...In Fahrenheit 451, there is a struggle between knowledge and ignorance, and the novel shows how people cope when faced with this struggle. It can be debated, but the pursuit of knowledge is key, and ignorance is not always bliss. The pursuit of knowledge is crucial for Guy Montag, the society as a whole, as well the sanity of everybody. Montag is lost, depressed, and lonely because he felt as if a part of his life was missing. He would wander through the streets at night crying, wondering what was wrong with him, screaming to the skies about the constant weight on his shoulders. Over time, he began to stash books in his vents and pursue reading more. After this, he changed. He seemed lighter, happier, and overall more content with his life. The mere presence of books brought him such a great happiness and began to fulfill his need for knowledge. Clarisse McClellan also struggled with her desperation for knowledge. By the government, she was deemed “different” and “strange” due to the fact she adored reading, writing, and reading. People crossed streets to avoid her, students at school tormented her, and even parts of her own family disowned her. All these actions were a result of her need for knowledge. Ultimately, she ended up taking her own life because she felt so unwanted, she could not express her love for knowledge, and she felt as peculiar as a violin in a marching band. Citizens were burned and were willing to be burned alive if it meant that they were going to lose...
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...People often choose the easy way out of things, which is to ignore them and simply turning the other cheek. They justify this by claiming that this is what Jesus wanted them to do in the bible, and that ignorance is bliss. It may be a bliss at certain times, but sometimes this type of ignorance is the chief reason behind all the chaos that is happening in the world. In fact we’re all told that ignoring our problems and our work will only make it harder to achieve later, same goes with the world’s conflicts if we continue to ignore them then we’re merely just adding gasoline to the fire. Sooner or later, and even though we all prefer the later part we’re going to have to deal with the consequences of what we ignored. This is especially true in the 2011 Egyptian revolution. After 30 years of mistreatment, 30 years of being “neutral” Egyptians finally had enough, and started pushing back. Not accepting no for an answer and finally demanding their own rights as citizens, demanding their right to finally breathe and maybe have a better future for them and their children. “Identifying problems and actively promoting solutions are necessary to effect useful change, being neutral is consenting to the status quo.” This change only happened after the people spoke and the former president resigned and left Cairo. That is when they started to breathe again, only then did hope start to come out again and fill their souls. A lot argue that neutrality is actually better than speaking up,...
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...deep down know is responsible for their plight they will be able to find the answers they are looking for. The stories’ plotlines both develop in a similar style, in the beginning, both plotlines show the main characters as completely unaware of their true state of mind (fears, desires etc.). As the stories progress you can see an internal struggle occurring between the person they want to be and the person they know they are. As much as they want to be the former they have both embarked on a self-inflicted journey of introspection with the subconscious intent of meeting the latter, which they both eventually do. The stories both leave the reader with a question. Is ignorance bliss? Gaining awareness of the things around you (and the things inside of you) is a crucial component of making progress in life, but sometimes...
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...Red Pill or Blue Pill They say that the most intelligent people in life are the unhappy people. Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Vincent Van Gough some of the most famous people have committed suicide. When searching for truth and purpose within life one is subjecting themselves to a life of unhappiness. With every decision in one’s life one chooses whether to remain ignorant to their surroundings or to become knowledgeable to the absolute truth within life. I believe that it is in each individual’s best interest to remain “ignorant and happy”, but as the curious humans’ we cannot resist a chance to discover the absolute truth and meaning to life in general and in our own life. Through examining Platos , “Allegory of the Cave, the Matrix and other examples, it will be proven why I believe that it is in one’s best interest to remain ignorant, but as humans we have a need to discover truth and purpose within life. Plato's “Allegory of the Cave” is a scenario where 6 prisoners are chained to the ground. They are forced to stare at a wall where everyday shadows or people objects and creatures are projected onto the wall by the Sun. The prisoners believe that the shadows are real life until one day a prisoner gets a chance to leave the cave and see that everything he once thought was true was in fact false. The one prisoner tries to tell the rest of the prisoners about the truth but all they hear is echoes. If the prisoner must return back to the cave after seeing the real world...
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...regime of the party and purchases an illegal diary in which he can write his prohibited thoughts. Entangled in such criminal affairs he starts fixating on an influential Party member called O’Brien, whom he believes is a member of a secret association that aims to overthrow the party. Meanwhile, he notices a female coworker looking at him and worries that she might be an informant for the thought police. On the contrary, he eventually realizes that she loves him and they commence a relationship. Together they plan to rebel against the oppressive party and seeks aid at O’Brien’s. Yet, it turns out that O’Brien is loyal to the Party and ends up torturing Winston into not only betraying Julia but also submitting himself to the Party and its sometimes-contradictory truths. In his famous novel, Nineteen Eighty-four from 1949, George Orwell succeeds in depicting a dark, dystopian society way ahead of his time. With an ingenious ability to predict future events and technology, not seen since the time of Jules Verne, Orwell warns the western world of the danger of totalitarian states by describing a nation of inhabitants living under absolute surveillance with no freedom at all. Full of images and ideas, the world of 1984 is described in details that despite of their insignificance to the basic plotline attain grand thematic importance. As the novel is written in 1949, the title 1984 clearly suggests to the reader, that this is supposed to be a possible future for humankind. Furthermore...
