Abstract This paper argues that King Lear is driven by a desire to validate himself independently from his noble status and that his natural combativeness brings about his own downfall. The author asks why, in the first place, does King Lear give up the throne and answers that he is beginning to realize his office is a separate entity from himself and that he is having a sort of belated mid-life crisis. The paper relates that Lear changes because, throughout the play, he finds the validation for which he has been searching and can now accept the love that Cordelia offers freely, the same love that he attempts to extort from her at the beginning of the play.
From the Paper "As early as the first scene, Lear can be seen struggling with his roles as king and father, and how his failings as one overlap with the other. As the play opens, Lear is secure, if not necessarily successful, in his position as king, but he has decided to abdicate the throne to his daughters and their husbands. He does so by staging a "love test", wherein he asks his daughters which one of them loves him most and awards them a portion of the kingdom in relation to their answers. Cordelia's refusal to flatter him causes him to explode, banishing her and his trusted advisor Kent, and setting the play in motion. This scene introduces many important ideas that will recur throughout the play, and is the most important for understanding Lear's character."
Abstract This paper looks at several approaches by different authorities regarding assertive behavior and the role it has in improving self-esteem. The paper then draws conclusions about the improvement of self esteem based on the information that is presented.
From the Paper "One way that a person can improve his or her self esteem is to practice assertive behavior. Assertive behavior can be defined as the ability to maintain control over a person's behavior and emotions in order to achieve the goals, results, or communications that he or she seeks. behavior is not aggressive and manipulative. Assertive actions are based on reason and self-awareness rather than as an emotional response to a situation. The authors of the book Don?t Say Yes When You Want to Say No state, "People with Excitatory Personalities do not fear their feelings. Frightened neither of closeness not combat, they act out of strength. The excitatory man knows who he is, what he wants. He is assertive" (17). The individual's strength is used to communicate needs and ideas rather than coercing other people. Traditional theories such as those of authors H. Fensterheim and J. Baer have several valid concepts, but they have limitations."
Abstract The following paper critically analyzes the concept of "Melting Pot" which is a term that supposedly defines America as a land of the free and home to all cultures, races, and ancestries. The author makes reference to two journal articles which claim that "Americanness" is an idea that has always been linked with "Whiteness" and that "whiteness" can not exist, without something against which to define itself - "blackness".
From the paper:
?But in the 1960s and '70s, a more inclusive ideology was suggested -- "a stew" or "mixed salad" term was beginning to emerge as the American label. This term recognized that immigrants to America might maintain their distinct cultures, languages and traditions, their ethnicity or ancestry, while at the same time recognizing their ?Americanness.? (Chideya, 1999) While this term equally recognizes the presence of many different cultures, in my opinion, it doesn?t quite articulate the mixture and combing and cultures as it is in America.?
Tags: cultures, races, and ancestries assimilation ideology white black individual development
Abstract Although stylistically different, Ho and Plath have crafted two poems that speak about a woman's age and the "reflection" of their lives. This paper compares the way in which they address the issue of vanity in women and how this is overcome when one's focus in life changes.
From the Paper "One of the most interesting differences about these poems stems from the authors themselves. One a Chinese man of royal lineage and the other a modern day Caucasian woman known for her book The Bell Jar, both writing about perfection, age and women.
"The poems both contain no direct dialogue but can be described as dramatic poems based on the content. It is as if the poet is speaking directly to his/her audience."
An analysis of the First Crusade, which was the first global mobilization of a military force, as well as the first instance of combative regimes between two of the worlds largest religions.
Abstract This paper views certain extracts from eye witness accounts of the complexities of the march to and fall of Antioch and Jerusalem and its retainment as the Holy city as the birthplace of Christ and all Christendom in the First Crusade. With an aim of demonstrating the organizational change of the view of the people of the era and correct representation of the facts, two verbose quotations of authoritative figures who were present or involved in the Crusaders are included to aid enlightenment as to the situation from the eyes of observers.
