SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5

            This is a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut which is the most interesting and educative novel which basically involves a narration on the history of the Second World War targeted on the younger generation and the coming generations. The main actor of this novel is a solder, Bill Pilgrim where the narration focuses on his life familiarity and adventure as it further explains some of the difficulties that Bill faced during his period in the military. Readers perceive the novel as the most significant written work of Vonnegut which pursues the examination that he used firebombing of Dresden as the fundamental occurrence therefore making the  novel to be like an autobiographical because he was a participant at that time of the bombing (Vonnegut 41). The reader is expected to flashback on the imaginary topic as the novel is structured in a nonlinear progression.

             Billy Pilgrim is a Chaplain assistant who is ill-trained, confused and philosophical American soldier who declines from engaging in war. However he is captured by the Germans during the Bulge battle which occurred in 1944 and the consequences of his close to death were as a result of the sequence of events. Billy is blamed for the death of Weary one of the prisoners and it is at this point in timed that he becomes ‘unstuck in time’ where he experience flashbacks on his previous life (Vonnegut pg.18). ‘And so on, Billy said that he first came unstuck in time in 1944, long before his trip to Tralfamadore (Vonnegut pg. 30). later they are transported to a place known as the Luxembourg, later to Dresden in 1945 so as to become contracted laborers. They are then put into slaughter house five and when the bombing occurred they were among the few people who survived.

It is after this that Billy was released but then almost immediately he is hospitalized and he is diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and is thus positioned under psychiatric care. It is after his discharge that he later marries and after three years of marriage they are gifted with a second born who is a girl, Barbara.

 It is on Barbara’s wedding that Bill is detained by creature from outer space ship and is taken into a planet illumination years far from the earth, Tralfamadore. Through the use of the Tralfamadorians the interjection of the science fiction string is seen in the novel as it points out how the war has greatly affected Billy’s existence. As a result of the post traumatic stress disorder, he starts to hallucinate about his knowledge on the tralfamadorians as a form of hiding from the world which he perceives as a destroyed one as he cannot understand it.  He thus uses the Tralfamadorians four perspectives on death as he finds it more convenient to give good reason for death than what he had actually seen with his own eyes. Universally the Tralfamadorians believe that death has no meaning but rather ‘so it goes’ (Vonnegut pg.20). The Tralfamadorians believe that all instants of life occur and reoccur ceaselessly and instantaneously.  He is so traumatized that he cannot come into standings with the destruction of the war unless he invokes a far drawn and impossible theory which he can use to shape the globe. While in Tralfamadore, he is placed in a crystal clear geodetic dome displayed in a zoo which is a representation of the earth. While there he falls in love with a porn star who is also captured by the Tralfamadorians with a goal of providing Bill with a mate. They later fall in love and marry later giving birth to a child. Instantaneously, Bill is transported back to earth in a time wrap so as to remember his past or future instants of his life.

            According to the Tralfamadorians, fate and will does not exist. Thus as Bill is in Tralfamadore he is able to view differently with the Christians who believes in fate and free will which as part of Gods predetermined will on humanity. This is totally different to the Tralfamadorians as they believe that things are the way they are and will remain to be like that permanently as nothing can change them as they are determined by destiny.

 Tralfamadorians believed and view time all at once as this is evidently portrayed in a conversation with Billy where they state that, ‘I am the Tralfamadorian, seeing all time as you might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains. All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is’ (Vonnegut pg.62). It is after this conversation that Billy that he states that his philosophy on free will does not appear like suggesting meaning. To the reply that the Tralfamadorians ‘free will’, they stated that out of the visited 31 populated planets in the world and the studied reports on one hundred more earth planet was the only planet where free will concept was available (Vonnegut Pg.62). Billy’s life always occurred against the forces that secures his free will. For instance in his childhood his dad allows him to sink in a pool so as to show him how to swim in the deep end which he happens to like but against his will he is rescued. Later in life he is forced into war against his free will. Billy said that, ‘everything is alright and everybody has to do what he does’ (Vonnegut pg. 198).

            Tralfamadorians philosophy is basically based on ‘determinism and passivity’ as all time is preordained and whatsoever will be, will be. Therefore according to them no one can change anything basically because destiny implies that they either have happened or will eventually happen.

Bill having the knowledge of fate passivity from the Tralfamadorians helps him to manage his perception on death and the shock that comes along with death and this becomes his major and significant lesson from the Tralfamadorians. Hence he finds no reason for crying at the funeral of a person as they are actually alive in the historical time as they also view the dead as in a critical condition at that particular point but better in other moments of his life. ‘Now when I myself see that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is ‘so it goes’(Vonnegut pg.27).

            The post-traumatic stress disorder that was initiated by the hardships that Bill faced is seen to have really affected him to a point of hallucination and insanity. It is at this point that the narrator decides to use science fiction in Slaughter 5 novel. The Tralfamadorians can thus be seen as the scientists who generally have different views with those of Christianity and Bill widely adopts the Tralfamadorians philosophy but this act can only be viewed as an escape from what his stress disorders.

References

Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-five: Or, the Children's Crusade : a Duty-Dance with Death. London:          Vintage, 2000. Print.

Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-five, Or, the Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death. New York:       Dell, 1988. Print.

Character Analysis of Annie Sullivan in the Miracle Worker

            The miracle worker is a play where young Keller who is blind and deaf is taught how to communicate. Characters in the play are seen to go through extreme changes from the beginning of the play towards the end (Gibson, 2008). The different characters in the play all have different personalities and character that evolves throughout. Despite the fact that all the characters have gone through evolution; there are three characters in the play that go through extreme changes Annie, James and Helen (Stirling et al, 2000).

            Annie Sullivan is one of the main characters that has achieved a lot in the play and has also gone through profound changes. At the beginning of the book she experiences a harsh and dangerous childhood (Gibson, 2008). This can be seen from her flares back while she was in orphanage. In her childhood she is also threatened of being blind but the situation is recuperated through a couple of operations. Her mother dies and the father abandons her and later she is chosen to teach in school without experience (Gibson, 2008). By the end of the book she is a lady who is energetic, full of life and hopeful. She is very hard working that everyone does not believe the work she does yet she is inexperienced. Despite her dysfunctional childhood she grows to be a very helpful person in the society (Gibson, 2008).

            Annie has grown to be very persistent, confident, patient and outgoing. This can be seen by the fact that the father to Helen disliked her but she was determined into helping the blind girl (Keller, 2016). The confidence is seen by the fact she stood very strong despite the inner fear of failure. The turning point was experiences as soon as she lost her brother and with time Helen begins the journey into learning language and starting to communicate. This was a great turning point for her as the fear of failure was removed and she was more confident of herself despite she was not experienced (Keller, 2016).

            The character had had low points in life like being brought up from an orphanage and the father abandoning her after the death of the mother. However, the lowest moral point was after the death of her brother, Jimmy. It is also evident that she was haunted by the death of Jimmy since she had promised to take care of him (Gibson, 2008). This even affected how she cared for Annie because voices were always there to discourage her. The high point was after Helen mastered the art of language and communication. This is considered as a miracle and this makes her love Helen more despite that she had vowed not to love anyone else after her brother’s death. This also resolved the conflict between Keller and her (Gibson, 2008).

            The death of jimmy is not Annie’s fault because the boy had been ill for quite some time. However, she is deeply hurt by the loss of her brother (Stirling et al, 2000). This would have been termed as the mistake of the father because he placed them in an institution at a very tender age. She was also young at that time and was not in a position to do anything. It is important to note that if she was in the position she is by the end of the book, perhaps she would have assisted the brother and sough better medical care to avoid the death (Stirling et al, 2000).

