Extract: Kate Chopin’s nineteenth century novel, The Awakening, has been hailed by several critics as a remarkable expression of the feminist ideology. Ivy Schweitzer, a professor of American literature, argues the novel to be remarkable in its obvious, yet subtle, expressions of frustration at the subordination of women and their virtual imprisonment in the home. She further holds the novel to be unique because it expresses this frustration, even anger, at a time when few believed the subordination of women to be anything but natural (160-161). The Awakening, in other words, has been interpreted as a precursor to the feminist movement’s call for equality. Some of these interpretations, such as that forwarded by the American literature professor, Katherine Kearns, maintain that to accurately understand this novel in these terms, it is necessary to focus on symbols used throughout (67). While many of the symbols used throughout, whether childbirth, motherhood, food or the displacement of identity, language and culture, as represented in the Creole theme, support the mentioned interpretation, this paper shall focus on the bird symbolism used throughout. Not only does the bird symbol represent Edna Pontellier and her caging, but represents her journey to awakening and her eventual crash/suicide.

Extract: Indians and Anglo-Americans have fundamentally different views about life and nature, as is clear from their different understandings of time, age, nature, saving and cooperation. As far as time is concerned, Anglo-Americans perceive of it as short and limited and, thus, make the very most of their time. As far as the American Indians are concerned, however, time is vast and is measured in seasons and the rising and the setting of the sun, as opposed to months, days, hours and minutes. Similarly, Anglo-Americans perceive of age as something to be feared as it implies that a person’s time on earth is coming to an end but the American-Indians respect and revere age,

Extract: Economic growth, simply defined as the expansion of a national economy’s capacity for the production/manufacture of goods and services, constitutes that one challenge which confronts all world economies and, accordingly, has been the focal point of a large array of economic theory. Economic growth, as defined, effectively refers to a nation’s capacity for self-sustenance and, as such, its ability to fulfill the needs and requirements of its citizenry. It is, however, an elusive goal insofar as dozens upon dozens of national economies are concerned, a fact which leads directly into a consideration of economic growth theories and models. Upon undertaking the stated consideration through reference to the classical and the neo-classical economists, one finds that growth is alternately linked to capital accumulation and technological progress.

Extract:  The Industrial Revolution stands out as an era characterised by the blatant exploitation of labour, amongst which child labour figures in centre-stage. Indeed, the exploitation of labour was such that it incited Marx and Engel’s’ Communist Manifesto, among other economic treatise published during the period, most of which attempted the investigation of the relationship between the demand and supply of labour on the one hand, and the manner in which their interaction led to labour exploitation. Upon examining the conditions surrounding child labour during the Industrial Revolution, it becomes clear that it was a continuation of a pattern which had begun during the pre-industrial era, evolved consequent to demand and supply, was facilitated by legislature and, ultimately culminated in the exploitation of children by parents and/or employees.

Extract: To this day, three decades following the departure of the last American troops from Vietnam, the Vietnam War lives on in American historical memory. It lives on, not just as a senseless conflict in which the United States should never have involved itself but as one which effectively drained the United States’ resources, led to the deaths of thousands upon thousands of American youth and culminated in the humiliation of the USA. The Vietnam War was never, at any stage of the conflict, popular with the American public and, indeed, the strikes and protests against this war are as much a part of US history as is the war itself. Given the undeniable unpopularity of the war, one can only assume that the United States’ leadership had a rationale for involvement in this conflict. Accordingly, in order to arrive at an objective conclusion regarding the United States’ involvement in this war, the political and historical context of the conflict shall be considered, following which the two alternate points of view shall be presented for determination of their respective strengths and weakness.

Extract: Understanding the ways in which ethics and morals may conflict and converge and, how actions may be judged as moral but not ethical, and vice-versa, it is important to define these two concepts. According to the Webster dictionary, the term ethics refers to a set of moral principles whose application allow for the differentiation between right and wrong. On the basis of this definition, it would seem that ethics and morals are inseparable, whereby that which is ethical is, by definition, also moral. This is not true. Once again referring to the Webster dictionary, one finds that moral systems tend to be universal while ethical principles tend to be specific. That is, while morals refer to universal understandings of right and wrong, good and bad, ethics refer to particular understandings, which derive from professional or cultural codes of conduct, among others. Therefore, even though the concepts of ethics and morals are interrelated, they are ultimately distinct.

Extract from Definition: From the definitional perspective, a chair may be classified as a piece of furniture which usually has four legs, a back and a seat. In some instances and for either design or increased comfort purposes, it may have two armrests. Further classified as an object, a chair is a man-made object which, more often than not, is mass produced. For further clarification of the meaning of the object in question, a few illustrative examples are useful. Examples of chairs are armchairs, stools, folding deck chairs, recliners and table chairs.

