Taking Care Of Our Children Essay Example For Students

Taking Care Of Our Children Essay We who have been entrusted with the education and care of children are obligated to go above and beyond when it comes to looking out for their welfare. Educators and administrators have no recourse but to look beyond the surface, investigate if necessary, and protect the children to whom we have made ourselves responsible. Dave Pelzer, who is currently an advocate for abused children, has written a compelling three book series detailing his own life as an abused child and the aftereffects of his abuse. His case was the third worst case of child abuse on record in the state of California. (Pelzer, 1995, 168) Pelzers mother was an alcoholic who was both physically and emotionally abusive to him. What made this a terrible situation more unique was that the mother did not abuse her other four children. Only Dave was the target of her hatred. Pelzers father, also an alcoholic, who ignored his wifes abusive tendencies, even though he secretly indicated to his son that he did not condone it, compounded the abusive behavior. The fathers silence served to validate the mothers actions. Pelzers teachers and administrators also maintained silence, thus compounding his feeling of isolation. These events occurred during the 1960s and early 1970s, so the behavior of both Pelzers father and his educators was not unusu al. Physical discipline was more accepted during that time than it is now. We will write a custom essay on Taking Care Of Our Children specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Pelzer was rescued from his mothers cruelty in 1973 by a school nurse and counselor, after dealing with her extreme abuse for almost ten years. His teachers and administrators had for years seen him attend school in rags, unwashed, often with bruises and abrasions, but as stated earlier, these were different times. When the school nurse determined she could no longer stand by and accept this abusive behavior, she saw to it that county services was contacted. Pelzer goes on to relate how his emotional damage contributed to his moving often between foster homes. He never felt adequate, and these feelings of inadequacy compounded Pelzers problems and anxieties that children in foster homes normally feel. Pelzer speaks of his first marriage ending in failure, due mostly to his lack of ability to trust and effectively communicate with his wife. His adult life has been built around raising his son in as healthy and environment as possible. He speaks repeatedly of wanting to ensure the cycl e of abuse does not continue through him. His second marriage has been a close-knit partnership, with trust and open lines of communication. The purpose in recounting so much information in Pelzers books is to remind us that we, as educators, must take our responsibilities as caretakers of children with the highest degree of importance. Even though child abuse is abhorrent, it can be stopped and, as in the case of Dave Pelzer, through discipline and hard work, the cycle of abuse can be broken. Although these abusive types of parents are thankfully in the minority, they do exist. It is therefore imperative that we maintain awareness of any unusual circumstances we may notice concerning our children. Reclusive behavior, unexplained bruises or other marks, unattended physical hygiene, or violent outbursts should be cause for concern. (Gestwicki, 435) This is not to say that we should become paranoid and report every child with a bruise as a victim of abuse. We should, however, be aware of unusual mannerisms or circumstances and act when we feel we have a right to be concerned. Documenting any suspicions and findings is essen tial. This can uncover any trends or patterns that may exist. Keep in mind that children will often cover up for and attempt to protect abusive parents. This is also a huge load for a child to bear; the responsibility of taking care of a parent who is abusive is an excessive burden. (Somers, 62) Valerie Bivens, a social worker in California, stresses that most of us are unaware of the extent of child abuse. Often instances of abuse go unreported, and the child may turn their anger against themselves or others, continuing the cycle of abuse. (Pelzer, 1995, 171) Over three million cases of child abuse were reported in 1996, and nearly one third of that number

