Literature and Ideals Essay Example for Free

Literature and Ideals Essay Definition: Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking, literature is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. Why do we read literature? Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. But, literature is more important than just a historical or cultural artifact. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. We learn about books and literature; we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of poems, stories, and plays; and we may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with books. Ultimately, we may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author says and how he/she says it. We may interpret the authors message. In academic circles, this decoding of the text is often carried out through the use of literary theory, using a mythological, sociological, psychological, historical, or other approach. Whatever critical paradigm we use to discuss and analyze literature, there is still an artistic quality to the works. Literature is important to us because it speaks to us, it is universal, and it affects us. Even when it is ugly, literature is beautiful. Importance of Literature. It is a curious and prevalent opinion that literature, like all art, is a mere play of imagination, pleasing enough, like a new novel, but without any serious or practical importance. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Literature preserves the ideals of a people; and idealslove, faith, duty, friendship, freedom, reverenceare the part of human life most worthy of preservation. The Greeks were a marvelous people; yet of all their mighty works we cherish only a few ideals,ideals of beauty in perishable stone, and ideals of truth in imperishable prose and poetry. It was simply the ideals of the Greeks and Hebrews and Romans, preserved in their literature, which made them what they were, and which determined their value to future generations. Our democracy, the boast of all English-speaking nations, is a dream; not the doubtful and sometimes disheartening spectacle presented in our legislative halls, but the lovely and immortal ideal of a free and equal manhood, preserved as a most precious heritage in every great literature from the Greeks to the Anglo-Saxons. All our arts, our sciences, even our inventions are founded squarely upon ideals; for under every invention is still the dream of Beowulf, that man may overcome the forces of nature; and the foundation of all our sciences and discoveries is the immortal dream that men shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. In a word, our whole civilization, our freedom, our progress, our homes, our religion, rest solidly upon ideals for their foundation. Nothing but an ideal ever endures upon earth. It is therefore impossible to overestimate the practical importance of literature, which preserves these ideals from fathers to sons, while men, cities, governments, civilizations, vanish from the face of the earth. It is only when we remember this that we appreciate the action of the devout Mussulman, who picks up and carefully preserves every scrap of paper on which words are written, because the scrap may perchance contain the name of Allah, and the ideal is too enormously important to be neglected or lost.

The Future of Marijuana in the United States Essay -- Drugs

American politicians are constantly finding themselves in a heated debate concerning the legalization of marijuana. Currently the no’s have it but the real question is how long will they be able to keep it that way. Since, "To the agriculturist, cannabis is a fiber crop; to the physician, it is an enigma; to the user, a euphoriant; to the police, a menace; to the trafficker, a source of profitable danger; to the convict or parolee and his family, a source of sorrow" (Mikuriya, 1969). Introduction The future of marijuana in the United States is uncertain. Whether it is truly on the path to legalization on a nationwide scale, no one knows. But one thing is for certain: marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. It has currently; the move towards legalization on a small scale has taken even further strides with Proposition 19 gaining approximately 44% of the California’s votes. One of the leading causes of the gradual tolerance of marijuana use has been the change in the perception of the substance among the older segment of our society. Since 2000, there has been a drastic increase in the amount of frequent marijuana users that are age 55 and above. This paper will seek to examine some of the major factors that have contributed to the significant rise in the prevalence of marijuana use among baby-boomers, the short-term effects of marijuana with an emphasis on how those effects would impact older individuals, the long-term effects of heavy mar ijuana use, and the potential political and social implications of extensive marijuana use amongst the United States’ older individuals. The first decade of the 21st century was a particularly eventful time in history. Recent studies have shown that ... ... Psycho geriatrics 20, 1081-1089. Hendrix, S. (2009). Boomers see views relaxing on marijuana. From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111503007.html. Mikuriya, Tod H. (1969). Marijuana in Medicine: Past Present and Future. California Medicine 110(1), 34–40. Stack, P, Suddath, C. (2009). A Brief History of Medical Marijuana. Retrieved November 4, 2010 from http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1931247,00.html. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies. (December 29, 2009). The NSDUH Report: Illicit Drug Use among Older Adults. Rockville, MD. (Suggested Citation) Tashkin, D.P. (1999). Effects of marijuana on the lung and its defenses against infection and cancer. School Psychology International. Special Issue: Preventing marijuana use among youth 20 (1), 23-37. .