Extract from Argumentative Essay: Following the Lindbergh trial in 1937, the American Bar Association, appointed a committee to investigate the legality and constitutionality of cameras in courtrooms. Following an exhaustive analysis of the law, the committee recommended a total ban on cameras in courtrooms. On the 27th September, 1937, the American Bar Association adopted a resolution which imposed a ban on the broadcasting of courtroom trials (Cohn and Dow, 2002). Within the space of a few decades, however, and consequent to arguments referencing both the First Amendment and the Freedom of Information Act, the ban was abandoned. The closing decade of the twentieth century was witness to the live broadcast of every detail of the O.J. Simpson murder trial, giving millions of viewers, not just in the United States, but across the world, access to the entirety of the courtroom proceedings (Cohn and Dow, 2002). As Hernandez (1996) reports, proponents of the practice maintain that the televising of courtroom proceedings does not just give the public access to the workings of their judicial system but allows them to oversee the government, as it is their right to do. Opponents, however, quite rightly maintain that the practice, however, conflicts with both the defendant’s right to privacy and his/her expectations of a fair trial (Hernandez, 1996).

Extract: The rationale behind the British, French, German and Italy’s imperial expansion into Africa is the subject of debate. Some political historians argue the rationale to be purely economic, while others insist that it was primarily political. The colonial powers themselves sought to explain their actions in ethical and moral terms. Within the context of this particular explanation, they were motivated by the imperatives of penetrating the darkness that was Africa through the extension of knowledge, education, religion and civilization (Roshwald, 1994). Needless to say, the aforementioned explanation has been largely dismissed as baseless and little more than a transparent attempt to legitimize the overt exploitation of an entire continent and population. Indeed, a critical analysis of available facts indicates that imperial expansion was initially motivated by economic considerations but soon assumed a political rationale.

Extract: In 1099, the First Crusades ended with the Fall of Jerusalem, from the Arab perspective, and with the Return of Jerusalem to Christendom from the Christian perspective. An understanding of the sensitivity of the Crusades and the reason why historical accounts differ so vastly is predicated on an appreciation of the implications of the event. The Crusades, as may be inferred from Maalouf’s account, was not a war over territory nor a power play but a religious war; a war which both sides fought in the name of their faith. If anything, this means that prejudices ran high on both sides with neither group perceiving the other as worthy of sovereignty over the holy city of Jerusalem. When the aforementioned is compounded with the fact that neither really knew the other and that, ultimately, the Christian Crusaders were entering into a territory alien to them and which, historically speaking, they had no territorial claim over, prejudices only deepen. These prejudices color historical accounts, as is amply evidenced in the contrasts which exist between the European and the Muslim accounts of the First Crusade. While there is consensus over historical events, these accounts are markedly different in terms of portrayals/depictions of the other.

Extract: On New Year’s Day of January 1st, 1969, General Fulgencio Batista fled Havana and members of the 26th of July Movement under the command of Fidel Castro assumed control of the government. Unfortunately, instead of simply bringing an end to a repressive and hated regime, Castro used revolutionary nationalism to change the political, economic, and social realities of Cuban life (Sweig, 2004). At the same time, the Cuban Revolution was a direct blow to the United States as, not only was it a nationalist movement for independence from American hegemony but, within a Cold War context, was interpreted as an American loss to the Soviet Union. As much as the Cuban Revolution has been criticised, it is important to acknowledge the fact that US political domination of the island, the overwhelming poverty suffered by the majority and the oppressive and repressive tactics deployed by the US-backed Batista government all ensured the positive reception of the revolution by the majority of Cubans, if not by the United States.

Extract: Culture may be defined, through the aid of Schneider, as a complex “system of symbols and meanings” (p. 197). As symbols and meanings, not to mention the values upon which they are predicated, tend to be culture-specific, cultures may find one another unintelligible. Anthropology contributes to cultural understanding insofar as anthropologists, through their recording and presentation of culture, unravel the complexities which surround cultural symbols and rituals and, importantly, play a fundamental role in rendering the unintelligible, intelligible.

Extract: The Battle of Shiloh, in the opinion of several historians, counts as one of the more important of the Confederate-Union military engagements of the Civil War, and was definitely one of the bloodiest, with losses on either side exceeding the ten thousand mark (Suhr). Fought south of Savannah by the west bank of the Tennessee River, between April 6-7th, 1862, the Battle of Shiloh initially appeared as of it were going to culminate in a victory for the Confederates but, ultimately became a decisive victory for the Union army insofar as it was the starting point of their victorious campaigns in the West (Wertz). In discussing the mentioned battle, this essay shall focus on Purdy’s engagement, the arrival of the Confederates and the movement from Corinth.

