, blame others for own problems, and an attempt to make a perfectly imperfect world uniform. After the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001, Americas view on Muslim society drastically changed, Muslim Americans went from neighbors and citizens, to potential enemy combatants in the eyes of an overwhelming amount of Americans. Determining whether or not someone was a Muslim became of paramount importance to Americans. Citizens, who were once doctors, lawyers, and politicians especially, now had to identify themselves as a Muslim doctor, Muslim Lawyer, or the dreaded Muslim Politician. It was this type of fear that promoted the controversy over whether Mosque being built near the former site of the twin towers should stand; to which Mayor Bloomberg said “Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11, and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values and play into our enemies’ hands...
Words: 1009 - Pages: 5
...Dubliners Dubliners is a collection of 15 short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. The fifteen stories were meant to be a naturalistic depiction of the Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were written at the time when Irish nationalism was at its peak, and a search for a national identity and purpose was raging; at a crossroads of history and culture, Ireland was jolted by various converging ideas and influences. They centre on Joyce's idea of an epiphany: a moment where a character has a special moment of self-understanding or illumination. Many of the characters in Dubliners later appear in minor roles in Joyce's novel Ulysses. The initial stories in the collection are narrated by children as protagonists, and as the stories continue, they deal with the lives and concerns of progressively older people. This is in line with Joyce's tripartite division of the collection into childhood, adolescence and maturity. Araby Summary The unnamed protagonist in Araby is a boy who is just beginning to come into his sexual identity. Through his first-person narration, we are immersed at the start of the story in the drab life that people live on North Richmond Street, which seems to be illuminated only by the verve and imagination of the children who, despite the growing darkness that comes during the winter months, insist on playing "until [their] bodies glowed." Even though the conditions of this neighbourhood...
Words: 1749 - Pages: 7
...Suggested topics for the first term essay, which should be 1200-1500 words in length, double-spaced, with standard 1” margins, and good use of the text/s or film/s discussed, indicate and identify quotations in the accepted academic way (which I or the Writing Lab will be glad to make clear if necessary) without resort to unnecessary foot- or endnotes. Note that you also have the option of writing on an idea of your own as long as you deal with a work on the syllabus and run it by me first, and that you may expand your presentation, if you have given one. 1. “Primo Levi entitles his first book If This Is a Man (Si questo e un uomo), but it became well known and read widely in translation from the Italian as Survival in Auschwitz aspects of the book.” Discuss. 2. Discuss the possible significance in the narrative as a whole of the episode in Elie Wiesel’s Night (pp. 58-9 in the Hill and Wang edition) where Elie finds his Kapo Idek having sex with a young woman in the empty warehouse. 3. In the last three paragraphs of Chapter 13 of Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi describes a man called Kuhn praying aloud, “thanking God that he has not been chosen” in “the great selection of October 1944.” In the title story of This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen Tadek writes of “naked, sweat drenched men” crowding the barrack aisles, and “directly beneath me [. . .] a rabbi” reading from a Hebrew prayer book and “wailing loudly, monotonously” (Penguin, p. 31). ...
Words: 537 - Pages: 3
...U.S. Copyright Law (title 17 of U.S. code) governs the reproduction and redistribution of copyrighted material. Downloading this document for the purpose of redistribution is prohibited. HOW MORAL REVOLUTIONS HAPPEN Kwame Anthony Appiah W. W. N O R T O N & C O M P A N Y New York London Copyright © 2010 by Kwame Anthony Appiah All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First Edition For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N Y i o n o For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales at specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830 Manufacturing by Courier Westford Book design by Helene Berinsky Production manager: Devon Zahn Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Appiah, Anthony. The honor code : how moral revolutions happen / Kwame Anthony Appiah. — ist ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-393-07162-7 (hardcover) i. Social change —History 2. Social change—Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Honor—Social aspects—History. 4. Social ethics. I. Title. HM836.A67 2010 303.48'409—dc22 2010019086 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110 www.wwnorton.com W. W. Norton & Company Ltd. Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W 1 T 3 Q T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 pliijiilijff E MM ÉP l j ...
