...Sample essay Year 10 Philosophy What is the best way to relate to reality; control it or give up one’s desire to control it? I am going to argue that it is not necessary to give up one’s desire to control reality, but one must be realistic about how much of it one can actually control. I will focus especially on the lessons we can learn about this from the movie The Truman Show. At the outset, we need to distinguish between reality and imagination. Our brains have the remarkable ability not only to hold pictures of what has happened, but also to create pictures of what we think will happen, or could happen. This is our imagination. Without imagination, we would not be able to think sensibly about the future. Our imagination allows us to project ourselves into the future. But on the other hand, even though our imagination gives us a mental construction of the reality around us, it is not that actual reality itself. Let’s face it, there are thousands of things happening in the world around us that we do not know about and cannot imagine. Truman in The Truman Show has no idea what sort of machinations Christof is engineering to shape his life. All the people around Truman are acting. His so-called wife is an actress who is being paid to act as his wife. Truman, at first, cannot imagine this is true. He cannot imagine that Marlon is not ‘really’ his best friend, or that what Marlon says to him is actually being set up through an earpiece, with the words first being spoken...
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...Friedrich Nietzsche has left quite a profound impact on the Philosophy community and communities associated with critical thinking. His works tackled the ideas of Morality, Individuality, Existentialism, and Nihilism, which melded together to form his perspective of the world. In his perspective, Nietzsche had come to some conversational conclusions such as: good and evil are subjective, the world is meaningless and individuals only apply their own meanings, and that the “will to power” mixed with a creative drive is what drives humans to strive for perfection that does not exist. Sometime after his death, his sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, outfitted some of his works to fit her own German Nationalistic views which were often anti-Semitic. However, dedicated scholars have intercepted and corrected his works into his original viewpoints, inspiring many in the fields of Psychology, Philosophy, and writers....
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...David Hume delivers a succession of explanations for why scepticism should be expressed any conclusion based upon reasoning reliant on sensory perception (Hume, 1898). Hume’s “A Treatise of Human Nature” ultimately reaches a conclusion unfathomable to those who bank on logic explaining everything. Indeed, Hume insists that when forced into a face-to-face confrontation all the logical explanations capable of being processed that many if not most humans are still capable of stubbornly clinging to even the most incomprehensibly illogical beliefs. Knowing that the earth has been steadily warming over the past few decades based on the logical connections reached as a result of combining statistic data with incontrovertible geographical evidence is not capable of producing actual knowledge of this fact for some because the accumulation of such evidence creates an untenable conflict with their most cherished beliefs. Judgment of climate change denial from the perspective of whether a single way of knowing carries the capacity for producing knowledge has the unintended effect of undermining the argument for scepticism and leads to one fundamental question: at what point does scientific scepticism become unschooled ignorance? The man who has been referred to as the “Medieval Hume” is Nicolaus of Autrecourt; so-called because of ultimately conclusion that nothing satisfactorily logical can be purchased solely through perception (Copleston, 1993). The philosophical foundation of Nicolas...
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...consequences but also create a division within the United States. Since Communism was a major concern, the spread of anti-Communism was introduced as a way to protect the fundamental way Americans lived. In addition anti-Communism gave birth to McCarthyism. I will discuss the differences between anticommunism and McCarthyism, the perspective from which the media covered anticommunism and McCarthyism, how the American foreign policy decisions were affected or impacted by anticommunism and finally how Americans’ lives changed because of the Red Scare. To gain a clear understanding of the differences between anticommunism and McCarthyism, a brief definition of Communism must be given. Communism is a distinct socio-political philosophy that is willing to use violent means to attain its goal of classless society. The capitalist system in which America operates on is defined as a social system that is based on one’s individual right to own and to become wealthy. The communist...
