Alexander the Great - A Leader essays

Alexander the Great - A Leader essays Alexander "The Great" (356 - 323 B. C.) Alexander was born in 356 B.C. His father was, Philip, the King of Macedonia and his mother was Olympias, daughter of King Neoptolemus I of Epirus (Albania). Philip was very proud of his son Alexander, but they had a very stormy relationship. Philips multiple marriages took a toll on Alexander. Olympias was very jealous and spiteful towards Philip's "lesser" wives. Alexander had a half-sister named Cleopatra (not the famous Egyptian Queen) and a half-brother named Arrhidaeus. Arrhidaeus was brain-damaged, it was rumored that Olympias had given the boy drugs in vengeance and fear for Alexander's inheritance. Philip made sure that Alexander was well educated. He sent for Aristotle to be one of his tutors. Alexander became friends with a boy named Hephaestion, they would remain loyal to each other for life. h He had a thirst for knowledge Philip often left Alexander in charge when he was taken away from Macedonia on business. At the age of sixteen, during one of his father's absences, Alexander led an army to subdue the rebellious "barbarians" (Maedi). He managed to move the Maedi out and renamed the city Alexandropolis, after himself. After this, he became the general of his father's army. During the celebrations for Philip's marriage to his final wife, a falling out occurred between Alexander and his father. The bride's uncle toasted the couple, saying that he hoped that a legitimate heir to the throne would result from the marriage. Alexander became enraged shouting "What about me? Am I a bastard?" and threw a goblet at the uncle. Philip, who was intoxicated, drew his sword and lunged at Alexander. He lost his balance and fell on the floor. ...

The Factors of Poverty essays

The Factors of Poverty essays What is poverty? Every day we are exposed to some nature of poverty. There is no one definition to define poverty because poverty can be in reference to anything. Generally, poverty is referenced to being extremely poor or lacking general necessities required to live each day. Examples may include water, food, and shelter. Each view of poverty has its own opinion and explanation. Poverty affects all aspects of life, even the ones who are fortunate to have everything they need. Poverty is either blamed on the individual or the system, which we refer to as the government. A couple of things one should take into consideration when referring to poverty is the causes and effects of poverty, the types of poverty, and the people mostly affected by poverty. Although poverty is well overlooked, the less fortunate should be taken into consideration rather than overlooked or set apart as an outcast to society. There are two categories of poverty. The first category of poverty is case poverty. Case poverty is defined as something an individual does or lacks which causes them to be poor. For example, drug addicts and alcoholics who are living in poverty are in that state because of the habit they would rather support. On the other hand, those living in poverty due to a handicap or mental problem are in that state because that disables their ability to work. The second category is insular poverty. This is brought about to a particular group living in a particular area and is solely based upon environmental factors. Insular poverty could exist in the slums of the city, and this result from lack of attention and maintenance from the city. There is a major difference between the two cases of poverty, solely based on who is effected and how. John Kenneth Gilbraith expressed his forethought about these cases of poverty and suggested, The cure of poverty is possible but is not sure that the peop le along with the government see it as an important...

THE FOUR RIGHTEOUS CALIPHS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

THE FOUR RIGHTEOUS CALIPHS - Assignment Example The second caliph, Umar, continued the expansion of the Muslim state. He not only defeated the Persians but also secured Egypt from the Byzantines. Umars reign is one of the reasons the Muslim empire was so successful: he allowed people to retain their own religious beliefs. This greatly strengthened Islamic control as the increased freedom prompted not only happy citizens but also converts. The caliphates position in religious affairs was strengthened when the third caliph, Uthman b. Affan, was selected to lead the Ottoman empire. He created a governmentally-sanctioned copy of the Quran. This action was incredibly beneficial to both political and religious organization, as it not only united the Islamic empire under one, clear version of the holy scripture, but it also showed the caliphate as capable and spiritually viable. Last of the Four Righteous Caliphs Ali b. Abi Talib faced some of the most difficult challenges. Because he failed to punish Uthmans assassins in a timely manner, many of his former followers deserted him, and he was faced with civil war. He lost most control to Uthmans kinsman, Muawiya. Ultimately, Uthman and Umar are the two more successful caliphs, as they expanded the empire dramatically, gaining new converts and willing citizens. On the other hand, Abu Bakr and Ali served necessary purposes: they dealt with their respective rebellions in a poised manner that ensured the continuation of Islamic rule. Without each, the Ottomans would have undoubtedly

