Superstition Essays (Examples)

I do not really practice any superstitions, but sometimes I do like to pick lucky numbers or act superstitious with my friends just for fun.

I think the media influences people in strange ways: we all see so many things in the media -- we think this is how people really are -- violent or sexy or vulgar or good or perfect or happy. But the media is a liar. Very rarely do we ever see a whole story or even a true story on television. Life is not like a 30 minute sitcom. Advertisements try to sell us products that will make us happy -- but they really will not. If the media influences me in any way, it just makes me angry. Why should I be hit over the head by the media everywhere I go, everywhere I look? Another ad, another song, another film -- always and everywhere.

I…

Nevertheless, anything that causes a character that is associated with some emotions, exclusive fear, and anxiety must be real. Since superstition does not manifest as madness or abnormality, it however can influence emotional effects.
Mad people will behave weirdly because they are experiencing certain "real situations" in "their worlds" that we normal people cannot understand or visualize. To these people, these are real situations. Connecting this perspective with superstition, similar understanding/beliefs on normal people can affect thinking and acting characters of an individual. For instance, a businessperson will engage in finding luck before presenting a proposal instead of preparing. It is evident that, irrespective of his abilities, he will fail at some instances like lack of proper communication. This person will end up failing to perform because the belief that certain rituals will be beneficial, ends up manifesting in a negative manner, failure. This person is thinking that superstition has…

Exercise 6.4B: The Symbolism Of The Raft

The entire collage would have a black construction paper background to symbolize the darkness that kept surrounding them wherever it was that they went. There would be a light blue strip of shiny fabric running from the top left corner of the paper to the bottom right. This would be the river. On that river would be shiny jewels, silver and black in color, to represent the rocks that the had to go through to get from one part to another. One the top of the collage, there would be a simple squared with a triangular roof topped house on a raft. Although Jim and Huck did not have a fancy raft, it was still what they considered dear to themselves and it was what they saw as home for the time being. This would be painted on however, in watercolor to also represent…

Does that mean that I think babies are being haunted by ghosts when they cry for no apparent reason? No, but the superstition does put you in mind of the thought that we should have respect for the spiritual world. The Chinese words for spirit and breath are similar, which keeps one in mind of the fact that life is filled with the spirit, just as the body is filled with breath. These thoughts are not necessarily bad -- and they keep us in mind of the old traditions of my culture. I like to think about the old traditions and learn from the old people how they lived and what they way of life was like. It helps me think about my own way of life and how I should try to live.
For these reasons, I do not find superstitions necessarily bad -- even if I do not…

Stealing ocks From Paradise: Pele and Her Vengeance
The Hawaiian Islands are home to a diverse population. Much of this population comes from Polynesian roots, and culturally, there exist many different forms of religious and superstitious ideas that permeate modern Hawaiian culture. One of these superstitions surrounds the ancient Polynesian goddess of fire and lava Pele. It is said that if a person steals a lava rock from the island that they are cursed until they return it. From a religious perspective, Pele is a very jealous goddess and protector of the volcanoes and Hawaiian Islands. Thousands of people claim to have had bad experiences of having felt cursed after removing lava rocks from the islands, only to return them by mail or in person as soon as they realized the errors of their ways. Scientifically, it is impossible to prove any concrete link between the Hawaiian goddess Pele's anger over…

The Aztecs believed 13 to be a sacred number. The Aztec week was thirteen days long and the number was respected as a measure of time and completion (Number 13, 2010). The Aztec calendar year was 260 days long, which was calculated as 20, thirteen day periods, called Trecenas. The goddess Tlazolteotl was the ruler of the 13th Trecena, who was the goddess of sin and could forgive sins (Number 13, 2010). In Hinduism, the thirteenth night of the waning moon in the month of Maagha is sacred to Shiva, and notes a cause for celebration of creation and preservation (Number 13, 2010). For those reading tarot cards, the tarot 13 is the card of death. In Scandinavia, the day of the Saint Lucia celebration is December 13th (Number 13, 2010). egarding United States currency, the number 13 is seemingly glorified. On the one dollar bill, there are 13…

Marital Success
The high divorce rates in First World nations have encouraged researchers, family counselors, and religious advocates to investigate the core foundations for the creation of a successful marriage. Starting in the 1960s, evolving social context ultimately shifted the rationale in why individuals choose to marry, and over time, divorce has come to be viewed as the preferred alternative to an unhappy marriage. One main fundamental principle to achieve marital success is to recognize women desire love, while men simultaneously need respect to feel fulfilled within the relationship. Emotional intelligence within a relationship and acknowledging various marital myths also contribute to the fundamental elements of marital success. Dissociating from marital myths and misconceptions is an essential part to understanding the true foundations for a happy and successful marriage. Appreciating and understanding how attachment styles affect marital relationships is also essential. These beliefs and attachment styles contribute to the marital…

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…

In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain provides poignant social commentary about the institution of slavery as well as about racism. Huck's tentative love for Jim illustrates that although he felt a moral obligation to help Jim that Huck was not immune from the prevailing beliefs in white supremacy that characterize the social context of the novel. Huckleberry Finn's historical context is therefore the pre-Civil War Southern society. In addition to slavery being part of the historical context, economic realities are also central to the novel. For example, Twain portrays the differences between poor white culture and wealthy white culture in the differences between Huck Finn and his friend Tom Sawyer. Moreover, Huck's desire to move out West at the end of the novel describes a historical context in which the West was still the final frontier, symbolic of new opportunity and total freedom.
4. What is Jim's central role in Huck…