The Original 13 States of the United States

The Original 13 States of the United States The first 13 states of the United States of America were comprised of the original British colonies established between 17th and 18th centuries. While the first English settlement in North America was the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, established 1607, the permanent 13  colonies were established as follows: The New England Colonies New Hampshire Province, chartered as a British colony in 1679Massachusetts Bay Province chartered as a British colony in1692Rhode Island Colony chartered as a British colony in 1663Connecticut Colony chartered as a British colony in 1662 The Middle Colonies New York Province, chartered as a British colony in 1686New Jersey Province, chartered as a British colony in 1702Pennsylvania Province, a proprietary colony established in 1681Delaware Colony (before 1776, the Lower Counties on the Delaware River), a proprietary colony established in 1664 The Southern Colonies Maryland Province, a proprietary colony established in 1632Virginia Dominion and Colony, a British colony established in 1607Carolina Province, a proprietary colony established 1663Divided Provinces of North and South Carolina, each chartered as British colonies in 1729Georgia Province, a British colony established in 1732 Establishment of the 13 States The 13 states were officially established by the Articles of Confederation, ratified on March 1, 1781. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states operating alongside a weak central government. Unlike the current power-sharing system of â€Å"federalism,† the Articles of Confederation bestowed most governmental powers to the states. The need for a stronger national government soon became apparent and eventually led to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789.The original 13 states recognized by the Articles of Confederation were (in chronological order): Delaware (ratified the Constitution on December 7, 1787)Pennsylvania (ratified the Constitution on December 12, 1787)New Jersey (ratified the Constitution on December 18, 1787)Georgia (ratified the Constitution on January 2, 1788)Connecticut (ratified the Constitution on January 9, 1788)Massachusetts (ratified the Constitution on February 6, 1788)Maryland (ratified the Constitution on April 28, 1788)South Carolina (ratified the Constitution on May 23, 1788)New Hampshire (ratified the Constitution on June 21, 1788)Virginia (ratified the Constitution on June 25, 1788)New York (ratified the Constitution on July 26, 1788)North Carolina (ratified the Constitution on November 21, 1789)Rhode Island (ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790) Along with the 13 North American colonies, Great Britain also controlled New World colonies in present-day Canada, the Caribbean, as well as East and West Florida by 1790. Today, the process by which U.S. territories attain full statehood is left largely to the discretion of Congress under Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which states, in part, â€Å"The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚   Brief History of the US Colonies While the Spanish were among the first Europeans to settle in the â€Å"New World,† England had by the 1600s established itself as the dominant governing presence along the Atlantic coast of what would become the United States. The first English colony in America was founded in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia. Many of the settlers had come to the New World to escape religious persecution or in hopes of economic gains. In September 1620, the Pilgrims, a group of oppressed religious dissidents from England, boarded their ship, the Mayflower and set sail for the New World. Arriving off the coast of what is now Cape Cod in November 1620, they established a settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts. After surviving great initial hardships in adjusting to their new homes, colonists in both Virginia and Massachusetts thrived with the well-publicized assistance of nearby Native American tribes. While increasingly large crops of corn kept them fed, tobacco in Virginia provided them with a lucrative source of income. By the early 1700s a growing share of the colonies’ population was comprised of African slaves. By 1770, the population of Britain’s 13 North American colonies had grown to more than 2 million people. By the early 1700s enslaved Africans made up a growing percentage of the colonial population. By 1770, more than 2 million people lived and worked in Great Britains 13 North American colonies. Government in the Colonies On November 11, 1620, before establishing their Plymouth Colony, the Pilgrims drafted the Mayflower Compact, a social contract in which they basically agreed that they would govern themselves. The powerful precedent for self-government set by the Mayflower Compact would be reflected in the system of public town meetings that guided colonial governments across New England. While the 13 colonies were indeed  allowed a high degree of self-government, the British system of mercantilism ensured that the colonies existed purely to benefit the economy of the  mother country. Each colony was allowed to develop its own limited government, which operated under a colonial governor appointed by and answerable to the British Crown. With the exception of the British-appointed governor, the colonists freely elected their own government representatives who were required to administer the English system of â€Å"common law.† Significantly, most decisions of the local colonial governments had to be reviewed and approved by both the colonial governor and the British Crown. A system which would become more cumbersome and contentious as the colonies grew and prospered. By the 1750s, the colonies had started dealing with each other in matters concerning their economic interests, often without consulting the British Crown. This led to a growing feeling of American identity among the colonists who began to demand that the Crown protect their â€Å"Rights as Englishmen,† particularly the right of â€Å"no taxation without representation.† The colonists’ continued and growing grievances with the British government under the rule of King George III would lead to the colonists’ issuance of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the American Revolution, and eventually, the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Today, the American flag prominently displays thirteen horizontal red and white stripes representing the original thirteen colonies.

