American Me - Poem Essay Example for Free

American Me Poem Essay The poem American Me, written by Ninfa Miranda-Maloney, tells the story of a Mexican immigrant who comes to the United States to live the American dream. The author incorporates ethnic aspects with her use of Spanish words sprinkled in amongst the poem. With his â€Å"spit shine shoes† (Miranda-Maloney, n. d, line 10) and â€Å"brillantina-slick back hair† (Miranda-Maloney, n. d. , line 11), a picture is painted of a young man’s pride in himself as he begins the journey of a lifetime. This is a young man ready for his new life in America. The tone quickly changes, however, as he probably soon realizes that the dream is not what he had in mind. In San Eli, where he â€Å"lived on thank yous and maybes† (Miranda-Maloney, n. d. , line 23), the reader gets the sense that the man was taken advantage of and worked hard for little compensation. The most powerful lines in the poem are â€Å"kissed your white land, broke my back, sweat a few tears for a piece of the dream† (Miranda-Maloney, n. d. , lines 27, 28, 29). The author has incorporated a racial aspect in the poem by showing referring to the white land. This is not his land, this is the â€Å"white land†. He is doing back breaking labor for â€Å"whites†, probably not what he expected as the young man full of hope chasing the American dream. The author also includes social class aspects in this poem. The poem ends with the man, now here in the United States for fifty years, still smelling the onions on his fingertips. (Miranda-Maloney, n. d. ) This leads me to believe the man is still working in the onion fields fifty years after arriving in the United States. A generalization can be made that a person from a lower social class would need to continue to work past retirement age to make ends meet. I grew up in a poor neighborhood in California. My community included many immigrants here in the United States both illegally and legally. The immigrants I have known throughout my life are generally proud Americans, though there are the few that grow bitter because their American ideals and dreams have not been met. They work hard doing difficult work for little money and not much appreciation. While I don’t personally identify with the poem, I am able to sympathize with the character as he could represent a number of people I know. My grandmother emigrated to California before my mother was born. She came to the States with the dream of giving her children a better life than the one they’d likely have in El Salvador. Throughout my life, she’s told me the stories of moving here and settling the family in the area. It was difficult for her, working many hours as a maid, but she did it for the benefit of her children. Many times throughout her first few years in the states, she considering going back home. The dream she envisioned was hardly her reality at first. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to go to a different country where you don’t speak the language or know the culture but it happens regularly in this country. At the end of the day, the United States is a country made up of immigrants, most of which are just chasing the dream as well.

Elements of Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire :: A Streetcar Named Desire Essays

Many Elements of A Street Car Named Desire  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, is a very worldly play that contains issues from life; a guilty feeling of abandonment, the anger and frustration between two complete opposites, and the violation of a rape. It happens in New Orleans where there are many different races. Blanche DuBois, loses her ancestral home, Belle Reve, and her teaching position as a result of promiscuity. With expectations for the new life, she moves in with her pregnant sister Stella and her brutish husband, Stanley Kowalski. Throughout the play, we can distinguish many differences between Blanche and Stella. Although they come from the same noble and aristocratic family, their philosophies of life are distinct and lead them to different roads. Blanche is a highly vulnerable, as well as neurotic, woman living in a world of boozy self deception. She is intelligent, yet prefers magic over realism. She puts too much emphasis on her manners and appearance. She demands to be seen for what she wished to be, rather than what she really is.This is the reason for the paper lanterns and constant bathing - she is creating her world of illusion. A complite opposite of Blanch is Stella.Unlike her sister, she is a passive and gentle woman. She is five years younger than Blanche, about 25, and has been submissive to her for her entire life. After marrying Stanley, she is forced to join the lower class, endure her husband's bad temper, and be obedient to him. Blanche is not a compromising person who can adapt to changes. Moreover, I think she is afraid of alterations and denies facing the reality (ex. she is afraid of losing her properties, her youth and beauty, etc.). She feels very uncertain about the new world and tries to persist in her own way of behavior and thinking, since that is how she has been educated: to be a lady. Stella is the connecting figure to two different worlds- the supposed royalty world of Blanche DuBois and the more common world of Stanley Kowalski. Blanche and St anley both attempt to influence her, and they succeed to a degree. Stella still has many of the qualities instilled in her at Belle Reve, yet she does not let that get in the way of her having some fun. As she is so entangled between two completely opposite worlds, she is stuck and eventually forced to side with one of the two.

Were the Allies Justified in Bombing German Cities?

