...“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is a compelling praise and condemnation of the history of America. Frederick Douglas wrote said speech and was able to make perfect points and examples of this country’s faults with enough passion to draw a listener/reader in. Based on the time the speech was said and the people with the amount of patriotism the audience must have had, one can assume that Douglas’ almost belittling manner of speaking to them, almost as if they were children that needed to learn a lesson, was also a technique Douglas used to his advantage to be able to make his speech listen-worthy and as compelling as it was. Douglas’ very own patriotism can be questioned throughout this speech as one can infer that his patriotism and...
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...The Great Depression The Great Depression was the first bubble that Goldman Sachs made explode and got away with next to no penalty. They were just beginning as an immigrant owned business with the idea to gain money by loaning it out to people at interest. They blew up around the depression for their practice in “investment trust”. They offered stock and made the average guys feel like they were investing a lot but they knew little of the process. Once they invested, the company bought their own stocks to make it look good. Then they get another investment in their “new, better” stock than before, and repeated the process. Eventually somewhere in the chain it broke and Goldman owned everything under fake practices. When the depression hit these people found out these investments were worthless and suffered while Sachs excelled. I agree with the author in the way that the practices were morally wrong and should have been illegal. Goldman knew what was happening and pushed back investment on people. I disagree that it’s all their fault though. Goldman at the time was only being ethically wrong, since none of the practices were outlawed. In the end it is the person’s responsibility to know what is actually going on with your money. Tech Stocks 65 years later they picked up where they left off and began to scam again. This time Goldman attempted to pump up or down IPO on startups no matter how crap or great. With help from big players and the media Goldman would sell terrible...
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...through discrimination to practically seen as a visitor in this country, fighting for a piece of the American dream. Sometimes reading about these events that were overcome brings some feelings of hostility which I have to rise above. I am a Christian and forgiveness is a large part of my faith. I have been taught not to hold grudges and to give individuals the benefit of the doubt. We cannot hold an entire majority of people at fault. There are generations of the majority that are just as appalled as I at the injustice and cruelty of black people in America. Many shared in the fight for equality and lost their lives for that cause. Of the two social categories I identify with one being a women and the other being black, I would say being black is the one that has brought the most discrimination I can identify with. I live in the south where it still exists. People are placed in two groups and that is black or white. Anything after that is looked as optional. It is very much a way of life. I identify with oppression through my ancestors that were born in America. I do not have any information beyond that. The information I have received puts my racial group with the times of segregation. They knew what it was like to have separate bathroom and water fountains. I have heard of times with the...
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...Professor Marc McGrath American Literature 221 31 August 2014 "At Fault" by Kate Chopin is a great American novel and wonderful piece of American Literature, the novel takes place after the civil war and is set in the state of Louisiana. Like most would think, back in those days there were a lot of plantations and farming was big back then. Like in the novel, there is a plantation and there were some four thousands acres it rested on. There are many great characters in the novel by Kate Chopin, Thérèse Lafirme, owner of the Place-du-Bois plantation, David Hosmer, manager of the sawmill on the Place-du-Bois plantation, Fanny Larimore, Lorenzo Worthington, and Jack Dawson, just to name a few. With so many characters in the novel it wasn't easy to chose just one that truly had that uniquely American character. The character I did end up choosing from the novel by Kate Chopin in "At Fault" was the character of Thérèse Lafirme, owner of the Place-du-Bois plantation. If you begin to just read the very first paragraph from the novel, you see that Thérèse Lafirme has suffered a tragic event, the loss of her husband, Jérôme Lafirme, and the passing of him left her in possession and charge of the large plantation. Not the death of her husband but the fact that her and her husband and had such a large plantation was the American dream back then, and this showed that she was American. Even though Thérèse Lafirme was a Creole lady which meant she was in this case a woman that was...
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...The theme of oppression is constant throughout both The Handmaid’s Tale and The Crucible. Both show how religion can be twisted into a form of control in society and they show the huge detrimental and devastating effects this control can have. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible shows the horror and appalling nature of the Salem witch trials of 1692, but beneath this surface it shows the parallels to aspects in Miller’s own life at this period, with the idea of McCarthyism going out of control in America. McCarthyism was a result of the second red scare in America in the late 1940´s/1950’s. It was a fear driven movement that swept across the United States where the threat of a Communist world revolution seemed like a very real threat. In response to this branches of the government set up organisations such as HUAC (The House Un-American Activities Committee) to help fight Communism from infiltrating the state. Unfortunately in the end it simply led to a ´witch hunt´ in which people were brought to trial and accused of being communist, Miller amongst them. HUAC and McCarthyism were simply examples of how when those in power feel threatened they will do anything to maintain their position which is what Miller set out to show in The Crucible. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood took a different approach, with a dystopian text which shows a world in which women are heavily oppressed and religion is used as a tool to brainwash and control the population. Atwood has made a point of showing how...