How Can Literature Save a Nation Essay

To fully understand this question, we need to define first two things. One is, of course, what literature is; second, what it is that endangers a nation that can be negated by literature. Literature, per definition, is the art of written works. In Latin, it literally means â€Å"to be acquainted with letters†. So, in that context, every book, every journal, every thing written, loosely defined, is literature. Now, what can books, journals and papers possibly do to save a nation from, say, war? Or economic crisis? Or anything that can harm what we define as â€Å" community sharing a common language, a common culture†; simply, a nation? Take for example something written by a middle-aged American way back in the 1850’s. And she was a woman, nonetheless, by the name of Harriett Beecher-Stowe. It revolves around an African-American man who, today, would be a houseboy or a worker. Those times, he was called a negro slave. The book is, of course, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, with the story touching sensitive topics of slavery, racism, and religious faith. This simple book by a simple schoolteacher awakened the minds of the American people into realizing that, to quote Shakespeare’s â€Å"Merchant of Venice†, â€Å"If you prick me, do I not bleed? If you tickle me, do I not laugh? † This aroused a sense of disgust that what White Americans were doing to another actual human being, albeit of a different color, yet still another living person, what they themselves would not want to be put up with. In short, this book helped shape America’s future as a slave-free country by igniting the first sparks of the American Civil War. Coincidentally, some decades later, it was to be the same book that would ignite another revolutionary spark somewhere in the Pacific; in the Southeast Asian region to be exact. While in Madrid, our very own Dr. Jose P. Rizal was moved by Uncle Tom’s Cabin that he proposed writing a novel that would do the same for the Philippines (at that time under Spanish oppression) what that book did for America. The result was â€Å"Noli Me Tangere† (Touch Me Not). Now, to illustrate how those works saved a nation concretely would be illogical. For it is not paper and pencil that saves a nation, it is us, its people. We are the nations conscience and we act on our own consciences. Literature, whether it be the Bible, or Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or The Da Vinci Code, ignites in us thoughts and emotions.. Of course it cannot save us physically, but it is a catalyst. Literature is concentrated on saving the civilised human race. It keeps us who we are, points out what makes us different from animals: our thinking and our ability to not only change and adapt, but to change the situation we are in. It informs us, thus, giving us new points of view and a broader opinion on a subject leading to a better understanding of it. It generates ideas that move us into action, that influence us, that change us. This is what creates a force or a chain reaction of sudden awareness that causes the people of a nation to rise up and save that nation; either from slavery, from oppression, from economic downfall, or form anything a nation is to be saved from by its people.

Art and Irony Essay

Dreams are the paints of a great artist, and the world is their canvas. Artists are able to produce beautiful art pieces using their ideas and imaginations. Through art, we are able to communicate stories of tragedy, peace, hardship, and ease. In many ways, visual art and written stories can be compared to one another. Like a frame to a picture, the techniques in a short story help keep the story together. As for the elements they can be seen as the painting itself, providing both story and beauty. Both techniques and elements play crucial roles together. In both short stories â€Å"The Blues Merchant† and â€Å"Rich For One Day†, the influence of the ironic technique towards characterization and theme can be noticeably seen. The use of irony greatly affects the overall theme of the Blues Merchant, like a border to a beautiful painting. We see the theme shift when we see the guard nodding to the rhythm of the Blues Merchant. When confronted by the guard sergeant, he receives the message which is â€Å" You are not supposed to enjoy the blues. You get paid to watch, not to be human† (Washington 284). After this particular even takes place, we see how the Blues Merchant is able to shift the freedom of the guards, and the entrapment of the prisoners. Through the Blues Merchants’ music, the guards are becoming trapped and confined while the prisoners are being able to taste freedom. The ironic technique can be seen when this occurs. The same technique can be seen when the narrator is describing the concert. In the last sentence of the story, the narrator states, â€Å"The guards remain trapped behind the prison walls while, if only for a short time, we are free† (Washington 284). Irony is at play in this sentence because the full transformation of the prisoners and guards is showcased. The theme of the story is reflected through irony, and the irony is shown in this quote. The theme of the story is that music can set you free, and the technique used plays a part by freeing the prisoners. The best paintings are the ones that that tell us stories. The Blues Merchant is able to paint a beautiful story of freedom for the struggling man. The Blues Merchant paints a powerful picture. Not only can an ironic technique affect the theme of a story, but it can also effect the development of characters. We see this take place in â€Å"Rich For One Day†. Aline is girl who seems to be down in fortune, but seems to think otherwise. Aline misjudges her wealth when she remembers that she â€Å" [is] rich today. She [has] eight dollars, a fortune.† (Suzanne 257). The fact that this economically unstable woman finds herself rich with eight dollars is ironic. She tries to convince herself that her own life is a life of luxury and comfort, although in reality, this is not the case. Aline tries to hide and stay away from the harsh truth when we see her â€Å" Not quite awake and that she felt too rich today to give an answer† (Suzanne 257) to the designer calling her about a possible job offer. Considering that Aline is not doing well for herself, she should see to take this job, but instead she refuses to give an answer to the designer. The irony is seen when she says that she is deemed too rich to give an appropriate answer. If she were actually rich, then this statement would not be ironic, but considering she only has eight dollars in her bank account, then her saying that really tells the reader what kind of person Aline really is. Characters in a story are fundamental to a stories success. If an ironic technique is used effectively, the development of such characters can be very fruitful and promising. Authors use many different techniques to transform the core aspects of a story. Artists can use different types of paint, or different bristles to create a desired affect on their work. Both authors and artists alike have been adapting these different ways of expressing their works for the sole purpose of communicating with their audience. Irony has proven to be a useful tool in terms of enhancing a theme of a story, or the development of a character. Imagine what stories and art would be without real purpose. What a story would be without effective technique. A painting without a story, A picture without a frame.