An Introduction to the Creative Essay on the Topic of Vacation in Acapulco Mexico

An Introduction to the Creative Essay on the Topic of Vacation in Acapulco Mexico While on vacation in Acapulco Mexico, I, along with my family and friends took a tour by boat to a small resort island. As we approached, I was awestruck by its beauty. I knew this was going to be fun, but had no idea that this place would be forever etched in my mind. We were greeted at the dock by two natives dressed in brightly colored tropical shirts, white pants and shoes. They were also wearing smiles just as bright. They escorted us to an open-air type restaurant with a thatched roof that was actually attached to the pier at which we docked. The restaurant had a casual atmosphere that made us very comfortable. The food was served buffet style, with an elegant array of Mexican and American cuisine. The entertainment provided in the restaurant during and after the buffet was de- lightful. A ten minute introduction to the Mexican culture was followed by an intriguing native dance, performed by a man dressed in an authentic looking costume consisting of only a rawhide g-string wit h a short apron front. His sandals had leather cords winding halfway up his legs. This dance depicted a story of a hunter and his prey. It was narrated by a woman who was also in costume. Brightly dressed Mexican men were beating drums and banging sticks providing the sound effects for the story. This was truly a great beginning to a wonderful afternoon. Behind the restaurant was a low mountainous area, accessible by walking trails only. We hiked one of these trails, observing the brightly colored tropical plants and trees that flourished on this well maintained terrain. A beautiful waterfall added to the splendor, and when we reached the top, a lookout provided a panoramic view of the entire bay. What a breathtaking sight! There was a bar here, and after a cool drink we decided to head down. We took a different trail down that brought us to the base of the mountain. In front of us, about 150 feet was the beach. It was 90 degrees and the Mexican sun made the sand hot under our feet. However, a gentle breeze kept us comfortable otherwise. On the beach we rented a cabana, which is little more than a thatched umbrella, table and beach chairs. There, we sat and enjoyed one of those big tropical drinks that has fruit on the edge of the glass and a small umbrella of its own. Staring out into the bay from my chair, was possibly the most serene feeling I have had in all my life. There were many people around and they were making plenty of noise, but my mind was absorbed with the natural beauty of this place. It was like none that I had ever seen before. Looking across the bay towards the mainland, with all its hustle and bustle, I felt as if I had found paradise. I had been to the ocean before, but only in the U.S. Bay waters are much calmer, and therefore much clearer-so clear, in fact, that at a depth of six feet I was able to see a penny. The color of the water is also amazingly different from ocean water. The intensity of the blue color is almost fluorescent. After we rested, we decided it was time to get wet, so we donned our snorkeling gear and entered the warm water. I had never snorkeled before, but it wasnt long before I felt comfortable. Most of our experience was in very shallow water and I dont think it was ever necessary to go down more than ten feet. The fish didnt seem to be bothered by our presence, and although I dont know what kind they were, I touched two of them, and there reaction was only to flip there tail. About forty feet out from the beach it was still only about seven or eight feet deep, and thats where the coral appeared. This is something that no television or video could do justice to. The vivid colors of the coral alone were enough to make this whole trip worth while. There were many different types of fish, most of them with vibrant colors, varying in size from the size of a silver dollar, to the size of a foot or more in length. If youve seen the salt water fish tanks in a pet store, you know of the vibrant co lors that I am talking about. But being in the water with these creatures of beauty, who seem to welcome your presence, is something that needs to be experienced to appreciate. Wading back towards shore, I have to say I was sorry that this part of the day was over. Back on the beach, a horn signaled the need to prepare for the trip across the bay. Fortunately, the boat which came to pick us up was not the same as the boat that dropped us off. This one had a glass bottom that enabled the passengers to observe everything beneath the boat. There was a experienced diver who was a part of the entertainment. He dived under the boat, and as we watched in awe, he grabbed the tail of a seven foot shark, pulling himself close enough to the sharks head to be bitten, and he then began to pet the shark as if it were only a puppy. Other antics were included with a couple of other fish as we made our way back to the mainland. Once on shore we headed back to our hotel just in time to see yet another splendor, an Acapulco sunset! We made our way to the roof of the hotel, so that we could get a panoramic view. The rainbow of colors in the sky was more than you could see in any painting, no matter who the artist. There were hues of peach to deep orange, pale pink to deep fusia and purple. Gold was entwined throughout, and the sun itself was like a ball of fire. The colors kept changing, as if an artist was continually trying to improve on its beauty. The sunset lasted about twenty minutes, but the colorful streaks in the sky remained vivid for another half hour. I have never seen a magnificent sunset like this ever before. Seven years have passed now since that trip. In that time I have seen many beautiful places, but none have made as profound an impression on me as that little island in Acapulco Bay.