DESCARTES' BELIEVE IN GOD
Descartes Believe in God

Descartes' Believe in God

Science attempts to prove how God did or does things. The assessment is heavily disputed by archaic religious doctrines. The traditional conflict between science and religion is entirely based on the dominion and not what is right or wrong. Rene Descartes' belief in God is not based on atheistic principles, but on blasphemy as seen from the way he investigates God's functions. hilst examining Descartes' belief in the existence of God, it establishes that Descartes does not dispute the existence of God, but has a different opinion (parallel from the religion). A scientific argument proving Descartes' arguments and a reflection on his presumptions are provided.

Does Descartes believe in God?

As a philosopher and mathematician, Descartes dedicated his work entirely on writing and researching. His arguments combined humanism, science, and religion to arrive on the much-aggrandized assumptions of natural processes. Olson (2006) reflects…

Essentially, science utilizes the power of reason and logic in its search for the truth while religion depends almost wholly upon faith, being a belief in something without any evidence whatsoever to support it. In the realms of science, investigators seek to understand natural phenomena through direct observation and experimentation which makes it mandatory that all interpretations of the facts be provisional and testable. Statements made by any authority, revelation or appeal to the supernatural are not part of this process, due to the absence of supporting evidence.

Thus, in the eyes of religious scholars and authorities, all opposition to what science has uncovered is based on faith and mythological revelation which takes precedence over evidence. Also, the tenets of religion have not, for the most part, changed much over time and cannot be validated when subjected to the scientific method.

Like many others that study the natural world, scientists are awed…

Hume and Experience
In morals, politics, religion and science, Hume was a conservative empiricist who emphatically rejected all theories he thought of as metaphysical or not based on actual experience and sense perceptions. He did not regard religious and metaphysical theories as scientific, but more like idle speculation, superstition and prejudice. No ultimate original principles existed outside of the mind and perceptions, and this certainly included the concept of cause and effect, which he insisted was derived from the senses and later processed through the mind in the form of simple and complex ideas. Nothing could be known about human nature or any other subject outside of an exact, empirical science, while innate and a priori ideas did not exist. Even his theories of mathematics, logic and the color spectrum were all based on empiricism, and the ability of the mind to reflect, compile and make connections based on repeated sense…

What does this have to do with the rest of paragraph 27?
The individual and the institution of the state cannot flourish when their interests are in competition: one of the 'seeds' must die.

33. In this paragraph, Thoreau talks about how he sees his neighbors in a new light after his night in jail.

After suffering the loss of his liberty, he sees how little his neighbors are willing to risk of their own security to see justice done.

Paraphrase each of these observations:

a. "I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as good neighbors and friends;"

I saw that the people amongst whom I lived were good in name only -- they spoke about the value of justice, but would not lift a finger to do promote justice.

b. "that their friendship was for summer weather only;"

They did good deeds only when it was convenient for them…

Sociologists explain their condition through a culture-of-poverty theory or the theory of internal colonialism. Under the first theory, Appalachia families, for better or worse, simply cope with poverty. The second theory, on the other hand, ascribes poverty in Appalachia to structural causes. The theories offer insights but are both found to be quite deficient (Billings and Blee).
The first theory on culture-on-poverty became popular in the 60s and drew its premise from Appalachia's ethnic geography in the late 19th century. It was then perceived as a distinct region and race that entered the American consciousness only after the Civil War (Billings and Blee 2002). Imaginative fictionists only conjured images of the mountain and upland cultures, which were vastly out of step with the lowland's, culturally ad economically. At the turn of the century, Willim Goddell Frost, president of Berea College of Kentucky, discoursed on the people of the southern amounts…

Sikhism is a progressive religion that was well earlier than its time when it was established over five hundred years ago. The Sikh religion today has over twenty million followers worldwide and is ranked as the worlds 5th largest religion. Sikhism advocates a message of Devotion and commemoration of God at all times, honest living, equality of mankind and condemns superstitions and blind ceremonies. "Sikhism is open to all by way of the teachings of its 10 Gurus preserved in the Sikh Holy Book and Living Guru, Sri Guru Granth Sahib" (Sikhism, 2011).
"The word Sikh in the Punjabi language means disciple, Sikhs are the disciples of God who follow the writings and teachings of the Ten Sikh Gurus. The knowledge of these teachings in Sri Guru Granth Sahib is sensible and worldwide in their petition to all mankind. The creator of the Sikh religion was Guru Nanak who was born…

Religion
Christianity started as a literary faith, one firmly rooted in Scripture. Scriptural adherence grew out of the Jewish appreciation for sacred text. Therefore, it is no wonder that Christianity evolved as a literary and literate faith. The evolution of Christianity from the fall of the Temple in 70 CE to the 21st century is one punctuated and formed by writing and historical documents. Christian historiography reveals both the development of Christian religious thought including cosmology, theology, and metaphysics. Ethics and philosophy are also covered in the Christian canon. However, Christian historiography also goes beyond sacred wisdom. Christian texts have laid out methods by which Christianity -- and the Catholic Church in particular -- can and should function in the world as a political institution. Both spiritual and the political debates have led to conflicts in Christian identity development. Conflicting views of theological matters such as the nature of Christ's divinity…

