Banking Concept of Education Paulo Freire Essay

Banking Concept of Education Paulo Freire - Essay Example Freire demonstrates that the banking concept is considered by oppressors to be the most suitable method of imparting knowledge on learners. The banking concept is where knowledge is deposited the same as how money is deposited in a bank. Therefore the application of the banking system of education makes students to be treated as if they are empty vessels which need to be filled with knowledge (Paulo 319). The teacher is the subject in the banking method of education while the student is the subject. This shows a relationship between the teacher and the student where the teacher narrates knowledge with the student being expected to be the listening objects. Paul Freire is opposed to the banking education because it is makes education petrifying and lifeless due to the narration process through which students are expected to learn (Mejia 63). The narration which characterizes the banking education involves teachers filling information or content to students. In this method of education , students are disconnected and detached from reality because they may not find the narrated content to be significant. The students are thus made to memorize content without attaching any importance to it. On the other hand, the problem posing method of education involves both the teacher and the student in solving problems during learning. The teacher and the student therefore work together and hence both play equal roles in the process of knowledge acquisition without the student being the object into which information is filled. The student is enabled to engage in the learning process and thus making the problem posing method of education realistic because students are able to engage with the reality of the content being learned. Unlike the oppressive banking method of education, the problem posing approach enables learners to act as thinking beings

Men become victims of their misplaced trust in false friends Essay

Men become victims of their misplaced trust in false friends - Essay Example It is about the story of a prisoner, Gregory, who places complete trust in the friendship of his enemy. Gregory was given two chances to escape to save his own life but he fails to run away. Gregory is materialistic. He cares only for his present which is comfortable enough for him. He does not realize his friend must obey his superior and that means that his friend will kill him. Gregory is shot but he does not die immediately. He hangs on to his friend for life or for death. His friend is forced to shoot him several times in order to make a clean killing. His friend honors Gregory by not humiliating his body with a public hanging. Gregory thinks that his friend has breached his trust by shooting him. His soldier friend blames Gregory's stupidity for his death.Nabil Gorgy wrote Cairo Is a Small City in 1983. This story is about Engineer Adil Salim, who is killed in revenge for his murder of a bedouin man, Mubarak bin Rabia. Adil is a proud man who has a big ego. He thinks of himself being intelligent because he is educated as an engineer. He makes the false overture of drawing attention to himself by his blatant courtship of a beautiful bedouin girl named Salma. He is watched and recognized as the murderer of Mubarak. The bedouins plot their vengeance craftily. They are above reproach as they use the girl, Salma, as bait to ensnare Adil. Adil falls into their trap and is killed. Adil is a victim of his own carelessness, ego, lust, stupidity and trusting nature. Cairo Is a Small City uses an omniscient narrator. This essay uses these two short stories to compare the similarities on how trust is betrayed. The essay takes the position that the two victims, Gregory and Adil, deserve to die, because of the fault of gullible trust in their personal characters. Adil trusted in the shopkeeper's strategy of befriending the woman because he saw that it worked. Gorgy and the omniscient narrator want to blame the shopkeeper for showing Adil the flirtatious method of bartering for the woman's affections. The narration says; '...had it not been for that day, Adil's mind would not have given birth to the plan he was determined, whatever the cost, to put through, because of that woman who had bewitched his heart.' (Hirschberg & Hirschberg 24). Adil does not question the consequences if the trust goes wrong. He is gullible and the fault is his alone. Adil trusted in his own bravery. The evidence that supports this argument is in the narration; ''As every man, according to Adil's philosophy of life, had within him a devil, it was sometimes better to follow this devil in order to placate him and avoid his tyranny.' (Hirschberg & Hirschberg 24). When Salma's father asks Adil many questions, alarm bells started ringing in his head but Adil chooses to ign ore the feeling that something might be wrong. Instead, Adil sweeps the feeling of misgiving away. The narrator says; 'Though Adil noticed in the father's tone something more than curiosity, he attributed this to the nature of the bedouin and their traditions.' (Hirschberg & Hirschberg 27). Adil makes the mistake of taking the interrogation lightly. He places complete trust in Salma and her father who have invited him to their home. It is his mistake. Adil only realizes too late that his trust is misplaced; 'In the same way as Adil had previously built the seven storey building that represented the seven months, each month containing twenty-eight days, till he would see Salma's face whenever it was full moon, he likewise sensed that this was the tribunal which had been set up to make an enquiry with him into the killing of the man whom he had one day come across on the tracks between the oases of Kharga and Farshout.' (Hirschberg & Hirschberg 27). Adil was too trusting to walk into the lion's lair of the bedouins and he was served his punishment. In the story of Gregory, the narrator and

The Move from Doubt to Certainty Essay Example for Free