What Schools Should Know About Bullying Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

What Schools Should Know About Bullying - Essay Example Probably the worst feeling in the world is being treated like you are less than who you truly are and being placed under someone’s forceful thumb. What then could possibly fix the way you feel? Would retribution be the answer? If so, what is the price of casting someone aside to live a life behind the rest? If things could be solved with money, then placing the value would be simple. But the fact is that branding someone and forsaking him into a time of misery amounts to more than just finances. It amounts to the hopes and dreams of a young boy aspiring to become better and hopefully like the rest. It amounts to the life of a man seeking fulfillment at every which turn he takes desperately wanting to prove that he is not the weakling that he was perceived to be. It amounts to everything that a bullied soul desolately seeks to cry out but could not because he is under the mercy of a heartless tyrant. It amounts to more than just power play. In current times, it amounts to bully ing. Plain and simple. Bullying has been taken to mean as an overt act of a person asserting his authority over another person usually someone perceived as a weaker specie (Snell). Oftentimes, this has been associated with the popular kids in school trying to outsmart and outplay the rest as a means to stake their hold on the majority. But the fact remains that this conduct may not actually be limited to kids bullying their classmates. In fact, there are certain instances when the school itself is guilty of such crime.

Business skills(IT SKILLS) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business skills(IT SKILLS) - Essay Example Presenting these studied facts and figures of the opposite party during the course of negotiation, shows the awareness of the negotiator and prohibits exaggerated statements from the other party. It also portrays a better picture of the negotiator on the other party. Points to be discussed and emphasised should be sorted out before the negotiation deal. Arguments on each point should be worked out. This exercise will save the time and confusion and also save the discussion session from getting bore. Documentary proofs of the facts should be kept and presented when required, to generate confidence. Enough opportunity should be given to the other party to present its views. This may lead to some points which the negotiator planned to discuss, but are automatically agreed upon by the other party. Behaviour of an expert negotiator during the meeting may always remain clam and friendly. Even if unpleasant things go on, he or she should keep cool and try to mould the things in his or her favour. Negotiator should never show extreme gestures like over-excitement, or perturbed. A good negotiator should be a good listener. An expert negotiator peeps into the eyes of the other party while presenting his or her views. This is a psychological action.

Energy Drinks as an Emerging Social Problem Essay Example for Free

Energy Drinks as an Emerging Social Problem Essay It seems like there is a new drink on the markets that I beginning to stir some questionable issues on health issues. It does not contain alcohol, but simply is packed with sugar and caffeine. Energy drinks are â€Å"in† right now thanks to the media advertising and trying to sell their products. Debate has been stirred on whether anyone should be drinking these drinks, especially young adults and children. The stimulants contained within energy drinks can disrupt the hearts rhythm, elevate heart rates, cause hypertension, anxiety, headaches, interrupted sleep patterns and in some rare cases can lead to seizures. All of the combined ingredients in energy drinks and their effect are still not fully researched and unknown of the consequences, but definitely it has been figured out that energy drinks are NOT good for the body. What is now just an issued because â€Å"according to doctors† ; might later turn into laws where there has to be an age limit to be able to buy energy drinks. More than likely they won’t become illegal, but there will be a restriction on them for the safety of the younger population in the United States. As mentioned earlier drinking energy drinks is started to become a problem because doctors played the role of claimsmakers. Right now they are trying to convince the general public that something is wrong and something needs to be done about it. To them, consuming energy drinks is a â€Å"troubling condition†. Because of this discovery that energy drinks are bad for the body, the media began to cover this issue. It is not a big issue right now and cannot be described as a social problem because this emerging social problem has really only gotten to the media coverage stage. Time will still tell what the public reaction is going to be. Right now it seems like there has been no reaction to this issue. There are still 3 stages this emerging social problem need to go through; policy making, social problems work, and policy outcome. The claimsmakers have used typifying examples to try to show that energy drink consumption really is a problem. Natural News. com mentions that a 15 year-old boy with ADHD went to the hospital and was suffering from a seizure after drinking two bottles of Mountain Dew and his pill, but energy drinks have 3 to 5 times the amount of caffeine that sodas do. The claims warrants here are simple; something needs to be done to protect the younger population from troubling and unhealthy choices. In conclusion, claimsmakers want restrictions on energy drinks to make it harder for young adults to consume; thus a healthier America. Energy drink consumption seems to be the cigarette of their generation for a lot of young people. Just how cigarettes ended up with laws being made for them, it is very possible that energy drinks will get some kind of restriction on them. This debate on energy drink consumption has begun to get heated and forecasting a big change in policies for energy drinks are very possible in the near future. http://www. devonbate. com/energy-drinks-that-big-of-a-deal/ http://www. foxnews. com/health/2011/02/15/energy-drinks-harming-kids/ http://www. naturalnews. com/032786_energy_drinks_side_effects. html.