Extract From Story:

“I don’t know anything. I can’t tell you anything about his research,” Jason said with rising panic in his voice, and fear clearly visible in his eyes.
The two men just stared at him, silently threatening and obviously disbelieving. After what seemed like an eternity, the shorter but stockier of the two spoke.
“Our department has been tracking Professor Farnsworth for a very long time. We know all about his research and we know all about you. Give us the formula now. We don’t have time for your denials.”
Jason could tell they were serious and dangerous. They obviously had no intentions of leaving without the formula. Jason, who was not particularly brave, would have happily given it to them. However, he really had no idea of what they were talking about and somehow, had to persuade them that he was being truthful.
 

Extract from Critical Analysis: John Donne, the late 17th to early 18th century Jacobean poet , is renown for his hymns, his spiritual poems, and his sonnets. His works, as may be deduced from the foregoing listing of the genres with which he is associated, combine between romanticism and spirituality; love and religion. Indeed, as a critical comparative analysis of both “The Flea” and “The Apparition” will demonstrate, love, sex and religion intermingle to provide the poems with their impetus, with impossible, or unfulfilled desire, serving as the primary theme.

Extract: A little over a century ago, Mark Twain remarked that “Australian history does not read like history, but like the most beautiful lies” (cited in Gerster, 2001). The elevation of bushrangers, such as Ned Kelly, to the status of mythical heroes and national legends, incited that remark. Australian history, as opposed to legend, sentimental national memory and selective or revisionist recollections of the past, incontrovertibly establish the criminality of the nineteenth century bushrangers. They were murderers, thieves and outlaws and even their staunchest supporters have been unable to defend them against these claims (Seal, 1980). Within the parameters of the stated, the more fundamental question pertains to the evolution of criminals into figures of heroic legend and, more precisely, the secret of the appeal of bushrangers like Ned Kelly to the Australian national memory. In response to the questions raised, the argument shall illustrate that the bushrangers became figures of heroic legend and assumed mythical proportions within national memory as an immediate outcome of the nation’s historical circumstances, its status vis-à-vis Britain and, most importantly, consequent to the fact that the bushrangers’ defiance of the law, withstood retelling as rebellion against British domination, and their capacity to survive in the country’s harsh and expansive outback lend to the myth of the formation of nation, through the taming of the wild.

Extract: Marilyn Robinson’s Housekeeping is a rich narrative where several themes dynamically interact with and compliment one another. The theme of loss is difficult, even impossible to separate from that of the mercurial, transitory nature of the physical world, just as is the theme of self-identity from the feminist revision of the patriarchal world. Even though all of the identified themes provide unique insight into the novel, none do so more than that of the feminist reworking of the patriarchal world.

Extract: Virginia Woolf’s deeply moving and somewhat disturbing Mrs Dalloway is a subtle study in the fine line between sanity and insanity. Unfolding from within the depths of Mrs. Dalloway’s very self, it calls into question many of society’s prevailing assumptions and values. The social system, with its dictates on male-female/female-female relationships and its rules pertaining, not just to proper conduct but, proper thought, is challenged. Within the context of the stated, the novel can be interpreted as a cry against the social system but to do so is to ignore the narrative’s more important and more troubling theme – that of sanity versus insanity. Mrs. Dalloway may best be interpreted as a novel which calls into question societal assumptions about sanity and insanity, while arguing the two to be divided by a very fine line.

Essay: More often than not, we repeat words and concepts without really considering what they mean to us. Hence, we declare our undying commitment to freedom and equality, even as we devote our lives to fulfilling our, often, materialistic ambitions. Few realize that their devotion to the accumulation of material goods and wealth effectively means that they have surrendered their freedom to their dreams. At the same time, very few consider that as they strive to reach the top and be the best that they can be, they are striving towards inequality. Quite simply stated, their being better implies that others are unequal to them. The power of both Kurt Vonnegut and Margaret Atwood’s stories lie in the fact that they compel readers to think about all these concepts.

Essay: Borges’ “The House of Asterion” and Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” provide rich grounds for comparison and contrast. Irrespective of the fact that they are written from different points of view or unfold within different periods, both explore the theme of isolation and alienation which result from the protagonists’ conviction in their own superiority, on the one hand, and which have been imposed upon them by their own different-ness, on the other. Even though both Miss Emily and Asterion believe that they are in voluntary isolation from their social surroundings and have rescinded contact with others because of their superior status, a critical reading of both stories indicates that they have been marginalized by their surroundings.

