Sunday, October 13, 2019
Using the Biological Approach to Explain Lottery Addiction in Children :: essays research papers fc
Using the Biological Approach to Explain Lottery Addiction in Children Britain is producing a generation of child gamblers hooked on the Lottery and fruit machines. Disturbing research by two eminent academics shows that hundreds of thousands of children-some as young as 11- are now addicted despite the supposed legal restrictions. The findings will fuel warnings from lottery critics that the country is storing up social problems and is likely to trigger pressure for a uniform age limit of 18 on all gambling." (Reproduced from AQA A specimen material.) In the A level examination you will be required to explain a target behaviour using any approach. The aim of this activity is to offer you, the candidate, the opportunity to express your true understanding of the approach by your ability to use it in a novel situation. How would you explain lottery addiction in terms of the biological approach? The currency of the biological explanation is brain activity or brain anatomy, nervous impulses and neurotransmitters, hormones, and various organs in the body. A possible explanation could be as follows: (a) Why are young people hooked on the lottery and fruit machines? A psychologist might use the biological approach to explain this behaviour. Such a psychologist would explain the behaviour in terms of brain activity and the action of the central and autonomic nervous systems. The psychologist might also mention hormones. An answer like this would attract relatively few marks as it does little more than sketch out the possible elements of a biological explanation and has not demonstrated a true understanding of the approach. In order to do this you really need to try to put together an explanation of the target behaviour. (a) An explanation of lottery addiction using the biological approach would focus on how biological systems can be used to explain and understand this behaviour. When an individual stands in front of a fruit machine the flashing lights are physiologically arousing, creating a sense of excitement and probably pleasure. Physiological arousal causes the body to produce certain hormones that prepare the person for fight or flight. We can also understand the individual's behaviour in terms of nervous impulses. The eyes watch the pictures on the fruit machine go round and send impulses to the brain where they are interpreted and further messages sent to the hands to press a button at an appropriate moment to stop the machine. In the A level examination you will be given an opportunity to evaluate one of your explanations so you can take the opportunity, as below, to indicate in what way the explanation offered in the first part of the question is lacking.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Christian Values in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay -- essays re
Christian Values in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Thesis Statement: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows the struggle between a good Christian man against the temptations of this world. I.     Taking a Stand A.     Worthiness B.     Sir Gawain stands C.     Trial overcome II.     Staying True A.     Three temptations B.     Three hunts III.     Repentance A.     A promise kept B.     Confession of sin Christian Values in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Symbolism is used throughout literature to give deeper meaning to a variety of literary works. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight symbolism is seen through the actions of Sir Gawain against the trials he faces. The poem is first set during Christmas time at Camelot, showing that they were Christian for they were celebrating Christmas. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight shows the struggle between a good Christian man against the temptations of this world. Symbolically, one can see Sir Gawain holding true to Christian values: first, by standing up for what he believes in; second, by staying true to a future mate; and thirdly by repenting from sins due to a broken promise.      In the opening scene Sir Gawain faces his first trial when the Green Knight proposes his â€Å"Christmas game.†The room falls silent for â€Å"If he astonished them at first, stiller were then/ All that household in hall, the high and low;†(lines 301-302). The Green Knight begins to mock the court; and then boldly, King Arthur accepts h...
Friday, October 11, 2019
A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty-five
Eddard Lord Arryn's death was a great sadness for all of us, my lord,†Grand Maester Pycelle said. â€Å"I would be more than happy to tell you what I can of the manner of his passing. Do be seated. Would you care for refreshments? Some dates, perhaps? I have some very fine persimmons as well. Wine no longer agrees with my digestion, I fear, but I can offer you a cup of iced milk, sweetened with honey. I find it most refreshing in this heat.†There was no denying the heat; Ned could feel the silk tunic clinging to his chest. Thick, moist air covered the city like a damp woolen blanket, and the riverside had grown unruly as the poor fled their hot, airless warrens to jostle for sleeping places near the water, where the only breath of wind was to be found. â€Å"That would be most kind,†Ned said, seating himself. Pycelle lifted a tiny silver bell with thumb and forefinger and tinkled it gently. A slender young serving girl hurried into the solar. â€Å"Iced milk for the King's Hand and myself, if you would be so kind, child. Well sweetened.†As the girl went to fetch their drinks, the Grand Maester knotted his fingers together and rested his hands on his stomach. â€Å"The smallfolk say that the last year of summer is always the hottest. It is not so, yet ofttimes it feels that way, does it not? On days like this, I envy you northerners your summer snows.