Huck Finn Essays (1366 words) - English-language Films,

Huck Finn Throughout the ages The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been a treasured novel to people of all ages. For young adults the pure adventuresome properties of the book captivates and inspires wild journeys into the unknown. The book appeals to them only as a quest filled with danger and narrow escapes. It is widely considered that children of 12 or so are a little too young to absorb the books complexities (Galileo: Morrow). However, as readers mature and become older, they read the book through enlightened eyes. They begin to understand the trials and moral struggles that this young boy undergoes in resisting society, struggles that no adult would relish. This paper delves into how Huck Finn rejects the accepted moral values and social mores of his society. Hucks independence and freethinking are marvels in a conformists culture. By itself, the fact that Huck stands up for something against the then-contemporary beliefs is no significant event. The remarkable feat is that he stands up for something that he does not believe. This is a fact seldom considered by our heroic notions of Huck, because in this day and time slavery and dehumanization are abhorred by almost every ethnicity and religion. Now people attempt to conceptualize what a tragedy and terror it was for slaves. The picture is not pretty. Twain helps us with that visualization. Huckleberry Finn is known as a fairly accurate depiction of what life was like in the south. In a comparison with Tom Sawyer, Lionel Trilling says, The truth of Huckleberry Finn is of a different kind from that of Tom Sawyer. It is a more intense truth, fiercer and more complex. Tom Sawyer has the truth of honestywhat it says about things and feelings [are] never false and always both adequate and beautiful. Huckleberry Finn has this kind of truth, too, but it has also the truth of moral passion; it deals directly with the virtue and depravity of mans heart. (258) This assertion tells the reader that most, in that time period, did have the same views, reactions, and ethics as offered in the book. Huck is in direct opposition and retaliation with almost all of these tenets. He first demonstrates this by wishing to leave the Widow Douglas because she wants to sivilize him. The interesting observation is, the irony of the Widows attempt to teach Huck religious principles while she persists in holding slaves. As with her snuff takingwhich was all right because she did it herselfthere seems no relationship between a fundamental sense of humanity and justice and her religion. Hucks practical morality makes him more Christian than the Widow, though he takes no interest in her lifeless principles. (Grant 1013) Huck seems to have the inclination that something is wrong with her beliefs in God and how people should follow Him, unfortunately he couldnt see no advantage in going where she was going, so [he] made up [his] mind [he] wouldnt try for it (Twain 13). Huck could not endure these rigors of formal southern training and finally he couldnt stand it no longer. [He] lit out (Twain 13). Huck never did quite feel right in society, in his hometown or in any of the towns he visited during his daring journey. Only when he was in his rags and on the river by himself or with Jim did he feel free and satisfied (Twain 12). Even with Jim, Huck feels a sense of uneasiness. His duty delegated by the culture is to turn Jim in, yet he was helplessly involved in doing the thing which his society disapprovedfreeing a slave. It was an action which he himself disapproved but could avoid no more than his grammatical blunders (Cox: The Fate 383). Hucks moral struggle with this situation is a central theme to the novel. It is so significant that some believe Hucks two-page struggle over whether to betray Jim is a masterpiece of metaphysically comic inversion, a sardonic, hilarious examination of conscience (Galileo: Morrow). Now this predicament of monstrous proportions is considered a metaphor for all social bondage and injustice (Grant 1013), since Twain wrote this after the Civil War. Hucks dilemma is this, should he do what his society has bred into

