Thomas Kuhn Writing Style Essay Example for Free

Thomas Kuhn Writing Style Essay According to the back cover, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is considered one of The Hundred Most Influential Books Since the Second World War by The Times Literary Supplement. I don’t necessarily agree with this assessment. Don’t miss understand what I’m saying; he is probably one of the more brilliant people that have ever walked this earth for all I know. But, I could not get over how difficult his writing style was to interpret. His form of writing is not something that most people who are not scientists are use too. From being written in a scientific and philosophical manner, to explaining a paradigm and normal science, to using words that I was trying to look up in the dictionary on every single page. The one thing I did care for was his redundancy in his book. His redundancy will grab your attention telling you to pay attention to this certain word or phrase because it will be important to understanding this book. From the start of the book, I’ve come to the conclusion that Thomas Kuhn is almost writing a scientific and philosophical essay. As he continues to refer back to some of the more brilliant people in the history of the world such as Aristotle, Galileo, Einstein, Newton and Lavoisier, this is where I recognized the scientific and philosophical â€Å"writing style† he had. Numerous times he would refer back to one of these names and tell of their scientific development that was associated with their name. This, for whatever reason, made me think his writing was actually organized; I just didn’t understand it. He gave explanations behind why he was referencing this particular person making everything attempt to flow a little bit better. For me, philosophy was never a subject that I understood well, therefore, it was very hard for me to follow in what he was saying. Throughout this essay, Thomas Kuhn puts a large emphasis on paradigms, and normal science. From what I understood, a paradigm meant that the nature of scientific inquiry within a particular field was going to be largely transformed. That was my own interpretation. I sat for about a day on trying to figure out how I was going to understand what his form of paradigm meant. For all I know, I’m completely wrong. But that’s what I understood so far. So, for Thomas Kuhn, his argument was that science did not progress on a linear accumulation of knowledge but that it went through so-called periodic revolutions. This is where the term paradigm shift had come from. I believe that it is impossible to go through a paradigm shift without a crisis. When attempting to understand what normal science was to Thomas Kuhn, I was still quite confused since I was trying to interpret paradigm and paradigm shift. Kuhn insists, (p. 52) Normal science does not aim at novelties of fact or theory and, when successful, finds none. Again, not quite sure what he just said there. So, I sat on it for a few hours to figure out what he was trying to tell the reader. After that day, I felt that he was almost concerned that common occurrence of discoveries was going to disprove his thesis. So, if normal science aims at discovery, and discoveries are novel, then normal science aims at novelty. Kuhn claims that discoveries are always accompanied by changes in the prevailing paradigm. Attempting to understand what each of these meant in his words was a struggle. I would have much rather used the Internet to try to figure out what in the world he was saying. For me, Thomas Kuhn’s writing style is above and beyond my intellect or knowledge. Having my bachelors in science didn’t help me out whatsoever like I thought it would when beginning this book. The most difficult obstacle for me while reading Thomas Kuhn’s book was no doubt trying to understand what he was saying by the words he used. Just in the first few chapters I was looking up words in the dictionary probably four or five times on each page. I understand his audience was a group of scientists so they should understand this. I won’t knock him for that. I also feel like he could’ve made the reading a little easier to understand. No to bring anyone down to a lower level, but to â€Å"dumb† it down a little bit would have given people like me a huge help at understanding his form of writing. Just in the first two chapters, this was the list of words or phrases I could not pick up on: * Phylogistic chemistry * Arbitrariness * Onslaught * Dichotomies * Elucidate * Esoteric * Corpuscles * Effluvium * Arduous * Recondite * Metallurgy * Morass * Juxtapose Sure, a few of these words I have come across before in another reading. The book I read these words from was probably a science textbook, and honestly were not words I was going to be using everyday. Lastly, I noticed how redundant Thomas Kuhn was in his writing style. I think that because of who his audience was, he needed to be redundant. He needed to repeatedly bring the importance of a paradigm up for discussion. He was trying to get people to pay attention to certain points in his writing and the best way to do that is to talk about them repeatedly. With his redundancy I found myself paying more attention to certain words or phrases he was pointing out to me, like, â€Å"Hey!  Grasp this concept and understand because I’m going to bring it up a lot in this book. † This was the only form of his writing style that I cared for. Again, I’m not trying to knock him for what he has written, because from reviews I’ve read on him and his book, he’s pretty brilliant. The redundancy is always annoying, but in this case it helped me to grasp concepts that he was really trying to focus on and bring my attention to so I could fully understand this book. Did it completely help me in understanding this book? No, not at all, I’m still blown away at what in the world I’ve read and am still reading to understand him.

