Final Op-Ed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Final Op-Ed - Essay Example However, states can force all public schoolchildren to be vaccinated for disease. Though most think mandatory vaccinations is a matter of public safety therefore a good idea, others, at least in some circumstances, think it an example of government overreach. The latest controversy involving forced vaccinations was during the Republican primary election earlier this year when the subject of HPV became part of the political discussion. The virus is spread by sexual contact and can cause cancer. While some parents were in favor of mandating the vaccine, other objected on moral grounds reasoning that making sex a little safer would encourage students to engage in sex. The larger question is should the government mandate vaccinations at all? Yes say the vast majority and for sound reasoning as opposed to the â€Å"reasoning† offered by those opposed to the HPV vaccine. While some oppose forced immunizations due to religious and personal reasons it is the responsibility of society to protect its children by mandating students receives vaccinations. The government is the vehicle that society uses to enforce necessary protections. Society draws a legal distinction between adult and minors. Children are shielded from harms as much as possible. Mandatory vaccinations have been required for public school attendance since anyone can remember because parents do not want their children to be ill, whether stricken with a common cold or polio. It is a socially responsible act. Immunizing all children does not sacrifice their civil liberties. Some parents object but simply because some people do not bother to research the consequences of not allowing their child to have vaccinations should not condemn all other kids at school to being exposed to crippling illnesses. The issue of government intrusion into people’s private affairs is a valid one but is a different discussion when

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Analysis English Literature Essay

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Analysis English Literature Essay An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, is a short story with a unique plot twist. Ambrose Bierce uses time as a way of manipulating the readers perspective. Time is defined by a nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession. (TheFreeDictionary.com) This distortion of the continuous forward motion of time disrupts the perception of reality. When the reader can no longer distinguish actual reality from a perceived reality, other character judgments come into question as well. The disruption of time allows the sequence of events in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge to be presented in a manner that forces the reader to question any assumptions made about Peyton Farquhars true character. By taking the reader through the mind of Peyton Farquhar during the moments prior to his death, his miraculous escape, and his sudden snap back into the present, the reader is left wondering about the true nature of time and the effect it has on the awarene ss of reality. The narrators description of every tangible detail to the story sets a specific time period for the events that take place. The reader can easily distinguish a historical time line for the story. Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician he was naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to the Southern cause. (Bierce p. 72) The story is set in the south, during the Civil War. Ambrose Bierce uses a specific time period as a method of developing the readers perception, of not only the situation, but of the character of Peyton Farquhar himself. By labeling Peyton Farquhar as a slave owner (Bierce p. 72), politician (Bierce p. 72), and original secessionist (Bierce p. 72), the reader may begin to empathize with the reasons for Peyton Farquhars situation. The reader can easily believe that by being devoted to the Southern cause (Bierce p 73) during the Civil War, the man who [is] engaged in being hanged (Bierce p. 74) is justifiably in the situation. The de scriptive language used to describe Peyton Farquhar during this specified moment in history, elicit strong emotions in the reader. Ambrose Bierce easily manipulates the readers perception of Peyton Farquhar while solidifying the reality of the story. Ambrose Bierce continuously foreshadows the disruption of time and Peyton Farquhars upcoming death. The moments leading up to his hanging, Peytons reality begins to become distorted. He became conscious of a new disturbance. (Bierce p 74) A sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmiths hammer upon the anvil. (Bierce p 75). What should be an irrelevant background noise suddenly becomes extremely significant and loud. Ambrose Bierce clearly expresses just how significant the few moments before death become. More significantly for Bierces purposes, though, is that time itself, when employed to calibrate human experience, seems to become indeterminate at points of maximum emotional disturbance. (Stoicheff) Peyton Farquhar only hears the ticking of his watch. (Bierce p 75) This distinct reference to time gives the reader a moment to ponder just how many ticks of Peytons watch actually occur during the upcoming s equence. As the noose tightens around his neck, and he is as one already dead (Bierce p 75) from this state he [is] awakened ages later. (Bierce p 75) Death is a reality each and every individual must eventually accept. Having to face death in such a brutal manner leaves Peyton Farquhar reminiscent of his wife and home. He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children. (Bierce p 76) Although improbable, the thoughts of escape begin to cloud Peytons mind. If I could free my hands, he thought, I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream.' (Bierce p 76) Until this point in the story, Ambrose Bierces narration has maintained a steadfast objectivity. In the third and most notable section of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, when the sergeant stepped aside and the board is released from beneath Peyton Farquhar, the narration becomes much more emotion-laden. The reader begins to experience the pain and terror that must come from facing death in such a manner. Although the events of his escape are surreal and improbable, because time-flow is normally irreversible, the reader is continuously pushed forward into believing Peyton has actually survived his escape. Thus, allowing time to continue uninterrupted, yet more subjective. The reader is finally given small insight into the thoughts and emotions of Peyton Farquhar. The internal thoughts and fears of a man just moments from his death can be unnerving and terrifying. However, the reader nearly cheers for Peyton Farquhar to escape unharmed. The narrator continues the objective description of even such a traumatic scene. It seemed to himby the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation. (Bierce p 75) With each passing moment, with each detailed description of the pain Peyton Farquhar must endure to achieve his escape, time seems to slow down. As in any adrenaline filled moment, time becomes slightly distorted, however Bierce again uses descriptions to what can only be a method of elongating a single moment. As [Peyton Farquhar] rose to the surface, gasping for breath, he saw that he had been a long time under water. (Bierce p 75) Farquhars ordeal describe[s] the sensations of an exhausted escaper as those of a hanged and dy ing man. (Palmer p363) Reality becomes further muddled in the readers mind. Initially the reader was left with many assumptions about the character of Peyton Farquhar. The factual descriptions given allowed the reader to sympathize with Farquhars captors. However, in the second section of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, the reader is given the opportunity to see the events unfold. It becomes apparent that although a secessionist, (Bierce p74) Farquhar was entrapped into the events that unfolded by a union soldier. The reader can than begin to sympathize with the character. Ambrose Bierce uses this opportunity to and entrance into the surrealist dream sequence to develop character more fully (Walz p262-265) The Truth the reader has come to accept begins to unravel and suddenly becomes questionable. The distortion of time and perception begin to distort the awareness of reality for the reader. Ambrose Bierce shows that time can be manipulated and elongated significantly by highly emotional events. (Stoicheff) The narrators description of the a single insign ificant sound and how it comes the most abundant thought before death should make the reader question the subjectivity of not only time, but reality and truth as well. The readers ability to sympathize with the character through a distortion of time and to begin to question the nature and subjectivity of time make apparent how relative truth is. In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, reality is subject to time, emotions, and the reader assumptions. Each individual aspect effects reality significantly. Ambrose Bierce reiterates the fact that time, reality, and truths are all created in the readers mind. If the readers perception creates each aspect and the readers perception can be easily manipulated, then it stands to reason that each aspect can then be manipulated as well. However, although time is nature to subjective perceptions, Ambrose Bierce makes it obvious that it cannot be escaped. In the end, all is darkness and silence! (Bierce p75) Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge. (Bierce p76)