The sole purpose in the role of the country is to protect the citizens of the nation; that is exactly what Great Britain did for its nation and for the end of World War II. Great Britain had to do what was best for the country and should be justified as a result from the bombing of the German cities in account of the nation’s pride, a misinterpreted perception of morals and also due to being forced into a tight situation. Although the casualties and negative impact that Germany faced, Britain’s actions in bombing the German cities should be justified due to the position they were in. Britain did not want to allow Germany to walk all over their nation that they had taken pride of and knew the consequences of the possible outcomes if they had not acted against Germany. People of Great Britain would be hurt and the country had just wanted to protect its citizens (Document 5). Britain saw that there would have been a larger negative effect if they had not bombed the German cities compared to if they did. They perceived the bombing to have been a last chance to end the war. After the conflict between Russia and Germany, the Allies had seen Germany’s air force as a ‘Achilles heel’ which resulted in the bombing (Document 4). If they had not acted against Germany, Operation Sea Lion would have continued to commence and casualties would most likely have resulted the same towards the British (textbook p. 229). The product of Germany’s determination to take over Great Britain would have meant to enable Hitler to have full control over Europe. We would think that the countries would play along the rules implied in the war between the countries but that would be another sad misunderstood perception. From the beginning of the war, there was no real perception to what was wrong or right; there were no morals once a country entered the war because they must do whatever precautions they would do for the best of their country. This is exactly what Great Britain did. Their actions should not even be justified compared to Hitler’s past decisions and false promises he had made with the Allies. The war itself had no limits because Hitler had already surpassed them all. The fault of Hitler’s decisions was taken upon the citizens of Poland when Hitler decided to backstab a nation and take over the country (Textbook). Because of the false promises that were not lived up to, the trust between the Allies and Germany slowly slipped further away. Even though attacking them was not the best method, it was the only thing to do for the sake of the nation. They were merely giving Germany a taste of its own medicine due to the past decisions made by Hitler. â€Å"Don’t talk to me about morality in war, there is no such thing† is quoted from a soldier from the Bomber Command veterans in 1975. This represents how nobody considers what is right or wrong in war and how they would sacrifice anything to do what is best for the nation (Document 8). Even if they did have a fair understanding of morals, they still had to consider the consequences if they had not shot for the opportunity. In any difficult circumstances, a country must look past the harsh side effects and do what is best for its nation despite of it. The Allies were put into a tight situation and could not just stand by and watch their country take the negative impact by Hitler’s actions. The one who had made the first move was Germany as they attacked Britain by sending plans to bomb London in order to seize control over the country. Germany is to blame for the reasoning behind the initiation of Great Britain’s actions towards them (textbook p. 228). Britain could not just sit back and watch so naturally, they returned the favour that they given them; this would give them fair ground that they deserved in their stance. As a natural human reaction, they retaliated against the Germans and fought back which resulted into the bombing of the German cities (Document 6). Hitler should be at fault to put the civilians through the wrath of the British and should be the right to blame rather than the country that is merely defending itself (Document 7).

Though the most corrupt character in the world of any play, Valpone’s vitality and delight in life make him irresistibly attractive to us