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...Sigmund Freud suggested that our unconscious lead to much of our behaviors. Much of his theories, I’ve noticed in others. Honestly, I feel like I can painstakingly admit that I understand regression. Reverting back to a less mature pattern is something i’ve been susceptible to. When the world seems to have become overbearing, It feels as though my mind can no longer keep up. It’s as if everyone is speaking in riddles and my mind seems to “shut off” making me turn into a confused child, who stares wide eyes and confused as people's mouths move. Sometimes I’ve got mute, They go on the attack. Suddenly, I’m not longer me, I’m a punching bag. As if each blow, As if each bruise that blooms on my skin could cure the sadness and self hatred dwelling...
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...Why Enron Failed By Suzy Bills In 2001, Americans were appalled to learn of the unethical practices carried out by leaders and other employees of Enron (as well as its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen). Enron used various methods of deception to appear more profitable than it really was, including through creating off-the-book entities to which Enron transferred its substantial debt (Jennings, 2005). While the company’s stock rose, so did its debt, and company leadership began using insider information and trading millions of dollars in company stock. When the scandal and impending bankruptcy were revealed, the company’s stock decreased from $90 to less than $1, a devastating hit to the financial market and numerous investors and employees (Betz, 2002). While the public was shocked at the numerous unethical financial practices, several organizational behavior theories, when applied to Enron, explain how such unethical activity could be permitted to take place. Chima (2005) describes organizational behavior as the result of the decisions of those who have obtained decision-making power, with the decisions reflecting the decision makers’ assessment of what is economically and politically beneficial for themselves and the company. Enron’s executives allowed themselves to be motivated much more by what would benefit themselves than what would truly benefit the company. The political model of organizational behavior describes this focus on self-interest (Chima, 2005). Money, greed...
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...On Melba’s sixteenth birthday, she writes in her diary, “Please,God, let me learn how to stop being a warrior. Sometimes I just need to be a girl.”(Beals 217) Beals’ party isn’t a huge success; no one shows up, except for Vince, and he leaves earlier than expected. This really shows the impact that racism had on everyone. No one felt safe around Melba Beals; therefore, decided not to go to her party. Also no one ever invited her to their parties. She realizes that this was a never ending battle, and she will have to make herself tough to gain more courage and fight for her freedom. If this book is read by teenagers, especially girls, they will definitely feel the pain of Melba and they will make a connection to racism and how girls at that age were affected this...
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...The title, I Used to Live Here Once, gives me the impression that the narrator would be excepting of the change (the obvious fact being that they don’t live where they used to). I’m thinking, just from reading the title before reading the story, that the narrator embraces the change in their life. The traveler, for whatever reason, lived somewhere once and had now moved away. I think, just from the title, that the traveler chose not to live where she used to. The word “Once” in the title instantly gave me the impression that I would be reading a story about a journey and since the home is one of the greatest connections we have in life, my impression was that it’s not just a journey but a journey through life. After reading the story, although I was not expecting the traveler to be dead, I found that I had appropriately guessed the theme of the story. The theme in the story, I Used to Live Here Once, is the journey through life; comfort in the predictable elements of life. The theme of the story is best supported by two literary elements: symbolism and the point of view of the story. The point of view, third person omniscient helps develop the familiar tone of the journey. It helps the reader feel the comfort and security in the journey. The symbolism, for example, the fragility of the sky, helps develop this idea that even though there is predictability in the journey, there is still this element of uncertainty or hope. It’s like thinking you know what comes next in the...
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...Week 5 Essay After reading the three readings, I can see some similarity and differences between the readings from the philosophers. Comparing the Matrix and Plato’s, the similarity is they both agree that the life we are experiencing is not as real as what it appears to be. It is simply an illusion and a life that we can question and doubt about. From Matrix’s story this happens when Neo ‘the hacker’ had a dream that made him think about the reality and the thought that there is something more to life. When Morpheus came and told him “that the world is an illusion, an elaborate system of deception perpetrated to keep people contentedly under control” (Wachowski & Wachowski, 1999). Neo then choose to eat the pill and see the truth that the human race is only relying on a machine to keep their bodies alive. Human beings are actually unconscious, therefore they are controlled by the machine. Because of this, what we see or do today happens because we are programmed into a computer simulation called Matrix. From Plato’s allegory, we see it when Socrates described men’s nature being as prisoners since childhood; being chained inside a cavern not being able to move their heads, but only looking. When one of the prisoners was released and was given the opportunity to see the light; and guided with what was going on. The human being that has seen the light will think what “he had seen before was all a cheat and an illusion. He will then want to turn toward real things”...
