Macbeth the Tragic Hero :: essays research papers

Macbeth the Tragic Hero The most tragic hero was Macbeth. A tragic hero is one who commits an act and suffers tremendously for it. Just as all tragic heroes, Macbeth made decisions that led him to his doom. His actions were influenced by his wife, Lady Macbeth, and the Witches? prophecies. He was greatly haunted by his desire of being King and to remain King. His noble characteristic slowly downgraded to a violent and cruel individual as the story progresses. Macbeth once used to be a brave gentleman. He was well respected around Scotland and earned much trust from almost everyone. When the King said, ?For brave Macbeth ? (1.2.18),? we can interpret that even the King himself respected Macbeth. He goes out to war, defeat enemies, and save his country, his life was put on the line for the entire Scotland. He earned himself the titles Thane of Cawdor and Thane of Glamis. In war, he is a well rounded warrior?he kills many on the battlefield without hesitation. But when he had to kill King Duncan, it took more than courage for him to commit the murder. It might be a cowardly act to murder a King in order to gain his throne, but the courage he mustered in order to actually kill King Duncan was bravery. Added to the fact that King Duncan is Macbeth?s own relative plays an important role on how much it took for Macbeth to kill. But unfortunately, Macbeth used his bravery for evil intents rather than for good. Guilt played a tragic role in Macbeth?s downfall. After killing Duncan, he was haunted by his actions and couldn?t move on without worrying that his murder was going to be exploited. From the quote, ?Will all great Neptune?s ocean wash this blood? (2.2.60),? we can assume that Macbeth was worried of whether or not his guilt will vanquish. There was no turning back for him. As the story progresses, the only solution for maintaining his reign of Scotland was to kill. His close friend, Banquo, was also murdered because Macbeth assumed doing so would be best in order to prevent losing his throne. But little did Macbeth know that he was actually being killed by his own mind and ambitions Another important factor that brought catastrophe to Macbeth was the Witches? prophecies. His superstition was noted by his susceptibility to the Witches? predictions. If the Witches never told Macbeth that he was going to be the King of Scotland, he would have been his ordinary self and not ponder upon those thoughts.

The Vanishing Chinese in American History Essay examples -- American A

The Vanishing Chinese in American History Our country’s history is filled with stories that are ignored: the Japanese Americans who were held against their will in internment camps during World War II, African-American pilots who fought bravely for our country during the second World War, Native Americans who sacrificed their lives in defense of territory that was rightfully theirs, and Chinese immigrants who toiled to build the western leg of the transcontinental railroad in the nineteenth century. Typical of this silencing of stories in American history is the exclusion of Chinese â€Å"paper sons†Ã¢â‚¬â€young men, many in their early teens, who came to this country with papers that fraudulently established their family relations to an American-born or naturalized father. The â€Å"paper son† phenomenon is not unusual in the history of the Chinese in America; it was a common way to get around the discriminatory immigration laws that prevented many Chinese from coming to the United States. Thus, the stories of â€Å"paper sons† should be told as we examine the racist attitudes and policies toward the people who built, shaped, and changed America alongside European immigrants. As former U.S. Congressman Norm Mineta so eloquently puts it, â€Å"When one hears Americans tell of the immigrants who built this nation, one is led to believe that all our forebears come from Europe. When one hears stories about the pioneers going West to shape the land, the Asian immigrant is rarely mentioned† (Takaki 6). We need to acknowledge the contributions of extraordinary individuals—â€Å"paper sons† such as my uncle, Stanley Hom Lau, who left their families and homeland behind to establish new roots and who made America the u nique salad bowl it is today. ... ...ide of the Pacific to the other and have opportunities they never dreamed possible. The voices of â€Å"paper sons† like Stanley Hom Lau should not be silenced; they should be included in history books because these people are an important component of U.S. history—as important as the Irish, German and Russian immigrants were to this country at the turn of the century. For, as Americans, we originally came from many â€Å"different shores† (Takaki)—Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Works Cited Chan, Sucheng. Asian Americans: An Interpretive History. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1991. Lai, H. Mark and Choy, Philip P. Outlines: History of the Chinese in America. San Francisco: Fong Brothers, 1971. Lau, Stanley. Personal Interview. May 2-3, 1997. Takaki, Ronald. Strangers From a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. New York: Penguin Books, 1989.

