The line between life and death essays

The line between life and death essays I think when we come to the topic of 9/11, a great number of people will turn pale. September 11, 2001, was a dark day in history that the people who live in United States would never forget. It was full of suffering, in which millions of people lost their families, lives and wealth at a simple moment. It was a terrible tragedy and none of us can afford to forget. It was a great loss in the human history, and today there are lots of people still crying and heartbroken over the event. Today, as we are looking backward, we are tremble at the terrible moment. It was Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, around 8:30am, in the eastern of United States, -New York City. 19 men and their sponsors carried out a brutal and devastating attack on our country, leaving 3,000 innocent men, women and children dead, including our loved ones. The twin towers, which were on of the most significant buildings in New York City and maybe the world, were attacked by planes and completely collapsed in half an hour. Most people hadnt realized what happened, which lead to the whole area running into turmoil. The hijackers quickly gained control and began hijacking. At 8:26, Ong reported that the plane was flying erratically. A minute late, fight 11 turned south. American also began getting identifications of the hijackers. At 8:38, the hijackers had gained entry to the cockpit, and the aircraft was in a rapid descent. At 8:46:40, American 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. All on board, along with an unknown number of people in the tower, were killed instantly. The attacks had an overwhelming effect upon the United States population. A friend of mine who lived in Chinatown where was pretty close to the World Trade Center. She was awoken by an enormously loud noise. She had no idea about what happened at that time, so she opened ...

Final Research Project Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Final Project - Research Paper Example I started by looking at the main company website which is at http://www.chevron.com/ I was interested to find out how the company chooses to present itself and so I looked under the tab â€Å"About Chevron† which was on the top left of the screen. There was a short statement: â€Å"At Chevron, we are relentlessly focused on producing safe, reliable energy now and for the future. How are we doing it? By applying the energy we have most in abundance Human energy.† This was not what I expected, because I know already that the main product area is fossil fuels like oil and gas, and I did not expect it to focus on its people. On other tabs there was information on the manufacturing side of things, and distribution through pipelines, shipping and gas stations. The company profile section provided the most factual information such as the founding date in 1879, in an area near Los Angeles, California. The global workforce is about 60,000 employeees and there are another 4,000 s ervice station employees who are linked to the main company. Its production figures are a little out of date, quoting 2.7 million barrels of net oil-equivalent production per day. From its location in California the company expanded in the 1920s to ventures in the Philippines, Alaska and Colombia in the quest for oil. In the 1930s they worked in Saudi Arabia and then from the 1940s through the 1970s they built pipelines to transport the oil from their wells. In 2001 the company merged with Texaco to become the second largest U.S. based energy company. The future ventures of the company focus on the Gulf of Mexico and Kazakhstan. There is a recognition that all kinds of energy are going to be needed in the future, not just oil and gas, and so I was pleased to note that a lot of money is being invested in research. This is an area that I would be interested in working for. The company is bound to present itself in the best possible light and so I looked next for external sources that would give more neutral information. The website www.business.com/directory/ provided a link to the Chevron company website that I had just been looking at, and it also had a link to the Wall Street Journal share prices for Chevron. This is the second source that I used. It gives an up to date snapshot of the company’s performance on the markets and I noted that the share price over the last 12 months had risen: Chevron stock prices, year to 1/14/11 Source: http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=CVX As my third source I followed the course instructions to look at the Hoovers business information page and there I found a list of subsidiaries and locations for the Chevron company. I was interested to note that Chevron U.S.A. which manages the US side of the business has its headquarters in San Ramon, California. The offices and research areas are not located in the same place as the oil and gas fields. I was reassured by my research on the company because I foun d its home web pages to be professional and positive. The market trend over a year is positive, with share prices rising despite the increasing costs of finding oil resources as older fields are getting used up. The company has been involved in mergers, and shows flexibility in its links with other countries, always looking for new sources of raw material. I could see also that there were areas of the business outside pure manufacturing, like the development of additives and various kinds of research. In