Words: 16141 - Pages: 65
...Black Friday Madness In the essay “Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization,” the author, Andrew Leonard, makes the argument that, “The out-of-control marketing and consumer insanity” (135) has taken over Thanksgiving and the days following it. Sadly, as consumers, we have forgotten what Thanksgiving is really all about. Marketing businesses have gone overboard brainwashing consumers with advertisements pumping them up to shop on Black Friday and the days that follow. Moreover, marketing businesses have caused the actions we see and hear about on Black Friday such as people being trampled, as consumers rush into stores to shop the sales, and are proof of this insanity. I strongly agree with Leonard’s arguments from “Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization,” that it is time to take back Thanksgiving and end the craziness. First of all, Leonard points out that marketing and consumers have become out of control with all of the Black Friday sales. He gives examples of advertisements that are out of control. For example, “after the perky Stepford-wife shopper sings joyfully about how she’s ‘been in line since yesterday’ and how everybody’s going to Kohl’s at ‘midnight, midnight’ the ad ends with her observing, with a mild air of perturbance, that she ‘can’t get this darn song out of my head.’ Ladies and gentlemen, there’s your winner of the 2011 award for honesty in advertising” (135). This commercial is an attempt to brainwash consumers. He talks about “grown men screaming...
Words: 1228 - Pages: 5
...Sept 3, 2014 The Merchant of Venice The Merchant of Venice is a play written by Shakespeare, the most influential writer in history. The Merchant of Venice is about a variety of relationships: “Father-daughter; husband-wife; male friends; female friends; money lender-borrower; and Christian-Jew.” The relationship explored in this essay is the father-daughter relationship of Shylock and Jessica. Shylock is a Jewish moneylender in Venice, and he is so immersed in the business that he neglects his daughter Jessica. Shylock despises Christians, because of the mistreatment he suffered at their hands, and he encourages Jessica to do the same. Jessica is very different from her father. She is in love with Lorenzo, a young Christian boy, who her father disapproves of. The relationship between shylock and Jessica is very dysfunctional. Example is when Jessica is talking with Launcelot and she says “I am sorry thou wilt leave my father so; our house is hell, thou a merry devil” (p.30). Jessica detests her home life and wants to leave it behind. She also states “Alack, what a heinous sin is it in me to be ashamed to be my father’s child...I shall end this strife, become a Christian, and thy loving wife” (p.31). Jessica is confined to her father’s wants and wishes, but she is very unhappy. Therefore, when a chance of freedom came she took it. Jessica chooses to elope with Lorenzo, the one she is in love with and convert to Christianity. Shylock was a bad father. For instance, he says...
Words: 2123 - Pages: 9
...Scottysshe Kynge John Skelton Sir Thomas Wyatt(1503-1542): My Lute Awake! Once, As Methought, Fortune Me Kissed They Flee From Me The restful place ! renewer of my smart It may be good, like it who list In faith I wot not what to say There Was Never Nothing More Me Pained Patience ! though I have not Though I Cannot Your Cruelty Constrain Blame Not My Lute My Pen ! Take Pain The heart and service to you proffer'd Is It Possible? And Wilt Thou Leave Me Thus? Since so ye please to hear me plain Forget Not Yet The Tried Intent What Should I Say! Sir Thomas Wyatt. The Renaissance Period consists of four subsets: 1. 1558-1603: The Elizabethan Age (High Renaissance): William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Comedies: All's Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors,...
Words: 1263 - Pages: 6
...assignments, like essays, projects and tests, will be given back to students within a week of them being turned in. Graded homework will be placed on the daily assignment desk, so that students can put it in their backpacks before they are hung up for the day. The larger essays, tests, and projects will be given back on an individual basis, near the end of the day in case of any questions. Materials: Most materials will be placed on the assignment table for students to pick up as they enter the door. Any materials that are not left out mean that they are important enough to be passed out. Papers like rubrics and big project assignments would be personally passed out. That way I inform students how important this assignment is, and enforce that I handed this particular paper out to everyone in class. Any other materials that students might want, like highlighters, markers, colored paper, ect, will be passed out by designated...
Words: 1547 - Pages: 7
...Literary essay “Here There Be Tygers” ”The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn” – Marcus Tullius Cicero The school is supposed to be a place where children can let their imagination flow. But in the school of the 1960´s, rules, authorities, discipline and the promise of physical punishment to those who did not obey, subjugated children’s imagination. Stephen King’s short story from 1968 “Here There Be Tygers” is about a strict teacher and a young boy whose imagination comes to live in the shape of a fearsome tiger, and challenges the order and the strict discipline of a US primary school. The story is narrated from the main character Charles´ perspective. The narrator is a third person, non-omniscient narrator, which means that we see the world trough Charles´ eyes, from a child’s perspective. This signifies that we see things that happen, the way he experiences it. To Charles, the tiger, which he encounters in the men’s bathroom, is as real as Miss Bird. Charles feels that his teacher, Miss Bird, is hostile towards him, the narrator says: ”She meant to pounce. Charles thought that miss bird was about to find out what pouncing was really about”(p.159, l.23-25). This displays Charles´ apprehension towards miss Bird because, from his perspective, it feels like his teacher really is attacking him. From a grown ups perspective, miss Birds behaviour would not seem as aggressive as it does to Charles. Charles has a very strained...
