In Baudrillard's view, the current paradigm of antagonism is no longer conducive to a further history with further conflicts. Instead, antagonism today leads to absolutes of order and peace (p.17). The purpose of conflict is no longer war as such, but rather a sense of duty towards an ideal that is not related to war as such. Instead, it is a type of policing.
America, being the dominant world force, also views it as its task to keep order or wage war in the name of its ideals. As such, duty is at the heart of both war and peace. These paradigms, according to the author, have become indistinct, crushed not only beneath the weight of duty, but also beneath that of the superpower and its technologies. Lives, innocence and guilt have become irrelevant in the light of duty and ideal. War is no longer fought on the basis of….

Reaction to “A Good Man is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is one of the most bizarre yet interesting short stories I have ever read. It begins with a family taking a trip in their car—but the protagonist (the Grandmother), who acts like an antagonist to her son Bailey, is dead-set on hijacking the car trip and getting the son to take them to where she wants to go. The descriptions that O’Connor uses to characterize the family are very funny and have a brutal honesty about them. O’Connor is not trying to paint a sympathetic portrait of an American family in the south. She is writing satire in the style of Gogol—and it is quite funny. It is also quite sad at the same time. O’Connor is able to make the reader life while simultaneously breaking the reader’s heart. And she does this….

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”: Who is the Antagonist?
Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is an unusual horror story, because it does not have a clear antagonist, although the hero Ichabod Crane is pursued by the legendary headless horseman of the titular legend. For the most part, the horseman is a character who is spoken about, rather than actually takes part in the story. Instead, the actual antagonist is that of Ichabod Crane’s fear, which leads him cower and runaway from a rival lover who pretends to be the decapitated horseman. Crane’s fear makes him easy prey for Brom Bones Van Brunt, who uses the fragile psychology of the schoolmaster against Crane and eventually steals his bride from Crane by his successful impersonation of the horseman.

In Crane’s defense, the town of Sleepy Hollow itself is said to be prone to ghost story-telling, which likely contributes to Crane’s apprehensiveness when….

Beaux Strategem by George Farquhar is about two greedy and recently broke men who plan to seduce heiresses to steal their fortune. The main characters are Aimwell and Archer who pose as a well-to-do gentleman and his manservant. The cast of characters include: Aimwell, Archer, Count Bellair a French officer, prisoner at Litchfield, Sullen a country blockhead, brutal to his wife, Freeman a gentleman from London, Foigard a priest, chaplain to the French officers, Gibbet a high-way-man, Houslow, his companions, Bagshot, Boniface the landlord of the inn, Scrub a servant to Mr. Sullen, Lady Bountiful an old civil country gentlewoman, that cures all her neighbours of all distemper, Dorinda Lady Bountiful's daughter, Mrs. Sullen her daughter-in-law, Gipsy maid to the ladies. The 2013 production is directed by Adam Simon and keeps quick pace and crisp dialogue to allow this latest production breathe new life to a 200+ year old play.
While….

Croop et al. (1997).

The overall safety profile of naltrexone is good; however, care must be taken in prescribing the drug to certain patient populations; e.g., naltrexone shows a dose-dependent hepatotoxicity (package insert) and is therefore contraindicated in patients with significant hepatic impairment, which is frequently encountered in alcohol-dependent populations.

The clinical trials of naltrexone have typically been conducted in patients without significant impairment in hepatic function. Another consequence of the hepatic impact of naltrexone is the possibility of drug-drug interactions.

Kim et al. (2001) potentially clinically significant interaction has been reported between naltrexone and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; these researchers found elevated liver function tests in study participants receiving both medications, although the doses of naltrexone used in this study were higher than the typical 50 mg daily dose.

Naltrexone is not appropriate for use with patients taking prescribed or illicit opioid drugs. Antagonism of the effects of these drugs at opiate receptors will….

He does his share of complaining but he does little else to remedy the situation. The truth of the matter is that Gregor did not enjoy much of his life away from work. He never expresses a desire to have more in his life nor does he express any regret, until he is a bug. In "A Hunger Artist," our hunger artist chooses to live a considerable amount of his life behind bars being a public spectacle. hile he can communicate with onlookers, he is separated from them by the bars and the setting in which he finds himself only forces him to interact with individuals for a short amount of time. Once they have become satisfied with his spectacle, they move on and leave the artist to his own thoughts. Our hunger artist is aware of the world that exists around him but it does not seem to….

