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What is Island?

Islands occupy a unique position in environmental and social studies because they function as bounded, observable systems where questions of ecology, culture, development, and identity play out in concentrated form. Courses in environmental science, urban sociology, cultural studies, and geography regularly use island settings as case studies precisely because their physical limits make complex dynamics easier to trace. Works like Russell Shorto's The Island at the Center of the World and The Value of Hawaii appear as touchstones in student writing, reflecting how islands generate rich intersections between historical narrative and present-day consequence. The reggae and Rastafari traditions rooted in Jamaica similarly illustrate how island geography shapes cultural identity in academically compelling ways.

Student essays on this topic approach islands from strikingly varied angles. Some take a literary or critical lens, analyzing fiction such as Christopher Moore's Island of the Sequined Love Nun or examining regional identity through Carey McWilliams's concept of Southern California as an island on the land. Others adopt policy and development frameworks, as seen in papers addressing higher education improvement and applied business case studies set in island contexts. The "Decisions in Paradise" series represents a scenario-based approach, asking writers to work through ethical and strategic choices under real constraints of island life, including lack of infrastructure and fragile natural systems.

A strong essay on this topic anchors its thesis in the specific tension an island setting creates — between isolation and connection, development and conservation, or local identity and outside influence. Evidence drawn from concrete case studies, historical records, or close textual analysis carries more weight than broad generalizations about island life. The most common pitfall is treating "island" as mere backdrop rather than as an active factor that shapes every dimension of the argument being made.

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Paper Undergraduate

South Carolina's strategic role in the American Revolution

People are generally inclined to revolt when they feel that they are oppressed or when they are being taken advantage of. In time, there had been countless rebellions against unjust rulers, but one of the most…

Freedom in Marx, Luther, Mozart, and Beethoven

Today, the concept of freedom is a very important one. On both a personal and collective level, freedom is considered one of the fundamental human rights. It is therefore useful to study how freedom manifested itself in…

Paper Doctorate

The geography and culture of South Carolina lowcountry cuisine

Cuisine and culture and directly interdependent. This is well demonstrated in the lowcountry region of the United States, encompassed by coastal South Carolina and parts of Georgia. The discussion here considers the cuisine that has been forged as a unique product of the marshlands, the climate and the ethnic influences distinct to the region.

Paper Undergraduate

Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan

Harry S. Truman became the 33rd president of the United States in 1945. He was born in Lamar, Missouri in 1884 but grew up in Independence. He was a prosperous farmer in Missouri until he became a captain in the field…

Paper Doctorate

French and Spanish naval strategy in the American Revolution

For hundreds of years, maritime expansion represented the only way to reach distant shores, to attack enemies across channels of water, to explore uncharted territories, to make trade with regional neighbors and to connect the comprised empires. Leading directly into the 20th century, this was the chief mode of making war, maintaining occupations, colonizing lands and conducting the transport of goods acquired by trade or force. Peter Padfield theorized that ultimately, British maritime power was decisive in creating breathing space for liberal democracy in the world, as opposed to the autocratic states of continental Europe like Spain, France, Prussia and Russia. The Hapsburgs, the Bourbons, Hitler and Stalin all failed to find a strategy that would defeat the maritime empires, which controlled the world's trade routes and raw materials. Successful maritime powers like Britain and, in the 20th Century, the United States, required coastlines with deep harbors and security from aggressive neighbors that Germany, France and Russia lacked. This allowed them to concentrate on trade and commerce, and to develop powerful mercantile classes that won a share of power in government. Britain and Holland were the "first supreme maritime powers of the modern age", succeeded by the United States after the world wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45, and the fact that democratic institutions developed first in relatively open societies like these was not coincidental. Of course, the United States was a very weak maritime power in the 18th Century and its navy hardly existed, yet the Battle of Chesapeake Bay in 1781 was the key event that enabled it to win its independence. It depended on French and Spanish sea power to divert the British Navy to other theaters of the war, such as India, the Caribbean, Gibraltar or the defense of the home islands and in the end this strategy was successful enough so that at a crucial moment of the war, Britain temporarily lost its maritime supremacy in North American waters.

Research Paper Doctorate

German intelligence failures and defensive preparations before D-Day

On June 06, 1944, the biggest combined naval, military and air operation ever contrived took place, code-named Operation Overlord (Commemorative pp).

Paper Undergraduate

Russell Shorto's "The Island at the Center of the World" and Dutch colonial history

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and analyze the book "The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America" by Russell Shorto.

Research Paper Undergraduate

Shakespeare's exploration of law, mercy, and justice in The Tempest and Titus Andronicus

Shakespeare's Discourse On Law, Mercy And Justice In The Tempest And Titus Andronicus

Research Paper Undergraduate

Ponce de León's life and colonial legacy in the Americas

¶ … Dreams and the Legacy of Ponce de Leon

Research Paper Undergraduate

John the Elder's authorship and structure of the Book of Revelation

¶ … Book of Revelation is the last book of the Holy Bible, written around 96 CE in Asia Minor by John the Elder, probably a Christian from Ephesus (White 2008, BBC Team 2001). The setting is the island of Patmos, a…

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