Still Just Writing Essay Example for Free

Still Just Writing Essay Almost every man who walks this planet has goals, aims, and, aspirations that he dreams of achieving. However, distractions often come about, thwarting people and preventing them from attaining their aspirations. A distraction can pull a person’s whole mind and body into a different world manipulating him to neglect his lifelong goals, and never achieve his dreams. A student, entering college with dreams of achieving a 4. 0 GPA and becoming valedictorian, can easily be swept up by social distractions, causing him to abandon his goals. Tillie Olsen and Anne Tyler both discus in their narratives, â€Å"Silences†, and, â€Å"Still Just Writing†, how parenting, childrearing, and mundane errands effected their lifelong dreams of becoming writers. They both believe that women cannot possibly create â€Å"enduring literature† unless they remain childless. However, Olsen and Tyler each viewed her own personal situation through different perspectives. Their different perspectives on life led them to each deal with her lifelong dreams and desires of becoming authors in different ways. The constant responsibilities of motherhood will have an effect on a woman’s desires and dreams. Both Olsen’s and Tyler’s dreams of becoming writers were neglected because of the immense responsibilities of motherhood. Tillie Olsen states, â€Å"All distinguished achievements has come from childless women†. She believes that all her motherly tasks have left her writing skills to â€Å"fester†, â€Å"convulse†, and â€Å"die† within her. She feels that her responsibilities and trials of family have locked away her writing talents, â€Å"like a squirrel in a cage†. Similarly, Tyler’s busy life as a mother tremendously weakens her writing abilities. Between her children’s spring vacation, dental appointments, and gymnastics meetings, there seems to never be a free moment for her to sit down and concentrate on writing a novel, â€Å"Although she planned to work till three thirty everyday it was a month of early quittings†. Tyler’s writing skills slowly deteriorated, and her once powerful, thought-out characters, turned, â€Å"pale and knuckly, like someone scrabbling at a cliff edge so as not to fall away entirely†. The responsibilities and joy of bringing up children, and being a dedicated mother distracted Olsen and Tyler from developing their writing skills, and fulfilling their dreams of becoming renowned authors. Happiness is not dependent on one’s life situation, rather it is dependent on ones perspective and attitude regarding his situation. Although Olsen’s and Tyler’s situations in life were quite similar, their perspectives and attitudes on life could not have been more different. Tillie Olsen believes that social pressures squashed her talents and all women’s writing talents into a dark shadowy corner, denying their development. She believes that society views â€Å"woman writers, woman experience, and literature written by woman by definition minor†. Furthermore, Olsen believes that woman are forced to give into the social pressures of always, â€Å"being attractive†, and spend hours, â€Å"agonizing over appearance†, rather than spending hours working on literary writings. Olsen views herself and her lost dreams as the miserable victim of social discrimination against women. However, Anne Tyler views her situation in a totally different light than Olsen does. Tyler believes that distractions are a part of life that affects everyone, not just woman. She laments how her husband’s writing, â€Å"fell by the wayside†, while he was finishing his medical schooling. Additionally, she describes how her husband’s, â€Å"responsibilities to support a family† cause him to neglect his writings, which he cares so deeply about. Unlike Olsen, Tyler doesn’t view the world as an evil place that stunts women from developing their talents, rather she views the world as a place where everyone, man and woman alike, have responsibilities towards other people which must be fulfilled as they strive to accomplish their lifelong dreams. Differences in ones perspective in life leads to different outcomes in the way one leads one’s life. Olsen’s negative outlook on her life led her to permanently give up on her dreams. Olsen believes that one cannot find a balance between ones mundane responsibilities and one’s dreams. She believes that, â€Å"you must choose between your art and fulfillment as a woman†. Her pessimistic belief that she is the victim of â€Å"coercive working of sexiest oppression†, causes