The Move from Doubt to Certainty Essay Descartes is interested in the certainty of his existence and the existence of other people and things. Descartes beliefs vary from those of Socrates. Descartes argues that knowledge is acquired through awareness and experience. Using this approach, Descartes moves through doubt to certainty of his existence. He asks himself various questions about the certainty of his existence and solves them through clear thought and logic. Using this method Descartes establishes doubts to be truths and by the end of the book, he has established that he does indeed exist. In this paper, I will show how Descartes moves through doubt to certainty. I will explain how Descartes uses the cogito, proves the existence of God and what that means to his existence. I will also discuss the general rules of truth that Descartes establishes. In the First Meditation Descartes begins to examine what is certain and what is doubtful. Descartes wants to establish that his knowledge is certain and not doubtful. He states, I had accepted many false opinions as being true, and that what I had based on such insecure principles could only be most doubtful and uncertain; so that I had to undertake seriously once in my life to rid myself of all opinions I had adopted up to then, and to begin, and to begin afresh from the foundations, if I wished to establish something firm and constant in the sciences. (Descartes 95) By this Descartes means that he wishes to establish a foundation for his knowledge based on certainty instead of doubt. Descartes first looks at the senses. This is important because the senses are the first thing to cause doubt. He focuses on the perception of things. He says that things far from him, in the distance, give him reason to doubt their certainty, while things that are close to him are indubitable and he is clear about their certainty. However, Descartes realizes that dreams pose an obstacle to his beliefs. Even up close, dreams can be indubitable. Descartes believes that if a person has had a dream that was so intense that the person could not determine it form reality, then they have reason to doubt objects that are close to us and appear to be indubitable. In order to resolve this problem, Descartes suggests that one must examine whether they are dreaming or not. Descartes realizes that he can not rely on his senses anymore to give him dubitable truths. He turns to find something that is indubitable. Descartes tries to use science as a foundation for truth. He discards physics, astronomy, and medicine because all three of them rely upon the senses. we shall not be wrong in concluding that physics, astronomy, and medicine, and all the other sciences that depend on the consideration of composite things, are most doubtful and uncertain (Descartes 98). However, Descartes finds that such things as geometry and arithmetic can be trusted because their are no senses involved. They are based upon logic. whether I am awake or asleep, two and three added together always makes five, and a square always has four sides; and it does not seem possible that truths so apparent can be suspected of any falsity or uncertainty(98). However, Descartes finds reason to even doubt this. The only thing that could makes these truths dubitable is through the intervention by an Evil Deceiver (God). Descartes cannot prove that God is good and has to acknowledge that God has the power to deceive. Therefore, Descartes must doubt all things until he can prove their certainty. Descartes comes to call this doubt Universal Doubt. In the Second Meditation, Descartes examine the existence of himself. He concludes that if he cannot prove something exists then how does he know with certainty that he exists. It is his doubt of his existence that Descartes uses to prove his existence. Descartes realizes that if he is able to doubt then he does indeed exists. He take the approach that, I think therefore I am to establish a certainty that he exists. This idea also known as the cogito becomes the central point that Descartes will use for the remaining of his meditations. Descartes affirms his existence every time he thinks, doubts, or is persuaded(Descartes 103). Descartes affirms that if there is an Evil Deceiver then Descartes must exist because in order for God to deceive, Descartes he must first exist. Although, Descartes has proved his existence he can only prove it in the mental capacity. He does not know for certain that he exists in the physical form. The only way, at this time, that Descartes can prove the existence of his body is through his senses. He has already established that his senses are dubitable and therefore cannot tell him with certainty that his body exists. In order to get a better understanding of his relationship between his body and mind, Descartes melts a piece of wax. He observes the wax in two different states, the first in a solid form and the second in a melted form. He questions how his senses can show him two entirely different forms of the same substance; yet he knows that the substance, in both states, although completely different, is wax. The mind was able to understand the essence of the wax. Although the senses were not entirely capable of making the connection between the two forms of wax, the senses assisted the mind in determining what the substance was. This experiment proves to be important to Descartes because he is able to make a link between the senses and the mind. Using his experiment, Descartes enters his Third Meditation using his general rule of truth that all things we conceive very clearly and distinctly are true(Descartes 113). However, there is one flaw to his thoughts. If God is an evil deceiver than this cannot be true. Descartes proceeds to establish that God is good and does not deceive. Descartes uses three points to establish the existence God. These points are ideas. The first one is adventitious ideas; those ideas that come from outside experiences. The second is invented ideas; those that are derived from the imagination such as sirens and chimera. The final is innate ideas; those that are within one when they are born. Descartes uses two more points to further establish that God exists. He uses the ideas of infinite and perfect. These two ideas, Descartes cannot account for. The only way for such things to come about would be from an infinite and perfect being such as God. These ideas have a direct relationship with God. In order for a finite beings such as Descartes to have a concept of infinite it must have been planted there by an infinite being such as God. Descartes concludes this idea to be true because one cannot derive the idea of infinite by negating the finite(Descartes 125). An example of this would be the use of a number line. The number line will never be able to illustrate infinity. One could negate every number on a number line and still not arrive at infinity. Therefore, Descartes