Joseph: a man of God or a man of faith?
Essay - 3 pages - Philosophy
When reading a story, the way we choose to interpret it has much to do with the author's tone as well as his intention. In other words, one story can send two radically different messages based on the way that it is written. If we analyze the story of Joseph in both the Old Testament and in...
Greek mythological plays, where the Gods are in charge
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
In Greek mythological tragedies, there is a persistent belief among the characters that a variety of gods control the course of events and the actions of men and women. The gods took a variety of forms in these plays, and they would often speak directly with human beings and inform them about...
Personal desire vs. fidelity: Sir Gawain and Sir Lancelot
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
There are many ways to understand desire and to define it properly, but in doing so, it is important that we do not fail to mention the elements essential to desire and their corresponding affect on our intentions. Desire is often difficult to attain because it is always pushed back on the list...
Ode on a Grecian Urn - John Keats - Escaping the realities of time through immortality
Case study - 1 pages - Literature
When we analyze human affairs and relationships, there is a constraint that we understand all too well: time. Regardless of the significance of the action that is taking place, without a doubt, it all eventually comes to an end. In his poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn", John Keats escapes this...
"Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave" - Douglass
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
In "Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave," Douglass tells us about his life during slavery. He demonstrates with explicit details how cruel and morally wrong slavery was, and he also describes, in bitter detail, how the system of slavery made cruel all those who...
Whether animals have rights: the perspectives of Tom Regan vs. Peter Singer
Essay - 4 pages - Philosophy
The animal rights movement is often oversimplified and mocked by many in contemporary society, and this is often a result of an unwillingness to look at the facts and the various philosophies that make up the movement. An individual caught up in the ideas of the day is often unable to think...
"The Demon in the Freezer" by Richard Preston
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
In "The Demon in the Freezer", Richard Preston gives us a very detailed and frightening description of the current state of the smallpox virus. Although it is technically located only in two locations throughout the world, Preston suggests that it still poses a major threat to human civilization....
Understanding the Narrator in "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
In Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener", the narrator is confronted with a very difficult and unusual situation. A scrivener hired by the narrator, Bartleby, has stationed himself in the narrators' office and gradually becomes more and more difficult and increasingly stubborn. At first...
The importance of Siegried Sassoon's letter in 'Regeneration', by Pat Barker
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
First of all it's important to know that this letter has actually been written by the real Sassoon. He was a poet and even if his first poems were kind of romantic, he is mostly famous for his poems about war. In these war poems, he describes the horror and the barbarism of war with gruesome...
Utilitarianism - John Stuart Mill, 1861 - Chapter II
Book review - 2 pages - Philosophy
John Stuart Mill was one of the staunchest supporters of Utilitarianism, as well as one of the influential developers of the theory. In chapter two of Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill takes on the various criticisms of the theory and refutes them one by one as either misapplication or the...
Prometheus unbound - Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1920 - Act I
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
In Act I of Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound", the story begins with the introduction of the mentally and physically tortured Prometheus bound to a rock. The reason for his confinement is revealed to be punishment for teaching the secret of fire to humanity, and defying...
Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath Tale - Geoffrey Chaucer, 14th century - The hypocrisy of men in society
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, "The Wife of Bath" is powerful and beautifully expressed work. In the tale, the Wife of Bath describes her five marriages while criticizing the hypocrisy and irrationality of men. She forces us to realize that men subdue their women and leave them little room to...
Sophism, Pericles and Platon's Apology
Essay - 4 pages - Philosophy
Sophism deals with the human ability to use language for the purpose of convincing and persuading someone. Although the actual meaning of sophism is much more complex, the idea is that a good understanding of sophist principles allows one to achieve a high status and great success in political...
Canterbury Tales, The Miller's Tale - Geoffrey Chaucer, 14th century
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
People who are gullible are often taken advantage of by the people whom they respect. When a person admires somebody, it is very likely that he or she can be easily misled into doing something that they would otherwise never do. In Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale", we are introduced to an...
Michael Foucault: power is productive
Essay - 2 pages - Philosophy
Since the beginning of time, power has been an issue in many different ways; how to gain it, how to keep it, how to destroy it. According to Michel Foucault, "power is productive". Power is what molds society into what is, and what it should be. Foucault believed that through repression,...
Theory of Speech, language - Noam Chomsky
Essay - 2 pages - Philosophy
While Noam Chomsky is perhaps better known for his liberal political views and philosophies which support a variety of social causes, such as helping the poor, condemning wars, violence, and poverty, he is also a world renowned linguist. Chomsky has developed interesting theories in speech which...