To Kill a Mocking Bird essays

To Kill a Mocking Bird essays The Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To kill a mocking Bird explores many aspects of a township in the 1920s. Throughout the novel the characters emerge from situations as either victors or victims. Even though Maycomb is shown to be a quiet peaceful town, there is much hidden conflict that was commonly accepted by society in this era. This conflict occurs when characters cross social boundaries and break societies unwritten laws. A victor can be defined as the winner or conqueror over an opponent or situation. The opposite of this is a victim, which means someone who loses or is disadvantaged by a situation or a person with selfish aims. However, in the book these titles are not earned in a competition, but largely by a persons social status. Atticus Finch, Dolphus Raymond, Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell are characters that represent victor or victim. Obviously a victor, Atticus Finch is a tolerant and accepting man who looks to the good will of all people and recognises everyone for who they are. He is moralistic and passes this trait onto his children, Scout and Jem. Despite the social structure of the time, Atticus strongly believed in equality throughout the human race. An example of this would be his passion in the Tom Robinson case. Atticus represented Tom Robinson wholeheartedly, fighting for true justice, all along knowing the odds were against him. This attitude is evident when he said to Scout, This case, Tom Robinsons case, is something that goes to the essence of a mans conscience Scout, I couldnt go to church and worship God if I didnt try to help that man.p116. Throughout the novel Atticus showed many more acts of an unbiased nature, he is a true victor. Clearly another victor, Dolphus Raymond, like Atticus finch, is tolerant and accepting of all people. He choses to live his life a way that is looked down upon by Maycomb society. An example of this, is that he has biraci ...

Why Everyone Should Read Neil deGrasse Tyson’s New Book

Why Everyone Should Read Neil deGrasse Tyson’s New Book Science is intimidating. Despite the fact that we live our lives constantly interacting with and relying on technology and the science that forms the foundation of our modern lives, the vast majority of people regard science as a discipline and general body of knowledge that is beyond their ability to understand, control, or use. Not everyone was born to be a scientist, of course, and we all have areas that interest us more (or less) and in which we demonstrate more (or less) aptitude. That makes it easy to imagine that science is both unnecessary for our daily lives as well as impenetrable - after all, a subject like astrophysics doesnt seem like something youre going to need for the Monday morning scrum meeting, and it also seems like an unimaginably vast subject that relies on math far more than most people are prepared for. And those things are both true - if you are discussing necessity and mastery. But theres a middle ground between being, say, Neil deGrasse Tyson and simply being curious about the universe we exist in. The fact is, a book like Astrophysics for People in a Hurry offers more than dry, stiff scientific knowledge - and there are plenty of reasons everyone should read it. Perspective There’s a reason that the stars have fascinated us for pretty much the entirety of human existence. No matter what your philosophy, religion, or political slant, the stars and planets in the night sky represent obvious proof that we are just a small part of a much, much larger whole - and that means the possibilities are endless. Is there life out there? Other habitable planets? Will it all end in a â€Å"Big Crunch† or Heat Death or will it go on forever? You may not realize it, but every time you look up at the night sky - or check your horoscope  - these questions flash through some level of your consciousness. That can be disturbing, because those questions are huge, and we don’t have a lot of answers for them. What Tyson aims to accomplish with this short book is to give you an anchor of knowledge to demystify the universe a little. That kind of perspective is crucial, because those huge, universal-scale questions also inform and affect our small-scale interactions and decisions here on Earth. The more you know about how the universe works, the less susceptible to fake news, fake science, and scaremongering you’ll be. Knowledge, after all, is power. Entertainment That being said, Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the most accomplished and charming writers and speakers in our modern world. If you’ve ever seen him interviewed or read any of his articles, you know that the man knows how to write. He manages to make these complicated scientific concepts not only seem comprehensible, but downright entertaining. He’s just that guy you enjoy listening to, and his writing style often evokes the chummy sense that you’re sitting down and having drinks with him as he talks about his day at work. The writing in Astrophysics for People in a Hurry is peppered with anecdotes about famous scientists, interesting little asides about a whole range of things, and plain old jokes. It’s one of those books that will fuel your cocktail party chatter for months to come as you dole out some of the fascinating facts you glean from its pages. Format If you’re still feeling intimidated by the word astrophysics, relax. The chapters in this book were originally separate essays and articles Tyson has published over the years, which means the book comes at you in bite-size, easily digestible chunks - and there’s no test at the end. This is the sort of science book you can read in easygoing bits and pieces, because Tyson’s goal isn’t to turn you into a scientist overnight. His goal is to leave you familiar with the fundamentals. The chapters aren’t overly long, and there’s no math. Let’s repeat that: There is no math. There’s also no jargon or scary scientist lingo - Tyson knows who his intended audience is, and he writes in a chatty, open style. Jargon is designed to close off a conversation to only people in the know, and Tyson avoids it like the plague, opting instead for a vocabulary that everyone, no matter their personal scientific background, will be comfortable with. The end result? No, you won’t be a Ph.D. in astrophysics when you finish the book, but you will have a clear understanding of the forces that control our universe. Knowledge is power, and this is some of the most important knowledge you can learn. Bottom line: This is a fun, fascinating, and informative book that requires no prep work to read, and might just leave you smarter than when you came in. There’s no reason not to read it.