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...April 19,1995, killing 168 and wounding hundreds, the United States of America jumped to a conclusion we would all learn to regret. The initial response to the devastation was all focused of middle-eastern terrorists. “The West is under attack,”(Posner 89), reported the USA Today. Every news and television station had the latest expert on the middle east telling the nation that we were victims of jihad, holy war. It only took a few quick days to realize that we were wrong and the problem, the terrorist, was strictly domestic. But it was too late. The damage had been done. Because America jumped to conclusions then, America was later blind to see the impending attack of 9/11. The responsibility, however, is not to be placed on the America people. The public couldn’t stand to hear any talk of terrorism, so in turn the White House irresponsibly took a similar attitude. They concentrated on high public opinion and issues that were relevant to Americans everyday. The government didn’t want to deal with another public blunder like the one in Oklahoma City. A former FBI analyst recalls, “when I went to headquarters (Washington, D.C.) later that year no one was interested in hearing anything about Arab money connections unless it had something to do with funding domestic groups. We stumbled so badly on pinpointing the Middle East right off the bat on the Murrah bombing. No one wanted to get caught like that again,”(Posner 90). All of these decisions, made at the hands of the faint-hearted...
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...order to get out of an unhappy marriage; consequently, the number of divorces grew. No matter how independent women have become, there is still inequality that puts men in front of women when divorce is involved. Women that choose divorce seem to suffer more financially because the workforce still pays men more than women in most careers. Women who opt for divorce and have children run a higher chance of poverty due to lower income compounded by the need to pay for childcare. In a situation where the husband’s income is relied upon, a no fault divorce can contribute to a woman’s struggle after divorce. Often after divorce women are poverty stricken. Men may be required to pay alimony and child support; however some fail to do so. To understand how the roles of women have evolved in today’s society, one has to look at the roles they played in history. Women later on in our history advocated for their rights because they were perceived below the man. They were not deserving of a higher education; their husband spoke for the both of them, and women had no input about...
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...an immensely likeable and dominant character. After proving himself honorable when he makes up for his mistakes, overcomes his fears and acknowledges his misdeeds. Amir is a credible protagonist as he took the recognition to become a better person and seek redemption for all his mistakes. Although at first he tried to bury his sins by forgetting the past and living in the present day America, he was called home with an unexpected opportunity to work towards forgiveness. “There is a way to be good again…Rahim Khan had said on the phone just before hanging up, said it almost as an after thought.” (Hosseini, 202) Amir’s opportunity to be “good again” appears unforeseen, when suddenly returning to Afghan seems like the only way to atone for his sins now. He seeks out for Hassan’s orphaned son, Sohrab as he risks his life in order to rescue him. Through saving Sohrab’s life in a way, Amir has saved his own. “Been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.”(Hosseini, 1) This is a little teaser in the beginning of the book that hints an event that has largely defined the course of Amir’s life ever since. This foreshadows the incident in the alley and him being unable to conceal his feelings because his guilt kept arising. In addition to under going a series of nightmares, which caused him to go on a desperate quest for redemption. Proving to the reader that he is willing to make up for his past selfishness and rectify the situation by going back. Due to Amir’s...
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...They were going wild. Many of the citizens came up to us and hugged us or shook our hands. It felt great being thanked like that. It was worth so worth going all of that. One week after the war ended, they started send us home. I just wanted to get on the ship already and see my family. I was so excited to go home after such a long time being away from it. The ship ride took forever. It took us 5 days to get back to America. Once we got off that ship, the dock was crowded with people cheering on for us. I bolted out of that ship once we landed. I was trying to find my family in the crowd until I saw my girlfriend with my son Dan in her hands. I ran right at her and gave her the biggest hug and kiss I probably have given her in our whole time together. Wow did it feel great doing that again. After hugging and crying together, we went into the car and started to go home. The whole car ride there I was just hugging and kissing Dan. It got me so emotional seeing my son. It was great. Two weeks after being home, me and my girlfriend got married. It was such a beautiful marriage. It was so special. The whole time at war was so worth having this at the end. I don’t regret one bit of...