concludes that God does exist and therefore is not an evil deceiver. Because God has supplied us with the innate ideas of perfection and infinity, God, therefore, must be infinite and perfect. Descartes states that, Whence it is clear enough that he cannot be a deceiver, for the natural light teaches us that deceit stems necessarily from some defect(Descartes 131). Since God is perfect he is not an evil deceiver. It is important to realize that by the time Descartes has reached his Fourth Meditation he has proved three important things. The first is that doubt is not universal. The second is that there is a general rule of truth. The third is that God exists and cannot be an evil deceiver. However, Descartes raises a question: If God exists and cannot be an evil deceiver then why are humans imperfect and perpetually making errors? Descartes explains this through the explanation of free will. Descartes states that God has given all humans free will. This is the cause of human error. Because we have free will, humans are able to make choices and decisions free from the influence of God. Sometimes free will interferes with Gods ability to help humans and therefore humans sometimes make poor decisions. If God did not give humans free will than God would play a direct role in every decision made by humans. It is because God gives humans free will that allows for human error. Descartes Fifth and Sixth Meditations begins with the establishment of his remaining doubts and the application of what he has discovered. The first question deals with the essence of color, mathematical, and geometrical truths. The second is the existence of people and things. The third is determining the difference between dreams and reality. Descartes reiterates that God is not an evil deceiver and therefore he can clearly conceive something to be true. He reiterates that if he conceives God correctly then God is perfect. Imperfection is not compatible with Gods omnipotence. A non-existent thing cannot be perfect. Even a non-existent perfect thing is imperfect and all perfect things are perfect. Descartes also restates that a perfect thing cannot deceive. With this knowledge, Descartes proceeds to solve his second problem. The existence of corporeal(physical things) exist with certainty. Since God is not an evil deceiver, the idea of physical things is accurate. Although some perceptions will still be blurry and may confuse Descartes objects do indeed exist. He concludes that he just has to be more judgmental of those perceptions. But as concerns other things, which are either only particular, as,, for example, that the sun is of such a size and shape, etc. , or are perceived less clearly and distinctly, as in the case of light, sound and pain and so on, although they are very doubtful and uncertain, nevertheless, from the fact alone that God is not a deceiver, and has consequently permitted no falsity in my opinions (Descartes 158) Descartes now knows for certain that he has a body. Descartes realizes that, I have a body, which is ill disposed when I feel pain, which needs to eat and drink when I have feelings of hunger or thirst etc. (Descartes 159). Because of these feeling that Descartes has and because God is not an evil deceiver than Descartes is indeed lodged in a body and is an entire entity with it. Descartes finally analyzes his third doubt. He now has the ability to distinguish between being awake and dreaming. When we are awake, Descartes states, are mind flows in an uninterrupted, continuous sequence. When we are dreaming, our mind does not flow in a consistent, and undisturbed sequence. When a person has a break in the consistency of events, they are dreaming. when I perceive things which I clearly know both the place they come from and that in which they are, and the time at which they appear to me, and when, without any interruption, I can link the perception I have of them with the whole of the rest of my life, I am fully assured that it is not in sleep that I am perceiving them but while I am awake(Descartes 168) After establishing certainty to his doubts, Descartes states, And I must reject all the doubts of the last few days as hyperbolic and ridiculous, particularly the general uncertainty about sleep, which I could not distinguish for a wakeful state (Descartes 168). With that Descartes concludes his meditations and uncertainties. Although Descartes makes a sound argument there were some people that disagreed with his theories. One of those people was John Locke. The beliefs of Locke, who was an empiricists, were similar to those of the Sophist during the time of Socrates. He argued that when a person was born their mind was empty. A person obtained knowledge through experiences. He also felt that if a person misinterpreted an experience it could lead to doubt or skepticism. Locke tries to prove Descartes wrong by saying that there are no innate ideas. He states that by understanding our own mind we can deter doubt. Locke proposes three separate possibilities about truth. The first is that there is no such thing as truth. The second is that there is no way to obtain truth. The third reason is that we can understand implied things but not be absolutely certain about them. Locke believed that we never deal with certainty and everyday we deal with possibility. and it will be unpardonable, as well as childish peevishness, if we undervalue the advantage of our knowledge and neglect to improve it to ends for which it has given us, because there are some things that are set out of the reach of it. (Locke 57). Locke states that not all innate ideas come from natural ability. He says that a universal consent does not prove innate ideas. They could arise from experience. Locke supports this theory by saying that innate ideas are neither in children nor idiots. If these ideas were innate then everyone would have them. He further states that mathematical truths are learned from experience and are not innate ideas. Descartes and Locke were two men with completely different views. They each set out to prove their own existence in a different fashion. Although they do not agree with each other, each one of them presents a clear and intelligent argument. It is these arguments that have encouraged the human race to consider the possibility of existence long after the death of Descartes and Locke. People will continue to debate their viewpoints for years to come and maybe, one day we will know the meaning of existence.