Abortion Essay example -- essays research papers

Abortion has been and still is one of the most controversial topics in American culture. The reason for the controversy is the different viewpoints of this very personal matter. Some believe that abortion is the same as murder. Others believe it’s a personal choice which only they have the right to make. Due to the nature of the procedure and the concerns associated with ending a pregnancy, abortion will continue to top the list of â€Å"touchy† subjects in American politics and culture. As a pro-choice advocate, it is important for the right to have an abortion to be established and protected. An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy. The most common abortion procedure is the vacuum aspiration or suction curettage.   Ã‚  This is performed during the first trimester of a pregnancy. â€Å"†¦   The physician will then gradually widen (dilate) the cervix.   When the cervix has been dilated to the width appropriate for your stage of pregnancy, the physician will insert a small tube (cannula) which is attached to a suction machine.   The machine’s suction empties the contents of the uterus through the tube†¦The entire procedure takes just a few minutes†. On the other hand, the most controversial abortion procedure is the Partial-Birth abortion. This procedure, performed past the first trimester, has been banned in many states, including New York. â€Å"†¦the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, Bush administration lawyers said the procedure was never medically necessary to protect a woman's health and caused undue pain to the fetus, making t he procedure inhumane.† (2) The procedure is also known as dilation and extraction, or D&X, and dilation and evacuation, or D&E. â€Å"In a regular D&E abortion performed in the second trimester, a patient's cervix is dilated and the fetus is dismembered and removed by forceps†. (3) In 1973 abortion was legalized in the United States. In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to forbid a woman to have an abortion during her first trimester of her pregnancy. The Court also ruled that second trimester abortion was to be regulated by the state and only when the Woman’s health was at risk. This decision was a big step in the fight for women equality in the United States. It gave women the right to decide when or whether or not to become a mother. This was unheard of before. Before Roe v. Wade, women were having illegal... ... away with passing this first act it is only a matter of time before abortion is banned all together. This will mean a step back for all women in the fight for equal right in the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What will happen if it is banned all together? Well for starters, the practice of illegal abortions will be reinstated in the country. Young girls will go to these â€Å"doctor† and put their lives in their hands not knowing exactly what the outcome will be, because as with any illegal practice it will not be performed in a safe environment. It will not be followed up with proper medical attention. As a result, women will die. They will be forced to put their lives and their relationships with their families at risk. It will no longer be a personal matter or a private choice because once a woman who is afraid to have an illegal abortion and instead keeps an unwanted child will have to deal with the consequences. This might lead to losing a job, dropping out of school or even becoming mentally and emotionally unstable. I am pro-choice. I want my rights protected and I believe every woman whether she is pro-choice or pro-life will appreciate at least having a choice.

Somatic Marker Hypothesis

Critically evaluate to what extent the ‘somatic-marker hypothesis’ explains how decisions are made in the face of an uncertain outcome. In mind of Kim Sterelny’s (2007) statement that ‘Human Life is one long decision tree’, it is not surprising that there has been a vast amount of research into the process of how we evaluate the desirability of alternative choices and select a particular option.One area of research, of particular interest here, is Damasio’s Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH) (1991) which uses the neuroeconomic approach through its integration of the fields of psychology, neuroscience and economics to invoke an understanding of how one makes a decision (Damasio, Tranel & Damasio, 1998). This Theory supports the RAF hypothesis that significant risky outcomes elicit emotional reactions (Stanfey, Loewenstein, McClue & Cohen, 2006,).The SMH proposes that stochastic decision making is the result of emotion-based biasing signals in the b ody- in particular from the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (VMPFC) (Bechara, Damasio, Tranel & Damasio, 2005). This concept will be discussed in further detail (with reference to it’s origin and experimental support), followed by a critical analysis of the extent to which the SMH successfully explains what it contends to.Since the SMH focuses solely on the role of emotion in decision making, the Rationale Planning Model (1995) will also be examined in comparison to the SMH for it’s explanation of decision making as a purely logical and rational process. The Rational Planning Model by