Questions on Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Questions on Philosophy - Essay Example What problem did Kant find with traditional metaphysics and how does he aim to solve it? (Think Descartes on this also) He thinks he is writing for metaphysicians and Hume because Hume is skeptic about the possibility of metaphysics (SparkNotes Editors). 3. How is it that Hume awoke Kant from his â€Å"dogmatic slumber?† What was it about Hume’s philosophy that was so awakening to Kant? What were the reasons Hume’s observations were so unsettling to Kant? Kant said that Hume's skeptical challenge is what first spurred him toward his critical philosophy. Hume asks how we can make inferences regarding experience: how can I predict what will happen in the future based on what has happened in the past? In order to do so, Hume suggests, I must know some sort of "uniformity principle" that says that events in the future will follow the same sorts of general laws that they have followed in the past. But how can I know this uniformity principle? It isn't logically or nec essarily true, so I can't simply infer it prior to experience like I can with mathematical knowledge. However, I fall into a vicious circle if I claim that I know it from experience, since I need to already have the uniformity principle in order to infer that—the uniformity principle has been true in the past, and it will continue to be true in the future. Thus, Hume concludes that we cannot know that future events will follow the same laws as past events: we just get into the habit of expecting it (SparkNotes Editors). 4. What questions are the ones that Kant thinks need to be answered first if metaphysics as a science is to be possible at all? Which is the question at the foundation of all knowledge? Metaphysics is unlike math or science in that its reach exceeds its grasp. It aspires to know what it cannot know. In finding itself bounded, however, reason also explores the full extent and possibility of human knowledge. While reason cannot tell us anything about things in t hemselves, it can be used to examine our own faculties. Kant redefines metaphysics as a "critique," an attempt to examine how knowledge is structured and justified (SparkNotes Editors). 5. What does Kant mean by all of our judgments being either a priori or a posteriori and either analytic or synthetic? What are examples of each of them? How do these 4 designations of our objects of knowledge differ from the two that Hume argued there were? Kant distinguishes between a priori and a posteriori cognitions and between analytic and synthetic judgments. Knowledge we gain from experience is a posteriori, and what we can know independent of experience is a priori. A synthetic judgment is one whose predicate contains information not contained in the subject, and an analytic judgment is one whose predicate is a mere analysis of the subject. Kant claims that mathematics, natural science, and metaphysics all lay claim to synthetic a priori propositions—propositions that are necessarily but not trivially true, and can be known prior to experience. Since mathematics and pure natural science are well-established fields, he proposes to examine how their synthetic truths are possible a priori in the hope that this examination will shed light on the possibility of metaphysics as a science (SparkNotes Editors). 6. What is so peculiar about knowledge that is both synthetic and a priori? Be able to give examples of these and be able to describe how this is possible according to Kant. Kant

Writing From Macbeths Point Of View - GCSE Essay Example for Free

Writing From Macbeths Point Of View GCSE Essay Was that a dagger swimming into the cold chambers of my imagination? Or am I just a lunatic? The answers lingered in my brain, spiralling out of control, making me faint, as I inhaled the black starless sky. The deep careless thoughts caressed my body; as the cold air embraced my white speckled soul. The dagger pierced its way into my thoughts, allowing darkness to fill my soul. I felt myself fighting above the surface, as if I were drowning, being pulled back from underneath. Am I drowning in my sins? Or the sea made tears of sorrow, after the deed is done. It was as if the shackles made of daggers tightened its grip, every time I tried to scream for help, devouring my soul even further into the deep, dark thoughts, I had once forbidden myself from. My heart, severely at unease, smashed itself against its cage. Lady Macbeth is not right. I shall not let it be right. Such thoughts were never right. How dare she question my love, my manhood, my pride? With these very hands, I stripped this kingdom of war, and yet she belittles me with her little games. If that does not make me a man, then I do not know what does. I did not become Thane of Cawdor by chance. I earned this, with every ounce of manhood I have. I sought victory in war, and found it, yet I cannot find victory in the battle of my thoughts. I penetrated my sword through the neck of an enemy, and smeared my fists in warm, rose red blood. I could easy do the same to gain what I lust. Yet she asks if I am a man? Such a question shall bring me both victory and death. I closed my eyes. Darkness crept behind my eyelids, causing me to shiver with guilt. I felt like my lungs gave up on my body, my breath uneven, I tried to discard the thoughts of encouragement, yet they crept behind me, lurking behind me. I am a man, a host and a shadow. I should not be allowing my deepest desires to overtake the palms, which had saved the man I wish to put to rest. My brain ran in circles restlessly, revisiting the bitter ambition that sank to the bottom of my stomach, burdening me. It creeps over my innocent soul, trying to cover it with dark colours. As if the devil had gifted me, possessing my beliefs and my ideology. It enveloped me, into a world of fear, letting the numbing pain of culpability seep into my body. I need more. More is needed to be a manto be more than a mana King. I’m dancing to the devils tunes, and I know they will laugh. The devils tunes resembled that of what the witches had said, racing through my brains repeatedly. The realisation of my gullible soul brought in fears that I could not handle. I was in my dark zone and could not break free the chains of destruction. Why did they have to plant the seed of hope into my heart? It is now sprouting, being watered by my ambition. T he water droplets fell one by one, as I held my head, strong yet wearily, hanging across the edge of the balcony; with every drop I wished it washed the dirty thoughts that encaged me from being faultless Macbeth. Yet I yearned to be King Macbeth. A King of kindness, a King of just and a King of sympathy. But in doing so will result in my status, my pain and my death to be intensified by the wrath of God. Going against the King, was like going against God. But I do not agree with the natural order. It was just utter nonsense from my perspective. Surely it will come back to sting me, where it hurts most for it is written in my destiny, written to bring shred my dream of a long life, into mere pieces of a shameful king. I cannot defend myself from this urge. If I am a man, I will do it. I am a man. A man with the contaminated desires planted in his mind, by evil. But will I be a man after it? Let’s find out.