The Impacts Of Globalisation on Theatre

The Impacts Of Globalisation on Theatre Globalisation refers to the increasing interaction and integration of people socially, economically, and culturally through increasing interconnectedness, in which, theatres are also affected by. Performances originally in English are now performed in multiple languages, allowing other cultures around the world to experience watching similar theatrical performances. Singapore, a globalised community, consists of much cultural variety. Due to the immersed cultural diversity, Singapore would like to expand their theatrical performances, appealing to a broader audience of different cultures and eventually become the Broadway of the East. It is the contention of this essay to analyse the impacts of globalisation on theatres via the examination of McTheatres, modernism, interculturalism, and the impact of Western theatre culture on Singapores theatre culture in accordance to theatre design. In the McTheatre franchise, the workers have little or no control over their conditions of work; all the creative decisions were taken years ago and are locked down. The choreography is fixed, and the movements are largely determined by the automated sets and standardized lighting designs, which means that any deviation from the pattern risks injury or singing in darkness (Rebellato 2009: 44). The concept of McTheatre productions are methods of global imperialism. The pro side to this can be explained when the concept was founded by Cameron Mackintosh during the 1970s when he began working in a British theatre. After experiencing a shabby imitation of a metropolitan original, Mackintosh wanted audiences anywhere in the world to have the same high-quality experience instead of a cheap reproduction. However, because of standardization, the virtues of theatre are depreciated, such as the liveliness, immediacy, and the uniqueness of each performance. In a show such as The Lion King, the costumes are the stars, and the actors merely their operators. When we think of the mega musicals, we often think of the brand images: the big eyes orphan, a cats eye, a combined Japanese pictograph/helicopter. The star performers are never part of the brand image, because in McTheatre even the biggest star is replaceable (Rebellato 2009: 45). Cities such as Toronto, Las Vegas, Basle, and Denve r hold theatres that have been built specifically for these mega musicals. However, they are not built well acoustically, considering all mega musicals are miked performances. Thus once that particular mega musical performance has moved on, the theatre is limited to performances requiring well built acoustics. Musical franchises are successful to a certain extent, but they are limited to an English speaking audience. Musicals such as The Lion King and Tarzan however, even though they are global musical theatre hits, are performed in multiple languages in order to appeal to a larger range of audience members. Cats have been translated into 10 different languages such as Japanese, German, and French and The Lion King will be making its first Spanish debut in Madrid on October 21st of 2011 (Cats the Musical 2011; Gans 2011). Aside from mega musicals, past theatrical performances such as Shakespearean plays are currently performed around the world. Variations of Shakespeares plays are also created to appeal towards the audience of the 21st century, for example, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) is an interactive and humorous parody of Shakespeares plays where improvisation plays a huge roll. Hence, every performance is never the same and is unique. While older theatre acts are adapting to a more modern perspective, new performances are created to relate towards the 21st century audience. The theatre might be thought to contribute to the globalization of politics through plays that critically represent the workings of globalization (Rebellato 2009: 9). The musical Avenue Q, is ranked 21st of longest running shows in Broadway history with 2,534 performances (Avenue Q 2009). The musical, ironically portrayed as an adult version of Sesame Street, isnt a globalized musical because it has been performed around the world, but also because the musical itself is about globalization. Considering its relevance towards the 21st century audience, it is able to connect with the majority of the world population. The puppets in the musical goes through stereotypical problems and activities people go through every day, such as, the relation towards internet within their song the internet is for porn, pokes fun at how the modern day population m akes use of the internet, though not many may admit or embrace the new mentality. Culture and globalisation goes hand in hand with each other, and theatres are no exception from the interculturalism. Defined by nationalists of the Canadian province of Quebec, interculturalism is the philosophy of exchanges between cultural groups within a society. Theatres in particular have been able to share multiple cultures with the world for centuries. This alone is a huge part on globalisation because different parts of the world are able to experience different cultures through the form of theatrical performances, whether it would be through dance, acting, and music. I consider theatre to refer to all cultural forms in which performers and active or passive participant-audiences coexist in the same space for a set time (Knowles 2010: 3). During the Nara period, the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans exchanged performance traditions with each other, hence the bukagu court dance and gugaku, the Buddhist processional dance play, was eventually integrated with the Japanese culture. Western cultures did not intermix with the Asian cultures until American and European invasions in the late 19th century. Ric Knowles makes this point in his book Theatre Interculturalism: Beginning at the turn of the twentieth century and lasting almost a hundred years, the shingeki (new drama) movement saw a turn in Japan to Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov, Stanislavski, and the performance styles of western naturalism and spoken drama. In the first decade of the twentieth century, in the wake of Chinas defeat in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-5, a similar movement developed in China, largely through the conscious efforts of Li Xishuang and Tokyos Spring Willow society, and visits to the society by Chinese students who produced the first huaju (spoken drama) (Knowles 2010: 8-9). Much like the plays from Shakespeare, as mentioned before, it has come to a point where we have the ability to share knowledge easily around the world, and theatrical performances are also able to be shared with equal amount of ease. One of the most well known types of performances known to globalise are circuses. It is in their nature to be mobile and move from place to place entertaining audiences. This leads to globalization through culture, the interconnection of world cultures, perhaps even the development of a world culture' (Rebellato 2010: 5). The most world renowned circus to this day would be Cirque du Soleil. Originally named Les Échassiers, it was founded by two former street performers in 1984 in Baie-Saint-Paul. It is now a Canadian entertainment company based in Montrà ©al, Quebec, self-described as a dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment (Cirque du Soleil 2010). Cirque du Soleil has a wide variety of performances, all of which are an integration of circus styles from around the world with its own theme and storyline. They attract audiences through continuous live music, which allows the performance to be cross cultural because one doesnt have to understand the language in order to enjoy the performance, hence it appeals to everyone and they are able to expand to different cultures around the world. Cirque du Soleil does not only travel around the world, but they have also left permanent set ups in different parts of the world. Las Vegas, United States, has the most Cirque du Soleil performances in one area. Performances such as