Free Essays on Electronic Piracy

Many college students have at least one piece of software on their personal computer that was obtained or distributed illegally. Software piracy is an extremely large operation causing the loss of billions of dollars of revenue to software companies worldwide. New estimates find the loss of software companies at ten billion dollars a year due to desktop software pirating. (BBC News, 2003) This number is on a startling rise from the losses in 2000 of only three billion dollars according to the Business Software Alliance. (Wakefield, 2002) Although many feel that this loss is insignificant when looking at the great deal of money the software industry takes in, the people who lose the most value are the consumers. Many consumers who buy pirated software, knowingly or unknowingly, are left without support and possibly with harmful versions of these programs. (BBC News, 2003) A study fore the BSA found that if Western Europe were able to cut computer piracy just ten points, Software compa nies could create one million jobs and boost the value of their technology sectors 250 billion Euros by 2006. (BBC News, 2003) Software piracy protection also adds to a great deal of creativity for software developers. Many companies feel that their programmers are more likely to produce better software if the copyright protections are greater and they receive money for their hard work. â€Å"Strong intellectual property protections spur creativity, which opens new opportunities for businesses, governments, and workers,† said Beth Scott, European Vice-President of BSA. (BBC News, 2003) Although software piracy is an extremely large part of copyright issues, there are also two other big issues, music and movies. In 2002, the music industry blamed illegal music downloading for a record loss of ten percent in record sales. (Hermida, 2003) The vast array of information on the Internet has lead to a great loss in both the music and movie industries in the past f... Free Essays on Electronic Piracy Free Essays on Electronic Piracy Many college students have at least one piece of software on their personal computer that was obtained or distributed illegally. Software piracy is an extremely large operation causing the loss of billions of dollars of revenue to software companies worldwide. New estimates find the loss of software companies at ten billion dollars a year due to desktop software pirating. (BBC News, 2003) This number is on a startling rise from the losses in 2000 of only three billion dollars according to the Business Software Alliance. (Wakefield, 2002) Although many feel that this loss is insignificant when looking at the great deal of money the software industry takes in, the people who lose the most value are the consumers. Many consumers who buy pirated software, knowingly or unknowingly, are left without support and possibly with harmful versions of these programs. (BBC News, 2003) A study fore the BSA found that if Western Europe were able to cut computer piracy just ten points, Software compa nies could create one million jobs and boost the value of their technology sectors 250 billion Euros by 2006. (BBC News, 2003) Software piracy protection also adds to a great deal of creativity for software developers. Many companies feel that their programmers are more likely to produce better software if the copyright protections are greater and they receive money for their hard work. â€Å"Strong intellectual property protections spur creativity, which opens new opportunities for businesses, governments, and workers,† said Beth Scott, European Vice-President of BSA. (BBC News, 2003) Although software piracy is an extremely large part of copyright issues, there are also two other big issues, music and movies. In 2002, the music industry blamed illegal music downloading for a record loss of ten percent in record sales. (Hermida, 2003) The vast array of information on the Internet has lead to a great loss in both the music and movie industries in the past f...

Current Recalls and Alerts Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current Recalls and Alerts - Research Paper Example The public health alert is due to infectious outbreak from the seven Salmonella strains. The FSIS illustrates that the illness due to Salmonella Heidelberg strains are related to the raw chicken products of Foster Farms in the three California facilities. The products were majorly distributed to the Washington, California and Oregon state outlets. The alert has been issued due to the approximately 278 illnesses identified in the 18 states with a huge concentration in California. There are several key facts and also similarity in the two recall scenarios. In both cases, the public health alerts were issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, through the Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS). The agency is responsible for ensuring that all food products distributed in the United States are fit for consumption. There is a common factor in the outbreak of the health hazard. The common cause is the Salmonella strain outbreak. Nutrion LLC was uncooperative in efforts to ensure healthy egg products. The business allegedly illustrated forged the laboratory results to illustrate a negative lab test for Salmonella. The company also explained that sampling took place; however, it was proven that no microbial test took place. Foster Farms was linked to the Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak through the epidemiologic and laboratory analysis done by the state and the federal staffs. The FSIS policy is not too restrictive on the processed egg products produced by Nutriom LLC and the chicken products from the Three Foster farms. This is because it is the sole responsibility of the agency to safeguard public health in the entire United States. Thus, the restrictions in the food processing sector should be adequate to ensure strict compliance of public health standards. The agency should engage in periodic monitoring and inspection activities on all food processing plants, to minimize the outbreak of health infections

Search Integration of Social Media Research Paper

Search Integration of Social Media - Research Paper Example In the wake of globalization, various firms need to embrace the cultural diversity by incorporating various major search languages in its marketing strategy thereby giving organizations a local appeal in its geographically dispersed market. This is one of the tools that Zarah seems to utilize with an immense command on the market size in the fashion industry. It is common to realize that social media requires customization in respect of the cultural differences prevalent in the world and this has been done by introducing the use of various languages that are tailored to meet the demands of people (Hoffman & Bateson, 2009). It is, therefore, a boost for the organization to act locally and think globally in respect of placing website adverts. It has adopted online sales that constitute the display of varieties that the customers simply click on and obtain all the required information then transact online. This is more convenient for many people due to the paradigm shift of socio-econom ic order of the society which keeps people busy most of the time. It has equally diversified the social networking sites thereby enhancing chances of reaching out to many clients of all age brackets around the world. To optimize the use of social media, Zarah has a very active Twitter, Facebook, google+, daily blogs and other accounts on which it is able to count on the number of likes and pins after posting pictures of its variety of products. The figures obtained in this process and the comments provide a basis for reorganizing its strategies on appropriate marketing mix. Zarah also utilizes the social media to take note of the global fashion trend by responding immediately through Twitter and its other social media sites and collecting feedback on desires and modifications preferable to the existing and potential customers (Hoffman & Bateson, 2009). This has the updating effect with attraction consequences to the potential customers who are prolific internet browsers.