            Annie Sullivan has portrayed very important virtues such as patience and endurance even as she was dealing with Helen (Keller, 2016). This can be seen by the fact that she still held on to teaching even when noting seemed to change. Despite the fact that Keller did not like Annie and was harsh to her, she was still very patient with Helen and encouraged her even to the point where she learned the art of language (Keller, 2016). However, even after being the miracle worker she did not go back to look for her dad. She should have sought for him and at least told him about the loss of Jimmy. The fact that she did not do this shows that she still harbored anger and bitterness for her father. Despite what the father did to them, he was still their father and deserved some respect (Keller, 2016).

            Annie should dress is simple casual wear. In the play she is seen in long dresses. The simple casual dressing would help Helen to be more comfortable with her bearing in mind that she did not like him at first.  Simple clothing also help in increasing concentration for people working with them and are comfortable as they are not very tight or fitting but enhance efficiency of work. They are also smart and presentable. The outfit would speak more of Annie as she is a very focused and hard working woman.

            The best colors for Annie would be plain bright colors that are blended with dark. For example a white collar shirt and a straight, black, knee length skirt. This would help to bring out her character and personality. The bright plain would color show that she is confident, outgoing, assertive and cool. The black helps to match the bright color bringing out the best of her.

References

Top of Form

Stirling, D., Archibald, G., McKay, L., & Berg, S. (2000). Character education connections for   school, home and community: A collection of field-generated, field-tested ideas for            integrating character education into daily learning. St. Louis, Mo: Cooperating School   Districts.

Bottom of Form

Gibson, W. (2008). The Miracle Worker. Simon and Schuster.

Keller, H. (2016). The Story of My Life. Om Books International

My Personal Life experiences

It has been a long journey through my high school course which has recently ended successfully. As I look forward to joining Harvard University College I would like to share my experience through the high school life which would have a great relevance to my dream career of being a mechanical engineer. My experience as a high school students have been accompanied by several achievements including the national examination. I managed to get a grade A which I’m proud because it measures my hard work at school.

Besides the academic work, I was able to participate in various activities both in clubs and in games. I joined the Science club in my first year and this where almost all my achievements commenced. As the science club, we initiated several projects that boosted the class work knowledge to a great extent. Some of them include the designing of simple circuits like motors, circuit breakers and loud speakers among others that used the technology of electromagnetism.  During my final year, I was selected to be the Science Club chairman that boosted my leadership skills. This position taught me different ways of handling issues among my fellow students.

My admission into the university will have a great impact both to me as a student and the university at large. My little skills on creativity will be boosted to a level of achieving more advanced projects and plans that will eventually make me a fruitful graduate. I will also impart the spirit of working hard to my fellow classmates and combine their thoughts and come up with mega achievements. This will be the motivating factor all through my campus life.

An Analysis on Hwang’s M. Butterfly

Introduction

The play M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang’s has been consistently reviewed by literary critics as a play that is full of symbolic acts, metaphors and fantasy that combine to form a parallel affair between two men in a society that is dominated by heterosexuals.  The play also compares the dominancy between East and West and the traits of the two stereotypes from both cultures. The play begins by introducing Gallimard who works under the umbrella of China embassy (Hwang 35).  Gallimard falls in love with a beautiful oriental woman after becoming so absorbed with the Asian women. Gallimard never knew that Song his wife is a communist agent who cheats on him so that she can extract information from about the ongoing war of Vietnam. The book also deeply addresses the issue of stereotypes and Orientals. There are two different stereotypes oriental female and the western male. The western male is known to be deeply masculine which makes him to be very powerful and dominates in the society. On the other hand, the oriental female is known to be both exotic and eager to be dominated. When the western male’s strength is threatened by the western women, these men find safety in the oriental woman (Hwang 155). Gallimard completely believes in stereotypes whereby he chooses a Chinese woman to be his mistress because he felt that he was sexually inferior in the west society. In real sense, Gallimard thinks that he has all knowledge about the East and West but Song the oriental woman knows it better. Galliard’s view of stereotypes was confirmed when he saw the masculinity of his wife Helga and other women such as Renee. This belief led him throughout the play until he comes to know the truth. Hwang  is indeed a master in creating a gender ambiguity as it shall be seen throughout this analysis. The play communicates a message about a homosexual setup in a heterosexual community as it shall be seen throughout this analysis

Hwang begins by introducing Gallimard who falls in love with a young oriental woman. They engage in a romantic relationship after which he disappears for three years leaving his lover with a child they had recently borne. The young lady soon commits suicide due to disappointment leaving behind a motherless child (Hwang, 12).  Gallimard justifies her death by saying “Death with honor/ Is better than life/ Life with dishonor,” (Hwang 17).  This statement confirms that it is honorable to be in a heterosexual engagement. This quote can be correlated Gallimard’s death later in the play when he realizes that he has been a homosexual which to him is a dishonor.  At this point, Hwang’s setting of the play articulates the stand of the western belief which is contrary to that of the eastern customs and they way of life. He also takes this chance to evaluate sexual dominance between the two civilized cultures. The eastern culture is dominated by heterosexual couples whereby people have married those of the opposite sex. This is [not the case in the Western culture because a good number of couples comprised people of the same gender. This ambiguity and uncertainty is hence sensitive and so Hwang has clearly distinguished the two stereotypes.

After the death of the young oriental, Gallimard comes to love Song, an Asian woman and latter givers her the name butterfly because of the role she was playing in the Asian theater. Gallimard gets infatuated with this woman hence showing her all his love. He uttered very powerful love messages like “All ecstatic with love, the heavens are filled with laughter,” (Hwang 33). He told her beautiful love messages that show indeed he loved her. This affair came to last for twenty years before Gallimard’s realization of the truth. At this point, Gallimard’s conduct towards Song his dear wife gives a background knowledge that the audience ought to grasp. Gallimard sexual demand from Song brings the issue of modesty which is a condition Song puts. Gallimard insists on seeing her nakedness but Song is unwilling to let her nakedness to be seen. This leaves the sexual identity unverified. Soon after the context, Song pronounces her pregnancy whereby Gallimard decides to marry her. This relationship continues until both are arrested by the French government after they were caught for espionage.

The critical problem of this play is the people’s perception of whether Gallimard was a homosexual. Furthermore the study and analysis of this play narrows its points to a political realm that has a limited view point to the readers. With regard to these concerns, Hwang has been interviewed severally so that he can clearly explain various aspects of the stereotypes and matters concerning heterosexuality. In 1989, Hwang was interviewed by Don Digaetani concerning Gallimard being homosexual; he gave an open ended question. He goes on to discuss the issue of homosexual which was cropping up in various cultures majorly those of the East (Hwang & Digaetani, 145). It is interesting that the play was released during the time when homosexuality was becoming accepted in the society. It is during 1980s that it was done openly but no one could come up to question this because it was a controversial topic. From the development of the play Hwang has selected song and Gallimard as the main characters for a purpose of condemning gays that was cropping in.

Going deep into Gallimard and Song’s inner sexuality perspectives, the wise audience would definitely know that both are gays. Their mode of presentation also communicates a symbolic message about the larger sphere of the western countries and their sexual extent. For instance, Song’s makeup while making the presentation is stark white which represents the beauty standards of the west. It also conveys the theme of homosexuality despite him hiding this identity by masking himself with a white heterosexual body (Eng 139).

Focusing on Gallimard’s homosexual nature, Hwang has used several symbols that prove that he is a gay. When was taken to the small prison cell, a symbolic significant deductions can be made. The small prison symbolizes Gallimard’s rejection from his home place after being known to be a homosexual. The act of imprisonment represents how the homosexual acts and thoughts were locked out of the heterosexual world. The theme of coldness is also developed throughout the play. Song takes of Gallimard being cold sexually during their first romantic experience which they had had. Song tells Gallimard this, “but.... The truth is.... No... Are you cold... Yes. Cold,” (Hwang 34).  This represents the moral coldness that comes out of shame of being a homosexual in a heterosexual world. This coldness drives Gallimard in a pit of guilt and blemish making him to commit suicide.

