Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Tess, Gatsby and Rapture Essay Example for Free

Tess, Gatsby and Rapture Essay ‘For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.’ The assertion made here, being that true love does not involve physical actions but strong emotional bonds, is evident in both the novels, Tess of the D’Urbervilles as well as The Great Gatsby and in the poetry collection ‘Rapture’ as we see all three protagonists experience a volume of intense feelings towards the object of their affections; from the passionate love that they feel for their other half to sheer desperation of their others approval. However there are many physical obstacles that stand in their way, such as Alec and Tom who touch Tess and Daisy physically and materially but not emotionally. In Rapture, the lovers become separated due to the unconventional nature of their relationship, this arguably intensifies the love felt by the poet as many say, ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder’.It is obvious to us as the reader that Tess is willing to obtain true love at all costs; even though that may mean death, this shows how very deeply Angel has touched Tess emotionally and not just physically. It shows her obsession with Angel and her dismay at Alecs persistent love interest in her; ‘I don’t see how I can help being the cause of much misery to you all your life. The river is down there. I can put an end to myself in it. I am not afraid†¦I will leave something to show that I did it myself – on account of my shame. They will not blame you then.’ Here Tess takes all the blame for Angel’s decision to end their relationship and offers to kill herself in order to save Angel the embarrassment of having to explain why his marriage failed. Tess takes the heavy burden and almost exaggerates it ‘being the cause of much misery to you all your life’ seems to be a bold statement of guilt yet it was not just her who wasn’t a virgin when Angel and Tess’s relationship commenced. The use of simple sentences in this extract gives Tess’s decision a sense of finality and determination; she will do anything to see that Ang el is happy. The use of such negative language sparks a sympathetic despair in the reader as Tess seems so set on ending her life: ‘misery’ ‘end’ ‘not’ ‘shame’ and ‘blame’ all have connotations of conclusiveness, as if nothing will change Tess’s mind because she is convinced that she must take the suffering in order to appease Angel. Her final though ‘They will not blame you’ not only evokes a sense of  definiteness but is perhaps a comment on the social conventions that the Victorian reader would be accustomed too; should one have an affair or it be discovered that a gentleman’s wife was not virginal before their marriage then the primary concern for the man was to avoid scandal as it could destroy his reputation. No matter how in the love the couple may have been, it was not easy to forgive ones wife is such a discovery was made as it was a social embarrassment and ultimately a social inconvenience. Here Tess demonstrates her knowledge of Angel’s concern as she attempts to solve this problem by suggesting that she drown herself. A modern reader would not be quite so concerned with the idea of people finding out that one was not virginal before marriage as one critic comments: her soul remains unstained regardless of what happens to her body. This comment on how Tess remains pure even though her body is violated, is a particularly modern view, society no longer frowns upon a girl if she is not chaste till marriage as they did in the Victorian era. This is why the statement ‘They will not blame you’ has such an impact on both the readers’ acceptance of the novels social context and the readers realisation that Angel has touched Tess’s heart and soul and not just her ears and lips.Similarly in the poem ‘If I Was Dead’ from Duffy’s collection ‘Rapture’ the main theme of the poem is around the idea that the love recei ved from the poets lover is strong and powerful enough to raise her body along with her own love from the dead: ‘I swear your lovewould raise me out of my grave,in my flesh and blood,like Lazarus;hungry for this,and this, and this,your living kiss.’ Duffys use of the images of death, especially the Biblical reference to the man who was awoken from the dead, in contrast to the vagarious kiss of life show the physical distance of the lovers yet it emphasis the strength of the bond of true love between them, even in death. In a similar way to the way Hardy uses Tess’s family tomb in ‘The Woman Pays’, to heighten the sense of a bleak future for Angel and Tess, Duffy uses a ‘grave’ to illustrate not only the powerful, reawakening nature of love, but the foreshadowing of the metaphorical death of their relationship. In this poem, the graphic images of ‘flesh and blood’ being restored to arise from a grave create a gothic image of the supremacy of love. Instead of using a noun such as ‘skin’ Duffy chooses the word ‘flesh’  to show the rawness of the emotions associated with death and she almost begins to compare these with the emotions indicative of love as she w rites that the speaker is ‘hungry’ for the lovers ‘living kiss’. The adjective ‘living’ provokes one to think of the kiss of life. The lover breathes life and love into the carcass of her other, in order to restore what once was there; this kiss is so heart-rending that it touches not only her lips, but her soul as it rekindles the light of life within her. Contrastingly in Gatsby, the love felt by the protagonist is never truly reciprocated as it is for Tess and Angel and Duffy and her lover, as Daisy ultimately cannot admit that she wishes to be with Gatsby and not her husband Tom. However, the love that Gatsby feels, to him is pure and all engulfing, as it is what has driven him to seek corrupt means of becoming successful as he feels this is what is stopping himself and Daisy being together. Yet Gatsby’s idealised version of Daisy is what forces his love to stand the test of time: ‘He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity†¦because of the colossal vitiality of his illusion†¦no amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his ghostly heart.’ The fact that at this point in the novel, when Gatsby and Daisy get their first intimate moments alone together, Hardy choses to describe Daisy as Gatsbys illusion is incredibly poignant.

