Cultural Context: Alcohol Essay -- Drinking Teenagers Papers

Cultural Context: Alcohol Alcohol has always been a controversial topic in the United States for social, political, and religious reasons. The negative effects of drinking came to the foreground of American concern during the early twentieth century. This was a time of great prosperity followed by the Great Depression. Both of these eras led Americans to turn to or against liquor as the cause or demise of their success. Prohibition marked a change in the American way of life and is best documented by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in their contemporary works. Both of these authors grappled with alcohol use and abuse within their own lives and writing. On 12:01 a.m. on July 16, 1920 the 18th Amendment went into effect, marking the beginning of a thirteen-year period of national Prohibition in the United States. The movement had existed for decades, but it was not until President Wilson and his southern Democrats came to Washington did it get national momentum, (Parrish, 96). Those who were in favor of Prohibition were collectively known as â€Å"the drys.† The group was generally composed of members of two sub-groups: the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League. The Anti-Saloon League considered themselves â€Å"an army of the Lord to wipe out the curse of drink,† (Sann, 26). A large majority of the prohibitionists were church-going, Protestant women from small-towns. The divide in opinion between the cities and the rural and suburban areas was so great that the passage of the 18th Amendment was considered a major cultural victory over large cities (Parrish, 97). The call for temperance was supported by progressive reformers who viewed the â€Å"Devil’s Brew† as the primary source ... ...Company, 1992. p. 95-113 This was the most useful source in understanding the social context of Prohibition, its enforcement, and failure. Sann, Paul. The Lawless Decade. New York : Crown Publishers, Inc, 1957. p. 21-24. 115-120 This book provided background information on the 1920s, the Jazz Age, and the role alcohol played during these time periods as well as the American response to Prohibition. www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=441 This article was extremely helpful in understanding the circumstances during Prohibition and how exactly citizens managed to undermine the law. www.drugtext.org/library/articles/craig103.htm This article emphasized and provided a glimpse into the lawlessness of Prohibition and the operation of speakeasies. www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/laic/episode5/topic1/e5_t1_s2-rr.html Cultural Context: Alcohol Essay -- Drinking Teenagers Papers Cultural Context: Alcohol Alcohol has always been a controversial topic in the United States for social, political, and religious reasons. The negative effects of drinking came to the foreground of American concern during the early twentieth century. This was a time of great prosperity followed by the Great Depression. Both of these eras led Americans to turn to or against liquor as the cause or demise of their success. Prohibition marked a change in the American way of life and is best documented by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in their contemporary works. Both of these authors grappled with alcohol use and abuse within their own lives and writing. On 12:01 a.m. on July 16, 1920 the 18th Amendment went into effect, marking the beginning of a thirteen-year period of national Prohibition in the United States. The movement had existed for decades, but it was not until President Wilson and his southern Democrats came to Washington did it get national momentum, (Parrish, 96). Those who were in favor of Prohibition were collectively known as â€Å"the drys.† The group was generally composed of members of two sub-groups: the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Saloon League. The Anti-Saloon League considered themselves â€Å"an army of the Lord to wipe out the curse of drink,† (Sann, 26). A large majority of the prohibitionists were church-going, Protestant women from small-towns. The divide in opinion between the cities and the rural and suburban areas was so great that the passage of the 18th Amendment was considered a major cultural victory over large cities (Parrish, 97). The call for temperance was supported by progressive reformers who viewed the â€Å"Devil’s Brew† as the primary source ... ...Company, 1992. p. 95-113 This was the most useful source in understanding the social context of Prohibition, its enforcement, and failure. Sann, Paul. The Lawless Decade. New York : Crown Publishers, Inc, 1957. p. 21-24. 115-120 This book provided background information on the 1920s, the Jazz Age, and the role alcohol played during these time periods as well as the American response to Prohibition. www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=441 This article was extremely helpful in understanding the circumstances during Prohibition and how exactly citizens managed to undermine the law. www.drugtext.org/library/articles/craig103.htm This article emphasized and provided a glimpse into the lawlessness of Prohibition and the operation of speakeasies. www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/laic/episode5/topic1/e5_t1_s2-rr.html