Hwang’s theme of comparison between the Western and Eastern cultures shows the privilege of being in a heterosexual world. Many people both the audience fail to see the importance of the two main characters of the play, Gallimard and Song. The struggle between the two comes as a result of being in a homosexual setup in a society that is dominated by heterosexual couples. Hwang develops this section of the play to show the difficult lives homosexuals undergo and more particularly the western countries. This tends to discourage those who wish to be homosexual to stick in heterosexuality. Morals standards can also be deducted from the play whereby homosexuality is as a source of immorality which led the two gays into prison.

Hwang has perfectly used the aspect of dominance, masculinity and submissiveness of the two cultures in an amazing way. At the beginning of the play, he talks of dominance and them being powerful which is literally true because the Western dominance resulted to the colonization of the Eastern countries. Similarly in the sexual world, the heterosexual dominance has squeezed the homosexuality by making it proving it wrong and unacceptable by the community. The kind of death that both gays died was a representation of how low and unacceptable the homosexuals should be in the community. Hwang’s message to the society is not to let homosexuals dominate because it would bring massive destruction on morals of the society. The play is an outstanding one and many should draw lessons from it.

Work cited

Eng, David L. Racial Castration: Managing Masculinity in Asian America. Durham [N.C.]: Duke, 2001. Print.

Glover, David, and Cora Kaplan . Genders. 2nd. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. New York, N.Y.: New American Library, 1989. Print.

Hwang, David, and John Digaetani. ‘M Butterfly’: An Interview with David Henry

Because I could Not Stop For Death

Emily Dickinson

The poetic technique in the poem is very well covered especially in regards to the personification of giving non-human beings. It is actually based on the day death knocked on her, the first stanza rotates how she had been very active to sojourn death and by his graciousness he did actually accomplished it for her. The poem looks like the gothic novel, a popular romantic genre given to the ominous besides supernatural (Parini, 1256). Further, the poet explicit that in fact the courtesy of the death she did not mind interruption from her own tasks, in the cemetery is where the speaker to have visited not only once but several times. In the demesne of demise, it has been long and centuries have elapsed yet for the speaker it just looks like it is the eternity though it appears shorter (Parini, 1256). The tone which shows a lot of emotional standpoint of the speaker is clearly implicated by the title itself.

Stanza three offers the speakers key capacity in regards what he has for compression, it generally incarnates the sphere of life, by this I mean the life journey within the context of the poem. The conspicuous theme of the poem is the seduction facade of death, and same as the speaker, the children are deprived of surmise and surprisingly they are still eventful with themselves bearing in mind that time is ephemeral (Parini, 1256). The regular rhymes happen sporadically and suddenly in the spatial estrangement.

The Lottery

By the fact that this happened many years and most properly by then lottery seemed to be by enticement and not by the will of the individuals (Jackson, 1). The backlash was imminent right from the onset and that could have never been a surprise since the resistance was being felt from the rural people who feel they are being manipulated by the town dwellers (Jackson, 1). In the contemporary world, we see a reflection of the same right from the issue of liberty deprive, they compromise for the sake selfish benefits.

Reference

Parini, Jay. The Wadsworth Anthology of Poetry. , 2006. Print.

Bottom of Form

Shirley Jackson. (1948).The Lottery retrieved from https://americanliterature.com/author/shirley-jackson/short-story/the-lottery

Top of Form

English literature

Argument 1
            In Philadelphia, all public acts of excretion are prohibited. Hence, (spitting is prohibited). For the same reasons, (Barfing should be prohibited and given the same charges as all other acts of excretion).  Public barfing causes much stronger effects on the public than spitting.  Barfing can cause some health issues to individuals due to the generated smell and their disgusting nature which may then affects the activities of individuals in Philadelphia (Mentis, 46). Hence (barfing should be prohibited like all other public excretion acts as they all affect the environment negative).
Argument 2
            (It is well known that the Earth is spherical). During the lunar eclipse a full moon occurs on the orbit of the earth and the moon moves slowly to the shadow of the earth. All the time that the shadow is seen on the moon its edge is round.  The only known solid that projects around shape is the sphere’s shadow (Dubay, 54). The earth is the only solid of geometry that possesses a circular share according to astronauts. This therefore proves that (the earth is spherical because it holds infinite edges as each picture of it proves that it is spherical).
            Argument 3
           (No one who endangers his health is rational). It follows that, (Students who smoke cigarettes are irrational), because cigarettes endanger their health and they know it. Moreover, (kids who smoke cigs are bad). (Being sane entails the fact that an individual is fully concerned about their well being).  Any type of drug makes an individual irrational because they are driven by the influence of the drug which at times threatens their well being. Therefore (those individuals who smoke cigarettes are irrational because nicotine which affects the blood flow as it travels via the blood stream and moves to the brain). (This therefore affects the brain activity as it affects several parts of the brain to break down) (Battle,87).
            Argument 4
            (The moon influences the water in our bodies). Isn't the water in our bodies’ water on the Earth? And isn't it true that the gravity of the moon influences all the water on the Earth? (Moons gravity therefore influences water bodies) because fluids are associated with easy of flow and (they are therefore more affected than solids).  Those elements that have lower density are most likely to be affected by the gravity of the moon (Dubay, 32). (Therefore water bodies are more affected by the gravity of the moon because it has less density and they have high speed in movement).
            Argument 5
            Standard aptitude tests are culturally biased. That means that (the standard aptitude tests are unconstitutional) since cultural bias is discrimination and discrimination is prohibited by the Constitution. (Standard tests are discriminative) because they fail to work based on equality as they favor some individuals thus excluding others. (The tests are biased because they are aimed at ranking and sorting students as most of the students score below the minimum mark). (The tests discriminate students based on their color, discriminate against those that are from low income backgrounds and those that English is not their native language) (Barrett,112).



         

   Works Cited
Barrett, James. The Aptitude Test Workbook: Discover Your Potential and Improve Your Career    Options with
AuthorLastName4
Practice Psychometric Tests. London: Kogan Page, 2011. Print.
Battle, Constance U. Essentials of Public Health Biology: A Guide for the Study of            Pathophysiology. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2009. Print.
Dubay, Eric. The Atlantean Conspiracy: Exposing the Global Conspiracy from Atlantis to Zion. ,  2015.  Print.
Mentis, M T. Bridging Learning: Unlocking Cognitive Potential in and Out of the Classroom.        Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin, 2009. Print.

                                                                                                                                                                                COLLEGE

1. O BOX

                                                                                                                                                                                DATE

                                                                                                                                                                                4^TH MAY 2016.

PROFFESSOR

COLLEGE

Dear sir/madam

RE: APOLOGY FOR MESSING UP WITH THE ASSIGNMENT FORM.

I take this chance to really apologize for my mistake as I have realized that I have messed up with the assignment form for Philosophy 105, Quiz #2, spring 2015-2016. I am really sorry and am kindly requesting for an extension of time as am working on doing correction on the same. I understand that the task is important and you require a thorough work that’s why I have failed to send this messed up paper to you. Am currently working on the assignment and I will not disappoint you this time.

It is my hope that you consider my apology sir. Thank you in advance.

Yours sincerely

‘Witches and Warlocks’ Age of Reason and Rise of Scientific thought

Introduction

With respect to the “Witches and Warlocks” Age of Reason and Rise of Scientific Thought, the history of the western community examines the lives of not only the historical figures but also that of the ordinary people (Viault, 1990). This is to say that through the analysis of the cultural and traditional political development, there is the provision of deep insight of the western community in balanced as well as well-rounded views of its history as a whole.