Monday, January 20, 2020

The Pros and Cons of Illegal Immigration into the United States Essay e

The Pros and Cons of Illegal Immigration into the United States Illegal immigration has been an important and serious issue for decades; which affects everyone, both Americans and immigrants themselves. Illegal Immigration has three main purposes: first to find a better life in the ?promise land?, second: free healthcare, and third: for criminal activity. Most illegal immigrants come to America with the best intentions for themselves and/or their families, but many others have alternative motives. The thing that must be remembered is that illegal immigration is illegal. It?s all in the name. ?Over 6 million illegal immigrants live in the US- some estimate even more.? (Illegal Immigration) This is astonishing. Six million people could make up a whole suburb such as Mesa or Chandler. Immigrants arrive in America in different ways. One is crossing the border illegally by land. Another way get into the US are by false identities or by stolen, or falsified passports. Another way is by illegal smuggling boats. ?Others enter with legal documentation and then violate the terms on which they have been admitted by taking jobs that are not authorized or overstaying the authorized period of stay in the country? (Illegal Immigration) A bad side to having such a large amount of illegal immigrants in the nation is the crime rate and prison population caused by certain ?illegals?. ?Illegal immigration is a major cause in the overcrowding of our schools and our prisons.? (Bender, David) Michael Huffington, a former member of the US House of Reps. For California says that, ?Many illegal immigrants come for two purposes that are both destructive and expensive: to commit crimes or to receive government benefits.... ...ed by those individuals will hopefully decrease. And perhaps by instituting other policies which help the people who want a better life; and are willing to take the steps to becoming a citizen, will make America not so much of a hide out, but the land of opportunity that is once was less than a century and a half ago. Works Cited Bender, David, Bruno Leone, Charles P. Cozic. Illegal Immigration, Opposing Viewpoints. California: San Diego, 1997. Huffington, Michael. Illegal Aliens, The Immigration Experience. Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, 1997. ?Illegal Immigration is a Crime.? Issue Brief. http/:www.fairus.org/html/04113604.htm. 6 April 2001. Izumi, Lance T. ?Illegal Immigration and Crime.? Capital Ideas: Intellectual Capital from the Political Capitol. 2 September 1997. http/:www.padificresearch.org/capital/97-9-02.html. 7 April 2001.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Operation Bluestar Essay

The topic of â€Å"Operation Bluestar† is a very controversial issue because of where the Operation took place and all the events that occured. Operation Bluestar, was the code name given by the Indian government. It was an operation to evict Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple is one of the most sacred places of worship for the Sikh community. It is also one of the oldest Sikh temples around. The Golden Temple is known has the Harmandir Sahib, and is located in the city of Amritsar. Many questions arise to why something like this would happen in the first place. Bhindranwale was a Sikh fundamentalist. He was a leader of the Damdami Taksaal. The Damdami Taksaal is a Sikh religious intuition and it was founded by the tenth Sikh Guru. Bhindranwale directed the campaign of terrorism in Punjab. He was associated with the movement of an independent Sikh state. The state would have been known has â€Å"Khalistan†, but there was very little support of it in Punjab by Sikhs. Bhindranwale had been a problem for a couple of years before Operation Bluestar. He and his followers had been murdering and intimidating moderate Sikhs and Hindus. They increased the pressure on Indira Gandhi to do something about it. By this point Bhindranwale and his close followers transformed the Akal Takht, his headquarters within the Golden Temple. He had changed it to an armory and a sanctuary for terrorists, and from here he conducted his campaign. This is when Operation Bluestar comes into play. Indra Gandhi has initiated the attack on May 31, 1984 on the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple is located in the city of Amritsar and it is a sacred place of worship for the Sikh religion. Gandhi waited six months before finally ordering the army to get Bhindranwale and his followers out. Many say that Ghandi waited six month in order to build a positive public opinion about it, because it would have sparked a lot more negativity than it already did. Five days before the army entered the Golden Temple, 48 people were killed. The only way now that Gandhi could get Bhindranwale out was to use force, so she sent in the army in to the Golden Temple. The army was not prepared, because there were a lot more extremists than expected, they were also armed far better than intelligence reported. The extremists had responded to the army’s first initial call for surrender with machine guns. The operation turned into a bloody 3-day siege. 