Abstract This paper re-examines Plato's "Republic X" as it attempts to denounce the poets from Plato's "perfect" republic. It argues for the expulsion of poetry that is not of lyric or historical importance and in doing so attacks some of the very important ideals that modern poetry is founded upon. The paper takes Plato's arguments that the poet does not actually "create" in his craft and is therefore, basically, a liar, and attempts to further this argument by using quotes from James and Wordsworth in an attempt to re-argue Plato's point.
From the Paper "In the Republic, Book X, Socrates, through the pen of his brilliant pupil Plato, argues for ?our refusal to admit the imitative kind of poetry, for it certainly ought not to be received.? (p. 21) However, although Plato is widely regarded as a man of unquestioned genius, and his Republic a work of infinite possibility, this single phrase that sums the whole of the tenth book up has become the topic of heated debate in western literary criticism."
Explores constitutional issues in racial profiling and discrimination in the wake of 9/11. Examples of profiling are derived from general minority experiences and specifically Arab/Muslim discrimination after 9/11.
2,200 words (approx. 8.8 pages), 4 sources, 2001, $ 68.95
Abstract This paper presents a detailed examination of racial profiling. The writer addresses four scenarios and argues for or against their legal and moral foundation based on the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution. In addition to the writer's belief regarding each scenario, we are given key elements of the opposition's argument and the writer's rebuttal to that opposition.
From the paper:
"Following the attacks on America September 11, 2001, there were cries for revenge throughout the nation. Anyone who looked Muslim was endangered as Americans took their anger to the streets. Following the attack there were several instances in which pilots refused to fly planes until Muslim looking passengers were removed and angry residents threatened those who looked like one of "them". The initial rage died down and in its place we were given many new security measures that we have been told are for the good of national security. The measures boil down to legalized racial profiling in some cases. Racial profiling is not a new event. It has been around for many years. Racial profiling goes against everything the constitution of this nation stands for; yet in light of the attacks in New York, Americans are less vocal about it then they have been in the past. Now, instead of denouncing all profiling as unconstitutional and wrong, we find ourselves looking at individual profile scenarios and holding them against the constitution to see if we can slide them through. We have entered a new world since the attacks. It is a world in which we are trying to walk a much thinner line between protecting the safety of those who live here and protecting the constitution."
Tags: racism, profiling, 9/11, constitution, Blacks, Arab, Muslim
Abstract "My Life Had Stood - a Loaded Gun" is Emily Dickinson's poetic sounding board for denouncing feminine oppression. This essay examines the author's perception of women's roles in society and examines the underlying meaning of the verse.
From the Paper "Women gather; men hunt. Women cultivate nature; men pillage its harvests. Women nurture vulnerability; men exploit it. These perceptions have been a part of the human condition since the beginning of time, and they are articulated brilliantly throughout Emily Dickinson's My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun."
Abstract An examination of the affirmative action policy that was introduced in 1965 and has since been both praised and denounced as an answer to racial equality. According to the author, it was President Johnson who felt that it was an appropriate remedy to discrimination, which continued to plague the United States regardless of civil rights laws and constitutional pledges and who therefore introduced the affirmative action policy as a temporary remedy that would end when a "level playing field" was created for all Americans.
From the Paper "Affirmative action has increasingly become a popular subject of debate. Not only does the phrase "affirmative action" mean different things to different people, but also there are different arguments for and against it. The most controversial kind of affirmative action includes some sort of "preference" for black Americans when applying for jobs or to colleges and professional schools. Affirmative action means different things; and the arguments vary. It is not even clear what counts as a preference. Many people want to keep it as it is, saying that it is necessary for democracy. Others support affirmative action but see it as a flawed remedy in need of change. A third group believes that a fair playing field has been established and is pushing for the elimination of affirmative action policies."
Tags: affirmative, action, equality, employment, discrimination, employer, United, States
Abstract This paper discusses Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter written in response to a public statement composed by eight Alabama clergyman that questioned and denounced the recent human rights demonstrations by Negro citizens. It discusses how his writing, blended with logic and theory and with passion and force, rebuts the clergymen's statement, informs the public and motivates the white moderates to act.
