Argues in favor of the appropriateness of the title "Man Descending" for Guy Vanderhaeghes' collection of short stories about the powerlessness of the human condition.
900 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 1 source, 2002, $ 35.95
Abstract This essay discusses Guy Vanderhaeghe's "Man Descending", which is a collection of short stories. The paper argues that the title is appropriate for this collection. Most of the twelve stories are preoccupied with the phenomenon of how human beings must face their own powerlessness in the human condition.
Abstract The paper discusses the significance of reparations to descendants of slaves and presents arguments and reasons for and against it.
Some of the issues include the effects of slavery, the difficulty of identifying who is a descendant of a slave and whether it is fair for a nation to pay for the crimes that were committed hundreds of years ago. Legal issues are discussed.
From the Paper "The battle for reparations first emerged at the conclusion of the Civil War, when President Andrew Johnson reneged on Union Army Gen. William T. Sherman's promise that freed slaves would receive 40 acres and a mule.
"In 1989 President George Bush signed a law providing reparations for Japanese-Americans interned in camps in the U.S. during World War II."
Abstract This paper bases its description on John Thornton's book ?Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680? and theorizes that the systemic denial of the African cultural contribution is victimizing the African slave descendants as slavery victimized their forefathers.
From the Paper "The Africans nation has had a vast and positive influence on the Atlantic World. Yet, the attitude of the nations of the Atlantic with regard to the African people has been somewhat prejudiced. The Africans were forcefully taken from their land and underwent a transition that displaced their culture to such a degree that even today, the people have a hard time facing their own traditions. The systemic racism they have faced in the Atlantic world has caused their culture, values and needs to be undermined such that they themselves are unable to accept the associated changes."
Abstract The paper examines Walt Whitman's poem "In Clouds Descending, In Midnight Sleep" that deals with the private life of someone suffering from the horrors of war. The paper explains why the poem has three stanzas and analyzes the analytic shapes utlized by Whitman. The paper shows how, by using a confusing syntactical structure, Whitman is able to produce a preternatural effect that makes us feel as if we are in a dream as well.
From the Paper "Walt Whitman's "In Clouds Descending, In Midnight Sleep" is an elegant and complex poem that recalls the horrors of war. In the poem, the narrator tells of all the chaos and pain that war causes, not only physically, but mentally as well. Death is shown to be a transcendent force in nature, and even those who escape with their lives still feel his icy countenance staring at them in their sleep.
"Whitman opens the first stanza of the poem with the disturbing image of "many a face of anguish," and of men in even greater pain; those in the final throes of death. The penultimate line of the first stanza describes the bodies of the dead splayed out "on their backs, with arms extended wide." The first stanza closes with "I dream, I dream, I dream," which, in addition to "In clouds descending, in midnight sleep" in the first line, is a clear indication that these horrible images are coming to the narrator in his sleep."
Abstract In this paper, the question of reparations for descendants of African slaves is addressed through two different political philosophies. This paper first outlines what the implications of reparations entail in terms of global consequences and then evaluates how John Rawls' political philosophy could conceive and address this issue. The political philosophy of Michael Sandel is then considered in terms of how reparations would be conceived and addressed. The paper concludes that Rawls' arguments allow for a defense of reparations, but Sandel's philosophy does not.
Abstract This paper discusses the argument of "Should the U.S. Government pay Reparations to the Descendants of Slaves". The argument is in favor of the case but supports the thesis through the presentation of both sides of the argument and presenting a solution in the best manner possible.
Abstract This is a discussion paper where the cause of providing financial compensation to the descedents of American slaves is addressed. Questionable matters such as the lack of sufficient funds, the source of the funds to be used in payment, and those who will receive payment are discussed. The paper takes a negative approach to the concept of providing restitution to the descendents of slaves.
Abstract This paper argues that, without a doubt, something is owed to the descendants of the African-American slaves, yet the question has always been who should pay and how much. The author points out that tort theory states that the federal government had the power to abolish slavery and yet did not and therefore it owes for damages. The paper states that, if the decision is made to pay reparations to surviving ancestors of slaves, the challenge is the magnitude of the problem- even for a very large settle, once divided among so many, to the individual, it would be a pittance.
From the Paper "Yet it is also clear the U. S. federal government was not the only entity capable of the abolition of slavery, so it should be only partly responsible for damages. It is arguable that individuals, by action and by collective vote could have abolished slavery and individual states could also have abolished slavery, within their own constitutional amendment."
Abstract The Clapham sect was a group of well-to-do, aristocratic evangelical Englishmen who had an enormous impact on England in the 18th century and helped abolish the slave trade. The paper describes how they supported the missionary movement and domestic social reform, such as prison reform. In spite of their small numbers, their influence was wide, and their thinking enlightened for the time. The paper describes how they were intimately related to the Bloomsbury group, as some of their descendants became core members of this Group, and the Clapham wealth often financed the lifestyle of its free-thinking descendants. The paper compares these two groups and shows that although some of their attitudes toward society and religion were markedly different, both groups were characterized by their small size, large influence on their culture, and willingness to step outside society's current mores and rules and forge their own cohesive values. And yet, even though the wealth and legacy of Clapham descendents funded some of the most prominent members of the Bloomsbury Group such as E.M. Forster, they also ended up being some of their ancestors' harshest critics.
