David Sedaris and Projecting Sexual Orientations Through Speech Research Paper

David Sedaris and Projecting Sexual Orientations Through Speech - Research Paper Example The opening of the report consists of the information about David Sedaris as a writer. Writers generally write about their experiences. As an essayist and a humorist, David Sedaris chronicles his experiences and more, in order for the people to get entertained. His works can be satirical and deadpan, or maybe even exaggerated. Whatever the style is, David Sedaris is a chronicler of life. And his life, whether you want to admit it or not, is really interesting, and that makes it very readable. But then again, David Sedaris is not a very special man. In fact, he is too much like the rest of the world, which is why many people read him. But the fact remains that he is sure interesting enough in order for the person to have such interesting experiences – experiences that lead the readers to enjoy a funny, vicarious experience. Why is this so? Why is David Sedaris genuinely interesting to the rest of the world? David Sedaris is an American writer, first and foremost. Most of his wo rks focus on his experiences on being American: being American in America (as he recalled in â€Å"End of the Affair† in the book Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, for example), being American in Paris or being American in Japan, or wherever it was he went (such as the essays in When You Are Engulfed In Flames). He offers a different take on being American, and this is largely due to his colorful personality and his ability to appreciate reality. His works are funny largely because of the people around him which can be quite rambunctious and funny, all because they differ than most people. But generally, the observations made by Sedaris as an American are quite useful for the traveler, as they can actually use the information as tools for insight, as the self-deprecating humor can actually highlight the flaws on has for being who he is, which in this case, is being American. It offers non-biased, non-judgmental reflection on how it is to be an American, especially abro ad. Add to the fact that he is a smoker, and how it means to be a smoker. Experiences which relate to being a smoker can be largely found in the book, When You Are Engulfed With Flames, especially being a smoker in foreign countries like France and Japan. But then his earlier work always through references to smoking, especially with his family: his mother and sisters are all smokers. This time, smoking is not preached as good or bad, it just is smoking. His being a smoker adds dimension to his persona, to his experiences. He is also not rich. He came from a working class family. His essays revolve on his experiences as a struggling writer. He was a cleaning guy in New York for some time. He was also an apple-picker once, just to take a stab at romanticism. Although they were not struggling as a family, his experiences as a young man (or boy) trying to make ends meet are hilarious. There is this essay where he talks about how obsessed he was at being rich. He was constant dreamer. T hat’s for sure, and his constant to be part of something grad, something that most people are not privy to, makes him a very good vessel for many who would also like to try his antics, but couldn’t. But he also suffered some tics. Maybe they were developmental tics at the time, who knows. In Naked, there is an essay called a â€Å"Plague of Tics†, casually making his experience with tics accessible to

Resume Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Resume - Assignment Example My previous work experiences entail dealing directly with people through administering functions and through managing organizational campaigns. I am highly skilled in undertaking effective communication, in various medium. I am an exemplary team player and could work in diverse environments; even in demanding or highly challenging situations. My ability to discern appropriate conflict negotiating techniques, as well as apply problem-solving strategies, make me highly competent for the position. Likewise, my aviation knowledge and skills would be a potential advantage for an Air and Marine Interdiction Agent, in the near future. I am hereby attaching my resume for your perusal. I would be available for interview at your most convenient time. I could be reached in any of the stipulated contact details. I am confident that when considered for the position, we would be establishing a mutually beneficial business relationship. I would be looking forward to hearing from you

“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift Essay Example for Free

â€Å"A Modest Proposal† by Jonathan Swift Essay The essay, â€Å"A Modest Proposal† by Jonathan Swift is a satirical piece that discussed, in great detail, the issues surrounding 18th century society as it pushed forward development as society progressed, both technologically and socially. The essay contained a ‘modest,’ albeit radical, proposal from Swift, wherein he tried to provide a rational solution to the problem of increasing population, scarcity, and poverty in his society under the British rule. Among Swift’s ‘modest proposals’ were the imposition of polygamy among humans, wherein â€Å"one Male [sic] will be sufficient to serve four Females,† and the practice of bearing children as Food, which he identified to be â€Å"very proper for Landlords. † These propositions provided a glimpse into the social problems Swift’s society experienced during his time, wherein poor governance, in order to be alleviated, was resolved through what Swift considered to be deviant and inhumane practices. Proposing these deviant and inhumane practices was a demonstration of the increased demoralization among the citizens of Swift’s society, a state which the author deemed to be too outrageous to be true but is actually occurring. Hence, in order to address these outrageous yet unconfronted social problems and issues, Swift’s essay generated the attention it deserved and warranted, therefore making the readers and the essay’s target audience aware of the social state at which their country found itself in. Swift’s essay, in effect, drove home the fact that in the midst of social progress and development, moral demoralization occurred as a consequence, defeating the purpose of development and progress in the society.