Banfield (1995) proposes that the decision maker consciously undergoes five steps when coming to a decision and so approaches the choice in a very rational manner. Subsequently, an evaluation of the two theories for stochastic decision making will follow to discern how well they account for stochastic decision making.The SMH stemmed from attempts to explain why a patient (E. V. R. ), with an ablation of the VMPFC, often engaged in behaviors that were detrimental to his wellbeing (Damasio, 1996). Emotion was originally believed to be a disruptive force in decision making, but since the VMPFC is in charge of emotional function, it was now speculated to be essential for the ability to make a decision. Further investigation into this phenomenon through neuropsychological examination, found that those patients with damage to their VMPFC evinced a generally flat affect and an inability to respond to emotional situations (Bolla et al. 003). Thus, Damasio extracted that the decision making deficits experienced by these patients was a result of this altered psychophysiological response (Damasio, 1996). His SMH contends that when presented with a decision, the normal brain will use the VMPFC to react emotionally to the situation and generate ‘somatic markers’ in order to come to a decision. A somatic marker is best defined as the brains construction of a physiolog ical change that it apprehends for the selection of a particular strategy. It supposedly guides attention towards the more advantageous option (Dalgleish, 2004).This enables the organism to react quicker to external stimuli as it no longer needs to wait for the activity to emerge in the periphery before it can elicit a reaction (Dalgleish, 2004). Furthermore, the VMPFC is thought to support association learning between complex situations and the somatic changes usually experienced during a particular situation (Jameson, Hinson, & Whitney, 2004). Put simply, once a previous situation that elicited similar somatic markers is identified, the VMPFC can use past experiences to rapidly evaluate possible behavior responses.So when the VMPFC suffers impairment, the somatic marker system can no longer be activated, resulting in an absence of physiological feedback and an inability to predict long term punishments and rewards. This occurrence has been termed ‘Myopia for the futureâ€⠄¢, where a decision may only be formulated by the use of a logical cost-benefit analysis (Dalgleish, 2004). However, if one was presented with an uncertain situation, the result would be marked impairment. The SMH substantiates its argument through the experimental paradigm: the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) (Bechara et al, 1997, cited in Dunn, Dalgleish & Lawrence, 2006).The task measures decision making in patients with VMPFC brain lesions and compares it to those people with a normally functioning VMPFC. The experiment involves selecting a card from a choice of four decks- each of which attributes different levels of reward and punishment in the form of winning or losing pretend money. Two of the decks provide a low reward and a low level of punishment and were labeled the advantageous decks. The remaining two decks provide a high reward and a high level of punishment and were named the disadvantageous decks. Control articipants initially sampled both decks equally but shifted their choice to the advantageous decks after experiencing the high punishment from the disadvantageous one. Conversely, the subjects with damage to their VMPFC were seemingly insensitive to the negative consequences of the disadvantageous decks and would continually choose from these decks on account of their high reward (Dunn et al. 2006). The study concludes that the reason the patients failed to comprehend the advantageous decks as the more profitable option, was due to their inability to generate the somatic markers necessary for such a realization (Dunn et al. 006). Furthermore, Bechara et al. (2005) combined the gambling task with the measurement of skin-conductance response (SCR). It was found that control subjects elicited larger anticipatory SCRs before picking from the disadvantageous decks as oppose to the advantageous decks. The absence of anticipatory SCRs in the VMPFC lesion group confirmed the failure for the VMPFC to activate negative, physiological marking signals based o n previous punishment history which ultimately made them insensitive to the possibility of future punishment from the deck (Schmitt, Brinkley & Newman, 1999).Hence, a positive correlation between successful IGT performance and a healthy participants’ ability to develop somatic marker signals was reported. The extensive validation of the IGT, strengthens the evidence for the role of emotion in decision making. For example, patients with various kinds of frontal lobe damage and patients with lesions to the lateral temporal or occipital cortex have also been tested in the IGT (Best, Williams & Coccaro, 2002). Of these patients, only the ones with damage to their VMPFC appear to be impaired on the task (Bechara, Damasio & Damasio, 2000).Furthermore, Overman (2004) has conducted a study outside of the Iowa laboratory and has replicated Damasio’s findings with the extension of gender differences. Overman’s results showed