Euthanasia sholud be lgalised in the uk'.discuss this statemnt giving Essay

Euthanasia sholud be lgalised in the uk'.discuss this statemnt giving arguments on both sides of the debeate - Essay Example In the United States, individuals such as Dr. Jack Kevorkian popularized the practice, gaining significant media attention in the process; still, it must be mentioned that even as Kevorkian gained some mainstream acceptance, he was ultimately convicted for his actions. While euthanasia is illegal in all countries of the United Kingdom, there remains considerable controversy over this legal stance. While both the British Medical Association and the Church of England oppose euthanasia, the majority of the British public is in favor of legalization (Whiting 2002, p. 42). Considering the both sides of the debate, this essay examines whether euthanasia should be legalized in the United Kingdom. A variety of medical and legal contexts have also investigated the notion of euthanasia. Originally, the NHS indicates that euthanasia was originally prohibited in the United Kingdom in 1961 (‘Euthanasia and assisted suicide’, 2012). Currently this act makes contributing to suicide pun ishable by up to fourteen years in prison. While euthanasia is outlawed in the United Kingdom there are a variety of grey areas wherein end of life issues come to the foreground. Prominently the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) implemented the Liverpool Care Pathway which allows doctors to place terminally ill patients on pathway towards death. This has engendered controversy from groups indicating it has been implemented too early in life process (Doughty 2012). The United Kingdom has also legally implemented some of these practices through direct patient interaction, as the Mental Capacity Act of 2005 allows individuals to establish advanced directives in the instance they become mentally capacitated (Liddle 2007, p. 94). Additionally, increased attention has been given to euthanasia of premature babies. Otherwise, however, the United Kingdom law still prohibits euthanasia in most circumstances. Within the United Kingdom, some significant medical perspe ctives in favor of euthanasia are emerging, too. For instance, in 2012, in an editorial of one of the British Medical Journal issues, the author urged the British Medical Association to drop their opposition to euthanasia (White 2012). The argument was largely advanced through natural law ethical foundations. Some of the most prominent voices against euthanasia have emerged from the religious strata of society. As Christianity remains the most dominant religion of the United Kingdom and Western society, it has significantly influenced political and legal thought (‘Ethics Guide’ 2012). The Church of England has objected to the practice of euthanasia on a variety of grounds. The Fifth Commandment states, â€Å"You shall not kill† (Catechism of the Catholic Church n.d.). While there is the understanding that committing euthanasia, if considered at an ethical level, is not directly comparable to other acts of killing, from the Christian point of view it still is a ne gative occurrence. The Catholic Catechism states: â€Å"Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being†

Assess any ONE or TWO modern interpretations of the doctrine of Essay

Assess any ONE or TWO modern interpretations of the doctrine of original sin - Essay Example 3). Modern interpretations of the doctrine of original sin typically come to the conclusion that given the involuntary nature of inherited sin, it is reasonable to conclude that sin is not necessarily an evil or moral wrong, but also an explanation for the correct path to follow (Couehoven, 2009, p. 567). Modern philosophers such as Emmanuel Kant set the stage for later expansions on the interpretations of the doctrine of original sin. Kant argued that sin is connected to an individual’s will. In this regard, an individual sins when the individual acts on impulse as opposed to rational reasoning. The freedom to choose between impulse and rational reasoning is the origins of sin (Hastings & Selbie, 2003, p. 563). Modern philosopher G.W.F. Hegel also argued that the doctrine of original sin merely recognizes that man can only be presumed to have the potential to be good and that man is not naturally good (Hastings & Selbie, 2003, p. 563). Modern interpretations of the doctrine o f original sin have focused on attempts to understand and conceptualize sin. For example Gustafson, in his conceptualization of sin argues that sin is â€Å"an ancient religious symbol†, therefore suggesting that sin is an inherited phenomenon (Gustafson, 1977, p. 156). This conceptualization of sin essentially provides a new understanding and interpretation of original sin. Rather than a literal interpretation suggesting that mankind inherited the actual sins of Adam and Eve, Gustafson’s conceptualization of sin indicates that man is inherently sinful. Gustafson accomplishes this by arguing that man is by nature, culture and society driven by self-interest (Gustafson, 1977, p. 156). According to Gustafson (1977), man’s pursuit of self-interest alone is not a sin. It is the rationale and motivation for pursuing self-interests that is sinful. Man by nature and circumstances in a world with increasing political, natural, scientific and economic complexities grow p articularly anxious. In the absence of â€Å"confidence in an ultimately reliable sovereign power† man copes with anxieties by â€Å"securing† â€Å"narrow self-interests† (Gustafson, 1977, p. 156). In this regard: Sin is a human condition which leads to actions that seek security in the protection of narrow self-interests, actions that thus deny God... (Gustafson, 1977, p. 156). Thus according to Gustafson (1977), the doctrine of original sin must be interpreted by reference to how sin and more especially original sin can be conceptualized. This conceptualization of sin does not focus on the actual sins of Adam and Eve, but rather refers to the activities of Adam and Eve in ways that symbolize human conditions, nature and experiences. Gustafson (1977) argues further that human activities are constrained by the what man has become. Man evolves out of natural capabilities and experiences together with specific conditions in which man is presented with options. Hu man beings are thus agents within the life course and are therefore able to react to specific situations in ways that either maintain those conditions or change them (Gustafson, 1983, p. 167). According to Gustafson (1983), the doctrine of original establishes the origins of human sin and dictates that man has choices in certain situations. The ability to feel guilt and to determine appropriate responses is borne out of human