Looking At Imperial Identity In Rudyard Kipling English Literature Essay

Looking At Imperial Identity In Rudyard Kipling English Literature Essay The work of Edward Said has long been fuel for much critical debate; In Orientalism, Said argues that the whole notion of the Orient is a body of culture, academic and political work that tries to identify the East as them in terms that have evolved through Western Imperialism. In Orientalism, Said quotes Rudyard Kiplings work as exemplifying colonial attitudes to Oriental peoples. (REF) The aim of this essay is to explore the critical material written about the work of Kipling, in particular Kim and The Jungle Books. By using the work of Said as a foundation and starting point to critique Kiplings work, I plan to explore how Kipling presents his young heroes, Kim and Mowgli. According to Saids analysis, there are two factors that must be kept in mind when interpreting Kim. One being that, its author was writing not just from the dominating viewpoint of a white man in a colonial possession but from the perspective of a colossal colonial system whose economy, functioning, and history had acquired the status of a virtual fact of nature. (162) Kipling assumes an essentially uncontested empire of colonies made up of inferior humans. The division between white and non-white was absolute in India and other colonial areas, and is alluded to throughout Kim as well as the rest of Kiplings work: a Sahib is a Sahib and no amount of friendship or camaraderie can change the rudiments of racial difference. (162) According to Said, Kipling would no more have questioned that difference and the right of the white European to rule than he would have argued with the Himalayas. (163) Similar to Said, S. P. Mohanty in his essay, Kiplings Children and the Colour Line, explores this division between the white and non-white. Mohanty argues that Kim has to be read in terms of racial positions and the imperial project. In particular he focuses on issues of spying, scouting, observing and managing: a distinctly political project shaping racial meanings, identities and possibilities. He suggests that Kim is a white hero who can discard his colour as he wishes: He lives and sleeps and east in the open social world of colonial India against a backdrop of an inter-Imperial war between Britain and Russia, but his identity is never something that ties him down. (241) Kim is of white heritage, yet grew up as a street urchin in Lahore, in the care of a half caste Indian woman. Mohanty argues that it is when we begin to take Kims cultural identity seriously as the character can become real and the reader begins to pay attention to the narratives elusive and mystifying cultural vision and wonder about the sources of its motivation. (242) The critic explains that once we being to question Kims education, direct parallels can be drawn to Kims ancestor, Mowgli. Both Kim and Mowgli learn to adapt to strange surroundings and attain a knowledge that enables them to survive their harsh worlds. (242) Mowgli is adopted by the wolves and befriended by the rest of the jungle animals, yet still holds a level of superiority. However in an example that Mohanty gives, taken from the opening of The Kings Ankus, Mowgli and Kaa the python are playing: the fantasy is here not so much of pure freedom as of involvement without any real implication. Kaa could crush Mowgli with the slightest slip; and what Mowgli plays with, in fact, is precisely this. Their inequality reduces to a game. From the beginning of the story, Kaa acknowledges the young human as the Master of the Jungle, and brings the boy all the news that he hears. (243) It is suggested by Mohanty that Mowgli like Kim reveals the capacity to not only inhabit the jungle through a wishful allegorical fantasy, but also to chart and track it as well both of them have the ability to read the world around them and often better than the natives. The native boys Kim is compared with somehow lack the facility that make reading possible, remarks the critic. Another example he gives of this inequality is when Lurgan Sahib teaches Kim and the Indian boy how to observes peoples faces and reactions, to interpret their behaviour and identify motive, Kim seems to learn it quickly, whilst the native boy is left mysteriously handicapped (244) The second factor is that Said recognises is that Kipling was a historical being as well an author; Kim was written at a specific moment in his career, and at a time when the relationship between the British and Indian people was changing. When we read it today, Kiplings Kim can touch many of these issues. Does Kipling portray the Indians as inferior, or as somehow equal but different? Obviously, an Indian reader will give an answer that focuses on some factors more than others (for example, Kiplings stereotypical views some would call them racialist on the Oriental character) whereas English and American readers will stress his affection for Indian life on the Grand Trunk Road. Sandra Kemp in her 1988 study entitled Kiplings Hidden Narratives, tries to understand and link the relationship between the authors psychology and the authors work. She notes that Kipling was strongly opposed to Indian Nationalism (2) and used his public figure as a writer to draw attention to politics and the political climate in India. Like Said recognises, India was entering a post-Muntiny state and both critics propound the influence of this on Kipling. (2) Baa Baa, Black Sheep, Kiplings semi-autobiographical account of childhood, he reveals recurrent preoccupations as the story dramatizes the difference between the East and West. Throughout his writings Kipling seems to be