Night :: essays research papers

Night Religion has always explained the unknown in knowable terms. It has created symbols for that which could not be known. This symbolism is so deeply imbedded in our minds, cultures, and cosmology that it is rarely questioned from inside the religious paradigms. From outside that paradigm, the religious imagery loses its impact, its subliminal meaning. Religion functions to relieve the anxiety of the absolute fact for each of us that we will die, that our family will die, that our friends will die. Religion promises us that although we may die, we will continue. And, if we believe, then our afterlife will be glorious. Spirituality offers another perspective to this 'man-made' solution. The spiritualistic belief is that of love for the fellow man instead of god; hospitals instead of churches; deeds done rather than prayers said. Spirituality, although bordering on atheism, seeks to understand and love, to find an ethical way of life rather than turning to a higher being for the easy way out. In "Night" by Elie Wiesel we see death of religion in a child because of absolute evil and consequently, the embrace of spirituality. Separated from man made institutions, the core of religion and spirituality must be preserved, if one is to survive in the midst of horror. The Jewish religion was a key motivation to the citizens of Sighet. To Jews religion is not only a method to achieve immortality, but a way of life that must be holistically embraced. This all-consuming religion demands total obedience and is a key motivation in the Jewish deportation and personal surrender to Germany . Analyzing history, one sees the pattern of a Jewish nomad lifestyle ,so deep is their faith, and moving on. "Night" is the first episode where this blind faith could not save them. Spawning from this failure of God is the genocide of millions at the hands of the Nazis. As young Eliezer visits Auschwitz and witnesses this genocide first hand, his blind faith is quickly revoked and in its place remains doubt, question and bitterness. "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into a wreath of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.