KÀ, LOVE, Mystà ¨re, O, Viva ELVIS, and Zumanity are performed to many new audiences because its in an area of visiting tourists from all around the world. ZED Cirque du Soleil is stationed in a theatre build specifically for this performance at Disney Resort in Tokyo, Japan, with seven million people watching this spectacular performance every year. Cirque du Soleil has been able to create and show many different performances, but it couldnt have been done without more than 600 of their performers. (Cirque du Soleil Inc. 2009) Hence, the interconnectedness of culture is shared amongst performers and audience alike all around the world. Though most of the casts of Cirque du Soleil are trained for this specialized art, there are also performers who were past Olympic participants from all around the world. Zoltan Supola, a gold medal gymnast who competed in the Olympic three times, retired in the year 2000 after the Sydney Games. He landed a job with Cirque du Soleil and became a part of the gravity-defying troupe of performers, which now incorporates a total of 17 former Olympians. Another example is gymnast, Paul Bowler, who performs in Mystà ¨re at the Treasure Island hotel in Las Vegas after failing to make it with the British Olympic team in 1996 (Martinez 2011). Performances themselves arent the only ones affected by globalisation, but the people who work within those performances as well. It is without a doubt that Cirque du Soleil is one of the most globalised theatrical performances to have spread from North America all the way to Asia. Singapore is known to be a global community with multiple cultures integrated in one city, and because of this, different kinds of theatrical acts dedicated to the different cultures and all cultures are continuously performed. Singapore is a perfect example of interculturalism in general and for theatres. With the amount of international theatrical performances arriving every few months and with the amount of audiences watching these performances, it is clear that Singapore has embraced the idea of interculturalism within their theatres. This is a country in which Western and Asian performances are accepted together and appeal to a large portion of the public, hence Singapores wish to be a global pin point, the Broadway of the East so to speak. As Kenneth Lyen states: Yes, Singapore can indeed be the Broadway of the East. We have several unique attributes. Firstly, there is a wealth of stories waiting to be told in the genre of musical theatre. We also have a fascinating variety of Asian music, with different rhythms and different instruments. Our talent pool is immense, and largely untapped. We have not reached the stage where musical theatre prohibitively expensive to stage (Lyen 2010). Aside from Singapore bringing in theatrical performances from other parts of the world, Singapore themselves are trying to globalise their own local theatre productions. It is obvious how much Western performances have influenced the local productions. By trying to maintain a unique theme to Singapore, the structure is very much of the western style. A good example of this is the musical, Forbidden City. Its Singapores most successful musical first commissioned for the opening of the Esplanade, now in its third run, greeted with interest by American investors whod like to adapt it for Broadway (Yi-Sheng 2010). By exploring the fusion of Western and Eastern styles, there is a possibility for Singaporean theatrical productions to become worldwide and achieve globalisation with their own culture and local acts. Theatre of the 21st century is affected by social standing and social status of the community, hence the design of theatres affect the peoples want and reason to attend a performance based on prestige. Theatre of Ancient Greece was an open air, semi-circular layout with only the use of a skene and costumes for visual distinction between characters and scenery (The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008). It was a place for the gathering of people to enjoy a performance by being taken to another dimension. The use of lighting was available only through natural lighting; hence performances were casually held during the daytime. The globalised theatre design of the 21st century however, is incorporated on the theatre experience influenced by the modern American stage design through the use of lighting, props, and moveable stage parts. With the discovery of lighting, theatres became enclosed and performances became a nightly event, which is gives off a more formal experience. Now it i s a place not only for people to gather and enjoy a performance, but also a place of prestige. Theatres in general have become a social marker. The concept of an exposed theatre within the new proposed design of the Victoria Theatre situated in Singapore is aimed to attract audiences through the act of interaction or communication with the general public and raise awareness of theatrical performances to help Singapore reach its goal of being the Broadway of the East. The use of an open-air theatre and an enclosed theatre together is to create two different experiences much like the casual experience of Ancient Greece and the more formal experience of the 21st century. With todays technology and interconnectedness, theatres has become a huge part of globalisation through the sharing of performances and performers around the world not only through the use of McTheatres, but also through the creation of fused cultural performances in order to reach out to a broader audience. Through Western influence, the design of theatres has created a social status through the theatre experience. Singapore, being a social marker and huge globalised community, has attracted theatrical performances from around the world in order to share the multiple cultures with its local audience, to become the next Broadway of the East, and to create their own theatrical performances as well, such as Forbidden City.

Catcher In The Rye :: essays research papers

In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger used symbolism throughout the novel. Four major symbols were the ducks, the Museum of Natural History, the hunting hat, and Jane Gallagher. They all represent Holden in a way, and Salinger uses these symbols very well. While Holden is wandering around New York City, he asks many people about what happens to the ducks in the pond when it freezes. I think this really symbolizes Holden. He isn’t really wondering about the ducks, he is wondering about himself. He wants to know what will happen to him when the weather gets really cold. He wants to know if he will have to go home, because he is really afraid to. This relates to the theme of going home, which is a recurring theme during the novel. The novel is basically his slow return to his home, and he is wondering whether he should go home or stay outside and freeze. The other two symbols, Jane Gallagher and the Museum of Natural History, both represent the theme of the past. Jane Gallaghe r was an old friend of Holden’s, and he mentions her many times during the story. He mentions that he will call her, but he never gets the nerve to. She is an important part of his past that he misses a lot, and he wants to go back and be with her again. The Museum of Natural History represents a different aspect of his past. While Jane Gallagher makes Holden want to return to his past, the Museum of Natural History sort of changes his mind. He remembers how he used to go there all the time, and how he was different, but the wax figures were always the same. He realizes that he can’t go back in time, because he is not the same as he used to be. He also realizes that he will never be the same as he used to be. One other important symbol is Holden’s hunting cap. I think that his cap represents security. He always seemed to be wearing the hat and every time he puts it on, he always mentions how it makes him feel better. It also represents his individuality. It make s him seem to be different from others since he is the only one to be wearing such a hat and people thinks that it is quite odd when they saw him wear it.