searching for a structure of belief that would recognise the reality of both love and hate, and the reality of their co-existence. Kemp encapsulates the search for identity within Kim, stating that this structures the action: Who is Kim-Kim-Kim? Quoting this extract from Kim again is Zorah T. Sullivan, who notes that this inner quest and search for an identity suggest possible self-discovery. Sullivan examines Kim and Mowglis mutual [division] between their desire to be loved and their need to control and be feared. (i) Quoting from The Second Jungle Book all the Jungle was his friend, and just a little afraid of him (130). This coincides with Mohantys point regarding Kaa and Mowlgis play fighting. Sullivan identifies that the India Kipling created helped to construct a mythology of imperialism by reflecting both the real and the imaginary relationship between the British and their Indian subjects. (8) By acknowledging the work of Kemp, Sullivan expands upon how Kemp illuminates Foucaults and Saids earlier work on the problems of representing Others: knowledge of others reflects the power of the knowing coloniser who represents natives because they cannot represent themselves. (9) Sullivans work counters Kiplings reputation as bard of empire whose voice represents unproblematically and transparently the discourse of imperialism. Peter Havholm suggests that Saids demonstration of the Orientalism assumed by the implied authors of important English and French novels has set the parameters for much other recent discussion about Kiplings fiction. (2008, 5) According to him, fellow critics such as Sullivan and Moore-Gilbert line up against Saids conclusions; They read ambivalence, anxiety, and a range of complexities in the discourse that may be abstracted form Kiplings stories. (5) Although Saids work added colonial discourse analysis to the art and life of Kipling, this analysis focuses more on the rhetoric of Kiplings fiction than its form. However Havholm observes that the discussion Said started is both productive and fascinating. (4) Bart Moore-Gilbert is another critic who is synonymous with Kipling. In his 1986 study Kipling and Orientalism, Moore-Gilbert seeks to explore Kiplings relationship to the characteristic discourses of Anglo-Indian culture, principally the literary and the political in the 19th Century, as well as providing a critique on Saids Orientalism. Edward Said believes that every form of orientalism is based on simplistic stereotypes that help justify the Wests imperialistic goal of restructuring and dominating oriental cultures. Moore-Gilbert suggests that Saids writing is inadequate and generalises the British relationship to India and Kiplings outlook in his Anglo-Indian writings. Moore-Gilbert acknowledges Saids position. Despite his sympathy for Indian ways, as aforementioned, Kipling feared native rule and was in full support of the British Raj. Moore-Gilbert treats this as a regrettable short-coming, proving that Kipling was a prisoner of his cultural values and proposes that Anglo-Indians and Kipling were not always bigoted imperialists as Said may suggest. Through Moore-Gilberts work, a reassessment of Saids hypothesis of Kiping is formed. John McBratneys article Imperial Subjects, Imperial Space argues that the ordering element of Kiplings vision of empire is the native-born Westerner who inhabits his fictions so insistently. Surrounding the native born is felicitous space or a narrative area in which arising social constraints are suspended and where one can engage in a free experiment of personal identity and social role: Given the tension between juvenile freedom and imperial duty, what finally is the nature of Mowglis identity? (279) Similar to some of the other critics discussed in this essay, McBratney too draws upon Kiplings own identity, and his ability to float between the Anglo-Indian and Indian societies, without religious or social sanctum (282) just like Kim and Mowgli. The special abilities that allow the native-born to play these roles derive from his identity as neither exclusively British nor simply native. This study also provides the most thorough analysis of that figures hybrid, casteless selfhood in relation to shifting attitudes toward racial identity during Britains New Imperialism. illuminates both the complexities of subject construction in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods and the struggles today over identity formation in the postcolonial world. Moore-Gilbert has critiqued the work of McBratney, regearding it as a fine critical text (2000, 100). The focus of the native born which features heavily within McBratneys article leads to Moore-Gilbert praising him for highlighting that Mowgli is in fact Indian born and there a native himself. However studies from Mohanty and Sullivan highlight that regardless of whether Mowgli is Indian, the jungle become an allegorical platform and he is still an outsider in a strange world. From the critical material explored here, the issue of identity in Kim and The Jungle Books can be seen to be a highly debated topic, of which I have only scraped the surface, with the reoccurring issues of race and cultural factors being behind and self-confusion. Kemp, as many of the other critics concur, uses Kiplings self-reflexivity of his stories, and his stories interrogate the other-self of his childhood (1) Kiplings own confusion of racial and cultural identity is reflected within his writing, not only in Kim and The Jungle Books, but across all of his Indian fiction. This is something that maybe needs to be taken into consideration, as Moore-Gilbert does, when assessing the work of Kipling, using Said as critical foundation.