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...“How Does Harper Lee Present Her Ideas About Childhood in the Novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’?” In the novel ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ written by Harper Lee, childhood is expressed throughout the story. The narrator of ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ is Scout, an adult when the book was written, but a child when the story was lived, with this narration Harper Lee, uses Scout to portray the events which, normally would have had a biased review by adults at the time, but because it is written by a child it has non-judgemental views. Therefore, because of the child narrator, and the other main characters being children, this shows that childhood in ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ is important and crucial. In the chapters 1 to 12, childhood is presented by friendship, gullibility, pride, questioning and fear. The fear element, is a major part through ‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’, because at different stages of the novel at least one of the main characters is scared. The Finch children first experience real friendship in ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’, when they meet Charles Baker Harris – Dill. Before Dill has passed the ‘Jem test’, Dill boasts to Scout and Jem that he can read. Which was not usually common in Maycomb at the time, but Jem and Scout could both read, which meant that they thought Dill was showing off and they wouldn’t want to be friends with him. Also what makes Dill become an issue about friendship, is how he introduces himself. He recites his entire name, and makes fun of...
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...The town of Holcomb is the perfect place to set the stage for murder. In the opening of “In Cold Blood”, Truman Capote paints a picture of Holcomb that is nothing more than a dull, boring, and desolate small town. He develops his view thought specific detail selection which depicts visual imagery, a detached and repetitious tone, accompanied with a specialized sentence structure. In a town that is as dreary as Holcomb, no one would ever expect a quadruple murder. Through his details, Capote attempts to place Holcomb as an extremely desolate and lonesome a area. He refers to Holcomb as a place that “other Kansans call ‘out there’”. He also depicts that the small town is surrounded by rivers, prairies, and wheat fields which gives the reader a feeling of loneliness. Several times he mentions the decaying paint among the “aimless congregation of buildings”, which shows how he views that Holcomb is dull and unchanging. Capote also uses broad terms to describe the inhabitants. He has them all “barbed with a prairie twang [accent]”, and wearing trousers and “boots with pointed toes”. He focuses on the superficial and outward appearance of all of the townsfolk of Holcomb, while describing one specific towns person as “[she] wears a rawhide jacket, denims, and cowboy boots”. That is another way of saying trousers and pointed toe boots. He never really develops any unique insight into any of the inhabitants. This overgeneralization proves Capote’s view that Holcomb is one-dimensional...
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...Choose any 3 characters from the first half of the novel and discuss how they have a positive influence in Maycomb. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays a very distinct difference in the character that are “good” and those that are “bad” this often comes over in the way Scout or Atticus view a certain character. There are many positive influences in Maycomb and one of them is Calpurnia. Although Atticus does not see her as a motherly figure, I believe that she views herself as the womanly influence in their lives as she is loving towards the children, but often, can be strict and firm to teach them what is right or wrong. She has always been there for both children, especially Scout because they lost their mother early in their lives and because of this I feel that Scout and Jem do not Calpurnia as either black or white and this means that they respect her and love her a lot. An example of this is in Chapter twelve when Calpurnia is taking the children to church with her and she refers to them as “my children” and wants people to know that she looks after them. She also makes sure that they are clean before church however, this is partly showing self interest as she wants to be seen as motherly towards the children and if they look nice, it will reflect well on her peers. Another example of Calpurnia showing her love for the children is when there is a “mad dog” and she tells them to go inside because she is worried about them and wants them to be safe. Calpurnia...
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...In a crime story, Perry Smith would definitely be the antagonist, because he is the murderer. However, In Cold Blood is not merely a crime story; it is a warning for us that the whole society is responsible to build either good or bad people. Murderers or criminals are not born as criminals at first; they are all born as innocent babies; they start life as we all do: as a blank sheet of paper, ready to be filled with scripts of life. Here in this story, Perry Smith is not only a villain, he is also a victim. The series of failure in the development of little Perry has begun—at least—from his parents. After his father decided to have contraband alcohol business for living, Perry’s mother began to get drunk, and other bad things started to follow. They quarreled often, and I guess peace and love have slowly evaporated from their home and family, replaced by violence. Perry was a child with sensitive and tender heart who should be taken in special care; he needed love, affection and tenderness much more than anybody else with different personalities. These violent episodes in the family, unfortunately, happened on the very important phase of Perry’s early development. After that, his parents separated, and Perry must enter several institutions, and there he did not get any better treatment either. And that because people failed to understand Perry’s needs. If only they gave him love, acceptance and support, I believe it is not too late to bring him to the right path. But, it...
