Flattery in Pride and Prejudice Essay example -- Pride and Prejudice

Flattery in Pride and Prejudice Since its composition in 1797, Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice has enjoyed two centuries of literary esteem not because of its witty dialogue or its tantalizing plot, but because of its universal themes that allow modern readers to identify with early Victorian life. Although the novel focuses on the etiquette of courtship, related social rituals are also prevalent throughout the story. William Collins, a rector in Pride and Prejudice, uses excessive flattery to persuade people to look upon him favorably. He even lavishly praises himself to enhance his self-esteem. While the sycophant's peculiar behavior is comical at first glance, its emphasis in the story portends a greater social meaning that is illuminated upon evaluation of his flattery with relevance to the plot. In Pride and Prejudice, Austin suggests through Collins' mannerisms that one flatters others to enlist their future support and one flatters oneself to ensure individual prosperity. Pertaining to others, Austin endows Collins with a motive of personal gain and later removes that objective, establishing a strong correlation between flattery and selfish advantage. As the legal heir to the Bennet family's estate once its patriarch dies, Collins offers unwarranted praise along with his hand in marriage to one of the daughters. Apart from flattering the family to marry one of its girls, his profuse compliments also extend to his wealthy benefactress and also, of course, to himself. However, Collins' compliments toward the family end after he fails to marry on... ...lattery may have academic influence, she allows Collins to smother praise on anything that might prove advantageous to his affluence, from which one may surmise that flattery contributes to personal prosperity in any form. This truth becomes readily apparent upon contrasting Collins' behavior in situations wherein he may or may not have something to gain through flattery. Of course, this mundane reiteration about flattery must be particularly monotonous to a reader who has already demonstrated a profound grasp of literature by deftly maneuvering through and deliberating upon mistakes previous to this point, so it is for that intelligent and sophisticated reader that this paper ends abruptly. Work Cited Austin, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Norwalk: The Easton Press, 1997.

Compare and Contrast Grandparents’ Importance Essay

â€Å"Few can bring the warmth we can find in their embrace, and little more is needed to bring love than the smile on their face. They’ve a supply of precious stories, yet they’ve time to wipe a tear, or give us reasons to make us laugh. They grow more precious through the years. I believe that God sent us Grandparents, as our legacy from above, to share the moments of our life as extra measures of His love. †(www. the parentsday. com) Some kids really don’t realize how much they lose when they don’t spend enough time with their grandparents. Grandparents are extremely unique people who should truly be idolized, there aren’t many people like them who: will always care, will love unconditionally, and have lived through very tough times that most teens couldn’t understand. One of the most important reasons why grandparents should be idolized is that, grandparents are the type of people that will always care about their family. Census figures released recently quantify what experts have long noted as a growing phenomenon: The number of children being raised by grandparents–4. million–is at an all-time high, surpassing the population of children in foster care (Haynes V, Dion, www. grandparents. com). The growing number of grandkids being raised by their grandparents just shows how much grandparents truly care about their family. There is a reason elderly people always ask you if you’re hungry, or cold, or if anything is wrong too, grandparents don’t want their grandkids to suffer in the slightest bit. They want to make sure all is well. Another reason grandparents should be idolized is, there aren’t many people in the world that, no matter what you do wrong, will love you as if nothing at all had happened. Unconditional love isn’t a very common thing to come across, but grandparents tend to have it for each and every one of their grandchildren. Going to grandma and grandpa’s house normally means getting a face stuffed with junk food, getting little gifts just because, and getting called all those cute little nicknames that they give the grandkids. Most people will agree with this if they have a grandparent and will say that it is because they just want to show their love for them. Grand kids can do no wrong in a grandparent’s eyes, at least that’s what they say. It must take a lot of strength to push every little, bad thing someone has done, and just forgive them completely like nothing ever happened. Because of all the technology that exists, people in today’s times have it pretty easy compared to when grandparents were teenagers. They had to put up with more than people do now. About 7 million people served on active duty during the Korean War Era making them veterans of war. 997,000 people also served during WWII; 347,000 during the Vietnam War; and 291,000 during all three wars (www. vnf. org, Office of Veteran Affairs). These statistics prove that there is a large chance that an individual’s grandparents participated in at least one, if not more than one, of these wars. Besides the war, there is also the fact that there was way less technology back then. There were no televisions, no iPods, no cellphones, and no video games. They actually had to entertain themselves by using imagination, going outside, and not being lazy, which is very rare in today’s society. Most kids wouldn’t even know what to do with themselves if they didn’t have all the precious technology they do, and for that reason alone, people should look up to their grandparents. As a consequence of people not recognizing these amazing characteristics grandparents have, grandparents tend to taken advantage of. People need to spend more time with their grandparents to make them know they are appreciated. Grandparents don’t expect anything in return for their love, but try to make the feeling mutual. Everyone deserves a lot of love. Doing something as simple as taking them to lunch will surely brighten their day. Just take a minute and think about a grandparents impact on a child’s life, it truly is great. Anyone can see that grandkids should look up to their grandparents, there aren’t many people like them that will love you no matter what, will care for you, and have been in situations far more difficult than people deal with today. Because of all these things, grandkids should spend more time with them and love them as much as they possibly can back. It takes a lot to care and love and live through, what we consider bad and boring times, and come out, still a completely remarkable kind of individual that people can look up to. Grandparents always care about their grandchildren, even if the grandchildren deny it, grandparents love and care for them, no matter what happens. Grand parents are like parents, minus all of the fighting and the screaming. As Rudolph Giuliani said, â€Å"What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And most importantly, cookies. †