Personal Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Statement - Essay Example Immediately, I went back to China to try and help him and on arriving, the doctor told me that the hepatic cancer was already in the late stages, hence there was no much hope. In fact, the doctor told me that my grandfather had no more than six months left to live. Due to work related issues, my parents had to leave me with my grandparents at a very young age, which made me get strongly attached to my grandparents. I couldn’t believe that my grandfather would leave me in a few months time and so I tried my very best to save him. Everyone in my family was searching everywhere for possible treatments for hepatic cancer. One day, my friend advised me to look for an acupuncturist, and told me that he had successfully saved a patient who had a very similar condition as my grandfather. My grandmother was very enlightened with hope after he heard this. I still remember the first time when I met the acupuncturist, who introduced himself as Dr. Li. He was in his sixties at that time, a nd looked very kind and patient. He carefully applied about one hour of acupuncture therapy to my grandfather. During the entire therapy, I starred at Dr. Li’s fingers and the long and thin needles he was using. I kept imagining the magic of these needles and thinking how could these little needles save my grandfather’s life. ... We still take my grandfather to see Dr. Li every three months. Although my grandfather’s cancer did not go away completely, it has been well controlled by Dr. Li and this has kept my grandfather’s life much longer than we expected. With the years long experience with Dr. Li, I started to consider becoming an acupuncturist, who is able to reduce patients’ pain and save people’s lives. I now clearly understand that patience and care are the two of the most important characteristics for doctors; therefore, I’m trying my best to develop my skills and build up my personality. I worked as a kindergarten teacher at the Bright Seeds Academy, which helped me reduce my temper and boosted my willpower. For the two years I spend teaching children, I became more and more patient with children, and learned how to deal with them amicably. I will complete my AA degree with communication major by this summer. I believe effective communication skills and critical thi nking are also essential skills for acupuncturist. I’m sure this background can help me reach my goal, of becoming an easy going and a persuasive acupuncturist. Last year, I injured my arm accidently and went to see an Acupuncturist- Dr. Zhu. After expressing my background experiences and my goal to become an acupuncturist, Dr. Zhu offered me an opportunity to become a volunteer in his acupuncture and herbal clinic. This was my very first time to have a close distance to my goal. From this opportunity, I learned how an acupuncture clinic runs, and the essential skills and personalities that an acupuncturist must have. One day, an old Chinese woman came into the Clinic, and she couldn’t speak English or Mandarin (Both Dr. Zhu and I only speak these two languages). She could only speak Cantonese and we

