Wednesday, January 29, 2020

O Father, Where Art Thou Essay Example for Free

O Father, Where Art Thou Essay The article, â€Å"O Father, Where Art Thou? † which was written by Joshua Alston and published in Newsweek last May, basically explained that the notion that most black fathers are irresponsible parents is not entirely true. According to the author, while statistics show that there is an alarming rate of black children living in homes without a father—50 percent, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all black fathers are the same. In fact, Alston wrote that there are a number of black fathers who are responsible parents and who have been supportive and caring for their children even in the most unstable and volatile situations. This, according to the author, is greatly illustrated in Tal-Nehsi Coates’ memoir, â€Å"A Beautiful Struggle,† in which he depicted how his black father, Paul, was a source of stability in security in a community where violence is rampant. Moreover, Alston claimed that the image of black fathers were significantly tainted by songs and shows such as â€Å"Papa Was A Rolling Stone† and â€Å"The Maury Show,† which both portrayed, in a way, that black men are bad fathers and, as a result, gave rise to the negative views towards them. On the other hand, the problem with most black fathers, according to the author, is that they think they equate being a successful parent to making a lot of money or being a breadwinner. Therefore, if black fathers aren’t able to substantially provide for their families, they opt to leave home instead of having their pride hurt. Based on the article, this is what people like Coates are trying to change. According to him, black fathers shouldn’t be made to feel like failures just because they aren’t living to the role of breadwinner. Coates also claimed that being a father also entails love, leadership, and teaching his children values and lessons in life. In his memoir, Coates wrote that he was raised well by his father, which also enabled him to develop his critical thinking. In short, according to the author, in order to reduce the number of black fathers who are absent in their homes, people should view them in a different light and look at the other aspects of their lives instead of just focusing on their inability to provide for their families.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Only A Surfer Knows The Feeling :: essays research papers

Only a Surfer Knows the Feeling There is a guy from Hawaii that I know. Every day, he wakes up, straps his surfboards to the racks on top of his car, drives his car from a town called Ewa, across the island of Oahu, to a little beach known as Ala Moana Beach Park. He does all of this even before the sun comes up. He spends a few minutes just looking at the ocean, watching and surveying the waves and how they break. As soon as the sun makes its first peek over the horizon, he grabs a board, waxes it up, and jumps in the water. He then paddles his board through what many people call a journey: two hundred yards of dark cold water, blistering currents, and waves pushing back against each stroke made to push forward. He makes this journey to get to a point right past where all the waves break, to a point called the line-up. It’s here, where he waits for a wave that he catches back towards the shore, only to make the journey back through all the cold harsh currents and waves again. He catches a few waves, and the n catches one all the way back to shore, where he showers, gets dressed and then goes off to work. He has one of the most stressful jobs I can think of. He is a counselor at one of the local shelters for teenage runaways. He deals with teen depression, suicidal tendencies, and coordinates bringing these kids back together with their families. And even though these tasks aren’t what most people would want to have to put up with in their lives, he does it every day. Furthermore, as stressful as his job seems to be, this man is one of the mellowest guys that I know. When asked why he does this morning ritual every day, he said, â€Å"surfing helps keep me focused†. And I believe him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Think about it for a moment, each time a surfer goes to a beach, waxes up his board, and surveys the waves from the shore, he is preparing to go into the water to do something quite amazing. This person is willing to test not only his limits, but also the limits of what the ocean can do to him. He wants to battle the power of the entity that covers over seventy percent of the earth, manifested in the form of a wave, and ride it for all its worth.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Of Mice and Men Loneliness Essay