Youngwomen, self-esteem, and the confidence gap Essay Example for Free

Youngwomen, self-esteem, and the confidence gap Essay In 1990, The American Association of University Women conducted a national survey to find out the attitudes that three thousand boys and girls between the ages of nine and fifteen had about themselves and school. From their findings, they found that as young girls reach adolescence their self-esteem drops rapidly. It was also found that this loss of confidence was severe among ethnic groups. The survey also helped to support years of research evidence documenting gender bias in American Education. Peggy Orenstein in association with the American Association of University Women released her book SchoolGirls: Young women, self-esteem, and the confidence gap in 1994 in response to the survey report entitled Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America. In this book, Orenstein writes of her first hand experience with a behind the scenes look of adolescent girls everyday lives. The narrative explores the human side of the statistics found during the report as well as providing insight into how the education system often restricts girls from getting the experience they deserve. The first two parts of the book take place at two California middle schools, which are fifty miles apart from one another, but they seem like two different worlds. Weston is a predominately white suburban middle school with a reputation for excellence, while Audubon is located in a beleaguered urban community that is ninety percent ethnic minority, mostly poor or working poor (p. xxii). My criteria was simple, says Orenstein, I chose schools based on their racial and economic makeup and the willingness of the administrators, teachers, and students to participate (p. xxi). Results from both of these schools in which Orenstein observed are presented in both sections. The third section of the book, is spent in a classroom where gender equity is practiced. The findings from Weston are separated into six chapters. The first of these chapters discusses how girls learn to be silent, inactive participants in the classroom. Orenstein points out that the ratio of talk in the classroom was approximately five boys to one girl. Chapter two shows how the hidden curriculum teaches girls to be submissive and deferential. Girls are seen as facing much contradiction. They are supposed to be outspoken, yet they face a thin line on just how far they should carry out this characteristic. In chapter three, an even more contradictory line is examined. Girls protest to being called a schoolgirl, but being called a slut is not a good thing either. They constantly have to supervise their intelligence and their sexual desire.