Negative Effects Of Peer Rejection Psychology Essay

Negative Effects Of Peer Rejection Psychology Essay This paper researches the effects of peer rejection on children, from the beginning of elementary school and transitioning into middle school, and the adverse effects that peer rejection can have. The paper also examines if there are certain factors, such as race, sex, parental care, or societal deviance, that correlate to or can be used as predictors of peer rejection. Looking at peer rejection shows multiple adverse effects, varying from psychological damage, increase in aggression, disinterest in academic life, increase in risk taking behavior, and negative academic performance, with all being related in turn to the duration and intensity of the rejection. This paper examines how peer rejection is correlated to these factors and outcomes, and if they can be used to predict adjustment in adult life. Peer Rejection: An Examination of the Negative Effects of Peer Rejection on Multiple Aspects of a Childs Life Merriam-Webster defines reject as to refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use, and peer as one that is of equal standing with another : especially : one belonging to the same societal group especially based on age, grade, or status. From these two definitions we get peer rejection, which can be stated as refusal to accept someone of a similar age, grade or status into a social group. Anyone who has ever been part of a social group in their life, from a school associated club, to a sports team, to a playground group, has dealt with not fitting in. Whether it be due to their race, age, sex, or play preferences, children of all types deal with not being accepted by their classmates. Asking anyone will get you a tale of a time in which they experienced rejection by friends or fellow students, and how they felt when it occurred. But what many people never think about is how this rejection can affect a child, if it continues for a long amount of time, or is more intense then merely an exclusion from one days worth of activity. If this occurs there can be a risk for problems to begin developing. First, we will be discussing the immediately recognizable effects of peer rejection on a child, such as disinterest in school work, drop in grade point average, increase in aggression and overall lack of interest in education. Secondly, we will discuss the long term effects of peer rejection, like increase in risk taking behavior, likelihood of continued low scores in GPA and continued lack of interest in school. Lastly, we will discuss how peer rejection can also be a predictor of other negative things in a childs life, such as deviance, whether it be physical, mental, or social, or even maltreatment by their parents. In 2008, Ladd, Herald-Brown Reiser conducted a study on whether chronic peer rejection would affect and predict a childs class room participation during grade school. It was hypothesized that (a) peer rejection creates constraints that inhibit childrens classroom participation and (b) the cessation of rejection enables children to become more active and cooperative participants in classroom activities. To test the hypothesis, Ladd et al. (2008) took a sample of 398 children, 199 girls and 199 boys, with a largely Caucasian sample, 77.5%, and followed them from age 5 through age 12. The largely Caucasian sample makes the group seem somewhat biased, due to its lack of representing any other race, however, it can be said that it is representative of the population of the United States. According to the 2011 Census, Caucasians make up 78.1% of the United States population, so while it may appear biased, it would seem that instead the sampling is quite accurate if we want to apply the sa mples results to the population. The results of the study, which are shown through a slope format, found that the early chronic rejected (ECR) group of children, or kids who were rejected from kindergarten to third or fourth grade showed little or no increase in participation of class, as well as this downward or stable trajectory continuing well into the other grades. It also found that children who experienced late chronic rejection (LCR), which was from grades four to six, experienced an immediate decline in participation and a continued decline in what was otherwise a normal upward growth of participation. What this show is that the effects of peer rejection are fast in being detrimental to a child, as well as being able to build up to the point that it lasts for periods of time longer then the original period in which peer rejection was experienced. Of note is that fact that, for the ECR group, once rejection ceased in fourth grade, if peer acceptance begins, then an immediate growth of participation, as would be expected in a non-chronic rejected child, will also begin(Ladd et al., 2008). Following this connection between peer rejection and decrease in classroom participation, we can look at a study by VÃ ©ronneau, Vitaro, Brendgen, Dishion Tremblay, 2010, which attempted to find out whether there was a link between peer rejection and academic achievement from middle age children into teenaged children. They hypothesized that academic achievement would decrease with peer rejection, due to an inability to integrate with the other children. VÃ ©ronneau et al. used a sample of 198 girls and 254 boys, almost all of European descent, that were selected from French speaking schools in Quebec. This reveals a bias in the sample, meaning the majority of the children chosen were Caucasians, as well as them being from Canada, which in turn means that the studies results cannot be generalized for all children, which could cause some serious problems if generalized. The lack of knowledge as to whether Hispanics, Asians or African Americans would show similar connections between their academic achievement and peer rejection would be something that a similar study could identify. The study found that academic achievement was a predictor in whether children were accepted by peers or rejected by them. This connection was shown by negative correlations ranging from -.12to a -.20, with the scores gradually decreasing towards middle school and adolescence. This not only shows that peer rejection decreases academic achievement, but that it affects it less as children grow older. An explanation could be seen in that as a child grows older, he will not be influenced by teachers and parents negative opinions of children who do badly in school, or that as children reach middle school, student bodies tend to increase in size, meaning they are less likely to know about fellow classmates academic scores and achievements. Now to tie those two studies together we can examine a study done Amy Bellmore in 2011, that looked at associations of Grade Point Average (GPA) and peer rejection and unpopularity. The study chose 901 students, 477 boys and 424 girls, from a school system in a middle sized town in the northeastern United States, with an ethnicity similar to that of the united states, with 65% being Caucasian, 20% African American, 12% Latino, and 3% Asian or other, and followed them from grades four to eighth(Bellmore, 2011). The study found that as peer rejection increased in a semester, GPA would decrease, and that peer rejection in a semester would also predict GPA decrease in the following semester. Bellmore also found that peer rejection and unpopularity function differently from each other, with unpopularity not affecting GPA at all during elementary years, but instead, increasing GPA during middle school! This distinction between actual rejection by peers and a lack of acceptance by peers bri ngs up an interesting thought. While being refused by friends and classmates in elementary school makes a child less likely to participate in class, and less likely to achieve academically, by middle school a general sense of difference and lack of acceptance seems to almost fuel a childs need to prove himself in a purely academic way. While this in no means says that being an outcast from the social norm makes a student better academically, it does seem to validate VÃ ©ronneau et al.s (2010) findings that peer acceptance increases with academic achievement. It also seems to suggest that Ladd et al.s 2008 findings of peer rejection hindering classroom participation could possibly be correlated with a drop in GPA as well. When a child feels like they cannot participate in class, they may learn less due to not asking questions due to fear of classmates reactions, perform less then normal in class projects that require group participation in which they could experience rejection, and overall experience a drop in GPA and academic achievement because of their lack of group work finished and class participation points earned. While the studies seem to have a firm amount of findings from children in elementary and middle school, the lack of research into high school peer rejection and its detriments on academic life, shows that peer rejection still has many opportunities for research. This lack of research leads to another study which examined the effects of peer rejection and its influence on girls risk taking behavior. Conducted in 2004 by Prinstein and La Greca, it aimed to find out if there was a link between peer rejection and aggression and if they could be used as predictors of risk taking behaviors, such as marijuana use and risky sexual behaviors. Prinstein La Greca took a sample of 148 girls from fourth to sixth grade, and then examined them again when the girls had reached tenth to twelfth grade. The samples ethnicity consisted of over half being Caucasian, two sixths being Hispanic one sixth being African American and the remainder of the sample being Asian or other. Also of note is the fact that the sample was composed of mainly girls from middle class families. The conclusions drawn from the sample cannot then be applied to general population, and leave open the question of whether socioeconomic status could predispose girls to peer rejection, or if their socioeconomic status itself leaves predisposition to risk taking behavior. In recent studies, such as that by Shields, Ryan and Cicchetti (2001) and Juvonen (1991), peer rejection was found to be linked to maltreatment by parents and shown to be related to deviance from norms. Beginning with maltreatment by caregivers, Shields et al. 2001 hypothesized that: Maltreated children would evidence maladaptive representations, maladaptive representations would be associated with emotion dysregulation and peer rejection on entry into new social groups, maladaptive representations would foster emotion dysregulation among maltreated children, such that they would be more likely to be rejected by peers. This was done by using a narrative representation by 76 maltreated and 45 non-maltreated girls and boys at a summer camp, of varying race and ethnicity, from ages eight to twelve, all from an inner city environment. While the sample size isnt large enough to accurately predict for the entire population, it is still diverse enough to give us a clear enough picture of ho w maltreatment can affect all types of children, and show up in social groups through peer rejection. The determination of maltreatment versus non-maltreatment was found using Child Protective and Preventative Services records, ensuring that maltreated children came from homes where maltreatment had occurred and would most likely continue due to dysfunctional family, which guards against any bias that could have come from using opinions alone to determine maltreatment. In an effort to keep the samples unbiased, even the types of maltreatment varied from child to child, with sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect all being types of maltreatment included. After choosing the children, an exercise in which each child was asked to elaborate upon a series of story stems, representing emotional and physical situations involving either a mother or father, was recorded and then transcribed for comparison. After comparing the findings, it was shown that