Conflict In Death Of A Salesman English Literature Essay

Conflict In Death Of A Salesman English Literature Essay Conflict is an essential element in all pieces of literature. In Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman, every character in the play deals with conflict at one point or another. However, Willy Loman is confronted with a large amount of conflicts throughout the play. None of Willys conflicts, Willy versus Biff, Willy versus himself, and Willy versus society, are resolved by the end of the play. Willy faces a father-son conflict with Biff throughout the play. When Biff returns home, Willy senses it as a failure. He returns home to find out who he is. Willy desperately wants Biff to succeed in every way possible. However, Willy and Biff have conflicting views of what the American Dream is. Willy believes that selling is the greatest job a man can have. On the contrary, Biff feels that the best job a man can have is working outdoors with his hands. When these two dreams collide, Willy becomes frustrated because he believes he is correct and his way is the only way. This contrast between their beliefs builds up throughout the play up to their final argument near the close of Act II. Biff is the only Loman that is able to see past Willys illusions about life. Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? (133) He is the only one able to see reality. Willy is in a dream world where he believes he is on the verge of success whereas Biff is able to see the ha rsh reality and recognizes that both he and his father are failures. Young Biff had the same beliefs and views as his father, but after discovering his fathers infidelity, these beliefs changed. He realized he didnt want to become like his father and changed his beliefs. By the end of the play, Willys conflict is not resolved. He had all the wrong dreams. (138) Willy and Biffs beliefs are still opposite of each others. Although Biff has found out who he is, it is not the person his father had hoped for. He is not the leader of men and successful salesman his father wanted him to be, he is an ordinary man who plans to go out West. As Willy faced continuing conflict with his son, he also endured conflicts with himself. Willy faces conflicts with his inner self throughout the play. Willy refuses to accept who he is and his self pride is too important to him. Willy Loman refuses to admit that he is an ordinary man. He must be the successful American businessman that is a leader among men. He is in a dream world where he is on the verge of success. Throughout the play, he is at odds with who he perceives himself to be and who he is in reality. He seems to ignore the talent and appreciation he has for carpentry. He believes that if he purses carpentry, he would be beneath himself. Willy struggles with the fact that he will never be able to achieve his perception of who he wants to be. This conflict goes on until his death. He continues to believe he can be on top of the world, but in reality, he is a normal human being. Willy has a strong sense of self pride in him, one that may be too strong. He is afraid to show a lack of it to Charley or his family. When Willy meets Charley at his office in Act II, he offers him a job to help him. However, Willy is too proud of himself and will not work for Charley. He still believes he can survive without Charleys job offer. He doesnt understand that reality that he is a failure. He also considers himself superior to Charley. He believes Charley is not well-liked and is not the ideal character one should be. He knows that accepting a job offer from someone below him would be an insult to his self pride. Willy is also afraid to admit he is done and can not survive anymore to his family. I cant throw myself on my sons. (84) He is also afraid to show any weakness to his sons. Willy dies a man extremely proud of himself. However, he still has not faced the reality of who he truly is. He did not admit he needed help like an ordinary man would, a man just like him. As Willys conflict with himself grew, so did his conflict with his society. Willy is in conflict with society like the majority of American men in the last century. Willy struggles with his selling as he ages. The young Willy was able to make sales easily, but now he is older, and has more difficulty selling. Willy is constantly trying to find the key to success in selling. He constantly worries about other peoples perception of him and blames his lack of success on his physical traits such as his weight and clothing. Willy believes these are the reasons why he has difficulty selling, while in reality, it is the fact that he does not see himself and the world as they really are. When he first started selling, buyers may have been interested in charismatic salesman. However, as time changed, the business world looked for knowledgeable salesman to promote products. Willy is always worried about his appearance up to his death and still has difficulty understanding why he is never accepted as a talented businessman. When Willy talks to Howard about possibly stay ing in New York to sell, Willy feels like he is being thrown away by society. A man is not a piece of fruit! (82) Willy claims a man is not an orange where you eat the orange and throw away the peal. He is referring to himself when he says this. Willy has worked for this business for 34 years and after all his work for the company, he is worth nothing to it. In society, a man is often measured by his income and skills that can be used in society. However, Willy lacks both of these and society deems him as useless. Therefore, Howard fires him from a business standpoint. Willys conflict with society is not resolved. At his funeral, no one comes except for his family and Charley and Bernard. Society found him useless and threw him away. None of Willy Lomans conflicts with Biff, himself, and society are resolved by the end of the play. In his conflict with Biff, he is never able to nurture Biff into the man he wanted him to become. In his conflict with himself, he is never able to see the reality. Finally, in his conflict with society, he is a victim of Americas capitalistic and materialistic environment. However, the main cause of all his conflicts is his inability to see the reality in life. Perhaps that is why he was unable to solve any of his conflicts. However, Willy Loman was a troubled man from the beginning of the play to his death. He was much more than a man who had plenty of conflicts, he was a man who attempted to live the American Dream, but ultimately, his conflicts stopped him.

Redefining The American Dream :: Philosophy Psychology Essays

Redefining The American Dream Consumption patterns portray the dynamic effect of the American Dream. The American Dream today is significantly different that it was fifty years ago. Today Americans work longer work hours, spend 40% more time watching T.V and 40% less time with their children (AGO 2001). â€Å"The avarice of mankind is insatiable,† claimed Aristotle when describing how the appetite of mankind is never satisfied (Durning). As every desire is satisfied a new one rises up to take its place (Durning). This is true for all people; we want more money, a better job, a new car, better benefits, on and on until suddenly it is clear that we have wasted our lives in search of something that actually never made us happy. A wise woman always told me â€Å"never have any expectations and you will always be pleasantly surprised†, the same holds true for consumption. Imagine a world where consumption was an addiction similar to alcohol or drugs. Over consuming is a crime punishable with jail time and â€Å"Consumer Anonymous† rehabilitation meetings. This was the world we attempted to portray during our brief â€Å"Consumers Anonymous† meeting. The opposite is currently happening, the economy expanded 4% between the first quarter of 1998 and 1999 (Krugman 1999). Consumption grew 5.5% during that period (Krugman 1999) . When the economy toke a down turn after President Bush was elected into office, the federal government urged Americans to â€Å"do their part† by spending. The average savings in the United States during 1970 was 8.5%, which has plummeted to an obscene low of 2.1% in 1997 by 1998 savings dropped even further to less than 0.5% (SLI). The lowest saving rate ever witnessed was in 1933 during the great depression at a –2.1% (SLI). By 1997 the total debt of U.S. households had reached 89% of the total household income (ecocompass 2000). The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population however; Americans consume 24% of the world’s energy, 27% of the world’s aluminum and 21% of the world’s beef (SLI). The big shocker is with all of this consumption the happiness levels are not raising (SLI).