The characters Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s Wife all exemplify loneliness and isolation. By creating and describing these characters, Steinbeck is showing the reader symbolism in the characteristics of these three characters and how it can alter the story and the characters in it. Candy demonstrates the theme of loneliness throughout the whole novella. By the way he acts towards other characters in the novella. For example, he was only close to his dog before he met George and Lennie and he was so eager to meet them and make friends. Additionally, Candy looks desperate when the outlook of being part of Lennie and George’s dream of the small farm comes up, he says, â€Å"And they give me two hundred and fifty dollars ’cause I lost my hand. An’ I got fifty more saved up right in the bank right now. That’s three hundred†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This shows he’s willing to give every cent to join up with them and their dream and loneliness has made him desperate. Candy also had a close relationship with his dog. After his dog was shot, it was almost described as if it was Candy that got shot. As the dog was being executed, Candy laid in bed and stayed silent. The dog and its weakness is a symbolism Steinbeck used to compare to Candy and his missing hand. Candy’s loneliness affects George and Lennie and alters the dream to a three man thing instead of just George and Lennie. Crooks the stable buck is a primary example of loneliness in this novella. Discrimination towards Crooks turns him into an aloof, distant, and lonely man. The men on the ranch isolate and taunt Crooks. For example, when Lennie walks in Crooks room Crooks says, â€Å"You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.† Crooks is isolating himself from everyone including Lennie and wants to be aloof. He also states, â€Å"S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ’cause you was black. How’d you like that? S’pose you had to sit out here an’ read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.† Here Crooks expresses his loneliness and how he is an outcast to the rest of the workers on the ranch. His  loneliness is formed from discrimination of his African American skin color. Portrayed by Curley, Curley’s Wife is the loneliest character on the ranch that even Steinbeck doesn’t give her a name. She is that unimportant and uninteresting compared to the rest of the characters in the novella. Sneaking around and bothering everyone and seeking attention, causing trouble around the ranch, and overall she is unwanted by the workers on the ranch. In the novella, she states that she is lonely right before her death. She states these quotes to Lennie, â€Å"I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.†, â€Å"What’s the matter with me? Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?†, and â€Å"Seems like they ain’t none of them cares how I gotta live.† Steinbeck describes isolation and loneliness in Of Mice and Men in the three characters Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s Wife. Steinbeck shows the reader how this can affect and alter the story and the characters in it using the literary elements. Quotes and facts from the novella support Steinbeck’s theme of loneliness. These three characters from the novella fit the theme perfect.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird - 1324 Words