576 people were killed, 83 of them being soldiers from official count, but unofficial counts suggest that estimate to be as high as 1,000. The Operation left many scars, approximately 1,000 army members were involved and a casualty rate of one-third of four officers. Bhindranwale was found dead in the basement of the Akal Takht, along with the leader of the Sikh Student Federation, and a sacked major general of Indian Army who had reportedly trained Sikh terrorists. Gandhi had also sent the Indian army into Punjab on June 2nd, 1984, to surround thirty-eight Sikh temples that had believed to been harboring Sikh militants under the command of Bhindranwale. Throughout the sate of Punjab, Akali leaders were placed under arrest. The generals in charge of Operation Bluestar consisted of 4 Sikhs and 2 of another cast. Their involvement did little to reduce the sense of humiliation and the anger among nearly all the Sikhs. The Golden Temple also suffered damage, the Temple is also known as the Harmandir Sahib. Both the terrorists and the army had destroyed it. The terrorists used it for gun placements and army had attacked it. The Akhal Takht suffered the most serious damage and the precious Golden Temple Library was set on fire. Almost all Sikhs were outraged by all the destruction that was caused to the Temple. The main question that everyone has is why did Bhindranwale choose to hide in the Golden Temple with his militants and weapons, when he could have went anywhere else. It is because he thought he would be safe their. He never thought that the Indian Government would attack him their because it is a sacred place of worship for all Sikhs. Also a government cannot allow armed militants to enter and attack a holy place. Bhindranwale thought of it in both ways, if they attack he would have an advantage as well. By having the government attacking a holy place many people would be outraged such as the Sikhs, the Sikhs and other people would then be against the Indian Government because of what they did. That is exactly what happened, the government attacked and that sparked the anger between all Sikhs, no matter what they thought of Bhindranwale and his battle for â€Å"independence† that he wanted. By hiding in the Golden Temple and having the army attack, it really helped Bhindranwa le get his message out to the people. The attacks made the news world wide, and he became famous and people started to know what he was fighting for. Another reason of him hiding there was that many civilians were in the Golden Temple and that made him believe that the Indian Government would not attack, because that would kill innocent people. But the Indian Government did just that. The government, while being successful in killing Bhindranwale, took the lives of many innocent men, women, and y children. Bhindranwale, while knowing that many civilians would be in the area that could be harassed and killed, he still chose to stay their. That might have been intentionally done, or he might not have known that. But it ended up being deadly for the civilians. Bhindranwale’s actions caused a lot of damage to the Golden Temple, by converting into a battlefield with a lot of bloodshed of innocent people. But this was all done because of his cause of creating Khalistan. Many may inquire why the Indian Government finally decided to attack the Golden Temple a holy place of worship, after a six-month period of not doing anything. Many people believe that the Indian Government did wrong by attacking the Golden Temple, but you have to analyze both sides before coming to a proper conclusion. The Government was wrong at attacking at a holy place but they had to because Bhindranwale would not surrender himself. The army had asked him to surrender, however Bhindranwale refused to and in turn he started firing back at the army. The Army had no choice, so they fired back and this is how the innocent victims were killed along wit the Golden Temple being destroyed by all the gunfire. The Indian Government were not the only ones to destroy it, although many may think that Bhindranwale had his own machine guns at the temple and he was also a big contributor to the destruction of it. Had he had surrendered then, the many people that were killed would not have been and the Golden Temple would not have been damaged in any way. The Sikhs would also have not been angered. One thin that makes the Indian Government seem really bad is the fact that they decided to attack the Golden Temple in the same week as the Sikh religious day known as the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev. Guru Arjan dev was the one who completed the