her to relinquish her lifelong goals. Although she admits that some women try to have a family life and become a writer, her negative perspective on the world causes her to believe that their work will be, â€Å"impeded, lessened and partial†. Olsen’s downbeat attitude towards life has led her to believe that the responsibilities of motherhood has sapped her from her literary and writing talents, and has cruelly snatched away her dreams of becoming a distinguished author. Unlike Olsen, Tyler’s positive outlook on life allowed her to learn how to deal with her responsibilities. Like a child who learns how to balance on a bicycle, Tyler learns how to properly balance her life as a mother and a writer. She believes that her experience of being a mother has caused her to grow, â€Å"richer and deeper†, allowing her writing to become more profound and meaningful, â€Å"when I did write I had more self to speak from†. Tyler has successfully found a, â€Å"way to slip gracefully through a choppy life of writing novels, plastering the dining room ceiling and presiding at slumber parties†. Tyler is a successful mother and yet she is also, â€Å"still just writing†. Tyler’s optimistic outlook on life led her to become a unique individual; she is a happy easygoing housewife and mother, and a deep profound writer. Few people can fulfill their responsibilities towards others and attain their dreams. Only with a positive, upbeat, easygoing attitude, like that of Tyler, can one fulfill the time consuming, mundane tasks of life, while simultaneously achieving one’s lifelong goals. This world is a challenge, where we each must find the exact balance between our general obligations to our family and mankind, and our lifelong goals and desires. We cannot allow our mundane responsibilities to sidetrack us from reaching our goals. We must use our mind like a laser beam, and focus on what is important in our life, whether it is becoming the next great author, earning a 4. 0 GPA or developing our character traits. We should be like Anne Tyler and view our responsibilities through a positive eye, learn to appreciate them, and grow from them, but not allow them overtake our desires to accomplish our aims, ambitions, and aspirations.

Expository Essay Essay Example for Free

Expository Essay Essay When Anatole France wrote â€Å"to know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything,† he means imagination is very important to life and success. For example, Dr. Seuss had a wild imagination and he was very successful. Also, imagination led to many successful inventions. A world without imagination is like a world with nothing but old businessmen in work suits; very boring. To begin, Dr. Seuss had a wildly active imagination. He wrote everything from â€Å"Green Eggs and Ham,† to â€Å"Horton Hears a Who,† and â€Å"The Lorax. † Similarly, all these stories have made up characters, animals, and even words. The way he wrote these stories inspired numerous kids to have active imaginations. Also, he has inspired more than just kids, even the directors of the drama club at Jackson Memorial High School were inspired by him. Hence, last year the high school did one giant play that combined most of his stories, and made it into a musical. All in all, Dr. Seuss’ imagination led to his extremely successful career. In addition, every invention, successful or failure needs imagination. For example, the Wright brothers had to have some imagination to be able to build the first airplane. Although the first few attempts weren’t successful they never gave up. If it wasn’t for them, there would be no such things as airplanes and we would have to travel to far places by boat or car. Another famous inventor was Steve Jobs. He invented and co-founded Apple computers. Although his first computers were completely terrible, he never gave up. Now, Apple is one of the best companies in the stock market and they just keep inventing new products. If Jobs never imagined about a completely new computer, there would be no such thing as an Iphone or Mac computers. In short, it is impossible not to have imagination when it comes to inventing something. To summarize, imagination is crucial to life and success. For example, Dr. Seuss was a very successful author for his imaginary worlds and characters. In addition, many inventors had very active imaginations, like the Wright brothers and Steve Jobs. If it wasn’t for them, our lives would be more difficult than it already is. In conclusion, the world without imagination  is just simply boring.