Basically, the 15^th century had produced diverse intellectual milestones in the history of the western society. This comprises of things like renaissance, scientific or industrial revolution, political and social revolutions and other reformations. As the time went by, the western society transformed their mind set from issues relating to witchcraft, religious folklore, and sorcery to that which dealt with logic, reason, evidence, as well as empirical science. In connection to that there were a lot of forces or factors which led to all these transitions as discussed below;

To begin with, according to McKay et al, (2006) the renaissance was one of the forces was had a great contribution to this trend. This used to be a distinct period in which emphasis on man’s ability, secularism, as well as socioeconomic changes flourished extensively through diverse religious sentiments which maintained a presence. As the Europe continued to recover from the Black Death as well as other calamities which had befell the 24^th century, interest in the Graeco-Roman (Classical) world also increased considerably. Before spreading to the entire of Europe, the origin of renaissance was Italy.

The significance of renaissance is that it came as the continuation of the societal mechanisms of the middle ages. Regardless of that, it can be differentiated by divergent beliefs of human capabilities, potential and through a series of intellectual and artistic accomplishments which were achieved in this period. Additionally, social philosophy started evolving during this period.

  With the introduction of agriculture, at least 80% of the western European counties started to obtain their livelihood from agriculture. Despite that, it should be noted that in the late 1700, the kid of agricultural activities which was practiced in Europe was much more ancient as well as mediaeval. This is because the yield that used to be obtained was inadequate to feed the growing population. Whenever a crisis befell the people or when flood or drought ruined the crops, people were forced to use substitutes (the famine foods). As a means of escaping starvation, people were forced to stripe barks of some edible trees in the forest, gathering chestnuts, as well as cutting dandelion and grass. Because of this unbalanced and inadequate supply of food during the years of famine, people become much weak as well as susceptible to ailments for instance intestinal problems, smallpox, dysentery, and influenza (McKay et al, 2006).

Contrary to that, harvest remained to be real king in the preindustrial Europe because of open-field system. Thus this system which was developed by the European peasant was with time perceived as the greatest accomplishment of the middle age agriculture. The reason for this is because in the early middle age alternating crop and idle was the only method which was used allow the land to regain its fertility. In connection to that, during the period of nobility and absolutism, state as well as landlords started and continued to tax the peasants heavily as well as charging high rents. This stripped them much of their meager returns. 

In addition to that, this is to say that through agricultural revolution, the peasants had the possibility of improving their position through acquiring tracks of land from those who were ready to the sell them. The peasants also replaced their idle fallow with various crops which had the ability of increasing the acreage of land under cultivation by at least 50%. This is to imply that newer patterns of organization enabled a large percentage of the peasants to increasingly develop sophisticated patterns of crop rotations so as to suit the growth of variety of crops in different kinds of soils (McKay et al, 2006).

Nonetheless, the significant role that agriculture played in the 18^th century was basically the enhancement of industrial revolution.  Earlier in the late 1700, the Dutch were the ones known as being specialized in this field but with time the English farmers too started adopting new farming methods. The expansion of the Atlantic economy during the 18^th century served mercantilist England efficiently and in return the colonial empire, assisted by strong opposition which was witnessed in America and Latin America slave trade, offered a growing marker for surplus English manufactured commodities. Moreover, still it was relatively cheaper to ship such commodities by water since huge percentage of England markets were more than 20 miles from any navigable water. As a means of easing the trade, canal building boon of the 1770s not only fostered this advantage but also offered easy and quick movement of enormous deposits of coal and iron from England and critical raw materials for early industrial age in Europe (Viault, 1990).

With respect to political revolution of the western history, liberty and equality were some of the ideas which ultimately fueled the revolutionary era in the world. Often, desire for liberty was first of all the demand for human rights. Therefore, the liberals of the revolutionary period had started and still continued to protest the way those who were termed as the most enlightened monarchs kept on regulating all that what individuals believed and wrote. Their desire was the end of censorship, spoken and written. Such people kept on calling for new government because of the believe that community members were more sovereign. Thus, it then meant that they had the power to make laws or rules which limited individuals’ freedom of action.

Despite of such limitations, liberals continued to believe that each and every ethnic group, each nation had the right of self-determination hence the right of forming a free nation. In their theory, the liberals argued that all citizens ought to be given similar rights as well as civil liberties and above all, the nobility should not be given any right or powers to special privileges based on birth. In the 18^th century, men were the majority liberals and because of that they shared with other men the belief which stated that equality amongst men and women was neither desirable nor practical (Viault, 1990).

Similarly, during the French Revolution, men restricted formal rights of the women i.e. the voting rights, right of participating in government matters or the rights to run for office. Furthermore, the liberal never believed that every individual had to be equal economically. The point of interest here was that every citizen ought to be legally given an equal chance. Generally, the economic inequality which was largely based on the artificial legal distinctions of that time was the one which was criticized by the liberals and not the economic inequality itself.

In accordance to that, the ideas of equality and liberty had its roots in western history. This is to say that the Judeo-Christian and the Greeks tradition had already affirmed for years the purity and value of individual in human being. For instance, classical liberalism first crystallized the end of the 17^th century and equally prior to the enlightenment of the 18^th century to the extent of reflecting the stress on human dignity or just the human happiness on earth- that is rationality, faith in science and progress.  The writers of enlightenment continued to preach religious toleration, fair and equal treatment and freedom of press and speech before the law.

According to Viault, (1990) the belief that representative institutions could have had the ability of defending their interests and liberty in return appealed powerfully to not only the well educated and prosperous individuals but also on liberal ideas regarding political freedom and individual rights. Similarly, for them the representative governments did not mean any form of democracy that they intended to frown upon. Because of that they envisioned voting for the representatives as being limited to those who had amassed and owned property. At the end liberalism found diverse support amongst the elites in the western history and this became the roots of liberalism.

On the other hand, in the 18^th century, the Age of Reason was also regarded as being the movement which evolved significantly after the end of superstition, religion, and mysticism of the mediaeval era. This then means that it remained as the representation of the origin in the way mankind used to view themselves, their reaction to knowledge, as well as their thoughts about the universe.  Within this period, the concepts and thoughts which were initially held by man was ultimately challenged through written and verbal means. Typically, the fears related to an individual being burned at the stake or being labeled a heretic was greatly done away with (Viault, 1990).

Nevertheless, it remained to be the beginning of an open community in which its members were free or had the freedom of pursuing individual liberty and happiness. From political and social perspective, people started abandoning the forms of empirical thoughts and concepts of the medieval era. Other shorter time period that remained to be described as being the age of enlightenment was also included in the age of reason.  This is to say that during this period, extensive changes come into existence in both scientific thought and exploration. As much as new ideas ended up filling the horizon, man continued to be eager in exploring theses ideas more freely.

McKay et al, (2006) further explains that enlightenment period was typically the liberation of society from its initial forms of self-caused state of minority. This is because the state of minority was viewed as being the inability of using another person’s understanding without necessarily relying on another person’s direction.  Therefore, whenever its sources kept on enhancing it, not because of the absence of understanding but due to the absence of determination, this state continued then to be self-caused. This is to say that it was not necessary to view the Age of reason as a high point in the human history.

The reason for this is because mankind started embracing some exaggerated beliefs for the purpose of perfecting humanity which was also based on clear thinking and reason, that is the loss of fear of God or the abandonment of the reliance on biblical truth.  By leaving the extremes of superstition and mysticism of the medieval period, they swung other forms of extremes for instance reason and rationality. This then at the end made man’s society to overlook the restrained shades of grey which existed in between the two forces.