†The heavy jeweled chain around the old man's neck chinked softly as he shifted in his seat. â€Å"To be sure, King Maekar's summer was hotter than this one, and near as long. There were fools, even in the Citadel, who took that to mean that the Great Summer had come at last, the summer that never ends, but in the seventh year it broke suddenly, and we had a short autumn and a terrible long winter. Still, the heat was fierce while it lasted. Oldtown steamed and sweltered by day and came alive only by night. We would walk in the gardens by the river and argue about the gods. I remember the smells of those nights, my lordâ€â€perfume and sweat, melons ripe to b ursting, peaches and pomegranates, nightshade and moonbloom. I was a young man then, still forging my chain. The heat did not exhaust me as it does now.†Pycelle's eyes were so heavily lidded he looked half-asleep. â€Å"My pardons, Lord Eddard. You did not come to hear foolish meanderings of a summer forgotten before your father was born. Forgive an old man his wanderings, if you would. Minds are like swords, I do fear. The old ones go to rust. Ah, and here is our milk.†The serving girl placed the tray between them, and Pycelle gave her a smile. â€Å"Sweet child.†He lifted a cup, tasted, nodded. â€Å"Thank you. You may go.†When the girl had taken her leave, Pycelle peered at Ned through pale, rheumy eyes. â€Å"Now where were we? Oh, yes. You asked about Lord Arryn . . . â€Å" â€Å"I did.†Ned sipped politely at the iced milk. It was pleasantly cold, but oversweet to his taste. â€Å"If truth be told, the Hand had not seemed quite himself for some time,†Pycelle said. â€Å"We had sat together on council many a year, he and I, and the signs were there to read, but I put them down to the great burdens he had borne so faithfully for so long. Those broad shoulders were weighed down by all the cares of the realm, and more besides. His son was ever sickly, and his lady wife so anxious that she would scarcely let the boy out of her sight. It was enough to weary even a strong man, and the Lord Jon was not young. Small wonder if he seemed melancholy and tired. Or so I thought at the time. Yet now I am less certain.†He gave a ponderous shake of his head. â€Å"What can you tell me of his final illness?†The Grand Maester spread his hands in a gesture of helpless sorrow. â€Å"He came to me one day asking after a certain book, as hale and healthy as ever, though it did seem to me that something was troubling him deeply. The next morning he was twisted over in pain, too sick to rise from bed. Maester Colemon thought it was a chill on the stomach. The weather had been hot, and the Hand often iced his wine, which can upset the digestion. When Lord Jon continued to weaken, I went to him myself, but the gods did not grant me the power to save him.†â€Å"I have heard that you sent Maester Colemon away.†The Grand Maester's nod was as slow and deliberate as a glacier. â€Å"I did, and I fear the Lady Lysa will never forgive me that. Maybe I was wrong, but at the time I thought it best. Maester Colemon is like a son to me, and I yield to none in my esteem for his abilities, but he is young, and the young ofttimes do not comprehend the frailty of an older body. He was purging Lord Arryn with wasting potions and pepper juice, and I feared he might kill him.†â€Å"Did Lord Arryn say anything to you during his final hours?†Pycelle wrinkled his brow. â€Å"In the last stage of his fever, the Hand called out the name Robert several times, but whether he was asking for his son or for the king I could not say. Lady Lysa would not permit the boy to enter the sickroom, for fear that he too might be taken ill. The king did come, and he sat beside the bed for hours, talking and joking of times long past in hopes of raising Lord Jon's spirits. His love was fierce to see.†â€Å"Was there nothing else? No final words?†â€Å"When I saw that all hope had fled, I gave the Hand the milk of the poppy, so he should not suffer. Just before he closed his eyes for the last time, he whispered something to the king and his lady wife, a blessing for his son. The seed is strong, he said. At the end, his speech was too slurred to comprehend. Death did not come until the next morning, but Lord Jon was at peace after that. He never spoke again.†Ned took another swallow of milk, trying not to gag on the sweetness of it. â€Å"Did it seem to you that there was anything unnatural about Lord Arryn's death?†â€Å"Unnatural?†The aged maester's voice was thin as a whisper. â€Å"No, I could not say so. Sad, for a certainty. Yet in its own way, death is the most natural thing of all, Lord Eddard. Jon Arryn rests easy now, his burdens lifted at last.†â€Å"This illness that took him,†said Ned. â€Å"Had you ever seen its like before, in other men?†â€Å"Near forty years I have been Grand Maester of the Seven Kingdoms,†Pycelle replied. â€Å"Under our good King Robert, and Aerys Targaryen before him, and his father Jaehaerys the Second before him, and even for a few short months under Jaehaerys's father, Aegon the Fortunate, the Fifth of His Name. I have seen more of illness than I care to remember, my lord. I will tell you this: Every case is different, and every case is alike. Lord Jon's death was no stranger than any other.†â€Å"His wife thought otherwise.†The Grand Maester nodded. â€Å"I recall now, the widow is sister to your own noble wife. If an old man may be forgiven his blunt speech, let me say that grief can derange even the strongest and most disciplined of minds, and the Lady Lysa was never that. Since her last stillbirth, she has seen enemies in every shadow, and the death of her lord husband left her shattered and lost.†â€Å"So you are quite certain that Jon Arryn died of a sudden illness?