Wednesday, January 29, 2020

The Struggle for Peace and Politics Essay Example for Free

The Struggle for Peace and Politics Essay The documentary â€Å"Peace One Day† is the brainchild of British filmmaker Jeremy Gilley, a compelling film that has envisioned a world without war even for a day. In the process of conceiving the final output of his documentary, Gilley met with people from all walks of life—state leaders, students, religious figures and many others. Gilley’s encounters with the many different people from different cultural backgrounds indicate that the world is indeed a bastion of different. But even though there is a plurality of cultures and political beliefs across the world, Gilley’s documentary is a testimony to the idea that we still have the same yearning for global peace. Part of the documentary is Gilley’s encounters with several leaders of democratic countries as well as the members of the United Nations. Given the fact that the United Nations seeks to protect the rule of law and the rights of individuals across different countries, it can be said that the liberal principles of the international organization fitted well with the vision of Gilley to have global peace at least for one day. Indeed, it would be, as it has been, the least of all the challenges that lay ahead of him. The more pressing concern with the documentary was the fact that even though the rest of the world wants peace, there are many ways used in meeting that end. One of the compelling ways to achieve peace has been the waging of wars across different parts of the world, especially after the September 11 bombing attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Several political insights can be gleaned from the documentary such as the issues of globalization, terrorism and peacekeeping within the different states. Since one of the primary goals of Gilley through his documentary is to create an international day of peace through a declaration from the United Nations, doing so meant that the documentary had to transcend issues that have divided nations, issues such as national security and international relations. From within the countries themselves, both national security and foreign policies share a considerable role in maintaining peace within the nation. More so, the challenge of maintaining international security perhaps weighs double as it requires efforts from the international community. But here you have a documentary film spearheaded by one man trying to augment those efforts to achieve world peace even for a brief moment. It says a lot especially because the United Nations has been established for several years already and that it took them quite a while to realize the need to formally initiate a declaration of an international peace day. The fact that the United Nations listened to the message of the documentary and even supported the dissemination of the film in different parts of world suggests that the United Nations still maintains a significant consideration for individual rights in the context of the larger society. By fully supporting the message of the documentary—which is to imagine a day where the world is at peace and make that thought materialize in reality—it can be said that there is still hope in global politics. No matter how severely divided nations may appear, the leaders from each of these nations can still arrive at an agreement that, indeed, there is that ultimate need for world peace. The move of the United Nations also indicates that no matter if you are a leader of a country that is financially torn or a leader of a nation that is struggling to maintain its wealth and its relations with other countries, not one leader can resist the need for world peace. The issues of peacekeeping and terrorism have strongly resounded more than before. With that in mind, the documentary easily hits the nail hard—the post 9/11 world has never been the same again, and a documentary film highlighting the need to transcend political affiliations in order to grab the beacon of peace fits perfectly well into the mold. However, it can also be said that the same issues of peacekeeping and terrorism hinder the documentary from reaching the awareness of the public in a global scale. That is, only those individuals who have access to the mainstream media and have the â€Å"tools† of the media can be able to avail of the documentary and grasp its message. And while the documentary simply serves the purpose of reawakening the hidden desire of humanity for a lasting peace and, consequently, a better life and that these things can be said are inherent to people regardless of age, gender and ethnicity, the limitation of the documentary from being spread all-over the world means much is needed to be done. The fact that there are many languages and cultural factors which largely influence the political thought of various individuals implies that the main medium of the message—the English language—may likewise limit the ‘reach’ of the documentary. Some others may even stretch the argument that the documentary is just another form of Western expansion under the guise of the claim for a world peace day. That is, by allowing the documentary to penetrate the collective consciousness of non-Westerners, the documentary in effect influences the thinking of the ‘natives’ of foreign countries, thereby altering the ways in which they think about their respective countries. For instance, an Iraqi who may have a deep resentment towards the presence of American soldiers in Iraq—which the Iraqi may tend to interpret as American occupation—may perceive the documentary as either another form of Western expansion in a different substance or an enlightening film that enriches his understanding of the nature of his country and the need for peace right in his own land. Indeed, the efforts mounted by Jeremy Gilley along with the rest of the supporters of the film, from the United Nations to the private citizens across different countries, point to the many conflicts in the world, amplified in no small way by political differences. Realists may believe that the world is in a state of anarchy and that the need for military and economic security, but even realists cannot deny the need for world peace. Regardless of political background, â€Å"Peace One Day† reflects what all people share—the importance of peace on a global landscape.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Isaiah Chapter 10 Essay -- Religion, God

