As a word analyst, I found three words from the story, “All the Troubles of the World” by Isaac Asimov, that are significant to the theme and the understanding of the story. The first word is “tendril”. A tendril is a tread-like organ of climbing plants that grow in spirals and help the plant climb its way up. The word is used in the sentence, “Multivac…had reached out tendrils into every city and town on Earth” (pg 263). The author refers the view range of Multivac to a tendril because the ability of tendrils to climb up just about anything is similar to the capability of the Multivac to reach and oversee every man on Earth. The second word is “subconscious”. Subconscious means existing or operating in the mind beneath or beyond consciousness.
The word is used in the sentences, “I am planning no crime… I swear it… Maybe it’s something subconscious, Pop” (pg 272). At the beginning of the story, the readers are told that Multivac can read thoughts. However, these sentences suggest that Multivac can read information beyond thoughts. This is interesting because if this is true, it means that Multivac knows more information about the people than what they know about themselves. The third word is “consummation”. Consummation is the act of completing and fulfilling. This word is used in the phrase “consummation of marriage” which is the first act of sexual intercourse between a newlywed couple. This is believed to make the marriage “complete”. This word is used in the sentence, “They found out that consummation of crime led to inevitable punishment”(169-170). The author uses “consummation of crime” instead of “commitment of crime” because Multivac can predict the probability of one committing a crime. Therefore, actually carrying out the crime would be completing the predicted crime.
The book Trouble,by Gary D. Schmidt, is based on the Smith family who lives in Blythbury-by-the-Sea, which is a small, quiet town by the Atlantic Shore. The family believes that if you build your house far enough from trouble, trouble will not be able to find you. Then, abruptly, their life takes a turn for the worse and trouble finds them. Henry, the youngest of the Smith family, and Franklin, the oldest of the Smith boys, planned a trip to climb the mountain of Katahdin, but now, because of the trouble, Henry sets out to climb it with his best friend Sanborn. On this journey, he meets the person who started the trouble in his family, Chay Chouan, who goes with him. The two characters Henry and Chay have characteristics and traits that are the same, but they also have very different personalities and backgrounds and family styles.
David M. Potter’s, “Fire-Eaters, Fugitives and Finality” in The Impending Crisis is a secondary source describing the events that followed up to the civil war and the impact the South and North both had on the issue of slavery. Potter who was born in Georgia in 1910 studied for most of his life Southern culture and ideology especially during the Civil War era. He argues that it was institutionalized cultural differences that prevented the South and North from agreeing to settle the tension with slavery as a whole country. He proposes that the significance of the slavery in the culture and society in the South was so critical that effort to preserve that way of living, the South would have no other choice but to separate from the North. Potter utilizes political ideology to articulate that it was due to significant decisions by congress that fueled violence and increasing tension for both halves of the United States. David M. Potter also engages in referencing personal liberty laws and arguing how if it wasn’t for Prigg vs Pennsylvania there would be more strict slavery enforcement in the North.
Many may have heard of Elie Wiesel as the author of the book called Night or as the person that survived the Holocaust. When reading Night, there are many question can be ask about the book. One of the question is, what are mankind's greatest mistake? After finish the book Night, mankind’s greatest mistake we're letting the Holocaust happen, kill many Jews, and treat Jews terribly.
Wole Soyinka's essay "Every Dictator's Nightmare" in the April 18, 1999 edition of the New York Times magazine seems almost prescient in light of the events currently occurring geopolitically. The recent events occurred in Egypt are certainly representative of the themes present in Soyinka's essay; “the idea that certain fundamental rights are inherent to all humanity" (476). Soyinka, the 1986 noble peace prizewinner for literature, portrays not only his well-formed persona in his essay, but also his well formed thoughts, devoid of literary naiveté common in so many of today’s writers. The essay portrays societies as corrupted, but with some elements of innate nobility. The existence of societies is guaranteed by the realization that every individual has undeniable basic rights. Soyinka also presents an overview of the enslavement of individual cultures; to the forces of religion, dictatorship, economic pressures, forced labor, and ideology; presenting the reader strong examples of the world's failure to respect individual human rights throughout history. In his essay, Soyinka’s explores the employment of irony and contradiction, in explaining the paradoxes that have riddled the historical search for just societies.
In his piece, “Human Dignity”, Francis Fukuyama explores the perception of human dignity in today's society. This perception is defined by what Fukuyama calls “Factor X”. This piece draws attention to how human dignity has been affected recently and its decline as we go into the future. Using the input given by the Dalai Lama in his piece, “Ethics and New Genetics”, the implementing of factor X and human dignity on future generations will be explored. Through the use of the pieces, “Human Dignity and Human Reproductive Cloning by Steven Malby, Genetic Testing and Its Implications: Human Genetics Researchers Grapple with Ethical Issues by Isaac Rabino, and Gender Differences in the Perception of Genetic Engineering Applied to Human Reproduction by Carol L. Napolitano and Oladele A. Ogunseitan, the decline on the amount of human dignity found in today's society as well as the regression in Factor X that can be found today compared to times past. Society's twist on ethics as a result of pop culture and an increase in genetic engineering has caused for the decline in the amount of dignity shown by the members of society and the regression of Factor X to take hold in today's society.