Journey to the Center of the Earth :: essays research papers

The book A Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne is a well-written and easy to read book most of the time. In my essay I’m going to give a description of the books events. The book starts with Professor Hardwigg finding a scrap of paper that says its possible to get to the center of the earth and decides to take the journey. Hardwigg insists that Harry, his nephew, come with him on the journey. After they got the supplies, they start their journey for Mt. Sneffels in Iceland, the spot where they can get to the center of the earth. They travel up the mountain and find the opining were they start their journey. At the bottom of the shaft they find four paths that they can take and the Professor chooses one but it’s a dead end they select a different route. They soon discover water, which they vary much need from the lack of. Later they find a well-like shaft where they go farther below the surface of the earth. Continuing to descend Harry goes ahead of the others and it soon lost. He retraces his steps but becomes even more lost. After being lost for days Harry finds his Uncle. Later they discover the Central Sea, an underground body of water. Exp loring the area around the sea, the travelers find huge mushrooms, bones of mastodons and other evidence of plant and animal life. The Professor decides that they must cross the ocean to continue further so they make a raft. Days later two huge monsters surface and almost sink the raft. Continuing on, the three spot what they think is another giant monster but discover it is an island that they start to travel to later a storm hits that almost sinks their raft and the storm carries them back to the shores from were they started but farther along the coast then before. The Professor and Harry finds huge shells and a field of bones and even a human skull. Then they wondered if humans ever lived beneath the earth. They spotted gigantic animals and even a tall human being. Afraid they would get hurt they started back towards the raft. While they were going back Harry spotted a tunnel and inside the initials A.S are carved into it, Arne Saknussemm had been there before them, they also discovered that the tunnel is blocked.

Inquiry Proposal: Serial Killers Essay

1. Description. The topic that I have chosen to cover for my proposal is serial killers. The term â€Å"serial killer† was established in the 1970’s by Robert Ressler (former director of an FBI program). He chose â€Å"serial† because these types of murders are crimes in series. Murderers become serial killers after three or more victims with quiet periods of time in between the murders. The US holds 76% of the world’s serial killers. According to the latest FBI study in 2007, there are approximately 400 serial killers in the US and 80% of them have emerged since 1950. Statistically, the average serial killer is a white male with a lower to middle-class background and is usually in his twenties or thirties. It seems ludicrous that serial killers often have families, homes, are employed, and appear to be normal members of a community. There are many myths about serial killers such as, they are dysfunctional loners, they are all white males, they all travel, they can’t stop killing, and that they are insane. My proposal is figuring out what may be true about these serial killers. I find it interesting how something brought into this world as an innocent baby could turn into a serial killer. 2. Guiding Questions. Here are some of the questions that are the major components behind my proposal. Where did the term â€Å"serial killer† come from? What makes a person a serial killer? How many are there in the U.S? Why do they do it? What happened throughout their life? What makes them tick? How do they get caught? I believe that these are important questions that need to be answered, as each one gives us a better understanding as to what makes a person not only murder but murder multiple people over periods of days, weeks, and even years. 3. Research Gathered. Coming into this, I thought it would be easy to figure out exactly what is going on in these serial killers minds but it’s not. It’s hard to say precisely what is going on in their head and what led up to it without being them but with inside information from interviews with serial killers and interviews with detectives, you get a feel of what made them act the way they do. Profiling a serial killer is important in catching a serial killer. Determining the  signature and what the serial killer had to do for the crime are big aspects of profiling. Studies from doctors and information from past murders create the profile along with crime-scene information and witness statements. For instance, if the crime scene shows evidence of careful planning, the killer is likely to be intelligent and older. Not all profiles are perfect but they are usually on point. Serial killers begin to surface around their twenties and once they reach a certain point, there is no going back. De tectives also have to profile the victims because they are the key to catching the serial killer. They were picked because something stimulated the serial killer to do so. The only way to prevent the becoming of a serial killer is to go back to their childhood and break up the peculiar patterns. Just like all human beings, serial killers are the product of their heredity and the choices they make throughout their life. Their behavior is influenced by life experiences and biological factors. Humans are in a constant state of development from the moment they are born to the moment they die. Behavior is affected by a stimulus that is processed by the nervous system. According to neurobiologists, our nervous system is environmentally sensitive which allows the individual nervous system to be shaped throughout a lifetime. In saying that, failure to develop social coping mechanisms as a child can result in violent behavior. There are important periods of time in which it is essential that kids learn basic rules on how to interact with people and if they aren’t learned during that period of time, it could be impossible to learn later on in life. Serial killers often exhibit three behaviors in their childhood and they are bed-wetting, arson, and cruelty to animals. They are also likely to come from broken homes and have been abused or neglected. Serial killers act completely normal in front of others and are said to be good members of their community. They are generally intelligent, organized, and some can be very social. The two most common theories as to motives of serial killers include childhood neglect and abuse, and mental illness. Many, if not all serial killers experience neglect and abuse as children. They are often physically and or sexually abused as children or are witnesses of abuse. This pattern of neglect and abuse forces them to grow up without a sense of anyone other than themselves. Mental illness is a big factor in determining whether or not the killer was conscious and aware of his or her actions. Many serial killers try to use the excuse that they  are psychotic but only few have been diagnosed. According to the Diagnostic & Standard Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), a psychopath is a person with an antisocial personality disorder (APD). As said in the DSM-IV, a person with APD follows a pattern of â€Å"disregard and violation of the rights of others occurring since the age of 15.