Abstract This paper offers a comparison and contrast of Jon Krakauer's tale "Into The Wild," and Eric Liu's "The Accidental Asian." "Into The Wild" is about Christopher McCandless, a survivalist who perished in the wilderness and Eric Liu's "The Accidental Asian" is an autobiographical account dealing with race and ethnicity as an Asian American in mainstream U.S. society.
From the Paper "Despite being vastly different in subject and scope both Eric Liu's "The Accidental Asian" and Jon Krakauer's "Into The Wild" are quite similar in theme. For though Liu's work focuses on the assimilation experiences of a second-generation Asian American and Krakauer's focuses on the wilderness experiences of an upper-middle class White American, both at heart are an exploration of the protagonist's search for meaning and identity."
A comparison on the accidental documentary of Abraham Zapruder entitled "Assassination of John F. Kennedy" with Bruce Connor's 1967 documentary "Report."
Abstract This paper discusses the concept of the 'accidental' documentary. It examines Abraham Zapruder's home video of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, entitled "Assassination of John F. Kennedy." The paper then compares the images and the style of the accidental documentary with Bruce Connor's 1967 documentary "Report," which also focuses on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
From the Paper "Both the Zapruder and the Connor films never change, but the audience is changed, every time the images are seen. The Connor film's transposition of early 1960s naivete about Camelot with images of the funeral creates a kind of conscious memorial to a lost time in American history, while there is no depicted return, no sense of memorial in the Zapruder. Zapruder was innocent, after all, when he made his film. The memorialization in Zapruder solely exists in the individual's mind, as a witness to the artifact of history. Zapruder captures a public death and through the lens of his "personal viewing experience" and what the viewer sees is dependant upon his or her own personal view of the 1960s and Kennedy, or simply the death of a man, while Connor demands that the viewer accompany a filmmaker on his personal vision of what the death of Kennedy means (Bruzzi 16). But although one film is seemingly objective and accidental, the other subjective and deliberate, in trying to discover what the assassination, even what 'death' means, they are perhaps best viewed together, both highlighting the potential as well as the limits of visual culture to render the end of human life and the end of an era in our history."
Abstract Robert Cringely's book is a witty, wide-ranging examination of the PC industry's humble origins, haphazard but phenomenal growth, and competitive future. The author was there at the beginning in the early 1970's, when Intel introduced a microprocessor device and outlaw engineers used it to build a PC that could be assembled by hobbyists, and has seen it all. His book is a highly entertaining history of the personal computer industry, highlighted by insightful profiles of the rather eccentric personalities at its core Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mitch Kapor.
Abstract The paper discusses "The Accidental Asian," a collection of autobiographical essays describing the author's experience as an Asian- American and his views regarding cultural identity. The paper shows Liu's belief that although cultural identity does exist, the connection between race or cultural belonging and the individual is not altogether definite. The paper discusses how, although Liu looks Chinese and shares a cultural background with his people, he does not feel that this makes him any less American.
From the Paper "Both the hints to political issues and the vivid portraits of his family members, like his father or his grandmother are musings on the theme of identity and its exact nature. Whether Liu speaks about such scandals as the "Asian Money" scandal involving president Bill Clinton, for whom Liu had written many speeches, or the Chinatown in which he and his family accidentally encounter his grandmother among other Chinese people, or about his father's life and character, all the scenes that make up the book revolve around the same idea- Liu's feeling that race and identity are almost impossible to define."
Abstract This paper discusses how Marie Clements' two plays, "Burning Vision" and "The Unnatural and Accidental Women", both feature primarily Aboriginal characters, and foreground Aboriginal issues. The paper examines how the two plays approach these subject matters in very different ways and how Clements situates Aboriginals as people who have been oppressed by colonizers from over the seas. The paper also looks at how Clements depicts urban Aboriginals as living in poor socio-economic conditions, vulnerable to white psychopaths, and how she seems to imply that Aboriginal people belong where they were before the colonizers came - if not physically, then at least psychically.
From the Paper "Burning Vision is set in many different locations, as it is about colonialism and the atomic bomb. However, with regard to Aboriginals, it features the Dene people who mined pitchblende near Great Bear Lake in the North West Territory in the 1930s. The Unnatural and Accidental Women focuses on an entirely different group of Aboriginals, i.e. poor women living in Vancouver's Eastside in the 1980s. The two plays thus feature geographically and chronologically different people. However, certain commonalities can be detected, primarily related to the fact that both groups are the victims of colonization in one way or another."
Abstract This paper details the four threats of nuclear annihilation that the Russian nuclear program has created: accidental launch due to a malfunction, failure of the Russian early warning system, a launch of a nuclear weapon because of a rogue commander, the detonating of a stolen nuclear warhead that has been smuggled out of Russia, and the detonation of a nuclear weapon that was built with Russian fissile material. The paper also describes the meager steps that Russia and the United States have taken to prevent a nuclear catastrophe. Most importantly the paper stresses that public awareness of this critical situation is imperative to prevention of such a disaster.