Are We Social Beings? :: essays research papers

Many people ask the questions â€Å"are we social Beings†? Some find it more relaxing to keep to their selves while others feel comfortable in a more social setting among their peers. This is important because it dictates how we act around people. If someone likes to be alone and keep to his or herself, then they will more then likely have questionable people skills, where as someone who loves to have people around them, will most likely be very good with working with people or just interacting with them. Rene Descartes believed that â€Å"we ourselves exist†, and are independent from others. Descartes’ way of thinking about the individual is the bases of the western way of thinking about ones self. Steffen Carlshamme from Stockholm University explains that an individual’s identity is based on the culture that that individuals is a member of. Culture is very important to ones identity, that’s why a people can be destroyed if you destroy their culture. Examples of this are the Aztecs and the Asian and European invasion of the African continent. While Descartes had more of an atomistic view, G. W. H. Hegel had a more social view about how we fit into society. According to him the public good is better than the goals of an individual. Hegel explained that the only way to see our selves is thru the reflection of others. To him, it was all about recognition. A person cannot achieve self-respect until that person is recognized or shown respect from others. Martha Nussbaum from the University of Chicago explained that people want to be recognized. The self wants to be in relationship with others. Robert Solomon from the University of Texas in Austin added that people need each other. We care about what other people think of us. Robert Solomon also talks about Hegel’s â€Å"master / slave† story where two self-consciousnesses almost fight to the death. The one that is about to be killed then tries to reason with the aggressor to spare its life by agreeing to become the aggressor’s slave.

Educational Trip to UP Diliman and PHILVOCS

The first part of the trip was on UP Dilemma Engineering Laboratory, the first equipment introduce to us was the hydraulic bench, it is used to investigate channel flow, hydraulic Jump, determining the coefficient of discharge flow of the system. The second equipment was air pipe assembly and oil pipe assembly, for the air pipe it is used to determine friction losses in pipe and discharge, oil pipe it is used to determine if the flow is laminar or turbulent, velocity distribution in pipes.The other equipment were the closed circuit wind tunnel, it determines the pressure distribution and velocity distribution around various bodies, Portable Wind tunnel, it determines the lift and drag around various bodies. The other equipments are the different types of Universal Testing Machines, which determines the strength of the material being tested. For the testing of steel reinforcement they are determining the yield point and breakage point of the steel, while on the concrete cylinder testi ng they are only to determine the ultimate strength of concrete because concrete doesn't have yield point.The last equipment they show us was the rainfall simulator which determines the discharge flow of water on the drainage system. The second part of the trip was on PHILIPPICS, here they discuss us the recently earthquake that happened on Boll which is 7. 2 magnitude. The presentation they show us tells us how devastating the earthquake was, it has destroy a lot of establishments and churches that are centuries old, the place was a total mess.In here they explained to us how disastrous an earthquake can be. For us being Civil Engineering students they have a presentation which shows the full scale shaking test of CHUB houses, which shows the difference of a substandard and standard built houses. They also thought us here on how to be prepared when earthquakes occurred and also remind us to check our houses if they are safe when time earthquake occurs.Because of the this educationa l trip it awakens me that the reality of responsibility of being a Civil Engineer we should not only be obliged to Just do our work, we also need to ensure the safety of the people around us. It is strongly recommended for us to have this kind of educational trip because it is true that we can't learn everything with Just the four corners of the classroom, sometimes we need to go beyond the four corners of a classroom.