A Look At Islamic Terrorism

A Look At Islamic Terrorism INTRODUCTION There are differing opinions with regards to Islamic terrorism with the most fundamental of them being the role played by religious beliefs to motivate terrorist organizations. Are the beliefs in Islamic teachings the grounds for terrorist actions or do terrorist groups manipulate religious beliefs to justify terrorist acts? There are many scholars who claim that the teachings of Islam inspire terrorist acts. In this article I will not venture to study this aspect and restrict my study to how terrorists are able to manipulate religion to justify their reprehensible acts. I will attempt to find answer to the question, how is Islam being used by terrorist organizations to achieve political ends? SCOPE I will study the subject under the heads given below. (a) Why are the teachings of Islam being misrepresented? (b) How are the teachings of Islam being misrepresented? (c) Jihad and suicide terrorism. (d) My Jammu and Kashmir experience. WHY ARE THE TEACHINGS OF ISLAM BEING MISREPRESENTED? RELIGION : MEANS TO GARNER PUBLIC SUPPORT. Before I deliberate on how teachings of Islam are being distorted by the terrorist groups it would be pertinent to understand the interplay of the goals of these terrorist organizations and Islam. It is important to study terrorist goals because goals shape the strategy and tactics of the groups and study of interplay between goals and religion will give an understanding as to why and how these groups manipulate the teachings of Islam. (a) AL QAEDA. Al Qaedas stated goal is to end American military presence in Middle East and Arabian Peninsula, stop US support for Israel and overthrow infidel regimes. (b) ARMED ISLAMIC GROUP (GIA). GIA is an Algerian group which aims to overthrow the Algerian regime and replace it with Islamic State. (c) EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD. Its goals are to overthrow the Egyptian government and to make Egypt an Islamic state and it also has some anti Western and anti US interests. (d) HARKAT-UL-MUJAHIDIN (HUM), JAISH-E-MOHAMMED (JEM), LASHKAR-E-TAYYAIBA (LeT). These are Pakistani groups with declared goal of uniting Kashmir with Islamic Republic of Pakistan. I have listed few of the Islamist terrorist groups operating in various parts of the world to give an idea of the kind of goals that these groups have identified for themselves. Deeper study of Al Qaedas aim will reveal a dream of an Islamic caliphate extending from Europe to South East Asia. Ayatollah Khomeini has a vision of wide Shia crescent of one Iran linking Iraq and Lebanon. The above is indicative of the political ambitions of these terrorist groups and the new world order which they aim to achieve by juxtaposing religion with their stated objectives. In order to achieve their goals terrorist groups need public support and sympathy. In the Muslim world religion has great influence on individual and society at large. The terrorists aim to garner support of this constituency by influencing the thinking in the Muslim world that they are the last bastion of puritanical Islam. They aim to gain support for their political ambitions by manipulating public opinion using the vehicle of religion. They also aim to gain support and sympathy of the Muslim ummah with their promise of regaining the lost glory of the Muslim civilization. Another important issue is that of the links between the terrorist groups. Though some of these groups operate independently, however most of them have developed linkages even if the linkages are of ideology. Because of this, manipulation of the teachings of Islam by one group has impact on other groups, resulting in the way all of them shape their strategy and tactics. Today we see misinterpretation of the teachings of Islam, without exception, by all Islamist terrorist groups. RELIGION: MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. Bruce Hoffman, former Director of the RAND Corporations Washington Office argues that, terrorists message is not necessarily religious, but he is using religion to communicate it. He goes further to say, someone claiming affiliation with an ethnic group cannot expect to get a lot of support beyond the limits of that ethnic group, but those claiming affiliation with a major religion create a much wider potential constituency. Thus terrorist groups try to leverage mosques as communication vehicles where there are captive audiences ready to listen to their views. In the mosques, the terrorists are able to tailor their message to suit their goals, thereby exploiting religion for political purposes. We thus have terrorist groups misrepresenting the teachings of Islam. First, to gain public support for their cause then, use the religion to communicate with the same people to further their cause. HOW ARE THE TEACHINGS OF ISLAM BEING MISREPRESENTED? The opinion of the scholars is divided regarding how Islam is being manipulated by terrorist organizations to achieve political ends. There are scholars on both sides of the divide who have strong views on the subject. Bernard Lewis of Princeton University, USA believes that Islam does not approve of terrorism. He argues that there is no evidence of terrorism in the teachings and traditions of Islam. On the other hand, Osama bin Laden quotes extensively from Quran and interprets verses from the holy book to justify many of his actions. According to Bill Warner, Director of Centre for Study of Political Islam (CSPI), USA, Islamic texts have been made difficult to understand and comprehend. As per his study, about 61% of the contents of Koran are found to speak ill of unbelievers