From the Paper "The letter begins with an introduction to Martin Luther King, Jr., to his task, and to his motivation. The first several paragraphs contain most of Kings ethos appeals, though he does scatter others throughout the letter. Ethos appeals help King establish his character and credibility, upon which he builds his argument. Such a foundation is essential for any effective argument. For example, King refers to his primary audience - the clergymen - as Afellow clergymen@ and Amen of genuine good will@ to establish a relationship of respect. Then, to bolster his own character, King mentions some of his credentials while he explains his presence in Birmingham - he is president of the Southern Leadership Conference, he works with over eighty-five affiliated organizations throughout the south, etc."
Abstract The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was a major cold war confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to install ballistic missiles in Cuba although they had made a promise to the U.S. that they would not. The paper shows that when the U.S. discovered the construction of missile launching sites, President John F. Kennedy publicly denounced the Soviet actions, demanding that they remove the nuclear missiles from Cuba.
When this did not work, Kennedy imposed a naval blockade on Cuba, threatening that the U.S. Days would meet any missile launched from Cuba with a full-scale retaliatory attack later and Soviet ships carrying missiles to Cuba went home. The paper examines how Khrushchev soon agreed to dismantle the missile sites. The U.S then ended its blockade within a month, and shortly after, all missiles and bombers were removed from Cuba. The paper provides a detailed overview of this confrontation.
From the Paper "The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was the first time that the world was in danger of full-scale nuclear war. When the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, the U.S. viewed this as an act of hostility that could not be tolerated.
However, many critics say that the Soviets were simply reacting to the Bay of Pigs invasion, in which Kennedy used Cubans against Castro without providing the American military support they needed. Americans saw this as a great embarrassment. But to the U.S.S.R., it was viewed as an American-sponsored military offensive against Cuba, which was a communist country and Soviet ally."
Tags: nuclear, war, Bay, of, Pigs, Fidel, Castro, DEFCON, 3
Abstract This paper examines Alice Walker's "The Color Purple", a confessional and uninhibited look at the life of Celie, a poor, black woman in the Deep South. It discusses how Celie's life is a complicated story of both community and individuality and how as a woman, she is surrounded by societal expectations and traditional gender scriptings. It shows how the story is a contrast between the traditional gender roles and while some characters embody certain behaviors and attitudes indicative of their sex, others denounce the long-holding patriarchy defining sexism and gender interactions. It evaluates how, in developing each of her characters throughout the novel, Walker overtly specifies how each does not meet the conventional mold.
From the Paper "As the bonds between Celie and Sofia grow following their original clash, Walker introduces another female character. This time, the semi-famous former lover of Mr.____ comes to stay at their household while she recuperates from a grave illness. At first, Shug Avery is hateful towards Celie. She mocks her good intentions, orders her around, and calls her ugly. Yet Celie feels nothing but awestruck towards this woman. Celie also begins to have conflicting erotic feelings for Shug; feelings she does not understand when seeing Shug naked and giving her a bath. The course of this relationship drives towards lesbianism. "
Abstract In "Dislocating Cultures", Uma Narayan discusses the critique that exists in terms of "the colonialist stance" in feminist inquiry. She argues that one does not have to be a colonizer, nor a Western feminist, to perpetrate "the colonialist stance." It is a question, instead, of an approach that "replicates problematic aspects of Western representations of Third World nations and communities, aspects that have their roots in the history of colonization." In other words, Third World women who think that they are denouncing and repudiating "Westernization" are often actually perpetuating the colonization of themselves, as well as of all other women in their society.
Abstract This essay examines Claire Harris's poem "No God Waits on Incense." It argues that the poem exhibits a strong theme of nihilism, as the poetess angrily denounces the meaninglessness of life, especially in the context of the world's indifference to human suffering.
Abstract It will be argued that the assumptions of Western feminist theory and practice - constructed within a Western social and cultural environment - are not directly applicable to the Iranian social and cultural milieu. However, it must be understood that this essay will not assume a "cultural relativist" position with respect to the discussion of the role of women and feminism in contemporary Iran. As will be seen, despite a history of feminist activism in Iran under the Shah, and the contribution of Iranian women to the Islamic Revolution, organized feminism in Iran today has been systematically crushed by the conservative Islamic authorities. It will be argued that contrary to official Iranian propaganda - supported by some Iranian feminists who have been pressured to denounce Western feminism(s), as well as by some Western "relativist" feminists - women have been politically, socially and economically marginalized in Iranian society. However, Iranian women have "improvised" in the face of this oppression; creating new roles for themselves that use the Iranian family unit as the basis for their enterprises. The Iranian family, as will be shown, is key to understanding the role of women in modern Iran.
