Abstract In Gwendolyn Brooks' poem, "The Mother", the narrator expresses a reluctant regret and a desire for the children to which she did not give birth as a result of abortion. The paper analyzes the poem and its use of tone, diction, and imagery. It finds that the speaker is alternately regretful, self-recriminating, and motherly in her reactions to her unborn children. Taken together, Brooks' powerful shifts in tone, diction, and imagery all serve to highlight the narrator's longing, and tentative regrets over children that were never born.
From the Paper "Taken together, the changing tone throughout "The Mother" helps to expresses the narrator's reluctant regret over abortion, and a desire for the children she did not give birth to. It is her very changes in tone and emotion throughout the poem that help to highlight her confusion and regret. She is by turns apologetic, regretful, reproachful and frustrated in her attempts to explain herself."
From the Paper "Anne Fadiman's book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1998) is an intelligent and moving " and unsettling story " about the costs that individuals must sometimes have to pay for living in a multicultural society and the challenges that immigrants face in the United States, even after they think that they have made it to the promised land. Fadiman also shows how the American mainstream cultural establishment " in this case represented mostly by the doctors and other medical personnel that work with one particular immigrant family " sometimes finds itself unable to help newcomers to make the leap into the often perilous new world of their dreams.
Lia Lee was born in 1981 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants to California, and soon developed symptoms of .."
Abstract By looking at how guns continue to cause increased incidents of homicide, suicide and injury to children, this paper argues for the need to strengthen, not weaken, current gun control laws. Presents classic arguments such as children's exposure to violence, increased crime statistics and family accidental shootings.
From the Paper "Gun advocates generally play down the link between firearm access and violence. As the NRA likes to say, guns don't kill people, people kill people. They view the laws restricting gun ownership through the lens of self-defense and civil rights. This position, however, fails to address a very real link between the ownership of guns and violence. Even with measures such as the Brady Law and the five-day waiting period in place, firearms continue to play a major role in instances of both criminal and accidental violence."
Tags: violence, brady, death, firearm, shooting, law
Abstract An argumentative paper about euthanasia, both passive and active.
From the Paper "With constant advancement in medical technology, loved ones will be held more and more responsible for the life or death decisions of family members. Many fear the unknown realm that lies beyond this life more than their mental and physical pain, and want to live at all costs. Others, though, should they be faced with living in a vegetative state or dying, hope their families allow them to die. They believe euthanasia is acceptable in cases of terminally ill patients whose lives are simply being maintained with no hope of ever speaking or thinking again. Active euthanasia, which is in certain cases more humane than passive euthanasia, should be legalized to help aid the endless suffering of thousands of terminally ill patients who have no chance of living a quality life. "
Abstract This paper analyzes the controversies and issues surrounding euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Part II discusses arguments in opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. In Part III arguments in support of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are presented. Lastly, this paper concludes by recommending that euthanasia should be offered to terminally ill patients in order to avoid much unnecessary suffering.
From the Paper "Four ways exist to legally terminate life in the United States and other nations: abortion, capital punishment, suicide, and war. In addition, all 50 states have legalized living wills, and some states allow the termination of life support without the existence of a living will if certain parts of the brain are dead. Euthanasia, commonly known as mercy killing or physician-assisted suicide, remains illegal in all but a few countries and states like Germany, Netherlands, Oregon, and Switzerland. However, fundamental shifts are occurring that reflect a recognition that we have overestimated our right to kill in a military setting, and underestimated it in some medical and private settings."
Tags: death, compassion, suicide, terminal, ill, medicine
Abstract The paper argues against the practice of assisted suicide, which is now quite common in the United States. The paper discusses the issue from ethical as well as legal perspective and explains why the Court should never sanction this practice.
From the Paper "Assisted suicide is one of those burning issues, which give rise to ethical quandaries, not to mention extreme public fury. People are of the view that while we do have a right to live, we certainly do not have a right to bring an end to our own lives because the principle of dignity of human life doesn't permit such an action. However over the years, many complex cases in this connection have surfaced, some of which even reached the Supreme Court. It is important to understand that law in many states prohibits physician-assisted suicide even though this practice prevails in many hospitals nationwide. What a physician decides with his patient in the privacy of his clinic is something solely connected with the doctor's moral and ethical principles, however we need to bear in mind that court in many cases has reiterated its stand on the issue by strongly opposing all forms of physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients."