† This pattern includes seven factors but three have to be met for diagnosis and those are, â€Å"failure to conform to social norms, irritability and aggressiveness, and lack of remorse.† Psychopathy is manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, intimidation, and violence to control others while satisfying their selfish needs. Although serial killers possess many traits consistent with psychopaths, all psychopaths don’t become serial killers. Psychopaths who become serial killers don’t value human life and are extremely callous when interacting with their victims. Along with mental disorders, is brain damage. Damage to areas such as the frontal lo be and the hypothalamus can result in extreme aggression, loss of control, and loss of judgment. For instance, Henry Lee was a convicted serial killer and was found to have extreme brain damage in both the frontal lobe and hypothalamus which was a result of childhood abuse including malnutrition and alcoholism. After gathering information on the motives and behaviors of serial killers, I realized there is no specific combination of traits or characteristics that all serial killers possess. There isn’t a generic template that determines a serial killer. They are driven by their own unique motives or reasons. Catching a serial killer is difficult because they are just your average looking man or woman living across the street. Serial killers only get caught after making a mistake. Information from the crime scene and autopsy are collected and entered into a date base where similar crimes are matched up by the killer’s signature. For instance, some killers position the body a certain way or leave them in a certain place. Investigators look at the method of procedure which reflects what the killer had to do in order to commit the crime. The crime reflects their personality and the victim is the key to catching the serial killer. Detectives have to piece together who the potential serial killer may be by matching up victims that are similar in area and most commonly, their looks. Detectives have to know how to spark the serial killers emotions and make them tick. For instance, John Douglas (FBI serial killer profiler) was asked to assist in a trial involving a  serial killer because he had manipulated the jury into believing that he wasn’t capable of doing such a thing. John told the prosecutor to physically touch the serial killer and violate his personal space because it will make him think that he isn’t superior and in return, will drive him crazy. He then asked the accused serial killer what it was like to wrap his fingers around his victim’s throat. The serial killer then had a major outburst and went crazy because he was recalling what happened and it excited him. The jurors finally saw another side to the man and it turned the whole case around. You have to know what makes them tick in order to catch them. 4. Optional Primary Research. I decided to find documentaries on two of the most notorious serial killers Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. The first documentary I watched was â€Å"Biography: Ted Bundy: The Mind of a Killer (1995).† Ted Bundy was a boy scout, a college graduate, a law student, and a star in Washington State politics. Growing up, Ted was told that his actual grandparents were his mother and father and that his actual mother was his older sister. His grandmother (mother) had health issues such as depression and panic attacks and was eventually introduced to electro-shock therapy and his great grandfather was known to be extremely violent and frightening. His family began noticing at the age of three that Ted wasn’t adjusting well. His first incident happened when he was being babysat by his aunt and she was taking a nap. Ted’s aunt woke up to him placing all the kitchen knives around her body in an outline with the blades pointing towards her. After the incident with his aunt and fighting with his step-father a lot, Ted was forced to move to Tacoma, WA and it devastated him because he thought of his great grandfather as a father and he didn’t want to leave him. Once in Tacoma, Ted’s peers thought of him as a shy person. He stuttered a lot and didn’t date. He really isolated himself from the crowd and started becoming a peeping Tom. Ted started to consider himself above the law. While in college, Ted met a girl named Stephanie and was particularly attracted to her beautiful long hair that was parted in the middle. Stephanie was wealthy, sophisticated, and worldly; everything Ted wished he was. They were together for a year and in that time, Stephanie had taken Ted’s virginity. While Ted was in love, Stephanie didn’t see a future with him and broke it off becau se she didn’t think that he was very serious about his future. Ted became devastated and dropped out of school. He then went to visit his  relatives to figure out who he really was and ended up finding out that his so called â€Å"sister† was actually his mother. After hearing this news and the horrible break up with Stephanie, Ted became extremely resentful. He felt that his mother and girlfriend destroyed his life and therefore wanted revenge. A couple years later, he met back up with Stephanie and seemed to be a new and improved man to her. Stephanie agreed to marry Ted and then he dumped her right away for revenge but it didn’t stop there. It all began in 1974 when Ted was twenty-four years old. Ted began going to the Washington college pretending to be hurt with crutches and that is how he would lure his victims in. He pretended to drop his books right by his van and while the woman would bend down to pick it up, he would hit her over the head with a crow bar and throw her in the van. He would then take them to the woods and sexually assault them. Ted was hurt that Stephanie took his virginity and broke his heart so now he was going to sexually assault and kill all his victims. Ted’s ideal victim was a small framed female with long parted hair in the middle and beautiful just as Stephanie was. While still attending college, Ted studied the procedures that the police task force would use to catch him. Ted was eventually caught and admitted to killing more than thirty women. Ted told the court that he felt entitled to ruin women’s lives after two women ruined his. On January 24, 1989 at 7:00 AM, Ted Bundy was granted his electric execution at the age of forty-nine years old. Ted’s story goes to show how something in his childhood led up to factors that would make him a serial killer. It also shows the motive that he had which was killing only women because two women ruined his life and killing women who looked like Stephanie. Ted said he was sor ry for killing those women but only he knows if he really is sorry or not. It’s hard to determine what went on in Ted’s head but we can see the correlation he made between the women he killed and why he did it although it doesn’t make sense to us. The other documentary I watched was â€Å"Biography: Jeffrey Dahmer (2000).