Colonies settled by the British were not keen on being ruled by the British from the beginning of the colonization of America. Puritans immigrated to this New World after facing religious discrimination under the British Crown. The New World meant a fresh start for the Puritans. They could set up their own government and free practice their religion. Those who were not Puritan were still likely to share the belief in independence for the mother country and a fresh start However, British rule prevailed providing their own laws and power. The British Crown sought to grasp full control of the colonies for the good of the mother country and its values. Of course, eventually the colonies achieved independence through prominent figures in society
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, portrays a future society where people are no longer individuals but are controlled by the World State. The World State dominates the people by creating citizens that are content with who they are. Brave New World describes how the science of biology and psychology are manipulated so that the government can develop technologies to change the way humans think and act. The World State designs humans from conception for this society. Once the humans are within the society the state ensures all people remain happy. They program these humans to have needs and desires that will sustain a lucrative economy while not thinking of themselves as an individual. Huxley describes the Worlds State’s intent to control their society through medical intervention, happiness, and consumerism which has similarities to modern society.
“Civilization and Its Discontents” is a book written by Sigmund Freud in 1929 (originally titled “Das Unbehagen in der Kultur” or The Uneasiness in Culture.) This is considered to be one of Freud’s most important and widely read works. In this book, Freud explains his perspective by enumerating what he sees as fundamental tensions between civilization and the individual. He asserts that this tension stems from the individual’s quest for freedom and non-conformity and civilization’s quest for uniformity and instinctual repression. Most of humankind’s primitive instincts are clearly destructive to the health and well-being of a human community (such as the desire to kill.) As a direct result, civilization creates laws designed to prohibit killing, rape, and adultery, and has severe consequences for those that break these laws. Freud argues that this process is an inherent quality of civilization that instills perpetual feelings of discontent in its citizens. This theory is based on the idea that humans have characteristic instincts that are immutable. The most notable of these are the desires for sex, and the predisposition to violent aggression towards authoritative figures as well as sexual competitors. Both of these obstruct the gratification of a person’s instincts. Freud also believes that humans are governed by the pleasure principle, and that they will do whatever satisfies or pleasures them. He also believes that fulfilling these instincts satisfies the pleasure principle.
In the memoir Night, the narrator Elie Wiesel recounts a moment when he watched young Pipel hung, “ Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and blush. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing “ (Wiesel 64-65). It wasn’t anything new to the prisoners, they experienced these acts every single day. There was nothing to brutal in the death camps, Nazi’s had no limits on their punishments and treatments to their jewish prisoners. Two significant themes related to inhumanity discussed in the book Night by Elie Wiesel are the loss of faith displayed and the loss of compassion/care for others.
During the past few weeks my class and I have been reading your book, “ Brave New World”. While reading your book I have discovered a few captivating issues. These issues include the destruction of the family, the use of drugs, and polygamy (obligatory sex). These issues are interesting because of their implications in life today, and the frequent times they are shown in the book. The ways they are used to control people and make their life easier, and the fact that our world seems to be falling into the same state.
The novel Night, written by Elie Wiesel, takes the reader through his mind as he endures the cruelty of the concentration camp. With a theme such as death, it is no wonder that cruelty’s role leads to the torture and death of millions of innocent humans. As the story progresses through his life in the camps, the cruelty increases in magnitude. It first starts by people being stripped from their homes and taken to the camp. Once in the cruel camps, their identities are taken and replaced with only a number. Then their clothes, family, hope, and finally their will to live is stolen from them by their captors. Elie Wiesel was one of the millions of Jews involved in the holocaust. He survived and years later wrote about
Basically, John’s company helps young children in poor communities develop strong learning habits, which include dedication and perseverance. This will help them succeed in later years of their schooling. The Better World Books company really admires John Wood and his philosophy while he continues to, “build libraries in rural villages of Nepal” (Better World Books). There are other organizations very similar to Room to Read, such as Books for Africa, Worldfund, National Center for Families Learning, and, “80 other literacy partners” (Better World Books), are companies which Better World Books generates fundings for in every book they sell. This “people” aspect of the triple bottom line for this book company shows how they work with other companies, donate their fundings to help people in poorer parts of the world, and help to improve education for less fortunate people.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a representation of the normal human behavior as well as the circumstances we presently encounter on a day-to-day basis. The Allegory of the Cave symbolically describes our circumstances as human beings in today’s world. Plato uses a number of key elements to depict the image of the human condition. Plato's images contain relatable ideas in regards to society that are related to my everyday life. By reading Plato I have personally begun to expand my though process and have learned not to rely solely on my senses. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave brings philosophy’s teachings to the forefront and makes it easy for us readers to understand what philosophy is trying to teach us.
Robert D. Kaplan’s article “The Coming Anarchy," is best summarized by the following quote, which identifies the different factors that he evaluates throughout his article, “To understand the events of the next fifty years, then, one must understand environmental scarcity, cultural and racial clash, geographic destiny, and the transformation of war.” (Kaplan, 1994) This is the framework that he uses to make his supporting arguments and thus this summary will be broken down into these four main parts.
his nation, and from the convictions which have grown up in his mind without the