or call for their violent conquest  [1]  and about 75% of Muhammads biography (Sira) consists of Jihad waged on unbelievers  [2]  . However, there are many Muslim scholars who do not agree with his wor k. IDENTIFICATION OF THE ENEMIES. The terrorist groups operating around the world can be divided into two categories, the secular and the groups which draw inspiration from religious teachings. Secular groups have been motivated by secular agendas of Vladimir Lenin, Che Guevara, Mao Zedong and so on; while there are groups who draw inspiration from teachings of people like Muslim Brotherhood theoretician Sayyid Qutb, Palestinian theologian Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Iranian ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. One important difference between the two groups is in the way they identify their enemies. For the secular terrorist groups the enemies are the members of the governmental setup or certain social economic order. For the Islamic terrorists it has much wider connotation. Different terrorist groups have different ways and means to identify their enemies. For example Sayyid Qutb, who is considered to have influenced the ideology of many terrorist groups including Al Qaeda says, the way to bring ab out freedom to Muslims is to fight, jahiliyyah or pre Islamic ignorance is through preaching and through physical power and jihad against organization and authority of jahil system  [3]  . These kinds of beliefs are open to interpretation and to followers of Sayyid Qutb they have justification of his understanding of Islamic teachings to enforce their belief even by the use of force. This leaves room for distortion of Islamic teachings. We have seen that on many instances ideologues of terrorist groups have come out with their interpretation of religious scriptures to suit organisational political agendas. The way terrorist groups identify their enemies has to be seen in the light of the stated goals. My understanding is that though the terrorist groups have a loose alliance but they aim to establish a Pan Islamic Caliphate. To achieve their ambitions the terrorist groups are trying to ensure that not only individuals but the states and the administrative machinery of the jahil system are brought to submission to their understanding of Islam. Today Islamic Terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon. How are these groups able to justify their terrorist acts to the teachings of Islam even when their acts cause casualties to innocent civilians including Muslims? JUSTIFICATION FOR KILLING OF CIVILIANS. Quran and the teachings of Islam have laid down code of conduct regarding the laws of war and the definition of combatants and non-combatants. Off late, certain terrorist groups have broadened the definition of combatants to include all civilians living in infidel lands. The ideologues of the terrorist groups have proposed their interpretations of laws of war whereby such civilians are being perceived in the same way as soldiers fighting on the battlefield. Such a position endangers the lives of innocent civilians including women and children and denies them the protection under Islam from a religious perspective. On 28 June 2002, 28 scholars from the Al-Azhar Institute in Egypt determined that in conducting jihad there is no need to make any distinction between soldiers and civilians. In April 2002, Sheikh Hamed al-Ali, a lecturer on Islamic culture in Kuwait and one of the leaders of the radical Salafi stream, clarified in a religious ruling the circumstances in which it is permitted to kill civilians in the cause of jihad without violating the Prophet Muhammads command prohibiting the murder of women and children.  [4]  It is not as if there are no counter arguments from respectable scholars to such edicts, but the terrorist groups seem to ignore everything that can thwart the fulfilment of their aims. JUSTIFICATION FOR KILLING MUSLIMS. In the world today, there are many Muslim majority countries affected by terrorism. In fact, a large percentage of casualties due to terrorist actions are Muslims. Certainly Islam does not preach Muslims should kill Muslims to advance the cause of the religion. So how do these terrorists justify the killing of Muslims? It would be worthwhile to make a comparison between the targets and modus operandi of secular terrorists and Islamic terrorists. The IRA in the 1990s issued warnings, disrupted public transport system and bombed downtown areas on Sunday mornings. This is in contrast to Al Qaeda which bombed the World Trade Centre towers, carries out bombings in crowded market places, suicide bombings in mosques knowing quite well there will be sizable Muslim population. Bin Laden and the likes of him are making distinction between good and bad Muslims and misinterpret the teachings of the religion. The secular terrorist groups may still have some disinclination to cause casualty to members of their own racial or ethnic groups but some of the religious oriented terrorist groups do not show any such compunction. Anybody who opposes the political ambitions of these groups is their enemy, including Muslims. One of Sayyid Qutbs idea identifies who is a true Muslim and who is not, thereby making many of th em as apostates and giving jihadists a legal loophole around the prohibition of killing another Muslim, and also making it a religious obligation to execute the self-professed Muslim. These alleged apostates also include leaders of Muslim countries, since they have failed to enforce Sharia law.  [5]   JIHAD AND SUICIDE TERRORISM I will now attempt to study how Islamist terrorist organizations are furthering their cause through misrepresenting the concept of Jihad and through suicide terrorism. JIHAD. Jihad in Arabic is a noun meaning struggle and in its common usage means, striving in the way of Allah. Muslims use the word Jihad to describe three different kinds of struggle. (a) A believers internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible. (b) The struggle to build a good Muslim society. (c) Holy war; the struggle to defend Islam with force, if necessary  [6]  . This is how Prophet Mohammed probably wished Jihad to be. How did Saddam Hussain interpret Jihad? Just before the Gulf War Saddam had threatened the United States with Jihad. Daniel Pipes in his article in the New York Post of 31 Dec 2002 says it was, Saddams call for legal, compulsory, communal effort to expand the territories ruled by Muslims at the expense of territories ruled by non Muslim. This may be one extreme view but certainly there was no religious obligation for Muslims to answer his call. Saddam probably wished to play on the religious sentiments of the Muslims to perpetuate his regime against an imminent attack. Many of the terrorist groups perpetrate violence in the name of Jihad and many a times even without enunciating demands. There are numerous cases all over the world of bombs going off in market places and on trains which have puzzled authorities about the motives of these acts. There can be no religious justification for these acts. These acts are possibly committed due to terrorists personal grievances, cultural reasons or to change the existing political order. Many scholars of Islamic history argue that the concept of Jihad is dynamic and has been constantly evolving. This has led to the modern day Jihadists to distort the original concept to help them achieve their aims including political aims. Kaisa Schreck, editor of the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) is of the view that, perceived decline of Islamic culture and power, coupled with oppression by secular dictators, gave rise to radical Islamist agenda in Sayyid Qutb which is centered on the concept of violen t Jihad. The original concept of Jihad as enunciated by Prophet was distorted by the likes of Qutb who preached, human society had become tainted by a pre Islamic barbarism. Muslims who did not see this reality were ignorant non believers and therefore legitimate targets in a holy battle. Modern day Jihad got a fillip in the 1980s when thousands of Jihadists were factory produced by the CIA and the ISI in madrassas of Pakistan using the Saudi money. The Islamist guerrillas initially fought the Soviet army and today they fight everywhere from Philippines to Kashmir to Iraq and the United States. Theological credentials of the product of these madrassas, run under the patronage of either the intelligence agencies or by groups having politico religious ambitions, has never been a source of debate. The products of these madrassas are mercenaries who are fighting for political order in the name of Jihad and religion. SUICIDE TERRORISM. Study of suicide terrorism has thrown up conflicting results. There is a school of thought for whom suicide terrorism has been sanctified by the Quranic verses and the Sunnah while for the other group, religious teachings have a minor role in suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists. It is actually a means to achieve political aims. The studies carried out on the subject have thrown up interesting results with regards to education level, background and principle motivation for undertaking such attacks. According to Charles A Kimball, Department of Religion, Wake Forest University, USA there is only one verse in the Quran that contains a phrase related to suicide, verse 4:29 of the Quran. It reads, O you who believe! Do not consume your wealth in the wrong way rather through trade mutually agreed to and do not kill yourself. Surely God is merciful towards you. Islam strictly prohibits suicide and murders. However, Al Qaeda, Hamas and some other terrorist organizations give religious sanctity to such acts. For many of the suicide terrorists Sura 9 Ultimatum, Verse 111 from the Quran preaches the followers of the religion to undertake this venture. For these groups there is sufficient justification in the Quran which assures a place in paradise if a person dies advancing the cause of Islam. But the moot question is, are the terrorist groups advancing the cause of Islam or some politico religious agenda? The other school of thought believes that there are multifarious reasons, other than religious, which motivates people to carry out suicide missions. For them there are Muslim youths in the West who feel a sense of discrimination and alienation because of cultural differences. Some of the Muslims are outraged by what they feel as injustice being meted out to Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. For others it is financial factor which is the cause of recruitment and still for others it could be revenge, ideology, tribal loyalties or the indoctrination carried out in the madrassas. According to Professor Dipak Gupta, San Diego State University the driving force behind terrorist actions tends to be the desire to be an important member of the group. So is suicide terrorism a case of leader inculcating a sense of achievement in the terrorists and justifying the act in the name of Islam? Fahana Ali, international policy analyst at the RAND Corporation says for, women jihadist collec tive identity is more important than the individual identity, and its members are willing to do anything for a charismatic leader. Other reasons for these women to