Golden Temple. It was founded by the fourth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Ramdas. The Indian Government knew that thousands of Sikhs would gather. This is one of the reasons of such a high casualties rate of Sikhs. A direct connection of it being the Indian army’s fault cannot be made because both Bhindranwale and Indian Government made mistakes. One side cannot be blamed for it all. The people affected by the whole Bluestar Operation were the many of the Sikhs and Hindus as well. Many Sikhs and Hindus died because of the Operation taking place. The Sikhs died directly because it and the Hindus died because the Sikhs were angered. The Indian Police targeted many Sikhs after the Bluestar Operation, if they seemed to have any ties with Bhindranwale or believed in what he was standing for they would be killed or harassed. Many Sikhs became martyrs and held off the Indian army for as long as they possibly could. A total of about 250 men had kept the army out of the Golden Temple. The army consisted of over 250,000 troops. The army had entered the Temple after six days of the Sikhs stopping them from entering. They started killing innocent Sikhs who came to visit the Temple to celebrate the religious day. When the army came to know that only 250 stopping any army of troops, they were angered and humiliated. The Sikhs in the temple were lined up and shot at point blank range. They ranged from the eldest of people to the adults and the children, no one was spared. What really hurt the Sikhs was that their sacred artifacts and library was burned. Also literature written by the Sikhs Gurus was also not found after the attacks. It has been said that the army had taken it, but they state that it had been destroyed during the attack. The city of Amritsar had been destroyed. Many visitors visiting from other countries around the world had been arrested or killed. Sikh shops were robed and houses had been burned. Hindus also had a role in the killing of the Sikhs. Groups of Hindus went to Sikh households and burned the Sikhs alive. They also raped the Sikh women and violated pregnant women. The Sikhs that were being targeted were young males ranging from 4 to 40 years of age. The Indian Government had feared that the younger Sikh males would rebel and that by killing them would diminish the young Sikh community and the Sikh population would not flourish. They hoped that maybe the Sikh community would disappear and no longer be a problem for them. The main reason why many of the Sikhs were going through this was because Hindus wanted to destroy Sikhism. When Sikhs in other places found out about the attack that occurred in Amritsar, they rebelled. The Sikhs killed many Hindus that were in high rank. The Indian Government then noticed this movement by the Sikhs and quickly acted on it. They began arresting Sikhs and killing them. Over 40,000 Sikhs were in jail with being charged. Before the Bluestar Operation Sikhs and Hindus were killing each other. When a Hindu would kill a Sikh, the police would do nothing about it, but when a Sikh killed a Hindu the Police would arrest and punish them. After all had happened to the Sikhs they still stuck together and rebelled to take over the Golden Temple that was theirs. They were successful in doing so. Bibliography Kundu, A â€Å"The Indian Armed Forces’ Sikh and Non-Sikh Officers’ Opinions of Operation Blue Star.† Pacific Affairs, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Spring, 1994), 46-69. www.jstor.com Hardgraven, L.R. â€Å"India in 1984: Confrontation, Assassination, and Succession.† Asian Survey, Vol. 25, No. 2, A Survey of Asia in 1984: Part II (Feb., 1985),131-144. www.jstor.com Major, A. â€Å"From Moderates to Secessionists: A Who’s Who of the Punjab Crisis.† Pacific Affairs, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Spring, 1987), 42-58. www.jstor.com Mahmood, C.K. â€Å"Sikh Rebellion and the Hindu Concept of Order.† Asian Survey, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Mar., 1989), 326-340. www.jstor.com Fair, Christine. â€Å"Fighting in the Inner Sanctum: Counterinsurgency Operations in the Golden Temple:† Conference Papers – International Studies Association (2007 Annual Meeting 2007): 1.Academic Search Premier. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/search?vid=1&hid=7&sid=d188ab48-80c0-42db-99ab-6df66e12e9c0%40sessionmgr11 Nijhawan, M. â€Å"From Divine Bliss to Ardent Passion: Exploring Sikh Religious Aesthetics through the â€Å"DhÄ DÄ «Ã¢â‚¬  Genre.† History of Religions, Vol. 42, No. 4

Saturday, January 4, 2020

20 Questions A Quiz on the AP Stylebook (2015)