Extract: Africa suffers persistent underdevelopment. Its population confront the dual threats of poverty and disease and economic reform programs simply do not seem to be working. Tunde Obadina (2008), the Director of Africa Business Information Services, cites economic facts and figures which underscore the bleakness of the situation. Whereas the average per capita income in the industrialized world stands at over $27,000, in Africa the figure is just over $500. The implication is not just that the developed countries are, on the average, 51 times richer than Africa but that at a modest GDP growth rate of 3%, a figure which most African countries have been unable to attain, it would take Africa 120 years to arrive at the current developmental status of the industrialized countries (Obadina, 2008). Waiting 120 years, however, is hardly a feasible option. A solution is needed but solutions are dependant upon understanding the causes of persistent underdevelopment in Africa. A critical analysis of the situation indicates that while there is no single cause for persistent underdevelopment in Africa, corruption and totalitarian dictatorships may be identified as the primary causes.

Extract:

Editorial Page Editor
Newspaper Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip

Dear Editor,
I would like to seize this opportunity to raise awareness of the fact that the illegal status of casino gambling across the country has created more problems than it has solved, especially in light of the rising popularity of online gambling. Indeed, the legalization of gambling is the most effective means of controlling the gambling problem currently confronting the country.
 

Extract: An interview with a Business Administration senior, proved to be an important learning experience. As he responded to my questions regarding his professional goals and his plans, if any, to attain them, I learnt a great deal. I learnt the importance of planning ahead, of viewing life as a series of stages in which each stage had to be driven by a specific goal and revolve around the accomplishment of that goal. Indeed, the interview taught me that were I ever to succeed in my chosen career, I would have to plan ahead just like my interviewee does.

Extract from posted essay: In 1930 Grant Wood painted his enduring artwork, American Gothic. This painting, according to art historians and critics, has come to symbolize American 20th century art. The reasons for the stated are evident to most who critically reflect upon this painting and make the effort of understanding that which the images within it symbolize. Indeed, as this descriptive essay shall try to illustrate, the popularity and importance of American Gothic lie in the fact that it captures the spirit of an age, communicates a realistic portraiture of male-female relations and roles and, not least of all, is skillfully executed.

Extract from posted Essay:  On September 15th, 1779, President George Washington signed into law a congressional bill which authorized the renaming of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the State Department, and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of State (Fishman, Pederson and Rozell, 2001). Since that date, the United States has had 66 Secretaries of State. As DeConde (1962) explains, while the duties associated with this position are predominantly concerned with the nation’s foreign affairs, there are a number of domestic responsibilities. These include the acceptance of the resignation of the U.S. President, the use and custodianship of the Great Seal, and the execution of the White House’s protocol functions. As may be deduced from the stated, therefore, the office of the Secretary of State is an extremely influential one, with its associate powers reaching far beyond those assigned to the Vice-President. It is precisely because of this that, even though the Secretary of State is fourth in line to the succession of the presidency, this particular office has been traditionally viewed as a stepping stone to the Presidency. Indeed, several secretaries of state, including Thomas Jefferson, were later elected to the Presidency (DeConde, 1962). Given the importance of the defined office, it is useful to research the occupation of those who filled this position and comparatively analyze the historical retention rate of Secretaries of State between Democratic and Republican Administrations.

Extract from the posted American Literature Essay: Existentialist philosophy, as shaped by Sartre, is founded on three primary propositions (Brown, 1948). The first is that our lives are shaped by the choices we make and that, as a result of our choices, we can either achieve authentic being or loose ourselves. The second is that there is no meaning in the universe. People try to impose meaning upon the world but it is a false meaning which only distracts them from the reality of nothingness. The third is that even though there are no rules in the universe, there is a personal responsibility to one’s self. This is the responsibility of authenticity, realizing one’s being and acting in good faith (Brown, 1948). These three propositions are reflected in Frank O’Connor’s “Guests of the Nation” and Albert Camus’ “The Guest.” O’Connor and Camus highlight the absurdity of the universe and show how the failure to make choices which reflect authentic being, leads to existentialist suffering.