Tonto’s Dysfunctional Family Tree Essay

America is a multicultural nation. This fact is undeniable. We are a mishmash of people from all parts of the globe, each with a unique story to tell. One of the struggles of being such a diverse nation is that different ethnic groups often fail to understand one another. I believe that cross-cultural writing is a powerful tool that dispels ignorance and fosters greater multicultural understanding. Writing has the power to bring people together. There are many prominent cross-cultural writers in the history of American literature. Each of them has added to a growing genre that explores what it’s like to move to this country in pursuit of the ever-elusive â€Å"American Dream.† Sherman Alexie is one such writer. However, his theme is not one of searching for the â€Å"American Dream.† His theme addresses what happens when the â€Å"American Dream† lands on you. Sherman Alexie is Native American, and his stories expose one of America’s dirty little se crets. In the paragraphs that follow, I will review Alexie’s life, the genre and style in which he writes, and the overall themes of his work. I will analyze the short story, â€Å"Every Little Hurricane†, taken from the anthology, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Sherman Alexie was born on October 7, 1966 in WellPoint, Washington. He belongs to the Spokane Tribe of American Indians called the Salish Group. At the time of his birth he had hydrocephalus, a disease in which the patient has an excess of cerebrospinal fluid. The only option was to get an operation that he most likely would not survive. Yet despite these dire predictions, he survived an invasive surgery at the tender age of six months. He didn’t just survive; he thrived. Despite chronic seizures related to his condition, Sherman continues to power through life with extreme determination. He learned to read at the age of three and from then on nothing could hold him back. As a teen attending a reservation school Sherman was shocked to discovered his mother’s name inscribed in one of his textbooks. The realization that the school’s books were decades old led to his determination to leave the poverty-stricken reservation and get a thorough education elsewhere. He earned a spot in one of the top high schools in Reardon, Washington, where he was a star student and athlete. He proceeded to the University of Go nzaga, where his dream was to become a physician. After fainting from disgust in his anatomy class, he had to abandon this dream. It was during this dark time period that he  began abusing alcohol. He then changed his major, a decision that was based on his love for poetry and aptitude for writing. This change of direction brought him to Washington State University where he quit drinking and earned a B.A. in American Studies. Sherman Alexie began his professional career in 1990 when his work was published in Hanging Loose magazine. This initial success gave him the incentive to quit drinking at the age of 23, and he’s been sober ever since. His first collection of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, was published in 1993, and that was just the beginning. In 1995 he launched his career as a novelist with Reservation Blues, an expanded version of the characters introduced in the previously mentioned collection. In 2007 he published a young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. This novel is a reflection of his personal experience growing up on the Reservation. Alexie is the winner of numerous honors and awards including the 2001 PEN/Malamud Award, the 1994 PEN/Hemingway Award, the 2007 National Book Award, and the 2010 PEN/ Faulkner Award (www.fallsapart.com). Alexie is a modern writer who is not bound by a single genre. He has written poetry, novels, screenplays, and most notably short stories. As the dominant Native American short story writer of today, he creates unique imagery through recurrent memories, visions and dream sequences. He utilizes diary entries, faux newspaper articles, and multiple storytellers to tell stories within stories. One example of this is seen in â€Å"Trial of Thomas Build-the–Fire†, where Thomas is personified as a number of historical figures. Alexie also uses cultural figures like Crazy Horse, Jesus Christ, Jimi Hendrix, and the Lone Ranger, to accentuate the complexities of his humble characters. According to Leslie Ullman â€Å"He weaves a curiously soft-blended tapestry of humor, humility, pride and metaphysical provocation out of hard realities†¦ the tin-shack lives, the alcohol dreams, the bad luck and burlesque disasters, and the self-destructive courage of his characters.