There is even conjecture that ancient civilizations may have, …spotted an orbit that will culminate in a collision with Earth in 2012. This is easily the most predictable disaster for 2012. ith recent discussion of "dark comets," we have become aware of the possibility of our planet being struck with little or no warning." (2012 Possibilities)
Another possibility that has been mentioned by some scientists is the possibility of a Cronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the Sun. A CME is an emanation of energy from the sun which can cause ferocious storms. A solar storm in 1959 has been linked to this form of energy burst. An unsettling fact is that, " In 2009 NASA told us to be wary of solar storms." (2012 Possibilities)

These speculative findings and many other have created an enormous amount of discussion and debate on the Internet. An expert in the field is the author…

First, evil in Sleepy Hollow is more equating with a satirical view that, in this case, evil is a more benign humor, bumbling, caustic in disrupting the town, and, as it was in Ancient Greek and oman drama, simply more of an irritant than planned destruction. Focusing again on the time period, our first introduction to this theme is one of Dutch New York against Urban New England. The Dutch community is sylvan, nostalgically conceived, changeless, and an Eden for its inhabitants. Ichabod arrives as a Yankee whose spoiling of this Eden simply cannot be tolerated -- and even more, by marrying the daughter of a wealthy and high-ranking community member, becoming part of Eden himself. This simply could not happen to a community that is so "European in nature."

Sleepy Hollow, as a town is clearly Dutch, with Dutch values, culture, and mores, or for riving, "population, manners, and customs,…

uperstition relates to the sense of exploration and the hunger for knowledge in the contemporary human heart. The themes of light and darkness in the modern context has developed to signify knowledge and ignorance - the former being banished by knowledge like shadow by light. In this way, the main themes of the story take on a symbolic significance for the contemporary world, and remains relative to the paradigm of the universal reader.
The Daughters of the Late Colonel by Katherine Mansfield.

Like Conrad, Mansfield includes a strong sense of the supernatural in her story. At one point, the daughters visit their departed father's room. They become very frightened when they sense their father's presence, with Josephine even feeling that the father is in a specific drawer, watching them. This provides little ground for connection, as it is likely to make the reader laugh rather than feel jitters.

In Mansfield's story, there…

Kent on the other hand cannot prevent himself from gazing again and again at the man's scar and making all sorts of stupid remarks. He also fails to stop the sailor from controlling him and he is absorbed by -- enslaved to -- his superstitions:

This was the real Man with the Gash, the man who had so often robbed him in the spirit. This, then, was the embodied entity of the being whose astral form had been projected into his dreams, the man who had so frequently harbored designs against his hoard; hence -- there could be no other conclusion -- this Man with the Gash had now come in the flesh to dispossess him. And that gash! He could no more keep his eyes from it than stop the beating of his heart. Try as he would, they wandered back to that one point as inevitably as the needle…

Tiger ife
The opening passage of Tea Obrecht's novel The Tiger's ife is one of its most compelling, and draws the reader into the unique narrative. ith the line, "the forty days of the soul begin on the morning after death," Obrecht could be resorting to a maudlin bit of poetic license. Instead, the author continues the existential description and thereby sets the stage for the tone and themes of the entire novel. By beginning with imagery of death, Obrecht welcomes the reader to ponder the meaning of life. A juxtaposition of life and death haunts the reader from the first paragraph. However, there are more juxtapositions that await the reader and which are foreshadowed in this early passage. The narrator states that the living "know that, at daybreak, the soul will leave them and make its way to the places of its past." In addition to the juxtaposition of life…

Reactions

The apparent point here is that land traditionally belonging to native tribes will be used to mine in the interest of the developed world. It makes me feel both sad and powerless. I do not have all the information, but stories like this always make me feel that those with the greatest physical, technological, or financial power, or all three, tend to have more power than even those with the right to a certain piece of land or way of living.

The second point confirms the previous observation, that the consistent support of those in power has resulted in the approval of the project without any regard for the rights of those who have possessed the land for far longer. Again, this gives me a sense of powerlessness when faced with decisions by politicians who have only their own interest at heart.

This is far longer than the mere hundreds of years…

Chinua Achebe’s classic novel Things Fall Apart describes a critical juncture in Igbo society: the first point of contact with missionaries. Even prior to their arrival, the protagonist of the story, Okonkwo, contends with both personal and collective crises in his community. Okonkwo “was well known throughout the nine villages and beyond,” an introduction to a man whose power and prestige have become the cornerstones of his identity (Achebe, 1958, p. 1). However, Achebe (1958) also describes Okonkwo’s dark side: his severity, the way he would “pounce on people,” acting with violence and aggression to achieve his egoistic goals (Achebe, 1958, p. 1). As the community of Umuofia falls apart due to historical changes, external threats, and a leadership crisis, Okonkwo also falls apart due to his own existential crisis. Things Fall Apart has a strong ethical overtone, offering the reader insight into Igbo society but also into universal norms…