that adolescent men chose from the decks on the basis of long-term outcome only. Moreover, the predictive validity of the IGT and therefore SMH, has demonstrated an association between the response of OCD patients to pharmacotherapy and performance on the IGT (Cavedini, Bassi, Zozi & Bellodi, 2004).This depicts the behavioral form of the IGT to be a very sensitive measure of decision making as its results are highly applicable to real world decision making (e. g. those with OCD). Although the study does much to support the SMH argument, it has also received a lot of criticism which will be subsequently addressed. It has been contested that the work from the Iowa laboratory provides only superficial support for the SMH, since closer analysis can reveal issues that potentially undermine its argument for decision making in the face of an uncertain outcome.For example, Maia & McClelland (2004) contend that the IGT can be performed through access to conscious, explicit knowledge since the task allows a lengthy time to deliberate over each decision- especially since the outcomes are presented in explicit numerical form. Thus, they refute the claim that task acquisition necessarily requires the generation of non conscious ‘somatic marker’ signals which effectively weakens the extent to which the SMH accurately explains decision making in terms of emotion- for it may not be the result of an implicit neural mechanism (Maia & McClelland, 2004. Another criticism of the IGT (and therefore the SMH) is that the patients with VMPFC damage could have been quite apathetic to the study’s demands and expectations. Barrash, Tranel & Anderson (2000) report that patients with lesions to their VMPFC often experience symptoms of apathy and are actually capable of improving their emotional response to affective images if instructed to look carefully. Therefore, if the patients are in fact competent of generating anticipatory SCRs and successfully completing the task, it can be postulated that enhancing their en gagement levels would raise their results to match the control groups.In terms of the implications this would have for the SMH, it would serve as evidence that emotion does not play that great a role in decision making since they can still obtain the same results with impaired emotional ability. Furthermore, Fellows and Farah (2005) have suggested that the syndrome of apathy may deserve more attention in understanding impaired decision making. Similarly, another symptom of VMPFC damage, which can adversely affect performance in the IGT, is impaired reversal learning (Rolls, Hornak, Wade & McGrath, 1994).The IGT is centred on a response reversal in which involves a shift in preference from the two initially rewarding decks to the other two decks due to subsequent punishment (Rolls et al. 1994). Both Fellows & Farah (2005) and Rolls et al (1994), corroborate that lesions to the VMPFC allow normal acquisition but impaired reversal on simple reversal learning tasks. Therefore, the impai red reversal learning, rather than the inability to generate somatic markers, may well account for why patients find it so difficult to perform correctly in the IGT.Fellows & Farah (2005) devised a study to test this notion by removing the response reversal. It was found that by eliminating the rewards of the two disadvantageous decks in the opening trials, the performance of the VMPFC impaired patients was the same as that of the control volunteers. This research suggests that the IGT may not have been testing the role of emotion in decision making but instead, how capable the subjects were in their response reversal.Therefore, the extent to which the SMH explains how decisions are made is further limited since the evidence that emotions play a direct role is very weak. Additionally, the SMH is arguably only applicable to certain decision making and cannot account for those decisions that need rationality and a thoughtful, conscious planning process. Banfield’s Rational Plan ning Model (1959) (RPM), on the other hand, may serve as a good explanation for decision making in such a situation.Banfield states that a rational decision is made when the decision maker lists all the opportunities for action, recognises all the consequences and selects the action based on the preferred consequence. Additionally, Banfield defines a ‘plan’ as a decision with regard to a course of action, involving a similar process as any rational choice. The RPM consists of four main stages: the analysis of the situation, the end reduction and elaboration (formulating an image of the future had an option been picked), the design of courses of action, and the comparative evaluation of consequences (Banfield, 1995).Banfield’s RPM is the most widely subscribed planning theory to date and although it has experienced criticism, it has been hailed very useful in explaining how we make important decisions. According to Stiftel (2000), important decisions are ones whic h demand explicit conscious planning such as buying a house or taking a new job. These decisions are arguably unlikely to be a result of the emotional hunches or gut instincts that Damasio discusses since they almost always involved a mental list of pros and cons before arriving at a decision.However, this theory fails to