Extract from posted Essay: Even though Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been employed as a statistical measure of economic development since the 1950s, it does not qualify as an accurate reflection of a nation’s developmental status. Not withstanding the fact that GDP significantly contributes to overall understanding of a nation’s economic status and its population’s living standards, it provides neither an accurate nor an in-depth understanding of either. Calculating development in terms of per capita GDP leads to a distorted view of the developmental status of nations and their populations. As a case in point, one may refer to the fact that according to this statistical measure, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates rank as the second, fourth and fifth most developed nations in the world, and Equatorial Guinea as the ninth (IMF, 2008). These countries are not democratic, do not uphold gender equality and have been repeatedly cited by Amnesty International for human rights abuses (Amnesty International, 2006). In direct comparison, the United States, Great Britain and France, to name but a handful, are all democratic nations which uphold gender equality. While they have been cited for human rights abuse, they have been at a significantly much lower rate than the previously mentioned nations (Amnesty International, 2006). Yet, in accordance with GDP per capita statistical measures, these countries rank as the seventh, the twenty-first and the twenty-fifth on the global GDP scale (IMF, 2008). This is a clear indication of the extent to which GDP contributes to inaccurate readings of national development status and, indeed, fails to provide an accurate reading of the living standards and quality of life enjoyed, or suffered, by populations. As the weakness of GDP ultimately lies in that which it does not measure, it needs to be supplemented with poverty index, human development index and gender development index measures.

Extract from Posted Essay:  Ernest Hemingway, popularly recognized, not only as one of the United States most important novelists but as one of leading literary figures of the past century, displays a pronounced tendency to leave more unsaid than said in his works. Employing short and punctuated sentences which rarely betray emotions and, indeed, reveal an insistence upon keeping painful memories away, Hemingway, nevertheless, says a great deal through his silences. While this is evident throughout his short story collection, In Our Time, the essay shall focus on illustrating this in relation to only two of these stories; Chapter II and “Indian Camp.”

Extract from Posted Essay:  Franz Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” is, despite its length, rich in meaning. Examining the human condition from the absurdist philosophical perspective, “A Hunger Artist” emphasizes the senselessness of the world and the extent to which man is misunderstood and incapable of making himself understood. The protagonist, locked in a cage, is a professional self-starver, capable of fasting for periods longer than forty days. While the protagonist views his capacity for self-starvation as an art which he is trying to perfect, an achievement, the townsfolk either do not believe that he is truly fasting or see him as a `freak,’ not as the artist he perceives of himself as. Insofar as his purpose is not understood and his act of starvation is viewed suspiciously, the hunger artist emerges as an absurd figure. The absurdity of the hunger artist, however, is the absurdity of the human condition and of life itself. To this extent, and despite the unrealistic nature of the story, “A Hunger Artist” can be interpreted as a metaphor for life, a realistic exposition of the human condition, and a parable.

Extract from Posted Essay:  Wal-Mart is the “the world’s largest company” (Fishman, 2003, para. 5). During periods of economic recession and inflation, Wal-Mart was responsible for 12% of the US economy’s productivity gains and played an integral role in the lowering of inflation rates (Fishman, 2003). The reason behind its continuing success and growth is its unflagging determination to offer customers the lowest price possible for quality goods. To fulfil this objective, Wal-Mart has embarked upon large-scale global outsourcing. For HRM practitioners, the implication of its doing so is that the company has to adopt diversity management programs which would enable it to effectively manage an extremely diverse workforce. The design and implementation of effective diversity management programs are integral to Wal-Mart’s ability to fulfil its key strategy: low priced quality goods.
 

Extract from posted Social Science Essay: Although Dewey was a philosopher, he had a strong heart for emphasizing the importance of education. One of his most influential theories was instrumentalism. Instrumentalism was the belief that humans use their capacity to store information, but that the information is constantly changing due to the environment around them. He went on to argue that education is the control of the environment to hone skills that are necessary to live completely as humans. In 1910 he published the book How We Think, which became a staple among educators; helping to unravel the mind and better teach to it. Adhering to the belief that education should be practical and relevant to the needs of society, Dewey argued for the reformation of the educational system. In Experience and Education, Dewey (1925) stated that in many cases, schooling stands in the way of learning. In order to make intellectual progress, he noted, "we mostly have to unlearn what we learned in school" (p. 7). As revolutionary as they were several decades ago, Dewey's philosophical theories in the field of education have stood the test of time and have tremendous relevance to education in the 21st century.

Extract from posted Literature Coursework:  The society Steinbeck paints in Of Mice and Men is a world of stereotypes, prejudices and racist beliefs. Those considered normal live by strict sets of rules, which from the outside, seem inhumane. This is true of life in the bunkhouse and of life on the ranch in general. Since living outside the norm is considered criminal, being outside the norm results in social and sometimes physical, alienation, verbal abuse, and a loss of autonomy. Sometimes it leads to a loss of life. For example, George’s close relationship with Lennie causes those around them to look suspiciously at George. Certainly Lennie’s character is portrayed as marginal due to his mental disability and Candy’s advanced age and his missing limb push him to the margins of society as well. Crooks, the “stable buck”, is marginalized because he is black and also disabled. In each of these cases the normal characters, such as Slim, Carlson, Curly and his wife, exercise an unquestioned power and influence over the abnormal characters within the story. While Lennie seems to be the most obvious victim of these cruel standards, Steinbeck appears to suggest that all are victims of this society and its prejudices and racism.