Inductive reasoning leads Legrand to discover an encrypted message that he sets out to painstakingly decipher. Poe's detailed analysis of the cryptogram is quintessentially romantic, encouraging rational inquiry into seemingly supernatural phenomenon. A respect for both the natural and supernatural worlds is implied by the story. Interestingly, nothing supernatural does take place in "The Gold-ug." Legrand admits to the striking coincidences that led him to the treasure, but coincidences themselves are not supernatural events. Legrand states, "it was not done by human agency. And nevertheless it was done."
The titular bug is a scarabaeus, which is a direct allusion to ancient Egypt. Like pirates, the imagery and lore of ancient Egypt has romantic, compelling connotations for readers. The reference to the scarab is coupled with the eerie image of the skull. When Jupiter finally climbs out on the "dead" limb the situation takes on an ominous tone before resolving itself…

Examining the difficult process that Huck has when he finally determines not to turn Jim in can be especially helpful in this. In addition, readers of this opinion can discuss the effects of Twain's own divergence from society when contemplating the ways in which his articulation of his nonstandard views into text affected society.
Thus, while two sides clearly exist in this debate -- one stating that Twain's novel advocates racism through the relationship between Huck and Jim and the other arguing that Twain actually condemns the ideology by using this relationship -- a compromise can be reached. Each side can still find Twain's novel valuable in a discussion of the effects of racism on society and the role literature plays in those effects. Thus, the need to ban this novel from the classroom is null and void when this type of compromise can be reached.

Regardless of the fact that…

However, one can still see remnants of Morgan's ideals as globalization takes hold in developing nations. Although differences are tolerated, the "westernization" of the rest of the world is still a growing reality. One need look no further than modern business attire to see that western ideals are quickly replacing traditional modes of dress and modes of doing business. Morgan's work makes the modern anthropologist aware that "globalization" may be a soft sell for "westernization."
Summary 6:

Fried, Morton H. 1960. On the Evolution of Social Stratification and the State. In Anthropological Theory: An Introductory Theory. Fourth Edition. R. McGee and Richard Warms. McGraw Hill.

Fried explored the development of social stratification, as opposed to a non-ranked society. His primary purpose was to explore the reasons for changes in society that lead to changes in social structure. He compared simple forms of social organization to more complex ones. Fried explored the connection…

Through her mother's story, Pearl learns why her mother acts as she does. She also learns what an amazing woman she is and how proud she is to have her as a mother. Most important, she realizes that the time has indeed come to break her silence and tell Winnie about her MS. Pearl's admission gives Winnie the opportunity to once again help her daughter, but this time they will do it together as mother and daughter not as adversaries.

In the book's last scene, Winnie gives Pearl a statue for the little red altar temple from Grand Auntie Du. The statue represents the once-silent and forgiving Kitchen God's Wife, a woman whom Winnie explains will protect women who are learning to break their silences.

Pearl finally weeps, not only because of her mother's gift but because she can now cry for her father. Winnie tells Pearl to unburden her soul to…

"It was a curious childhood, full of weird, fantastic impressions and contradictory influences, stimulating alike to the imagination and that embryo philosophy of life which begins almost with infancy."
Paine 14) His consummate biography written in 1912, just after his death claims that Clemens spent the majority of his childhood in the company of his siblings, and the family slaves as his parents where often otherwise engaged, his father and inventor and his mother challenged by the running of such a large family with very little support.

Mark Twain did not remember ever having seen or heard his father laugh. The problem of supplying food was a somber one to John Clemens; also, he was working on a perpetualmotion machine at this period, which absorbed his spare time, and, to the inventor at least, was not a mirthful occupation. Jane Clemens was busy, too. Her sense of humor did not die,…

ancient poem "Works and Days" by Hesiod. Specifically, it will contain an argumentative historical essay on the question, "What kind of social values do you find in Hesiod's advice to his brother in 'Works and Days.' What does this say about Dark Age culture in Greece? Hesiod's advice to his brother Perses is simple and complicated at the same time. Hesiod's social values include the values of work rather than idleness, which he passes on quite clearly to his brother. However, there are many other customs and beliefs in the poem that indicate this was a simple culture based on agriculture and localized government. These values were common in the Dark Age culture in Greece, and represent one of the reasons Greek culture later became so advanced, and a model to other cultures of the age.
Little is known about the Dark Ages in Greece. In fact, some scholars believe…

eligion as a Social Phenomenon
eligion serves both a personal and a political function. As a personal phenomenon, religion can provide psychological and emotional sustenance, mitigate grief, and provide solace in the midst of existential crises. Similarly, religion can help people to resolve complex questions related to the nature of transcendental experiences ranging from love and sexuality to the sublimity of nature. We all have a sense of "wonder" that religion helps address in its own unique language, using rituals, exercises, or symbols (Palmquist). However, the personal dimensions of religion are completely distinct from the social and political dimensions of religion.

As a social phenomenon, religion serves some core purposes including creating and maintaining a community. People who are members of a specific religious community have access to the services and camaraderie of other members of that community. Moreover, religion provides a sense of identity -- not only personal but also collective…

Sade -- Philosophy in the Bedroom
The Marquis de Sade's Dolmance argues for the elimination of religion, particularly monotheistic religion, as a necessary step toward a liberated republic. In Sade's estimation, the two constructs could not coexist. I disagree with Sade on at least two grounds. e know for a fact that religion and a free republic exist. Furthermore, Sade uses the term "freedom" but means nihilism.

hy, according to Dolmance, are monotheistic religions -- especially the Christian religion -- ill-suited for republics? Do you find his reason convincing? Give well supported reasons for your answer.