From the Paper "The Clapham Sect did not limit their evangelism to Britain, but to all the places that Britain touched, such as India, where they had a big impact. The East India Company, a privately owned stock company, had done business in the Far East on behalf of England since 1613. By the late 1700s Charles Grant challenged this policy. After he lost two children to smallpox Grant, a successful businessman in India, underwent a religious conversion. Grant was prominent in the Eat India Company, and eventually became its chairman and director, in 1805. He was appalled by the Indian customs of burning or drowning lepers, and ritual burning of widows, and he was disappointed by the indifference of British rulers in India. He found allies in the Clapham Sect, who in 1793 tried but failed to alter the charter of the East India company. They did get certain evangelicals appointed a East India Company chaplains, and in 1813, when the company's charter came due for renewal, the Clapham sect mobilized public opinion."
An exploration of the proposition that in Arthur Miller's drama the 'wrong dreams' take the place of fate in classical tragedy with reference to Sophocles.
Abstract This paper looks at how trapped in their fate the Greek tragic heroes of Sophocles and Aeschylus were flung into a pure and dream-like existence where emotion was experienced unmitigated by the distractions of the consciousness, where they could only descend into the whirlpool of destiny. It attempts to show as a distant descendant from this ancient culture, Arthur Miller creates modern tragedy from a more democratic approach which places significance on an individual's influence over his own destiny. It examines how Miller explores the fate of the common-man hero, "Death of a Salesman?s" Willy Loman and "All My Sons"? Joe Keller, within the drama of their dreams and decisions.
From the Paper "From their detached perspective Miller's audience can easily discern that Willy's immersion in the capitalist dream dictates the tragic course of events in the play. Through his profession Willy is the natural hero for a tragedy of capitalist dreams as capitalism is often distinguished by salesmen who artificially stimulate individuals? wants and needs. Resuscitated allusions to the commercially-charged Boston affair has embittered Willy's emotional relationship with his family as he uses financial reward to quantify his love for them; his receptionist mistress promises to put him straight ?through to the buyers.? "
Abstract This paper examines the relationships between archaeologists and the descendants of those they study, particularly in the North American southwest desert. The paper specifically looks at the Anasazi and their Hopi and Zuni descendants and the differences between the archaeologists' interpretation of history and that of the native people. The paper also looks at the role of Pan-Indian identity and ethnicity.
A detailed outline of a scientific experiment designed to show that the kinematics of constant acceleration are valid when applied to a rolling sphere.
1,280 words (approx. 5.1 pages), 0 sources, 2000, $ 43.95
Abstract This experiment investigates the relationship of the horizontal displacement of a metal sphere, descending from an inclined plane falling through a vertical distance. With the speed of a metal sphere V0x, and the height of the ramp y, we can find the horizontal distance squared X?.
Abstract ""A clone is one or more identical organisms descending asexually from a single common ancestor" (Encarta 99). It is a copy or close reproduction of a DNA sequence or gene produced by genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is the alteration of an organism's genetic code, to remove characteristics of a creature that are not wanted and to replace them with desirable ones. Members of a clone are identical in their inherited characteristics except for differences caused by attitude. They have the identical genetic makeup of the parent organism. "
Abstract This paper discusses the power struggle that ensued between native tribes and European settlers during the late 19th century. The author discusses the underlying causes that drove both the Cree and the government of Canada to seek peaceful alliance, the great differences in culture and consciousness between the natives and the European descendents and the discrepancies between the promises made by the Commissioners of Treaty Six and the realities experienced by the Cree.
From the Paper "In September of 1870 the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) transferred the empire of Rupert's Land and the North West Territories to the Government of Canada. The government sought to enlarge the Dominion of Canada and encourage settlement to the west, though before this was possible a new alliance had to be formed with the Cree Nation, the Plains Crees, and the Wood Crees. Treaty Six was negotiated in 1876 and involved the title to 121,000 square miles of Saskatchewan and the welfare of 7000 Indians and 2000 half-breeds."
Abstract This paper discusses the controversial question of "who is a Jew?". It provides Rabbinic and cultural sources for arguments of each side and concludes with the statement that there is no one way of defining who a Jew is.
From the paper:
"This at first may seem like a simple question. Let us examine some different ways that we could answer this in modern times. We could say ?Jews are those born of Jewish Mothers or any person who has gone through the formal process of conversion in full compliance with Jewish law.? This gives a purely biological aspect to the question. We could also say, ?those who practice the Jewish faith and prescribe to the doctrines of that faith.? This seems like a reasonable answer and fairly clear to define. But it may not be as easy as it seems, for the practice of the Jewish Faith has many variations, which have been the arguments of many rabbis over the years. The emergence of the Orthodox, Conservative and Reformed movements are just the beginning of the problem of defining who is a Jew by specific practices. A third possibility to answering the question of who is a Jew would be to make a statement such as, ?A Jew is descended from one of the twelve tribes of Israel.? That puts us back to the original answer about genetics and biology. In this paper I will demonstrate actions or beliefs cannot define that who is a Jew. "
