Research Paper
Undergraduate
School Shootings, Media Coverage, and Moral Panic
The issue of school shootings and their effect on American society is examined. The social theory of moral panic is reviewed in its application to the school shootings and the media's role in the creation of such condition is reviewed. Solutions to the coverage provided by the media in relationship to such tragic events as school shootings are offered.
Critique of the hypocrisy of American slavery speech
This paper discusses Frederick Douglass' speech The Hypocrisy of American Slavery. In making his speech, Douglass tackles the three most commonly used excuses justifying slavery: the alleged inhumanity of slaves, the idea that slaves were not entitled to liberty, and the idea that slavery was divinely ordained. However, instead of making his own arguments in favor of these factors, his basic approach was to use existing arguments, acknowledged by slaveholders that supported his statements. First, he showed how the laws established by slaveholding states already recognized the humanity of slaves. Second, he used a combination of the American enthusiasm for liberty and a list of how slavery deprived African Americans of their liberty to demonstrate that the deprivation of liberty that came with slavery was morally wrong. Finally, he approached the third argument that people made in support of slavery, which was that slavery was divinely inspired. However, Douglass failed to flesh out this argument. He simply made the statement that what was inhuman could not be divine.
Benefits and risks of the Gardasil HPV vaccine
Gardasil, a new vaccine developed by Merck & Co., was approved in 2006 by the U.S. FDA as a preventative vaccination for HPV (human papillomavirus -- types 6, 11, 16, and 18) -- recommended for girls before the onset of…