Ethical Analysis of Children on the Internet

Ethical Analysis of Children on the Internet Children on the Internet Abeer AlSouly Ghada AlFantookh   Naima AlRashed Overview: Many people may consider the Internet as the greatest invention ever created by man. No  doubt about that if we talked about how fast knowledge exchanging has become today, or  how easy can people communicate with each other globally. Also children nowadays practice  many activities on the Internet; the most popular ones are schoolwork, social networking and  online gaming. Children’s ability to access the Internet has grown rapidly. It has made our  life much easier and it has become an essential part of modern life. Even though the benefits of the Internet are countless, it may be considered as an extremely  dangerous environment for children because some of the Internet contents can’t be controlled  and uncensored. Also children are not fully aware of how horrible and devastating the  consequences could be. However, there is no universally accepted view of what is more important whether the  education of children or protection, which is also another challenge! Also the differences in  people’s cultures and geographical location in legal and social norms reflect the lack of  common agreement. In this report, we will discuss three main issues that raise the concerns about children on the internet: The possibility that children could obverse inappropriate content in the Internet. Contact with people who seek to abuse children. Privacy risk from game sites that ask children for extensive personal and family  Information for marketing purposes. Background and The Importance of The Internet: The evolution of the Internet in the last 3 decades has been hugely improved and nowadays  we rely on it in most of our daily needs. It’s both informative and entertaining medium. Some children use it to expand their horizon  and increase their knowledge and other use it just for fun. Also these activities doesn’t require the traditional desktop computer anymore, the platforms  has increased to handheld devices such as smart phones and tablets. The Internet doesn’t just improve children mental skills but also improves their imagination  and develops their interaction skills. The ways of using the Internet and the reasons differ from child to child according to the  child age and interests. Explanation of the issues: Despite the many benefits of using the Internet and its associated services among children  there are also risks, which they must be made aware of 1. In this report we will explain some  issues such as: The possibility that children could obverse inappropriate content in the  Internet (as in Networked Communications- Children Inappropriate Content section in the  course), contact with people who seek to abuse children and privacy risk from game sites that  ask children for extensive personal and family information for marketing purposes. The possibility that children could obverse inappropriate content in the  Internet: The term inappropriate content may vary across generations and across countries and  cultures. On the other hand, there is content that is considered in all cultures as inappropriate  for children, such as the depiction of graphic violence or sexual abuse, and encouragement to  harm ones self or others. Moreover, some content can be considered as illegal, such as  violent or sexual acts against children, and the promotion of racism and xenophobia. The  different types of inappropriate content and risks that children can encounter online is  classified based on the role of the child (as recipient, participant or as actor) and the motives  of the provider (commercial, aggressive, sexual and values-related). Children inevitably  encounter content such as pornography as it is widely available on the Internet. Child  pornography in particular has important implications and considered as one of the most  serious crimes on the Internet. Sexual content, like pornographic or sexual depictions, might  cause harm to children or lead them to personal contact with potentially dangerous strangers. Contacting with people who seek to abuse children: Speaking of contacting with people who seek to abuse children, ‘British investigators flew to  America to rescue a six-year-old-girl who was being repeatedly raped on video by her father  for the gratification of members of a highly secretive internet paedophile ring.’ And many  other stories like this one appear on a regular basis. Child abuse takes new forms, leaving  social workers and parents confused about new threats that may arrive with new  technologies. Contact offences can be committed by adults where an adult commits or seeks  to commit a sexual offence on a child. Historically most child sex abuse was by a family  member or from people in his social circles. On the Internet adults who may become  involved with sexually abusing children can locate them and make the initial contact using a  different interactive, communications technologies. Usually the adult and the child will  initially meet in an Internet chat room. Committed paedophiles are known to frequent chat  rooms that are popular with children such as chat rooms related to music, fashion, or sport. The paedophile may be very skillful in communicating with children, he shows himself to the  child as a nice guy or tries to become their special friend and persuades the child to leave the  public space and go off into a private chat room. The paedophile and the child can then  arrange to continue to communicate with each other in different ways. He will ensure that the  child does not keep any record of their conversations, as sooner or later he will seek to  sexualize the contact and conversations as part of the grooming process. The effect on  children of being sexually abused is almost deeply damaging both in the short and longer  runs. A child who knew that images or a record of their abuse were out there on the Internet,  might be worried that the image could reach their classmates, neighbors or other family  members. Alternatively the image could fall into the hands of other people who know them  and who might then use it against them. Children who have be en abused in front of a web  cam similarly could never be absolutely sure that