† (Ruby, M. 2011). I believe Ullman’s comment is right on point. All of the stories in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven challenge the reader intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Alexie seems to have a two-fold purpose for telling his stories. Firstly, he yearns for all Native Americans to keep their memories and heritage alive through the art of storytelling. Secondly, he communicates how modern Native Americans endure the assault of mainstream  culture on their heritage, imagination and spirit. While his writing is modern, traditional or historical elements like powwows, fancy dancing, alcoholism and poverty, are interwoven throughout. His writing juxtaposes sadness with humor, brutality with kindness, and spirituality with materialism. He depicts numerous prominent characters in this collection, rather than just one or two dominant characters. The compilation contains twenty-two short stories that are loosely interconnected. In the first story, â€Å"Every Little Hurricane†, Alexie introduces themes that play out through the rest of the book, such as poverty, despair, death, alcoholism, humiliation, and the hope of transformation. In this story Al exie explains the choice between remembering the pain of the past, and creating a false reality to avoid that pain. Alexie uses the character Victor, who is nine years old, to explain this struggle. The story is told from Victor’s perspective during a New Year’s Eve party at his parents’ home. Disturbed by the drinking and extreme violence, Victor comforts himself by imagining that a hurricane has caused the destruction, rather than his own tribe. The hurricane is a fitting metaphor because it hits on both the emotional turmoil and social chaos prevalent in Victor’s dysfunctional family. Victor is faced with the decision to either remember what really happened, or forget by instead imagining that a hurricane caused the devastation. Ultimately, he chooses to accept the reality of his disturbing childhood. However, even though he chooses to live in the truth, he resorts to finding comfort in the only way he can, which is between the two unconscious bodies of his drunk parents. Alexie points out that the dysfunction in Victor’s family is the result of a long-standing attitude on the Reservation. Violence has become habitual, and therefore accepted. This point is made when Adolph and Arnold (Victor’s uncles) begin to fight, getting mired in â€Å"a misdemeanor that would remain one even if somebody was to die. . . . [For] one Indian killing another did not create a special kind of storm.† (Alexie, p 3) Alexie implies that American Indians have internalized all of the violence that has been perpetrated against them since their first contact with Europeans, so that even murdering one of their own goes almost unnoticed. The oppression that they have suffered has turned them into silent witnesses. According to Victor, â€Å"They were all witnesses and nothing more.† (Alexie, p 3) As the story continues, Alexie points out that  alcoholism is the most serious problem facing Victor’s tribe. Victor’s most powerful memory is of his father crying over the absence of Christmas presents, while getting drunk to escape the pain of the family’s abject poverty. His father continuously opens and closes an empty wallet â€Å"as if the repetition itself could guarantee change. But it was always empty.† (Alexie, p 5) Alexie shows the pervasiveness of alcoholism with continual references to the smell and taste of sweat, smoke, whiskey and blood. These are constant companions of Victor’s existence, so that he actually believes that â€Å"the alcohol seeping through [his parents] skin might get him drunk, might help him sleep.† (Alexie, p 9) From day one Victor is forc ed to gain survival skills to handle extreme fear and poverty. When he sees â€Å"an old, [drunk] Indian man drowned in a mud puddle at the powwow† (Alexie, p 7) he understands that alcoholism is not his family’s problem alone. It is a problem of his entire culture. After completing The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven it is obvious to me that Sherman Alexie is as Bob Hershon so aptly put it, â€Å"one of the major lyric voices of our time.† (Alexie, p xiii) His writing pulls the cover off of America’s dirty little secret of what life is like growing up on the Reservation. Many critics have vilified him for perpetuating the stereotype of the drunk Indian. This is not so. Alexie doesn’t write about the destructive effects of alcohol on Indians due to some literary stance or prejudiced perspective. Simply put, he is truth telling. I have wracked my brain to come up with an overall theme for this piece of literature. Then it came to me in a flash. Why not use Alexie’s own words, â€Å"I kept trying to figure out the main topic, the big theme, the overarching idea, the epicenter. And it is this: The sons in this book really love and hate their fathers.† (Alexie, p xxii) Works Cited Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. New York, NY:Grove Press, 1993, 2005. Falls Apart, Offical Website, http://www.fallsapart.com, 2013 Johansen, Bruce E. Native Americans Today: A Biographical Dictionary. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press, 2010. Ruby, Mary. Authors & Artists for Young Adults Vol. 85. Detroit, Mich: Gale / Cengage Learning, 2011.