Abstract Clearly, the issue of death by firearms and proposals for actions to reduce the frequency of such deaths is an important social issue to all members of American society. The writer looks at the proposals in the United States for actions to reduce accidental deaths by and adolescent use of firearms.
From the Paper "Most observers agree that access to handguns should be severely restricted for adolescents. Proposals to effects such restricted access, however, invariably involve regulation on the access to, security of, and use of handguns that affects adults in American society as well as adolescents. Most jurisdictions in the United States already have in place regulations designed to preclude the purchase of handguns or the unsupervised use of hand guns by adolescents. These regulations, however, obviously are ineffective as means of controlling the access to handguns by adolescents. Therefore, most proposals to correct this social problem involve the imposition of additional controls on the acquisition, security, and use of handguns by adults as a means of providing a more effective means of controlling adolescent access to handguns. It is at this point that such proposals run headlong into the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and the powerful gun lobby in the United States."
Abstract This paper discusses the nature of modern literature written by Chinese-American authors. It analyzes common themes and trends in this literature style. Works examined include Eric Liu's "The Accidental Asian" and Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior". It also looks at Lisa See's "On Gold Mountain" and Amy Tan's novel "The Joy Luck Club". The paper discusses issues such as the language style used in these novels and common themes.
From the Paper "A substantial body of Chinese American writing emerged in the 1970s and the flow of novels, stories, poems, family histories and memoirs has grown steadily ever since. Although there is great variety among these (mostly) second-generation writers the predominant focus of their work has been on questions that have evolved around the phenomenon of being Asian in America. The majority of these writers have forgotten most of their Chinese, never having learned it much beyond their pre-school years, and they write about the difficulty of balancing on the biracial, bicultural cusp between the old-world ways of their parents and their own lives as speakers of American English functioning in a culture that was, and often remains, entirely foreign to their parents. As these American-born Chinese (ABCs) attempt to assess their own place in a nation where they constitute a very small percentage of a population that is sometimes hostile toward them they are also, like most immigrants' children, compelled to wonder about the culture from which they came. The dilemma of their own "Chineseness" is the question underlying all the works discussed here. But there are nearly as many ways of approaching the question as there are writers. The present discussion of various kinds of literary production by a number of contemporary Chinese-American writers will, therefore, concentrate on why writers chose particular forms, how these approaches facilitate the questions they want to ask, and what answers they have found to the essential question of what it means to be "Chinese" in America."
Abstract The title of this research article, "Decreasing Unplanned Extubations In The Surgical Intensive Care Unit", concisely and clearly states the theme as it goes on to discuss the skin irritation and discomfort caused by wearing of an endocracheal tube and also clearly mentions it in the title. The readers are able to understand the overall purpose of the article, which is to conduct a prospective evaluation of all intubated patients in the surgical intensive care unit to examine the effects of three parameters on the likelihood of accidental extubation.
Abstract This paper explains that, when examining fire-setting by children and adolescents, it is important to distinguish between fires set intentionally and fires accidentally set because so many children play with fire, especially between the ages of three and five, that many psychologists consider it normal childhood behavior. The author points out that research suggests a variety of factors associated with arson behavior in youths: desire to exert power over adults; an extreme expression of antisocial behavior; other aggressive behaviors, including lying, stealing, vandalism, and sexual offenses; and broad-ranging deficits in social skills. The paper reports that some programs that focus on correcting the lack of effective discipline in the youth's dysfunctional family have been able to reduce the incidence of repeat fire-setting behavior.
From the Paper "Other examples provided by Coleman et. al. do not show any likely causes from early childhood. One boy reported that he went into a brother's room, took his Game Boy and found a lighter. He then set his own curtains on fire ?just to see how it would burn.? He then went to church where he used toilet paper to start a fire both in a restroom and outside in a trash receptacle. He showed interest in both increasing thrills and in watching people's reactions: he threw the lighter into the outside fire and enjoyed watching it explode. He then enjoyed talking to people about the bathroom fire. Eventually he admitted to starting both fires, but since he showed no remorse, the researchers might wonder whether he also used the fires to draw attention to himself."
Abstract A comparison and contrast of two men's search for personal meaning and identity in the midst of a society that fails to relate to their own unique sense of self and their values. The paper examines Jon Krakauer's tale of Christopher McCandless' journey into the Alaskan bush, "Into The Wild," and Eric Liu's tale of assimilation as an Asian American in "The Accidental Asian."
From the Paper "In "Into The Wild" and "The Accidental Asian" authors Jon Krakauer and Eric Liu respectively provide us with stories of young men in search of an alternative to contemporary society. In "Into The Wild" Jon Krakauer provides an account of the journey into the wilderness of a young man named Christopher McCandless. McCandless is a graduate of Emory College who after graduation abandons all material possessions and hitchhikes his way to Alaska."
Abstract This paper looks at the three major arguments of gun-control advocates and disproves them one by one. The major arguments are - more guns, more crimes; possible accidental deaths and criminal access to guns.
Thesis: Despite the good intentions of gun control advocates, their means in attaining what they want are entirely misguided and misinformed.