Extract from posted Book Review: A.J. Lake’s book, The Coming of the Dragon, is an extremely entertaining and well-written book which many children and teenagers would appreciate as a Christmas gift.

The Coming of the Dragon is set in the medieval past and follows the adventures of two young children. These are Elspeth, the daughter of Spearwa’s captain and Prince Edmund. Elspeth, who has been on many voyages with her father, has had many adventures in her life. Edmund, because he is a royal prince and always very well protected, has not had any adventures, though.

Elspeth and Edmund do not know one another and are very different in character. They meet and become friends by chance. After his father’s gone, prince Edmund’s mother sends him to his uncle on the Spearwa. It is on the ship that the children meet and become friends.
 

Extract from posted Book Review:  While many, whether through their own experience, studies or readings, are familiar with the history of the mass media since 1941, James L. Baughman’s The Republic of Mass Culture, provides readers with a unique insight into the evolutions which have occurred within this field over the past five decades. Tracing the history of the mass media since 1941 to the present, Baughman explains the extent to which television induced changes in journalism, radio and film and, more importantly, how mass media was transformed into an industry. In the following book review, Baughman’s main themes shall be identified and critiqued, with the purpose being an assessment of the work’s contribution to our understanding of the mass media industry and its operation.

Extract from posted Film Critique: Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 is, undoubtedly, one of the most entertaining of the political propagandist films produced in recent years. Humor intermingles with a serious message for the purposes of swaying viewers towards a particular point of view. That view is the Bush Administration’s complicity, whether through the careless or purposeful ignoring of the 9/11 warning signs, in the terrible events of September 11th, 2001. Since the film supports its message through seemingly incontrovertible and incontestable video and audio evidence, the embrace and acceptance of its propagandist message is easy. A critical analysis of the film, however, indicates that its message is somewhat at odds with facts and if it were able to seemingly support its claims, that is largely due to Michael Moore’s careful selection of images and sound bytes and, more importantly, their de-contextualization.

Extract from posted Book Review:  The first question I’d like to us you is how would you summarize the plot of Over Seas, Under Stone?
The book is about three young children, Jane, Simon and Barnaby Drew, who have a fantastical adventure in Cornwall. The children are on holiday with their parents and are spending their vacation in a very old house in Cornwall. One day, they’re snooping about the house and going through the attic to see if they can come across anything exciting. They find an old manuscript which speaks of an ancient and magical chalice which belonged to King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. The Drew children are determined to uncover the manuscript’s puzzles and find the chalice. This puts them in danger because many other, quite mean, people are after the chalice as well. So, the children get their Great Uncle Merry to help and protect them. After many exciting adventures, they find the chalice. But to protect it from capture, they throw it to their great Uncle whose waiting for them in a boat just off the shore. Great Uncle merry catches the chalice but a tube which was inside it falls into the sea. This is going to be the start of a new adventure for the Drew brothers and sister.
 

Extract from posted Analytical Essay: Media advertisements are dominating our lives. Exposed to approximately 3,000 advertisements every single day, it is not surprising that the views, beliefs and perceptions of many are influenced by media advertisements. These advertisements tell us what clothes we are supposed to wear and we do, they influence us to purchase specific brands of shampoo and we do and, they even tell us what to eat and we do. The media has power over the way people think and behave and thee way they see others and themselves. The media and media advertisements are a source of stereotypes and prejudices and where gender is concerned, this has had a detrimental effect on the female’s body image and the attitudes of males towards females. Media advertisements portray the ideal female body in unrealistic terms and have confirmed that it is nothing other than a sexual object.

Extract from posted Social Studies Essay: Jefferson’s views on education and the education plan he proposes for the state of Virginia are clearly outlined in his lecture. As may be deduced from the narrative, Jefferson’s views were informed by his educational experience and by personal reflections following the attainment of practical experience, on the other. This essay will highlight Jefferson’s views on education, his attitude towards the role of religion therein, his educational plan and the extent to which his educational experienced shaped his views.

Jefferson opposes religion in education, not out of a stance against religion but because of the dogmatism which characterizes religious thought. The purpose of education is to enlighten and promote inquiry. Religion has an antithetical purpose. It closes the mind, discourages inquiry and promotes dogmatism. As Jefferson writes, the churchmen who taught him betrayed a deeper interest in “how many angels could dance on the head of a pin” while they should have taught their students “how to make that pin work better for mankind.” The implication here is that religion in the classroom and churchmen as teachers will not promote investigative inquiry and may stifle students’ natural curiosity.
 