The Great Gastby

Abstract As the spokesman of the â€Å"Jazz Age†, F. Scott Fitzgerald , referred to his own experience, wrote his masterpiece-The Great Gatsby. Through abundant symbols, Fitzgerald profoundly depicted the society of Jazz Age and successfully displayed the disillusionment of American Dream, which existed in the majority of American in 1920s. To describe the restlessness of the â€Å"lost generation† in the â€Å"roaring twenties†, the author created several typical tragic characters. This paper, based on some symbolic theories, focuses on how the author brought his attitude to the surface to reveal the theme.And by analyzing the symbolic meanings of some leading characters, it further probes into the failure of American Dream. Key words Symbolism; characters; American Dream; disillusionment 1 Introduction 1. 1 Plot and characters review Jay Gatsby, formerly Jake Gatz, is a successful bootlegger with desire of being accepted in the highest social circles of Long Is land. Once he has done this, Gatsby spares no effort to win back the love of his former girlfriend Daisy, now married to a boorish â€Å"old-money† millionaire, Tom Buchanan.Gatsby's obsession with Daisy and his pursuit of this unworthy dream results in disillusionment and, ultimately, tragedy. Sidelines observer Nick Carraway, recounts the whole story. 1. 2 The spokesman of the â€Å"Jazz Age† F. Scott Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. He was both a representative of his era and a severe critic of society. In his short life, Fitzgerald experiences overnight fame and wealth in 1920s but suffers a lot in 1930s, which shares much resemblance with American society.Furthermore, with a lot of works describing the expectation and disilluionment of the American young generation, he gained irreplaceable position in the history of American literature and was often called the spokesman of â€Å"Jazz Age†. The Great Gatsby, for which he was known, is somewhat a reflection of his experience and his attitude towards the American Dream. The novel shows the anomie following the First World War. During the â€Å"roaring† 1920s, American society enjoyed unprecedented levels of prosperity as the economy soared.At the same time, Prohibition, the ban on the sale and manufacutre of alcohol as mandated by the 18th century, made many bootleggers millionaires and led to an increase in organized crime. Although Fitzgerald, like Nick Carraway in his novel, idolized the riches of the age, he was uncomfortable with the unlimited materialism and the lack of morality that went with it. The value of money was mostly exaggerated during that age. The connection of the â€Å"old money† and â€Å"new money† is presented in geographical symbols of the novel: East Egg is the place where the established aristocracy lived, and West Egg – â€Å"the self-made rich†.Using his narratorâ€⠀œNick, the author told about his views of American Dream – it was â€Å"originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness† . 2 Symbolism in characters In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald skillfully selected diffirent people, such as Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan and Nick Carraway. This part will analyze the four main characters in detail and discuss their function in symbolism. 2. 1 Jay Gatsby Through the whole life of Gatsby we can see that he is the representative of the people who pursue the American dream.At first when Gatsby falls in love with Daisy, he is frustrated for the huge gap between their social status and wealth. Gatsby is a poor immigrant of low status but Daisy comes from an old wealthy American family. They belong to two totally different worlds under that condition where people all pursue money and material content. So their love is actually desperate and not realistic. He falls into great agony because he lost Daisy and he thinks they didn’t get married just because he is not rich enough.In Gatsby’s opinion, his dream of loving Daisy is ruined by the difference in their respective backgrounds, so he resorts to crime to make adequate money so as to impress Daisy and win her back. To some degree, he makes it. He gets the money he needs and then, through building up a large house and holding luxury parties and banquets, he successfully attracts Daisy’s attention. Daisy comes back to him, dating with him again. Gatsby is so happy to see that they finally return to their old days. But in fact, this is all his illusion, as their love is based on material possessions. He has lived not for himself, but for his dream, for his vision of the good life inspired by the beauty of a lovely rich girl. † The green light situated at the end of East Egg dock and visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn may be the best symbol of his unattainable dream. â€Å"He stretched out his arms tow ard the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworm he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. In the end when Gatsby dies for the sake of Daisy, she just leaves him behind and goes to Europe with her husband to spend their holiday. Gatsby’s dream of a perfect Daisy and a happy life totally breaks up until now. The falling down of Gatsby’s dream represents the falling down of American Dream. Then why the dream fails in such a miserable way? First, Gatsby builds up an illusionary dream. He is fascinated with Daisy’s grace and charm, but blinds her shortcomings. â€Å"He gives Daisy an idealistic perfection that she cannot possess in reality† .Alhough later he comes to know that Daisy is not what she used to be and that she doesn’t love him, he cannot stop dreaming and continues to recall the old days. Gatsby’s dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its object, just as the American Dream in the 1920s is ruined by the unworthiness of its object—money and pleasure. Second, from the beginning he uses a wrong way to achieve his dream and this would inevitably lead to his dream’s coming into failure at last. He has made his fortune through racketeering and conducting suspicious business, regardless of the moral principles.The American dream of Gatsby corrupts as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpasses those noble goals. More importantly, the sharp contrast between the ideal and the reality is due to result in the breakup of the dream. In some senses, Gatsby’s dream