It would be almost impossible for the audience of this satiric comedy, Valpone not to be moved, if not shocked by the larger than life, absolutely corrupt character of Valpone. He evokes both disgust and a perverted sense of admiration as we are presented to someone who is so completely vacant in compassion. We are almost in awe of this character who has no fear of punishment for his sins in this world or the next, yet the realisation that his evil is so strong and overbearing that he longs to rape the personification of innocence is chilling and deeply disturbing. Remorseless, loveless and careless, Johnson gives us a character not like any other and sets him in Renaissance Venice, the ideal place and time for such a tyrant and his parasite to thrive. Valpones gold is his god, and he in turn worships it as such â€Å"Good morning to the day; and, next, my gold! Open the shrine, that I may see my saint.† This opening speech is drenched with religious imagery, this blasphemous language shows no fear of retribution and this is backed up when he reveals that for him hell would be made heaven if he had gold there. Ironically it is the control that money and possessions have over Valpone that bring about his downfall, for while he is deeply cunning, witty and intelligent he continuously overreaches, blinded and seduced by money. We are immediately appealed and appalled by this foreboding fascination for riches for although it is sacrilegious it shows an amazing strength of character to turn his back completely on religion and its threat of eternal punishment. However his misery and stinginess are unbecoming qualities that fail to lure the audience. Here he shows the familiar characteristics of a fox, in that it is the chase not the kill that brings the thrill, i.e. he takes sheer pleasure in fooling his peers, and has no need for the money that he gains in doing so, except perhaps for loo king at. Another unattractive quality found in Valpone is his void of affection and love, he exploits his freakish bastard children, using them as a source them for entertainment â€Å"Call forth my dwarf, my eunuch and my fool And let 'em make me sport† Johnson has added these abnormals not only as a comic restbite but to give let us see the result of Volpones inner corruption externalised. Even his seemingly pleasant relationship with Mosca is built solely on flattery and humouring each other, they do not love each other, but instead need each other, their parasite and host relationship is inter-reliant and interdependent. With the aid of Mosca, Valpone sets out to bring down each of the other ravenous characters in turn. Although it is Johnson's desire to inform and instruct he allows us to become amused by their amoral scheme and their amazing double act of trickery, due to the other characters gullibility, as each of them have too been infected by the degenerate disease of avarice. Their greed has given Valpone three years to enjoy â€Å"playing with their hopes† and their ignorance allows Valpone to continually take pleasure in † Letting the cherry knock against their lips†¦Ã¢â‚¬  These legacy hunters, aware of the effective threat of each other, bring presents, each trying to outdo the other, naively trusting Mosca as their vector to Valpones treasure. This old Italian tradition encourages such behaviour, and although this play is fictional, it is based on the diseased Italy which was rotten to the core with corruption. In his pretended dying state Valpone lacks the opportunity to show off linguistically, his plan requires Mosca to do his lying and deceiving for him. Ironically however the materialisation of Mosca's plan sees Valpone disguised as a mountebank. In this masque Valpone successfully woes the crowd, his exhibitionist side is exposed, he is persuasive and entertaining, his dazzling sales pitch deceives the crowd, making them think that they are buying a great product at a bargain price â€Å"I am content to be deprived of it for six;† Valpone as Scotto of Mantua even manages to accomplish verbally seducing the virtuous Celia into dropping her hanky with his sensual and soft language. Only that Valpone disgustingly tries to pervert and rape the innocent and beautiful Celia he would almost seem heroic. Till this point there is almost a sense of fairness in that he gulls those equally selfish and greedy, in a simplistic term one bad guy taking from another. He is superior to those waiting to gorge on his corpse in that he has a sense of dignity, demands a sense of respect and is so warped in arrogance it is humorous. However, in his attempted rape his evilness takes a step too far, while we may have forgiven him for duping the melodramatic Bonario out of his inheritance there is no repentance in his attempt to take Celia without her will. â€Å"yield or I'll force thee† The sympathy we felt for Valpone in Act three Scene four when confronted with the garrulous grotesque Lady Would-be has been dissolved, her sin was that of being irritating, vain and boring, while all ugly qualities her seduction lacks the malice the violence and pure evil of rape. This is when the laughter stops and the audience is forced to look introspectively at their own moral values. The play narrowly escapes with a â€Å"happy† ending, Johnson ensures that no matter how persuading or entertaining the corrupt were, they are punished, full of vitality and life, or not, while the good are absolved. It is not the stereotypical â€Å"good overcoming evil† resolve, as neither Celia or Bonario, the only evidence of innocence throughout the play, carried much characteristic weight being two dimensional and shallow. The result is that evil overreaches and destroys itself. Valpone although a mastermind is left to wither away at an asylum, and without his gold to keep him company he his left to rot in his own hell. The audience was tempted and seduced by his explosive personality and the life that oozed out of him, even when feigning sick. Although hyperbolised and exaggerated he was the emphasis of human folly, we are all to a degree driven by greed, we too are tempted by wrong and dishonesty, and that is the very reason that the character of Valpone appeals to us.