Failed Amendment: Protecting Slavery Essay

In 1861, an Amendment was proposed to protect the practice of slavery, known as the Corwin Amendment.. It would make it so not amendments could be made to effect the use of slavery. This is the only proposed Amendment that has the signature of the President, to not be ratified. The President’s signature is considered unnecessary due to the face the constitutional provision that on the concurrence of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress the proposal shall be submitted to the States for ratification. Two states approved this proposal, Ohio and Illinois. It is believed that Maryland also ratified the Corwin Amendment, but due to military conflict during the Civil War it was never official. I believe that it was never ratified for many reasons but the main was because many state did not agree with slavery at the time, and they did not want to â€Å"protect† it with an amendment, they also saw that change was coming and if it was ratified, change could not happen. Technically the Corwin Amendment is still â€Å"live† and it could still be ratified, although the 13th Amendment put an end to slavery. If the 13th Amendment did not make slavery illegal, it still not be ratified, especially today. People’s views on equal rights, and racism have changed drastically, and if the Corwin Amendment was proposed today people would be disgusted. I believe that is the Corwin Amendment was even suggest America would become a very different place. Many citizens would change their views on the government and protest and riots would break out.

An Explication Of William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow” Essay

Usually, in interpreting a poem, one simply relies on the metaphors behind the words to find a meaning. Sometimes, however, the structure of the poem itself and the literal image which the words convey are already the meaning of the poem. The significance in the reading of William Carlos William’s poem, â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow†, lies in the structure by which the poet arranges the words and the snapshot of the image which the poem describes. The entire poem comprises of a single sentence cut into parts and stacked so that it becomes a four-stanza poem, each stanza of which comprises of two lines. The first lines are irregular; those in the first and fourth stanzas are made up of four syllables. The two sandwiched stanzas are only comprised of three syllables. Meanwhile, all second lines in each stanza are single words with two syllables each. As a sentence, the poem would be insignificant both for its mundane subject matter and lack of metaphor: So much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain beside the white chickens. It becomes a subject for careful scrutiny, however, because of the manner by which the poet cuts the sentence into parts. The line breaks, cutting off whole words into two, suggest cued halting in the reading and the reader is forced to take in every image which every word evokes, both as a cut-off piece (i. e. wheel and barrow) and as a compound (i. e. wheelbarrow), slowly, part by part, then as a whole. The reader also learns to appreciate the painting which is the poem, like he does when viewing a still-life—a captured image intensified by the rendering—from a master artist, framed on a wall. The impact of the entire poem rests on the first stanza, â€Å"so much depends/ upon† (lines 1-2). It suggests the importance of what are to follow. It appropriates the value of the simple objects that would be enumerated. The placement of the word â€Å"upon† (line 2) as a line by itself, connotes the gravity of the importance of the wheelbarrow which is the central image in and subject of the poem. The word â€Å"wheelbarrow† is cut into two parts, â€Å"wheel† as a part of line 3 and â€Å"barrow† as an entire line 4. With the separation, the reader is forced to examine the machine by parts, the wheel first, before taking in the whole machine. His visual sense is also arrested with the middle word, which is a strong and bright color: red. The fifth line â€Å"glazed with rain†, gives the red wheelbarrow a character. It is not just a bright red wheelbarrow. It is dulled by the rain. It is a used and beaten implement. It has to withstand the natural elements. This reinforces the theme of attributing significance to this everyday object. This wheelbarrow does a lot of farm work, helping the farmer move and carry soil, manure, produce, etc. The same visual stimulus is presented again with the line â€Å"beside the white† (line 7), the adjective separating the noun, the â€Å"chickens. † (line 8), which the color pertains. Ending the line with another color, and one that contrasts sharply with the first color mentioned in the preceding stanza, makes the two objects captured in the painting (which is the poem) stand out against each other. The red wheelbarrow stands out against the white chickens. As an imagistic poem, â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† presents a snapshot of a farm scene. A red wheelbarrow sits idly on the ground, wet with recent rain, while chickens gather beside it, unmindful of the machine. The scene is ordinary and so is the description. The snapshot, however, perceived alongside the words and the form by which Williams creatively arranges the words, become more exciting because it begins to approximate a painting of an ordinary scene that is made special by the careful attention, reinterpretation and presentation of the poet. It is not just an everyday rural image of a wheelbarrow glazed with rainwater beside the white chickens. It is a work of art showing the image of a wheelbarrow glazed with rainwater beside the white chickens and the perceiver is being asked to evoke whatever associations, sentiments, feelings and interpretations he might come up with, both subjective and objective, as result of his experiencing the work of art. Reference: Williams, Williams Carlos. â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow. †