Extract from posted poetry analysis:  Michael Drayton (1563-1631), Shakespeare’s contemporary and English Elizabethan poet, has written in a variety of poetic genres, including all of pastoral, spiritual, historical and epic poems. He is best known, however, for his sonnets, one of which, “Come Let Us Kiss and Part” (1619) will be critically analyzed in this essay. “Come Let Us Kiss and Part,” evidences Drayton’s poetic complexity and genius. Rather than compose a traditional love sonnet, such as which his audiences were probably accustomed to, he exposes the mercurial nature of love and its, more often than not, bitter ending. Indeed, as Greg points out, in this sonnet Drayton captures the complexity of love and exposes the ease by which love can turn into hate (pp. 164-65). In direct comparison to the majority of sonnets which present love as the focal point of existence, as the raison d’être, Drayton discusses the end of love in semi-bitter tones, projecting the termination of love as an act of cleansing.

Extract from posted Literature Coursework:  The society Steinbeck paints in Of Mice and Men is a world of stereotypes, prejudices and racist beliefs. Those considered normal live by strict sets of rules, which from the outside, seem inhumane. This is true of life in the bunkhouse and of life on the ranch in general. Since living outside the norm is considered criminal, being outside the norm results in social and sometimes physical, alienation, verbal abuse, and a loss of autonomy. Sometimes it leads to a loss of life. For example, George’s close relationship with Lennie causes those around them to look suspiciously at George. Certainly Lennie’s character is portrayed as marginal due to his mental disability and Candy’s advanced age and his missing limb push him to the margins of society as well. Crooks, the “stable buck”, is marginalized because he is black and also disabled. In each of these cases the normal characters, such as Slim, Carlson, Curly and his wife, exercise an unquestioned power and influence over the abnormal characters within the story. While Lennie seems to be the most obvious victim of these cruel standards, Steinbeck appears to suggest that all are victims of this society and its prejudices and racism.

Extract from posted Photo Essay: Question: "Did the United States act appropriately and properly when she declared war on Germany in April of 1917?

Response: Yes, as the photo essay shall establish, the United States acted appropriately upon declaring war on Germany in 1917 and, had it not, the future of Europe and, consequently, that of the United States could have been very different.

Senator Norris may have opposed the war, arguing that the war zones which both Germany and Great Britain had declared on high seas were contrary to international law, implying that both sides were acting illegally. He may also have implied that the primary motive for the United States’ entry was the safeguarding of bankers’ loans. Apart from the fact that he overlooks the implications of Germany’s sinking of US ships, with that being an act of war in itself, they say that a picture is worth a thousand wars. This photo essay, depicting the extent of death and destruction which was tearing Europe apart, emphasises that the United States had no other choice. It had to enter the war and help bring it to an end, one way or another.
 

Extract from posted Essay: Question: Why did America wait until she herself was attacked to become involved in this war? What positive or negative consequences might have occurred had America entered this war prior to the events at Pearl Harbor?

Response: It is perfectly understandable that the generation which had lived through and still clearly remembered the Great War would not want the United States to intervene in yet another European conflict. The Great War had barely ended just two decades back when World War II broke out. Participation in it had been costly, whether as measured in terms of loss of life or financial resources. That the United States be reluctant to intervene in yet another war on a distant continent is perfectly understandable. Nevertheless, while the decision was understandable, it was not well thought out. Certainly a tremendous geographic difference separated the USA from the war zone but the ties which the United States had with the rest of the world meant that it was involved, whether it liked it or not. The attack on Pearl Harbor established this. Indeed, if the United States had entered the war prior to the attack, not only would the war have concluded earlier and t a lower cost to life but, the attack on Pearl Harbor could have been avoided. Accordingly, while the United States’ decision was understandable, it was incorrect and ultimately came at a high price.
 

Extract from posted Essay: Question: Was the United States Senate justified in rejecting the Versailles Treaty? What positive or negative effects resulted from this treat?

Response: The United States Senate was justified in rejecting the Treaty of Versailles as under any circumstances it could not be interpreted as a treaty whose intent it was to achieve and sustain peace. Instead, the Treaty of Versailles appeared intent on wreaking revenge upon Germany and, in so doing, ultimately acted as one of the causes of World War II, not to mention the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany.
 

Extract from posted Essay: Question: Was Harry S. Truman justified in his decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan, one on Hiroshima, and another one three days later on Nagasaki?