Ted Bundy Research Paper Example

Ted Bundy Research Paper Example Ted Bundy Paper Ted Bundy Paper A personality disorder is another cause of the career criminal. People with personality disorders are often involved in repeated episodes of disruptive or difficult behavior. Others often consider these people overbearing, dramatic, or even obnoxious (AGS). Ted Bundy is a narcissistic and a sociopath. Ted Bundy could be considered narcissist. He exposes a few of the Narcissistic diagnostic features in his personality. These features are as follows: Narcissistic personality disorder is a condition characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance, need for admiration, extreme self-involvement, and lack of empathy for others. Individuals with this disorder are usually arrogantly self-assured and confident. They expect to be noticed as superior. Many highly successful individuals might be considered narcissistic. However, this disorder is only diagnosed when these behaviors become persistent and very disabling or distressing. (Long). After Stephanie Brooks left Ted Bundy when she graduated, he showed a number of these disorder features. He shows a lot of self-importance when he goes back to University of Washington and throws himself into his studies to get outstanding grades. He also shows a need for admiration by getting himself into the upper rings of society by becoming a campaigner. He also shows features of an extended definition by another source that describes a narcissistic behavior as A pattern of traits and behaviors which signify infatuation and obsession with ones self to the exclusion of all others and the egotistic and ruthless pursuit of ones gratification, dominance and ambition (Ratzlaff). Not only did his modus operandi, he also shows his obsession in other ways. All of his victims share the basic same traits. They all were between the age of 17 and 26 and were from middle class families. Most were attending college or a university. And almost all of the women were brunettes with their hair parted down the middle. All of the women were attractive and had an average weight between 100 and 140 pounds. This was basically a vague description of Stephanie Brooks. Later he won her back and made her believe that he was going to marry her and just like she broke it off he broke it off. He shows some features of a sociopathic person. Some of the features that are associated with sociopathic behavior are Sense of entitlement; Unremorseful; Apathetic to others; Unconscionable behavior; Blameful of others; Manipulative and conning; Affectively cold; Disparate understanding; Socially irresponsible; Disregardful of obligations; Nonconforming to norms; Irresponsible (Kelly). Ted felt a sense of entitlement. He always felt that he should have had Stephanie Brooks. Ted even felt a sense of entitlement while he was in jail. He always complained about only have 2 meals instead of 3 meals a day. Ted was very manipulative not only when he murdered and raped those women; he was also very manipulative in his personal life. He was always manipulating people for money, sex, or whatever hey wanted. Ted also did not conform to norms. Ted was always a wonderer. He would leave for days at a time and drive through different states on just a whim. There are three features that can define a career criminal. The past criminality predicts future criminality, the earlier the onset of the criminal behavior, the better predictor of future criminal behavior, and for the high rate of criminality, there are usually drugs or alcohol involved. Ted Bundy is a narcissistic and a sociopath and he had some criminal behavior at a young age. By his own account in the interview with Dr. James Dobson he had looked at pornographic material when he was younger. And this started his fantasy about doing these sexual acts toward women. By obtaining these pornographic materials would be considered a status offense because if any person above the age of 18 had these materials it would not be criminal. Bundy also stole skis and equipment and forged ski-lift tickets to support his love of skiing. The next feature is that the Earlier the onset of this criminal activity, the better predictor of the onset of future criminal behavior. Number of early first experiences of problem behaviors was linearly associated with increased frequency of delinquency among the predominantly White and middle-class high school students (Mason). Before Ted was even out of high school, Bundy was a compulsive thief, a shoplifter, and on his way to becoming an amateur criminal. Also, it is believed that he acted out his fantasy, that he developed watching these pornographic materials, at the early age of 14. During this time he was a paperboy and an eight year old Ann Marie Burr went missing in the middle of the night and her body has never been recovered. There is often alcohol or drugs involved. Bundy often used alcohol before the commission of his crimes. Ofenders had used either alcohol alone or alcohol with other drugs in approximately 37 percent of violent victimizations in which victims were able to describe substance use by the offenders(Greenfeld). He admitted in his interview with Dr. James Dobson that he used alcohol before the vicious acts against these women. He said that it would lower his inhibition and it made it easier to commit these crimes. It was a cutoff for Ted Bundy when he would drink the alcohol. He would just say screw it and drink the alcohol which would lower his inhibition and would make it easier to commit the acts. This is evident when Carol DaRonch stated that she had smelt alcohol on his breath when he tried to kidnap her. There are a few occasions where Bundy and a Criminal Justice agency intrude. One intervention is where is arrested and brought to trial the first time for the abduction of Carol DaRonch. During this trial Ted was very confidant that they would not find him guilty of the crime. He was so confident that he represented himself in the trial. He thought that they would never be able to be convicted. Another intervention is when he was pulled over in Florida with the stolen Volts Wagon. He ended up wrestling with the officer and was eventually subdued by the officer. When he was place in the vehicle Ted said that he wished the officer had killed him. The police had a hard time identifying him because all the identification he has was stolen. The Criminal Justice agencies handled Ted Bundy very well. Even though he escaped twice they still handled him very well. They did not stomp all over his rights even though he was being held over for trial for horrible things and the fact that he was an escape risk. The court responded to every request that Ted had with a great deal of fairness. He was given access to the law library when he was defending himself. Also, he was given access to a phone to make long distance phone calls, which other inmates were not allowed to do. When he was arrested for the final time the officer had to fight with Bundy in order to get him under control. The officer showed a lot of poise by not using more force than what was necessary. Some officers might have used more force than that to subdue the subject.