Theory of evolution and the beak of the finch - Jonathan Weiner, 1995
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
When we imagine the process of evolution, we tend to picture it as an extremely slow, gradual process. It takes millions of years for some frog to change colors and camouflage to its surroundings, and it takes just as long for a fish to improve its structure and achieve the maneuverability...
A Temporary Matter - Jhumpa Lahiri, 1998
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
In the story "A Temporary Matter", by Jhumpa Lahiri, we are introduced to a married couple in the process of grieving over their still-born baby. As the couple tries to recover from this disappointment, their behaviors and attitudes change significantly. They stop associating with their friends,...
On the Road - Jack Kerouac, 1957
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
"On the Road", by Jack Kerouac, is a powerful novel about a group of friends who travel throughout the United States and go through various adventures. They represent a group of people who are always on the move, never willing to commit to anything, and live life with passion and recklessness. In...
Macbeth, William Shakespeare, 1623 - A patriotic greed
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
Patriotism is the unrivaled love for one's country. In Macbeth (hereinafter referred to as "the Play"), personal influence is always stronger than patriotism. Although Macbeth and Banquo was loyal in fighting off the rebellion, patriotism no longer exists. Without the unity of war, there is...
Macbeth, William Shakespeare, 1623 - Freewill, in Macbeth: the destiny to choose
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Every piece of life seems to be interconnected. They can be the pieces to a puzzle, or they can be a perception of a whole. In both cases, life is a culmination of one's actions. In Macbeth (hereinafter referred to as "the Play"), a predetermined path seems to be set for Macbeth. From the...
Cane by Jean Toomer
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
Double consciousness is defined as a concept that describes an individual as having an identity divided into several parts. This makes it difficult for an individual to have a sole unified identity. As such, a person with double consciousness may be considered to have two thoughts, two souls or...
Figures of speech
Essay - 5 pages - Literature
Lapham begins by telling us that the Notebook Magazine had become so much focused with the new print method of letting their readers know about the current ways of the world which was intended to acquaint them with presupposition of its editor. “Notebook was deeply rooted in the soils of...
Descartes' meditation two proofs of God and how humans make mistakes
Essay - 2 pages - Philosophy
Paper requirements. First: Analyze and evaluate Descartes two proofs of God's existence. How are they different? Is one more convincing than the other? And secondly: How does Descartes explain how we humans make mistakes (errors)? Do not just state that a perfect creator made imperfect...
How role of Jakes, as the narrator, informs his character - Interpreting Natives, Abbort Porter
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Abbotts defines interpretation as a compound of ideas and judgment. In an attempt to understand the idea of Abbotts of an implied author as well as his narrating ideas, this paper discusses the way the role of Jakes as the narrator informs his character. The paper also brings out what he reveals...
Nineteenth-Century American Literature: Louisa May Alcott, Hospital Notes (1863); Mary Chesnut, A Diary From Dixie (1861-65)
Book review - 8 pages - Literature
The Civil War is just the most important thing in American cultural and social history—as well as political and military history, of course—since the War of Independence from Great Britain. It is, quite simply, fundamental to America's identity and sensibility, and it remains so to this...
Applying ethical theory : utilitarian theories
Essay - 2 pages - Philosophy
What is moral and what is not moral has been debated for centuries by philosophers. A lot of people come to find that it happens to be much complicated than simply being kind. Despite the fact that each individual leads a different journey from the others, being ethical has much to do with...
The accusations against Socrates
Essay - 3 pages - Philosophy
The life that Socrates led was not at all likely to assist him gain esteem or the affection of the vulgar. The people, who had no knowledge of him in person, saw him only to consider him a visionary. Those who knew him, even without having hurt by his rebukes, had winced under the saints...
Shakespeare: Sonnet 130 & Milton's when I consider how my light is spent
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
The poetic work Shakespeare: Sonnet 130 and John Milton's When I Consider How my light is Spent, are two sonnets from different periods. The Shakespearean represents the Elizabethan period or the period between 1558 and 1603. On the other hand, the John Milton's work represent the early...
Are there moral facts? Is there proof in Ethics?
Essay - 2 pages - Philosophy
Looking at the world of chairs, tables, atoms, one may not find moral facts anywhere. It has been proposed that moral facts are completely mysterious or that humans would have no knowledge on what makes things wrong or right. Another argument is that moral facts cannot be real due to the fact...