originated from the past, and made him sincerely persist. But when he was addicted into the past, he made efforts to find various possibilities in the future. He makes the historical past transform to the future in the vain hope.The green light representing his ideal fut ure, which also indicates the whole American ones, is unattainable. The American Dream destroys not only because of the profound social and historical reasons, but also being deeply concerned with the self-destructive characters of Gatsby. When Gatsby’s simple and naive characters are confronted with the cold society and moral decay of America, there will be no place for Gatsby to escape but die. In the end, the author wrote, â€Å"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us.It eluded us then, but that's no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther †¦ And one fine morning – So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past† . Gatsby goes back ceaselessly into the past because the future is far too cruel to imagine. This is the tragedy of Gatsby: he himself lives in the past and is making a beautiful but illusionary dream of the future, so do the Ame ricans. 2. 2 Daisy Buchanan Throughout the book, Daisy is described almost in a fairytale tone.She is the princess in the castle, the wonderful girl that every man dreams of possessing. She is beautiful and rich and innocent and pure in her whiteness. â€Å"She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster †¦Ã¢â‚¬  . But that whiteness is mixed with the yellow of gold and the unavoidable corruption that money brings. Just as Gatsby once comments after their reunion, â€Å"her voice is full of money. † . Her love for Gatsby is conditioned by his wealth. When she saw Gatsby’s fabulous pile of shirts, she could not help crying:† I’ve never seen such — such beautiful shirts before. . For Daisy, her love associated closely with stable and extravagant life. Daisy proves her real nature when she chooses Tom over Gatsby, then allows Gatsby to take the blame for killing Myrtle Wilson even though she herself was driving the car. Finally, rather tha n attend Gatsby’s funeral, Daisy and Tom move away, leaving no forwarding address. Daisy lived in â€Å"a material world without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing like air. † Actually, Daisy stands for youth, gold and status, which many young Americans regard as their dreams.Yet, the dream has already became a nightmare, as it generates those money-oriented and power-persuing minds. As a social satire, Daisy is also a reflection on moral decadence in modern Amercian society. It is concerned with the corruption of values and the decline of spiritual life. Since the Industry Revolution, Americans have fallen in , not only the way of life through which they seeking for more luxurious enjoyment, but also wealth and status at the expense of moral decay. As a consequence, American Dream has totally failed to bring any kind of fulfillment, either spiritual or material. . 3 Tom Buchanan Tom Buchnan, the dude form Yale, is a liar, a hypocrite, and a bully. Being born int o a wealthy family has made him a spoiled man. He hasn’t really worked his entire life and instead, spends his days in indulgence and ease. All Tom’s feelings and actions are self-directed. He has a shameless affair with Myrtle because it satisfies his needs. He flaunts their relationship in public for he is a careless man who isn’t bothered by the sufferings he causes. This also attributes to he and Daisy’s escape in a situation where they would have to face.Tom is the typical character of his class. His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never ever considers trying to live up to the moral standard he supposed to. Tom is â€Å"a scion of the great robber barons of the Gilded Age who seize the land, gutted the forests, laid the railroads, and turned the cities into vast urban fortresses for the purpose of protecting their own moneyed interests† . He represents descendants of those early pioneers, frontiersman and later settle rs who attempted to transform the Virgin Land into a New World Garden.These later empire-builders of the post-Civil War period, who were eager to replace crops with machines, set aside morality as easily and quickly as they attempted to buy up civilization. 2. 4 Nick Caraway Although Nick is not the hero in the novel, his importance as the narrator and a functional character makes him almost as much a central figure as Gatsby. He is Gatsby’s neighbor, Daisy’s cousin once removed, Tom’s classmate in college and the sweetie of Daisy’s close fried, Jordan.He is a tie, who connects many contradictions and conflicts among characters, and a key figure in the complicated relaion net. Nick uses his curious eyes to view Gatsby’s actions and holds sympathy to suppose Gatsby’s thoughts. As a witness who â€Å"has strong flexibility and broad and various information† , he can observe Gatsby’s actions standing far from him and take a neutra l and calm viw to value the story. Using â€Å"I† as witness to narrative the story, Fitzgerald let readers feel things directly while hid himself behind the case.Nick resembles Fitzgerald in such aspects as age, family background, education record, literary interest, military experience and seeks of fortune. â€Å"If Gatsby represents one part of Fitzgerald’s personality, the flashy celebrity who pursued and praised wealth in order to impress the woman he loved, then Nick represents another part: the quiet, reflective Midwesterner adrift in the lurid East† . So this may fully explain why Nick senses, understands and sympathizes Gatsby. The similarities between Nick and Fitzgerald make Nick voice more than the author.As a moral symbol he is the embodiment of a hope for moral and spiritual growth. Functioning as Fitzgerald’s speaker in making his ultimate value judgements, Nick realizes that the fast-paced, fun-driven lifestyle of New York is grotesque and damaging; an ideal based on materialism rather than a fulfilment of American Dream. Knowing the truth of the East, Nick quickly goes back without any hesitation. At the end, Nick is the only person escaping from the illusory American Dream and unfolds this tragic story to us all. 3 ConclusionIn the Great Gatsby, by using symbolic images, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals the contradiction and