Soap Opera" by David Ives
• the Theme -- When a man can't find love from real women, he turns to his idealized woman -- a washing machine, who in his mind is perfect.

• The Protagonist -- Manny, Repairman with a washing-machine fetish who must maintain the order of everythiing

• The Antagonist -- The Maypole. She taunts him because he's never been able to fix her

• The Dramatic question -- What in the world is this repairman doing in a French restaurant with a washing machine? Which will he choose, Mabel or Maypole?

• The Climax -- True love! Manny chooses Mabel!

• The Conclusion -- Happy ending between Manny and Mabel

• Symbols -- The washing machine -- a stand-in for every woman the repairman has known; something that makes things clean and comforting (the hankerchief); .

• The Mode of drama -- High romantic comedy with an extended central sight gag

Play Two:….

Flew ver the Cuckoo's Nest"
Independent films have become such a mainstay of American cinema that it is difficult to tell what should be considered independent and what should be considered a major production these days. Small, independent film studios can gain such a following that they are soon producing movies that are seen by millions. f course, this was not always the case because the reason there are indie films is because of the rebellion over the control of the large studios. In the case of the movie "ne Flew ver the Cuckoo's Nest" it was an indie film, but it was seen by a large audience. Like many indie films of that time and this though, it had a flare that could not be seen in major motion pictures. Since major motion picture studios were interested more in the bottom line and worried about turning a profit for….

Hinton is a book containing many elements that all combine to make the book more interesting and readable.
Protagonist - The protagonist or main character is Byron. He is a good boy, and loves his foster brother Mark, but he understands the difference between right and wrong, and Mark does not. Byron is not afraid to grow up and change, but Mark is.

Antagonist - The antagonist or "villain" in the story is Mark, even though it does not seem that way at the beginning. Mark cannot grow up or take responsibility for anything he does, and so, he pays for it in the end by going to jail. Mark is the antagonist because he is a drug dealer, and he causes a death by selling his drugs.

Conflict - The conflict in the story is between the Byron and Mark. Byron loves Mark, and he is torn between doing what is right….

For much of the movie, Robert akefield is the main antagonist. akefield represents the American government's complicity in perpetuating an outmoded political policy. Thus, Traffic portrays the American government's ar on Drugs as being antithetical to American values. akefield is initially blind to his daughter's plight, and is depicted as being too career-driven and closed-minded to notice that the ar on Drugs is a war on his family and his country. However, akefield does wake up. At the end of the movie he perceives the connection between his actions as Drug Czar and the supply chain his daughter has access to. akefield's awakening is Soderbergh's call to America to end the ar on Drugs policy.
Traffic ends on a note of optimism while also leaving the ar on Drugs unresolved. Soderbergh seems aware that United States drug policy will not change any time soon. The film also offers a scathing….

Short story -- A brief story where the plot drives the narrative, substantially shorter than a novel. Example: "Hills like White Elephants," by Ernest Hemingway.

Allusion -- A casual reference in one literary work to a person, place, event, or another piece of literature, often without explicit identification. It is used to establish a tone, create an indirect association, create contrast, make an unusual juxtaposition, or bring the reader into a world of references outside the limitations of the story itself. Example: "The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot alludes to "Paradise Lost" by John Milton.

epetition -- The repeating of a word or phrase or rhythm within a piece of literature to add emphasis. Example: The story of Agamemnon in The Odyssey by Homer.

Blank verse -- Unrhymed lines of ten syllables each with the even-numbered syllables bearing the accents, most closing resembling the natural rhythms of English speech. Example: "The Princess" by Alfred….

Friday Night Lights
It's just a game, right? And everyone loves football? Combined with the recent media examples of parents who get a little bit too worked up about their children's sports, all of these factors might seem to indicate that the setting of H.G. Bissinger's modern sports classic Friday Night Lights is totally arbitrary. But the fact is, this story of the tragedies of a Texas high school football team couldn't happen just anywhere, in any town USA. Instead, Bissinger paints an impressive picture of a 1980's town in Texas where everything revolves around high school football. The town is economically and racially torn. The Panthers are largely white (with some exceptions) and the town, which was once prosperous, is now suffering a bust after a period of boom in the oil industry. People have lost everything they own, with no hopes of getting it back, thus the town's residents….