Answer: World War II had been raging for six years, millions of lives had been lost, entire cities had been destroyed and the world had, in effect, been changed forever. The Axis Powers were losing the war and there was little, if only hope, that Japan would be able to preserve for much longer, let along emerge victorious. Nevertheless, Japan was both tenacious and determined. It was not, unlike Germany and Italy, about to surrender any time soon. It was determined to continue fighting. This meant that until that time in the future when Japan was defeated and forced to surrender to the Allies many more lives will be lost, additional cities will be destroyed and in brief, the death and destruction would continue for an indeterminate length of period. The Allied Powers could not afford this and neither could the world. Therefore, upon weighing the odds, those being the continuation of the war implying ever-rising death ad destruction figures versus an immediate end at the cost of a few thousand lives, it is apparent that Truman’s decision was correct. The dropping of the atomic bombs was the lesser of the two evils.
 

Extract from posted Essay: Science, despite unprecedented advances in physics, astronomy and astrophysics not to mention previously unimaginable space explorations, has barely scratched the surface of our universe’s mysteries. Merali (2008) concedes to the validity of this observation and, quite interestingly, points out that, quite possibly, one of the most important of the discoveries made as a direct outcome of the mentioned advances is that scientists, especially astrophysicists and physicists, now know that which they do not know. In other words, they have begun to identify the unknowns which surround us, thereby making the transition from a state of “unknown unknowns” to one of “known unknowns” (Merali, 2008, para 1). One of the most interesting of these newly discovered known unknowns is the phenomenon of unparticles. In order to fully appreciate the importance of this discovery and its possible, or potential implications, the research will begin by defining particles.

Extract from posted essay: The philosophes, influenced by the Newtonian principle of determinism, firmly believed in the absolute and inviolable nature of the `universe as machine’ law (Feuer, 2003). In accordance with this principle, the universe functioned as an automaton, or a well-oiled machine, and all movements, reactions, actions and so-called phenomenon, constituted unchanged and predetermined reality. Indeed, within the context of this perspective, there was an unchanging stability to the universe and this, in turn, imposed a sense of security upon humans insofar as it nurtured the notion of human lives being governed by absolute, unchanging and predetermined realities. This Newtonian belief was shattered by the theories forwarded by both Einstein and Heisenberg.

Extract from posted Essay: The enlightenment was, among other things, characterized by the perception of human beings as intrinsically rational creatures. Certainly, Enlightenment philosophers understood that humans were also emotional beings and, therefore, capable of irrational thought and behavior. Nevertheless, they maintained that the primary tendency was towards conscious and rational thoughts and behaviors (Fehl, 1979). This perspective of humans as inherently rational beings was disputed by Freud’s psychoanalytical theory.

Extract from posted Essay: Hitler and the philosophes adhered to antithetical philosophies. The first believed in a hierarchy of race and the second in equality. The philosophes’ belief that morality dictated the extension of equal rights to all men was completely contrary to Hitler’s philosophical conceptualization of morality and the human rights to which it gave rise. While this has often invited the immediate characterization of Hitler as amoral and monstrous, Jones (1981, p. 239) disputes this notion, emphasizing instead that it exposes Hitler as “Social Darwinism incarnate and naked.” Weikart (1993) concurs, arguing that Hitler acted in accordance with the moral philosophy upon which Social Darwinism was predicated. It can, thus, be argued that Hitler challenged popular understandings of natural law and morality through his embrace of Social Darwinism.

Entry from posted Annotated Bibliography:

Strangeways, Al. “`The Boot in the Face:’ The Problem of the Holocaust in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath.” Contemporary Literature, 37.3 (1996): 370-390.

In this article, Strangeways argues that the attention which critics have devoted to Plath’s “Daddy,” often at the expense of her other poems is largely because of its shock value. It is practically unheard of that a poet directs such an attack against a dead person and, a supposedly beloved one. The attention devoted to Plath’s remembrances of her father have effectively distracted critics from truly exploring the depths of this poem and, more specifically, its political theme and stance against the Holocaust and, indeed, all forms of repression and discrimination. “Daddy,” according to the argument presented by Strangeways, is a political poem which portrays the holocaust and oppression in deeply subjective, personalised and emotive terms.
 

Extract from posted Essay:  Robert Frost (1874-1963), the twentieth century American poet, is not only one of the country’s most popular poets but one of its most honored. Not only is he the most frequently quoted poet in the United States but at the inauguration of President Kennedy in 1961, recited one of his poems as part of the ceremony (Thompson, pp. 9-11). His popularity stems from several factors, with the most important being the balance he strikes between depth and simplicity of meaning. Employing simple language which readers can easily understand and assimilate, Frost proceeds to communicate profound, and in some instances, deeply personal meanings which emotionally resonate with his readers. The implication here is, and as clearly evidenced in his sonnet “Acquainted with the Night,” that Frost’s poems have a subjective emotional impact upon the readers as the way in which they expose the poet’s own innermost feelings arouse both empathy and sympathy.