Abstract
This paper examines the book "Who Moved My Cheese" by Spencer Johnson, which uses the metaphor of mice in a maze to discuss ways of handling change. The author writes that the book focuses on how people can get where and what they want simply by changing their perspective and their approach. The paper explains that the books teaches self-actualization and is critical of the simplicity of the metaphor of mice and cheese to demonstrate how to handle the struggle with change in our society.

From the Paper
"The story revolves around two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two littlepeople, Hem and Haw. They live in a maze and spend their time running around, looking for, finding, and eating Cheese. Cheese, as is stated in the foreword by Kenneth Blanchard, is "a metaphor for what we want to have in life ", such as a job, a relationship, money, a big house, or an insulting yet best selling business book. Within the 94 pages of this self-help book is found an approximate 45-minute serving of information aimed at helping us to insert change in our lives."

Tags:mice, maze, relationship, money, big, house, self, hep, coping, change, society, cheese, approach, self-actualization

Abstract
The following paper draws parallels between Homer's "Odyssey" and the Coen Brother's "O Brother Where Art Thou?". In the year 2000, the inventive and provocative filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen reworked the Odyssey in a liberal way, changing scenes, settings and characters. The writer compares the original epic and the original screenplay and discusses dozens of small but meaningful comparisons. For instance, Odysseus and his men descend into Hades where they encounter several ghosts from Odysseus's past; in the film the boys meet a fellow inmate who they thought was dead. Odysseus from the original epic and Ulysses from the film (played by George Clooney) both have to prove to their wives that they are true: Ulysses must bring Penny the ring to redeem himself. In the Odyssey, Book 23, Penelope declares that "there are tokens with which we two alone are acquainted," (Butler trans.). Although it was written millennia ago in ancient Greece, the parables of the Odyssey remain extant for a reason: Its themes are universal and accessible and adaptable for all time. The Coen brothers' movie "O Brother Where Art Thou?" exemplifies Homer's timelessness, as well as their own versatility.

From the Paper
"Homer's Odyssey is more than an epic tale of a man "who wandered far and wide," across the sea; it is an archetypal journey with universal and enduring import. It is not difficult to find parallels between Odysseus's adventures and modern ones, for ultimately the Odyssey transcends its details. Homer erected a narrative structure that lends itself to adaptation and reconstruction. Most notable to modern reinterpretations of Homer's Odyssey is James Joyce's Ulysses, which focuses on and develops the relationship between father (Odysseus/Leopold Bloom) and son (Telemachus/Stephen Dedalus). In the year 2000, the inventive and provocative filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen reworked the Odyssey in an equally liberal way, changing scenes, settings, and characters. But whereas Joyce's version of the Odyssey is microcosmic, its journey more psychological than physical, the Coen brothers' O Brother Where Art Thou? rambles through a decidedly physical and farcical tale. At first glance the film resembles Homer's epic little: only certain elements are obvious like George Clooney's character's name (Ulysses) and the three sirens by the river. A deeper investigation of the film and the original text reveals numerous, if more subtle, references."

Tags:Depression-era, Mississippi, prison, American, south, sepia, camera, filters, jailbird, husband, estranged, family

Abstract
This paper examines Joyce Carol Oates's short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", which was written in 1966, and how, twenty years later, it was made into a movie entitled "Smooth Talk", the winner of the 1985 U.S. Film Festival for best dramatic picture. It looks at how Oates extends reality with her character, Arnold Friend, based on the real life of Charles Schmid, who cruised teenage hangouts, picking up girls. It also shows how the producer of "Smooth Talk" also takes detours from the road of reality by further developing the characters of Connie's mother, father, and older sister, June. In particular, it examines how the two endings differ greatly.

From the Paper
"While the physical characteristics seem similar, however, the description of Connie's sexual nature differs, playing an important part in the development of the final scenes of both the story and the movie. While the writer of Smooth Talk portrays Connie as a flirt and a tease, she, nevertheless, resists going "all the way" with the boys she cruises with on summer nights. This makes the compelling seduction by Arnold Friend at the screen door that much more chilling as she faces rape and the loss of innocence to someone she hardly knows. In contrast, by implying in her short story that Connie is already sexually active, author Joyce Oates deepens the terror of the screen-door meeting by focusing not on just the sexually persuasive nature of Arnold Friend but also on the demonic trance-like state he uses in order to control his victims."

Tags:arnold, friend, connie, june

Abstract
This paper takes a look at a slave uprising as documented in Stephen Oat's book Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion. It analyzes the main character of the book, Nat Turner and how his seemingly small scale revolution set the wheels in motion for the eventual abolishment of slavery.

From the paper:

"Stephen Oates, in his book Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion, crafts a compelling story. The story of this slave rebellion is indeed so compelling a one that it would be hard to imagine a telling of it that was not fascinating. But in the end Oates, despite his credentials, does a disservice both to Turner and to the larger forces at work in the decades before the Civil War. In order to assess Oates's treatment of Turner, it would be useful to examine what is generally known and agreed to about Turner. He was born on a plantation in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1800 and was from a very early age a popular religious leader among his fellow slaves. In part due no doubt to whatever had motivated him to become interested in preaching and in part because he was so popular with other slaves who came to listen to him talk about God, Turner became convinced that he had been chosen by God to lead his people to freedom."