Words: 875 - Pages: 4
...experience with death, while other characters are changed negatively. The Misfit shows why he became evil because his expectation of goodness in the society was put to death by the reality of injustice. In a polite tone, the Misfit explains to the grandmother, “I found out the crime don’t matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car“ (O’Connor 194). This opinion comes from the Misfit serving his lengthy time in jail where he experienced harsh prejudices. The Misfit continues to explain to the grandmother calmly, then came a “piercing scream” from the wood background where the Misfit ordered the grandmother’s family to be killed. Suddenly, Misfit’s tone turned nasty, “Does it seem right to you, lady, that one is punished a heap and another ain’t punished at all” (O’Connor 195)? This scene depicts the Misfit’s true personality; his lack of remorse for the death of the grandmother’s family has made him evil. The death of the Misfit’s father is the reason that he cannot tell what is good from evil. In fact, the Misfit recalls how his father died, “My daddy died in nineteen ought nineteen of the epidemic flu” (O’ Connor 194). This tone suggests the...
Words: 2400 - Pages: 10
...The Power of Knowledge Knowledge can be approached in different ways and numerous interpretations are considered. Knowledge can be stimulated through humility or ignorance. I have selected three separate texts that illustrate the connection human aspirations and knowledge has in common and the impact hierarchy rankings have on one’s insight. The literary analysis essay interprets and defines the term “knowledge”. The meaning focuses around learning, instruction, insight, philosophy, and proficiency. The texts that will be used throughout the essay as sources are: Beowulf translated by Michael Swanton, The Wife of Bath’s Tale and the author is Geoffrey Chaucer, and The Tempest which is a product of William Shakespeare. Characters from the chosen texts demonstrate their perception of knowledge and wisdom based on the significance of superficial existence. People’s assumed power and privilege promote certain actions they could partake in when trying to fulfill personal desires. Acts of knowledge can be either appropriate or inappropriate gestures. It is difficult to distinguish right from wrong deeds the overall circumstances has to be examined and the answer lies in the outcome of the decision when wisdom was applied. There is good and evil in everyone, selfless or self-centered choices formulate one’s character and the observed perception others have. The texts educate the reader that karma usually constructs challenges or rewards depending on if your knowledge was practiced...
Words: 1302 - Pages: 6
...Research Paper On Destructive love In relationships why are the women so controlling and want to wear the trousers in the relationship? Well in the four stories, Macbeth, My Last Duchess, Pride & Prejudice, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde you will learn how all four of these stories are related to today’s time relationships compared back in the medieval or renaissance romans era. In this essay I will discuss and point out key terms about today’s current relationships and what they lack in order to have a strong stable relationship versus back in the old ages where it was more related to today’s, but more complicated and dishonored. My goal in this research paper is to explain how destructive love affects the relationships in Macbeth, My Last Duchesses’ and Pride and Prejudice. Who wears the pants in the relationship? In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth wore the pants in the relationship. In the...
Words: 1825 - Pages: 8
...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...
Words: 1389 - Pages: 6
...This essay endeavors to discuss the connection between citizenship education and civic education. It will further look at whether there is a difference between the two or if they are the same. Lastly, the conclusion will be drawn. Before going into a detailed discussion it is prudent to define the key words, that is , Civic education and Citizenship education respectively. Civic Education is a broader field and therefore can be defined in many different ways depending on the orientation of the educators, time , place and dictates of the political regime in the country. Zambia Civic Education Association (2004:38) “Civic Education refers to the formal awareness of the country’s citizens about their moral and legal entitlements (rights), their expected moral and legal functions(duties) as well as the extent to which they can influence the utilization of national/public resources, monitor leadership legitimacy and take part in decision making (governance).” Hamwiinga (2008:2) defines Civic Education as “an envisaged broader- based subject which relates to human beings and relationship with the natural, physical, social and cultural environment.” According to UNDP (2004) “ Civic Education is learning for effective participation in democratic and development processes at both local and national levels”. This then implies that if the citizens have not learnt about Civic Education they will not be able to uphold good democratic values thereby failing to be part of the local and national...
Words: 1325 - Pages: 6
