2,842 words

Herman Melville's Billy Budd: impressment and military ethics in context

Billy Budd -- a tale of the sea or an allegory of fate? Herman Melville's short novel Billy Budd seems to function in many ways like an allegorical novel about a classic moral tragedy, but such a reading does not place the novel in sufficient historical or political context to fully explain the…

~15 min read

View paper →

3,272 words

John Bright's treatment of biblical narratives in A History of Israel

Author John Bright puts out a seemingly thorough editorial effort in covering events in history leading up to the time when Israel (Palestine) became a land inhabited by Jews.

~17 min read

View paper →

4,650 words

Television's influence on presidential election coverage and voter decision-making

The availability of televisions in the late 1940's led to the belief that a new period was arising in public communication. Columbia Broadcasting System President Frank Stanton said,

~24 min read

View paper →

4,217 words

Canadian nationalism and environmentalism in Margaret Atwood's Surfacing

For Americans or Europeans who are oblivious to the justifiably pessimistic feelings many Canadians have toward the U.S. In particular and Western attitudes in general, reading Margaret Atwood's book Surfacing should serve as enlightenment.

~22 min read

View paper →

2,787 words

Danielle Allen's approach to citizenship and civic engagement since Brown v. Board of Education

Danielle Allen: Talking to Strangers. Danielle Allen's Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education

~14 min read

View paper →

3,288 words

How William Albright's Christianity shaped his biblical archaeology

William Foxwell Albright was first and foremost a believer in the religion of Christianity, a fact that greatly influenced his role as a Biblical archeologist, or "historian of religion," according to critical scholars like J. Edward Wright and David Noel Freedman.

~17 min read

View paper →

2,743 words

How coursework improved my reading, writing, and thinking skills

The course work has immensely improved my reading, writing, and thinking skills. Prior to reading the course materials, there were established beliefs on certain issues and interest in me.

~14 min read

View paper →

2,571 words

Do modern social networking sites make people unsocial?

There is vast difference noticeable in the behavior of youngsters and middle aged persons today that was not observed about two decades ago.

~13 min read

View paper →

4,462 words

Sherlock Holmes's transmedia adaptations across serialized narratives

While any character could in theory be transmedial, in practice there are certain features about a fictional character that makes it more likely he or she will reoccur across media.

~23 min read

View paper →

2,997 words

Adolf Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem and the Holocaust

Born on March 19, 1906 in Solingen, Germany, Otto Adolf Eichmann moved with his family to Austria at the age of 7.[footnoteRef:2] With the help of his father, he began to find success as a vacuum oil salesman.

~15 min read

View paper →