Reference

McKay, J. P., Hill, B. D., & Buckler, J. (2006). A history of Western society: Volume II. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Viault, B. S. (1990). Modern European history. New York: McGraw-Hill.

THINGS FALL APART

            This is a novel written by a Nigerian writer in 1958, Chinua Achebe one of the best black African writer. In this novel he represents Africa, mainly the Ibo society before the coming of the Europeans. The novel analyzes the demolition of the African way of life as a result of the introduction of the white man intervention which resulted to the destruction of the individual and the society’s bond. Achebe in his novel also explains the immense deal about Ibo tradition and translates their myths and proverbs and also enlightens the position of women in the pre-colonial era.  His education background enhanced him to use English and also the fact that he was exposed to the European way of life made it easier for him to write the novel on the colonial expansion, race, tradition and religious way of life for both Europeans and African point of view. The genre of this novel as clearly portrayed from the title “Things fall apart” is tragedy as it put in the picture of an African social order which is invaded by foreigners and things starts to collapse into pieces. Chinua uses the literally devices which assists him to inform and develop on the chief theme. One of the devices is the use of Chi which represents an individual god whose virtues are influenced by the person’s good affluence or lack thereof. The use of chi is used at different points in the novel to help in the understanding of Okonkwo, who is a tragic hero. Animal imagery is used especially by the Igbo to naturalize their rituals and beliefs. The presence of these animals symbolizes a society that is not yet modernized by the European influence. He uses symbols which represents his abstract ideas and thought. For instance he use the locust where he describes that the locusts are pouring downward upon the village which refers to the coming of the Europeans who like the locust would settle in the land of the Igbo consuming on all their resources.

He use a certain language of emphasis like the use of  the expressions “settle” and “every” to depict the locusts control to refer to the abrupt coming of the Europeans. Fire is another symbol which he uses to relate to Okonkwo’s treacherous anger. Fire destroys all what it consumes and this is portrayed by Okonkwo who destroys everything physically (Achebe, 2000).

References

Achebe, C. (2000). Things fall apart. Oxford: Heinemann Educational.

SARTRE

Introduction

Faith is trust in a person or a thing. Social ethics involves the faith that outlines the concepts of right and wrong conduct. Socially faith and ethics are supposed to be paramount to every individual of the community. This is not always true as there are elements that hinder members of the society from trusting each other as a result of poor moral ethics. This causes conflicts between spiritually destructive, oppressive and the way of being dominant in the society. The concept of faith develops the ontology of what is to be human.  This cause’s radical and groundlessness freedom which is evident in the human condition. As a result, there is an unstable existence of facts and freedom in the unresponsive world. Sartre philosophy is based on existentialism and humanism in relation to faith. In this paper, I will argue that Sartre Successfully defended his argument about bad faith, authenticity (good faith) and sincerity and why sincerity sounds like authenticity at first though it is an act of bad faith and his concept is faced with challenges as well.

The concept of bad faith defines the phenomenon of human beings in the society who are under pressure due to the societal forces that result in the adoption of false values and disowning the innate freedom resulting in the acting off in authentically. This can closely relate to the idea of self-deception and resentment. Individuals have the freedom to make choices that guide them throughout their living. Individuals are tied to freedom and cannot avoid it even in extreme situations (Churchill and Reynolds, 2014).  Sartre argues that although there are external circumstances that may cause a limit to individuals no force can be used on a person to follow a different course over another and it is for this reason why individuals choose in anguish. This is because a choice has to be made and there are consequences that will result due to the choice made. It is true to say that to claim one amongst a number will consciously take undeniable precedence. This manifests self-deceiving because human are conscious and they are always on the known side of intentional objects (Churchill and Reynolds, 2014).

Sartre example of a woman on a first date. The woman will obviously ignore any sexual implication on the date and will accept compliments that are associated with her physical appearance rather than the words that are directed to her as human consciousness. The moment the man holds her hand to rest in his aim it will lie indifferently and she will neither resist or consent the gesture or rebuke it. There will be a delay during the moment when she is supposed to make a choice on whether to acknowledge the advances or reject them or at the same time give in (Churchill and Reynolds, 2014).  The young woman will consistently consider her hand as the only thing in the world and by his compliments to her unrelated body will play a dual human reality and the physical being. This consciousness divides the freedom from physically apart. This is an act of bad faith according to Sartre due to the fact that the woman is denying herself the freedom to be actively involved. This means that the person involved is aware and can sense it and they are unaware they are free (Churchill and Reynolds, 2014).

Authenticity which means good faith is also a concept of Sartre. This is the strong sense of being. This means being faithful, reliable, accurate and presentable. This means that the individual professes to be who they are meant to be.  For an individual being one-self is inescapable and whatever choice or act on the make is with oneself. An individual who acts in accordance with desires, ideas, motivates and the belief is not only theirs but also expresses their reality. Authenticity impacts the society and political thinking. Individuals may become self-portraits becoming the center of attention due to who they are as individuals (Churchill and Reynolds, 2014).

Sincerity by Sartre is being free from pretense, hypocrisy or deceit. Socially a sincere person is seen to be an individual who honestly attempts to neither violate any expectation oh him to uphold from him by the society nor strive to show himself than what he is ought to. The ideal of sincerity have lost it normative appeal and it is referred to as heroism of dumb service. This has led to the attack of those who are passively internalized by a particular social ethos (Churchill and Reynolds, 2014). According to Sartre sincerity is a unique mode and not a virtue of self-deception. There are reasons why Sartre believe so. To begin with Sartre concept of freedom does not appear to be eye-catching nowadays. A number of individuals tend to reason that determinism and human freedom is linked, but according to Sartre they are incompatible. This is because human actions are antecedent events that are causally necessitated which are incompatible with the fact that humans are free. Secondly, he believes that sincerity contains considerations that do not presuppose any notion of incompatibility by freedom (Churchill and Reynolds, 2014).

According to Sartre sincerity sounds as good faith at first but it is an act of bad faith. This is because Sartre argues that there are underlying reasons why one may want to come out sincere. This is driven by the act of bad faith. There are individual reasons that drive and motivates such an act. This is enhanced by the fact one is aware of their thetical actions. This is because it is inevitable in an individual ambiguity that will involve the relation to the experience of perception. The aim is mainly focused on the overcoming the obstacles that hinder a particular outcome (Bernstein, 2011).

Bad faith is evident in the society, good faith is a challenge and sincerity is difficult to analyze. This is because the society is complex in nature and trying to identify each individual intention of acting in a particular manner is difficult. The extent in which sincerity is considered as bad faith is based on personal judgment.  Sartre may have considered sincerity as bad faith but it is true to say that Sartre’s theory did not put into consideration the analysis of what sincerity try to sow (Bernstein, 2011).

Sincerity should not be considered as an act of bad faith. This is because even if it is driven by external forces there is always the thought of doing well by individuals. This is because of the consciousness that individuals possess.  It is said that pretense will most find its way and be considered as sincerity but sincerity is done with the intention to help. This is because the concept that drives it is essential in human conditions. Arguably the human society is made up around bad faith because it possesses cultural and socio norms that create the role of the individual to adhere to this policy in order to successfully adopt in the society daily activities (Santoni, (2010).

It is true to say without bad faith in which sincerity is considered to be we would be living in the world that is uncertain which would cause individuals to ensure a permanent state of anxiety which would become debilitating and exhausting. This shows that priest, doctors and lawyers take hypocritical oaths but they never deny one from exercising their faith as it is a freedom of choice and accountability. This is enhanced by not viewing ad faith to be interchangeable with authenticity (Santoni, (2010).