Terrorism After 911 essays

Terrorism After 911 essays On September 10, 2001, the day before terrorists struck the World Trade Center in New York City, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., a report was issued to the U.S. Congress by Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs for the U.S. Department of State. Signs continue to point to...a rise in the scope of threat posed by the independent network of exiled Saudi dissident Usama bin Ladin, Katzman wrote. The terrorist network of bin Laden, Katzman asserted, is independently financed... [and] wants to strike within the United States itself. The world knows what happened the day after that report was issued. But what terrorist-related issues and policies have the Bush Administration dealt with subsequent to 9/11? How effective have those policies been, given the issues that those policies have raised? Those are the topics to be explored in this paper. What effect has terrorism had on U.S. policy since Sept. 11, 2001? According to Steven E. Miller, writing in Global Governance (2005), when the old Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the old (Cold War) international order also crumbled into pieces. And following the attacks of 9/11, the Bush Administrations new order came into play. This new Bush international order (e.g., policy and strategy) writes Miller, is structured around threats and responses to threats rather than around laws and institutions. What that means is the U.S. has staked out a policy of going it alone, or in some cases putting together coalitions of the willing, with the stern proviso to countries that may or may not become allies against terrorism: You are either with us or against us. International laws and institutions, under the Bush doctrine, Miller writes, may be instruments or impediments, to be utilized or spurned as Bush sees fit. The Bush terrorism...

6 Myths and Fallacies About College Admissions

6 Myths and Fallacies About College Admissions The college admissions process is competitive and frenzied enough without falling prey to its most insidious myths. Believing any of these lies adds anxiety to an already stressful process, says Josh Bottomly, a college admissions expert and associate director of college counseling at the Casady School, a private prep school in Oklahoma City. And it could actually result in your child being rejected by some or all of his top choice schools. Myth #1: Only Top Tier Schools Prepare People for Success The most pervasive myth in our culture is that only certain schools (aka Ivies) will prepare people for success, says Bottomly. The underlying idea is that if a student doesn’t graduate from a Top 20 Newsweek-rated college, then they won’t have opportunities for jobs, promotions, and influence. Well, tell that to over half of our U.S. Senators. They graduated from public universities. Tell that to 43 of the top 50 CEO’s in the world. They graduated from schools other than Ivies. Tell that to Condoleezza Rice – a graduate of the University of Denver. Or Steven Spielberg. He was rejected from USC three times. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach. Or Tom Hanks. He attended Chabot Community College. Part of the genius of America is that you can make your destiny by what you do, not where you go to college. Myth #2: A College Brochure in the Mailbox Means Something Too often, says Bottomly, parents and students will fall victim to college attract to reject marketing campaigns. Through a flurry of glossy brochures and enticing paraphernalia, colleges will dupe students into believing an acceptance letter ensues. The truth is, the college only wants the application. The more applications a college receives, the more it can reject. The more it rejects, the higher its ranking goes up. And let’s be honest: college rankings are to Newsweek what the swimsuit issue is to Sports Illustrated. Sex sells. So do rankings. Myth #3: Applying to More Schools Increases Ones Chances Sometimes, says Bottomly, I will run into a parent who thinks he or she has done the math: If my student applies to more selective schools, it will increase his chances of getting into one of them. My response: Imagine you’re an archer. The target stands 1000 feet away. The bull’s eye is the size of a pea. According to Bill Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions at Harvard, that’s your odds at getting into a Top 20 University – about 3% without an admissions advantage. The fallacy here is to think that if you apply to all 20 schools that you will broaden the bull’s eye. Fitzsimmons response: All a student has done is drawn a circle around the same pea-size target 20 times. My advice then: shorten the distance to the target and broaden the bull’s eye. The former means, you apply to more schools where your GPA and test scores (ACT or SAT) fall into the median range. The latter means you apply to at least six first choice schools where you are competit ive. By doing this, you will significantly increase your chances of hitting your target. Myth #4: Once you send in the application, youre done.Myth #5: Large universities offer more opportunities than small liberal arts colleges.Myth #6: Colleges are looking for well-rounded students.