The Relationship of Freedom to the Acquisition, Possession, and Exercise of Virtue :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

ABSTRACT: There are three common objections that any broadly Aristotelian virtue theorist must face, insofar as he or she holds that acts must be performed from a firm and stable disposition in order to express virtue, and that virtue is in some way a praiseworthy fulfillment of human potential. Each of these objections accuses the virtuous person of not fully exercising his or her rationality and freedom, and thus of being somehow less than fully human. There are three common objections that any broadly Aristotelian virtue theorist must face, insofar as he or she holds that acts must be performed from a firm and stable disposition in order to be called acts expressing virtue, and that virtue is in some way a praiseworthy fulfillment of human potential. Each of these objections accuse the virtuous person of not fully exercising his or her rationality and freedom, and thus of being somehow less than fully human. The first objection is that acts flowing from the firm and stable disposition of virtue need not be expressions of rationality and freedom, since they may be performed by rote. The second objection, related to the first, has to do with the voluntariness of the possession of virtue. Those who hold that the virtues must be firm and stable dispositions generally hold that a good upbringing from childhood is of utmost importance in the acquisition of such dispositions. The second objection is thus as follows: if a person’s virtue depends upon her upbringing, then she is not responsible for her virtue; it was not up to her and she deserves no praise. The first objection, then, is that particular acts from a firm disposition of virtue are not fully rational or free; the second objection is that the acquisition of the dispositions themselves is not fully rational or free, since it depends upon upbringing. If neither the possession nor the exercise of virtue need be rational and free, then it seems that the activity of virtue is less than fully human, and thus cannot be the praiseworthy fulfillment of our human potential. The third objection, like the second, also has to do with the importance of one’s upbringing to the virtuous life, but is a bit more pointed. Those who present the third objection argue that the acquisition of virtue, inasmuch as it requires such a directive upbringing, itself constitutes a limitation of one’s freedom.