Conclusion

From Sartre concept, it is true to say that bad faith and sincerity deceives individuals since there are motives that drive an individual to act in a manner they do. Sincerity, good faith, and bad faith have a particular attention in the possibility of overcoming bad faith. There is no cynical lie in bad faith because its first act is to free what it cannot free. Bad faith possesses a permanent threat to human beings because its consciousness conceals with it becoming a permanent risk. In the light of this remarks, it is possible to say that Sartre concepts deal with the ontological review of human consciousness not as a whole but as an instantaneous center of human being.

Reference

Churchill .S and Reynolds .J (2014); Jean-Paul Sartre: Key concept; Routledge

Santoni, R. E. (2010). Bad faith, good faith, and authenticity in Sartre's early philosophy.             Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Bernstein, R. J. (2011). Praxis and action: Contemporary philosophies of human activity.             Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Take an Equal Attitude towards Suffered People

I am interested in the sufferings of Iranians which is similar to the sufferings of Chinese people during the Culture Revolution. However, those people and their offsprings are treated unequally.

Therefore, I will create a Twitter page to present my idea. In my opinion, Twitter is a social media which is used by a large number of people around the world irrespective of gender, age and religion and so on. If I put my idea on the Twitter, then many people will pay their attention to it. My idea will be presented in the following.

I love the Persepolis written by Marjane Strapi. From my perspective, this graphic novel is an autographic work of Marjane Strapi, so it is very persuasive. The novel mainly depicts the experience of a little girl called Marji during the Islamic Revolution. At that time, Marji was deprived of freedom and forced to do things she disliked. “We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to.” (Satrapi 3)  She was forced to wear the veil. Although in her mind, she dislikes wearing the veil she still has to do so. Besides, she is not allowed to wear fashion clothes like jeans. The same is true with many other Iranians. In a word, all of the things were in strict control of the Iranian government. In fact, from my point of view, I think what happened to Marji is similar to what happened to Chinese people who went through the Culture Revolution (from 1966 to 1976). At that time, colorful clothes were prohibited and pop music was not allowed to be listened to.

There are some biases toward Chinese people because of historical events. The Culture Revolution is a typical one. “Mao’s Party-state drastically fragmented families, moulding socialist subjects though ‘revolution deep down into the soul’.” (Aihe 27) This describes that many families are separated due to the Culture Revolution. As a matter of fact, from the experience of Marji, we can find Chinese people suffered a lot and it is obvious that what they have gone through is not what they want. I think it is not strange that there are ups and downs during the process of a country’s development so long as the country moves forward in a right way in the long run.

However, “By teaching others about Iranians and translating their cultural experiences, she is helping those in the widespread Iranian diaspora be better understood by their host communities and helping to complicate the media-driven negative images of Iran in the West by providing universal (though, importantly, not universalizing) images of humanity.” (Malek 370) This quote describes that Iranian diaspora may be biased in the West. Therefore, Iranians need to show their true image to the world so that they can be understood well and accepted. I think the same is true with Chinese people. Additionally, in terms of people in developed countries like the United States, they should take an equal attitude towards Iranians, Chinese and other people whose experience is similar to Iranians or Chinese. It is not the fault of the citizens who cannot be to blame. 

Works Cited

Aihe,Wang. “Apolitical Arts, Private Experience, and Alternative Subjectivity in China’s Cultural Revolution.”China Perspective 15.4(2014):27-36.Print.

Malek,Amy.“Memoir as Iranian Exile Cultural Produciton:A Case Study of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis Series.”Iranian Studies 39.3(2006):353-380.Print.

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis.NY:Pantheon,2002.Print.

The Cathedral

In the Raymond Carvers story The Cathedral, irony has been applied as a main literature device. He used it to show the contrast between what is expected and what really happened later in the narrative. This paper is therefore going to look at the types of irony depicted in the story, thus explaining how they have been used.

The writer applies dramatic, situational and verbal irony too. Dramatic irony happens when the reader knows something that the writer does not really know or understand (Werlock, Abby, & James, 7). Verbal irony is where the writer writes or says anything that means another thing or he uses a phrase to convey his meaning that is completely opposite of literature meaning (Facknitz, 6). Situational irony occurs where the expected does not happen, but the result is humorous. He uses these types of irony as feature to create humor in his narration (Messer, 8).

Dramatic irony can be clearly identified from the text through the following instance. When the narrators wife tells the narrator that she used to exchange tapes with Robert when she became desperate of relationship with her husband who was a soldier (Zhou, 5). Furthermore, she says that they used to share their secrets with one another since was desperate of her relationship with her soldier husband. This consequently shows that there was something that was going on between Robert and the narrator’s wife. Although Ed’s wife says that they had been friends, their relationship was more than Ed could think (Werlock, Abby, & James, 8). Most women do not necessarily share their secrets with male friends without any genuine reason. On the other hand, Robert had also lost his wife Beulah and was now single. This clearly shows that Robert and Ed’s wife were more than just friends and they were therefore looking forward to getting something together.

Another instance of irony is when Beulah, Robert’s wife became her reader before they got engaged and thereafter they got married in the church (Facknitz, 6). His wife later contracted cancer after eight years of their marriage and she finally passed on. This is ironical simply because Robert drinks alcohol, smokes cigarettes and marijuana when he visits Ed’s wife. According to the dictates of the Christians who are saved, one is not supposed to smoke or take alcohol. Robert seems not to care about his religion or otherwise if he is saved or not (Werlock, Abby, & James, 9). He decides to drink alcohol and do things which he is not supposed to be actually doing as a saved person. It is also ironical that Beulah could live with a husband who could hardly see her or even compliment about the way she had dressed. This made it hard for Ed to pity Beulah since she really lived a very hard type of life bearing in mind that she was happily married to a blind man who never showed her how much he loved her and she dies from cancer after eight years of their marriage (Zhou, 5).

It’s ironic that the narrator seems to be ignorant disdained by blindness while he is just limited on his own sight (Peterson, 8). The narrator can be able to see but he is not able to realize whatever is making him not to be able to achieve his goals in life. This story is ultimately on transcendence. This is through existence that is beyond the physical things (Carver, 30). The writer lacks an insight of wonder for things, potential to be great, humanity and curiosity that can make someone to be alive even though he or she is limited from physical factors. In order to understand this, one can analyze this through his personal voice, the narration is from his vivid personality (Messer, 8). He is forthcoming with his readers through what he shares insecurity on myriad but also in personal qualities that he reveals. He is crude, glib and mean, this is through the absence of power to deliver anything and this affects his story. Though in the characterization there is irony in that disguises the author’s main problem. The character seems to observe themselves more than they are able to control themselves.

The writer also applies verbal irony, through the following instances. When Robert asks Ed to bring a pen and a paper and draw the cathedral for him (Carver, 33). Robert then feels the size of the paper as if he is able to understand the type of paper that Ed is supposed to draw on. He then asks Robert to draw the Cathedral something which he will not even be able to see. It ironical since he cannot be able to see whatever is being drawn and he still insists that the Ed draws the cathedral on the paper (Werlock, Abby, & James, 10).

On the other hand, it is also ironical for Ed to ask Robert which side he had sat on the train. This is because it was of no significance for Ed to know which side Robert had actually sat while on the train. Robert was blind and he could not therefore be able to understand whether he sat on the left or right side of the train (Peterson, 10). In addition it was also ironical when Ed asked his wife if Beulah was a Negro. This question did not please Ed’s wife who did not answer as there was no reason as to why she should answer such a question. Ed was asking questions which could not be answered since they were not significant at all. It was also not expected of Ed to ask such a question as the person who was being talked about was actually Robert (Zhou, 6). It was supposed of Ed to ask his wife questions concerning Robert and not questions of whether Robert’s wife was a Negro. This consequently showed how Robert was not interested in his wife’s story.