inner conflict of the characters as well as displays his intelligence and excellent writing skill. The entire story is about the effect brought by the roaring age of reshaping people’s value , causing the deterioration of morality and running after money even one undeserved. Gatsby deadly accumulated great wealth in illegal way to get Daisy’ love, but he didn’t recognize people’s ugly inward—greedy of money and mean of kindness, and finally he died with everything lost.References [1] F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby. Jiangsu:YiLing Press, 1997 [2] Miller James E. Jr. F. Scott Fitzgerald: His Art and Technique. New York: New York University Press, 2001 [3] Wang Qiong. The Narrative Technique in â€Å"The Great Gatsby† from the Point View of Narration. Shanghai:Journal of Huzhou Teachers College, 2004 [4] Garrett George. Fire and Freshness: A Matter of Style in the Great Gatsby. In Matthew J. Broccoli (Ed), 2002 [5] Ernest H. Lockridge ed. Twentieth century interpretations of The Great Gatsby: A Collection of Critical Essays.Prentice-Hall, 1968 [6] Leech Geoffrey N & Short Michael H. New Essays on the Great Gatsby. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985 [7] Zhang Tianjing. the Deeply Moving America Tragedy–Analysis the Great Gatsby. Journal of Xianyang Normal University, 2004 [8] Zhao Hongwei. Disillusionment of Gatsby’s† American Dream† From the Perspective of Society–Analysis of â€Å"The Great Gatsby†. Journal of Harbin University, 2003 [9] Mizener Arthur ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Coll ection of Critical Essays, Englewood Cliffs. N. J: Prentice-Hall, 1963 The Great Gastby Chapter 7 1. Look up Trimalchio and decide whether that is an appropriate comparison for Gatsby. Trimalchio was the protagonist in Satyricon, by Petronius. He was a freedman who gained prestige and power through sheer tenacity and hard work. Once he attained his wealth, he enjoyed throwing lavish parties that were meant to impress his variety of guests. The comparison of Gatsby and Trimalchio is obvious. Both were newly rich, and trying to get the right attention. Fitzgerald's early version of Gatsby was actually titled â€Å"Trimalchio in West Egg†. 2.What has changed at Gatsby’s house? Why? Gatsby’s house becomes much quieter, and his parties come to an end because he no longer needed them to attract Daisy. 3. In chapter 1, Daisy and Jordan are lying on a couch. Find and compare the passage that this section repeats. 4. How do Gatsby and Daisy behave together? In the absence of Tom? With Tom around? While Tom is out of the room, Daisy kisses Gatsby on the lips and says she loves him. When Tom is around, Gatsby stares at Daisy with obvious passion and Daisy recklessly remarks, within earshot of Tom, that she loves Gatsby. . When is it that Tom realizes Daisy is in love with Gatsby? Why? After Daisy suggests they go to town, Tom witnesses a soft glance that passes between Daisy and Gatsby and can no longer deny the two of them are having an affair. 6. How does Gatsby characterize Daisy’s voice? What does that mean? How does that make sense to Nick? Gatsby says that her voice is â€Å"full of money† (-__-). For Gatsby, Daisy represents the wealth and elegance for which he has yearned all his life.It also shows that while Gatsby hesitates frequently, thinking before he speaks around these people because he was never really part of their world, Daisy, on the other hand, is free to do and say what she wishes, without worry, because she is so accustomed to living in this world. Nick realized that was the charm in her voice. 7. What does Tom learn about Wilson? What does Myrtle misinterpret? Tom learns that Wilson is trying to raise money to finance the move west that he has planned for him and his wife Myrtle.Myrtle is staring down from the windows above the garage at Jordan Baker, whom she seems to have mistaken for Daisy, her rival in love. 8. What is ironic about the music below the suite? 9. Describe the behavior of Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy. What is Nick’s attitude toward them? Tom and Gatsby have an argument, with Tom accusing Gatsby of lying about being an oxford man. When Gatsby successfully answers the question, Tom then explodes and asks him about his love affair with Daisy. Daisy tries and fails to quiet Tom.Nick remains a spectator of the scene and doesn’t say anything. 10. What is Gatsby’s insistence with Daisy? Why? How does this connect to earlier in the novel? Gatsby insists that Daisy never loved him, and not Tom, all these years. But when Daisy cannot honestly admit that ne ver loved Tom, Gatsby declares that Daisy is leaving Tom anyway. Gatsby does this because he realized that he was losing Daisy. 11. What does Nick realize about himself? How does it make him feel? Nick realizes that he that it is his 30th birthday.After Nick realizes it is his 30th birthday he acknowledges the fact that he has wasted too much of his time with people who do not actually care about anything other than wealth. He has spent a lot of his life on trivialities and sees that, all of a sudden, life is passing him by. His time with Nick, Jordan and the others has distracted him to the point where he loses focus of his own life and goals, thus, forgetting his own birthday. 12. Why does Myrtle Wilson die, according to Gatsby?How does this relate to her earlier misinterpretation? Because Daisy was driving and (accidentally? ) struck Myrtle. Myrtle saw Jordan Baker in the yellow car and thought she was Tom’s wife. She recognizes the yellow car as she’s running away and tries to speak to who she thinks is Jordan but it is in fact Daisy, the actual wife of Tom, who accidentally kills her. 13. What is the status of Daisy and Tom at the end of the chapter? Tom and Daisy have reconciled and it is obvious that they are going to stay together. 14.Compare Gatsby’s vigil at the end of the chapter with a similar moment earlier in the novel. Nick’s parting from Gatsby at the end of this chapter parallels his first sighting of Gatsby at the end of Chapter 1. In both cases, Gatsby stands alone in the moonlight pining for Daisy. In the earlier instance, he stretches his arms out toward the green light across the water, optimistic about the future. In this instance, he has made it past the green light, onto the lawn of Daisy’s house, but his dream is gone forever.