Dolmance, a 36-year-old bisexual libertine, believes that the abolition of religion would be France's last vital step toward the liberated republic. According to Dolmance,

[Y]ou cannot possibly liberate [Europe] from royal tyranny without at the same time breaking for her the fetters of religious superstition; the shackles of the one are too intimately linked to those of the…

creen
hakespeare's rhetoric has always astounded his contemporary audiences through his almost supernatural ability to perceive and present the universality of human nature on stage, regardless of the time his characters lived in.

The three different types of techniques used in rendering the play to the public are different, but related art forms: literature, theater and film. They reflect their author's or directors' vision of the story originally presented by hakespeare on stage at the Globe, in London, at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Kings of cotland, England, and later Great Britain, had always been challenged in keeping their place on the throne and hakespeare himself lived through times that were still full of intrigue and plotting against the sovereign. Mary tuart, accused of plotting against the queen of England, Elisabeth I, had been executed in 1587, still a vivid memory for many who attended the shows put on stage at…

The new France would, in the Proudhonist version of anarchism, be a collective of collectives, a society without any formal organization, in which individual identity groups made their own rules and moved toward individual, local goals they deemed appropriate:
The Commune was against centralization; its aim was a federation of communes. The Commune was for a people's government in which distinctions between governors and governed would be erased: representatives would receive wages of average workers, be popularly elected, and be subject to immediate recall. The Commune was militantly antireligious: the aim was to free humanity from clerical machination and superstition. And finally, the Commune was for destruction of bourgeois property: cooperative ownership and self-management of production were envisaged.

In stark contrast to the authoritarianism of the Marxian socialists, the anarchists believed firmly in the capacity of the "right" people to spontaneously organize themselves and re-organize society. While sharing many of the…

They could do it time and time again with success. The first electric car was used on the moon during the Apollo 14 (Endeavor and Falcon) mission (Kennedy Space Center).
Meanwhile in Russia

hile the space program in the United States was busy becoming a popular culture icon, the Russian space program took on a different personality. They still launched missions for "national prestige" (ade). However, the majority of Soviet missions were for military purposes. The Soviet economy played a major role in space efforts. The soviet economy was planned in five-year increments, with long-range military plans being made for the next ten years (ade). This significantly affected the pace of space program development. The Russian space plan was slow to react to American successes.

First generation Soviet launchers had poor reliability. The ten-year plan for the second generation was not approved until 1976 (ade). Third generation plans were approved in 1981,…

Communion with nature can come in the form of visual art and craft; in the form of storytelling; or in the form of dance. Each of these modes of creative expression invokes the unknown, powerful forces that underlie creation. Even though science can measure, explain, and manipulate nature it cannot answer the ultimate questions of why and how nature -- or human beings -- exist in the first place. Religious rituals offer human beings a way to seek answers to life's biggest questions through direct experience.
Different cultures have approached nature differently but traditional cultures share in common a reverence for the natural world that is all but absent in modern, industrialized societies. The religions that have sprouted up in modern nations parallel the worldview that human beings should triumph over nature rather than work with nature. In Baraka, devastating footage of death and destruction show what human beings are…

Oddly enough, Twain's simple, homespun character seems to believe what people say about his genius, eventually, as people treat him with awe. He uses his power to create industry and to mimic the life he knew in America. He says he: "was pretty well satisfied with what I had already accomplished. In various quiet nooks and corners I had the beginnings of all sorts of industries under way -- nuclei of future vast factories, the iron and steel missionaries of my future civilization" (Chapter 10). Twain satirizes both the medieval peoples' ignorance, but also the Yankee inability to conceive of a better or different world than American industrial, mechanized life.

The lessons of the satire are twofold -- first of all, the dangers of ignorance and the refusal to progress in knowledge and understanding, exemplified by the superstitions of Camelot. but, as so many of the traditions and beliefs of the…

Philosophy and Psychology of the Mind and Body
Throughout human history, philosophers, doctors, and most recently, psychologists, have attempted to understand the relationship between the mind and body and how it results in human beings' awareness and perception of reality. At least since the golden age of Greek philosophy, thinkers have been aware of an ostensible distinction between the mind and body, a distinction that nonetheless allows for some intermingling such that physical issues affect the mental state just as mental issues may result in physical symptoms. Thus, if one desires to truly understand how contemporary estern psychologists and philosophers consider the nature of consciousness via the interaction between mind and body, one must trace the history of these concepts starting with the Greek philosophers, moving through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and on to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when psychology first began to develop as a formal discipline.…

He is both likeable and credible in his delivery. His topic is one that arouses anger in many, because their faith does not allow them to see his truth. Is it only Sagan's truth? This analysis illustrates that through clear presentation, concise case building, appeal to emotion on a familiar level, and common values, that the truth belongs to everyone. He does not profess to have all the answers. The author simply points to the consequences of ignorance in the past and the possible penalty of ignorance for the future. He allows for counter argument and refutes each with clearly defined logic. He does not allow for organized religion, but he does allow for spirituality. He writes, "hen we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense…

ork Cited

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http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/cleopatra/full.html

Brown, Lenora Inez. "Enter the Body: omen and Representation on Shakespeare's Stage." American Theatre. May 01, 2001. Retrieved September 30, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library eb site.