†â€Å"I am,†Pycelle replied gravely. â€Å"If not illness, my good lord, what else could it be?†â€Å"Poison,†Ned suggested quietly. Pycelle's sleepy eyes flicked open. The aged maester shifted uncomfortably in his seat. â€Å"A disturbing thought. We are not the Free Cities, where such things are common. Grand Maester Aethelmure wrote that all men carry murder in their hearts, yet even so, the poisoner is beneath contempt.†He fell silent for a moment, his eyes lost in thought. â€Å"What you suggest is possible, my lord, yet I do not think it likely. Every hedge maester knows the common poisons, and Lord Arryn displayed none of the signs. And the Hand was loved by all. What sort of monster in man's flesh would dare to murder such a noble lord?†â€Å"I have heard it said that poison is a woman's weapon.†Pycelle stroked his beard thoughtfully. â€Å"It is said. Women, cravens . . . and eunuchs.†He cleared his throat and spat a thick glob of phelm onto the rushes. Above them, a raven cawed loudly in the rookery. â€Å"The Lord Varys was born a slave in Lys, did you know? Put not your trust in spiders, my lord.†That was scarcely anything Ned needed to be told; there was something about Varys that made his flesh crawl. â€Å"I will remember that, Maester. And I thank you for your help. I have taken enough of your time.†He stood. Grand Maester Pycelle pushed himself up from his chair slowly and escorted Ned to the door. â€Å"I hope I have helped in some small way to put your mind at ease. If there is any other service I might perform, you need only ask.†â€Å"One thing,†Ned told him. â€Å"I should be curious to examine the book that you lent Jon the day before he fell ill.†â€Å"I fear you would find it of little interest,†Pycelle said. â€Å"It was a ponderous tome by Grand Maester Malleon on the lineages of the great houses.†â€Å"Still, I should like to see it.†The old man opened the door. â€Å"As you wish. I have it here somewhere. When I find it, I shall have it sent to your chambers straightaway.†â€Å"You have been most courteous,†Ned told him. Then, almost as an afterthought, he said, â€Å"One last question, if you would be so kind. You mentioned that the king was at Lord Arryn's bedside when he died. I wonder, was the queen with him?†â€Å"Why, no,†Pycelle said. â€Å"She and the children were making the journey to Casterly Rock, in company with her father. Lord Tywin had brought a retinue to the city for the tourney on Prince Joffrey's name day, no doubt hoping to see his son Jaime win the champion's crown. In that he was sadly disappointed. It fell to me to send the queen word of Lord Arryn's sudden death. Never have I sent off a bird with a heavier heart.†â€Å"Dark wings, dark words,†Ned murmured. It was a proverb Old Nan had taught him as a boy. â€Å"So the fishwives say,†Grand Maester Pycelle agreed, â€Å"but we know it is not always so. When Maester Luwin's bird brought the word about your Bran, the message lifted every true heart in the castle, did it not?†â€Å"As you say, Maester.†â€Å"The gods are merciful.†Pycelle bowed his head. â€Å"Come to me as often as you like, Lord Eddard. I am here to serve.†Yes, Ned thought as the door swung shut, but whom? On the way back to his chambers, he came upon his daughter Arya on the winding steps of the Tower of the Hand, windmilling her arms as she struggled to balance on one leg. The rough stone had scuffed her bare feet. Ned stopped and looked at her. â€Å"Arya, what are you doing?†â€Å"Syrio says a water dancer can stand on one toe for hours.†Her hands flailed at the air to steady herself. Ned had to smile. â€Å"Which toe?†he teased. â€Å"Any toe,†Arya said, exasperated with the question. She hopped from her right leg to her left, swaying dangerously before she regained her balance. â€Å"Must you do your standing here?†he asked. â€Å"It's a long hard fall down these steps.†â€Å"Syrio says a water dancer never falls.†She lowered her leg to stand on two feet. â€Å"Father, will Bran come and live with us now?†â€Å"Not for a long time, sweet one,†he told her. â€Å"He needs to win his strength back.†Arya bit her lip. â€Å"What will Bran do when he's of age?†Ned knelt beside her. â€Å"He has years to find that answer, Arya. For now, it is enough to know that he will live.†The night the bird had come from Winterfell, Eddard Stark had taken the girls to the castle godswood, an acre of elm and alder and black cottonwood overlooking the river. The heart tree there was a great oak, its ancient limbs overgrown with smokeberry vines; they knelt before it to offer their thanksgiving, as if it had been a weirwood. Sansa drifted to sleep as the moon rose, Arya several hours later, curling up in the grass under Ned's cloak. All through the dark hours he kept his vigil alone. When dawn broke over the city, the dark red blooms of dragon's breath surrounded the girls where they lay. â€Å"I dreamed of Bran,†Sansa had whispered to him. â€Å"I saw him smiling.†â€Å"He was going to be a knight,†Arya was saying now. â€Å"A knight of the Kingsguard. Can he still be a knight?†â€Å"No,†Ned said. He saw no use in lying to her. â€Å"Yet someday he may be the lord of a great holdfast and sit on the king's council. He might raise castles like Brandon the Builder, or sail a ship across the SunsetSea, or enter your mother's Faith and become the High Septon.†But he will never run beside his wolf again, he thought with a sadness too deep for words, or lie with a woman, or hold his own son in his arms. Arya cocked her head to one side. â€Å"Can I be a king's councillor and build castles and become the High Septon?†â€Å"You,†Ned said, kissing her lightly on the brow, â€Å"will marry a king and rule his castle, and your sons will be knights and princes and lords and, yes, perhaps even a High Septon.†Arya screwed up her face. â€Å"No,†she said, â€Å"that's Sansa.