... SAMPLE ESSAY (MLA Style) cover page (may not be required by some instructors) What Limits to Freedom? Freedom of Expression and the Brooklyn Museum’s “Sensation” Exhibit by Melissa Davis all text centered Prof. K.D. Smith Humanities 205 16 May 2009 85 03f-BGtW-AmEd 85-106.indd 85 19/01/10 4:08 PM 86 | sample essay Davis 1 Melissa Davis Professor Smith Humanities 205 16 May 2009 name and page number in top right corner What Limits to Freedom? Freedom of Expression and the Brooklyn Museum’s “Sensation” Exhibit For over a century public galleries in Western democracies have been forums not only for displaying works by “old Masters” but also for presenting art that is new, as well as ideas that are sometimes radical and controversial. In the United States that tradition has been under wide attack in the past generation. Various political and first line of all religious leaders have criticized exhibits of works of art that they claim paragraphs indented offend against notions of public decency, and have crusaded against providing public funding for the creation or display of such works. The largest such controversy of the past generation was sparked by the display of a painting entitled “The Holy Virgin Mary,” by the British text left justified and ragged right artist Chris Ofili at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999. Though the image appears inoffensive at a distance, the artist has affixed to the painting cutouts of body parts from magazines, and has incorporated...
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...and observation rather, truth exists in the spiritual world. Henry David Thoreau is his student, who was also a great essayist and critics. Both men extensively studied and embraced nature, and both men encouraged and practiced individualism, nonconformity and freedom. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance” and Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience”, both composure thinkers speak about being individual and what changes need to be made in society. Ralph Waldo Emerson and his follower, Henry David Thoreau, both individualists, attacked the religious, political, and cultural values of American society in order to make people aware that they are more important than everything, including government and society. According to Emerson, society is an obstruction against the individuality of its members, “Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most requests is conformity”. The solution, for Emerson, is self-reliance, meaning that man is only responsible for his own life and he should not be too enveloped in society. The other principles are individualism and freedom, which was expressed in Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”; “I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation, which I have a right to assume, is to do...
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...contradictions of democracy whether democracy is a best system of governance? Is true democracy possible? Has it to be moral in character? Why other systems of governance tend to challenge the basic fabrics of democracy? Why democracy has turned out to be more productive than other forms of government? Then focus shifts to paradoxes entailed in self evident truth of American democracy. Is American democracy a representative of a true democracy? Does it cater the smaller factions of society? Has the democratic system fostered the rights of liberty, justice, life and pursuit of happiness to good effect for masses once challenged by terrorism, racism, poverty and recession? What good it has brought to its people? Why does America deserve to lead world community? Finally, conclusion is inquired about by addressing the question that How American dream can be pursued in its true democratic meaning? Isn’t it strange that few render democracy as the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people? On the other hand, for some, it is a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; a government after the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of God; the idea of freedom. Idea of democracy as rule of people traces its expression from Athens in ancient Greek. From a philosophical stand point doctrines of natural law evolved into the idea of natural rights, i.e., all people have certain rights, such as self-preservation, that cannot be taken from...
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...Immanuel Kant’s essay An Answer to the Question: ‘What is Enlightenment?’ is a work that creates a sense of dependence and independence.” The motto of the Enlightenment is therefore: Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own understanding.” (Kant 54).Kant plainly tells the audience that we as human beings aren’t able to function in society properly and yet dares us to go out of our comfort zone. Kant presents the problems with society and the people within then encourages the people to better people because Kant knows the potential that each of the people in society holds. Is Kant’s an essay a call to democratic thinking? Kant’s essay dares us to be wise which is a call to go out and be an individual; go into the world and think for you. As a society we are still being spoon feed everything we don’t like change, we don’t like being told to do something different because we don’t know or what the unknowing. “Instead, new prejudices, like the ones they replaced, will serve as a leash to control the great unthinking mass.” (Kant 55). Society constrains the thinking process, we see what we can do and we replace the old with the same new thing or we choose not to change a thing. Kant essential words tell us that we need to be given freedom we can’t be prepared for it. Kant’s work provides examples and different experiences that can happen between the population of the society and the different aspects of the society compared to the government and how the government operates separately...
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...democracy” does depend on the time and location as well as the size of the country or state that is trying to have it. I say this because as mentioned in Becker’s essay “Ideal Democracy,” many countries before the United States of America had taken on the democratic institutions, but quickly abandoned it because they enjoyed some form of dictatorship better than democracy and also to use a type of dictatorship in order to keep the citizens of their country at peace (Becker149-50). Also stated by Becker, democracy never flourished as a government unless it was used in small cities (Becker 151). It was hard to have a government for the people by the people when everyone had different...