Tags:freedom, revolution, lynche, martyr, motivation, research, rebellion, facts, North, South, plantation

Abstract
The paper asserts that the main theme of the novel is cross-cultural barriers and problems faced by immigrants in America. The paper discusses the psychological causes underlying the difficulties that immigrants, especially from Eastern countries, experience in integrating into a new society. The paper explains that while Western immigrants accept their new culture and assimilate relatively easily, Eastern immigrants resist assimilation. The paper summarizes the book and analyzes the cross-cultural miscommunication demonstrated by the family disagreeing with the established medical community as to the true nature of their child's illness and its causes.

From the Paper
""The Spirit Catches you and you fall down" is an extraordinary piece of writing in which various issues have been woven together in the style of investigative journalism by the editor of the "American Scholar", Anne Fadiman. The story revolves around issues of cross-cultural medical practices and miscommunication that often leads to tragic circumstances."

Tags:epilepsy, immigration, medicine, eastern, culture, doctor, assimilation

Abstract
The topic of this essay is a book on the Vietnam War which specifically deals with American involvement in the war. It provides a history of the events of Vietnam beginning from the end of World War II, continuing through to the Vietnam War itself. The Indochina War and the second Indochina War are also covered in detail. This is followed up by a discussion about the impact of the Vietnam War up to the present time.

From the Paper
"The book attempts to offer a full and unbiased view of the history of the Vietnam War. This includes discussing the environment that led to American involvement in the war. The political aims and the contribution that politics made are also covered in detail. As well as this the social and economic environment that led to the war are also discussed in detail.
The book has an American viewpoint but does not argue that the decisions made by America were right. Instead it provides enough information that the decisions made can be understood. It is not an argument for America, but does allow the reader to understand how the decisions were made. It attempts to describe all the parties involve and put all the decisions and actions in context."

Tags:america, war, vietnam, indochina

Abstract
This paper examines Elijah Anderson's "The Code of the Streets" which introduces the idea that violence, aggression, stealing and other socially deviant behaviors are not perceived as infractions of rules, but rather conforming to a different standard, a different set of rules. Anderson does an adequate job of setting forth his ideas, along with providing sufficient evidence to support them. It criticizes Anderson's perspective of street families and decent families when he describes inner city life and his portrayal of abusive mothers who beat their children and let them run riot.

From the Paper
"The contrasts between street families, and decent families are not always easily observed. As Anderson points out, most street families appear on the surface to be decent families. (Anderson, p. 157) The appearance of having "calm, respectful children" is often what the mother wants most, more than happy children. (Anderson, p. 157) Her desire for such a family is often so strong that she is "quick to beat her children if they defy her law." (Anderson, p. 157) Anderson concludes that this abusive behavior is often perceived as acceptable behavior within the inner city the disapproval from the wider society as a whole. (Anderson, p. 157)"

Tags:families, children, mothers, violence, aggression

Abstract
This paper reviews Christopher R. Browning's "Ordinary Men," and its analysis of Nazi soldiers that murdered innocent civilians in the holocaust. The paper shows the methods used by the soldiers to rationalize their actions even though many of them were morally opposed to what they were ordered to do.

From the paper:

"It is understandably commonplace to refer to Hitler as a monster, as inhuman. It is also, by extension, equally commonplace to refer to the Nazis who obeyed him as monsters as well. Yet before the implementation of the madness that was the "Final Solution" in Germany and Eastern Europe, these Nazi soldiers were human beings like ourselves, individuals who lived in a world only a half-century or so before ours. They made ethical decisions on a day-to-day basis. They were ordinary men, according to Christopher R. Browning, who committed acts of extraordinary cruelty. The thesis of his book, appropriately titled 'Ordinary Men,' provides a less comforting view of the foot soldiers of the Holocaust than is tempting to take. But it is ultimately more ethically illuminating these men were not monsters, Browning suggests, they were ordinary men who provide an example for us all how low we can sink if we are not vigilant in resisting the evil that exists around us."

Tags:Nazi, Germany, Jew, holocaust, World War II

From the Paper
"H.G. Bissinger, in "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and A Dream", uses high school football as a window through which we can study the soul of a Texas town. It is clear that Bissinger's study is meant to shine a light on the problems of American society in general, because the social and economic troubles of Odessa, Texas, are the troubles of the country as a whole. The book must be seen as a pessimistic one, because the problems of the town are not faced honestly and courageously, but are instead buried in the town's obsession with football, just as an addict would bury his troubles in his obsession with drugs.

The book might be seen as an academic, judgmental indictment from on high, the product of a writer from the big city who comes to the little town to study the inhabitants like a scientist studying rats. But it is clear that that is not what Bissinger ... "

From the Paper
"Marijuana has been around since the beginning of time and has been used safely by people of all cultures. Since the 1930s, it has been illegal to cultivate or possess in the United States due to a perceived danger when used. However marijuana is less dangerous than many legal drugs such as tobacco or alcohol and should be legalized because in actuality marijuana has few inherent risks and the cost of incarcerating marijuana offenders is outright ridiculous."

Tags:decriminalization, pot, marijuana, drugs, narcotics