†She folded up her right leg and resumed her balancing. Ned sighed and left her there. Inside his chambers, he stripped off his sweat-stained silks and sluiced cold water over his head from the basin beside the bed. Alyn entered as he was drying his face. â€Å"My lord,†he said, â€Å"Lord Baelish is without and begs audience.†â€Å"Escort him to my solar,†Ned said, reaching for a fresh tunic, the lightest linen he could find. â€Å"I'll see him at once.†Littlefinger was perched on the window seat when Ned entered, watching the knights of the Kingsguard practice at swords in the yard below. â€Å"If only old Selmy's mind were as nimble as his blade,†he said wistfully, â€Å"our council meetings would be a good deal livelier.†â€Å"Ser Barristan is as valiant and honorable as any man in King's Landing.†Ned had come to have a deep respect for the aged, white-haired Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. â€Å"And as tiresome,†Littlefinger added, â€Å"though I daresay he should do well in the tourney. Last year he unhorsed the Hound, and it was only four years ago that he was champion.†The question of who might win the tourney interested Eddard Stark not in the least. â€Å"Is there a reason for this visit, Lord Petyr, or are you here simply to enjoy the view from my window?†Littlefinger smiled. â€Å"I promised Cat I would help you in your inquiries, and so I have.†That took Ned aback. Promise or no promise, he could not find it in him to trust Lord Petyr Baelish, who struck him as too clever by half. â€Å"You have something for me?†â€Å"Someone,†Littlefinger corrected. â€Å"Four someones, if truth be told. Had you thought to question the Hand's servants?†Ned frowned. â€Å"Would that I could. Lady Arryn took her household back to the Eyrie.†Lysa had done him no favor in that regard. All those who had stood closest to her husband had gone with her when she fled: Jon's maester, his steward, the captain of his guard, his knights and retainers. â€Å"Most of her household,†Littlefinger said, â€Å"not all. A few remain. A pregnant kitchen girl hastily wed to one of Lord Renly's grooms, a stablehand who joined the City Watch, a potboy discharged from service for theft, and Lord Arryn's squire.†â€Å"His squire?†Ned was pleasantly surprised. A man's squire often knew a great deal of his comings and goings. â€Å"Ser Hugh of the Vale,†Littlefinger named him. â€Å"The king knighted the boy after Lord Arryn's death.†â€Å"I shall send for him,†Ned said. â€Å"And the others.†Littlefinger winced. â€Å"My lord, step over here to the window, if you would be so kind.†â€Å"Why?†â€Å"Come, and I'll show you, my lord.†Frowning, Ned crossed to the window. Petyr Baelish made a casual gesture. â€Å"There, across the yard, at the door of the armory, do you see the boy squatting by the steps honing a sword with an oilstone?†â€Å"What of him?†â€Å"He reports to Varys. The Spider has taken a great interest in you and all your doings.†He shifted in the window seat. â€Å"Now glance at the wall. Farther west, above the stables. The guardsman leaning on the ramparts?†Ned saw the man. â€Å"Another of the eunuch's whisperers?†â€Å"No, this one belongs to the queen. Notice that he enjoys a fine view of the door to this tower, the better to note who calls on you. There are others, many unknown even to me. The Red Keep is full of eyes. Why do you think I hid Cat in a brothel?†Eddard Stark had no taste for these intrigues. â€Å"Seven hells,†he swore. It did seem as though the man on the walls was watching him. Suddenly uncomfortable, Ned moved away from the window. â€Å"Is everyone someone's informer in this cursed city?†â€Å"Scarcely,†said Littlefinger. He counted on the fingers on his hand. â€Å"Why, there's me, you, the king . . . although, come to think on it, the king tells the queen much too much, and I'm less than certain about you.†He stood up. â€Å"Is there a man in your service that you trust utterly and completely?†â€Å"Yes,†said Ned. â€Å"In that case, I have a delightful palace in Valyria that I would dearly love to sell you,†Littlefinger said with a mocking smile. â€Å"The wiser answer was no, my lord, but be that as it may. Send this paragon of yours to Ser Hugh and the others. Your own comings and goings will be noted, but even Varys the Spider cannot watch every man in your service every hour of the day.†He started for the door. â€Å"Lord Petyr,†Ned called after him. â€Å"I . . . am grateful for your help. Perhaps I was wrong to distrust you.†Littlefinger fingered his small pointed beard. â€Å"You are slow to learn, Lord Eddard. Distrusting me was the wisest thing you've done since you climbed down off your horse.â€
Thursday, October 10, 2019
“How to Tell a True War Story,†by Tim O’Brien Essay
In the essay, â€Å"How to Tell a True War Story,†Tim O’Brien tells several stories of war to illustrate to his readers the criteria for truth in storytelling. O’Brien offers his readers a guide to telling and determining war stories that are true, for the author, true does not necessarily mean actual or real. Instead, O’Brien tells us what a true war story is, but his requirements are not always clear preciseâ€â€a true war story â€Å"never seems to end,†(O’Brien 273) â€Å"embarrasses you,†(270) â€Å"are contradictory,†(275) and have an â€Å"uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil†(270)â€â€they are defined and given context by the author through the telling of his own accounts. The essayist Jon Krakauer offers up his own version of a war story, of sorts, in his telling of the story of Chris McCandless, a young man not participating in a war of nations, or a conflict with others; he, in his own wor ds, was involved in â€Å"the climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage†(Krakauer 207). The battlefield for McCandless was not a booby-trapped jungle, saturated with enemies and soldiers for the opposition; no, McCandless’s battlefield was the Alaskan frontier. Like a soldier going to war, McCandless knew that where he was going was dangerous. Krakauer