Desmet, Christy. "omen's Matters: Politics, Gender, and Nation in Shakespeare's Early History Plays." Comparative Drama. September 22, 2000. Retrieved September 30, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library eb site.

Hunt, Maurice. "Shakespeare's Venetian paradigm: stereotyping and Sadism in The Merchant of Venice and Othello." Papers on Language & Literature. March 22, 2003. Retrieved September 30, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library eb site.

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http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/julius_caesar/full.html

Othello, The Moore of Venice. Retrieved September 30, 2005 from:

http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/othello/full.html

Starks, Lisa S. "Like the lover's pinch, which hurts and is desired: The Narrative

of Male Masochism and Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra." Literature and Psychology. December 22, 1999. Retrieved September 30, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library eb site.

Steen,…

The Implicate Order and Explicate Order can be compared to a piece of holographic film and the image it produces. The film corresponds to the enfolded, or hidden, Implicate Order. The image, or hologram, (what is humanly perceived) is the Explicate Order. Thus, the tangible "reality" of our everyday lives is a kind of holographic image being projected from the "film" or source -- the Implicate Order (Dunlap, 2000).

The flow of time is part of the dynamic process of enfolding and unfolding. "As the present unfolds and becomes part of the past, it does not cease to exist, but simply returns to the cosmic storehouse of the implicate" (Talbot, 1990, p. 200). The event we call death is another example of what he is saying. Death is not the end -- it is simply moving out of the Explicate and into the Implicate.

Bohm (1987) suggests that consciousness flows from the…

This stream-of-consciousness writing is in a secret journal, for the writer will get into trouble if what she writes is found by Sister Theo, who "checks our letters home. e're not allowed to say anything about the school" (Sterling 12). If the journal is discovered, the girl may suffer abuse at the hands of the teachers. riting is an act of defiance that the girl sees to be worth the risk.
The time of the story was a disturbing part of Canada's history. The use of Residential Schools actually predates Canada's existence as a country (meaning before Confederation in 1867, and the system served as a means of containment and control if the Indian population. As the Europeans acted out the myth of the New orld as an undiscovered and undeveloped land, the existence of the Aboriginal peoples complicated the myth and challenged the government that was instituted. Policies were…

But such a violent and unexpected murder, and to come in such a very uncivilized manner! According to what the other men told me, there was absolutely no provocation or intimidation -- they simply told the assembly to disperse, and one of them that had been in jail yesterday simply started hacking him to pieces with a machete.
The other men were understandably shaken, and I cannot say I blame them. We must all thank God that they were able to escape with their lives, though it does seems that only this one individual displayed such extreme rage.

Still, I do not relish my duty now. Like Daniel walking right into the lion's den -- except he had a king who threw him in, and I have only the weight of history and the advancement of proper civilization pushing me forward. And the lions Daniel faced were never so dangerous, nor…

"Their superstitions are infinite, their feast, their medicines, their fishing, their hunting, their wars -- in short almost their whole life turns upon this pivot; dreams, above all have here great credit" (Foner 16). There are a number of value judgments within this quotation; almost all of them are negative. The religious beliefs and practices of the Micmac have been reduced to "superstitions" by the priest. hat is revealing is that almost all of the practices of these people -- including their means of providing food and health care and engaging in social conflict, are likened to "dreams." Yet all of these facets of the Micmac that de Brebeuf names are simply different points of culture that exist between the Europeans and the Native Americans. Because they are different, the priest himself does not believe in them and dismisses them as having a basis in fantasy.
It is interesting to…

As a final chapter, this is a good culmination of the supporting points the author uses throughout her work.
In every book chapter, the author provides compelling evidence for the various ways in which medicine is used to accomplish not only physical health goals, but also economic and social ones. Each individual uses the medical direction he or she deems to be most appropriate to his or her specific social and economic concerns. At the start of the book, for example, the Western doctor and his medicine were used to get closer to the Methodist church leader and potential membership in this church. Although I do feel the book makes its point well, I do not believe that medical systems really merits their status as primary vehicle towards secondary goals. Instead, there is an entire networks of primary and secondary resources to accomplish both. I feel the book could have…

Neoclassical Lit
Neoclassicism is immediately apparent in the visual arts and in architecture. In literature, neoclassicism entailed the revival of Classical Greek ethics, philosophy, and political ideals. Neoclassical literature sometimes drew on direct allusions to ancient Greece and Rome, using imagery of elements like statuary of gods. Because Reason fared prominently in the literature of ancient Greece, Reason also became a hallmark of neoclassical American writing. Thus, neoclassicism was an integral part of Enlightenment writing and literature.