they would not meet someone who might  have witnessed their abuse and recognize them in real life. Privacy risk from game sites that ask children for extensive personal and  family information for marketing purposes: Moreover on the issues of children on the Internet, the privacy risks from game sites that  arise from asking children for extensive personal and family information for marketing  purposes. Many corporations seeking to capitalize on this market create websites that offer  games, quizzes, chat environments, and advice in order to encourage children to provide their  personal information, which can then be used to target the children with advertising, For  example Kraft, which owns Lifesavers, are interested in kids because of their spending  power. Corporations Typically, these children’s sites play into their developmental needs in  order to encourage kids to talk about themselves. Many of these sites, like Tickle.com, use  personality tests to collect information from, and market to, individual girls. These quizzes  ask detailed questions about the child’s personality, preferences, hopes, and aspirations. Since  children have to register with the si te before they can access the quizzes, the marketer is able  to record the child’s responses linked to his or her first and last name, zip/postal code, email  address, gender, marital status, and level of education. This information can also be matched  against the data trail that the child generates as she surfs through the site, selecting articles,  chatting online and playing games. Tickle also uses the information they collect to target girls  with personalized advertisements. Analysis and Evaluation: Issue (1): â€Å"The possibility that children could obverse inappropriate content in the Internet† 1. Kantianism 1st formulation: Proposed Rule â€Å"Some people post graphic violence or sexual abuse or encouragement to harm  ones self or others† Universalize rule Everyone can post graphic violence or sexual abuse or encouragement to harm ones  self or others and everyone can see it. Result 1- Physiological harms to the children. 2- Children will try to apply what they see of encouragement to harm ones self or  others, which leads to death in some cases. 3- May lead them to personal contact with potentially dangerous strangers to talk  about what they had seen instead of talking with their parents. So, based on Kantianism first formulation this rule can’t be universalized which makes  it morally wrong. 2nd formulation: Proposed Rule â€Å"Some people post graphic violence or sexual abuse or encouragement to harm  ones self or others† Goal People who post these kinds of posts aim to gain fame and attention of others or satisfy  their physiological desires. Mean Since everyone can see the posts including children, innocent people who shouldn’t see  this content including children will become the mean to achieve their goal. Result So, based on Kantianism second formulation this rule is morally wrong. 2. Act Utilitarianism Proposed Rule â€Å"Some people post graphic violence or sexual abuse or encouragement to harm ones  self or others† Benefits 1. Sometimes this content may be used to increase the knowledge of the child about the  inappropriate actions and things to avoid. Harms 1. Physiological harms to the children. 2. Children will try to apply what they see of encouragement to harm ones self or  others, which leads to death in some cases. 3. May lead them to personal contact with potentially dangerous strangers to talk about  what they had seen instead of talking with their parents.   Result We can see above that harms overweigh the benefits, so, based on Act Utilitarianism this  rule is morally wrong. Our point of view: The theories above all agree that it is morally wrong that people post graphic violence or  sexual abuse or encouragement to harm ones self or others on the Internet. From our point of  view, we totally agree with this result since these posts will cause physiological harms to the  children, they will try to apply what they see of encouragement to harm ones self or others  which leads to death in some cases and may lead them to personal contact with potentially  dangerous strangers to talk about what they had seen instead of talking with their parents. We  actually think these posts will kill the childhood innocence. Issue (2): â€Å"Contacting with people who seek to abuse children† 1. Kantianism à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  1st formulation: Proposed Rule â€Å"People who seek to abuse children contact them on the Internet† Universalize rule Everyone can use the Internet to satiate their bad desires. Result 1- The Internet will become a dangerous place everyone is afraid of. 2- Crime in all of its forms is going to increase exponentially. 3- Trusted content will significantly decrease. So, based on Kantianism first formulation this rule can’t be universalized which makes it  morally wrong. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  2nd formulation: Proposed Rule â€Å"People who seek to abuse children contact them on the Internet† Goal People who make this kind of connection aim to satiate their desires. Mean In this rule they use the children as a mean to satiate their bad desires. Result So, based on Kantianism second formulation this rule is morally wrong. 2. Act Utilitarianism Proposed Rule â€Å"People who seek to abuse children contact them on the Internet† Benefits No benefits. Harms 1. A child who knew that images or a record of their abuse were out there on the  Internet, might be worried that the image could reach their classmates, neighbors or  other family members; which will shake his/her self-confidence. 