remarks that â€Å"he was fully aware when he entered the bush that he had given himself aperilously (emphasis added) slim margin for error. He knew precisely what was at stake†(Krakauer 219). One can draw many parallels between the essays, or war stories, of Krakauer and O’Brien; they are both provocative, and both use descriptive language and paint vivid pictures in the minds of their reader, they both write of young men in the midst of a conflictâ€â€emotional or physicalâ€â€but the stories differ as well. O’Brien presents his ideas of what makes a true war story; based on these ideas, we can determine that the war story told by Krakauer is not a true war story because it is committe d to morality. There are no lessons in true war stories (O’Brien 269); Krakauer offered a lesson in youth and growth in his story about Christopher McCandless. O’Brien and Krakauer are similar in that they both place importance on relaying to the reader the fact that youth and war go hand in hand. It is mainly the young who serve on the frontlines in battle and who are willing to accept the risks associated with war, and it is also the young who become victims of their own inexperience and succumb to the perils warâ€â€being involved in war does not equate to readiness for war. For instance, O’Brien tells a true war story of two young men, soldiers in the Vietnam; he writes, â€Å"They were kids; they just didn’t know. A nature hike, they thought, not even a war †¦ they were giggling and calling each other yellow mother and playing a silly game they invented†(O’Brien 270). Here, O’Brien sets up his readers with words reminiscent of childh ood, the soldiers could have just as well been two kids at summer camp or in a school yard, or any place where kids play, laugh, and call each other names. O’Brien then takes that childhood scene and infuses it with the brutality of war. He describes how one of the young soldiers who, while playing and laughing, detonated a landmine and was killed. True war stories show the gruesomeness of warâ€â€kids die horrific deaths, and life is lost in the blink of an eye. War forces â€Å"kids†to grow up quickly, and not on their own terms. Goofing, giggling, and silliness have no place in war; death is a consequence of playfulness, and youth must quickly give way to maturity. In a true war story, a young man may never have the opportunity to figure out life for himself, war does not afford him the opportunity to come to appropriate conclusions about what is right, wrong, moral, or immoral; he will either die, or he will be so exposed to the death of his friends that his moral compass will be disrupted, and he will engage unconscionable behavior. Krakauer presents a similar of theme of youth in the face of danger. Like O’Brien, Krakauer uses words that construct a rich mental image for the reader; in this case, the image is that of an overly eager child. Krakauer writes, â€Å"The boy could hardly contain his excitement. He was about to be alone in the vast Alaska wilds†(Krakauer 206). Krakauer refers to his subject, Chris McCandless, as â€Å"the boy,†conveying the inexperience and ineptitude and childlike enthusiasm of McCandless who, because of his bubbling excitement, sounds more like a kid in a candy store or a child on Christmas morning, than he does a like man about to confront the isolation and bitter cold of the wilderness. Later on, that excitement would turn to desperation and eventually deathâ€â€like the soldier in O’Brien’s story, the boy meets an early end to his life. In spite of this similarity, Krakauer does not tell a true war story. For some young warriors, adulthood is thrust upon them, maturity it is meted out with no opportunity fo r choice or deliberation; there is no rite of passage. This is not so for McCandless; Krakauer recognizes growth and maturity arising in McCandless, noting that he made the decision to postpone the river crossing â€Å"after weighing his options,†then â€Å"settl[ing] on the most prudent course†(Krakauer 212). Learning to tame impetuousness allows one to make moral choices, choices that show respect for oneself and one’s surroundings. This type of learning happens with contemplation, introspection, and time. It is not a true war story; not because Krakauer authored a majestic death for McCandless, but because it seemed McCandless lost his war, and it appeared that the battle was too much for him in the end; because Krakauer wrote of a young man who was able to mature during his war, and was able to learn lessons of humility, morality, and caution during his time alone in the Alaska wilds. Imagery in a war stories can be graphic, but in a true war story there is no redemptive value in the gratuitousness of violent acts. O’Brien writes about Rat Riley’s who after witnessing the death of his best friend, encounters a baby buffalo in an abandoned village, â€Å"He opened up a can of C rations, pork and beans, but the baby buffalo wasn’t interested. Rat shrugged. He stepped back and shot it through the right front knee. It went down hard, then got up again, and Rat took careful aim and shot off an ear. He shot it in the hind quarters and in the little hump at its back. He shot it twice in the flanks. It wasn’t to kill; it was to hurt. He put the rifle muzzle up against the mouth and shot the mouth away†¦. There wasn’t a great deal of pity of the baby water buffalo†(O’Brien 274).