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...He earned the title of King’s Scholar, which prepared him for the next phase of his education at the Christ Church in Oxford in 1652. He studied literature, physical science, medicine, politics, and natural philosophy. In 1656 he continued for his Master of Arts degree. In 1665 at Oxford, Locke encountered Lord Ashley, a notable statesman looking for medical treatment. After a friendship formed, Ashley invited Locke to join him in London as his personal physician. Locke agreed and left for London in 1667, where he lived for the next eight years. This was the beginning of Locke’s deep political interests, which was no surprised considering that Ashley was one of England’s most skilled politicians. While in London, Locke took a job in Government researching the relationship between trade possibilities and colonization. He worked closely with early settlers who left for the New World, helping with the drafting of the Fundamental Constitution. The principal writings by John Locke that are influential to the...
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...This Federalist Papers in general were written to convince the readers, who were in the process of creating a new government, that ratifying the Constitution was the best option for their well-being. This particular essay focused on the fear of a large government, a fear created by the recent tyrannical actions of the British King George. The people of this time were concerned, and rightfully so, that the things considered beneficial to the public would be “disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties.” In this Paper, Madison states that having a representative government would prevent this problem from occurring. His argument to soothe this fear was that the representatives would protect the public good because, being chosen by a large number...
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...The Antifederalist were not for the ratification of the constitution. They believed that the government could be easily corrupted. They were big believer of restraining government power. They were against the federalist papers because they had a lack of protection for individual freedoms. They wrote their own essays such as the “Centinel” against the federalist papers and it was to warn about the danger from tyranny. Samuel Bryan, the author of the letters of centinel, wrote: ‘Without presuming upon my own judgment, I cannot think in an unwarrantable presumption to offer my private opinion, and call upon others for their’s…” The Centinel purpose was to include a bill of rights in the new constitution and to adopt those rights. The Antifederalist achieve their goal and the federalists compromise with the bill of rights added to the Constitution. Many people say that the first amendment would not be here without the “intent of the Framers.”. But they did not adopt the first amendment. The Anti-federalist was still scared because the constitution did not really guarantee that the government could take people’s right to worship away. For example, the first amendment does not say that freedoms of speech or press shall not curtail, it only prevents...
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...This essay discusses the argument about if it matters who freed the slaves and if it does, who actually freed them. It matters because both slaves and Lincoln need to have a correct historical record about how they each impacted the slavery crisis. The change that comes from the actions of ordinary citizens and the elite/government shouldn't be ignored and should be respected. Ordinary Citizens have the ability to go and act and make it possible to force freedom to the slaves by escaping. In the Article “ Who Freed the slaves?” talks about how the slaves took the risk of them taking action of freeing themselves. Barbara J. Fields states that, “ “The Civil War” and in an essay in the volume accompanying the series, she insisted that “freedom...
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...Revolution” is mainly focused at the Civil War and how Lincoln was involved in most of the changes that happen during the War, For example the political and social issues, and the slaves that were liberated in the south. In this book McPherson tells us that president Lincoln was a conservative and a revolutionary. The War made Lincoln very popular because of his leadership ability and strategy. He is the most important president who fought to keep young stay whole. James McPherson best known for his prize winning book “Battle cry of Freedom,” which was the New York Times Book Review called one of top history writing. It is an account of the Civil War, which McPherson gathered in a sweep of events, which accounts the political, social, and culture aspects during the Civil War. In Abraham Lincoln and the Second Revolution, McPherson takes a different style of writing by offering a series of engaging essays on Lincoln and the Civil War that have rarely been discussed in such depth. McPherson displays his insight prose as he thoroughly examines the critical- themes of American history. He examines the President’s role as commander- in -chief of the Union forces explaining how Lincoln forged a national military strategy for victory. He exposes how Lincoln used parables and figurative language to communicate the purpose of the War as well as a new meaning of liberty for the people of the North. The title derives from McPherson...
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...other areas. In an essay prior to this paper, we looked at pre-marital sex from a public policy standpoint by judging the issue from five contexts: political, economic, social, historical, and ethical. In this essay, we will continue to examine pre-marital sex as a public policy issue, but we will be focusing on the policy implementation process; first by looking at what may cause it to be a problem, then by looking at the steps that the U.S. Government can take to find alternatives and implement policies, after we can look at policies that the U.S. Government has taken to fix the problem, and finally we will examine the most important criteria that is necessary to evaluate a public policy. Before I begin, I feel that it is important to draw attention to a portion of my first essay. Since we are looking at the implementation of policies, we must first come to a conclusion as to what the issue we are looking at affects most. Out of the five contexts examined in the first essay, I believe that the economic problems caused by pre-marital sex is the primary focus of the U.S Government; therefore, when looking for the root cause of the problem, we will be looking at it from the eyes of U.S policy makers and what they might see as pressing issues that may affect pre-marital sex and some of the consequences that stem from it, including high teen pregnancy rates and high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among teens. None of what will be stated in this essay should be considered...