Situational irony is depicted is also depicted from this narration, when Robert tells the narrator that he has two television sets. One which is of color while the other one is black and white. It is ironical that Robert has two televisions when he cannot be able to see. One might question why he has a two different types of televisions when he cannot actually be able to watch anything at all. Moreover, Robert knows the differences between the two TV’s and he can be able to tell the one which is black and white and the one which is colored (Messer, 8).

On the other hand, it is ironical for Robert to tell Ed that after smoking marijuana, he could not be able to sleep early (Peterson, 12). This is because marijuana is a drug known for making a person to feel relaxed thus falling easily asleep. Robert had also taken a very huge meal and they had also drunk alcohol and one could not afford to stay awake for long but Robert was not the type of a person to sleep at such a time (Carver, 35).

Conclusion

Irony was the greatest contributor in this story, the greatest part of this narration came from came from Ed’s thoughts with some dialogues and memories from the past. From the text, now that the blind man was to visit the husband, he thought of how he would take him bowling. He told his wife that he had a friend who was to visit him and he wanted to make him comfortable. This is interesting because he husband makes use of his thoughts to show his personality of which came out to be sarcastic. The husband kept on thinking on what he was going to react or say in the current situation throughout the blind man’s visit in which was a substantial situation. He thought only revolved on the Beulah husband life and how he looked like. This thought was rather ironic than a plain meaning. He thought of how his wife died for he knew how Beulah looked like.

Work Cited

Carver, Raymond. Cathedral: Stories. , 2015. Internet resource.

Werlock, Abby H. P, and James P. Werlock. The Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story. New York NY: Facts On File, Inc, 2010. Internet resource.

Zhou, Jingqiong. Raymond Carver's Short Fiction in the History of Black Humor. New York: P. Lang, 2006. Print.

Messer, H. Collin. "Fleeing The Wasteland Of Alcoholism: Alienation, Recovery, And Hope In Raymond Carver's Cathedral." Studies In Short Fiction 37.1 (2012): 43-58. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.

Peterson, Polly Rose. "Psychological Distance In Raymond Carver's CATHEDRAL." Explicator 70.3 (2012): 167-169. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.

Facknitz, Mark A.R. "'The Calm,' 'A Small, Good Thing,' And 'Cathedral': Raymond Carver And The Rediscovery Of Human Worth." Studies In Short Fiction 23.3 (1986): 287. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Apr. 2011

Clark, Robert C. "Keeping The Reader In The House: American Minimalism, Literary Impressionism, And Raymond Carver's "Cathedral.." Journal Of Modern Literature 36.1 (2012): 104-118. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.

Weise, Jillian. "Cathedral By Raymond Carver." Literary Review 57.4 (2014): 122-130. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.

            Legacy of Socrates

1. Who are you?

            For Socrates, the search for wisdom begins with an attempt to gain clarity as to whom we truly are as human beings. Before we can presume to understand the world, we must begin by understanding the reality of our own consciousness. From a Socratic point of view, the world is reduced exclusively to the human world, everything else being inconsequential. Initially, the search for wisdom is understood in terms of my need to understand precisely who I am.

            I am breathing and a living organism which is signified by human minds. I am a particular self who is characterized with the physical body and a story of the physical body’s functions. When I walk around I am friendly as a human-friendly approach is essential in the world in avoiding harm as well as hostility. I am a moral person who is driven by moral virtues of doing things that only result in desirable results.  I do not follow ethical beliefs without evaluating why they were formulated and whether their judgments are right. This is revealed in things that I do which involve decisions which are consciously connected as good moral requires.

2. AM I A MORAL PERSON?

            The self—that is, who I am—is primarily revealed in those aspects of my existence that involve conscious choices. I am what and who I am in so far as I choose to be and do what I am and do. This involves moral and ethical choices—what I choose because of my sense of moral or ethical obligation. Consequently, the Socratic search is concentrated in the moral dimension of my existence, which is what Socrates regarded as the true reality of the person. An amoral person is defined as an individual who is able to differentiate wrong from right. Morality is the individual is, therefore, the effort of the things that should be done and those that should be left as they are.  The morals of an individual are crucial as they deal with motives and conducts.  I am therefore a moral person because I am guided by consciousness which thus develops my personality as it dictates what I do. As a moral person, I research on things that are thought to be right and those practices by individuals in the society. My morals, therefore, respond to what people actually do in the society. This is because morals are considered to be shared group’s ideal regardless of whether they are fully practiced. A moral philosopher is who desires and discovers how moral rules are justified and the associated ethical beliefs (Ahbel-Rappe, &Kamtekar,2009). My practices, therefore, determine my morality as it allows me to consider the consequences of my conduct by investigation why the moral rules were set and whether they are justifiable.

3. WHAT DO OTHERS THINK OF ME? My family?My circle of friends?My classmates?My Instructors?

            It is obvious, however, that this dimension does not involve me in isolation. Moral choices involve other selves, other persons, just as theirs involve me. Thus, the searches for I, for my true identity, must be undertaken as a joint effort in which others are as involved as I am. Philosophy must be understood as a social function. Others are stubborn to declare that they do not care what other people think about them but as a human I need and want to fit into the societal cosmos.  Beings are united psychologically to interdependence and the perception of others is part of It (Ahbel-Rappe, & Kamtekar,2009).  Beings respond to the exclusion threat by showing social anxiety by feeling like one is not fully accepted by others which leaves one feeling depressed or agitated (Ahbel-Rappe, & Kamtekar,2009).

            How others see me is mainly influenced by how I think of myself.  The ability to understand how others see me enables me to directly connect to them a get greater satisfaction from the ties between us. We can never leave our personality for the assumption by others and therefore I really on misperception which are the thoughts of own individuals view me (Ahbel-Rappe, & Kamtekar,2009).  Self-concept is essential is establishing how others view me because the concept is based on my own beliefs on who I am which additionally helps in shaping my personality.

4. WILL I DESIRE TO MAKE MY FORTUNE OR BE A SUCCESS IN MY CAREER REGARDLESS OF THE MORAL OR ETHICAL CODES THAT I MAY BREAK?

            The primary mode of human companionship, according to Socrates, is language because language is the framework of rationality, and it is in and through language that we construct the human reality in which we live and function. In a sense, then, to speak is to create.

            Accordingly, the Socratic search for the self assumes initially the form of a linguistic analysis in which moral or ethical terms can be subjected to a detailed examination’s will, therefore, desire to attain success regardless of the ethical briefs that will be broken because  the human philosophical championship is the desire to develop  via experiences. The philosophy, therefore, seeks to awaken deeper understandings dimensions which help in developing experiences (Aristotle, & Reeve, 2014).  This is achieved by sustain attitudes which in turn emphasizes togetherness.  Ethical briefs are awakening by beings in the attempt of achieving a championship. The human consciousness which helps an individual to determine what right and what not influences an individual by declaring that career activities are right. This may result in broken morals in the effort of establishing high satisfaction in those things that matters (Aristotle, & Reeve, 2014).

5. IN TODAYS WORLD, WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS VIRTUE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE GOOD LIFE, AND TRUTHFULNESS, IN THE ELECTRONIC COMMUNITY OF THE INTERNET?

            The linguistic analysis that we encounter in Socrates takes on the form of a dialogue in which the correct definition or understanding of a moral term is sought. Thus, without pretending to know or teach anything, Socrates asks others to define terms such as virtue, happiness, and righteousness, the good life, truthfulness, of others.