The pericope of that I choose for this reflection paper is Isaiah 11:1-9. The preceding literature unit of this pericope focuses on the topic how God uses Assyria for His redemptive purpose. In Isaiah 10:5, Isaiah explains the role of Assyria in God’s plan. Assyria is the rod of God’s anger. He uses it to punish Israel and Judah because they are two godless nations but full of idols (Isaiah 10:6,11). After God’s angers are poured out on two countries, the heart of Assyria becomes boastful. God turns His anger on His rod and punishes Assyria. In Isaiah 10:12-19, Assyria is depicted as a mighty forest and the judgment of God is portrayed as an axe will swing and chop down this mighty forest. Assyria will be destroyed and reduced to a very small number that a child can count (Isaiah 10:19). After the section about the destruction of Assyria, the text turns to the proclamation of the return of the remnant of Israel. The focal point of the text zooms out in the last v erse of Isaiah chapter 10 to bring forth the final scene in which the remnant of Israel will return to their land while in the background Assyria is destroyed. The once mighty forest is no more. After God abandons Assyria as His rod at the end of Isaiah chapter 10, in the beginning of Isaiah chapter 11, God will raise up a shoot from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). This shoot from the stump of Jesse is personified as He and this Person is endowed with the Spirit of the Lord in Isaiah 11:2. He will provide justice for all. His reign will be characterized with righteousness and faithfulness (Isaiah 11:3-5). This reign of righteousness and faithfulness leads to many profound impacts and drastic changes to the whole creation. The hostilities between predators and preys, b... ...ath had shown all its power at the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The resurrection of Jesus Christ presented the power of the Holy Spirit who would transform and brought forth a new life out of the dead body, dead spirit, and dead mind of human. This theme, God will bring forth new life out of the death, will have its final in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. For all who are faithful unto their death, they will be risen up again with the new heavenly, imperishable body (1 Corinthians 15:35-49). Death is not an absolute ending of human life anymore. In the opposite, death is a requisite for entering a new life with Jesus Christ when he comes back to this earth the second time. At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, all who are faithful until death will be risen up. They will live forever in the glory of God and worship Him for eternity (Revelation 7:9-17).

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Poetry Analysis

English 1302, Composition II Poetry Analysis Assignment: Choose ONE of the prompts below; then write a 3-4 page poetry analysis in which you analyze the use of literary elements in one of the assigned poems listed: â€Å"America† (Claude McKay); â€Å"We Wear the Mask† (Paul Laurence Dunbar); â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred)† (Langston Hughes); â€Å"Mirror† (Sylvia Plath); â€Å"The Bean Eaters† (Gwendolyn Brooks); â€Å"To The Mercy Killers† (Dudley Randall); â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night† (Dylan Thomas).Your purpose is to explicate (interpret) and analyze (examine) one poem, defending your interpretive claim (a clear, concise, debatable, and assertive thesis statement that explains what the poems mean and how literary elements (i. e. speaker, figurative language (metaphor, simile, synechdoche, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, paradox), imagery, sound patterns, format, theme, persona, tone, symbolism, conn otation, or denotation) are employed to convey the poem’s message.Your primary support must come from the poem itself; however, you will be required to incorporate at least two secondary sources into your work. You must use literary present verb tense in reference to the poem and sources; however, you may not use first-person (I, me, we, our, us), second-person (you) references, or contractions (isn’t( is not). Neither off topic nor late essays will be accepted; also, plagiarized essays automatically receive a zero, and they may not be made up. In this paper you will adhere to the following: Make and support a claim regarding some issue in an assigned poem. †¢ Have a clearly-stated thesis that includes literary elements and gives the basic overview of your argument. †¢ Use quotes from the poem to support your major points. Also, use literary criticism from relevant and reliable sources to support your major points. †¢ Make interpretive arguments about th e language, tone, imagery, and figures of speech in the poetry, all toward proving your thesis. †¢ Put slashes between words to indicate a line break when quoting less than four lines: â€Å"We wear the mask that grins nd lies, / It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,–† †¢ (Anything more than four lines should be put into block format, indenting 10 spaces and double spacing the text) The opening stanza of Louise Bogan’s â€Å"Women† startles readers by presenting a negative stereotype of women: Women have no wilderness in them, They are provident instead, Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts To eat dusty bread. (1-4) †¢ Provide parenthetical citations that