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...the first two lines of his poem, “A Barred Owl” writing: “The warping night air having brought the boom/ of an owl’s voice into her darkened room” (1-2). The imagery is of the child sleeping peacefully while the owl is eating a rodent. It also illustrates how children are totally unaware of the dangers just outside their window. Another literary device that Wilbur uses in his poem is irony. In,”A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur writes ""Who cooks for you?" and then "Who cooks for you?"". (6) That passage is ironic because nobody cooks for the owl unlike the child. Even though the child should not be fearful of the Owl because humans are not prey of owls the child would be fearful of the owl. Thus again reminding the reader that “Ignorance is bliss”-Thomas...
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...Flowers for Algernon Rita Ghatourey, a famous Indian writer, once said “I do not exist to impress the world. I exist to live my life in a way that will make me happy.” Flowers for Algernon is a story, in which a man by the name of Charlie Gordon tries to change to impress the world. After reading Flowers for Algernon, one can see that Charlie Gordon was far better off before the surgery. He was happier, content with his job, and he had friends. He was living in a way that made him happy. In this story, Charlie Gordon is a man with very low IQ. He is chosen for an experimental surgery that can greatly increase his intelligence. Before the surgery, Charlie’s IQ is 68. He is living in his own apartment, going to night school to better himself, and is working as a janitor at Donnegan’s factory. Charlie has guys that he thinks are his friends. While he longs to be smarter, he is for the most part happy. After the surgery, Charlie slowly begins to get smarter; starts seeing things differently. He now notices that Ms. Kinnean, his night school teacher, is his age, and that she is very pretty. This was something he hadn't noticed before. He also realizes that the guys that he thought were his friends, are not. They make fun of him and laugh at his expense. Charlie’s intelligence goes from being inferior to greatly superior. In this story, there is character who is similar to Charlie, his name is Algernon. Algernon is a mouse who ...
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...their origins are still not known, the Vedas can still be examined (Fisher). The Vedic Age gave way to philosophical review and debate in texts known as Aranyakas (forest treatises) and Upanishads (consisting of teaching from highly realized spiritual masters). These were composed around the 6th century BCE, a time of intellectual speculation. The oldest of the Vedic scriptures and among the oldest of the world’s existing scriptures is the Rig Veda (Fisher). The Upanishads are thought to have developed last, around 600 to 400 BCE (Fisher). The word Upanishad “embraces the idea of the devoted disciple sitting down by the teacher to receive private spiritual instruction about the highest reality, loosening all doubts and destroying all ignorance” (Fisher). The Upanishads also articulated numerous guidelines central to all forms of Sanatana Dharma. One is reincarnation, which brings up the question, “What happens to us when we die?” Rishis will teach that when the soul leaves...
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...Response Paper: Hamlet Contrary to popular belief, ignorance is not, in any shape or form, ‘bliss’, however it is not restricting either. No one can truly live in a constant state of ignorance, because just as time heals all wounds, time also inflicts them. Sometimes not knowing is antagonizing than knowing. However, knowledge can place a person in a situation where they feel that they have no other option but to perform an act of some kind. In the Shakespearean play “Hamlet”, the main character’s, Prince Hamlet, revelations of the sins committed by his uncle, Claudius, adds to the tension that already existed between the two and is the catalyst to the tragic events that take place within the play. The grievances that Hamlet had against his Claudius, now his step-father and King, is the murder of his father, the theft of his crown and Claudius’ hasty marriage of his mother and queen, Gertrude. The main grievance Hamlet has with his uncle is the murder of his father, the king. Already grieving over death of his father, Hamlet discovers, by confession of his father, that Claudius murder him in order to become king. Called to action by his friend Horatio and the guards who have witness appearances of a ghost during their night watch, Hamlet goes to confront the ghost that looks like the late King Hamlet. A ghost doomed to walk the earth for an unspecified number of years to atone for the sins that he was not able to confess, King Hamlet Sr., tells the prince that he was murdered...
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... * Students should evaluate moral/ethical decisions of characters. Synopsis A mentally challenged man is presented with an opportunity to have an operation that will triple his intelligence. The story chronicles the journey that he takes as his intelligence progresses and regresses. 2. Read the entire selection, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings. 3. Re-read the text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Tier II/academic vocabulary. During Teaching 1. Anticipatory Set: Discuss the following questions with students to guide deeper understanding of the main themes of the story: What is intelligence? Can a person ever be too smart? What is meant by the saying “ignorance is bliss”? 2. Students read the entire selection independently. 3. Teacher reads the text aloud while students follow along or students take turns reading aloud to each other in pairs or small groups. Depending on the text length and student need, the teacher may choose to read the full text or a passage aloud. For a particularly complex text, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2. 4....
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