Breakfast of Champions :: Breakfast of Champions Essays

Breakfast of Champions "Our awareness is all that is alive and maybe sacred in any of us. Everything else about us is dead machinery."(p.221) Introduction Breakfast of Champions; or Goodbye Blue Monday is Kurt Vonnegut's seventh novel. He wrote it in 1972, as he himself says, for his fiftieth birthday. It is Vonnegut's own parody of himself and his works. "The various themes and mannerisms that have animated the earlier novels are seen here in a grotesque, cartoon version of themselves," (Todd). It is a confrontation of tragedy of America brought forth by Vonnegut's sensitivity to tragedy (Uphaus), where Vonnegut "seems to rub middle America's nose in the sheer ugliness of life." (Merill) The story Breakfast of Champions is a story of "two lonesome, skinny old men on a planet which was dying fast,"(p.???). One of these two men is Dwayne Hoover, a "fabulously well-to-do" Pontiac Dealer, and the other is Kilgore Trout, an "unknown" and unsuccessful science fiction writer. These two characters are destined to meet in Midland City and Kilgore Trout's book Now It Can Be Told is destined to turn Dwayne Hoover into "homicidal maniac". How the novel is written The novel attacks many things: slavery, racism, commercial greed, jingoism, ecology, capitalism, imperialism, overpopulation etc., all of these aimed precisely at modern American society. Vonnegut "brings a remarcable air of discovery to these themes, the pretense that no one has quite seen before the stark outlines of our hypocrisy," (Todd). Vonnegut is "impolite" in his writing about these matters. He was taught to this impoliteness when he was a kid (p.2) by Phoebe Hurty -- the person this novel is dedicated to. The whole book is written in quite familiar style which was used in Vonnegut's previous novel Slaughterhouse Five. The style can be defined by one line from it: "If accident will" (Vonnegut 1969, p.2). Breakfast of Champions also has the vague image of absolute chaos. Vonnegut denounced books that "make people believe that life had leading characters, minor characters, significant details, that it has lessons to be learned, tests to be passed, and a beginning, a middle, and an end," (p.209). But chaos is not only a way in which Vonnegut writes, it is also what Vonnegut writes about. As I approached my fiftieth birthday, I had become more and more enraged and mystified by the idiot decisions made by my countrymen. And then I had come suddenly to pity

Benjamin Franklin…A Misogynist? Essay

You asked us to read â€Å"Old Mistresses Apologue† to see how Benjamin Franklin begins as a solemn friend and adviser to a young man but soon reveals himself as a hedonistic lecher, then after reading you asked if we see any signs of a misogynist in Benjamin Franklin’s letter. To begin I looked up the word misogynist to get a better understanding of what it meant. According to Webster’s Dictionary, misogynist means a hatred of or hostility toward women, a women hater. After reading Benjamin Franklin’s letter, it was hard to see Mr. Franklin as a women hater. I find him being finicky about his women preferring older to younger women being almost discriminatory towards younger women in general, but not actually a women hater. If anything, he has good things to say about women as a whole. In the very first paragraph of his letter, Benjamin Franklin says great things of women in the state of union with a man. First, he states that â€Å"It is the Man and Woman united that make the compleat human Being.† [sic] Those are powerful word to say if you are a women hater. He also states in the same paragraph that man would be of less value if they were not married and they are incomplete without their better half. Hence his words, â€Å"A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles that odd Half of a Pair of Scissars.† [sic] Beginning after the first paragraph Benjamin Franklin begins stating increasingly how he would prefer an older woman to a younger one saying; â€Å"you should prefer old Women to young ones.† [sic] Then he proceeds to explain why he believes this theory with eight different reasons. The very first point, Franklin explains that older women are better because they are smarter, more experienced and can hold a conversation that is more interesting than that of a younger women. In his second point, he explains how when women get older they can do more for you and take better care of you. He even states that â€Å"there is hardly a thing as an old woman who is not a good Woman.† [sic] Therefore, if Benjamin Franklin was a misogynist I hardly think he would have stated that women were even good in any right. Benjamin Franklin’s fourth point explains how older women are less likely to stray and if they did it would be more accepted by an older woman than a younger one. Since older women are so willing to take care of younger man and help to shape his values and manners. This can be seen best in this line, â€Å"Because thro’ more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion.† [sic] Now in Benjamin Franklin’s fifth point I see him saying something that can be seen as misogynist comment, â€Å"and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know and old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey.† [sic] That comment to me can be taken as an insult to women, I don’t think that everything below the â€Å"girdle† or waist is what makes all women young and old alike, but I do see Franklin’s point. Now lastly, my favorite comment had to have been in his eighth point when he states that older women are better to marry than young ones because, â€Å"They are so grateful!!† That comment in it self should be an indication that Benjamin Franklin was not a misogynist, he may have said one or two things that can be taken that way. Nevertheless, Franklin seems to like women in general he definitely had more nice things to say about women than anything else, almost as though he couldn’t be without a woman.