Birth of a Nation: Art or Propaganda Essay

Mankind, engaging in war, driven by whatever instincts guide him, seeks to keep the defeats and victories of battle in his memory and on his conscience. To accomplish this men have used paint and canvas, ink and paper, or instrument and song in their effort to communicate the tragedy and glory of war. Never, before the career of D. W. Griffith had anyone attempted to bring the subject to film. The result of his efforts, weaknesses aside, mark a change in attitude towards film as a media. Perhaps audiences previously going to a picture expected emotional manipulation. After all, years before the film Birth of a nation, makers of film employed techniques to evoke pathos from viewers; whether through the use of a sobbing mother, a frightened child or what have you. In this respect the film was not a ground-breaker; However, through its effective use of devices such as symbolism, foreshadowing and allusions, as well as building on and arguably perfecting film techniques such as continuity editing, intercutting and close-ups, he transformed film from mere entertainment to art and propaganda. To present and explore a theme, symbolism is used everywhere in literature. Whether the image is subtle or obvious it is regardless a sign of considerable calculation and effort. In Birth of a nation Griffith places symbols everywhere, in doing this he merges literary devices of written works with his own visual works. For instance, the parched corn symbol in the scene where the southern army is eating symbolizes their desperation in the face of defeat. This imagery proves that Griffith wasn’t just presenting actors and a plot, he intended to dig far deeper than that, into the realm of a clever storyteller. Another example of his unique style is the use of foreshadowing, another literary device now commonly employed in film. The most prominent example of this is the scene where two gentlemen are talking, and as the camera pans down, we see a puppy struggling with a kitten. This is another strong example of symbolism; however, even more importantly it foreshadows the coming war. It is expertly placed to add to the building tension between sides which the audience already knows results in confrontation. Its placement reflects Griffiths desire to advance the complexity and diversity of film beyond entertainment to higher levels in society. To manipulate his audience’s emotions, he first had to draw them into the story and in turn into the stories underlying theme. He accomplished this by using numerous virgin film tools, much as an artist uses his own tools to create a believable painting. Among these tools he uses panoramas to illustrate setting, to paint, if you will – a moving picture. To show the swell of heated gunfire on a crowded battlefield i. e. the scene of the battle of Petersburg, or to bring across image of the delicate beauty of his native southern land to those who had never been there or seen a picture of it. This was the substance that transformed film into a genuine art form. Once he had the attention and anticipation of the audience, as well as their almost guaranteed acceptance of his word, he merely had to feed them a easily grasped, recognizable message to sway their emotions his way. This method of classic propaganda was used to fuel the audience’s already considerable ill-founded hatred of blacks. It comes in the form of a rebel black group who terrorizes the Cameron family, the film’s main characters. By placing blacks in this position it isn’t difficult to imagine the reaction of an average theatre goer. The film spawned riots, fired up racism, built stronger the negative stereotypes of blacks. It portrayed them as lazy, as illustrated in the black parliament, where a man rests his bare feet on a desk, alluding to uselessness in the employment environment. More horrifyingly than that it portrayed them as ultimately evil with the seizing of the Cameron’s home and the attempted rape of one of their daughters. The obvious bias presented, although appalling, demonstrates just how effective Griffith was at utilizing film not with the intention to merely entertain, but to spread propaganda and affect the perceptions of society itself. Griffith exploited his audience, he turned them against minorities and themselves. The film Birth of a nation exemplifies ignorance and hate at its worst. Although it stands for something that today is looked on as morally wrong, it proves by this very reaction that the film is not just mere entertainment, but something with a far more serious purpose. Since Griffith was the first to accomplish something of this nature, Birth of a nation therefore marks the transformation of film from pure entertainment into art and propaganda.