explain why some people make irrational and illogical decisions in the face of an uncertain outcome. For example, criminals do not logically plan or weigh up the consequences of an action before undertaking, which highlights that there are multiple explanations for how people make decisions. Banfield recognises that people are generally very opportunistic in their daily decision making as rather than materialising a course of action, people will improvise and meet each crisis as it arises.For instance, large industries rarely look forward more than five to ten years and government planning is even less effective (Stiftel). Since Banfield himself appreciates that th e majority of decisions are the unintended outcome of a ‘social process rather than the conscious product of deliberation and calculation’, there is clearly a cause to investigate the role of social processes in decision making (Banfield, 1995 pp. 13). In conclusion, the extent to which the Somatic Marker Hypothesis explains decision making in the face of an uncertain outcome is limited.As it has been demonstrated, Damasio’s SMH attempts to pin decision making down to emotional biasing signals alone and has received various criticisms for its empirical support. For example, it attempts to validate its theory by testing VMPFC patients who may already be too cognitively impaired to perform the task (Barrash et al, 2000). Additionally, the extent to which the IGT measures an implicit response has also been questioned on the grounds that the task allows a great deal of time for deliberation (Maia & McClelland).Thus, Banfield’s Rational Planning Model was exami ned as an alternative explanation for decision making. The RPM does a lot to discredit the SMH and is essentially a valuable explanation of how we make decisions since it highlights that the majority of important decisions force the individual into a conscious process of planning and analysing. However, like the SMH, the RPM alone cannot explain decision making for there are individuals (criminals) who defy deliberation. This highlights that decisions are most likely the cause of an interplay of factors, depending on both the situation and person.To summarise, the SMH does little to explain the tricky phenomenon of decision making in the face of an uncertain outcome- but it would be too deterministic to deem this process down to just one theory alone. Referencing: Banfield, E. C. (1959), â€Å"Ends and means in planning†, International Social Science Journal, Vol. 11, pp. 361-8. Barrash, J. , Tranel, D. , Anderson, S. W. , (2000). Acquired personality distrubances associated with bilateral damage to the ventromedial prefrontal region. Developmental Neuropsychology 18 (3), 355–381. Bechara, A. , Damasio, H. , Damasio, A. R. , (2000).Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex 10, 295–307 Bechara, A. , Damasio, H. , Tranel, D. , Damasio, A. R. , (2005). The Iowa Gambling Task and the somatic marker hypothesis: some questions and answers. Trends in Cogntive Sciences 9 (4), 159–162. Best, M. , Williams, J. M. , Coccaro, E. F. , (2002). Evidence for a dysfunctional prefrontal circuit in patients with an impulsive aggressive disorder. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 99 (12), 8448–8453. Bolla, K. I. , Eldreth, D. A. , London, E. D. , Kiehl, K. A. , Mouratidis, M. , Contoreggi, C. , et al. (2003). Orbitofrontal cortex dysfunction in abstinent cocaine abusers performing a decision-making task. Neuroimage 19 (3), 1085–1094. Cavedini, P. , Bassi, T. , Zorzi, C. , Bellodi, L. , (2004). The advantages of choosing antiobsessive therapy according to decision-making functioning. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 24 (6), 628–631. Dalgleish, T. , 2004. The emotional brain. Nature Neuroscience Reviews 5 (7), 583–589. Jameson, T. L. , Hinson, J. M. , Whitney, P. , 2004. Components of working memory and somatic markers in decision making. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 11 (3), 515–520.Damasio, A. R. , 1996. The somatic marker hypothesis and the possible functions of the prefrontal cortex. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (series B) 351 (1346), 1413–1420. Damasio, A. R. , Tranel, D. , Damasio, H. C. (1998) Somatic markers and the guidance of behaviour. In Jekins, M. J. , Oatley, K & Stein, L. M. (Eds. ), Human Emotion: a reader (pp 122- 125). Oxford: Blackwell. Dunn, D. B. , Dalgleish, T. , Lawrence, A. D. (2006). The Somatic Marker Hypothesis: A critical evaluation. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 30. , 23 9–271. Fellows, L. K. , Farah, M. J. 2005a. Different underlying impairments in decision-making following ventromedial and dorsolateral frontal lobe damage in humans. Cerebral Cortex 15 (1), 58–63. Jameson, T. L. , Hinson, J. M. , & Whitney, P. (2004). Components of working memory and somatic markers in decision making. Psychological Bulletin & Review, 11, 515–520 Maia, T. V. , McClelland, J. L. , 2004. A reexamination of the evidence for the somatic marker hypothesis: what participants really know in the Iowa gambling task. Proceedings of the National Academy for Science USA 101 (45), 16075–16080. Overman, W. H. , 2004.Sex differences in early childhood, adolescence, and adulthood on cognitive tasks that rely on orbital prefrontal cortex. Brain and Cognition 55 (1), 134–147. Rolls, E. T. , Hornak, J. , Wade, D. , McGrath, J. , 1994. Emotion-related learning in patients with social and emotional changes associated with frontal lobe damage. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 57 (12), 1518–1524. Schmitt, W. A. , Brinkley, A. C. , Newman, P. J. (1999). Testing Damasio’s Somatic Marker Hypothesis With Psychopathic Individuals: Risk takers or Risk Averse. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 108 (3), 538-543.Sanfey, A. G. , Loewenstein, G. , McClure, S. M. , & Cohen, J. D. (2006). Neuroeconomics: cross-currents in research on decision-making. Trends in Cognitive Science, 10, 108-116. Sterelny, K. (2007). Cognitive Load and Human Decision, or, Three Ways of Rolling the Rock Up Hill. In Carruthers, P. , Laurence, S. , & Stich, S. (Eds. ), The Innate Mind: Volume 2: Culture and Cognition (PP. 148-152). Oxford Scholarship Online. Stiftel, B (2000). â€Å"Plannin theory. II. The national AICP examination preparation course guidebook. Ed Roshi Pajaseyed. Am. Inst. Cert. Planners: Washington DC. Pp. 4-16

Alternative Ending To Catcher in the Rye Essay

Anyway, I really did go home after the carrousel. First, Phoebe and I walked out of the park and took the bus to Grand Central, to get my god dam Gladstone’s out of the strong box there. Though it had stopped hammering down, I was still pretty wet. Boy, it really came down like a madman. I still had ‘Phoebe’s’ red hunting hat on, it was soaking wet though. I didn’t care though. â€Å"I’m glad we’re both going home now, Holden†, she said. â€Å"I’m just ready to get this over with†, I said, â€Å"Mom and dad will cry.† â€Å"Don’t worry, Holden. It’ll be okay†, Phoebe said. She squeezed my hand which she was holding and smiled. It just about killed me. We had most of Phoebe’s Christmas dough, so we got my Gladstone’s, and took the bus to 72nd street. There were a bunch of kids at the back of the bus. They were all horsing around, laughing and all. We sat next to them. We took up a lot of room, since we had my two suitcases, plus my old suitcase with Phoebe’s stuff in it. I heard some kid say, â€Å"Phoebe, your brother found you!† I looked across the bus. It was that kid I met in the park yesterday, the girls who roller skates I’d tightened and all. â€Å"Holden’s coming to see me in the play†, she said to the girl. She tugged my arm, â€Å"This is my brother Holden, Holden, this is Susie. She’s in the play too!† â€Å"Yes†, Susie said, â€Å"It should be really great†. She was so polite. I really liked her. I usually like Phoebe’s friends when I first meet them. Phoebe and Susie helped me get my mind off of how I was about to face my parents. I was worried about my mom. I tried not to think of how hysterical she’d get. Phoebe said mom and dad were coming home at around 7. It was 4 now. We got off the bus at 72nd street, said goodbye to Susie and all, and then walked home. â€Å"How are Mr. and Mrs. Antolini?† she asked me. â€Å"They’re doing pretty good†, I said. Of course I would never tell her what really happened. I still couldn’t believe it. Had he always liked me in a flirty way? We got home, and I took my suitcases into my room and I lay down on my bed. I was pretty tired. All of a sudden i got to thinking about Pencey. I wondered what they were all saying about me back there. I started thinking maybe I was wrong, leaving so suddenly after that god dam little tiff with Stradlater. He’s really not a bad guy. In fact, I sort of missed him. I’ll give old Jane a bell tomorrow, if it’s not too crazy here. So I unpacked a few things in my room, and smoked all of my cigarettes. I was so god dam nervous. Around 7 o’clock, mom and dad walked in together. At the time, I was right there in the hallway, so they saw me right away. I really didn’t care if they yelled at me. I felt numb and empty inside. I was really hungry, but too worried to eat. If you want to know the truth, I was in pretty bad shape. Even though I changed and washed before mom and dad came home, I felt that I must have looked a state. I hadn’t shaved in a few days. Anyway, they looked all dressed up and nice when they came through the door. â€Å"Holden! What’s going on? What are you doing here? Its’ Tuesday†, my dad said. I took a deep breath, and then started coughing all over the place. Christ, what a time to have a coughing fit ey? I finally cleared my throat. â€Å"Well†, I said, â€Å"I†¦I got kicked out again. I’m really sorry† â€Å"Damn it, Holden! I can’t take it anymore!† Dad yelled. Mom had already started sobbing. I felt awful. Seeing Mom cry really killed me. â€Å"Holden, what the hell is wrong with you!? I paid a ton of money to send you to these schools and all you do is get kicked out every god dam time! I know you’re not stupid! You can pass these classes! I know it’s that you’re not applying yourself!† Boy was he mad. His face was all red, and all these veins were sticking out in his neck. I was kinda scared that he would hit me. We’re a pretty non-violent family. I was thinking about Allie the whole time Dad was yelling at me. I don’t know how long the whole thing lasted. â€Å"Damn it, Holden, you’ve really pushed my buttons this time! Look at how well DB and Phoebe are doing. Can’t you follow their lead?