From the Paper "Pope Urban II dealt with the concept of negating the commandment that "thy shalt not kill" in relation to what will come of those who fell on the battlefield fighting against the hoards of Moslems to retain Jerusalem. In a statement to the realm of Gaul he said: You have modestly expressed a desire to know whether those who have recently died in war, fighting in defence of the church of God and for the preservation of the Christian religion and of the state, or those who may in 'he future fall in the same cause, may obtain indulgence for their sins. We confidently reply that those who, out of love to the Christian religion, shall die in battle fighting bravely against pagans or unbelievers, shall receive eternal life. For the Lord has said through his prophet: "In whatever hour a sinner shall be converted, I will remember his sins no longer." By the intercession of St. Peter, who has the power of binding and loosing in heaven and on the earth, we absolve, as far as is permissible, all such and commend them by our prayers to the Lord."
Abstract This paper explains that, to the reader, O. Henry's short story ,"The Gift of the Magi", is the most amazing story he has ever read; its irony and concept were beautiful and real. The author points out that this short story shows him that all you really need is the feeling of love; you don?t need gifts because they can turn around and 'bite you' in the long run. The paper relates the story of the ?The Dillinghams who are not very wealthy, but deeply in love, and who sell their treasures, her hair and his watch, to give each other a Christmas gift.
From the Paper "So Jim walks in and stares and stares at Della, not because he is mad, but more like a shocking kind of look. You"ll never believe this. Della explains why she had done what she did, reason being she wouldn"t be able to live if she didn?t get her husband a present for Christmas. Jim was in no way mad at her, but like I said, just in shock. Jim pulls out a package of his own, and remember she bought him a chain for his wristwatch, and she cut all of her hair off for that chain, he pulls out a top of the line comb set as a gift for Della. That's when Della realizes the look he had on his face was for a reason. The two, I feel are in disbelief and decide to just put the gifts away and continue on to eating dinner because the gifts were to valuable to just be presents for one another."
Abstract This paper argues that the phenomenon of "total war", the total mobilization of the human, economic, and material resources of belligerent nations for the total destruction of the enemy, was born on the Western Front in World War I with the convergence of science, technology, and ambitious war plans. Discusses the war plans of the Germans, British, and French, the industrial mobilization in the combative nations, and the different forms of warfare developed and implemented.
From the Paper "No single event shaped the 20th century as The Great War. The blazing guns of August in 1914 created a new world order and a new standard by which modern wars were fought, phrased by German General Erich Ludendorff in 1935 as der totale kreig, or total war. This phenomenon was the unlimited warfare waged as a result of the total mobilization of the human, economic and material resources of belligerent nations. In many ways the totality of WWI was born as synthesis of the independent developments in technology and industry, military organization and planning, and the breakdown of diplomacy that had evolved over time and wars, aligning themselves by 1914 to produce a war of attrition that would leave its mark on the remainder of the new century."
Abstract There is no doubt that psychiatric patients are stereotyped as unstable and violent, but does this perspective square with the facts? This research paper extensively combs the data for some insight into this pervasive belief about mental illness, analyzing the sources of this stereotype and, most importantly, weighing its validity.
From the Paper "Timing also seems to affect the correlation between illness and violence. According to Steadman, et al. (1998, as cited in Nolen-Hoeksema, 2004, 685), the increase in violence among recently-discharged patients disappears after about a year. While the root cause of the correlation may be illness, then, improper or overly brief care may be partially responsible for violence perpetrated by patients not yet prepared to reenter the daunting realm of society. Understandably, the mental health profession faces a number of constraints, from ensuring that inpatient space is available to those who need it most, to providing services that are financially practical. Still, the policy that began with deinstitutionalization in the 1960's to release patients as quickly as possible may have some unfortunate consequences."
Abstract This paper examines how spyware and its often less harmful counterpart, adware, can be a serious threat to the security and performance of any computer and how spyware can cost personal computer users and businesses alike valuable time and money. It looks at how there are many avenues that can be explored to help combat this problem, including choosing the most spyware-combative operating systems and web-browsing programs.