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... In Cold Blood “The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of Western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call ‘out there.’ Not that there's much to see—simply an aimless congregation of buildings divided in the center by the main-line tracks of the Santa Fe railroad” (Capote 1). This lonesome, boring landscape was home to a town of people used to the normalcy and monotony that came with their everyday small-town life; until one day, when it all changed. It is November 1959 when the Clutter family is brutally murdered by two previously convicted cons, Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock. Not much was known about the mass homicide outside of the small Kansas village until, after 6 years of hard research, Truman Capote published his tell-all book. In this true story, Capote provided information that depicted the sad and pathetic lives lived by Smith and Hickock up until the murder and gave in depth details about the crime that could be known only by those who committed it (via multiple interviews). Initially, Capote opens the novel describing the small town and goes into detail about the Clutter family’s last living day. By doing this and revealing information about the family that was killed, Capote is taking measures to ensure his readers are sympathizing with the grieving townsfolk and those who knew the Clutters. By showing the readers that two men brutally killed a hardworking husband, an emotionally fragile wife, and “…a trio of daughters...
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...response paper I will talk about the movie “Truman Show”. And some opinions and results which I got from it and the movies connection with popular culture First of all, I’ll start from the content of the movie. The main character is someone “who has been adopted by a company for the first time”, called Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey), who lives in a giant jar which can be seen from the space (the only building can be seen from space after the The Great Wall) unaware of the World. Truman , who thinks that his little world is “real”, eventually starts to figure out that everything happens around him just about a repetition and everything around him is just about a fiction. However , escaping from his fictional world is not easy as he estimates. Soon, Truman gets forced to face his fears, to go an “unknown” from the world that he is safe inside in order to escape from his “fake world”. In the last scene, director of the Truman Show (Ed Harris) tries to trick Truman (and “of course” the audience).Directors says “ there is nothing better at the “outside”, even inside is better and safe.”. But Truman doesn’t prefer the prison that he is in and escape from it. When I came to my conclusions about the movie is trying to send a message to the audience. For example, in the Truman afraid from sea because he lost her father at sea. Symbolic meanings in any language of the sea means freedom. Truman is afraid of the sea because it is not free. Truman does not exceed the sea following the exit...
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..."A Christmas Memory" is a short story by Truman Capote. Originally published in Mademoiselle magazine in December 1956, it was reprinted in The Selected Writings of Truman Capote in 1963. It was issued in a stand-alone hardcover edition by Random House in 1966, and it has been published in many editions and anthologies since. The largely autobiographical story, which takes place in the 1930s, describes a period in the lives of the seven-year-old narrator and an elderly woman who is his distant cousin and best friend. The evocative narrative focuses on country life, friendship, and the joy of giving during the Christmas season, and it also gently yet poignantly touches on loneliness and loss. "A Christmas Memory" is about a young boy, referred to as "Buddy," and his older cousin, who is unnamed in the story but is called Sook in later adaptations. The boy is the narrator, and his older cousin — who is eccentric and childlike — is his best friend. They live in a house with other relatives, who are authoritative and stern, and have a dog named Queenie. The family is very poor, but Buddy looks forward to Christmas every year nevertheless, and he and his elderly cousin save their pennies for this occasion. Every year at Christmastime, Buddy and his friend collect pecans and buy whiskey — from a scary American Indian bootlegger named Haha Jones — and many other ingredients to make fruitcakes. They send the cakes to acquaintances they have met only once or twice, and to people they've...