One of the ways neoclassicism became a part of the American literary quilt was via the revival of original Greek and Roman texts. Insight into the roots of classical thought allowed American writers to apply ancient principles to their modern needs and concerns. Therefore, Greek concepts of reason, democracy, and ethics became fused with the American sense of liberty. A Christian perspective prevented the neoclassical writers to do away with God entirely, but there was…

Starting from 19th century psychology, school of thought of behaviorist shared commonalities and as well ran concurrently with the 20th century psychology of psychoanalytic and Gestalt movements, however it was different from Gestalt psychologists' mental philosophy in significant ways. Psychologists who had major influences in it were Edward Lee Thorndike, John B. atson, they opposed method of introspective and advocated to use of experimental methods: Ivan Pavlov, investigated classical conditioning, but he was not to the idea of behaviorists or behaviorism: B.F. Skinner, he did his research on operant conditioning.
During second half of the 20th century, it was widely eclipsed that behaviorism was due to cognitive revolution. Even though behaviorism as well as cognitive schools of psychological thought tends to disagree in terms of theory, they have gone a head to compliment one another within applications of practical therapeutic, for example, cognitive-behavioral therapy has shown utility in treating some pathologies…

HUM/105 -- orld Mythology Foundations Mythology Short Answers rite responses: How word myth popularly? For, statement, "It's a myth" ? In contrast, word myth academic context? After definition textbooks materials, write a definition words.
Most people think of the word myth as being meant to relate to an idea that is generally accepted but is not supported by solid evidence. The contemporary society also relates to tales of gods or ancient heroes that once had a religious basis as being myth. Many cultures have gathered numerous stories involving myths and they can be related to as being mythologies. It is only safe to relate to myths as being an abstract reality, relatively similar to religion (taking into account that even with the fact that many individuals are actively involved in promoting religious ideas there is no solid proof to back these ideas).

The estern community typically thought about myths as being associated…

Goodman Brown/Lottery
Literature is frequently employed as a device for social and political commentary. This is certainly true in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." Both these stories darkly satirize the rigid social conventions that define small town American life. Even though they wrote about a century apart, Hawthorne and Jackson drew similar conclusions about American religious life and culture. Throughout his career, Nathaniel Hawthorne remained concerned about the hypocritical nature of puritanism. Stories like "Young Goodman Brown" darkly satirize religious fundamentalism and mob mentality. "Young Goodman Brown" is about a man who believes he might have dreamed of a strange pagan ritual set deep in the woods. Even his wife, ironically named Faith, attends the ritual. Faith's presumed faith in Christianity is proven false by her attending a Satanic rite in the woods. atching the ritual shocks Goodman Brown literally to death. In "The Lottery," a…

Aristotle, Hobbes, Machiavelli and Bellah
hat are the different conceptions of knowledge that inform Hobbes's and Aristotle's respective accounts of politics? Be specific about questions of individualism, virtue, and justice. In Bellah's terms, what kind of politics would they support? How are they related to Bellah's views on the relationship between social science and social life?

Aristotle stated repeatedly that the needs of the state and society overrode individual pleasures, desires and happiness, while Hobbes regarded unchecked individualism as a menace to public peace and good order. Public virtue and justice for Aristotle were not based on purely individual feelings, desires or personal happiness, for "which it is satisfactory to acquire and preserve the good even for an individual, it is finer and more divine to acquire and preserve it for a people and for cities" (Aristotle 2). Virtue is the chief end of political life, but only the vulgar and uneducated…

Self-egulation Issues in Children and Adolescence with ADHD, ODD, and OCD
Self-regulation in children and adolescence who suffer from ADHD, ODD, and OCD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder) is often evident due to several things. A lot of the issues in relation to self-regulation stem from additional anxiety the child/teen may feel from the difficulties experienced from these kinds of mental disorders. OCD is known to cause anxiety and isolationist behaviors leading to decreased emotional self-regulation. ADHD at times can cause hyperfocus, making it difficult for the child/teen to switch tasks therefore limiting their ability to handle their emotions and activities that assist in regulating themselves. ODD, connected to ADHD, is a disorder that has the child react angrily and spitefully to people in otherwise normally responsive situations. The extreme feelings of children or adolescence who manifest ODD make it hard for them to respond…

vacant and eye-like windows" of the House of Usher spook the nameless narrator and his sickly childhood friend and title heir, Roderick Usher. Decaying trees and a "black and lurid tarn" dot the sullen landscape that greets the narrator on his approach to the Usher estate. This classic Gothic setting influences the narrator as soon as his horse trots towards the crumbling mansion. Probably familiar with depression, the narrator notices immediately what a profound effect the House of Usher has upon his frightened and weakened spirit. The eerie landscape of Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" contributes to characterization.
From the onset of the narrative, the house itself acts as a character; it is humanized and personified by the narrator even before he meets Roderick. Indeed, the narrator is transfixed by the physical nature of the house even before he sets foot inside it…

Witchcraft in the 16th & 17 Centuries: Response to Literature
At first glance, a logical 21st Century explanation for the "witch craze" (also known as a witch-hunt) during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe was based largely upon human ignorance. That is to say, the belief that a sub-culture of the general population performed witchcraft (and other magic-related phenomena), and ate the flesh of children, helped the unenlightened explain the unexplainable, and helped the ignorant deal with the darkness. Witchcraft seemingly established a reason that a person had that bad luck and it explained illnesses, and probably it helped explain natural calamities such as tornadoes, seismic catastrophes and sudden killer bolts of lightning or sheets of rain turned into disastrous flooding. Or it could even explain a stillborn child and a puppy with a broken leg. Somebody put a spell on that poor dog. Mysterious events that had no apparent…

Economics and Happiness
Isaac Singer's novels The Slave and Satan in Goray share a great number of similarities. Both novels are centered on the theme of religion, and delve deeply into a number of passions. Further, both books share Singer's repulsion with the slaughter of animals. All in all, however, The Slave is a much more subtle and personal look at the role of religion than the larger than life look at religious Messianic fervor depicted in Satan in Goray.

