innocent. The entire mob shows duality, they believe that burning this man is actually the holy…
n “40 Chances” by Howard G. Buffett, the reader is exposed to many stories that Buffett experienced first hand. Moments in Buffett’s life he felt changed him. Times in which he may have helped someone or brought a terrible problem to light. Seeing as there are many problems in this world, Buffett can only explain a few. Throughout the multitude of issues Buffett faces, he stays positive that he, and many others with the right resources, can make a difference. Joseph Kony, The Quran compound, and Hunger in America, Buffett has this great need to help people, in these three cases he did what he could to change the world.…
“America’s ‘Oh Sh*t!’ Moment”, written by Niall Ferguson, a historian who teaches at Harvard University, in 2011, explores why civilizations collapse, and how America can avoid this. He does not focus only on America, but many civilizations in the past that have collapsed. Niall Ferguson is the author of Civilization: The West and The Rest. The article is creatively and cleverly written using the metaphor of modern technology to describe the way in which the societal collapse occurs. This shows that the article was written for adults who are highly educated and understand and relate to technology. The article discusses the possibilities of what complete collapse would look like in American society. I believe the author successfully demonstrates and explains the very real possibility of America’s societal demise.…
The advancement of technology over the last decade has been used to further security methods in society. Devices such as surveillance systems in stores have caught suspects and decreased crime, but only by a mere 0.05% (Welsh, Farrington) (specifically in Chicago, which currently has 15,000 cameras throughout the city). So, does this implementation of surveillance really make people behave? The texts “Panopticism” by Michel Foucault and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey both focus on how to make people behave. Foucault's theory explains that if surveillance is used on people in seclusion, the authorities will claim ultimate control. Kesey’s novel challenges this theory once new ward member McMurphy is transferred in, as he provokes…
Every time I go to the Chesapeake Bay I love to watch the birds swim round. I especially love to watch the ducks and the swans. However, I have noticed that the swan like to fight with the other birds. They seem to be extremely aggressive. Also, having going to a high school where all my sciences are marine based, I knew that these birds were actually doing a lot of harm to the bay. Something needs to be done about these birds, or they entire ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay will be at risk.…
Many natural disasters happen on a daily occurrence such as the hurricane that killed 2,500 people or the tsunami that took the lives of 280,000. In both “Super Disasters” by Jacqueline Adams and The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger the authors wrote about natural disasters however they do this in very different ways, like in how they vary their writing techniques. For example, “Super Disasters” is more of an informational article whereas The Perfect Storm starts off as a personal anecdote. So as you can see both authors in these stories use many different types of techniques and strategies such as vocabulary, data, and text structure. They use these to describe the causes and effects of some of the most outrageous natural disasters.…
As I read the short story “Turkle” I felt as if I had a strong connection understanding that decisions that are believed to be small can have a strong, large impactful conclusion. Although a decision may seem simple at the time, it is…
The founding fathers established it in the Constitution as a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens. The Electoral College process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators. There have been four presidents to win the presidency without actually winning the popular vote of the nation. The most recent incident of this was the 2000 election of President George W. Bush, and this sparked a new interest in changing the system. There are two states, Nebraska and Maine that currently use their electoral votes a little differently than the other 48 states. They allot two electoral votes to the statewide winner and the rest according to the winner in each congressional district. This is one change to the system that is currently being presented by legislators in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Another possible change is the “Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote”, or the NPV compact. It would require electors to vote for the candidate who wins the most votes nationwide. An issue with this change is that the president would most likely be elected from votes of more populated areas like big cities that have similar beliefs and the smaller states and rural areas voices’ would be lost due to them being so spread out. One major concern for the NPV compact is that it could lead to corruption of the voting process by candidates being blackmailed with the threat of losing votes if the blackmailer’s demands weren’t met. Also…
The past, present, and future connect in intriguing ways. Ancient sources constantly provide evidence that history repeats itself. As often as this occurs, the future is accurately predicted, as shown in Morgan Robertson’s book The Titan. It is about an unsinkable ship that hits an iceberg and sinks, written just fourteen years before the legendary Titanic sank. Another book that predicts the future unerringly is Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. Some “predictions” from this book involve the emotional state of humans as well as how they socially interact.…
Close interpretation of the story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway leads the reader to an issue that has plagued society for decades. Understanding of the human condition is unveiled in the story line, the main setting, and through the character representation. The main characters in the story are an American man and a female named Jig. The conflict about abortions is an issue that still faces society today. Architectural and atmospheric symbolisms are used to set the mood and outline the human condition. The love bond between the man and Jig is strong; however, the more powerful bond between Jig and her unborn child is sacred.…
Since the last time I journaled, I have started reading the book An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski and am currently on page 137. This book is a true story written from Laura’s point of view about the relationship that formed between her and Maurice. They met while Laura was walking to work one morning; Maurice was a homeless, eleven year old panhandler who asked her for money one day. Instead of giving him money, Laura decided to take him out to lunch. They continued to meet every week after this and ended up becoming great friends. While reading this book, I have been observing the major conflicts, Maurice’s life at home, Laura’s childhood, and the relationship between Maurice and Laura.…
As of today, women have many rights and tend to have longer happier marriages. Even so this wasn't always the case. Women were once not able to do something as simple as voting. They were given positions of lesser status in their personal, and professional lives. So from that oppression rose two works of literature which are Trifles (written by Susan Glaspell) and The Story of an Hour (written by Kate Chopin). I chose to compare The Story of an Hour with Trifles because The Story of an Hour had an interesting twist and I could see that deep, intricate thought was put into it. This research paper will examine the similarities and the differences between these two bodies of work. Since both are feminist works of literature, spotting similarities…
"Speculative texts through the creation of distinct worlds can challenge or reinforce understanding of ourselves and how we live in the world"…
In the TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story” by Adichie people tend to write their own story and it tends to reflect their imagination. People tend to think there is only one story when in reality there are many stories. In Adichie’s speech she said people judge her country as a bad country with their “head and eyes in their breasts”, which stereotypes them as monsters or beasts. Many people like to have a single story but you need to consider multiple stories to share with other people so you can appreciate your similarities. Although people think bad about Africa and think of it as a poor country with people that are dying of poverty and…
In his book, first published in 2009, 'Fractal Time: The Secret of 2012 and a New World Age’, Gregg Braden gave wonderful clues into what we would expect to occur in our world and universe by the year 2012. Though years have passed since the first publication of the book, the information in the book remains relevant to us today. Gregg labours to elaborate how it is possible to read the past in order to discover what the future holds for us in our world and universe, and amazingly, even in our personal lives and relationships. This paper is written in order to analyse the Fractal Time book to find out what practical lessons we can pick from it. Personal views on how to apply the concepts presented in the book will also be shared and where there is need, arguments will be aired out. As you read, I hope you will find how you can also make sense of the constant changes in today’s world. The essay will begin with defining key words vital to the topic under discussion, then give a brief description of the Fractal Time book. Following that, lessons will be extracted based on my personal views. Furthermore, ways in which we can apply the lessons as individuals or communities will be shared, and then out of concern, caution will be given on certain beliefs that can likely mislead the readers of the book. Finally, the conclusion will be drawn.…