In 1865, slavery became illegal. Though, America was unsure of the long-lasting problem that was to come: segregation. Churches, Schools, and other public environments became â€Å"white only†. Then, in 1866, the first Civil Rights Act was passed. This act forbids the previous acts of segregation, and in some cases, racism. Unfortunately, eleven years after, the compromise of 1877 was passed; which then put an end to segregation being illegal. Since then, segregation has again been prohibited and stayed this way. Still, many acts of racism/segregation between blacks and whites have been happening; especially in the court of law. In America, segregation/ racism has been an important part of history for centuries; yet, there are court cases that†¦show more content†¦In this novel, the court case and Atticus’s actions prove that around the 1930’s the court automatically assumes a black man guilty when ruling against a white man. If Tom Robinson had not gott en shot, he had a very low probability of winning the case. He was physically unable to strangle Mayella Ewell due to his early hand injury, but because he was black the court did not even take this into consideration. The court barely payed attention to his case, and what he had to say solely because of his color. Another example of racism/ segregation in the court of law is Plessy versus Ferguson case. This case started when in 1891, a group of young black men from New Orleans formed the â€Å"Citizens’ Committee to test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law†. The group then raised money and hired Albion W. Tourgeà ©, a Republican author and politician, to be their lawyer. Eventually, on May 15th, 1892, the Louisiana State Supreme Court decided that the Separate Car Law was, indeed, unconstitutional. Then on June 7th, 1892 Homer Plessy, seated himself in the white compartment. Plessy was â…ž white or, in other words, a mulatto. Even being less than 13% black, Plessy was still not allowed to be in the â€Å"white only† part of the train. He was then arrested and charged for breaking state law. Tourgeà © argued against this stating that â€Å"the law requiring ‘separate but equal accommodations’ was unconstitutional.† Finally, John H.Show MoreRelatedRacism In To Kill A Mockingbird1570 Words   |  7 Pageshistory, racism has enslaved and segregated many races in other countries, but in the United States, the African-Americans have especially been victims of racism and segregation based upon their color. In recent history, the struggle to achieve equality and eradicate racism in the United States has been an ongoing battle since the late 1800’s. In Harper Lee s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses her own experience and draws from events during her childhood to bring to expose racism againstRead MoreRacism In To Kill A Mockingbird1740 Words   |  7 Pages In the book  ¨To Kill A Mockingbird ¨ by Harper Lee, the differences of social class, ideals, and how racism is showed during the 1930s are mainly shown. This book was set in the city Maycomb, Alabama and specifically on a young girl named Scout and her family. Scout s father, Atticus, is a lawyer, but he ´s a little different from the rest. Atticus is the kind of lawyer white people hate but blacks appreciate simply because he knows what ´s right no matter the color of their skin or race. DuringRead MoreRacism In To Kill A Mockingbird1301 Words   |  6 PagesThere are a lot of life lessons learned by all the characters in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. This classic novel takes place during the Great Depression, in the 1930s, and is set in the southern state of Alabama when segregation and racism were at their worst. Lee tells the story of a young girl name Jean Louise â€Å"Scout† Finch, her brother Jeremy Atticus â€Å"Jem† Finch, her father Atticus Finch, her friend Charles Baker â€Å"Dill† Harris, Tom Robinson, and many other supporting characters thatRead MoreEssay On Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird1212 Words   |  5 PagesRacism and Prejudice A person’s childhood can really affect the way they see the world. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is highly influenced by the life she lived as a little girl. She grew up in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama. She was born there in 1926 and recently passed away in February of 2016 (Lee). Harper Lee’s real name was Nelle (Nail), but everyone calls her Harper because she opted for Nelle to be left off of her first novel. Her parents named her after her grandmotherRead MoreImpact Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird910 Words   |  4 PagesIn Harper Lee’s book â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† Jem , Scout , and Dill live in Maycomb , Alabama around the time of the 1930’s they all were struggling through racism and poor family’s trying to get by. Harper Lee’s first and only novel â€Å"To Kill A Mockingbird† was published during the civil right movements. In this book Jem, Scout, and Dill tend to have courage and loyalty through life and in their relationship toward one another . Jem and Scout are brother and sister, Dill is a friend of the familyRead MoreTheme Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird1340 Words   |  6 Pages1930’s. Racism is a major aspect in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The main character, Scout, has to deal with this problem everyday. Bob Ewell, Mr. Cunningham, and other characters are very racist, and don’t approve of Atticus defending a â€Å"Negroe†. This causes Scout to be bullied in school and even attacked by Mr. Ewell. Also, characters such as Tom Robinson are negatively affected by racism in Maycomb. Tom is killed just because of his skin color. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, HarperRead MoreTo Kill A Mockingbird Racism Analysis1348 Words   |  6 PagesHarper Lee wrote, â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† during a racial period in her home state of Alabama. This was when the South was still segregated, forcing blacks to use separat e facilities apart from those used by whites. The Civil Rights movement started to become more active when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. During this period, Martin Luther King, Jr., became the leader of the movement, and the issue began to gain serious national attention. This isRead MoreRacism In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay1090 Words   |  5 PagesAccording to a report from dosomething.org, in 2009, 2/3 of the criminals receiving life sentences were non-whites. This shows that racism is still going on today and in Harper Lees book, To Kill A Mockingbird. Her book takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama during the depression. The story is told by Jean Louise Finch, who goes by Scout. She lives with her brother named Jeremy Finch, or Jem, and their father named Atticus. He is an attorney and not afraid to stand up for what he believes inRead MoreEssay On Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird952 Words   |  4 Pages The courthouse in the book To Kill a Mockingbird is represented as an old, traditional setting in the deep south, and with traditions of the deep south comes racism. In giving Scout a lesson in how racism works, Atticus also does the same for the readers. On the syllabus of this conversation: the power of language, not only as a way to shame those who don’t toe on the racist line, but also to set the terms of the debate. Racists use â€Å"nigger-lover† to suggest African Americans special rights.,Read MoreTheme Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird1450 Words   |  6 Pages Ingrained Racism â€Å"Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird...Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy† (Lee 119). The white community sinned and the black community suffered as an innocent mockingbird was killed. Although innocence is one recurring theme in Harper Lee’s novel, it seems as though it only mattered to her. Lee illustrates the widespread racial discrimination and oppression that developed in every social class of Maycomb, Alabama. Mulligan’s interpretation however