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...may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war,(2) the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure. [2] This American government — what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves. But it is not the less necessary for this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they have. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. It is excellent, we must all allow. Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of...
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...Deterioration of Chavez Chavez_Cancer http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/10/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSTRE7994RB20111010 With the Venezuelan elections coming up, Hugo Chavez, the current president of Venezuela, is trying to win the elections again after being 13 years in possession of the power. At the same time, Chavez’s health has been deteriorating as he announced he has cancer. He also took the cancer look by shaving his hair off and going bald. On the other hand, Chavez has recently been leaving Venezuela unexpectedly going to Cuba leaving his people unattended, meanwhile the media has not always been able to report exactly why the president had to leave his people. It is not the media that is at fault, but the president himself who is trying to hide things; the president himself is at fault of turning Venezuela into a fake democracy in order to keep the power himself. First we will be looking at Chavez’s health conditions in the past years. In June of 2011 Chavez left Venezuela and underwent unscheduled surgery in Cuba for pelvic abscess. After being absent for almost a month from his country, on June 30th, 2011, Chavez announced that he was recovering from an operation removing a cancerous tumor. The Vice President then stated that Chavez remained will “full exercise” of power and that there was no need to transfer powers despite of being absent from Venezuela. On July 2nd, 2011, the newspaper “El Periodico de Catalunya” stated that Chavez had “colon cancer that...
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...experience and developed thought. However one of them is slightly lesser than the others and due to recent events they will have to be let go. Michael Levin has a good point in The Case for Torture. The essay does well to use Logos to make its points. He proposes several hypothetical situations in which people are given the moral choice, Torture a terrorist or lose several innocent lives. As he states...
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...The Prestige (2006) Christopher Nolan The Prestige is a movie that shows the rivalry between magicians Alfred “The Professor” Borden and Robert “The Great Danton” Angier. Their struggle is expressed through class warfare: Borden as The Professor, a working-class magician who gets his hands dirty, versus Angier as The Great Danton, a classy, superior showman whose accent makes him appear American. Obsession, secrecy, and sacrifice increase the battle, as both magicians contribute their fair share to a deadly duel of one-upmanship, with disastrous results. One influential scene when discussing these themes is the scene where we are in Alfred Borden’s prison cell back in the present day, Borden comes to the end of Angier's diary, which gloats that Borden is being blamed for his “death”, until he's called out of his cell to say goodbye to Jess, his daughter, and meet the collector who wants to buy his secrets. The director, Christopher Nolan, sets up the scene with several different camera shots and narratives to give this scene its importance. It is the final climax of the movie for Borden and if you look closely at the scene the camera shot used to reveal the collector and what he signifies highlights the importance of the scene and also the collector ripping up Borden’s secret to his trick. The biggest twist to the movie and this scene is which epitomizes the themes is when we discover who the collector is in the jailhouse where Borden is being kept and what he signifies...
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...The Project Gutenberg EBook of On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: On the Duty of Civil Disobedience Author: Henry David Thoreau Release Date: 12 June 2004 [EBook #71] [Last updated: May 3, 2011] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, ON THE DUTY OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE *** Typed by Sameer Parekh (zane@ddsw1.MCS.COM) On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau [1849, original title: Resistance to Civil Goverment] I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe—"That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government...
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...James A Life of Simplicity We are always taught while growing up that we must always aim for the stars, that life can always get better, if and only if you aim big. We are taught that a great life can only be achieved through material and monetary means. That your self worth is only equal to what you own. The aim of society is no longer to be free and live a life of comfort but to be a part of the bigger picture and feed the machine. Henry David Thoreau expresses his concern on these issues in detail in his works Walden and “Civil Disobedience”. Life should be led with simplicity. This is Thoreau’s mantra as he began his two-year experience of minimalist living. Thoreau is explicit that life should not be so difficult and so overwhelming. That life should be just what you need it to be, no more no less. It’s an odd train of thought into today’s culture. We are always aiming and asking for more. Whether it is the newest cellphone or the newest video game system (which are both overpriced and offer little to no modifications). Thoreau speaks on this, “Most luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” This statement is still true to this day. What good does it do us to have the biggest, most gas guzzling vehicle on the street? How do we benefit from excessive means of social media? The short answer: nothing. While most people will agree that, in general, a majority of the most...
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