Prison Term Armed Robbery Essay

As you know all robberies are felonies and with the use of weapons brings tougher penalties towards the crime committed by the individual. While all robberies are considered to be violent crimes certain states took the initiative to raise the punishment when a violator uses a weapon of choice to rob. This means the person that is robbing you is more at risk of serving a greater prison sentence if he is caught and convicted. For the most part, many people do not realize that 40% of all robberies that are committed are strong armed robbery. Strong arm robbery is known as taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear. In this paper, I will be giving a recommendation on a bill from the state legislator which involves criminals who commit arm robbery and I will not recommended the sentence to be doubled for the maximum prison term for anyone convicted of armed robbery. Robberies can happen at any time and any place unexpectedly. And it really does not matter how it’s done. The victim should always satisfy the robber by giving what the robber wants at the time of the attack without any hassle or lip. There are so many ways and places for a robber to attack. Even though a robbery could take less than one minute to attack the victim it is still a very wise idea that the victim does not create any hassle. Most robberies that take place involve one robber and one victim. When robber’s attack, they usually like to hit areas that are private rather than public. And if it is a public place, the robber will make sure that there will be more than one or two escape routes for a fast get away. Most regular people think that all robberies take place in a bank, stores, gas stations, or restaurants that stay open late. However, most robberies take place in the street dealing directly with the target/person, which is another example of strong arm robbery if a weapon is involved. This is when a person who uses force or fear against the victim to get what they wa nt. Is robbery a violent crime? I believe it is. According to the 2006 FBI Uniform Crime Report, they say â€Å"the weapon of choice for robbers is a firearm at a high of 42.2% and knives or cutting instruments are second on the list at 8.6%. Strong arm tactics like punching, pushing, kicking or threats are used mainly on the street and that is at 39.9%.† While being robbed, robbers like to use force on their victims and also like to showcase their weapons. Robbers like to use weapons because it is a  quicker method of getting what they need. And by doing so it increases the sentence of the perpetrator to a higher class sentence of strong armed robbery if caught. Also, let’s keep in mind, robbers are scared too when in the attack mode and have been known to hurt the victim when an attack is happening. This can also be another reason why the sentence should be increased to double maximum sentence due to the fact of unintentionally harmful acts you propose on the victim while using a weapon. And also, most of all, rob beries are pre-meditated when time of committing this violent act upon victims. There are different ways on how to commit armed robbery. Some of those ways are using a gun to rob a person, being wolf packed by a crowd of people/gang, using a knife or metal objects to rob the victim just so they can get what they want. By using an object and showing it off to the victim will allow a faster and easier attack at the time of the robbery. By doing so it will help speed up the process on getting what they want from the victim and still uphold a scheduled robbery under a minute. As far as my recommendation about armed robbery and if it should uphold a double maximum sentence, I will have to vote no. My reason is because armed robbery should already have a sentence attached on the type of robbery the attacker committed. Just because the attacker robs someone does not mean they should have to serve a double maximum sentence when caught. Whatever the sentence is now by law should be the sentence the attacker has to serve in jail. Unless the attacker harms the victim in any way, then more penalties/punishment should apply to their criminal charge when being sentenced. I think this double maximum sentence should be more for the murder cases and child molestations/rape cases we have committed today. Those are more important crimes we should be looking at and for us to throw these type of punishment in those directions. We know that robbery is a common crime. We all know this crime will happen over and over again. But, we as the people and the law should make this crime more punishable by maybe adding a year more to the sentence when armed robbery is committed. It should be not a double maximum crime. Although, this crime is harsh, unpredictable, and dangerous for a victim to face when attacked. Looking through the eyes of a criminal advisor, no I do not think this crime should uphold double maximum sentence for armed robbery. I think the crime should be based on what the crime is and what has happened during the crime when it  was committed for more severe punishment. I know armed robbery is a serious crime and we all want to put a stop to it, but putting a double maximum sentence is going overboard. The reason I am against this bill and for it not to pass it is because I think the punishment is already set in our law guidelines. If anything, the punishment should be increase by a year so the attacker will know that this crime is serous when caught in the act of arm robbery and plus it will give them a little more time to think about not robbing someone else while back on the street. Let’s keep in mind most robberies are pre-meditated and by increasing the punishment one year might put into perspective that this crime should not be committed. We all as a whole want this crime to stop, and by pushing for this bill for double maximum sentence should be held off for the time being. This bill is a good guster for the future of double the maximum sentence for those who commit armed robbery if we do not come up with any other solutions that is more suitable for this crime. But for now, let us explore other ways for this crime to be more punishable than to fill up our jails with people that committed armed robbery serving double maximum sentences. This is my recommendation towards the bill.