Gender Role Reevaluation in Boys and Girls by Alice Munro Essay

Gender Role Reevaluation in Boys and Girls      Ã‚   Recent history boldly notes the protests and political unrest surrounding the Vietnam Conflict during the 1960s and 70s. However, equally important in this era are the women who pushed for gender role reevaluation and publicly rebelled against the established social norm of a woman's "place." Although Alice Munro may not have been burning her bra on the courthouse steps, threads of a feminist influence can be found in "Boys and Girls." Munro's main character, a girl probably modeled after Munro's own childhood experiences on an Ontario farm, faces her awakening body and the challenge of developing her social identity in a man's world. "The girl," an unnamed character, acts as a universal symbol for the initiation of a girl into womanhood. Through first-person narrative, Munro shoes the girl's views of her budding femininity and social identity by describing the girl's conceptions of her parents' work, her parallel to the wild mare Flora, and the "mysterious alte rations" (Munro 474) in her personal nightly stories.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As if to forsake her femininity and forego a life of confinement and housework, the girl reveres her father's work and condemns her mother's duties. The sum of the girl's respect seems to lie with her father, as is evident in her reference to his work outdoors as "ritualistically important" (468). On the other hand, while the girl recognizes that her mother is busy, she still considers her mother's "work in the house [to be] [ ·] endless, dreary and peculiarly depressing" (468). The division between her parents' tasks is especially apparent in the girl's reaction to her mother's presence at the barn. She feels threatened by her... ...hether this quantifies complete acceptance with the girl, however, is not solidified by Munro due to the final sentence: "Maybe it was true" (475).         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through opinion, comparison, and imagination Munro details the girl's journey from a rebellious tomboy to a slowly blooming woman. The characteristics so endearing to the girl's developing identity, such as her assistance in Flora's escape and her unwillingness [comment13] to easily submit to the social constraints of life as a woman, also lend themselves to her universality as a representative to initiation to femininity. Munro's own personal views of femininity arguably color this work, "Boys and Girls."    Works Cited Munro, Alice. "Boys and Girls." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Carl E. Bain, Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 6th ed. New York: Norton, 1995. 465-75. Gender Role Reevaluation in Boys and Girls by Alice Munro Essay Gender Role Reevaluation in Boys and Girls      Ã‚   Recent history boldly notes the protests and political unrest surrounding the Vietnam Conflict during the 1960s and 70s. However, equally important in this era are the women who pushed for gender role reevaluation and publicly rebelled against the established social norm of a woman's "place." Although Alice Munro may not have been burning her bra on the courthouse steps, threads of a feminist influence can be found in "Boys and Girls." Munro's main character, a girl probably modeled after Munro's own childhood experiences on an Ontario farm, faces her awakening body and the challenge of developing her social identity in a man's world. "The girl," an unnamed character, acts as a universal symbol for the initiation of a girl into womanhood. Through first-person narrative, Munro shoes the girl's views of her budding femininity and social identity by describing the girl's conceptions of her parents' work, her parallel to the wild mare Flora, and the "mysterious alte rations" (Munro 474) in her personal nightly stories.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As if to forsake her femininity and forego a life of confinement and housework, the girl reveres her father's work and condemns her mother's duties. The sum of the girl's respect seems to lie with her father, as is evident in her reference to his work outdoors as "ritualistically important" (468). On the other hand, while the girl recognizes that her mother is busy, she still considers her mother's "work in the house [to be] [ ·] endless, dreary and peculiarly depressing" (468). The division between her parents' tasks is especially apparent in the girl's reaction to her mother's presence at the barn. She feels threatened by her... ...hether this quantifies complete acceptance with the girl, however, is not solidified by Munro due to the final sentence: "Maybe it was true" (475).         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through opinion, comparison, and imagination Munro details the girl's journey from a rebellious tomboy to a slowly blooming woman. The characteristics so endearing to the girl's developing identity, such as her assistance in Flora's escape and her unwillingness [comment13] to easily submit to the social constraints of life as a woman, also lend themselves to her universality as a representative to initiation to femininity. Munro's own personal views of femininity arguably color this work, "Boys and Girls."    Works Cited Munro, Alice. "Boys and Girls." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Carl E. Bain, Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 6th ed. New York: Norton, 1995. 465-75.