The Fly And #465 Essays - Emily Dickinson, A Vision, Free Essays

The Fly And #465 Essays - Emily Dickinson, A Vision, Free Essays The Fly And #465 Geoff Eng 219 3/4/00 The Fly and #465 Emily Dickinson in her poem #465, covers the subject of death in a way that I have not seen before. She delves right into the last sounds she heard when the narrator died, which was a fly buzzing. The last actions of this world are concluded by the assigning of keepsakes, the last few tears while waiting the King. And now, in the midst of this silence, Emily chooses to introduce the buzzing of a fly. This common household pest's incessant buzz becomes all the dying can hear. The fly is a significant part of the poem and in this essay, I will give examples as to why and how. I think the fly has special significance in the poem. Beelzebub was often portrayed as a fly: Lord of the Flies, and there is a strange tone about this poem, as though the dying person is a controller, an organizer, a cold person in fact, her last steps towards death were so calculated, The Eyes around-had wrung them dry-/And Breaths were Gathering firm/ for the last Onset-when the King/Be witnessed-in the Room.(ln 5-8). She is waiting for King (God) to come and take her to the after life. She has calculated death, then this pest interposes itself , Between the light and me(ln14) her peaceful transition to heaven was interrupted. The fly suddenly opens up the possibility that all is not about to proceed as expected, even after death. And the fact that this is also a posthumously written poem, when I died,(ln 1) suggests that there's some cause for the dying person not to be resting peacefully in heaven. Something went wrong, something interposed between 'the light' (a symbol of heaven) and herself. More than anything this poem is about the uninvited in our lives, it also has echoes of 'the fly in the Vaseline', the thing that always goes wrong. The death is planned out, the will is taken care of, and then the nasty fly joins her and destroys her peaceful death with its bothersome buzz. That buzz could be the unconfessed sins she hidden from god, but what ever it is, it has a profound affect on her afterlife by leaving her with this incessant buzzing. The room of the dying is haunted by an uncomfortable, daunting Silence. The comparison of this quiet to the the stillness in the Air between the heaves of storm(ln4) intensifies the feeling of anticipation for some frightening event. If you are out jogging in the summer and you start to see dark storm clouds looming overhead, there is a panic that comes, you could get caught in the storm. The clouds as beautiful as they may seem while inside, as soon as the storm begins, they let loose their power. I think the implied author is entering, in imagination; the very moment of death here is darkness itself. Which is why this poem is, for me, so chilling. So many of the poems insist on a life after death, a spiritual reawakening. But this poem ends on a note of obliteration and overwhelming darkness, accompanied only by the sound of the buzzing. The fly is also a symbol of decay and dissolution, and even of disease, and contamination. It's a brilliant idea, a common household pest, and also a powerful symbol of evil, uninvited and distracting. This image of distraction is particularly noticeable, especially on first reading the poem. Everything's going so much according to plan it's as though these people are on a stage reading their script, going through pre-conceived motions. And then suddenly there's the gatecrasher, the thing outside the script that completely distracts the dying person, and threatens to rob her of her moment of vision.... And then the Windows failed - and then/ I could not see to see - (ln 15) makes it doubly clear that the moment of vision (windows/eyes failing) has been stolen from her and that, in effect, the fly has won by becoming the very last thing the speaker hears, and imagines - I think the fact that she sees it as Blue is not because she can see it but because she is imagining it. The irritation

Imagery in Search for my Tongue and Blessing Essay Example

Imagery in Search for my Tongue and Blessing Essay Example Imagery in Search for my Tongue and Blessing Paper Imagery in Search for my Tongue and Blessing Paper In both of the poems, Search for my Tongue and Blessing the poets use imagery in interesting ways to describe two totally different things; in Search for my tongue the poet uses the image of a plant to describe how the persons first language comes back to her, and in Blessing the poet describes the water pipe bursting as a sort of miracle. The poem Search for my tongue is about how a student from America believes she has lost her first language because she has been speaking English since she was small. The poem asks us in the first section what would we do if we had two languages and lived in a place where we would have to speak the foreign language? She then answers this question by saying that the mother tongue or first language would, Rot and die in your mouth until you had to spit it out. This shows that the poet feels very strongly about loosing her original language. In the second section, which is written in Gujerati, it seems to be more poetic and flows better when reading it. The last section is describing how her first language the Gujerati has come back to her and describes it as how a flower would grow and blossom. The poem Blessing is about how in a very dry and hot country where it hardly ever rains, where they imagine the smallest amount of water crashing into a tin mug the water pipe which runs through the village bursts and all the people rush towards it with every pot and pan they can carry. In Search for my Tongue the poet uses tongue instead of language so when the poet says, if you had two tongues in your mouth and lost the first one you get the image of two tongues in one mouth and then one of them falling out. The poet also describes loosing her first language to a plant saying that her Gujarati has rot and died. Rot and died are powerful words so they can give a powerful image of the poets language becoming less memorable (rot) and then forgetting it (died). In the last section there is a lot of imagery where the poet talks about her language coming back to her as a plant growing back. The poet writes, it grows back, a stump of a shoot grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins, it ties the other tongue in knots, the bud opens, the bud opens in my mouth. This is all describing how a plant would grow from when it was planted as a seed and is a good image to use of her language growing back as it describes every stage. In the quote it also repeats the word grows creating a list effect The imagery in Blessing is used to good effect in the first line the poet writes, the skin cracks like a pod this says that the place where the people live in very hot and dry, it is also a painful image and is unpleasant as when pods break they usually just explode and the seeds inside them fly out. The water is also described as silver, which says that the people believe it is very precious. In the poem different words are used which include; blessing, kindly god and congregation, these words are usually used when describing a religious ceremony, this can be interpreted to say that the people believe that when water comes to their village in any form, it is a miracle or a present from their god.