Salvia Divinorum

Salvia Divinorum is a hallucinogenic Mexican herb known as â€Å"diviner’s mint† in the US and is typically a natural substance that has the ability to cause intense hallucinations â€Å"out of body† experiences, and a short-term memory loss. Although this substance is legal in the United States despite of the herb’s hallucinogenic properties, this stuff is generally not considered as therapeutic despite of the notion that it was also used for curing by the Mazatic, and is more likely to be use as recreational drugs by adolescents because of mind altering properties of this substance. Because of these properties, Salvia Divinorum should be classified as a potential source of restricted drugs along with Marijuana or the Cannabis sativa and products derived from this herb should be considered as restricted drugs. A mysterious plant that is both puzzling and perplexing, this herb was described botanically by Carl Epling and Carlos D. Jativa in 1962 through the help of two Americans, Albert Hofman a chemist, and Gordon Wasson, an ethno mycologist investigating Mazatic rituals (Clebsh & Barner p. 06). Growing only in the territory lived in by the Mazatic Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico; the Maztic Indians use this plant along with other ingredients for their hallucinogenic properties â€Å"in divinatory rituals† (p. 106). According to Clebsch and Barner, It was reported that if this salvia was ingested â€Å"it would produce an illusory experience† (p. 106). Apparently, this stuff when ingested produces strange feelings that could be similar to the effects of p articular drugs such as Marijuana and other prohibited drugs. Daniel J. Siebert pointed out that the effect of taking Salvinorin A(an encapsulated product from salvia divinorum), includes seeing visions of people, objects, and places, and with doses above one mg user will experience out body experiences and may get up or move around with no clear awareness of their actions or behavior (p. 55). Furthermore, during the most intense phase of the experience, Siebert noted that user of this substance speak nonsense and even laugh hysterically. Siebert summarized the feelings experiences that could be had by any taking substance derived from salvia divinorum as follows: User sees objects such as yellow plaid French fries, a drawer and even ferries wheel; a visions of various dimensional objects; body loss and even identity; uncontrollable hysterical laughter; and different feelings of motion, or being twisted or pulled by forces of some kind (p. 55). From this feelings and experiences resulting from the use of salvia divinorum there is a considerable evidence that this substance could produce drugs that with effect similar or might even harmful than the effect of marijuana. The irony is that this drug is not restricted in the United States thus companies promoting drugs derived from this herb are free to promote these types of substances on the internet sites targeting younger adults and adolescents. According to information released by DEA, Drug Diversion Program entitled â€Å"Drugs of Chemical Concern: Salvia Divinorum† this substance is being smoked and its effect are described by users similar to other restricted drugs (WWW. Streetdrugs. org). Based on new pharmacological findings and the description of users of this substance, salvia divinorum should be classified as potential source of restricted drugs and that government authorities should closely monitor and act decisively against the liberal use of this substance. Just like other restricted substance that causes potential harm to the user when taken liberally, this substance are prone to abuse and may also cause potential harm to the users. While, there seems to be no clear physical benefit on the use of this stuff aside from the notion of relaxation, the abnormal behavior of the person when at the peak of experience of this drugs, is a clear indication of the potential harm this substance may cause on the users. Work Cited Clebsch, Betsy & Barner, Carol D. The New Books of Salvias USA: Timber Press, 2003 â€Å"Salvia Divinorum† WWW. Streetdrugs.org http://www.streetdrugs.org/salvia2.htm Siebert, Daniel Salvia divinorum and Salvinorin A: new pharmacological findings Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd., 1994 http://www.sagewisdom.org/siebertjep94.pdf