10 Schedule Management Plan Essay

The pilot project schedule is the roadmap for how the project will be executed. This part of our project as it provides the project team, sponsor, and sponsor, and stakeholders a picture of the project’s status at any given time. The purpose of the schedule management plan is to define the approach the project team will use in creating the project schedule. This plan also includes how the team will monitor the project schedule and manage changes after the baseline schedule has been approved. This includes identifying, analyzing, documenting, prioritizing, approving or rejecting and publishing all schedules-related changes. Schedule Management Approach Project schedules for the pilot project will be created using MS Project 2010 starting with the deliverables indentified in the project’s Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Activity definition will identify the specific work packages which must be performed to complete each deliverable. Activity sequencing will be used to determine the order of work packages and assign relationships between project activities. The duration of activity estimating will be used to calculate the number of work periods required to complete work packages. Resource estimating will be used to assign resources to work packages in order to complete schedule development. See more: My Writing Process Essay Once a preliminary schedule has been developed, it will be reviewed by the project team and any resources tentatively assigned to project tasks. The project team and resources must agree to the proposed work package assignments, durations and schedule. Once this is achieved the project sponsor will review and approve the schedule and it will then be baselined. The following will be designates as milestones for the project schedule: – Completion of scope statement and WBS – Baselined project schedules – Approval of final project budget – Project kick-off – Approval of roles and responsibilities – Requirements definition approval – Completion of data mapping – Project implementation – Acceptance of final deliverables Roles and responsibilities for schedule development are following: The project manager Richard will be responsible for facilitating work package definition, sequencing, and estimating duration and resources with the project team. The project manage will also create the project schedule using MS Project 2010 and validate the schedule with the project team, stakeholders and the sponsors of the project. The project manager will obtain schedule approval from the project sponsor and baseline the schedule. The project team is responsible for participating in work package definition, sequencing and duration and resource estimating. The project team will also review and validate the proposed schedule and perform assigned activities once the schedule is approved. The project sponsor will participate in reviews of the proposed schedule and approve the final schedule before it is baselined. The project stakeholders will participate in reviews of the proposed schedule and assist in its validation.

To Kill a Mockingbird Novel

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about growing in the 1930s in the Southern United States. Scout Finch lives with her brother Jem and their father Atticus (a lawyer) in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a small town, and every family has its social standing depending on where they live, who their parents are, and how long they have lived in Maycomb. Atticus raises his children by himself, with the help of neighbors and a black housekeeper named Calpurnia. Scout is a tomboy who prefers to solve her differences with her fists. She tries to make sense of a world that demands that she act like a lady, a brother who criticizes her for acting like a girl, and a father who accepts her just as she is. Scout hates school, gains most of her education on her own and from her father. Scout and Jem understand their neighborhood and town. The only neighbor they do not understand is Arthur Radley, nicknamed Boo, who never comes outside. When Dill, another neighbor's nephew, starts spending summers in Maycomb, the three children begin an obsessive quest to lure Boo outside. Scout and Jem discover that their father is going to represent a black man named Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping and beating a white woman. Suddenly, Scout and Jem have to deal with racial slurs and insults because of Atticus' role in the trial. During this time, Scout has a very difficult time restraining from fighting, which gets her in trouble with her aunt and uncle. Even Jem loses his temper a time or two. After destroying a neighbor's plants, Jem is sentenced to read to her every day after school for one month. As the trial gets closer, their aunt comes to live with them. Read also  How Powerful Do You Find Atticus Finch’s Closing Speech? During the last summer, Tom is tried and convicted even though Atticus proves that he could not have done the crime. In the process of trying the case, Atticus accidentally offends Bob Ewell, a nasty drunk whose daughter accused Tom. In spite of Tom's conviction, Ewell vows revenge on Atticus and the judge. All three children are stunned by the jury's decision, and Atticus tries to explain why the jury's decided that way. After the trial, Scout attends one of her aunt's Missionary Society meetings. Atticus interrupts the meeting to report that Tom Robinson had been killed in an escape attempt. Scout learns valuable lessons that day. Things slowly return to normal, and Scout and Jem realize that Boo is no longer the center of their curiosity. The story appears to be winding down, when Bob Ewell starts making well on his threats of revenge. Scout is in the Halloween pageant at school, Jem agrees to take Scout to the school. After embarrassing herself on-stage, Scout leaves her costume on for the walk home with Jem. On the way home, the children hear noises, but disregard them as a friend who scared them on their way to school that evening. They are attacked, and Scout really cannot see out of her costume. She hears Jem being pushed away, and she feels arms squeezing her. Jem breaks his arm during this attack. Scout gets just enough of a glimpse out of her costume to see a stranger carrying Jem back to their house. The sheriff arrives at the Finch and announces that Bob Ewell has been found dead under the tree where the children were attacked, believing that he had fallen on his own knife. Scout realized that the stranger was Boo Radley, and that Boo is responsible for killing Ewell, and saving her and Jem's lives. Atticus' tries to get the sheriff to press charges against Boo, but he refuses. Scout agrees with his decision and explains it to her father. Boo sees Jem one more time and then asks Scout to take him home. With Boo safely home, Scout returns to Jem's room where Atticus is waiting. He reads her to sleep and then waits for Jem to wake up. I believe the main reasons that this book was banned were because of the language that was used, along with the racist implications toward the government. I also believe that it showed an unjust court system.