Prisoner Torture Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Prisoner Torture - Research Paper Example For criminal investigators dealing with cases such as homicide or terrorism plot, properly interacting with witnesses and suspects is essential to unearth the truth. Interrogating subjects like juvenile require special sensitivity. As a result, successful investigators must be resourceful and good in communication. They must be strong in ethics and compassionate. An investigation to uncover misuse of information by a chief executive of a company to buy shares (insider trading) is quite different from a case of suicide or homicide. Despite the fact that over the years, the field of investigation has branched into many specialized parts, the basic rules of good investigations and desired qualities of good investigators are universal for all categories of investigations. Any investigator is supposed to follow ethical means while pursuing investigation. If evidence is gathered from unethical means, then there is little, if any, justice that is delivered. Those signing for government serv ice have to agree to abide by its code of conduct and ethics. For instance, those joining for NSW Police Force agree to its code of conduct and ethics which include behaving honestly, acting with care and diligence when on or off duty (NSW Police Force). The problem is that many of the so called moral and ethical issues are subjective. Generally, it is agreed that there should be no torture with prisoners or tampering or plantation of evidence. But often, there is no thin line of difference between what is ethical and what is not ethical, what is just and what is unjust. Those in CIA and other government agencies have to constantly balance between conflicting interests, and often there is no one line of argument that can justify or defend their action. It is blamed by many human rights activists that there is frequent violation of human rights by federal investigators while interrogating terrorists. Many in CIA and other government agencies justify them as vital for counter-terroris m efforts (Karl). It is true that many investigators at extraordinary times have to make a tough choice between rigid rules and larger welfare. But that should be exceptional. Apart from professional expertise, a good investigation should also be carried out in an ethically responsible manner and should have evidence of that while carrying investigation. In this paper, a study will be made why torture should not be permissible by state from human rights perspective and ineffectiveness of torture in achieving leads. Also, implications of torture will be examined in context of monotheism, atheism, and polytheism belief. Prisoner torture should not be acceptable in any rational and civilized society. It is unacceptable to use prisoner torture methods as a way to get the prisoners confess because such methods symbolize a violation of human rights. Prisoner torture violates human rights, which is the main tenet of any free modern society. Human right is granted to every human being, man or woman, rich or poor, adult or child, healthy or sick, educated or not, and in the case under study, prisoner, whether proved guilty or not (Orend, 16). In US, The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights mentions the right to liberty for all citizens. Under it, people have the right to freedom of speech. If a prisoner is not willing to disclose something, use of torture to reveal is, therefore, illegal. Use of physical torture can definitely harm someone’s physical well being. According to Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) statement by UN, everyone has the right to ‘life, liberty, and security of the person’. The statement clearly mentions that no one can be subjected to torture, or to cruel and unjust punishment (Orend, 107). Also, torture in a way of putting someone’