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...American Government Essay 8/17 Many different things have had an impact on the development of the United States. One of the U.S. biggest developments is its government. It has been brought up by different ideas and concepts in documents, like the Magna Carta or the English Bill of Rights, and people like Thomas Hobbes or John Locke. A few of the most influential concepts in the development of the U.S constitutional government is the freedom of the people, freedom to petition, and the separation of powers. The freedom of the people has been a key factor in the development of the U.S. constitutional. In this form of democracy, the people have the power. This was important to the development of the government because it gives people the hand in the way they want to live. They vote on who they choose to lead them, different laws they want to follow so they don’t feel like they are being controlled by the government or one appointed ruler. Another concept that was influential to the constitutional government of the U.S. is the freedom of petition. This is another way that the people have freedom. It was written in English Bill of Rights that that citizens had the right to petition the king without fear of arrest. It gives people the freedom of speech, to speak their mind without worrying about being arrested and prosecuted. When adding this to the constitutional government, it gave more power and freedom to the people. The separation of powers is the final key concept in the...
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...Was a Teenage Hijabi Hockey Player” In Shema Khan’s essay “I Was a Teenage Hijabi Hockey Player” she humorously defends some of the stereotypes associated with her religion. As she begins a casual conversation about hockey over lunch, Khan notices her colleagues’ disbelief. Female Muslims aren’t expected to follow or be interested in hockey, or any sport for that matter. In response, Khan goes on to display her knowledge and passion of the Montreal Canadiens. She lists players, stats, and facts just like any true hockey fan would. Furthermore, Khan recounts playing street hockey as a child; choosing a player she idolized to play as. Lastly, Khan further shows her passion for the sport as she describes her efforts to start a women’s intramural league at Harvard. Khan concludes her essay in the present; playing street hockey with her kids as she did in her childhood. Thus, further proving her passion for hockey, and shattering a stereotype. Summary of “What We Are Fighting For” In his essay “What We Are Fighting For”, Rex Murphy clarifies the reasons for Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan. To begin, Murphy states Canada’s aid in eradicating the Taliban Government was because of our country’s alliance with the USA, as well as in retaliation of the Candians killed on 9/11. He continues on to say that in order to protect against future attacks, the afghani citizens would need assistance in building a new type of government. In addition, Murphy explains that Canadian troops remain...
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...Rights, made on the 10th December 1948, stood the test of time? A short essay focusing on freedom of religion. Introduction “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18, http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml, accessed 14th March 2014) This essay will show that the rights protected in Article 18 - as with many other Articles of the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) are protected to varying degrees – to not at all, depending on where you live, the level of democracy in your society, culture and lastly; external factors that dominate ordinary democratic processes and because of the forces applied by the geopolitical and economic forces of the day. The essay will show this by illustrating often controversial and disputed examples of violation on religious freedom in France, Saudi Arabia and Burma (Maynamar) and testing the principles of UDHR on those cases whilst also considering the socio-economic and political drivers. Simply defining human rights and its elements can be complex. This is shown in the minor disagreement between the drafters of the UDHR as described later below. This essay will also use the European Convention of Human Rights and UN Resolution...
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... 18546633 Essay Plan To what extent are restrictions on freedom of speech justified in Australia? While there are laws that restrict Freedom of Speech in Australia in order to protect fundamental rights and to limit discrimination which emerged from multiculturalism, the same laws can also clash with the liberty of the citizens and with the right of Freedom of Speech itself. Introduction To establish the boundaries between the defense of Freedom of Expression and of minorities has become a challenge for modern states. The consolidation of different groups (ethnocultural , sexual diversity , immigrants, religious) within the base community has generated the need to redefine and strengthen the defense of the human rights. As Will Kymlicka explains, cultural mix requires an inclusive process, which involves the establishment of a group of rights that recognizes and protects the minorities. Conversely, the ongoing struggle of the minorities has a major difficulty: the delicate border between the defense of their rights and the violation of the rights of the community. Firstly, this essay aims to explain the current conception of Freedom of Speech, since it is a controversial issue, focusing on the importance of that right for the Australian society and for the world. Secondly, we will analyze whether Freedom of Speech needs limits and the role of harm speech and offense speech in that topic...
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