Central Conflict, Climax and Resolution in Hawthornes Young Goodman Br

The Central Conflict, Climax and Resolution in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†   Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay will analyze Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† to determine the central conflict in the tale, its climax and partial resolution, using the essays of literary critics to help in this interpretation. In my opinion, the central conflict in the tale is an internal one - the conflict in Goodman Brown between joining the ranks of the devil and remaining good, and the extension of this conflict to the world at large represented by the villagers of Salem.      It is a difficult personal journey for Young Goodman Brown, a young Puritan resident of Salem, Massachusetts, in the 1600’s to say goodbye to Faith on that fateful night and to keep a prior commitment made with an evil character (the devil) in the woods.   As he travels through the forest to fulfill his personal desire: to experience evil, to indulge in devil-worship, to become a witch - whatever this strange nocturnal affair might involve, all the while he is repeatedly thinking about the â€Å"good† things he is leaving behind at church, at home (his wife Faith), and at Salem village. This internal conflict ultimately destroys the Young Goodman Brown who existed prior to the visit to the woods, and creates a new, cynical, faith-less man of gloomy, distrustful disposition.    This interpretation of the central conflict differs from that offered by Terence Martin in Nathaniel Hawthorne:    His journey into the forest is best defined as a kind of general, indeterminate [my italics] allegory, representing man’s irrational drive to leave faith, home, and security temporarily behind, for whatever individual reason, and to take a chance with one more errand onto the wilder s... ...sts to Faith and to Salem to the extent that he is able to live with both, he nevertheless has lost the inner peace and innocence he possessed prior to the intrusion of evil into his life.    WORKS CITED â€Å"Hawthorne and His Mosses.† The Norton Anthology: American Literature, edited by Baym et al.   New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1995. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc.,1959. 247-56. James, Henry. Hawthorne. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997. Martin, Terence. Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Twayne Publishers Inc., 1965. â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne.† The Norton Anthology: American Literature, edited by Baym et al.   New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1995. Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.

College Admissions Essay - Selling Your Disability :: College Admissions Essays

Selling Your Disability to the Admissions Office "My father was an alcoholic, and I did anything I could to stay away from home. I chose that college because it was the farthest away. But I hated it there, and didn't do very well. Then I began to worry that I'd flunk out and have to go home, and of course my grades just got worse." "My mother was a drug addict. She did everything a person might do to get money for drugs. Often we didn't have food in the house; if there wasn't money for both, drugs came first. I ran away when I was sixteen, and never even finished high school. They figured that out in my third year of college, and made me take an equivalency test." "When my girlfriend got pregnant, we decided to keep the baby. I had to work two jobs to support us, three during the summer. So my grades aren't so hot." "They found out I had bone cancer in my senior year of high school; I hurt my knee playing basketball, and it wouldn't heal. I've had six operations in six years, along with the chemotherapy. But it didn't interfere with my studies; what else could I do in the hospital anyway?" Each of these cases was presented to me by my clients in the last few years. These clients all had two important things in common. The first is that they overcame incredible obstacles which would have completely demoralized many other people. The second is that, in every single case, the client was embarrassed by these events, and wanted to hide them. "Why should I talk about my problems?" Let's step back into the admissions office for a minute. The faculty committee is reviewing the files of two applicants. Both have a 3.0 g.p.a. and a 155 LSAT score. They're the same age and race, and both went to local colleges. But one is in good health, while the other has suffered from a lifelong kidney disease. They only have one seat left. Which applicant should they admit? They could toss a coin. Or they could decide that, in some cosmic sense, the person with kidney disease "deserves" the seat. Now what if you're that person, but don't want to tell the law school about the kidney disease, because you don't want to sound like you're asking for favors?

