The Importance Of Memory Continuity Philosophy Essay

The Importance Of Memory Continuity Philosophy Essay In this chapter I will demonstrate that memories are very important to our conception of ourselves and the identities of others, but are unreliable and not alone sufficient for ensuring the continuity of ones identity. I believe that more psychological elements are required in instances where memories are erroneous or have been forgotten. Consciousness is a difficult term to define though. Thomas Reid points out that we cannot be conscious of the past, as you can only ever be conscious of the present (Reid, p. 222). So perhaps Locke means it is our memories which make us the same person as we were yesterday. The problem with this is that I can remember what my flatmates were doing yesterday, but this does not make me identical with my flatmates. So it must only be first-person memory, from my own perspective, which demonstrates that I am identical with myself from yesterday. Joseph Butler objects that this results in a circular position, as having first-person memories implies my remembering that I performed those actions (Butler, p. 324). However, we can see that it would be possible for someone to wake up with amnesia, knowing what actions they had performed recently but with no idea who they are. Therefore, it is possible to separate first-person memory from identity. This is the position popularly attributed to Lo cke. But does this mean that I cease to be myself when I sleep, or that when I temporarily forget that I went cycling yesterday I am no longer the person who went cycling yesterday? Locke would not believe this to be the case. As long as I remembered when I was prompted or woken up then I would still be the same person. But what if I could not remember, even with prompting? For example, someone with Alzheimers disease may suffer loss of memory of recent events. There was also the case of David Fitzpatrick, who suffered a dissociative fugue at age 25, causing him to forget everything about his life before the fugue (Channel Fives The Man With No Past). As Lockes theory of identity related to the responsibility of the agent, Locke would have to say that David Fitzpatrick could not be held responsible for any of the actions, good or bad, he had carried out prior to his fugue. We are reluctant to accept that people are not responsible for actions they cannot recall committing. A distinction which needs to be drawn in Lockes position on accountability is the difference between being conscious of an action now and being conscious of it when it was being committed. For example, (sleepwalker?) was not convicted of the murder of his father because he committed the crime while asleep. Since he was clearly not conscious of the actions he was performing, he was not held responsible for them. However, someone who intentionally hurts many people and later forgets what he has done should not be deemed innocent. As this pertains to identity, we can see that there may be parts of our lives we can no longer recall. For example, most of us recall very little of our early childhood. Thomas Reid objects to this element of Lockes theory of identity with a famous example. A young boy is flogged for stealing apples, grows up to become an officer and later becomes a general. The officer remembered being flogged, and the general remembers being an officer, but the general does not remember being flogged. According to Locke this means the general is not the same person as he was as a child. Reid argues, however, that identity is transitive (Reid, p.249). This means that since the general remembers being an officer, and the officer remembers being flogged, the general is identical with the boy who was flogged, which means Lockes response is nonsensical. But identity is not necessarily transitive. For example, the cup by my bed was full last night but this morning it is empty. This does not mean that the cup I see this morning is different to the one that was there last night. Not all qualities must remain the same in order for people and objects to be the same over time. The only aspect which Locke says must be consistent is our consciousness. ( A huge problem with Lockes theory is the possibility that one may have memories which have become distorted over time, or altogether false. Memories are extremely fragile, and easily led by suggestions from others. For example, Locke explains that, in the case of one who falsely suffers guilt for someone elses crime, when we get to Heaven, God will ensure that the only memories we have and can be held responsible for are our own (Locke, p. 473). But in order for God to determine which memories are ours, he must be able to determine who we are. Locke is unable to explain how God determines this, and why we cannot use Gods criteria instead of Lockes flawed system. A similar problem for Locke is cases of amnesia, whereby a person forgets everything of their past. A new person may seem to emerge after the episode. But what if they later recovered their memory? Similarly, what happens to their old self during times of identity loss. Should we consider the old person to have died? But then when they return we could only consider them to have come back to life. So body needed to act as a kind of enclosure for the memories, allowing for some kind of continuity during times of memory or psychological loss. Tan Tai Wei states that the unreliability of memories means that we need more in order to assure ones identity. He claims that our bodies are necessary for the authentication of our memories. [http://www.springerlink.com/content/jm4072410n14l705/]. As demonstrated in previous chapters, the only important aspects of our body are the brain and our genetic make-up. Yet these do not seem to offer any reliable authentication of our memories. Instead, I believe that what we ourselves would deem important for the continuation of our identity is our psychology: our beliefs, opinions, attitudes and passions. J. Butler, Analogy of Religion, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1860. J. Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, (ed.) T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and J. F. Dove, Oxford University, Oxford, 1828. T. Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, in: The Works of Thomas Reid, Vol. 1, (ed.) MacLaughlan and Stewart, Edinburgh, 1872. The Man With No Past 2006, television programme, Extraordinary People, Channel Five, UK, 15th November.