From the Paper "In fact, even moderate spyware infections will, in most cases, cause a decrease in system performance that may exceed 50 percent, as well as stability issues that will cause computers to crash often and make it difficult to connect to the internet. (Simon) "Spyware also consumes memory and system resources. Because it constantly phones home to deliver user information and then sends back more pop-ups, banner ads and the like, spyware uses up valuable corporate bandwidth. Adding insult to injury, many spyware programs store their unwanted advertisements on the user's own hard drive." (Martin) More serious spyware can be frighteningly invasive."
Abstract This paper describes how a selected learning theory impacts curriculum design. Included is a discussion of the learning theory "Humanistic:
A. Combs and D. Snygg" and how it impacts curriculum design and the use of this theory in 21st century schools.
From the Paper "The theory of Combs and Snygg did not have the impact in general that other theorists did but their theory was noticed by a group of humanists. Snygg and Comb's understanding of motivation was stated as: "The basic need of everyone is to preserve and enhance the phenomenal self, and the characteristics of all parts of the field are governed by this need." The individual's view of self is that which is called the phenomenal self. This view is developed over the course of a lifetime and is based on cultural and personal experiential factors."
Abstract This paper is a biography of John Adams and his time as president. It also discusses his wife Abigail. The paper explores Adam's personal combative style and his controversial political writings. The author expands on his reputation as a powerful politician.
From the Paper "John Adams was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A Harvard-educated lawyer, he soon became identified with the patriot cause and became a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses. He was one of the leaders in the movement for independence from England. Adams also has the distinction of being the only founding father not to own slaves during his life. The World Almanac Book of Facts reports that during the Revolutionary War he served in France and ..."
Tags: John Adams, Federalist, president, Abigail, Jefferson, Continental Congress
Abstract This paper discusses the concept of preemptive warfare and the explication of its goals as they are outlined in a September 2002 White House publication entitled "The National Security Strategy of the United States of America." The paper describes the arguments for and against preemptive warfare and concludes that most arguments against preemptive warfare are understandable, but unsound in light of the dual threat of rogue states and trans-national terrorism.
From the Paper "Most arguments against preemptive warfare are understandable but unsound in light of the dual threat of rogue states and trans-national terrorism. The war in Iraq was justified in spite of the faulty intelligence, as it will ultimately weaken the potential of terror networks to use Iraq as a base. Preemptive warfare has not been used indiscriminately, or else the United States would have also struck at targets throughout the world wherever terrorist cells are known to operate. Arguments against preemptive strikes often criticize American hegemony, but American hegemony makes global security possible. More than any other single nation, the United States has the potential to combat the worldwide threat of terrorism and will make the world a safer place."
Abstract This paper discusses how, through the analysis of hip-hop culture and its golden era, we can see the growth and influence of Def Jam Recordings, as well as the rise of the hip hop mogul'. The paper then looks at how the hip-hop mogul has transcended many societal boundaries such as class and has led to the shift in socio-cultural practices of hip-hop culture. In addition, the paper contends that the hip-hop mogul has been accepted by the dominant society that the hip-hop industry transformed the regular white middle aged male CEO into what we call today the hip-hop mogul.
From the Paper "Hip hops golden era is very often perceived through the emergence and influential rise of Def Jam Recordings. From its very first recordings of LL Cool J's "I Need A Beat" along with the Beastie Boys "Rock Hard", Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin proved that hip hop was a genre that represented the single most significant development in pop culture since rock 'n' roll. These two individuals believed in the success of hip-hop and established a company, which defined and nationalized hip-hop culture. Along with the establishment of Def Jam defining the golden era, many would attribute the decline in graffiti and b-boying and the eventual move towards dance fads as another factor during the golden era in hip hop. "
Tags: Sean, Jay-Z, Carter, Sean, P, Diddy, Combs, class