undertake terrorist activities could be revenge for lost husband or a close relative, gain respect of the other members of the group and in the society. From the above it is clear that the reasons for undertaking suicide terrorism are many. However, as seen earlier in the article terrorist groups try to misinterpret religion to garner support of the Muslim world for their acts and also recruit suicide terrorists. Cloak of religiosity is provided to communicate with gullible section of the Muslim community and earn their support for their actions. RELIGIOUS INSPIRATION Vs STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS During the course of my study I did come across arguments forwarded by many scholars who felt emphasizing strategic and political considerations for terrorist acts by Islamist groups and downplaying religious inspiration for terrorism was dangerous and inaccurate. Results of many studies on the subject have concluded that Islamic terrorist groups undertake terrorist acts for strategic and political considerations. Some of these studies suggest that politics and grievances (of Muslim community) are the cause of violence and religious rhetoric. It is also important to study reverse relationship that is, the possibility of religious teachings shaping political views. Prudence demands we should not be dismissive of such an idea; however, the role of Islamic teachings in motivating terrorists organizations is a subject itself and is beyond the scope of the article. MY JAMMU AND KASHMIR (JK) EXPERIENCE In my over 20 years of commissioned service I have been posted to JK on five occasions, of that four times for counter terrorist operations. There were certain issues which stood in the face way back in 1993 and my views got reinforced over the years in my many interactions with terrorists, surrendered and apprehended, their sympathizers and the common man. Many of the terrorists and over ground workers I came across were non practicing and neither were their families very religious. These terrorists took on the faà §ade of religiosity once they were indoctrinated or forced to join the terrorist groups. In my interactions with them I got a sense of what they passed on as religious knowledge was superficial understanding of Quran, other religious scriptures and practices. When some of them would quote scriptures they would display ignorance of real knowledge and the context for what they were saying. The above strengthened my belief that these individuals became radical because of la ck of knowledge of Islam rather than being knowledgeable about it. My understanding of terrorist groups, at least of the lower rung, is that the groups do not have any kind of ideology even political. Religion is being manipulated to fill that void artificially. The common man in JK is politically discerning and awake to the ground realities of the sub continent. The terrorist groups are also alive to this aspect and are also aware that their demands are inadequate to attract wide following; therefore it is a deliberate attempt on their part to shroud their political demands in the cloak of religiosity. Another striking aspect of this story is the reason why individuals get motivated for the terrorists cause. In JK, in many of the cases it has been social cause besides friendship, kinship, camaraderie, sense of adventure, easy money which has been a motivating factor rather than religious ideology and this is consistent with my arguments in the article. My interaction with some of the foreign terrorists also threw up similar interesting facets of terrorists training including ideological training. These terrorists were indoctrinated with hate speeches, trained to cause destructions and to cause murder, but even they could not advance any convincing theological rationale for their acts. Perhaps their trainers are aware that ordinary Jihadists in Pakistan are also not well versed with the indepth understanding of Islamic teachings, hence the indoctrination of the terrorists by their handlers in Pakistan is intensely political. They play on the psyche of Muslims who are concerned with the plight of their Kashmiri brothers. They have been indoctrinated on the theme of humiliation and suffering of the Muslims at the hands of Hindus. For them Muslims are being oppressed and humiliated by non Muslims and the only way to defend the honor is through Jihad ensuring liberation of Kashmir and its merger with Pakistan. This heady concoction of f ight for honor and political ambition offered on religious mantle is most effective. CONCLUSION The issue of Islamic terrorism has religious overtone but religion is not everything about Islamic terrorism. Islam does have a history of violence associated with it since its early days but then so do many other religions in the world. The aggression of the Islamist terrorist groups that we see today does emanate in portions from misinterpreting the teachings of Islam and in part is the outcome of political ideas, hence it has to be defeated through teaching correct religious practices and by political tools. The strategy being followed by Government of India in JK viz political activism, winning hearts and minds of the people and military action against the terrorists coupled with keeping communication channels even with dissidents open is part of the approach to the problem of religious terrorism. A concerted effort has to be made to expose terrorist groups of the manner in which they misrepresent Islam. More important aspect is to make citizens of the country in general and Musl ims in particular aware of the true religious practices and teachings of Islam.