Teenage Dramas And Pop Culture Media Essay

Teenage Dramas And Pop Culture Media Essay American teenage drama series such as Glee, Gossip Girl, 90210, One Tree Hill, the O.C. and etcetera have won over the hearts of adolescents in this era. These teen drama series have become pop culture phenomenon such that they have expanded their fan base in Asian countries like Malaysia. The teen series craze is rather palpable among the students of Mara College Banting. However, to what extent are we aware of the effects of watching these teenage drama series? Are these trend-setting drama shows a good or bad influence on the students of Mara College Banting in terms of language and cultural interaction? These questions have inspired me to investigate my research question, How Does Watching American Teenage Drama Series Affect Mara College Banting Students Written Vocabulary? The main focus of my paper will be investigating how the dialogues of the characters and the visual stimulations of the teenage drama series affect Mara College Banting students own vocabulary. I specifically chose teenage drama series from the United States due to the intriguing colloquial language and the massive influence they have on the viewers. My area of study encompasses written vocabulary, particularly in terms of informal writing. It is worthy to realize just how much we have learned from watching these teen series and incorporating them in our daily language. Hence, observations on daily written texts in social networks, online conversations and diary entries will provide solid evidence relevant to this research. The focal aim will be colloquialism, abbreviations, idiomatic expressions and expansion of vocabulary. This research question is worthy of investigation because it scrutinizes the effects of watching American teenage drama series towards Mara College Banting students. From this research, I can determine whether or not the students incorporate what they learned unconsciously from watching these series into their daily written production. Language is so vital to human culture and social interaction.  [1]  After all, the Western media have greatly influenced the youths of Malaysia. With the growing popularity of teenage drama series, it is best to consider the implications it might have on the students English, specifically vocabulary. Background Mara College Banting students are truly huge fans of American teenage drama series. To conduct my research, I randomly selected 30 students from different types of courses (Medicine, Engineering and Biotechnology). The age group of my respondents ranges from 18 to 20 years old. To prove how much these teenage drama series have affected Mara College Banting students, I have extracted two Facebook  [2]  entries. Azzeem Shahren : Im out of GG, out of GLEE and out of Vampire Diariesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and theres just no waiting for the next episode/season when you only got 2 weeks leftà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ can someone supply me with other things to watch?  [3]  May 28, 10:51 pm Azmir Seed Fakkri: been watching Gossip Girls, Glee and next up is the Vampire Diaries.  [4]  May 26, 2:26 pm Evidently, the students of Mara College Banting are loyal fans of these teenage drama series. In fact, 93.3% of my respondents have admitted that what appealed to them the most about these series is the interesting storyline. The central characters are mainly adolescents, so the dilemmas that they face are relatable to the students. All the drama that drives the plot of the series is what keeps audiences glued to their television sets or computer screens. Mara College Banting students look up to the characters of the series because they envy the characters attractive appearances, talents and fabulous lifestyle. Diagram 1: Factors that appeal to the students most from watching teen series The bar chart illustrates the main factors that make teen series appeal to the students of Mara College Banting. Each respondent selects two main factors. With such a strong fan base, how much impact has these characters made on Mara College Banting students vocabulary? We should consider whether the dialogues performed by the actors are appropriate for us to apply in our own Eastern society. Most importantly, do watching these teenage drama series improve the students vocabulary or worsen it? If it indeed affects their language, what aspect of vocabulary does it influence? These questions will be answered once we probe the vocabulary used by Mara College Banting students in their informal written production. Colloquialism Colloquialism may be defined as a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, and is typically used in ordinary or familiar conversations.  [5]  Sometimes, it may come of as mildly pejorative, due to its intended use for informal settings.  [6]  There are many branches or types of colloquialism found in American teenage drama series, many of which are quickly learned by the students of Mara College Banting. Slang or contemporary youth language Slang is usually considered to be a low form of language and consistently associated with younger speakers.  [7]  Consequently, slang is more commonly adopted in informal conversations among friends. The characters in teen series use these slangs to avoid from being perceived as out-of-date.  [8]  Many students in Mara College Banting have confessed that they prefer using slang when communicating among friends because the phrase is much more catchy. Spread by television, music and now the Internet, American youths have generated a lexicon of their own.  [9]   As previously stated, characters in teenage drama series are trendsetters. The students of Mara College Banting have adopted the slang that they use as well. The following table shows a list of slang or contemporary youth language that they have learned from watching American teenage drama series. Table 1: Slang/ contemporary youth language  [10]   SLANG DEFINITION SERIES Bro Friend; commonly used for greetings Glee Pot Marijuana 90210 Freak out To panic/lose control Glee Dude A name for everyone, stereotypically surfers and skateboarders Expressing awe or emphasis 90210 Crack head One who partakes in smoking crack cocaine Gossip Girl Whacked Demented Glee Babe Endearing term used for girls, and sometimes describe boys Glee Booze An alcoholic beverage 90210 Noob Lacks intelligence or experience in a specific field The 0.C. Hot Attractive 90210 Mara College Banting students commonly use slang during informal conversations. This is a branch of functional linguistics- a theory of language that adopts a view of language as social interaction. According to Tom McArthur, slang is the equivalent of fashion and serves the same purpose. Like chic clothes and modes of entertainment, effective slang must be new, appealing and able to gain acceptance in a group quickly.  [11]  For instance, the students greet by referring to each other as dude, bro or babe in social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. Fizree Azreen Azhar : safe journey, bro Aizat Finggly : okay dude, I will consider Naqjwa Naq : Happy Birthday Ezzy babe! These slang terms act as social tools that enable teens to communicate and express themselves freely. They act as substitutes to certain words or phrases that may sound too formal. For example, if one wants to express his or her panicked emotions, that person would not say, I am in a state of panic! as this would be considered out-dated or just plain silly. Instead, the students of Mara College Banting would express their emotions as such: Arlina Arshad : I freak out knowing everyone has started or finished their homework.  [12]  June 8, 1:39 am Nadd Khar : haha, omg omg  [13]  hes hot. * drool * June 11, 1:30 am Social network is defined as a style of organization of social relationships characterized by highly mobile, interconnected links between individuals or groups.  [14]  After all, the main purpose of social networks and online chat rooms is to reconnect with old friends and perhaps make new ones. Therefore the tone or register of the written text should be informal. The students are free to use slang as they wish because their audience is just fellow teenagers. However, the use of slang is not limited to just social networks alone. The students also use contemporary youth language in their blogs  [15]  because these sites allow the freedom of writing and self-expression. This area of study is known as ethno methodology or conversational analysis. The student wishes to express his or her feelings towards her peers, and hence would apply slang to make the blog more accessible and conversational. The following extracts are a few examples of blog entries and text messages from the students of Mara College Banting: Im not dead yall. I just havent been writing for 4 months.  [16]   Whaddup homie Slang is sensitive to current styles so it changes rapidly in time. Most slang terms used in these teenage drama series are cool now, but would ultimately disappear from use within our generation or become standardized after frequent usage. Swear words /Vulgar terms Swear words, or bad words, on the other hand, are an extreme form of colloquialism. Consequently, some or all members of the society frequently consider these words taboo.  [17]  These words are mostly intended for offensive remarks and at extreme conditions; they affect racial and cultural issues. Cursing is not an unusual problem among the teenagers of America. Unfortunately, the students of Mara College Banting are slowly picking up this colloquial language themselves. Many, if not all American teenage drama series include vulgar terms in the dialogues. The curse words are underlined: Table 2: Curse words used in American teenage drama series SERIES DIALOGUE MEANING OF WORD Glee Season 1 : Preggers Puck: Sup, MILF? Acronym for Mother Id Like to Fornicate 90210 Season 1: Pilot Naomi: Well, you sound like a little bitch. And just to be clear, you are so disinvited from my birthday party. Annoying and whining female. Navid: Why didnt you kick his ass? To describe the buttocks Gossip Girl Voice-over: As much as a BFF can make you go WTF Acronym for what the fuck Twitter entry by a student: I think I see a double chin. FML (fuck my life)  [18]   Facebook comment by a student: Hey ass hole listen up!  [19]   The swear words used by the characters are quickly picked up by the students. In fact, 80% of my respondents agree that the language used in American teenage drama series include vulgar terms. Visual stimulation from these teenage drama series is also to be blamed for injecting the students with vulgar vocabulary. The most recent and prominent example would have to be the advertisement campaign for Gossip Girl in April 2008: gossip-girl-omfg.0.0.00.432325.jpeg The term OMFG stands for Oh My Fucking God- a rather abrasive and extremely colloquial phrase. The commercial for this campaign itself explains exactly what this word means to the public. No doubt, the show used this term to attract viewers and boost their ratings. Every respondent who watched Gossip Girl learned what OMFG meant just by watching the advertisement for this series. Due to the controversial nature of this term, Gossip Girl has succeeded in gaining popularity. However, the students of Mara College Banting do not resort to such profanity. They often use euphemisms to replace the F word with words like screw or shit. The students are rather cautious on what they write in the Internet because it is public domain. According to Kimberly Cunningham, ones positioning in social networks has a large implication on the span of an individuals power in a contemporary informational society.  [20]  Considering that the students want to fit in and make new friends, they would surely be careful in choosing their words. Making a good impression in order to make new friends online is really important to teenagers. Hence, the students of my college rarely write swear words in their profiles. After all, these students would only use curse words with friends that they are truly familiar with. When dealing with new friends or acquaintances, Mara College Banting students make use of slang in order to break the ice. As the friendship develops even further and the students become closer together, then the circumstances would permit the students to use these swear words. Abbreviations With the growing use of the Internet, written texts have evolved tremendously. The Internet is primarily a reading medium that encourages brevity, but often of the wrong sort.  [21]  Real-time text-based communications such as Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and Short Message Service (SMS) have caused the emergence of a new language suited to the compactness of this new media.  [22]   Teenagers like the students of Mara College Banting use acronyms instead of typing full sentences because it is more convenient. They utilize acronyms as much as they can to save time and money. The following table shows the acronyms that my respondents have learned from watching American teenage drama series. Table 3: Acronyms learned from watching teenage drama series ACRONYM TRANSLATION SERIES OMG Oh My God Gossip Girl MILF Mother Id Like to Fornicate Glee XOXO Hugs and kisses Gossip Girl LOL Laugh Out Loud 90210 XOXO actually symbolizes hugs and kisses. The X symbolizes a kiss and O is the shape of a hug. It is popularized through Gossip Girl because XOXO is the narrators catchphrase. In most episodes, the narrator would always include it as such: And who am I? Thats one secret you know Ill never tellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ You know you love meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ XOXO Gossip Girl.  [23]   This abbreviation has become popular among the students of Mara College Banting. A lot of them use XOXO to express their fondness among friends while others simply write XOXO to quote Gossip Girl. This clearly shows how much impact watching teenage drama series had on the students vocabulary. In fact, 83.3% of my randomly selected questionnaire respondents use acronyms in their text messages and written productions online. The following phrases are comments written by the students in social networks: Dhania Haron : Hey Farah! Well have to wait for Fred for the venue and date. XOXO, Dhania   [24]  June 1, 10:03 am Azmir Seed Fakkri : à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦careful Mr S, the internet might bring more benefits than you think it isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ XOXOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ gossip girl Azmir Seed Fakkri : à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ can you give me your blog link? XOXO blogger boyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ã‚  [25]   May 26, 8:01 pm Azhari Rosli : Im awesome-er hahahaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I know you love meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ XOXO haha  [26]   June 11, 3:33 pm However, the most frequently used acronyms are OMG which stands for Oh My God and LOL which is an abbreviation for laugh out loud. The OMG acronym is picked up from many teenage drama series, mostly from the characters dialogue and text messages. It is usually to portray disbelief or awe. LOL, on the other hand is usually intended for written texts to express laughter. A lot of Mara College Banting students apply the acronyms they learned from teenage drama series in their text messages and social networks. Nadiah Bajunid : OMG I wanna go if theres a hot guy too! Is this the one in OU? Rofi Dang : LOL. Totally. Haha Azzeem Shahren : Btw (by the way)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ upload the vids (videos)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whoever has it! Farah Farhana : babeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ sorry I was awayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Will do the comment *ASAP (as soon as possible). Expanding vocabulary New Terminology A lot of teenage drama series tend to create new terms to keep audiences wondering what those terms really mean. As preciously stated, Gossip Girl had popularized the acronym OMFG and used XOXO as its trademark. However, it is not the only teen series that have introduced new terms. My questionnaire respondents interestingly pointed out some terms that they have learned from watching other teenage drama series; most of which are not even in the dictionary. For instance, Chrismukkah is a term that was popularized in the O.C. whereby it is a celebration of both Christmas and Hanukkah. The character, Seth Cohen had parents who had separate beliefs. His father was Jewish whereas his mother was Protestant. Hence, to combine both beliefs, Seth claimed to have created this holiday.  [27]  The term had already existed prior to the series, but it was the O.C. that had made the term popular among viewers, which include the students of Mara College Banting. Another example would be the pop cultural phenomenon- Glee. This teenage drama series had literally invented a term of its own. Episode 11 of Season 1 was entitled Hairography. The definition of this term was explained in the dialogue of Rachel Berry with the Glee Club advisor, Mr. William Schuester. The following excerpt is Rachels description of the term: What they were doing were all just smokes and mirrors- its called hairography. All of the whizzing of their hair around just to distract from the fact that theyre not really good dancers and their vocals were just so-so.  [28]   Besides that, Glee also coined the term Lima loser. A Lima loser is a person that will not amount to anything and would always be a loser for the rest of his or her life. Lima is actually an abbreviation for lost in the middle of America (L.I.M.A.) where the characters in the series live.  [29]  This term was introduced through Quinn Fabrays dialogue when Puck confronted her: Youre a Lima loser and you will always be a Lima loser.  [30]  Season 1 Episode 4 From the dialogue performed by the characters, the students of Mara College Banting now understand the definition of the word Hairography and Lima Loser even if they did not exist previously. Considering that Glee is a musical series, the terms introduced by this teen series will most certainly be related to music. The perfect examples would be Mash-Up and Theatricality. Once again, the character explains the definition of the term verbally. The following is the script that describes the terms: Mr Schuester : A mash-up is when you take two songs and mash them together to make an even richer explosion of musical expression Season 1 Episode 6 Shelby Corcoran: But being theatrical doesnt mean you have to be a nuclear explosion. It can be like, like a quiet storm. You just have to radiate emotion, express whats deep inside you. Thats what theatricality is truly about.  [31]  S1 Episode 20 The musical jargons are also introduced from the dance routines. In the episode Throw down, Sue Sylvesters character wanted Mike Chang to show his pop and lock moves. Mike Chang started to dance to the pop and lock style, thus demonstrating what the term really meant without saying a word. 14.1.jpgimages.jpeg Pop and lock is a style of break dancing which involves short, rapid movements of the arms and the legs (popping), combined with brief pauses in between movements (locking).  [32]  Mike Changs character had perfectly demonstrated these dance moves in many episodes. Rather than explaining it in lines, Mike shows it to the audience. This is an example whereby visual stimulation from teenage drama series can expand the students vocabulary. Therefore, teenage drama series had clearly been educational to some extent. The students who are not musically inclined are now more knowledgeable in music by watching teenage drama series like Glee. The new words that they have learned, regardless whether or not they were invented by the series or established in the English dictionary have greatly expanded their vocabulary. Even Fox Entertainment Boss, Pete Rice quoted, In just one year, Glee has transcended the television landscape and emerged as a global pop culture phenomenon. Glee has gained so much popularity worldwide that the fans of Glee have been given the nickname Gleek. The word is actually a combination of Glee and geek. Therefore, all the students of Mara College Banting that are obsessed with Glee would refer to each other as a Gleek. Adjectives In relation to learning new words, a minor group of Mara College Banting acknowledged that these American teenage drama series had taught them new adjectives. Since adjectives are important to describe the characters emotions or actions, a lot of these adjectives are added into the students ever expanding vocabulary. Table 4: New adjectives learned through watching teen series: ADJECTIVE SERIES DEFINITION Abrasive Glee A person who is rude and unkind Fugly Gossip Girl Fucking ugly Slampy One Tree Hill Very small; not covering much Most adjectives used in American teenage drama series are in a sense, invented. Only one or two new terms learned from watching these series are actually real English words. Words like fugly and slampy are terms that the series have introduced on their own. Fugly uses the F word (euphemism for fuck) to give a much stronger impact or emphasis on the adjective ugly. Slampy is also another negative term created by teenage drama series. (c) Idiomatic Expressions Despite the negative terms that have been injected into the vocabulary of the students of Mara College Banting, there are also pros to watching these teenage drama series. Some teenage drama series include idiomatic expressions in the script. My respondents have learned many idioms while watching these shows. Table 5: Idiomatic expressions learned from Glee (extracted from questionnaires): IDIOM DEFINITION Cock o the walk Used to describe a person who is too cool for school On the down low A man, who for all intents is straight, however once in a while likes to engage in gay sex Over the shoulder boulder holder Large bra One in the oven Pregnant woman Washed up Someone that has once led its peak of greatness far too long ago Judging from the list of idioms used in the script of teenage drama series, there is no denying that watching these series can also be educational. It is difficult to learn idiomatic expressions through memorization. Hence, the visual stimulation from teenage drama series would make it easier for the students to remember the idioms. When the terms are applied in daily situations like the teenage drama shows, the students would know the proper way of applying those idioms. They would be able to widen their vocabulary with ease. CONCLUSION The main objective of this Extended Essay is to investigate on how watching American teenage drama series can affect the vocabulary of Mara College Banting students. The dialogue and visual stimulations of the teenage series have indeed affected their written vocabulary, particularly in informal written texts. Applications such as social networks, blogs and text messaging provide the students the freedom of language and self-expression. Therefore, the students incorporate the vocabulary they have learned from watching those series into these applications. Collectively, these teenage drama series have added slang or contemporary youth language into the students vocabulary. Considering that the register in social networks and text messaging is informal, the students feel free to use slang. Besides contemporary youth language, the students have also applied abbreviations in their vocabulary. Acronyms are used, as they are more convenient compared to writing out complete sentences. This technique is picked up from watching the characters text using their phones or any other visual stimulations of the sort. However, these American teenage drama series often introduce terms that are rather offensive. Swear words are often written in the script to portray teenage angst and the degrading language in our society today. If used carelessly, these swear words might offend other teenagers and damage their self-esteem. The tone of conversation among youngsters may be informal, but care must be taken not to use colloquial language irresponsibly. Though there are some negative implications of watching teenage drama series, there is no denying that these shows are also beneficial to the students of Mara College Banting. More often than not, new terms are being introduced to these students. A lot of the students have learned new words by simply watching these shows. The visual stimulus also helped them memorize the words better. Hence, watching these teenage drama series have indeed affected Mara College Banting students written vocabulary. The new terms are learned and applied in informal written production such as social networks, text messaging and blogs.