Isaac Bashevis Singer was born near arsaw as the son of a rabbi, and moved to the U.S. just before I. He began to write professionally as a arsaw journalist between I and II. His early works of fiction were novellas and short stories. Satan in Goray appeared in 1935, just before Singer immigrated to the United States. The Slave was written in 1962, when Singer was firmly entrenched in the U.S.…

Demon Haunted
Did you ever watch people as they are checking out at the grocery store and push their cart by the gossip rags that declare, "Man with Six Heads Found in Utah," or "Aliens Revisit Woman for Tenth Year in a Row"? Even if not buying the paper, the shopper often either picks it up and reads some of the stories or steals a look when it appears that no one is looking. There is something about the strange and unusual that attracts people. At best, individuals read the stories and laugh. In the worse case scenario, they actually believe the articles. Unfortunately, says popular scientist Paul Sagan, too frequently people do not have enough skepticism and will accept bunk as truth.

Demon-Haunted: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Sagan's last book before his death last year, discredits such pseudo-scientific beliefs as faith-healing, palm-reading and alien abductions and condemns those…

Hispanic Culture and Beliefs
The Hispanic culture is rich and vibrant, but there are struggles that those outside of the culture may not realize. One of these is with seeking out and receiving healthcare services. Many Hispanic people wait too long to get healthcare. For some, it is because they are not in the United States legally and they fear deportation. However, for the large number of Hispanic people who were born in the U.S. Or who are otherwise in the country legally, it is mainly cultural concerns that keep them from seeking treatment. They are often distrustful of other cultures, and the men in the Hispanic culture are a proud group who believe they can handle issues themselves. Of course, this is a generalization. Not every Hispanic person fits this particular stereotype of their culture. Beliefs about healthcare and the seeking of that care, as well as how they feel…

Mystery of the Propylaea
The Propylaea (ca.437-432 BCE) is considered one of the mysteries of Ancient Greece. The structure was the gate to the Acropolis which was built during the Periclean building endeavor, the rebuilding program for Athens which began in 437 BCE. The Propylaea were designed as a means of creating a massive and monumental entrance to the plateau of the acropolis, particularly the complex of shrines and sanctuaries there. The gateway itself is truly stunning, as it is indeed tremendous and thundering with precise details carved in dark Elysian marble, but it was never finished. The fact that this dramatic and stunning gateway was never finished is indeed a mysterious prospect, and in the academic field of archeology, a range of theories abound as to why it was never finished. This paper will examine the most dominant theories regarding this fact, and attempt to determine why this was…

Drugstore Cowboy features Bob Hughes (played by Matt Dillon) -- a character struggling with addiction -- and his little band of vagabond drug dependents. The story is set in USA of the early 1970s. Hughes heads a drug addict "family," which comprises his wife, Dianne (played by Kelly Lynch), together with another couple; the "family" pay for their drug stash by means of drugstore robberies as they move across America. When one of the members of their gang meets with a tragic end, Hughes makes up his mind to quit this dysfunctional group and becomes a good citizen. However, this move -- to leave behind his criminal past -- turns out to be a lot more challenging than anticipated, when Hughes finds himself stalked by a former acquaintance (accompanied by an accomplice) who seeks to acquire drugs, whatever the price. Following their success, the two shoot up, plan their subsequent…

They can take care of themselves. I've also been told they're good companions. But I wonder. A lot of the cats I've seen have either been so independent that they don't care if a human is around, or they are so scared they won't even let you near them. I don't know if this is normal, but it's my experience. I knew a cat that would hide over the refrigerator every time I came into my friend's house. I knew another cat that treated me as if I didn't exist. I don't think that's the kind of pet I want. I want a pet that is interactive all the time, not just when its mood feels like it. Cats require all the same shots, collars, and food that dogs need, as well as litter boxes. They aren't cheaper than dogs, even if they are supposedly cleaner and more self…

She felt as if no one understood her conditions or why she was the way she was and because it took her longer to accept herself for who she was, she could not have a full understanding of having Tourette's and OCD meant to her or anyone else. It was until she fully accepted her condition that she would be able to come to grips with it and learn how to live with it.
Wilensky associated drinking with a loss of control, but also realized that drinking would help lessen the tics, or at least make it seem like it. The OCD part of Wilensky connected her personal rules as a means for controlling the things her body did that she felt were negative. By drinking with friends, even if it felt good, she was breaking her own rules. She didn't feel like she could be normal like the other…

It didn't matter that I'd not know the Thai language. I no longer wanted to speak to anyone. I never had.
Three days later, the motor conked out. No gas. We floated south in the current, or so we thought. All the mountains and land had vanished. Thanh said he had made a mistake and didn't know where we were now. Once in a while we would see a ship, but we could never row to it. We didn't think we should. That was the same day our fresh water ran out. The smell of salt was unbearable afterwards. All of us knew that we should have been on the Thai island by now. We rowed desperately, but this made us thirsty. One of the women passed out from dehydration. Then another. And another. It was probably two days, I couldn't tell, when I saw the grim image. A black…