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Life
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What is Life?

Life as an academic topic appears across nearly every discipline because it touches the fundamental conditions of human existence — how individuals develop, make choices, navigate systems, and find meaning. In personal issues courses, sociology, nursing, literature, and ethics, students are asked to examine what shapes lived experience and how institutions, relationships, and culture either support or constrain individual ability. The topic resists easy definition, which is precisely what makes it intellectually rich: it forces writers to clarify terms, interrogate assumptions, and connect abstract concepts to concrete human realities.

The papers archived here reflect a genuinely wide range of approaches. Literary analysis appears in essays on works such as Bernice Morgan's fiction and Bessie Head's "The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses," where writers examine how characters construct identity, belonging, and personal freedom. Policy and ethical frameworks drive essays on abortion, DNR legislation, and prison overcrowding, while sociological and cultural analysis informs work on parenting styles, family therapy, and soccer hooliganism. Observational and practice-based writing — such as operating room reflections and evidence-based nursing — grounds the topic in professional experience, showing how the concept of life plays out in direct care and institutional settings.

A strong essay on this topic begins with a focused, arguable thesis rather than a broad statement about life in general. Evidence drawn from specific texts, case studies, policy documents, or observed practice carries far more weight than vague generalization. The most common pitfall is treating "life" as self-evident — a compelling essay defines its scope early, specifying which dimension of individual experience or social process it actually intends to examine.