William Carey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

William Carey - Essay Example Indeed, as this essay hopes to establish, while William Carey's success emanated from his linguistic talents and his faith, it was, more significantly, the outcome of his rebellion against the Anglican faith and prevalent missionary model. The son of weavers, Carey's family could hardly afford to provide him with an education which extended beyond literacy and a rudimentary knowledge of history, geography, mathematics and science (George, 1991). His education certainly did not extend to either the classics or languages and, as a matter of fact, it was discontinued when, at the age of 14, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. Nevertheless, his natural intellectual curiosity, compounded with his gift for languages, incited him to self-educate himself in both, successfully teaching himself Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, Italian and French (George, 1991). It was during his period of self-education and learning that Carey became increasingly discontented and disappointed with the Anglican Church. It was at this point, as George (1991) explains, that Carey increasingly found himself turning towards dissent against the Church of England and, eventually, the combined influence of his readings and an acquaintance, John Warr, motivated him to leave the church and join the Dissenters. His leaving of the Church of England and embrace of Dissent constitutes an important turning-point in Carey's life. As Parker (1914) explains, he did not leave the Church of England and the Anglicanism because he lacked faith but because his faith was not satisfied by that which the Church offered. Carey believed that the Anglican Church had, to a degree, lost its spiritual direction, had become too immersed in the material world and, as a direct result, was not fulfilling its duties towards God. That duty was the spreading of Christ's message to all parts of the world. It was with this in mind that not only did Carey become a Dissenter but joined with other Dissenters in the formation of a small Congregational Church (Parker, 1914). Although not even 18 at that time Carey had found his vocation and his life's work. From the Congregational Church, Carey joined the recently formed Particular Baptists and was baptized into the faith by Ryland, effectively declaring himself a committed Baptist (Mangalwadi, Magalwadi and Winter, 1999). In the Baptist faith, Carey found the spirituality which he had been searching for and which he had felt was lacking in the Church of England. This, however, did not mean that his period of rebellion had ended. It would not be an exaggeration to argue that it was during this period that his rebellion attained full expression and led him down a missionary's path. The spark which ignited Carey's most profound rebellion, a rebellion which was to inform and shape his life's work, was a Calvinist pamphlet which effectively stated that all men were not expected to, or responsible for, believing in the Gospels (Mangalwadi, Magalwadi and Winter, 1999). Carey wrote his disputation in The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation and, in a Church meeting, preached the responsibility of all Christians to spread the Gospels. Indeed, when ordered by J.R. Ryland not to presume his responsibility to preach God's word since "when God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine," Carey

Topical case study report Who will stop Apple's dominance of the music Essay

Topical case study report Who will stop Apple's dominance of the music delivery business - Essay Example There are some elements of surprise with each of the Apple product. This element of surprise has been the primary strategy for Apple. Whenever Apple launches a new product, million dollars are generated in free internet publicity. This has been an important part of Apple’s carefully designed strategy in order to gain customer attention (OGrady, 2008). Today some of the major products of Apple include Macintosh computer, Apple TV, iPod, iPhone, iTunes etc. In April, 2003 Apple first launched its online music store, iTunes. The music store was launched with 200,000 tracks. There are exclusive tracks 20 special artists which include U2 and Bob Dylan (Borland, J. April 28, 2003). Apple, with the launching of this new online music store, has made its position stronger than it was ever before in the digital music world. Now, the question is that could this dominance of Apple be stopped. This paper includes an in depth strategic analysis of Apple as well as of iTunes. Strategic tools that are used are Porter’s five forces model, PESTLE analysis, and Porter’s generic model. The paper also includes a critical analysis of Apple’s competitor analysis, its current market share and position. Finally the paper ends with conclusion and some specific recommendation. iTunes Music Store was launched in United kingdom in mid of 2004. Almost 800,000 songs were sold in the first week only. With this huge figure Apple surpassed OD2 which is the main competitor of the company in the first few days. As far as features were concerned UK stores were almost identical to the stores in US. Competitiveness of online music stores market could be better analyzed with the help of Porter’s Five Forces model. Any industry’s structure could be analyzed by analyzing its competitive forces. According to Michael Porter there are five competitive forces that play an important role in shaping the structure of any