The Horror of the Mundane Honore de Balzac once said‚ "We exaggerate misfortune and happiness alike. We are never as bad off or as happy as we say we are." Americans are so obsessed with happiness they would do anything to get to that point of bliss. In the book "The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffrey Eugenides‚ we are introduced to the men whose lives have been changed forever by their awkward obsession with five fated sisters: Therese‚ Mary‚ Bonnie‚ Lux‚ and Cecilia Lisbon. These mysterious girls don’t
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[A]nd as we struck into town and up through the middle of it--it was as much as half-after eight‚ then--here comes a raging rush of people‚ with torches‚ and an awful whooping and yelling‚ and banging tin pans and blowing horns; and we jumped to one side to let them go by; and as they went by‚ I see they had the king and the dike astraddle of a rail--that is I knowed it was the king and the duke‚ thought was all over tar and Feathers‚ and didn’t look like nothing in the world that was human--just
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According to Thomas Jefferson‚ “all tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent”. On July 4‚ 1776‚ our founding fathers took steps to rid the United States of the tyranny of King George the III of England. They would no longer remain silent. The document that declared the independence of this new country is the Declaration of Independence. The first section of the Declaration of Independence includes some of the worlds most quoted words. The introduction
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“The Things They Carried” In the short story “The Things They Carried”‚ Tim O’Brien wrote about the experience of war and the feelings young soldiers felt during their long days of travel. During the story he keeps referring back to the things the soldiers chose to carry in their packs. Some of these items included necessity items like grenades and ammunition‚ but they also carry sentimental items like love letters and pictures. These items help the reader better understand each person for
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It has been a long while since I read an autobiography and this one‚ contrary to most everything else professors have assigned to read‚ was pretty decent. Camara Laye’s The Dark Child is at first glance your run of the mill coming of age tale‚ with a few different odds and ends thrown in. After the first few pages though‚ you begin to realize that it isn’t quite as normal and bland as some of the other required readings you may have been assigned. Whether you are a fan of autobiographies or not‚
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In‚ Life That Does Not Deserve to Live‚ Giorgio Agamben aims to expand on Michel Foucault’s concepts of ‘biopower’ and ‘biopolitics’‚ to express the way in which the state has power over society in the way that ‘bare life’ is produced. He uses the Latin term homo sacer – literally translated to ‘sacred man’ – to describe a life which can be “eliminated without punishment” ‚ one that possesses no value to the state and therefore can be terminated without the act being considered a crime. Examples
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A hero can be interpreted by many things. Many people would say a hero is strong‚ uptight‚ truthful or moral. That’s not to say they aren’t allowed to have some faults‚ but usually a hero is someone who instills reverence and veneration in others for whatever reason. Nathaniel Hawthorne creates interesting thoughts provoking characters in the Scarlet Letter‚ but none of which give the right distinction that would give them the title hero. The actions and qualities of the characters in the story give
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Mr. Darcy’s prejudice is strongly rooted in him‚ but Elizabeth is able to break down some of his distaste for her‚ which eventually causes him to fall in love with her. Mr. Darcy‚ towards those he considers of lower status and regard‚ he is an aloof‚ condescending man. He holds the stupidity and silly behavior of the Bennet family with great contempt‚ all except for Elizabeth and Jane. Jane gains his respect‚ because she is a proper‚ civil lady‚ but Elizabeth has a greater affect on his prejudice
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In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five‚ Kurt Vonnegut writes about World War ||. While writing about the reality of war‚ Vonnegut also writes about Billy Pilgrim’s life both before and after the war‚ and from his travels to the planet Tralfamadore. Billy is able to move both forwards and backwards through his lifetime in an unpredictable cycle of events. Since Slaughterhouse-Five’s central topic is the horror of the Dresden bombing‚ Billy comes across many questions about the meanings of life and death
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My hands are shaky and sweaty. My face feels hot. My stomach churning. My heart is pounding and the noises around me just turn to a blur as I try to find something to say. My notes are all there and still I’m drawing a blank. To where is all this unnecessary stress and pain I feel coming from? Well‚ I’m sitting in the middle of a graded socratic seminar. To start‚ graded socratic seminars put a lot of pressure on a person‚ especially someone who is shy. For one who doesn’t talk particularly a lot
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