Computer Viruses essays

Computer Viruses essays In the past two decades there have been great advances in technology that have reaped immense benefits towards us all. Computers are seen in almost every home and office in todays world. With these powerful machines we have limitless capabilities and with the added power of the Internet, anything that one could ever want is at their fingertips. Information is being transferred between computers at every second in time. However sometimes there are small hidden secrets to these transfers, viruses. Viruses are computer programs that are created to infest and spread to other programs with copies of itself. They are run without the users request and are hidden in the background somewhere. They remain secret and perform their actions; most likely without the user knowing or able to compromise the actions they perform [1]. In a sense you can compare computer viruses to the taunt Anything you can do I can better. Anything that a legitimate program can do, computer viruses can also do, only secretly [3]. Their behavior is just like that of a real virus, they spread and transfer between computers through networks, the Internet, and storage disks. Not all viruses are considered fatal to your system. Some are simply benign and are just annoying. However most are malicious and they can destroy and alter data on your system. Once one is on a host computer it can attach itself to other software programs and remain hidden in them. Here it could begin attacking the system immediately or stay idle until it is later activated. The affects of the viruses are limitless. The actual costs in damage that viruses cause can be in millions, not to mention the effects if someone were to hack into the air traffic controllers and cause plane crashes. There is an unrealized potential for harm with computer viruses [4]. Back in the 60s a man named John Conway carried out the initial work on self-replicating mecha...

Make a convincing argument for BOTH sides of an issue that has been Essay

Make a convincing argument for BOTH sides of an issue that has been considered by the U.S. Supreme Court or a U.S. Court of Appeals within the past twenty years or so - Essay Example The United States Supreme Court has enunciated a number of ways that student athlete drug testing does not infringe the Fourth Amendment Right or any other that various students have filed suits on, especially the high school athletes. The first case that attracted a lot of attention was the Vernonia v. Acton where student athletes, in support of their parents, accused their school in court for violating their rights through the drug tests. However, the United States Supreme Court ruled against the students by allowing the public school to continue with the administration of the drug tests. From this verdict, it is clear that the students do not have the option of evading the tests and the public schools have the permission of using force; moreover, this could apply even when the school administration does not have any reason suggesting that the student may have abused drugs. Based on the results of this, public schools in different parts of United States initiated drug-testing programs for every student participating in other supplementary undertakings including being members of certain clubs. A few years later, the Supreme Court experienced another case of Board of Education v. Earls where the court supported the general practice giving all public schools the mandate to administer drug tests to all scholars who engaged in any activities sanctioned by the school administration. Additionally, the Supreme Court also went further to permit the subjecting of drug tests even the rest of the students that did not participate in extracurricular activities. Essentially, even before the Vernonia v. Acton case, the United States Court of Appeal had made it clear that it is not necessary that public schools have an apparent reason to frisk scholars in the New Jersey v. TLO case. All the same, the public schools required a rational notion of the student engaging in unauthorized actions; relatively, this

Story from the bible Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Story from the bible - Research Paper Example She is a devout and beautiful heroine who first beguiled and then beheaded the Assyrian commander Holofernes. According to significant modern scholars, Judith is a historical romance written for didactic purposes and the author gives more importance to the religious message than to the historical fact. The intrinsic literary merit of the story of Judith had a significant influence on the popularity of the work. â€Å"The Book of Judith is a story written for house-hold reading. While it may properly be classed as didactic, yet it is one of those popular tales in which the chief concern of the writer is with the telling of the story rather than with the pointing of a moral, and in which the wish to interest takes precedence even of the desire to instruct. What gained for the book its high esteem in early times, in both the Jewish and the Christian world, was its intrinsic merit as a story, rather than its religious teaching or its patriotism.† (The Book of Judith: General Infor mation) Therefore, the story of Judith interests anyone who believes in the didactic purpose of the biblical books along with its intrinsic merit as a story. One of the most determining aspects of the Book of Judith is how the story fits into the general nature of the biblical books while also keeping the interest of a popular story. The Book of Judith tells the story of the pious and ascetic widow who takes on the public role of savior by deceiving and beheading the powerful enemy general, and the beautiful Judith has fascinated historians, artists, writers etc. Significantly, the interpretations by several important scholars has presented her as femme fatale, female warrior, feminist heroine, virtue personified, lying murderer, and saintly beauty and all these interpretations reflected the characteristics of the period of the specific scholar. â€Å"Judith was