†O’Brien uses the graphic details to give his reader a glimpse into the mind of soldier who has lost his innocence, one who has l ost empathy because of the grotesque things he has witnessed. The killing of the baby buffalo was not only a response to the pain (or numbness) felt by Rat, but was also a response to rejection. War makes people to terrible things, things that they may not do otherwise. In a true war story, there is little or no remorse for the terrible act. For a soldier, terrible acts and normal acts may become indistinguishable after a while. Death, killing, and suffering is an expectation in war, in a true war story, virtue does not exist; therefore, remorse and empathy cannot exist either. O’Brien clearly illustrates this idea, when writing about the buffalo. Krakauer also uses graphic imagery to show the grisly reality of war. Krakauer tells a story about a moose shot by McCandless, â€Å"He butchered the carcass under a thick cloud of flies and mosquitoes, boiled the organs into a stew, and then laboriously excavated a burrow in the face of the rocky stream bank directly below the bus, in which he tried to cure, by smoking, the immense slabs o f purple flesh (Krakauer 209).†The shock and gore of cutting up a dead animal with insects biting and flying about could lend itself well to a true war story, but here, it does not. What differentiates this story from O’Brien’s is that Krakauer writes that McCandless felt â€Å"remorse soon after he shot the moose†(Krakauer 209). Because of this remorse, this is not a true war story. If this were a true war story as identified by O’Brien, there would be no sympathy for the animal, no moral outrage by the killer that every part of the animal could not be used. A true war story would not show the level of respect for life, for human and animal value; a true war story disregards life. O’Brien writes that when the buffalo torture was over, it was simply thrown in a well with no regard for the animal, an act that not only punished the animal, but demonstrated a lack of respect for human life as the drinking water from that well would be contaminated. Conversely, Krakauer emphasizes t he great measures McCandless took to preserve the moose meat, and the moral dilemma McCandless faced because he was not successful. O’Brien leaves little room for a story that has any moral significance to be considered a true war story. The author contends that â€Å"If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever†(O’Brien 269). War, for O’Brien, is inherently devoid of morality; so any action occurring as a part of war is fruit from a poisonous treeâ€â€it is tainted and cannot be separated to be made clean, or right. True war stories acknowledge this. To say that there can be moral action as two sides are determined to kill more of them while they are trying to kill more of you, is an absurdity. The fighting and conflict, the struggle to maintain one’s humanity in the face of death and dying is challenging to say the least. Four times within â€Å"How to Tell a True War Story†Oà ¢â‚¬â„¢Brien tells the story of Curt Lemon being killed by a landmine. Each time the story is told, there is a new variant, or one taken away; his changes in language, words, and details range from revolting to beautiful. Certain things change, but the story stays the sameâ€â€there is death and loss everywhere. That is the story, the true war story. No matter how it is told, Lemon dies and Riley will never laugh with him again. Contrast this with Krakauer who writes Into the Wild after having already written a magazine article on Chris McCandless. Krakauers â€Å"Selections from into the Wild†could not be considered a true war story in the way that O’Brien defines it, because the selection itself is an act of morality. The magazine article Krakauer wrote prior to his writing of the essay can arguably be considered a true war story as it portrays an ill-prepared young man who is done in by his own arrogance. Many who read the article lacked sympathy for the fallen, and instead ridiculed him. People love stories of heroes, but they l ove stories of failures just as well, as long as the failure is some arrogant jerk getting his just deserts. Krakauer could have left the story there, but he did not, he chose to look deeper to get to the truth, to get to the â€Å"absolute occurrence†(O’Brien 277) that O’Brien warns is irrelevant in a true war story. Krakauer wanted to experience what the subject of his story experienced, and make right the wrong he had done with his articleâ€â€he wants to do the morally responsible thing. Krakauer writes of his journey to set out on the path blazed by McCandless, â€Å"I, too, hope to cross the river. I want to visit the bus. I want to see where McCandless died, to better understand why†(Krakauer 213). Crossing the riverâ€â€a metaphor used by O’Brien as wellâ€â€meant facing the unknown in order to learn more and continuing the search for whatever was lost or missing. In some war stories details are important. They can change they the story altogether. They can change an incompetent, arrogant, boy into a disciplined young man who was willing to take up a dangerous challenge just to prove to himself that he could, even if he did not. Krakauer used the essay as tool to change perceptions to ones based on truth; in changing the details he changed the story. Not all war stories are true, in â€Å"How to Tell a True War Story,†Tim O’Brien lays out the elements needed in a war story to be considered true. Jon Krakauer tells a war story, but it is not a true war story by O’Brien’s standards. Morality is the dividing line between Krakauer telling a war story, a true war story.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
African American Civil Rights Short Essay