            Virtue can be described as the idea of holding a good or a satisfying character trait.  Virtue is crucial in establishing the good-being of an individual because it is thought to be a skill of living.  In order for a being, t be virtuous, they have to act in good ways(Aristotle, & Reeve, 2014). A being with good virtues does not necessary require moral or ethical rules because virtues act as their guiding principles.  Virtues are those skills that reveal a character of a human being which helps in exercising deliberations and self-control. Virtuous acts results to desirable impacts and therefore can be termed as good skills that an individual holds which results to being true.  Righteousness is attained with the right virtues and happiness, where happiness is the decisive end. The conception of happiness is effective in organizing being’s subordinate levels by indicating how the different ends should fully fit in distinct rational. Righteousness is influenced by a good character which helps in determining and establishing reliability and regularity of distinct actions (Aristotle, & Reeve, 2014).

6. DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE AS A RESULT OF THE UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?

            The Socratic dialogue is generally known as the elenchus, a term that conveys the idea of interrogation. In the elenchus, Socrates forces his interlocutor to examine his own understanding of a moral term, that is, to give a clear and concise definition of it. Invariably, however, he forces his interlocutor to confess that his own understanding of the moral term is unclear and unacceptable and that he really does not know what he is talking about. He is ignorant and his language does not mean anything at all. He utters sounds that say nothing.

            What I would like to see is the truth which should be shaped by beliefs which will help in determining the consistency of these beliefs. Elenchus is a form of a dialogue that exists in a cooperative argument between beings which is grounded on subjecting questions to draw some ideas and presumptions out by stimulating critical thoughts (Aristotle, & Reeve, 2014). In addition, I would also want to see developed understanding as Socrates method helps in bringing out definitions for additional understanding.

7. WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT YOU WILL TAKE WITH YOU AFTER YOU COMPLETE THIS COURSE?

            For his part, Socrates claims to be ignorant himself and insists that he only knows that he knows little or nothing. He does so because he knows that people do not really learn from what others say to them, but from what they themselves are able to think and conceive of them. Learned knowledge is superficial and mostly useless, whereas knowledge that comes from us is genuine and lasting.

            Gained knowledge is distinct from natural knowledge as natural knowledge helps in the development of understanding and skills.  What I, therefore, hope to take with from the course is the understanding of self-concept and that of others. The understanding of the perception by others is crucial as it helps in eliminating epistemology which is crucial because the idea of thinking that we know results in determining the general actions of self and choices (Cooper, 2012)   . Education requires providing expertise to a vocational preparation which I will gain.

8. WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE BERNIE MADOFF WHO ARE SMART. ARE THE EVIL AND UNHAPPY?

            The root of all human evil and unhappiness, whether personal, social, or political, according to Socrates, is ignorance, understood not only in terms of not having in memory bits of information about the world but in terms of intellectual or spiritual confusion. We do wrong when we are confused or bewildered when our ideas are unclear when the noise and chatter of the human world around us has succeeded in making us stupid (using this word in its etymological sense). Hence, stupid people are bound to be evil and unhappy and are bound to spread their evil and unhappiness in every direction.

            According to Socrates wisdom is worth nothing. They are therefore happy individuals because their intelligence helps in setting directions for their actions. Knowledge is crucial in eliminating ignorance because it identifies contexts in which being utilized in drawing decisions on various practical issues. I regard to wisdom is based o the idea the wise people are knowledgeable(Aristotle, & Reeve, 2014). Somme beings that are knowledgeable are not prudent. Despite the availability of abundant factual knowledge, the individuals lack practical know-how of accomplishing things.  Factual knowledge no matter how extensive it is not adequate to demonstrate a wise individual. A wise being knows how to get in all kind of circumstances in the world and with all the distinct individuals. Wisdom does not know all the truths of it are based on how beset one can fully deal with situations (Aristotle, & Reeve, 2014).

9. DO YOU ENVISION YOURSELF TO BE AN EVIL OR A GOOD PERSON?

            This idea is expressed by Socrates in statements such as these: “Those who really know what is good can only do the good,” “Happiness and goodness can only be attained through self-examination and by attaining mental clarity,” “Evil is the necessary result of ignorance. Beings believe that there can never be good deeds in the world without involving the bad ones.  A good person lacks self-centeredness(Aristotle, & Reeve, 2014). This is the ability to feel compassion and understand with other beings. A good person is one who sacrifices their own well-being for the good of others. An evil person is that being who cannot understand with others (Aristotle, & Reeve, 2014). Their individual desires and needs are a priority as they are centered on self.  I am a god person who is driven by the well-being of others.

10.”WOULD YOU PREFER TO LIVE IN A UTOPIAN WORLD SUCH AS PLEASANTVILLE OR ON THE ISLAND WITH THE BOYS AFTER THE PLANE CRASH (LORD OF THE FLIES) ?

            This Socratic stance reveals a great deal of intellectual optimism, that is, the conviction that the mind, when sufficiently cleansed from the linguistic nonsense that comes from society, traditions, emotions, superstitions, and so many and varied sources of confusion, can reach a level of clarity which makes virtue, goodness, and happiness possible. According to Socrates, intellectualism permits an individual to do things that are morally right when they finally realize what suitable. Intellectual optimism according to Socrates is rational hopefulness. This is therefore achieved when the mind of being is cleared from misleading knowledge from experiences (Kreeft, 2007).

            This means doing things that are accurate because an individual cannot conduct things that are evil at will.  Virtues are part of knowledge and they influence the conduct of a person because an individual is always characterized by consciousness. This, therefore, prevents them from doing evil because of the reflection of the consequences. The conception of Socrates of knowing a general truth and ethical practices can thus be associated with the modern knowledge conception and rational intellectualism (Kreeft, 2007).

11. AFTER TAKING THIS COURSE, IDENTIFY THE WAYS THAT YOU SEE THAT SOCRATES HAS HAD AN AFFECT ON THE WORLD THAT WE LIVE IN POST 9II?

            Socrates has influenced the society in distinct ways, he has been effectively influential on the societal moral law in the western part and other areas like psychotherapy. This is in that, therapy approaches are generated from his wisdom which is utilized in practical practices of treating medical patients. This is accomplished by utilization of the Socrates questioning to help individuals. People can read about the questioning and the provided answers which help them to know on how to deal with various symptoms. In addition, this helps physicians in identifying various reasons why the patients suffer from anxiety (Bussanich, & Smith, 2013)  .

            Virtues that were continuously emphasized y Socrates are relevant and reliable in the society today.  This virtue includes wisdom, piety, courage, kindness, self-sacrifices and self-control. This is some of the several attributes that people rapidly strive for.  In addition, Socrates influenced the world today because he emphasized on a self-identity before trying to understand how others view us. This principle has been crucial in the s modern society which is characterized by criticism and therefore people are able to know how they can understand who they are.  To truly understand who a person means that a person is fully baked to be independent with fearlessness.  This, therefore, enables a person to overcome and understand their constraints which help in laying several ground work and real aims (Bussanich, & Smith, 2013) .

Socrates has therefore influenced the world by increasing knowledge sources and developing the understanding of individuals based on distinct field and especially the medical industry.  His concepts have thus be utilized in the development of better and advanced approaches to solving human beings issues. His influences have therefore results to great successes in the economic, political and social grounds as his concepts emphasize on understanding human (Bussanich, & Smith, 2013).

References

Ahbel-Rappe, S., &Kamtekar, R. (2009).A companion to Socrates.Chichester, West Sussex:        Wiley-Blackwell.

Aristotle, ., & Reeve, C. D. C. (2014). Nicomachean ethics.

Bussanich, J., & Smith, N. D. (2013).The Bloomsbury companion to Socrates. London:    Continuum.

Cooper, J. M. (2012). Pursuits of wisdom: Six ways of life in ancient philosophy from Socrates   to Plotinus. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

Kreeft, P. (2007). Socrates meets Descartes: The father of philosophy analyzes the father of modern philosophy's Discourse on method. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.