indicate line numbers for any quoted text. In the first reference, use the word â€Å"lines. † Thereafter, use just numbers.For example, the above lines would be followed by this notation: (lines 1-2). †¢ Avoid writing merely a summary of the poem. Length: 3-4 pages (3-full page minimum); Works Cited page (MLA format) Format: MLA format: 1-inch margins, Times New Roman font, point-size 12; typed, double-spaced, printed; stapled; header and pagination Sources: 3 sources minimum (1-primary sources (the poem in the textbook); 2-secondary sources (scholarly literary criticism from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers)) Resources: TJC Library Databases (http://www. jc. edu/library/find_articles/); Purdue OWL (http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/747/01/); Writing Center (Jenkins 1108); Literature and the Writing Process, pp. 98-106. Due Dates: Outline: ________________________ Peer Edit, Rough Draft (completed, typed, and printed): ________________________ Final Draft: Outline, Peer-edited Rough draft, Final draft: _______________________Evaluation: Topic Selection/Appropriateness; Guidelines: Minimum length; MLA style (manuscript); Clear, assertive, and analytical thesis statement; Effective organization (structure), analyzing liter ary elements; Effective paragraph structure (topic sentences, unity, coherence, development); smooth and proper MLA integration (lead-in statement, concrete detail, commentary/analysis), citation (parenthetical citations), and documentation Works Cited); Good, varied sentence structure (few or no comma splices, fragments, and fused sentences; few or no errors in subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and verb tense consistency); Good word choice; Proper grammar and punctuation. Writing Prompts: 1. Examine and defend a claim about social protest poetry. Analyze theme in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s feelings in â€Å"America† about living in a racist country; analyze those expressed by Paul Laurence Dunbar in â€Å"We Wear the Mask†; or analyze those expressed by Langston Hughes in â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred). 2. Examine and defend a claim about imagery OR symbolism in one or more of the following poems: Claude McKay’s â₠¬Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† or Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror. † 3. Examine themes about identity (self, cultural, gender, professional, community/social, national), masks, and/or deception in one of these poems: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† or Claude McKay’s â€Å"America. † 4.Examine the use of irony (verbal, situational, dramatic) OR motivation (extrinsic, intrinsic) in one or more of these poems: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Langston Hughes’s â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred), Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To The Mercy Killers,† Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† or Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. † 5. Examine theme, spe cifically the attitude toward death expressed in one or two of these poems: Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To The Mercy Killers† or Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. 6. Examine conflict (internal and external) in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To the Mercy Killers,† Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. † 7. Examine persona or speaker in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To the Mercy Killers,† Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. 8. Examine some aspect of figurative language (simile, metaphor, personificat ion, hyperbole, synecdoche, metonymy) in one or more of these poems: McKay’s â€Å"America,† Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† Hughe’s â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred). † Scratch Outline: Poetry Analysis I. Introduction A. Attention-Getter (Hook) B. Background Information (T-A-G) C. Thesis Statement: The â€Å"Poem† relies on figurative language, imagery, and tone to convey this theme. Thesis should be clear, concise, assertive, and arguable) II. Body Paragraphs A. Poem Synopsis (Summary) 1. Point 1 2. Point 2 B. Poem’s Theme 1. Identity a. concrete detail b. concrete detail 2. Denial/Deception a. concrete detail b. concrete detail B. Poem’s Explication (Explanation): Figurative Language 1. Metaphor 2. Personification C. Poem’s Explication: Imagery 1. Visual 2. Tactile D. Poem’s Explication: Tone 1. Reflective 2. Resigned III. Conclusion IV. Works Cited Poetry Analysis English 1302, Composition II Poetry Analysis Assignment: Choose ONE of the prompts below; then write a 3-4 page poetry analysis in which you analyze the use of literary elements in one of the assigned poems listed: â€Å"America† (Claude McKay); â€Å"We Wear the Mask† (Paul Laurence Dunbar); â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred)† (Langston Hughes); â€Å"Mirror† (Sylvia Plath); â€Å"The Bean Eaters† (Gwendolyn Brooks); â€Å"To The Mercy Killers† (Dudley Randall); â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night† (Dylan Thomas).Your purpose is to explicate (interpret) and analyze (examine) one poem, defending your interpretive claim (a clear, concise, debatable, and assertive thesis statement that explains what the poems mean and how literary elements (i. e. speaker, figurative language (metaphor, simile, synechdoche, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, paradox), imagery, sound patterns, format, theme, persona, tone, symbolism, conn otation, or denotation) are employed to convey the poem’s message.Your primary support must come from the poem itself; however, you will be required to incorporate at least two secondary sources into your work. You must use literary present verb tense in reference to the poem and sources; however, you may not use first-person (I, me, we, our, us), second-person (you) references, or contractions (isn’t( is not). Neither off topic nor late essays will be accepted; also, plagiarized essays automatically receive a zero, and they may not be made up. In this paper you will adhere to the following: Make and support a claim regarding some issue in an assigned poem. †¢ Have a clearly-stated thesis that includes literary elements and gives the basic overview of your argument. †¢ Use quotes from the poem to support your major points. Also, use literary criticism from relevant and reliable sources to support your major points. †¢ Make interpretive arguments about th e language, tone, imagery, and figures of speech in the poetry, all toward proving your thesis. †¢ Put slashes between words to indicate a line break when quoting less than four lines: â€Å"We wear the mask that grins nd lies, / It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,–† †¢ (Anything more than four lines should be put into block format, indenting 10 spaces and double spacing the text) The opening stanza of Louise Bogan’s â€Å"Women† startles readers by presenting a negative stereotype of women: Women have no wilderness in them, They are provident instead, Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts To eat dusty bread. (1-4) †¢ Provide parenthetical citations that indicate line numbers for any quoted text. In the first reference, use the word â€Å"lines. † Thereafter, use just numbers.For example, the above lines would be followed by this notation: (lines 1-2). †¢ Avoid writing merely a summary of the poem. Length: 3-4 pages (3-full page minimum); Works Cited page (MLA format) Format: MLA format: 1-inch margins, Times New Roman font, point-size 12; typed, double-spaced, printed; stapled; header and pagination Sources: 3 sources minimum (1-primary sources (the poem in the textbook); 2-secondary sources (scholarly literary criticism from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers)) Resources: TJC Library Databases (http://www. jc. edu/library/find_articles/); Purdue OWL (http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/747/01/); Writing Center (Jenkins 1108); Literature and the Writing Process, pp. 98-106. Due Dates: Outline: ________________________ Peer Edit, Rough Draft (completed, typed, and printed): ________________________ Final Draft: Outline, Peer-edited Rough draft, Final draft: _______________________Evaluation: Topic Selection/Appropriateness; Guidelines: Minimum length; MLA style (manuscript); Clear, assertive, and analytical thesis statement; Effective organization (structure), analyzing liter ary elements; Effective paragraph structure (topic sentences, unity, coherence, development); smooth and proper MLA integration (lead-in statement, concrete detail, commentary/analysis), citation (parenthetical citations), and documentation Works Cited); Good, varied sentence structure (few or no comma splices, fragments, and fused sentences; few or no errors in subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and verb tense consistency); Good word choice; Proper grammar and punctuation. Writing Prompts: 1. Examine and defend a claim about social protest poetry. Analyze theme in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s feelings in â€Å"America† about living in a racist country; analyze those expressed by Paul Laurence Dunbar in â€Å"We Wear the Mask†; or analyze those expressed by Langston Hughes in â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred). 2. Examine and defend a claim about imagery OR symbolism in one or more of the following poems: Claude McKay’s â₠¬Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† or Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror. † 3. Examine themes about identity (self, cultural, gender, professional, community/social, national), masks, and/or deception in one of these poems: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† or Claude McKay’s â€Å"America. † 4.Examine the use of irony (verbal, situational, dramatic) OR motivation (extrinsic, intrinsic) in one or more of these poems: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Langston Hughes’s â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred), Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To The Mercy Killers,† Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† or Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. † 5. Examine theme, spe cifically the attitude toward death expressed in one or two of these poems: Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To The Mercy Killers† or Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. 6. Examine conflict (internal and external) in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To the Mercy Killers,† Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. † 7. Examine persona or speaker in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To the Mercy Killers,† Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. 8. Examine some aspect of figurative language (simile, metaphor, personificat ion, hyperbole, synecdoche, metonymy) in one or more of these poems: McKay’s â€Å"America,† Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† Hughe’s â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred). † Scratch Outline: Poetry Analysis I. Introduction A. Attention-Getter (Hook) B. Background Information (T-A-G) C. Thesis Statement: The â€Å"Poem† relies on figurative language, imagery, and tone to convey this theme. Thesis should be clear, concise, assertive, and arguable) II. Body Paragraphs A. Poem Synopsis (Summary) 1. Point 1 2. Point 2 B. Poem’s Theme 1. Identity a. concrete detail b. concrete detail 2. Denial/Deception a. concrete detail b. concrete detail B. Poem’s Explication (Explanation): Figurative Language 1. Metaphor 2. Personification C. Poem’s Explication: Imagery 1. Visual 2. Tactile D. Poem’s Explication: Tone 1. Reflective 2. Resigned III. Conclusion IV. Works Cited