Abstract This paper is on a short story "The Lady with the Pet Dog" written by Anton Chekhov, translated by Avrahm Yarmolinsky (1947). It includes the identification and demonstration, and how the plot's inciting moment and the plot's major crisis and climax and the plot's denouncement are well connected in the same movement of conflict development and resolution. It also includes the description of Freytag's Pyramid.
Abstract This paper will compare the novels the "Story of O" by Pauline Reage and "Philosophy in the Bedroom" by Marquis De Sade. By examining nature's role in morality in relation to God, we can see philosophical arguments that denounce societal immorality in principle.
Abstract This paper looks at how the Mormon Church will probably always be identified with the practice of plural marriages, even though it has not condoned the practice since 1890. It looks at how it was accepted by the church and the political, economic, and other factors in the decision to allow plural marriages. It discusses how the future promises to systematically separate the automatic assumption that Mormonism equals multiple wives and how the church will continue to denounce the practice and how the government will continue to place those who practice it in violation of state laws and Mormon doctrine.
From the Paper "?Many of the early figures in the Bible had more than one wife, and in the beginning Mormons looked to the Bible as a source of inspiration for their belief in the practice of polygamy (Nearly, 2000). But Mormons banned polygamy in the 1890s, and it is against the law in Utah, a state founded by Mormons(Nearly, 2000). Despite that, polygamy still persists there and in some other states(Nearly, 2000). Utah has not aggressively prosecuted polygamists, in part because polygamy is so much a part of Mormon history. Now, a case pending in a Utah court is bringing renewed attention to an old tradition(Nearly, 2000). Last week, Tom Green, who considers himself to be a fundamentalist Mormon, was ordered to stand trial on four counts of bigamy(Nearly, 2000)."
A look at methods of birth control and the social, cultural, judicial, scientific, and religious views towards it, in both medieval Islamic and Christian societies.
Abstract This paper examines the use of birth control in Islamic and Christian regions during medieval times, its prevalence and acceptance in Islamic regions versus Christian regions, and the social and cultural implications surrounding it. Through an analysis of the reasoning of medieval Islamic jurists regarding contraception in contrast with the writings of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, it shows how Islam permitted birth control, and Christianity did not. It looks at how Islamic rulings were based primarily on reason and logic and were rooted in a strong understanding of the principles of biology, not religious fervor. In contrast, it shows how, tragically, countless women died in Europe because Church leaders denounced contraception and kept from the public contraceptive means.
From the Paper "Knowledge of the biology of reproduction is one important factor affecting attitudes on birth control and abortion. Another is the nature of human life, for example, when does the fetus have a soul? The Islamic argument for the permission of contraception is a fascinating case where biological and scientific knowledge directly influenced ethical attitudes. Medieval Arabic literature, such as treatises on medicine, materia medica, and popular literature treated both contraception and abortion as two aspects of birth control. They recognized the difference between the two, and could distinguish between preparations that would work only as a contraceptive, as an abortifacient, or would work for both purposes."
A look at how Harriet Beecher's Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" criticized the institution of slavery and sought to abolish it and how the utopian "Looking Backwards: 2000-1887", by Edward Bellamy, criticized the rapidly emerging capitalists of the time.
Abstract How literature not only reflects the time it is written in, but criticizes it and tries to remedy its ills. A discussion of "Uncle Tom's Cabin", by Harriet Beecher Stowe, on how the sale of Tom by Mr. Shelby reflects the attitudes of the slave trade held in the American South prior to the Civil War and how Stowe denounces the practice as not being Christian. Furthermore, it discusses such points as the role of Tom Looker and how he serves as a criticism of the Fugitive Slave Act and of Mr. Bird and the inaction of the U.S. government on the abolition of slavery. "Looking Backwards: 2000-1887", by Edward Bellamy, is also discussed, pointing out the deeds of the "robber barons" of Bellamy's time, such as Rockefeller and Morgan, criticizing these men and their greed. Includes a discussion on how the author sought to remedy the rapidly growing gap in American between the rich and poor with a socialist state.
From the Paper "Great literature is able to reflect upon its surrounding times. Truly great literature, however, is able to do that and more. Its is able to reflect upon it and criticize its? wrongs. Two classic American novels have done this. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin or: Life among the lowly and Edward Bellamy's Looking Backwards:2000-1887 were both works on American literature that reflected upon common notions and practices of their time and sought to criticize them."