† Mom was just sobbing the whole time that the argument was going on. I started drifting off again, I thought about Mr. Antolini. I could be there now, having an intellectual conversation with him, smoking a cigarette. I kept thinking about him patting me on the head. Does he look at me as another son figure? Or does he have feelings for me? Or was he just really drunk? It didn’t seem right at all. When I got there, he should have noticed how tired I was and just let me sleep. So, Dad was kept on yelling at me and sent me to my room. I walked into my room, shut the door, and lay down on my bed again and lit a cigarette that I found in my hounds tooth jacket pocket. I hardly ever see Dad this mad. I heard my mom crying in their bedroom, and my father trying to comfort her. I started thinking of the military school. I knew I’d hate it there, even more than the other schools I’d been to. The next thing I knew, I was sort of crying. Normally I’m not a huge crier, but here I was, crying my god dam eyes out. I heard a little knock at the door, and old Phoebe came in. â€Å"I heard you crying, don’t worry Holden, everything will blow over†. She sat on the side of my bed and hugged me. Trust Phoebe to do something phony like that, but all the same, it was kinda cute. Phoebe went to bed at around 9 o’clock and I was still awake by 11. I couldn’t sleep. I felt kinda weak, and I kept coughing like a madman. That’s about it, that’s all I’m gonna tell you. I could go on and tell you about the military school and Phoebe and all. But I think I told too much already.

Farenheit 451 Essay

While Clarisse and Mildred are both very different people, they work together to help Montag see the truth behind his unhappiness in the society. Clarisse believes in sitting and taking time to watch the world go by. She takes time to see the world and all of its beauty. On the other hand, Mildred lives a fast life letting the world pass her by. She always has a purpose for doing something. For example, she doesn’t just go for walks or looks at things for fun. Clarisse and Mildred are both opposite but, help show Montag the truth about the society. Clarisse is a non-conformist who helps show Montag true happiness in life. Clarisse does not conform to the society. She doesn’t believe in the fast life they live. Clarisse pays attention to little things and has a personal interest in Montag. Clarisse symbolizes the hope for the future of society. Finally, Clarisse’s life centers on the little things that make life worthwhile. For example, she says â€Å"I rarely watch the parlor walls or go to races or fun parks. So I’ve lots of time for crazy thoughts† (Bradbury 9). The quote shows how she is different from the people in the society. She would rather go walking around looking at the beauty of nature than participate in the mind-numbing and barbaric rituals the society participates in. Next, Clarisse also plays a role in the development of Montag. In the beginning Montag meets Clarisse walking home from work. She asks him many questions that make him think about his life. In the end she asks him if he is happy. At first he blows off the question stating of course he is happy but the more he thinks about it he realizes his unhappiness in the society and in his marriage. Clarisse helps jump start his transgression and helps him find his true fate. Mildred is a conformist whose cold and lifeless ways show Montag the truth behind his unhappiness. Mildred is a very important character and plays a major role in the story. First, Mildred symbolizes how the rest of the society acts. Even though Montag and Mildred are married they have a special bond that most married couples share. Mildred is very cold to Montag and does not open up. For example, Montag says â€Å"He felt his way towards his open, separate, and therefore cold bed† (Bradbury 12). The quote means that even though Montag and Mildred are married they have no meaningful connection to each other. Mildred does not open up to Montag to share personal feelings or let him open up to her. Mildred acts this way because she does not like to think. For example, when Mildred goes to bed she has to listen to music so her mind is occupied. If she’s not occupied then she might actually find out how unhappy she is. Mildred helps show Montag how unhappy he really is. Whenever Montag would try and talk to Mildred she would always ignore him and dodge the questions. She would make him feel like their relationship was built on lies and that they really did not love each other. Finally, neither of them could remember where they meet. One of the most important things in a relationship and Mildred nor Montag could remember it. This Furthers Montag’s reasoning that he is not happy. Mildred’s distant ways help show Montag how unhappy he really is. Clarisse and Mildred are both opposite but, help show Montag the truth about the society. Clarisse likes to talk to people and have conversations with them. Also, she takes time to see the world and all of its beauty. On the other hand, all Mildred does is watch the parlor walls. If she does do something it is for a reason not just for fun. While Clarisse and Mildred are both very different people, they work together to help Montag see the truth behind his unhappiness in the society.