Character Analysis Of Hamlet

Character Analysis Of Hamlet Hamlet is very brave in that he does not fear a challenge. Hamlet at times can prove to be very cautious, at times he thinks when he should act, however when you are king there can be advisors for such matters. â€Å"Beware Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in, Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment. Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy; For the apparel oft proclaims the man.† (William Shakespeare, â€Å"Hamlet†, Act 1 Scene 3) Many times in history leaders should have thought, when instead they acted on impulse, for example Odysseus, from â€Å"The Odyssey† when he and his men escaped the island of the Cyclops instead of tucking his tail and being happy with his slight victory after taking numerous loses, he instead taunted the Cyclops and brought harm near his crew and to himself. For Odysseus di d not know that the father of this monster was the water god Poseidon. Odysseus like all heroes, his main downfall was hubris, and because Hamlet thinks so before he acts he avoids mistakes like this adding to his attributes as a good leader. He can also be as brave as Hercules, for instance when he travels to see the Ghost of his father for the first time, he could have sunk back and ran from the very sight of it, but instead he ran after it and confronted the Ghost and demanded answers. He did not fear what he could not understand as his companions that accompanied him did, instead he was assertive and got to the bottom of the matter. Another account when Hamlet showed quick thinking and bravery was when he intercepted a letter from his Uncle Claudius to the King of England ordering the death of Hamlet on his arrival to England, instead of running and hiding Hamlet used his wits and changed the letter from his head to be had to that of his deliverers. Then in a challenge of swords by Laretes, known to be one of the very best swordsman in his land, Hamlet does not back down. Hamlet takes the challenge head on proving his worth in battle. The fact that Hamlet is his father’s son is very important, he was there behind his father always watching and observing how a king did and should behave, he saw his father’s bravery and his mistakes and Hamlet could use all these experiences to make himself a better king even better than his father. He is of a bloodline of kings, a tradition that is to be kept and Hamlet would have been next in line. The job of taking the throne was in his blood when he assumed the responsibility, ready or not he would have known what to do. â€Å"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.† (William Shakespeare, â€Å"Hamlet†, Act 2 scene 2)

Staying on Course to Your Success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Staying on Course to Your Success - Essay Example As an adopter of ‘on course’ principles, I wish to elaborate the ‘on course’ elements and how they can be incorporated to bring positive results, and thus, success in daily activities and thoughts. For success in one’s education, he or she must be willing to perform the creation role, as opposed to the victimization role. What does this mean? Being a creator implies that one acknowledges and takes responsibility for their course of actions or thoughts. In other words, a person adopts self-responsibility as aforementioned. As an elaboration, ‘on course’s’ self responsibility as an element requires one to perceive the primary causes of their experiences and outcomes as self. This, as opposed to seeing oneself as a victim, helps in guiding the person to focus on ways of changing their course of actions to make their situations better than they currently are. Contrary to victims, creators (the self-responsible ones) do not blame extern al factors like luck, fate, or other powerful individuals as the cause of their predicaments. Applied in education, creators are able to own their dissatisfying academic results, with an optimism of revising more and discussing with their classmates in an attempt to improve their grades. Such students also identify where they could have gone wrong previously to warrant such wanting results, maybe they missed classes, or failed to consult their instructors. The outcome of such self-analysis and meditation results in creators outlining their success activities. Victims, on the other hand, will fault family problems, errors in marking and ex cetera for their diminished performances. It is ones mandate to choose whether they prefer being a creator to being a victim. My advice for those who aspire to be successful is to opt for creator roles. Many successful stories have been linked to positive self-image. This implies that for one to succeed, they must believe in themselves and posses h igh levels of self-esteem. How can this lead to a success story? Positive self-image implies that one perceive themselves worthy as individuals. This has a great impact on their attitude towards life and its challenges thus they are capable of transforming negative situations into positive ones. Often, self-esteem and mastery of self-management go hand in hand. As such, individuals with high self-esteem also know how to plan for their activities geared towards achievement of their dreams and goals. In contrast, people with low self-esteem do not consider themselves worthy individuals; instead, they doubt their personal worth as well as their competence. Such people will always doubt their ability to make their outcomes and experiences desirable, and appear frustrated and depressed. In addition, those with low self-esteem show tendencies of failing to plan effectively for their actions. Consider the cliche that ‘no man is an island’ However outdated it seems, this phrase holds true if success is to be achieved. One must develop interdependence in order to achieve their goals. This is helpful because through sharing, one learns new things, as well as teaches others what they know. As such, interdependence brings mutual benefits that are crucial in the steps towards success. In addition, forming supportive relationships brings with it the satisfaction of helping others with one‘s knowledge. That in itself helps in enhancing self-esteem, in that one will view him or herself capable of creating a positive impact in life.