James Baldwin’s Visions Of America and Richard Rodriguez’s Hunger of Me

James Baldwin’s Visions Of America and Richard Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Many immigrant and minority narratives concentrate their efforts on the positive side of the American dream. These particular stories narrate a person's struggle and rise through the ranks of the Am6rican hierarchy focusing on the opportunities that seem to abound in this country. While these stories are well and good. they do seem to soft peddle the flip side of this country's attitude toward the immigrant and minority. America is a land of milk and honey and opportunity, but unfortunately most new officiates or unwilling participants in the American culture face an American nightmare that leaves its effects on the individuals, families and cultures for generations to come. America has its own deeply seated prejudices and stereotypes of people from outside its walI5 and these prejudices force some immigrants and minorities either to abandon former cultural ties in order to assimilate or to strap on the baldric of equality that changes their lives forever. Two authors, in particular, will help explore this idea that an immigrant or minority experiencing the trauma of bigotry must in some way attempt to reconcile their own cultural heritage with the demands of a new society that objects to their very cultural difference. James Baldwin and Richard Rodriguez experienced this type of immigrant and minority angst regarding their own ties to their cultural and racial backgrounds. Baldwin struggled with the desire to be a writer, not just a black writer, amidst the chaos and protests of the 1960's political movement and Richard Rodriguez battled between the pull of assimilation and the success it promised and his own feelings of familial betrayal... ...d, for their very words echo the sounds of their communities' cries for equal and peaceful co-existence. However, as both Baldwin and Rodriguez recognize and proclaim there will always be a need for their type of experiences because it is only through the loss of their cultural identity that they realized the precious gift it is. Works Cited Baldwin, James. "No Name In The Street". Visions Of America. Ed. Wesley Brown and Amy Ling. Persea 116oks: New York, 1993. 284-290. Harris, Trudier. New Essays On Go Tell It On The Mountain. Ed. Trudier Harris. Cambridge UP: New York, 1996. 1-28. Leeming, David. James Baldwin: A Biography . Alfred A. Knopf. New York, 1994. Porter, Horace. Stealing The Fire. Weslayan UP: Middletown, 1989. Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez: An Autobiographv. Bantam: New York, 1983.   

Plath’s Daddy Essay: Father and Husband as Vampires -- Plath Daddy Ess

Father and Husband as Vampires in Plath’s Daddy   Ã‚   The poem "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath concludes with the symbolic scene of the speaker killing her vampire father.   On an obvious level this represents Plath's struggle to deal with the haunting influence of her own father who died when she was a little girl.   However, as Mary G. DeJong points out, "Now that Plath's work is better known, ‘Daddy' is generally recognized as more than a confession of her personal feelings towards her father" (34-35).   In the context of the poem the scene's symbolism becomes ambiguous because mixed in with descriptions of the poet's father are clear references to her husband, who left her for another woman as "Daddy" was being written.   The problem for the reader is to figure out what Plath is saying about the connection between the figures of father and husband by tying them together in her poem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A clue lies in the final image she uses, the vampire.   In today's movies and books vampires are portrayed as humans who have gained immortality and power in exchange for the need for blood and avoidance of sunlight and crosses.   However, Plath wrote her poem in 1962, and since then our culture's image of the vampire has changed drastically.   Historically, people who were transformed into vampires were no longer the same human beings.   Instead, they became monsters who retained only the physical appearance of their former selves.   Our interpretation of the poem is affected if we assume that when Plath wrote about a vampire she had in mind the older conception of a monster which took over the body of a now dead human.   With this image in mind we will tend to look for ways the duality of father and husband in the poem correspond to the vampire's dual i... ...the memory of her father's equally painful though unintentional abandonment.   Despite the mixing of father and husband in the antagonist of "Daddy" it is obvious which man Sylvia Plath is addressing with the poem's last line, written during the breakup of her marriage and three months before her suicide: "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through" (80). Works Cited Cam, Heather.   " ‘Daddy': Sylvia Plath's Debt to Anne Sexton."   American Literature 59   (1987): 429-32. DeJong, Mary G.   "Sylvia Plath and Sheila Ballantyne's Imaginary Crimes."   Studies in   American Fiction 16 (1988): 27-38. Ramazani, Jahan. " ‘Daddy I Have Had to Kill You': Plath, Rage, and the Modern Elegy."  Ã‚   Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 108 (1993): 1142-56. Srivastava, K.G.   "Plath's Daddy."   The Explicator 50 (1992): 126-28.               

Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

The Atlantic bluefin tuna is one of the largest and fastest fish in the world. Atlantic tuna are built for speed; they can reach speeds up to 50 mph. Atlantic tuna have very large appetite, the average size of an Atlantic tuna is 6. 5 feet and they usually weigh around 550 pounds. The largest Atlantic bluefin tuna ever caught was caught in Nova Scotia and weighed 1,496 pounds. Atlantic tuna are a gray and silver colour on their underside and then a dark blueish colour on the topside, this helps them with camouflage because from under them it looks like they are part of the sky and the dark blue from a top view makes them look like part of the dark water. Atlantic bluefin tuna is also very delicious, so tuna have been affected by over-fishing and that has lowered the population to drop critically low. Tuna positively affects humans because we use them for food and sport, tuna are huge and you don’t need a lot of them to have a large amount of meat and that’s one of the main reasons humans like to eat tuna. Atlantic tuna have been eaten by humans for along time, but in the 1970s the demand for tuna went up so commercial fishing operations found a new way to catch them. The way fishing industries caught fish was with fleets of giant ships with huge nets to catch large amounts of fish; this act of over-fishing almost caused this species of fish to go extinct. Atlantic tuna are also affected by many other problems, such as acidification and ocean debris. Tuna are affected by acidification because smaller animals that tuna rely on as food die because of acidification. If there is not enough food for tuna to eat then bigger predators that rely on tuna as food will starve, ways we can stop this from happening include; banning offshore drilling and conserving energy. Atlantic tuna are affected by ocean debris because when commercial fishing boats drop their nets in the ocean sometimes when they are done with the net they will just leave it in the ocean, this results in many ocean animals (such as tuna) to be caught in the net and die. It is now more important than ever for people to do what the politicians failed to do – stop consuming bluefin tuna,† Dr. Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean Atlantic bluefin tuna are mainly found in the western Atlantic, but they are also found around Newfoundland and the Gulf of Mexico. Tuna usually live in the open ocean, but they can be seen jumping out of the water catching small fish. Tuna mostly live in groups; schools of tuna can be found feeding, just hanging out or migrating thousands of miles across the Atlantic. Atlantic tuna faces many problems such as the ones I previously wrote about, but if we want to put a stop to those problems we need to find a solution. One of the things we can do is make fishing seasons, if the government was to make a certain time when it was okay to fish for tuna and then once the season was over fishermen couldn’t fish for tuna anymore. I think that that is a pretty good plan but we would have to do more than that, for example they could ban tuna fishing for a year or a designated time duration and then check to see if the tuna population increases. Ocean debris and Acidification is also a problem, the way to stop that is not very hard, people just need to take the initiative to stop dumping harmful chemicals, non-organic waste material, ect. â€Å"After overwhelming scientific justification and growing political support in past months – with backing from the majority of catch quota holders on both sides of the Atlantic – it is scandalous that governments did not even get the chance to engage in meaningful debate about the international trade ban proposal for Atlantic bluefin tuna,† –Dr. Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean

How to Stop Drug Trafficking in Our Country

The paper is to open people eyes about drug trafficking in our country. Where do you think the drugs are coming in from? Some say from Cuba. Others say from Mexico. I believe that the majority of drugs come from Mexico. It is okay to say that we cannot track down where all of the drugs are coming from but we can try to prevent our children, the next generation, from having access to these drugs. I would like to talk about legal drugs that are in our children’s schools. Even if we can stop illegal drugs from entering into our schools, legal drugs can also be use to get high (American Psychological Association (http://www. apa. org/) In the past, there were organizations, mostly in Mexico, that were involved in cultivating marijuana and opium. Over the past decade, however, Mexican drug organizations secured a particular position in drugs like cocaine market that was formerly dominated by Colombian drug lords, and opened the doors for Mexican groups to dominate the drug trafficking market. Not only Mexican, but African Americans, Cubans and other cultures who want to make some extra cash in the drug selling business. In the late 1980s, Mexican traffickers were middlemen for the Colombian cartels. Traffickers would receive shipments of cocaine in northern Mexico, smuggle the drugs across the border, and leave stashes in specified locations where Colombian distributers would retrieve the cocaine and transport it to destinations across the U. S. In 1989, traffickers who were annoyed at delinquent service payments from Colombian suppliers retained shipments of cocaine in extortion until payments were made. During the same year, in a stroke of good fortune for U. S. law enforcement, a massive stockpile of these shipments amounting to over forty thousand pounds of cocaine was discovered in an industrial warehouse in the vicinity of Los Angeles, California. This pivotal event forced the hand of the Colombian drug barons and led to a business arrangement that presently gives the Mexican traffickers as much as half of all the cocaine that they ransport (United Nations activities). In Texas the Mexican traffickers kidnapped people who live on the border line that mean between Mexican and U. S. The drug traffickers look for people who were or are on spring break or vacations in Mexican. They use young foreigners to get the drugs here. According to Sonia Perez, the flood of drugs and money have intensified, first with security crackd owns in the U. S. after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and later with Mexico's assault on organized crime beginning in 2006. (2009). Also according to Ms Perez, authorities mark the worst crime waves with the arrival of the Zetas cartel in Central America in 2008, about the same time Mexican cartels started to pay their collaborators on the ground in drugs instead of cash – creating a boom in local drug sales and violent street crime. (2009) As you can see, this paper is beginning to sound like it is pointing at foreign people smuggling drugs. Although foreigners are trying to survive financially illegally, they do not know where these drugs go to. Some will probably go to the schools to sell to children and teenagers all around the US. In conclusion, it is important to prevent drugs, illegally and legal, from our children to use illegally. Our children are our future and we need to find ways to help our children succeed in life without the use and selling of legal and illegal drugs. In the U. S. children are exposed to illegal drugs by family and a good friend or hanging out with a lot of friends. Some kids start to smoking by age 14 years old they think it cool but not. Kids and teens continue to smoke and some are trying chewing tobacco. Many young people pick up these bad habits in one year. Right now you see a man or woman smoking they started when they were kids. So it's important to make sure kids understand the dangers of tobacco use. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, and can cause cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Chewing tobacco (smokeless or spit tobacco) can lead to nicotine addiction, oral cancer, gum disease, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks. (Kids Health 2011) Teenagers trying drugs in order to fit in. hey are trying real bad to be accepted by their peers. The teen sees drugs being used at a party or among a common group of friend. Teens between the ages of 13 and 17 have tried alcohol. Some teens and young people tried use of cocaine for the first time. Some kids may lead to criminal penalty in addition to possible physical social and psychological harm both strongly depending on local jurisdiction. In conclusion, Unite d States is working with Canada, Mexico and Colombia in the border protection to stop drug from coming in the United States. References Retrieved on April 2, 2011 at www.apa.org Sonia Perez, Associated Press (2009) Retrieved on April 2, 2011 at www.ksat.com/news/27378488/detail.html Parquets search J. Blum retrieved on April 2, 2011 at www.mctinfoservices.com Kids Health Retrieved (1995-2011) at www.kids health.org /parent/positive/positive/talk/smoking.html

A Comparison and Contrast of Herman Melville’s

Herman Melville’s â€Å"Bartleby, Scrivener† (1853) and Franz Kafka’s â€Å"A Hunger Artist† (1924) are short stories that deal with the complexities of man in the social setting. Melville is most well known for his novel Moby Dick while Kafka was virtually unknown during his lifetime and has no published novels but has since gained recognition for his short stories, including â€Å"Metamorphoses† (1915).It would be interesting to note how a comparison of these two similar stories will reveal the personality of the writer. This paper will provide a brief synopsis of the stories and will then be analyzed for points of comparison and contrast.Synopsesâ€Å"Bartleby, Scrivener†Melville’s tale deals primarily with a particular scrivener, also know as a law-copier or in modern usage a petition writer as set in this story. The scrivener, Bartleby is an unaccountable man as described by the narrator whom at the time of the events that took pl ace a Master in Chancery.Bartleby is at first industrious in scrivener work, although he steadfastly refused to do any other activity and appeared not to eat or do anything but his work, and even seemed to live in the office. The narrator describes his feelings of astonishment, sympathy and subsequent acceptance of this eccentricity because his other employees also had their vagaries.As the story progresses, however, Bartleby’s behavior becomes stranger; he stops working but refuses to leave and eventually drives his employer from his office. Bartleby remains in the building even after being booted out of the room and is eventually arrested for vagrancy. The narrator is conscience-stricken and strives to do all he can for Bartleby, who soon after dies in prison. (Melville, 1994)â€Å"The Hunger Artist†The story begins with a statement of decline in interest in hunger artists. It is told from a third person point of view and sketches a history of the popularity of hunge r artists and the process of the art. It muses upon the intentions of those who subscribe to the spectacle, and the personal views and feelings of one particular artist, dwelling upon his frustration of having his work ended prematurely, a maximum of 40 days per each fasting period, in the interest of profit.The hunger artist knew he could last longer and yearned to find out to what extent, but was not allowed.The story describes how interest in the activity seemed suddenly to cease and rather than pursuing his previous modus operandi, the hunger artist preferred to break away from his manager and hire himself out to the circus, where he was placed in a cage near the menagerie, and was all but forgotten. At last he was able to indulge in his wish. Just before he died, he revealed that he fasted not to make himself famous but because there was no food he enjoyed. (Kafka, 1924)AnalysisThe two stories considered have distinct parallels, most notable the title characters. Both Bartleby and the hunger artist are distinguished by a sense of hopelessness and searching. The characters, the former silently, the other in self-revelation, express their need to find a place to belong.They clearly do not fit in accepted society. Bartleby because of his very ascetism, lack of interpersonal relations and history is almost a ghost, an enigma that even the most kindly of intentions could not draw out. He repulsed any kind of contact, perhaps because he was speculated to have been engaged in activity, that of a dead letter clerk, that dealt with the rejected and discarded. He clearly considered himself beyond salvation.The hunger artist, because of his search for the unattainable, is unable to enjoy the material pleasures of life and live a normal life. He deprived himself of life because he saw no point in continuing with it, reserving the pleasure of knowledge of how far he could take his artistry as his last stand against life.The stories are clearly macabre, elucidating the grimness of life of no purpose and no connection. They deal with the reality that man is essentially a creature of society, and failure of interaction results in strange and appalling consequences.The style of the writing is the most notable contrast of the two stories. Melville deals with the subject in a humorous fashion, drawing a smile, even a laugh with his description of his characters and the circumstances until the very end, which makes the horror of what has become of Bartleby all the more stark.Kafka adopted a gloomy tone from the start, indicating a grim end in the very first sentence of the story. The reader knows the hunger artist is doomed to a life of obscurity at the very least. The twist at the end, when the artist reveals the cause of his compunction for self-destruction, illustrates the writer’s own dissatisfaction with life.