Table of Contents
Accidental Death
Child killed by ownership of firearm
Suicide in relation to ownership of firearms
More Guns More Crime
Gun ownership as a crime prevention
Gun ownership for self-defense is most common
Gun ownership as a deterrent to tyranny
Criminal Acquisitions of Guns
Limiting the attainability legally of guns only limits law-abiding citizens
Criminals acquire guns on black market
Brady Laws do nothing to deter criminal misuse
From the Paper "Gun Control has been a center issue in American Politics for quite some time. Advocates of Gun Control often state the hazards of owning guns and their constant use in criminal activity. The ultimate solution for these people is to completely eliminate the right of an individual to own a gun. On the other hand, the Anti-Gun Control advocates state that people are responsible for their own actions and that the existence of the gun is not what causes crime, or accidental death. So despite the good intentions of Gun Control advocates, their means in attaining what they want are entirely misguided and misinformed."
Abstract This paper describes the effects that the brown tree snake had on the wildlife of Guam. The brown tree snake, accidentally imported to Guam shortly after World War II, appeared all over the island and ended up killing several species of the native forest birds that lived in Guam. This paper is a historical description of the development of the brown tree snake as a plague. It details the origin of the Brown Tree Snake and the terrible effects it had on the island of Guam. Moreover, this paper shows the environmental effects on the development of the Island.
From the Paper "Determining the number of animal species existing on the island of Guam prior to the arrival of humans has presented a distinct difficulty. From archeological excavations on the nearby island of Rota, scientists have determined that the original human colonists' domesticated animals extirpated many species thousands of years ago (Chiszar et al1997). World War II "subjected" Guam to naval bombardment so severe that some artillery fire leveled some forests (Chiszar et al 1997). After the war, extensive seeding of the island took place with an exotic legume (Leucaena leucocephala.) It permanently replaced native trees over vast areas (Chiszar et al 1997). The fauna of Guam seemed stable until the 1960's. At this time Wildlife authorities noticed the entire absence of birds from the southern one-third of the island. The boundary of the absence of birds seemed to be moving steadily northward. Birds were missing from the southern two-thirds of the island by the end of the 1970's (Enbring & Ramsey 1983). Thirteen years later, in 1983, all 10 forest species occurred concurrently only in 160 ha of mature forest beneath the cliff line at the northern tip of Guam, with a few species still occupying parts of the northern plateau (Savidge 1987). The early 1980's reveals many factors blamed for the decline in Guam's forest birds. Disease, pesticides, habitat loss, hunting, and introduced species evolve as the major suspect reasons. Elimination of the forest's mosquitoes that possibly harbor avian malaria or avian pox brought an influx of pesticide usage. During World War II to the-mid 1970's, the military used pesticides such as DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons to kill the mosquitoes (Enbring & Ramsy 1983). Pesticides might have caused declines in the past; therefore, it cannot be ruled out as a cause for the earlier reed-warbler extinction (Reichel et al 1992). Tests conducted in 1981 indicate low pesticide levels on Guam. Pesticides probably were not responsible for the current declines of forest birds (Reichel et al 1992). The years since 1945 have witnessed an increase in weedy species, though substantial native habitat remains in southern and northern Guam. Birds have disappeared from forests that previously supported healthy bird populations (Savidge 1987)."
Tags: biogeography, birds, brown, introduced, island, snake, Guam, species, treeWorld, War, II, forest
The following paper compares Ambrose Bierce's short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" where a young man faces execution, to W. H. Auden's poem "Musee des Beaux Arts" which describes Breughel's painting, "Fall of Icarus".
Abstract This paper examines how both Bierce's short story and Auden's poem imply that humankind is cruel at best, indifferent at worst. However, the author discovers how these pieces also differ from each other in many ways. This essay distinguishes between the way in which Bierce sees death as a 'dignitary' who must be met with certain rituals as compared to Auden who sees death as haphazard, accidental, occurring without ritual or even much notice.
From the Paper ?Bierce and Auden seem to take a similar dim view of human nature. In the early paragraphs of ?An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,? Bierce shows the condemned Farquhar to be a loving husband and father. (?He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children.?) Bierce also describes Farquhar as having a ?kindly expression.? However, this does nothing to soften the hearts of his captors. ?The liberal military code makes provision for hanging many kinds of persons, and gentlemen are not excluded,? Bierce tells the reader. Not only are the officers committed to hanging Farquhar, they make every possible effort to kill him following his ?escape.?
Abstract This paper compares Crusoe's efforts on his island with the guidelines Bacon sets out in his essay "On Plantations". The social structure of each story is examined individually and the compared to each other.
From the Paper Daniel DeFoe's The Life and Strange Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719) sets out to tell the story of one man's misadventures, predominately, Robinson Crusoe becoming stranded on a deserted, tropical island for nearly thirty years. Whether or not it was Daniel DeFoe's intent, he has Robinson Crusoe follow to some degree many of the precepts of a good plantation that Francis Bacon specifies in his 1625 essay ?Of Plantations.? Bacon believes that a good plantation will have a skilled, unforced labor base, a thought-out food production system, a monarchial government, and good relations with the indigenous peoples. Robinson Crusoe"one man"meets, to various degrees, nearly all of Bacon's plantation precepts."