Auteur Director Tim Burton Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Auteur Director Tim Burton - Essay Example rnered for himself â€Å"an international audience of fans and influencing a generation of young artists working in film, video, and graphics.† (â€Å"Tim Burton†, 2010). Among the many successful and critically acclaimed films of his, Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice are two of the prominent ones. In line with his unique filmmaking genre, both the films had a mix of fantasy as well as gothic elements, but still had certain distinct aspects, which has enabled us to study the films in comparative way. Thus, by focusing on the films, Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice, the common themes, recurring motifs and filming practices in the films will be compared. In Edward Scissorhands (1990), Burton ‘told’ the story of an ‘artificial’ man named Edward, who is an unfinished creation, and so had scissors instead of normal hands. When Edward was taken in by a suburban family from his isolated existence in a dark mansion for many years, he fits in well initially, only to be manipulated and made as an outcast. On the other hand, in Beetlejuice (1988), Burton ‘revolves’ the plot around a recently dead young couple, who transform into ghosts and continue to haunt their former home. However, with the entry of new ‘normal’ inhabitants, Deetzes family, the couple gets threatened, seeking the services of an abhorrent and scheming exorcist named Beetlejuice, leading to repercussions. The common themes that are visible in the films, Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice are appearance and the related issues with acceptance. The theme of acceptance is shown through how the characters accept or find it difficult to accept other characters, who may be â€Å"different† from the majority. That is, when an individual is different from the majority of the people, in the physical sense, he/she would not be welcomed nor accepted. Although, few characters would accept, certain other characters may not accept, causing problems to many of the characters involved. In Edward

Promise and peril Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Promise and peril - Essay Example The article also notes there are challenges in implementing pay-for-performance programs by managers. One of such is seen on the negative impact on motivation, self-esteem, teamwork, and creativity (Beer, and Cannon 4). The second challenge is that the program may lead the employee to forego other things that would help the organization in pursuit of rewards. Merit has also been shown not to be based on performance. The proponent of the program believes the challenges can be overcome through intelligent design of the program (Beer, and Cannon 4). The article also highlights the role played by managers in pay for performance programs. The article notes managers may opt for adoption, modification, or discontinuation of the programs (Beer, and Cannon 13). The article shows reasons for managers coming up with any of the decision. One influence for decision is on pragmatic commitment to finding ways of improving performance (Beer, and Cannon 13). Their goals are just driven by ensuring there is an improvement in performance but not just desire to apply the new programs. They also viewed the new tool as a combination of other tools that could be used in solving some of the challenge they face. Moreover, failure to gain result of the new tool makes manager adopts other traditional tools. Such tools include close supervision, clear goals, coaching, and training (Beer, and Cannon 13). The manager’s view these tools as being fundamental in management hence change of decision. Additionally, the manager viewed the new program as requiring more time to implement and attracted difficulties in setting performance standards. The new program has been viewed as advantageous. However, it faces the challenges of implementation by