Abstract This paper explains that, since J.K. Rowling published the first "Harry Potter" book, some parents, religious groups and educators have opposed the supposed 'controversial nature' of the books saying that they are evil, while other people feel they are educational and beneficial. The author points out that Courtney Strimel in her article "The Politics of Terror: Rereading "Harry Potter" did a better job of relaying her message because she listed many reasons why Harry Potter books help children and her reasons left little room for one to argue otherwise; whereas, while making good points, Berit Kjos in "Harry Potter Lures Kids to Witchcraft" gave too many opposing positions and left many unanswered questions. The paper asserts that, whether the Harry Potter books are harmful or worthwhile will continue to be debatable; however, in this case, Ms. Strimel's article was the better of the two because she made the more convincing argument by providing strong opinions, better explanations and relevant facts. The paper includes several quotations.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Evil: Berit Kjos' "Harry Potter Lures Kids to Witchcraft"
Educational: Courtney Strimel's "The Politics of Terror: Rereading "Harry Potter""
Comparison
From the Paper "She discussed the effectiveness of the use of Harry Potter books in helping children cope with terrorism issues. She claims, "instead of making the series immoral, the magic, frightening storylines, and character ambiguity all operate together to explore a vast array of morality issues." She goes on to strengthen this argument by discussing several different issues in great detail. One such topic is terrorism, of which she states, "the lessons about terror in the Harry Potter series may be scary and confusing at times, but magical fantasy allows children to deal with timeless, realistic, frightening topics while maintaining a safe distance from the agent causing the anxiety." This is a strength because it is a very plausible and justifiable argument that shows a benefit to children reading these books."
Abstract This essay deals with issues of sensibility in Enlightenment women's literature. Sensibility is the Enlightenment term for strong feeling, which was often disapproved of in women, yet encouraged in men. The essay explores how the characters in Wollstonecraft's "Mary" and Hays' "Memoirs of Emma Courtney" claim the power of sensibility for themselves.
This paper discusses the early history of the battle by the music industry against the downloading of copyright music from the Internet and argues against the position of the industry.
Abstract This paper explains that, despite the enthusiastic participation of some recording artists such as the Dave Matthews Band and Courtney Love, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has brutally attacked file sharing programs, such as Napster, which allow the downloading of music from the Internet, by arguing that the availability of music on the Internet is destroying record sales. The author points out that the industry's use of "fake files," which attempted to halt Internet music downloading, was an almost laughable endeavor, but intentionally damaging a consumer's computer was not so humorous. The paper relates that, in 1999, a law was passed, which declared that recorded music was the property of the company that recorded the music, not the artist; this outraged many artists.
From the Paper "The Dave Matthews Band broke ground by releasing the first single from their 2001 album "Everyday" through the now defunct file-sharing program Napster. Napster, an Internet based file-sharing program, gave its users the ability to search for and download music (in MP3 format) to their computers by directly tapping into another user's computer. The program gained popularity rapidly, with millions of users at its peak in 2000 and 2001. When the Dave Matthews Band premiered "I Did It" through Napster, the album debuted at number one, and generated the highest first-week sales the band had experienced thus far."
Abstract Over time, many musicians have shown us what good rock and roll music is all about. Musicians such as Elvis Presley (the king of rock and roll), Jim Morrison (lead singer and songwriter for the 'Doors'), and Kurt Cobain (musical genius from 'Nirvana'), are discussed in this paper to try and understand the fascination of rock and roll.
From the Paper "Kurt Cobain was the lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana. He started the group with Krist Novoselic, a fellow punk rock devotee. They developed a style that became known as "Grunge Music". "It was a style that evolved as a reaction against the perceived superficiality of 1980s stadium rock and the over the top metal bands of the time" (5). Nirvana was an underground band with a devoted following. After four years of playing, the band just exploded into the mainstream. Cobain struggled with the band's success and felt the success was contradictory to their beliefs and what they stood for. The Nirvana song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", became the anthem for Generation X. (3)"