A century of slavery and half a century of Jim Crows segregation laws, the African American people were finally victorious when the civil rights act of 1964 and the Voting Rights act of 1965 were passed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities and women. Congress finally asserted their authority to regulate interstate commerce under Article One (section 8). Their duty is to guarantee all citizens equal protection including African Americans under the laws of the Fourteenth Amendment. Also the fourteenth Amendment protects voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibits the government from denying any citizen the ability, or right to vote based on race or color. For so long African Americans have been held back due to slavery and Jim Crow laws. After Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) racial segregation was necessary in all public facilities under the doctrine of â€Å"separate but equal†. The fact of the matter is that whites and blacks were never equal, just separate. Jim Crow laws were adopted throughout the south to alienate black citizens and physically separate African Americans and whites. These laws institutionalized segregation of African Americans and whites and did not allow access use of the same schools, hospitals, prisons, public parks, housing communities, and even restrooms. Lets remember these facilities were completely unequal. The white facilities were obviously more luxurious in every way, and throughout the whole country it was obvious that in no section blacks were treated equal. The most important goal of these laws was to keep blacks from voting. Whites realized that once blacks were able to vote freely they truly were equal to every citizen. The best way they kept blacks from voting was through literacy tests. Through all the efforts whites were putting to keep blacks from voting they have been successful allowing less than 10% of blacks voting in the south in 1910. These segregation laws stayed until Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which overturned the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson. The decision stated that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. It was realized after this that racial segregation was ruled a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision paved the way for integration in the south and throughout the United States and was a major win in the civil rights movement. Blacks were most successfully when they were organized. The organized bus boycott, sit-ins, freedom rides, and march on Washington brought national attention to the war on civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. led these events; his â€Å"I Have a Dream†speech is world famous now due to the significance of the civil rights movement. These demonstrations were pivotal for the African American community in declaring their liberty. Finally when the Civil rights Act of 1964 passed along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, discrimination because of race was outlawed and any color human being could vote. Blacks were finally free and were the true winners of the civil rights movement 1950s and 1960s. They were finally equal and there rights were fully instilled. (Sources: The Logic of American Politics) African American Civil Rights Short Essay A century of slavery and half a century of Jim Crows segregation laws, the African American people were finally victorious when the civil rights act of 1964 and the Voting Rights act of 1965 were passed. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities and women. Congress finally asserted their authority to regulate interstate commerce under Article One (section 8). Their duty is to guarantee all citizens equal protection including African Americans under the laws of the Fourteenth Amendment. Also the fourteenth Amendment protects voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibits the government from denying any citizen the ability, or right to vote based on race or color. For so long African Americans have been held back due to slavery and Jim Crow laws. After Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) racial segregation was necessary in all public facilities under the doctrine of â€Å"separate but equal†. The fact of the matter is that whites and blacks were never equal, just separate. Jim Crow laws were adopted throughout the south to alienate black citizens and physically separate African Americans and whites. These laws institutionalized segregation of African Americans and whites and did not allow access use of the same schools, hospitals, prisons, public parks, housing communities, and even restrooms. Lets remember these facilities were completely unequal. The white facilities were obviously more luxurious in every way, and throughout the whole country it was obvious that in no section blacks were treated equal. The most important goal of these laws was to keep blacks from voting. Whites realized that once blacks were able to vote freely they truly were equal to every citizen. The best way they kept blacks from voting was through literacy tests. Through all the efforts whites were putting to keep blacks from voting they have been successful allowing less than 10% of blacks voting in the south in 1910. These segregation laws stayed until Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which overturned the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson. The decision stated that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. It was realized after this that racial segregation was ruled a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision paved the way for integration in the south and throughout the United States and was a major win in the civil rights movement. Blacks were most successfully when they were organized. The organized bus boycott, sit-ins, freedom rides, and march on Washington brought national attention to the war on civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. led these events; his â€Å"I Have a Dream†speech is world famous now due to the significance of the civil rights movement. These demonstrations were pivotal for the African American community in declaring their liberty. Finally when the Civil rights Act of 1964 passed along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, discrimination because of race was outlawed and any color human being could vote. Blacks were finally free and were the true winners of the civil rights movement 1950s and 1960s. They were finally equal and there rights were fully instilled. (Sources: The Logic of American Politics)