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... PATIENCE: THE WAY TO COMBAT ANGER Chad Hobbs GENE 150: The True, Good, & Beautiful 3/10/2018 Anger: The deadly vice When somebody thinks of wrath, they think of destruction, or of the wrath of their parents finding out that they snuck out of the house at 2 a.m. on a school night and having to listen to the father screaming, or being punished because of his wrath. They may even think of the devastation that was caused by the hurricanes, or the wildfires, or even the school shootings. Instead of taking revenge, or getting angry with someone, we can learn to combat that wrath, or anger, with patience and forgiveness. We can see, even, where anger can be used to glorify God and be used for good. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used his anger of racial injustice for good. Dr. King focused his energy on making a change for the African Americans to no longer be segregated. His famous words, in his “I Have a Dream” speech will never be forgotten, “Free at last, free at last, Thank God Almighty we are free at last.” Dr. King used his wrath for good to glorify God. Even God was full of wrath and even Jesus flipped a table. “For the Lord your God among you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.” God is slow to anger and he tells us to be as well. “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” One example of God’s anger being justified...
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...Jean Louise “Scout” Finch - The narrator and protagonist of the story. Scout lives with her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem, and their black cook, Calpurnia, in Maycomb. She is intelligent and, by the standards of her time and place, a tomboy. Scout has a combative streak and a basic faith in the goodness of the people in her community. As the novel progresses, this faith is tested by the hatred and prejudice that emerge during Tom Robinson’s trial. Scout eventually develops a more grown-up perspective that enables her to appreciate human goodness without ignoring human evil. Atticus Finch - Scout and Jem’s father, a lawyer in Maycomb descended from an old local family. A widower with a dry sense of humor, Atticus has instilled in his children his strong sense of morality and justice. He is one of the few residents of Maycomb committed to racial equality. When he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man charged with raping a white woman, he exposes himself and his family to the anger of the white community. With his strongly held convictions, wisdom, and empathy, Atticus functions as the novel’s moral backbone. Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch - Scout’s brother and constant playmate at the beginning of the story. Jem is something of a typical American boy, refusing to back down from dares and fantasizing about playing football. Four years older than Scout, he gradually separates himself from her games, but he remains her close companion and protector throughout the novel. Jem...
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...nonfiction writers would even look towards fiction for the resources to describe what was considered impossible to describe (Taylor). One way writers have been able to do this is through nonfiction novels. A nonfiction novel is a narrative, of book-length, that unfolds actual events and actual people written in the style of a novel (“Nonfiction Novel”). This style of a novel implies that the book being spoken of can be looked at as art as well as fact (Sharlet). In the mid 1960’s, a nonfiction novel journey began, beginning with the narrative journalistic qualities of Truman Capote, continuing with the story telling of such authors as Norman Mailer, and then continues to stay constant throughout present day literature with works like Katherine Boo’s display of immersion journalism. Truman Capote is said to have invented this new genre in 1966 with, what some call his finest work, the book In Cold Blood (“Truman Capote”). In Cold Blood details the 1959 murders of Herbert Clutter, his wife, and two of their children (Wikipedia). Even before the murderers were captured, Capote decided to travel to Kansas and write about the quadruple crime (Wikipedia). This nonfiction novel represents the genre well, primarily because it was based on approximately six years of research, including interviews with the neighbors and friends of the victims and even the two captured murderers (“Nonfiction...
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...Updike’s short story, “A&P” takes place in a small conservative town. Sammy the protagonist struggles between conforming and rebelling against the conservative society of the 1960s. I argue that the narrator’s point of view, setting, and dialogue relates to Sammy being overwhelmed by internal struggle, power and pain. These rhetorical devices will allow younger audiences to feel Sammy’s struggle. The first person narrator Sammy has an internal struggle between conformity and rebelling against the status quo. The story begins by Sammy stating, "In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. I'm in the third check-out slot, with my back to the door, so I don't see them until they're over by the bread". The first sentence establishes a connection and draws interest to readers. Sammy’s colloquial tone allows younger adults to relate to Sammy and the position he is in. Also his tone allows readers to experience the situation at first- hand. Although the reader’s view of the character is limited through Sammy lens and what he sees as his truth, he shifts back and forth of his limited opinion of people he sees For example, he refers people as sheep’s and followers. The author incorporates the use of animals and clothing as symbols in ways to characterize the town and people throughout the course of the story. Sheep’s are described as close group animals that do the same routines and don’t have a mind of their own. This symbolizes how the people in this town are not risk-takers...
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