2. Children who have been abused in front of a web cam similarly could never be  absolutely sure that they would not meet someone who might have witnessed their  abuse and recognize them in real life; which may make them prefer the isolation and  hate the social life. 3. The image of the child’s abuse could fall into the hands of other people who know  them and who might then use it against them. Result We can see above that harms overweigh the benefits, so, based on Act Utilitarianism  this rule is morally wrong. Our point of view: The theories above all agree that it is morally wrong that people who seek to abuse children  contact them on the Internet. From our point of view, this result is absolutely right, since  these kinds of communication will harm the child, shake his/her self-confidence, make them  prefer the isolation and hate the social life, the image of the child’s abuse could fall into the  hands of other people who know them and who might then use it against them also, the  Internet will become a dangerous place everyone is afraid of, crime in all of its forms is going  to increase exponentially and finally trusted content will significantly decrease. Issue (3): â€Å"Privacy risk from game sites that ask children for extensive personal and family  information for marketing purposes†. 1. Kantianism à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  1st formulation: Proposed Rule â€Å"Game sites collect personal and family information from children for marketing  purposes† Universalize  rule Everyone can collect private information from children. Result 1- May result in child giving her/his parents’ credit card number or financial  information. 2- Crime in many of its forms is going to increase, since many of the private  information had been leaked. 3- Blackmail propagation. So, based on Kantianism first formulation this rule can’t be universalized which makes it  morally wrong. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  2nd formulation: Proposed Rule â€Å"Game sites collect personal and family information from children for marketing  purposes† Goal People who collect these information aim to promote for their products or services in  order to increase their revenue. Mean In this rule they use the children as a mean to collect the personal and family  information needed for this promotion. Result So, based on Kantianism second formulation this rule is morally wrong. 2. Act Utilitarianism Proposed Rule â€Å"Game sites collect personal and family information from children for marketing  purposes† Benefits 1. Child would benefit from enjoying playing the games. 2. Some of these games may enhance his/her intelligence and his/her way of thinking. 3. Corporations will suggest the appropriate games based on the collected information  (ex: age, gender, interests, etc.) ; so both parties will benefit. Harms 1. Parents or any of the family members of the child will receive so many annoying  spam emails. 2. Corporations sell these personal and family information to other corporations without  the permission of the information’s owner. 3. Parents or any of the family members of the child may receive many annoying sales  or advertisements’ phone calls or SPIMs*. 4. All of the above wastes the target’s time, since the information had been collected  without his/her permission which means (s)he’s not interested in these  advertisements. * SPIM: Stands for Spam Instance Messaging. Result We can see above that harms overweigh the benefits, so, based on Act Utilitarianism  this rule is morally wrong. Our point of view: The theories above all agree that it is morally wrong to collect personal and family  information from children for marketing purposes. Also, from our point of view we agree  with this result, because the parents or any of the family members of the child will receive so  many annoying spam emails, their information will be exchanged between the companies  without their permission and they also will receive so many annoying sales or  advertisements’ phone calls. These things wastes so much time especially if the targeted  person is not interested in these advertisements. Summary and conclusions: To summaries, the Internet today has a very useful and important resources and a lot of  schools depend on it almost completely, but also there is no clear accepted view that will  everyone agree on when it comes to also protection. We had explained some issues such as: The possibility that children could obverse inappropriate content in the Internet which prove  to be morally wrong based on Kantianism, Act Utilitarianism and from our point of view,  contact with people who seek to abuse children and privacy risk from game sites that ask  children for extensive personal which prove to be morally wrong based on Kantianism, Act  Utilitarianism and from our point of view and family information for marketing purposes  which prove to be morally wrong based on Kantianism, Act Utilitarianism and from our point  of view. Eventually, we know that we can’t prevent the children from accessing the Internet; instead  we can apply parental control over what the children can access. Moreover, children should  be aware of the consequences of what their actions may lead to. Various laws have been  passed to protect the children nowadays such as; The Child Online Protection Act (COPA),  which was passed to restrict access by minors to any material, defined as harmful to such  minors on the Internet5 and the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA)  Ã¢â‚¬Å"which was designed to limit the collection and use of personal information about children by  the operators of Internet services and Web sites†6. References:   [1] S. Livingstone, L. Haddon.(2009, Sep 30). Kids Online: Opportunities and Risks for  Children. (1st Edition). [On-line]. Available:  http://books.google.com.sa/books?id=aPsXzcjf9vMCprintsec=frontcoverdq=Kids+Online+bookhl=ensa=Xei=SeaBVLrSAcisU5fSgPAPredir_esc=y#v=onepageq=Kids%20Online%20bookf=false [Nov. 15, 2014]. [2] O’NEILL S (2002), Paedophile Squad Saves Girl, 6, from Rapist Father, Daily Telegraph,  3 July 2002, p. 7. [3] J. Carr. â€Å"child abuse, child pornography and the internet.† NCH (National Childrens  Homes) (Dec, 2003). [4] V. Steeves.(2006). â€Å"It’s Not Child’s Play: The Online Invasion of Children’s Privacy.†Ã‚  University of Ottawa Law Technology Journal. Available:  http://www.uoltj.ca/articles/vol3.1/2006.3.1.uoltj.Steeves.169-188.pdf?origin=publication_detail [Nov. 17, 2014]. [5] A. Carr. (2013, Feb 26). Child Protection. (1st Edition). [On-line]. Available:  http://books.google.com.sa/books?id=UwKfxyy_S2cCprintsec=frontcoverhl=ar#v=onepageqf=false [Dec. 5, 2014]. [6] â€Å"ChildrenS Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).† Internet:  http://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/childrens-online-privacy-protection-act-COPPA.html, [Dec. 5, 2014].