Harvey Milk Essay

Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who is known for being the first man to be elected to a public office while being openly gay (Scruggs). He was born in the year 1930 May 22 and was murdered on November 27, 1978. Up until this time, he made a name as a San Francisco civil rights activist who largely helped campaign for the rights of homosexuals hence opening up the American society to gay and lesbian issues (Milk Foundation). However, this was not the only field he dealt with but as a human rights visionary, he championed improvement of education, housing, child care and public transportation. He started off his numerous professions by joining the Navy in 1951 from which he was honorably discharged in 1955 in the rank of junior lieutenant (Milk Foundation). He then took up a teaching job in a high school and afterwards did finance jobs. All this time he was not in the public limelight until a 1970 protest of Cambodian invasion by America where he publicly burned his BankAmericard. He was then dismissed from his job after which he tried in vain to vie for public office in the Board of Supervisors three times in San Francisco triggered by a public scandal known as the Watergate. However he finally succeeded in 1977 becoming the first gay official to be thus elected. Milk’s agenda in politics consisted of campaigns for the government to respond to individual needs, emphasis on gay rights and also retention of San Francisco neighborhoods uniqueness (Gardner, and Krakow 31). During this tenure a gay rights law was passed barring discrimination of persons in respect to housing and employment based on sexual orientation. In the same period, it was announced that more gay persons were to be hired as police officers. Milk also initiated programs that were to benefit minority groups, the elderly and also workers. He gained popularity for being behind the quashing of a senate proposal to bar gay and lesbian teachers from public schools in California. Milk was shot on November 27 1978 in City Hall by Dan White a former city supervisor who protested at the passage of the gay rights law (Jim 71). This resulted to nationwide protest with riots erupting in San Francisco especially in light of the light sentence handed to Dan White who later committed suicide. The advantages of Harvey Milk are mainly entrenched in his human rights campaigns. He was bold to fight against the government of the day and as a result programs to cater for transport issues and housing especially for the poor were created. In addition, Milk was able to champion causes against corruption in government evidenced by his initial prompting to join politics during the Watergate scandal which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon (Scruggs). Milk can be said to have generally influenced generations to stand up and fight for their rights especially in the face of strong opposition. He is said to indeed be an inspiration. The disadvantages on the other hand are mainly entrenched in moral issues which his main adversaries fielded (Scruggs). Such persons argue that Milk made mistakes that have had rippling effects on society especially on moral grounds. Milk is said to have helped open up society to violation of family values that are central to the advancement of society. His bold stand in favor of homosexuality is demonized by many. In addition, it can be argued that Milk’s hard-line stand on various issues was one of his grave mistakes. It can be said that such stands caused unnecessary friction in society and upset social harmony by inciting people against the government. Despite these shortcomings milk has been immortalized as evidenced in the names of Harvey Milk Democratic Club, the Harvey Milk High School in New York and the annual Harvey Milk Memorial Parade in San Francisco.