Hemingway uses his lack of feeling to indicate how the soldiers came home feeling hollow and empty inside, struggling to find meaning in a world that no longer made any sense. Krebs does not even attempt to find meaning. He knows there is nothing inside of him, and everything in life is too much "work." He is empty and dead inside - the war has killed him even though he survives.
In a way, Krebs mother is the antagonist in the story, because she is the one who pushes him to do things he does not want to do. She is the totally opposite of her son, a little ignorant, spiritual, and sure life makes sense. She represents everything the soldiers were fighting for, and yet, she represents everything Krebs did not want to return to. She makes him remember things he would like to forget, and she makes him….

Dracula
The novel "Dracula" was written by Irish author Bram Stoker in 1897. Set in nineteenth-century Victorian England and other countries of the same time, this novel is told in an epistolary format through a collection of letters, diary entries etc. The main characters include Count Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Dr. Van Helsing. Count Dracula is the antagonist character of the novel, and is a vampire. The group of men and women led by Dr. Van Helsing are the main protagonist characters. The novel talks about Count Dracula's endeavor to relocate from Transylvania to England, and his demise. The story begins with an English lawyer, Jonathan Harker, visiting Dracula's castle to assist him with some real estate issues. During his stay in the castle, Harker discovers that the Count is a vampire and barely escapes with his life. Then the narrative turns into a….

Battle of Bristoe Station
Tenants of Army Operation.

Depth

The relative depth of both armed forces at this point of the Civil ar, both Confederate and Union, was at a critical juncture. Both armies were at a historically low point, numerically. The recent Gettysburg Campaign had cost both armies in manpower and firepower. (Bristoe Station, 2003)

The Confederate Army had withdrawn into Virginia. The Union Army followed, but cautiously. Before the battle, the armies were settled down in central Virginia to rest and reorganize. Lee's army was spread out between Madison Court House and Culpeper, Virginia. (Bristoe Station, 2003).

Agility

Despite his recent loses, General Robert E. Lee decided to take advantage of this apparent abatement of hostilities. He dispatched Lieutenant General James Longstreet's First Corps to reinforce General Braxton Bragg in Tennessee. However, the Army of the Potomac's Eleventh and Twelfth Corps reinforced Bragg's opponent, Major General illiam S. Rosecrans, in counterpoint.

As a result,….

When HIV/AIDS first spread into humans, it was a death sentence.  A person who was HIV positive was destined to develop AIDS.  We also lacked sufficient information about how the viruses was transmitted, which led to a significant amount of social discrimination and fear.  Combined with the fact that HIV/AIDS initially developed in the gay community, which already faced significant discrimination, and the result was delays in research for treatment and cures.  Fortunately, although we still have not developed a vaccine to prevent the transmission of HIV, there are a number of treatments....

The Crucible: A Literary Exploration of Power, Hysteria, and the Perils of Accusation

Introduction

Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" is a timeless masterpiece that examines the destructive consequences of fear, paranoia, and mass hysteria. Set during the Salem witch trials of the 17th century, the play offers a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked power and the ease with which individuals can be manipulated into becoming both victims and perpetrators of injustice. This essay will explore various topics pertaining to "The Crucible," delving into the complex themes of power, hysteria, and the perils of accusation that are at the heart of the....

Character-Focused Essays:

The Evolution of a Complex Character: Analyze the transformative journey of a protagonist, exploring their motivations, conflicts, and moral challenges.
The Impact of Relationships on Character Development: Examine how relationships with family, friends, or mentors shape the growth and development of a protagonist.
The Psychological Depth of an Antagonist: Delve into the motivations, fears, and complexities of an antagonist, exploring their psychological makeup and the reasons for their actions.

Theme-Based Essays:

The Exploration of a Central Theme: Identify a key theme in the book and analyze its development throughout the narrative, exploring its implications for characters and the overall....