office ladies Essay -- essays research papers

Ogasawara’s article takes an interesting approach in analyzing the behavior of office ladies. She starts out by saying that women are the ones that are working under the men and that they have to be subordinate. She also talks about how men have more power and room to grow in their careers while the office ladies are stuck in their positions as they are and aren’t expected to try hard and do well since there is no room to be promoted. It seems as if the article is going in the direction of talking about the hardships of office ladies at this point. However, the article takes a sharp turn and starts talking about how the office ladies actually have an advantage. Although they are at the bottom they actually have the most power over what goes on at the top. An office lady can choose to do the work for a manager if she likes him or decide that she is too busy that day and skip her assignment. This will affect the male’s performance since his work may not get done o n time. It is for this reason that the male managers pamper the office ladies and try to stay popular with them. They even have certain holidays such as Valentine’s day that test the popularity of the managers by the amount of gifts that they receive. The manager’s whole career depends on how well he manages his employees so he tends to try very hard to get as many gifts as he can from the office ladies. The manager makes sure that he is liked. The end of the article talks about how this whole system is degrading to w... office ladies Essay -- essays research papers Ogasawara’s article takes an interesting approach in analyzing the behavior of office ladies. She starts out by saying that women are the ones that are working under the men and that they have to be subordinate. She also talks about how men have more power and room to grow in their careers while the office ladies are stuck in their positions as they are and aren’t expected to try hard and do well since there is no room to be promoted. It seems as if the article is going in the direction of talking about the hardships of office ladies at this point. However, the article takes a sharp turn and starts talking about how the office ladies actually have an advantage. Although they are at the bottom they actually have the most power over what goes on at the top. An office lady can choose to do the work for a manager if she likes him or decide that she is too busy that day and skip her assignment. This will affect the male’s performance since his work may not get done o n time. It is for this reason that the male managers pamper the office ladies and try to stay popular with them. They even have certain holidays such as Valentine’s day that test the popularity of the managers by the amount of gifts that they receive. The manager’s whole career depends on how well he manages his employees so he tends to try very hard to get as many gifts as he can from the office ladies. The manager makes sure that he is liked. The end of the article talks about how this whole system is degrading to w...

Brave New World and Gattaca :: Brave New World

Brave New World and Gattaca Huxley   Living in a genetically perfect world is not necessarily a great achievement to mankind.   It makes one think, "where do you draw the line in the advancement of eugenics?"   Both worlds, the Brave New one and Gattaca, are alternative futures (clearly dystopic), written and shown in a believable way (not as much in BNW, though) through the use of satire.   Also, for GATTACA, the director incorporates the traditional elements of movie - a murder-mystery tied in with a love story PLUS a science fiction touch - very effectively.   Satire in Huxley's novel is glaringly obvious (mockery of the education system and the morals of today along with many more topics), as he writes with the purpose of teaching and humoring at the same time.   However, with GATTACA, the satirical messages are not immediately perceivable - even after having seen the movie three times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is apparent that within the GATTACA institution, there is a definite discrimination against the genetic underclass; that naturally born.   Director Niccol is mocking the present-day view of prejudice and racism.   In the future of GATTACA, this prejudice is referred to as genoism - genetic discrimination.   Racism is a less specific form of genoism, and although such discrimination is outlawed, the laws are unenforceable because in this dystopian society, as it is in BNW, one's "genetic quotient" is known from birth.   The underclass people of this world are limited but aware of their social status and they are not particularly happy with it.   With the BNW, the lower castes seem to be (they are made to believe so) aware but they are conditioned to like their "light,...childishly simple" work. (p.204 BNW)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another satirical message explored in both works in that of publicity.   Our society is becoming increasingly accessible, yet controlled, through the use of surveillance of ID.   Huxley and Niccol are merely pointing out that it is incredibly disconcerting to think that one day, our identities will be verified through daily blood and urine samples.   On this topic, the one difference between the BNW and GATTACA is the in BNW, the Director or Controller is aware of the "individuals'" level of promiscuity or behaviour through the word of mouth.   There is also one major similarity; in both worlds, the Director is quite conscious of the existence of the Alphas and in the case of GATTACA, the elites.