What is the setting of Trifles - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1160 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/07/01 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Trifles Essay Did you like this example? A notable number of literature works in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century focused on the concept of gender equality and role of women in what was apparent patriarchal society. On of such literature works is Trifles by Susan Glaspell. Trifles play was authored in 1916 with a view of highlighting the role played by women during the contemporary society of early twentieth century. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "What is the setting of Trifles?" essay for you Create order It is a classic illustration of the male dominance that was popular during this period. In the play a murderess is used to depict the role assigned to women by men, most of them being unimportant issues or trivialities as the title of the play, trifle, suggests. It illustrates the little regard that men viewed women as people of lesser value and importance than themselves. The idea of male dominance is repeated in several episodes in the play and the misconstruction of facts just because they were associated with women. The key highlight in the play that supports the major problem of patriarchal dominance in the play are the very ironic consequences when it emerged that a woman is the one who discovered what men had been looking for. According to the dialogue of the play, the men show they do not deem what the women say important or relevant. It is based on a true trial story which happened in Des Moines and the author had covered it while working as a reporter. The events that culminate din the trial was a murder of Mr. John Wright who had been found strangled even as the wife was dead asleep. In the play, Mrs. Wright is depicted as a helpless and isolated woman who depends wholly on the husband. Although the play is based a true trial story, the author managed to enhance the theme of male dominance in the then contemporary society. At the start of the play, men are described to be seeking for a motive at the residence of Minnie and John wright. At the onset of the play, men are depicted as dismissive of the possible leads in the kitchen that could culminate in the identification of murderers. The sheriff is on record saying with finality that there was nothing in this location other than the usual items of the kitchen. It is provoked by the notion that kitchen belongs to women and nothing meaningful can come out of it, especially if men are the ones in charge of the search. To highlight this perception further, the sheriff make derogatory statement of Minnie while mocking her for her bother about fruits, yet she was being held for a murder case. It is a clear indication of the perception of most men towards kitchen that was commonly considered the territory of women and men are not interested the on goings in there. As a reaffirmation of this perception, the attorney, who is a male, declares that there was little men could do without ladies for all their worries. Although it may sound as glorifying women in the society, it insinuates that the gracious men tolerate the worrying women because of the love they have for them. The reality is not anywhere near this insinuation, because they appreciate and acknowledge the contribution of women only because of their ability to do laundry, cook or clean their houses. In the play, the male characters are such bigot that they characterize women because of their affiliation to men and not according to their intrinsic values as females. All women in the play, safe for Minnie Wright, do not have the first name, but instead, they have taken up the last name of their husbands, yet they are the major protagonists in the story. The male dominance in the setting of this play is so prevalent that the men do not see anything wrong by the unfavorable interest of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters in unimportant things. This has a clear perception that women are small-minded and flighty to be concerned about weighty matters such as the investigation that was going on. When a troublesome kitchen got their attention, they were quick to conclude that the woman of the house must had failed in her abilities as a homemaker. According to them, the husband, John Wright is a responsible, good man who can only cause trouble because the woman is at fault. In effect they rally behind the fellow man, in order to protect his reputation. This is an explicit indication of a patriarchal society of the early Twentieth Century. The theme of male dominance is further displayed from the meek voices associated with women and the overall disregard of their contribution in finding solutions to the problems in the society. While questioning Mrs. Hale on her relationship with the Wrights, the attorney keeps interrupting her rudely and reducing her contribution to just a wife of a farmer with full hands. In this play, the role of women has been relegated to that of others, who in effect implies that they are not part of the mainstream society. It is clear in this play that women are considered as others and are a representative of what the society would refer to as imperfect or misfit. They are considered as insignificant a nd are only concerned with their dull trivialities. The boxes of fabric and preserves jars are considered by men as of little value to the investigation because of their association to women. Interestingly, this is a major undoing among the women because their deliberate neglect of these leads is a reason for the case downfall. Should Mr. Peters and Mr. Henderson had overcome the stereotype of profiling women and all that are associated with them, then the clues from the kitchen could have been of great help in unravelling what befell Mr. Wright. Finally, the play concludes with a discussion of the discovery in the cupboard by Mrs. Peters. While waiting for the male counterparts to examine the crime scene that was located in the upstairs, Mrs. Peters stumble upon a very old birdcage (Gla 1.1.85-86). It was strange for such artefact to be found in the kitchen considering that Mrs. Wright never reared birds. As they kept wondering about the possible source of the cage, the recalled that there was a hawker who was peddling canaries and Mrs. Wright must had bought it. It could later be interpreted that the cage was figurative of the married life that Mrs. Wright was in. Under the normal circumstances and objective reasoning, it would be justified to conclude that Mrs. Wright killed her husband but according to the investigation team comprising of men, believes that such crime was either too high or too complicated to have been committed by a woman. This is what the play indicate as the problem when the decisions are arrived at while looking through the lens of gender and with the wrong mindset that women are inferior to men in all aspect of life.