Police Brutality Essay

When one thinks of a cop what should come to mind is â€Å"hero†. Cops should be a sign of safety, when a cop comes around you should feel safe and protected. Although a few years ago it was that way it is no longer true. Now day’s cops are seen as people you want to stay away from, people are afraid of them. Cops are now abusing, assaulting, and killing innocent people, this is called police brutality. Police brutality can be caused by policeman’s ability to assume everyone is up to no good, racism, and thinking they have the power to do whatever they want, and it results in falsely accused young adults, death, abuse of power by troubling the lives of others. All over the world people are getting falsely accused and charged with crimes they did not commit, abused, and even killed because of police brutality. When police cars drive around in certain neighborhoods and see a bunch of teens standing around or just any type of people around in groups they automatically start to assume that they are up to no good. In the video I am Sean Bell a child said â€Å" There’s been a lot of times where people got shot over nothing. Like one guy he got shot just for pulling out a brush.† This shows that even though the man wasn’t doing anything wrong and didn’t have anything illegal on him the police just assumed that he was up to no good and was going to fire a weapon. Now days you can’t even pull out a brush without getting shot by police officers. In my eyes they are not protecting us they are taking us down. Nationally 83 percent of police are white; this is most likely why black males are locked up and get pulled over daily. Racism is something that is still a huge problem in America. White people are always seeing blacks as criminals and anytime there is a crime blacks are the first ones who are blamed. â€Å"Tonight there is anger here in New York City as 5 police officers fire 50 rounds into a vehicle last weekend killing one man, injuring two others. Victims were all black and unarmed.† – I am Sean Bell. Why was it necessary to shoot 50 rounds into a vehicle? What did they do that was so wrong for police to fire 50 rounds into their vehicle? The men in the  vehicle were not armed so why were two of them injured and one killed. Police see black people and see them all as criminals that lead to situations like this. If cops weren’t racist maybe so many black people would not be locked up or killed. When a person becomes a police officer they all a sudden thinks they have all the power in the world and can do anything they want and get away with it. Policemen think that they can do anything in the world, they think they have godlike powers and when they do certain things they will get away with it, and the truth is most of the time they do get away with it just by saying â€Å" I thought it was the right call†. Just because they think something is up doesn’t give them the right to start shooting or arrest someone. Everyday people are getting searched without consent, with no warrant, with no reason whatsoever for their actions other than they wanted to. A lot of policemen will pull citizens over for no reason; the biggest reason is to meet their quota. At the end of the month when they don’t have enough tickets to give to their chief they just start pulling people over for going 2 miles over the speed limit, which is unnecessary. â€Å"Some of the interacti ons are entirely situational and unpredictable, driven by each party’s immediate constructions of the others motives or actions. Voice may be expressed and altercations may occur when officers show disrespect towards a citizen or when officers refuse to provide reasons for their actions.†(Weitzer) Policemen go around and tackle citizens to cuff them when all they had to say was put your hand up. By watching numerous episodes of cops I’ve learned that cops don’t give anyone any time to follow their instructions. If you don’t comply within a second they result to force which is completely unnecessary and may injure innocent citizens. Police use unnecessary force before they even find out what the story is. In my view police really need to tone it down and do their job the way it is supposed to be done and not hurt or kill innocent people. In conclusion policeman these days do not know how to do their job without injuring, or killing innocent or even guilty citizens. The job of a policeman is to clean up the streets effectively and with the least amount of casualties possible. The police are not doing their job the way it is  supposed to be done. They are being extremely violent, and killing innocent people, they don’t give people the chance to do what they want them to do. For the safety of others the police need to change, Cops are now abusing, assaulting, and killing innocent people, this is called police brutality. Police brutality can be caused by policeman’s ability to assume everyone is up to no good, racism, and thinking they have the power to do whatever they want, and it results in falsely accused young adults, death, abuse of power by troubling the lives of others. Sources Christina, Lund, et al. â€Å"Violent Criminal Recidivism In Mentally Disordered Offenders: A Follow-Up Study Of 13–20Years Through Different Sanctions.† International Journal Of Law And Psychiatry 36.Special Issue on Prisons and Mental Health (n.d.): 250-257. ScienceDirect. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. Media That Matters: Films I Am Sean Bell. Dir. Stacey Muhammad. Media That Matters Film Festival News. Media That Matters, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013. Goodman, Amy, and Denis Moynihan. â€Å"October 24, 2013.† Democracy Now! Democracy Now, 24 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.