Use of Symbolism, Tone, and Irony in The Swimmer, by John Cheever Essay

Finding home boarded up; a sensation of coldness and unwelcoming takes over. Sudden misfortunes arise from what was once a perfect life, and the world appears upside-down. Attempts to remember what went wrong fail. Memories are unclear and time seems blurry. At one time, John Cheever found himself in this position, using alcohol to ignore his problems. John Cheever was born in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1912. In 1941, he moved to suburban Westchester and eventually became addicted to alcohol, which is a recurrent motif in many of his short stories. He died in 1982 from cancer. In his short story, "The Swimmer," an affluent man named Neddy Merrill decides to swim through all of the pools in his county to reach his own house. The neighbors welcome him at first, until a storm passes and everyone begins to regard him negatively. When he finally reaches home from his journey, he finds his house empty and boarded up. Just like the author, Ned suffered after he put aside his issues. John Cheever develops his theme that changes will inevitably come as time passes by in his short story "The Swimmer" through his use of symbolism, tone, and irony. At first glance,"The Swimmer" is literally a story about a man who swims through pools only to come home to an empty house- the symbolism makes it much more than that. One of the main symbols in "The Swimmer" is the swimming pools, which represent time periods. Halfway through the story, Ned reaches the Welchers and realises that they "had definitely gone away. [Their] pool furniture was folded, stacked, and covered with a tarpaulin" (Cheever). Unknown to Neddy, large amount of time has passed between the time he started his voyage and where he is now. Ned does not remember the Welchers' s... ...ss. Works Cited Blythe, Hal, and Charlie Sweet. "Man-Made vs. Natural Cycles: What Really Happens in 'The Swimmer..'" Studies in Short Fiction 27.3 (Summer 1990): 415-418. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 120. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. Cheever, John. The Swimmer. N.p.: Library of America, 2009. Print. Morace, Robert A. "The Swimmer: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. "The Swimmer." Short Story Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 57. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. Watts, Harold H. "John Cheever: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

Morality and Sacrifice

SACRIFICE â€Å"Sacrifice† is the surrender of a greater value for the sake of a lesser one or of a non value. Thus, altruism gauges a man’s virtue by the degree to which he surrenders, renounces or betrays his values (since help to a stranger or an enemy is regarded as more virtuous, less â€Å"selfish,† than help to those one loves). The rational principle of conduct is the exact opposite: always act in accordance with the hierarchy of your values, and never sacrifice a greater value to a lesser one. Sacrifice† does not mean the rejection of the worthless, but of the precious. â€Å"Sacrifice† does not mean the rejection of the evil for the sake of the good, but of the good for the sake of the evil. â€Å"Sacrifice† is the surrender of that which you value in favor of that which you don’t. If you exchange a penny for a dollar, it is not a sacrifice; if you exchange a dollar for a penny, it is. If you achieve the career you wanted, aft er years of struggle, it is not a sacrifice; if you then renounce it for the sake of a rival, it is.A sacrifice is the surrender of a value. Full sacrifice is full surrender of all values. If you wish to achieve full virtue, you must seek no gratitude in return for your sacrifice, no praise, no love, no admiration, no self-esteem, not even the pride of being virtuous; the faintest trace of any gain dilutes your virtue. If you pursue a course of action that does not taint your life by any joy, that brings you no value in matter, no value in spirit, no gain, no profit, no reward—if you achieve this state of total zero, you have achieved the ideal of moral perfection.If you wish to save the last of your dignity, do not call your best actions a â€Å"sacrifice†: that term brands you as immoral. If a mother buys food for her hungry child rather than a hat for herself, it is not a sacrifice: she values the child higher than the hat; but it is a sacrifice to the kind of mothe r whose higher value is the hat, who would prefer her child to starve and feeds him only from a sense of duty.If a man dies fighting for his own freedom, it is not a sacrifice: he is not willing to live as a slave; but it is a sacrifice to the kind of man who’s willing. If a man refuses to sell his convictions, it is not a sacrifice, unless he is the sort of man who has no convictions. Sacrifice could be proper only for those who have nothing to sacrifice—no values, no standards, no judgment—those whose desires are irrational whims, blindly conceived and lightly surrendered. For a man of moral stature, whose esires are born of rational values, sacrifice is the surrender of the right to the wrong, of the good to the evil. The creed of sacrifice is a morality for the immoral—a morality that declares its own bankruptcy by confessing that it can’t impart to men any personal stake in virtues or values, and that their souls are sewers of depravity, which they must be taught to sacrifice. By its own confession, it is impotent to teach men to be good and can only subject them to constant punishment.