Abstract The paper introduces the book, "America's Longest War: United States and Vietnam 1950-1975", by George C. Herring. Specifically, it discusses three topics from Chapter 6 and then explains each according to what the author writes. It also looks at how the Vietnam War is being compared increasingly to the current war with Iraq and how, as this chapter clearly shows, there are many reasons for the comparison. It shows how President Johnson began fighting an uphill battle as public opinion about the war began to swing against it, just as President Bush is facing growing opposition to the war with Iraq.
From the Paper ""The President's Decisions." President Johnson, partly on advice from such advisers as Clifford, Westmoreland, and Bunker, decided in late 1967 that new forces should not be sent to South Vietnam, and the country should be more prepared to fight on its own. The author writes, "Johnson's advisers agreed that from a long-range standpoint the key to achieving American objectives was south Vietnam's ability to stand on its own" (Herring 239). By early 1968, the President had informed South Vietnam that we would continue to send assistance and equipment, but "limited manpower." During this time, President Johnson also agreed, heavily leaning on the advice of Dean Rusk, that bombing in Vietnam should be cut back, and peace talks should open again with the North Vietnamese. It seems that many of the President's decisions were based on guidance from his closest advisors, and somewhat on public opinion."
Abstract This paper takes a look at both stances on the abortion issue: pro life and pro choice, defines what a movement is in terms of discourses, ideologies and practices, and concludes that movements are essential in today's society.
From the Paper "Abortion is one of the most controversial and talked about topics of our time. It is discussed in classrooms, work places and even on the Internet. Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in or closely followed by the death of an embryo or fetus. This definition includes accidental abortion such as, miscarriage and stillbirths. But this is not what is being debated. People want to know if abortion is ethical, if the fetus can feel pain, and when it is more human than non-human. These questions are very difficult to answer and may never be answered in our lifetime. But one thing we as humans do know is that we have opinions, ranging from completely anti abortion (pro-life) to completely for abortion (pro-choice), and anywhere in the wide spectrum in between. Abortion is a movement that was erected almost 40 years ago. This movement has been very controversial over the years; the main reason being that it is something that there is virtually no in between. You either are, or you are not. Both movements, (pro-life and pro-choice) have been one of the most controversial movements in a political presents. The opposition feels that pro-choice does not mean Pro-abortion, it is the right in choosing whether to reproduce, adopt, or abort. It is every human being's right to make there own decisions, and so it is a woman's right to make the choices that affect her life as she sees morally right. It is a woman's right to choose what she does with her body and it should not be altered or influenced by anyone else. As you can see, there are two sides of this movement that are constantly looking for contradictions in what other believes."
Abstract This paper explores the pros and cons of the death penalty without taking either side.
From the Paper "One of the big issues which opponents of the death penalty is that of race. A report from Amnesty International found that the use of the death penalty in the United States was racially biased. In some areas, the death penalty was reserved solely for non-white defendants. The report cited instances of bias against minority defendants at every step of the judicial process, and showed that the judicial system seemed to valued white life over black. Defendants were far more likely to be executed for the murder of a white victim as opposed to a black victim, but the color of the murderer seemed to have no bearing."
Tags: crime, race, gender, constitution, human, rights
Abstract An argumentative paper against the death penalty. The author provides reasons based on age, race, DNA and methods of execution as to back up his argument.
From the Paper "The statement goes as follows: If someone killed one of my family members, I think that he/she should be executed. I would even start the lethal injection myself. (There is no doubt who the murderer is because eyewitness accounts are supported by physical evidence including DNA.) I completely disagree with everything said here. To begin with I don't necessarily believe that they should be executed, even though most of society is on an eye for an eye state of mind. Further more I wouldn't start the injection myself, besides who is to say that it would be an injection, there are more methods of capital punishment. I also believe that convicting someone by eyewitness accounts is completely insubstantial evidence."