† Jeffrey Dahmer was the perfect child. He loved playing with other kids and was really outgoing. He had a fascination with animals and was an extremely curious child. He always wanted to feel things and their texture. When he was ten, his mother was hospitalized and treated for anxiety. His parent’s marriage was crumbling and they had to move away. Jeffrey then all of a sudden became socially awkward. He started to become fascinated with what animals looked  like on the inside so he began collecting road kill as a young teenager. In an interview, his dad says that he is convinced that everything started going downhill when Jeffrey began collecting road kill and dissected them. Dahmer realized as a teen that he was attracted to men and at the age of fourteen, he started having thoughts of violence and sex. Dahmer knew the thoughts and urges kept getting worse. One of his fantasies was to lie next to an unconscious man. In saying that, Jeffrey devised a plan to knock out a local jogger with a bat and lay next to him but the jogger never went by that day and it made Dahmer think that maybe he shouldn’t be thinking about that kind of stuff. Dahmer started becoming a heavy drinker and even drank during school. He started going to houses that allowed the exchange of sex with gay men and that is where he found his first victim. After his first victim, Dahmer couldn’t hold in his urges anymore and it was the start of a killing spree. He began meeting men at gay bars and once there, he would drug them with sleeping pills, take them back to his home, and lay there next to them and listen to the sounds of their bodies. After getting bored with listening to their bodies, Dahmer would have sex with them while they were drugged, would kill them, cut up their body, and save their bones or private parts as trophies. At one point, he even started eating his victims saying that â€Å"it felt like they were a part of him.† Dahmer was eventually caught because of a foul odor coming from his apartment which was his victims. Dahmer blamed alcohol when he was caught saying that if he hadn’t been so drunk, he wouldn’t have been caught. He also placed the blame for the murders on his atheistic beliefs and the theory of evolution. He believed that he was equal to the devil. Dahmer stated â€Å"if it all happens naturalistically, what’s the need for a God? Can’t I set my own rules? Who owns me? I own myself.† Dahmer believed that he was above all and the media didn’t help that. He received so much attention from the media that he started getting cocky about it. He once told a detective â€Å"when I tell you what I tell you, you’re going to be famous.† Dahmer wrote a 159 page confession consisting of thirteen years and seventeen victims. Dahmer pleaded guilty but insane and was served a 937 year prison sentence. Once in prison, Dahmer decided he wanted to be baptized and get back into his religious state of mind. It all ended for Dahmer on November 29, 1994 when an inmate who called himself â€Å"Christ† beat Dahmer with a metal rod from the  prison gym and was pronoun ced dead on the way to the hospital. Once again, I don’t understand why he tortured and killed his victims the way he did but just like Ted Bundy, his behavior drastically changed when he was young and for both men, it is was seemed to be the turning point in their life. 5. Info to be collected, Analysis. I have gathered a good amount of information on how serial killers evolve to the person they have become. From here, I hope to learn more about what triggers different emotions in their brains. The main thing I want to figure out is how they become so violent and how they are capable of committing such horrid acts of violence. I believe the most effective method of analyzing serial killers was reading articles and watching documentaries. The articles were from reliable resources such as the FBI, and gave a lot of good information as to what their motives and behaviors were. The documentaries were a good way of analyzing serial killers because I got to see the way they acted and hear their stories to figure out w hat led up to the killings and what exactly their motives were. I am going to continue to watch documentaries on not only Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer but other serial killers to see if their behaviors and motives match up somehow. Although all serial killers aren’t the same and don’t share the same motives, they do share the same urges. The purpose of this would be to see if my explanations of the motives, behaviors, and childhood experiences of these serial killers are in fact true for others as well. This analysis may help me in learning about the brain and how it works. Another interesting explanation as to triggers for serial killers is a chromosome abnormality. Some researchers are starting to believe that there is a change associated with the male chromosome make up. There is an ongoing investigation on if and how the gene changes and why it does. The end point of this assignment for me is to follow up with the study of similar chromosome changes in these men that become serial killers. 6. Timeline. I currently still have some questions as to what other similarities might occur between serial killers such as chromosome abnormalities or brain defects. I will be continually checking these doctors and researcher’s information gathered from their testing and experiments to hopefully receive new and improved information. One of the most helpful things to do is watch movies and documentaries on not only serial killers but their families, the detectives, doctors, and the researchers. The one  problem that I feel I might encounter is not having enough evidence and consistent information to back it up because it is a new study being done. Although I have continuing questions, I believe that I have covered my research topic to the best of my ability and now my own curiosity will keep me wondering and wanting to know more information than what has been given to me. Citations Freeman, Shanna. â€Å"How Serial Killers Work.† How Stuff Works. A Discovery Company. 02 October 2007. Web. 20 March 2014. Mueller, Robert. â€Å"Serial Murder.† The FBI. US Government, US Department of Justice. 02 September 2005. Web. 20 March 2014. Bardsley, Marilyn. â€Å"Jeffrey Dahmer.† Crime Library. Criminal Minds & Methods. 04 August 1991. Web. 20 March 2014. Montaldo, Charles. â€Å"The Myths about Serial Killers.† Crime/Punishment. About.com. July 2008. Web. 20 March 2014. Rogers, Abby. â€Å" A Terrifying Glimpse into the Mind of a Serial Killer.† Business Insider. 08 June 2012. Web. 20 March 2014. Scott, Shirley. â€Å"What Makes Serial Killers Tick?† Crime Library. Criminal Minds & Methods. 04 October 1991. Web. 20 March 2014. Gregg, Allan. â€Å"Interview with FBI Profiler John Douglas (1996).† Dark Documentaries. 29 November 2011. Web. 20 March 2014. Montaldo, Charles. â€Å"Characteristics of the Psychopathic Personality.† Crime/Punishment. About.com. July 2008. Web. 20 March 2014.