Personal Narrative - I Don’t Want to Cry :: Personal Narrative

I Don’t Want to Cry Tonight, I punched a child in the stomach. He gasped for air, his face grew red, and his eyes got watery. Granted, we were at Karate class and we were sparring. And, granted, I was 19 and he was likely 10. I hadn’t meant to hurt him; I had actually been â€Å"going light.† But I hurt him. The fact is, he knew it and didn’t care. He could have continued the night without a single tear. But when the Shihan came to try and make him feel better, the boy’s face got redder and his lip quivered as that single tear rolled down his cheek. The boy was perfectly fine until he was consoled. When I was younger, I wasn’t the most popular. I was known as a bookworm who frequently dazed off in class, all the while being admired by the teachers for my intelligence. I was short, wore glasses, didn’t talk much, and only had 2 friends in my grade. I was, expectedly, picked on by the bigger kids. I was hurt several times. However, I hid it from my teachers and parents. I didn’t want to cry. And I was fine without crying; I merely accepted the beating and went on, trying to avoid or get back at the bullies. Girls are taught at an early age that they can cry. The sight of a girl with tears running down her cheeks inspires compassion, while a boy’s tears bring mostly embarrassment. Girls are also ingrained with the fact that females are â€Å"there for each other,† and can therefore support one another emotionally. Women frequently talk of how refreshed a â€Å"good cry† is, as if it were a long bath or a cigarette. But guys don’t cry. Pop psychology tells us that this is because men see crying as negative. Because we can’t accept our feelings and are scared at the expression of them. So this boy was too scared to cry until the instructor let him know it was OK? Hogwash. A Karate instructor, like a coach, wants to keep little boys from crying whenever possible. It isn’t fair that a man’s dislike of being forced to cry makes others think he is â€Å"all bottled up inside. Personal Narrative - I Don’t Want to Cry :: Personal Narrative I Don’t Want to Cry Tonight, I punched a child in the stomach. He gasped for air, his face grew red, and his eyes got watery. Granted, we were at Karate class and we were sparring. And, granted, I was 19 and he was likely 10. I hadn’t meant to hurt him; I had actually been â€Å"going light.† But I hurt him. The fact is, he knew it and didn’t care. He could have continued the night without a single tear. But when the Shihan came to try and make him feel better, the boy’s face got redder and his lip quivered as that single tear rolled down his cheek. The boy was perfectly fine until he was consoled. When I was younger, I wasn’t the most popular. I was known as a bookworm who frequently dazed off in class, all the while being admired by the teachers for my intelligence. I was short, wore glasses, didn’t talk much, and only had 2 friends in my grade. I was, expectedly, picked on by the bigger kids. I was hurt several times. However, I hid it from my teachers and parents. I didn’t want to cry. And I was fine without crying; I merely accepted the beating and went on, trying to avoid or get back at the bullies. Girls are taught at an early age that they can cry. The sight of a girl with tears running down her cheeks inspires compassion, while a boy’s tears bring mostly embarrassment. Girls are also ingrained with the fact that females are â€Å"there for each other,† and can therefore support one another emotionally. Women frequently talk of how refreshed a â€Å"good cry† is, as if it were a long bath or a cigarette. But guys don’t cry. Pop psychology tells us that this is because men see crying as negative. Because we can’t accept our feelings and are scared at the expression of them. So this boy was too scared to cry until the instructor let him know it was OK? Hogwash. A Karate instructor, like a coach, wants to keep little boys from crying whenever possible. It isn’t fair that a man’s dislike of being forced to cry makes others think he is â€Å"all bottled up inside.

The Influence of the FLN on De Gaulle and Algerias Independence Essay

The Influence of the FLN on De Gaulle and Algeria's Independence In 1957, French Forces were able to militarily defeat and temporarily subdue FLN. However, to the surprise of the whole world, French President Charles De Gaulle opted for a political solution and announced independence for the Algerians in 1962. To what extent did the activities of FLN influence De Gaulle and what other factors can be identified which led to his surprising decision to grant independence to Algeria? Introduction 1. The Algerian War of Independence (1954–62) was a period of guerrilla strikes, maquis fighting, terrorism against civilians on both sides, and riots between the French army and colonists in Algeria and the FLN (Front de Libà ©ration Nationale) and other pro-independence Algerians. Although the French government of the time considered all Algerian violence, including violence against the French military, to be crimes or terrorism, some French people, such as former anti-Nazi guerrilla and lawyer(Jacques Verges) have compared French resistance to Nazi German occupation to Algerian resistance to French occupation. 2. The struggle was touched off by the FLN in 1954, only two years before France was forced to give up its control over Tunisia and Morocco. The FLN's main Algerian rival — with the same goal of Algerian independence — was the later National Algerian Movement (Mouvement National Algà ©rien, MNA) whose main supporters were Algerian workers in France. The FLN and MNA fought against each other in France, and sometimes in Algeria, for nearly the full duration of the conflict. 