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Book Review on ONE BIBLE MANY VOICES by S. E. Gillinham Essay
Book Review on ONE BIBLE MANY VOICES by S. E. Gillinham - Essay Example 113). Throughout this volume, Gillingham adopts an academic and postmodern approach to studying the Bible, examining its formation, interpretation and overall character. Although the vast majority of authors deal with either the Old Testament of the New, Gillingham deals with the scripture in its entirety (Traina, Bauer & Peterson 2011, p. 124). On the other hand, while other authors deal with either the interpretation or formation of the Bible, Gillingham takes on both of these topics. The aim of this paper is to provide a succinct analysis of Gillingham’s book, One Bible many voices, discovering its essence and inherent message. Gillingham’s volume integrates noteworthy elements of knowledge she acquired while undertaking a long-distance module at St. John’s College, as well as elements she learnt in a theology course at the Oxford University’s undergraduate program. According to Gillingham (1999, p. xv) the book is targeted at adults with a fairly deep interest in biblical studies or theology. From the onset, Gillingham postulates that the core of the modern day is postmodernism comingled with pluralism. She believes that such comingling should also be adopted in the study of the Bible (Gillingham 1999, pp. 4-5). In essence, she attempts to demonstrate the application of pluralism, as a prominent element of postmodernism, is useful in biblical studies. One Bible many voices consists of two segments: Plurality in the making of the Bible and Plurality in the Reading of the Bible. The initial segment consists of four chapters that delve into Gillingham’s outlook concerning the diverse albeit integrated character of the description of the Bible through diverse tests and versions adopted by different groups of people. Across the chapters, Gillingham demonstrates that both the Old and New testaments have been subjected to widespread modifications in order to produce the present version (Traina 2002, p. 219). Gillingham (1999, p. 44) presents the theological, literary and historical approaches to examining the Bible. She notes that these approaches are inherently complementary, in line with the concepts of postmodernism. Gillingham holds the opinion that no biblical text has a single inflexible meaning, and this allows for the constant creation and development of fresh interpretations. Conventionally, theology provides for a single properly controlled approach to biblical studies, arguing that the cannon itself is a crucial control (Barrick 2003, p. 113). However, Gillingham proposes diverse interpretations, opposing the establishment of controls. In fact, she poises that it is impractical to establish controls regarding the inclusion or exclusion of different books. This view opposes the existence of one authoritative cannon. For Gillingham, reading the Bible is the only sure way of understanding it. She poises that the open-ended and pluralist way of reading provides a clear picture of the essence of the B ible (Gillingham 19997, p. 72). In contradiction of the book’s title, the inference of the first segment is that no single standard biblical text, universal cannon and biblical theology exists. Gillingham introduces the second segment of the volume in alignment with the book’s title. It is in the second part that she introduces the diverse approaches to
Monday, October 7, 2019
Argument final paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Argument final - Research Paper Example ilable medical remedies, and so many patients suffering from these diseases are made to endure severe and chronic pain, vomiting, difficulty in breathing, and other similar discomforts. They are often also made to endure such symptoms for days and even months before they eventually die. In the interim, they often reach the point of wanting to end their suffering and pain by ending their life. Lacking the strength and the means to end it, these patients turn to their physicians to assist them in ending their life. But legalizing physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is a dangerous step which is very much against the basic principles of the medical practice. With such a premise, this paper shall discuss and support the thesis that physician-assisted suicide should not be made legal. An important consideration in the assisted suicide discussion is the fact that committing it is against the basic principle of non-maleficence or of not doing any harm to one’s patient. The Hippocratic Oath which serves as the basic ethical mandate of the medical practice expressly prohibits physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia (Finlay, 2005). This oath declares that a physician should not â€Å"administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will [the physician] suggest such a course†(as cited by Demy and Stewart, 1998, p. 249). In the time of Hippocrates, assisted suicide and euthanasia were very much against the principles of medicine. In the current context however, assisted suicide and euthanasia are ideas which are new and different from the concepts of medicine and care (Walker, 2001). Those who support physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia also have different ideas on what it is to be a physician and what the moral boundaries of the practice a re. â€Å"It is also telling that the current public interest in PAS comes at a time when the palliative powers of American medicine are greater than they have ever been in the past†(Walker, 2001, p. 27). All in all,
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