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Thesis Masters
Fine arts: history, theory, and contemporary practice
The style of used by Henri Matisse in the painting Still Life after Jan Davidsz. de Heem's ‘La Desserte' is that of Cubism. Cubism is a name for art suggested in 1909 by Henri Matisse and is a "non-objective approach to painting developed originally in France around 1906 by Picasso and Baque. Cubism is characterized by the emphasis on the process of construction "of creating a pictorial rhythm and converting the represented forms into the essential geometric shape: the cube, the sphere, the cylinder, and the cone." (Boguslawski, 2005) The painting is in oils and painted during a "pivotal period in Matisse's artistic development when he temporarily abandoned his interest in decorative patterning and brilliant color for darker, more abstract compositions. The curators propose that these geometrically composed paintings, dominated by blacks and grays, were at least partly a response to World War I, which erupted in Europe in 1914, a year after Matisse, returned to Paris from Morocco." (Levin, 2010) It is stated that the works accomplished by Matisse during these period also serve to "represent his attempt to absorb and respond to the challenge of cubism, then the dominant trend in the avant-garde art world, with its radical reinvention of form and space." (Levin, 2010)
Paper Undergraduate
Treatment of Women in Mad Men
The cultural forms examined through the television show Mad Men permits the viewer to interrogate and transform their conventional understandings of the forms (Stokes). The series is critically sophisticated and also historically knowledgeable about the period and the advertising industry (Stokes). The treatment of gender roles slips easily between irony and parody, increasing the viewers' enjoyment and easing some of the discomfiture that is inescapable in the viewing. The show is mythologized nostalgia more than a postmodern reflection of the conventions of the time. Certainly the show is meta-textual in both presentation and reflection of society, but it simultaneously highlights the Anglo-male centricity of the period. And it is through that lens that we come to understand the "treatment" of women.
Paper Doctorate
Religions of Rome
Long before the mythological figure of Romulus founded Rome, Rome was already being influenced by other religions, specifically the Greek religion when it was occupied by King Evander.
Thesis Undergraduate
Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions
This paper offers guidance for a pastoral counselor, and gives the counselor direction about creating a balance between the need to tolerate diversity while still affirming Christian principles. It attempts to outline the basic guidelines of modern Christian counseling organizations regarding controversial issues, like sexual orientation. Christian counseling strikes a balance between the individualism of psychology and the communal spirit of faith.
Paper Undergraduate
Critique of the Lost Boy
David Pelzer's autobiography The Lost Boy (1997) is a very moving and disturbing account of his childhood experiences of severe abuse by his mother and abandonment by his father. He was removed from his mother's custody at age 12 by Child Protective Services and ended up in a series of foster homes for the next six years. He rarely spent more than a few months in each one, and did not receive the necessary psychological counseling that would have helped him resolve the issues of abuse and abandonment. Although David was grateful to the foster care system and believed it had literally saved his life, he recognized that it was often overwhelmed with the sheer volume of abuse cases and lacked a sufficient number of social workers and foster homes. On the whole, though, he was very satisfied with the social worker who saved him from his alcoholic and violently abusive mother and certain that she was a very caring individual. Had the system identified this abuse sooner instead of sending him back to his mother, he would certainly have been better off, but whether his severely disturbed mother would have benefited from treatment is more problematic. Essentially, the system worked by removing this child from the home but failed in certain important areas of follow up as he was passed from one foster home to another. He became very isolated and alienated, did poorly in school, and failed to make emotional bonds with any of his peers. Fortunately, though, David was particularly resilient and was able to obtain a GED at age 18 and then enlisted in the Air Force.
Paper Doctorate
Employee compensation plans and design strategies
Devising payscales that are competitive is an important part of the job evaluation process. This research presents the determination of payscales for Registered Nurses (RNs) at an urban hospital. The payscales reflect those of floor nurses, rather than specialty nurses. It uses job analysis, competitive analysis, and research from reliable sources to derive its pay grades.
Paper Undergraduate
Leadership Trait Theory and Application
Leadership General descriptions of leadership are easily developed; the application of leadership is another matter, as there are so many applications offered by so many "experts." Looking to an internationally recognized authority on leadership training and application, the Center for Creative Leadership appears to take a thoughtful, experienced approach to leadership application in many fields. Moving beyond general descriptions and into the nuts-and-bolts of applied leadership, each industry has its own challenges and solutions. Those unique situations require uniquely developed leadership skills. While these skills are not mutually exclusive, they are necessarily uniquely developed to meet the needs within different industries. Leaders in the government branches have the unique challenges of: the need for methods of relating information to new leaders; the ability to spot and develop potential leaders among its members; building purposeful and effective teams; creating a system of solutions to deal with problems that may arise; learning to adapt for changing workforces; and overcoming the traditional rigidity of information systems within branches of government. The educational system must overcome challenges of: learning by doing; learning through feedback; and learning through change. Healthcare industry leaders have the challenges of keeping their organizations financially afloat while providing high-quality healthcare with professionals whose orientations traditionally clash. In these and other industries, we see how leaders with generally accepted leadership qualities are molded, adapt and collaborate in order to meet their specific business challenges.
Paper Undergraduate
Dealing With Difficult Patients Translation of Evidence and Best Practice
Providing adequate care for an individual suffering from dementia presents many difficulties for nurses. Patients with dementia often have debilitating conditions such as Alzheimer's or similar neurologic diseases which are progressive, thereby making it challenging for them to remember, think lucidly, communicate effectively or complete activities of daily living. Furthermore, dementia can cause rapid variations in mood or even modify personality and behavior. With the tremendous number of elderly in society more and more nurses are required to care for patients with progressive dementias. It is imperative that a diagnosis be reached early in the course of the cognitive impairment and that the patient is closely monitored for coexisting morbidities. Nurses have a central role in assessment and management of individuals with progressive dementia. This essay provides some evidence-based practical strategies for managing the behavioral problems and communication difficulties often encountered in this population.
Thesis Doctorate
Google\'s Mission Is to \"Organize the World\'s
• Introduction Google's mission is to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" ("Google Company,") to everyone in the broadest feasible sense. Since its creation, Google has surpassed excellence in every sense. Though it offers search in a single language only, Google offers a number of products and services in several languages. One can find an assortment of advertising and web applications for the accomplishment of all kinds of tasks. The project that was started by just two computer science students has now become a successfully thriving company with thousands of workers and workplaces all around the world ("Google Company,").
Research Paper Doctorate
Criminological perspectives on racism throughout history
Racism has always been a defining feature of the American criminal justice system, including racial profiling, disparities in arrests convictions and sentencing between minorities and whites, and in the use of the death penalty. Racial profiling against blacks, immigrants and minorities has always existed in the American criminal justice system, as has the belief that minorities in general and blacks in particular are always more likely to commit crimes. American society and its legal system were founded on white supremacy going back to the colonial period, and critical race criminology would always consider these historical factors as well as the legal means to counter them.