The Civil Service Examinations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Civil Service Examinations - Essay Example This system was abolished in 1905 to adopt the science and technology-based curricula practiced by the western nations. This set it apart from the Song Dynasty exam system that followed Confucian classical methods. The Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty were both built around the same time i.e Qin around 221-208 BC and Chinese rulers’ controlled Han around 206BC-AD 220.Both Dynasties. Under this dynasties heir was no central political force in China and as such, the great nomad empires emerged such Liao and the great Mongol empires. Both tenures were characterized by ruthlessness and tyrannical demands on the people to pay heavy taxes and compulsory labor. These dynasties were effective in the sense that, during these periods there was relative peace in China. However, they both had weak military forces and were easily overrun by the nomadic tribes of the north. Both the Sui and the Tang Dynasty rulers’ were part nomads. These rulers’ were non-Chinese but their reign was considered Chinese. Both regimes were very successful in terms of commerce as the Sui were able to connect Yellow and Yangtze (Grand Canal) eastward waterways starting from Beijing to Hangzhou, thereby enabling nationwide commerce to thrive especially under the more prosperous Tang Dynasty. In addition, both Dynasties occurred after the reign of the Six Dynasties i.e. Sui from 589-617 AD and Tang from 618-907 AD(Ebrey, Walthall & Palais 2009 p89). These Dynasties were effective in the sense that they had stronger military’s that helped re-unify China and that there was an improvement in commerce in this periods. However, under these regimes, the citizens suffered tyranny from the government in the form of forced labor and heavy taxes. in addition, the costly and often disastrous military escapades in Korea combined with corruption, disloyalty, and assas sinations led to popular revolts resulting in the overthrow of the Sui dynasty.

CIS Management Information System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CIS Management Information System - Essay Example rights, including intellectual property is often classified as criminal offence in statutory terms and is liable for persecution as it would negatively impact on the rightful owner of the property. Copyright laws are specifically designed to protect ownership of content and any form of reproduction of that content without prior permission from the owner is deemed illegal. In the outlined case above, this is the main problem which is of concern where piracy is reigning supreme as a result of the system used that makes it possible for musical files to be shared amongst individuals without the owners’ consent. The main cause of the problem is online file-sharing service that is available on the internet where individuals can download digitized music files from other users free of charge. For instance in the above case, Napster popularized this service where it provided software on its website that could be used to locate any music file on the computers of other online Napster members that could be copied for free. Whilst Napster itself did not store any musical file, it acted as a go between the user and the supplier which resulted in huge numbers of people signing in for the service as it gave the provision of downloading music and even copying it to their CDs free of charge. Likewise, other services such as Kazaa, WinMix, Morpheus and Grokster were developed after the demise of Napster. These services distributed software to various users that enabled them to locate computers with musical files of their choice and downloading without paying. So basically in this regard, the different software that was developed and distributed online allowed users to enjoy the benefit of downloading and copying music for free without the permission of the owners and producers. However, the main impact of piracy in this case has been the tremendous decline in music sales by the recording companies as a result of the rush for free music that could also be accessed online with