Fredrick Douglas Paper

Fredrick Douglass The analysis By Justin Ruano 11/14/11 Hist Am Civ 1607-1877 [pic] Have you ever wondered to yourself if you firmly belief in something that you could understand the opposite side of it? Well if you just so happened to believe in slavery and I were to tell you a story about an American born slave that is making his case to abolish I, would you listen? In the book Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, An American slave & Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Fredrick Douglass in his portion of the book goes on to make his case that slavery should be abolished.The way he goes about reasoning why it should be abolished is first he tells us about his experience during his period of slavery and in that experience it explains with a main point why and how it works. Secondly, he uses this book as a tool to help expose the true evil of slavery and uses once again experience which is a helpful thing. Lastly, he uses the fact that slave owners make the slaves ignorant o f their age, where they were born, and who their parents are. Fredrick Douglass throughout this book uses experiences to show why slavery should be abolished.Fredrick Douglass was born in 1818 and he died in 1895, and he was born into slavery in Talbot Country, Maryland. (Fredrick Douglass facts page) In chapter 1, Fredrick Douglass said that he had witnessed these beatings and that it had happened often. â€Å"I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was quite a child, but I well remembered it. †¦ It was the first of a long series of such outrages, of which I was doomed to be a witness and a participant†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Douglass pg 21) For example, the last paragraph of( page 21) going to( page 22) is the first experience of the beatings he witnessed. He took her into the kitchen, and stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back entirely naked†¦. † By using experiences, he is able to show people that even some s lave owners kill their slaves from beating. Murder is a sin especially for the religious people who were not so affected by this. For example on the bottom of (page 25) Fredrick Douglass Notes that Mr. Severe was called a very cruel man. Also noted that he had seen him whip a woman and take great pleasure in doing so. Since when does anyone take pleasure in torturing people is my question.For Fredrick Douglass, this book was his greatest resource to convincing people to abolish slavery because, slavery did not affect many people and especially for white people, they of course were not going to care. The challenge fir Douglass was that people didn’t know and they didn’t care. That was his biggest challenge. Books don’t lie. For Fredrick Douglass, he would have liked to be alive during the time slavery was officially gone. For example why this book helped him make his case is because he went through these things and witnessed these events. His biography of how sla very really was like back then.Beatings to the point slaves would die due to a lot of bleeding. The main point for this reason of how he went about to explain his case is this book. He wrote it with events, names, dates. Things that define what history is. Another example of how his book was a tool to help him make his case is that throughout this whole book he talked about a lot of violence from the beatings that he witnessed. In the First chapter he mentioned how he was roughly 7 years old and he witnessed a brutal beating his master gave one of the salves that was with Fredrick Douglass. Pg 21) Finally, by using this book as a tool he exposed evil by once again talking about his experiences about slavery. Fredrick Douglass a few times in the book says that the slave-owners tend to make the slaves ignorant of their age, where there from, and even their parents. For example, he says on the very first page of chapter one that, â€Å" By far the large part of the slaves know as litt le of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. †(Douglass pg 17) For someone to not know their age or mainly anything about themselves is pretty ridiculous.He also says on the same page that he doesn’t really know anyone who even knows their own birthday, nor is he knowledgeable of his age. For him just trying to make his case about slavery should be abolished is hard enough. To even have a hard time to find out his age is also pretty unbelievable. Also for him once again trying to make a case that it should be abolished was very difficult but to not even recall his mother’s death or anything is pretty sad. For the people he is trying to convince is also an advance fro his case because he must know that none of them would want to be like him not remembering or knowing anything about himself.Lastly, For Fredrick Douglass to be able to learn his year of birth from a conversation he overheard from his master when trying to make his case would in his mind help him to win the audience he has. Throughout the course of the book Fredrick Douglass makes his case about how slavery should be abolished. The way he goes about that is he talks about his experiences so that his audience will get a good view of exactly what is going on and then determine what works. He then uses the book as a tool so that he has an even stronger case about why it should be abolished.Finally, he talks about how the slave-owners would rather have their slaves to be ignorant about how exactly they are and when they were born, age, and even parents. Hes uses these three things to make his case of why slavery should be abolished and the biggest â€Å"how† is using the book as a tool. Personal Reaction to Fredrick Douglass Part of reading My personal reaction to the book is that I thought there was a lot of emotion that he spilled out into this book and that is what truly made this book enjoyable for me to read. Biographies are my favorite types of books.When I first picked up this book I though it wasn’t going to be a very good book because reading books about someone’s slavery story isn’t what I like to read but as I started to get into the book I thought it was very hard to put down and it was one of the best books that I have read. It was something new to me by reading it but to me it was very good about learning how his life basically went dealing with being a slave and then trying to argue how slavery should be abolished. Very good narrative and I would defitnely recommend this book for someone to read.