3. Algeria was the greatest and in many ways the archetype of all anti-colonial wars. In the 19th century the Europeans won colonial wars because the indigenous peoples had lost the will to resist. In the 20th century the roles were reversed, and it was Europe which lost the will to hang on to its gains. Algeria was a classic case of this reversal. 4. In 1830 Algeria became a French territory and in 1848 was made a dà ©partement attached to France . During this period political and economic power were held mainly by the minority of white settlers, and the indigenous Moslem minority did not have equal rights. Moslems were killed before independence was declared on July 5, 1962. Later that year the Algerian provisional government transferred authority to the Poli... ...ely compelled French authorities to announce independence for the Algerian people. This war of independence passed through many ups and downs and millions of innocent people suffered badly but the ultimate will of the people found its way to the final success. Movement of such nature should always remain a source of inspiration and motivation for the deprived and suppressed people of the world. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Books Alistair Horne; A Savage War Of Peace, Algeria 1954 – 1962, Macmillan London Limited, London. Tania Matthews; War in Algeria: Background for Crisis, Fordham University Press. Dorothy Pickles; Algeria and France: From Colonialism to Cooperation, Methuen and co.ltd. 2. Internet a. www.crimesofwar.org/thebook/algeria.html b. encarta.msn.com/Algerian_War_of_Independence.html c. www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/webberm/algeria d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_War e. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/A/Al/ Algerian_War_of_Independence.htm f. www.free-definition.com/Algerian-War-of-Independence.html g. www.country-studies.com/algeria/political-movements.html h. http://www.sahara-overland.com/routes

Capital Punishment Essays -- essays research papers

Capital punishment is necessary in order for justice to prevail. Capital punishment is the execution of criminals for committing crimes, so bad that this is the only acceptable punishment. Capital punishment lowers the murder rate, but its value as retribution alone is a good reason for handing out death sentences. It is one of the only fair punishments allowed by the judicial system. Another issue is that it saves money compared to the alternative of life in prison.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1972, in the case of Furman vs. Georgia, declared capital punishment cruel and unusual punishment. However after the Supreme Court Decision of Gregg vs. Georgia, the Supreme Court said that capital punishment was not unconstitional and the capital punishment resumed under new guidelines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are seven main types of execution: Hanging, where the prisoner is blindfolded and stands on a trap door, with a rope around his neck. The trap door is opened suddenly. The weight of the prisoner's body below the neck causes traction separating the spinal cord from the brain. The second most widely used technique is shooting, where a firing quad shoots the prisoner from some meters away. Another method is Guillotine, a device consisting of a heavy blade held aloft between upright guides and dropped to behead the victim below. Then there was Garroting, in which a tightened iron collar is used to strangle or break the neck of a condemned person. One of the more r...

Paraguay Essay

Mushfika Chowdhury Ms. Vives Spanish Paraguay Paraguay is a country in South America. It is surrounded by Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. Most people know Paraguay as Paraguay, but the country s official name is Republic of Paraguay. In 2011 it has said that Paraguay has approximately a population of 6,568,290. Most people are living in the oriental region. The country’s official language is Spanish as well as Guarani. The oriental eastern region has hills, waterfalls, exotic plants and the forest.This region makes up 40 percent of Paraguay. This part of Paraguay receives a large amount of rainfall. The region known as occidental also known as Chaco, is made up of grass, course tropical reeds and stunned trees. Some of Paraguay’s natural resources include forest soil, minerals, and the rivers. The rivers are important because tis how most people in Paraguay communicate, it also provides fish. The main industry is farming livestock, cotton, cane, corn, soybeans, potatoe s, bananas, oranges, wheat, beans, tea and tobacco. That was the farming and food recourses of Paraguay.When it comes to the government and money there’s not that many similarities. Some of you may or may not know that the former president of Paraguay was Fernando Lugo (2008-2012). It wasn’t that many days ago that a new president for Paraguay was elected, his name is Mr. Franco. The currency used in Paraguay is Guarani. One dollar in the United States is 4,095. 58 Guarani. One Paraguay Guarani equals to 0. 0002442 cents in the U. S. You also might be wondering what type of government Paraguay has. Well its constitutional republic. I would also recommend you taking a camera if you ever go there, the sites and scenery is breathtaking.