This 20-item quiz is based on the 2015 edition of the journalists bible--The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. Give yourself five minutes to answer all the questions, and then compare your responses with the editors rulings on page two. Do you order Girl Scout Cookies or Girl Scout cookies (that is, with or without a capital C)?Hyphenated or not: a week-long event or a weeklong event?Are those emails from Nigerian princes examples of Spam  (capitalized) or spam (lower case)?When conducting research, should Wikipedia be used as a primary source?Which of the following are trademarks and should be capitalized (if, indeed, they have to be used at all): Velcro, Frisbee, Breathalyzer, Styrofoam, Band-Aid?When using the microblogging platform known as Twitter, does one Twitter or Tweet?Is it correct to use tidal wave as a synonym for tsunami?Which of the following may be used in an AP news story: ditto marks [ã€Æ'], italics, brackets?Arbitrate and mediate both appear in reports about labor negotiations, but only one of the terms calls for the handing down of a decision. Which one?Which is correct: associate degree or associates degree?In a recipe, two cupfuls or cupsful?Which of the following social media terms are ac ceptable to the AP editors: app, mashup, retweet, unfriend, click-thrus?Do you visit a Web site or a website?Does writers guide need that apostrophe?Which pronoun should be used in reference to a ship, she or it?Which of the following words and phrases should be avoided except when in quoted matter: deaf-mute, Canuck, coke (as a slang term for cocaine), handicap (in describing a disability), Scotch (to describe the people of Scotland)?Is it acceptable to use the term Obamacare  anywhere in a news story?Is there any difference between an epidemic and a pandemic?What does fulsome mean?Whats the difference (if any) between farther and further? Times up. Now turn to page two to compare your answers with the rulings offered by Associated Press editors David Minthorn, Sally Jacobsen, and Paula Froke  in the 2015 edition of the AP Stylebook. Note that there are many other style and documentation guides, including The Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition published in August 2010), The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage (updated in 2015), and the trans-Atlantic Economist Style Guide. Youll also find some helpful aids on the Web, including the The Guardian and Observer Style Guide (UK). Different guides often provide different responses to a number of the questions in this quiz. Despite its eccentricities, the one indispensable reference work for American journalists and journalism students remains the AP Stylebook, updated annually and available in both print and electronic forms. If you do most of your writing online, you may prefer the Web-based AP Stylebook, which provides searchable, instant access, with constant updates. AP Stylebook Quiz Answers Compare your responses to the 20 questions in the Quiz on the AP Stylebook (2015 edition) with those offered by Associated Press editors David Minthorn, Sally Jacobsen, and Paula Froke. Capital C: Girl Scout Cookies is a trademark.One word as an adjective, weeklong (an exception to Websters New World College Dictionary).In this case, lowercase: Use spam in all references to unsolicited commercial or bulk email, often advertisements. Use Spam, a trademark, to refer to a canned meat product.No. May contain useful links, says the AP Stylebook, but should not be used as a primary source for stories.All are trademarks and must be capitalized.The verb is to tweet, tweeted.No.None of them. Ditto marks can be made with quotation marks, but their use in newspapers, even in tabular material, is confusing. Dont use them. Brackets and italics cannot be transmitted over news wires.Arbitrate. One who arbitrates hears evidence from all people concerned, then hands down a decision. One who mediates listens to arguments of both parties and tries by the exercise of reason or persuasion to bring them to an agreement.Its associate degree (no possessive).Two cupfuls.All are acceptable.A high-profile change in the 2010 edition: website as one word, lowercase. (But continue to use the Web and Web page.)No. Its writers guide (without an apostrophe): Do not add an apostrophe to a word ending in s when it is used primarily in a descriptive sense.Use it.Avoid them all.On second reference, yes, if its used in quotation marks. Use President Barack Obamas health care law or the health care law on first reference.Yes. An epidemic is the rapid spreading of disease in a certain population or region; pandemic is an epidemic that has spread worldwide.It means disgustingly excessive. Do not use it to mean lavish or profuse.Farther refers to physical distance: He walked farther into the woods. Further refers to an extension of time or degree: She will look further into the mystery. Feel free to disagree with any of the APs answers. These are matters of style and usage, not articles of faith. But if you write for a newspaper, magazine, journal, or website (one word, lowercase), you might not have much choice in the matter. For many of us in the U.S. (but in headlines, US--no periods), the AP Stylebook rules.