To Kill A Mockingbird Essay Example for Free

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay The character that’s made an outsider is Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is an outsider because of his skin colour, and was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. But him being black was the main reason as to why he was the outsider. Scout and her family were also outsiders. They were made outsiders by the neighbourhood because her father Atticus was Tom Robinson’s Lawyer. What prior experiences have helped to make this person an outsider? His skin colour for one was something he had no control over and this made him an outsider in America where racism is the norm. Another experience that helped make him an outsider was that he always helped Ewell’s kid, Mayella out all the time, for free because he â€Å"felt sorry for her† as he said when being trialled upon. His good deeds however wasn’t repaid as she falsely accused him of raping her because she was ashamed of having ever kissed a black man. The Finch Family- just the mere fact that Atticus was representing Mr.  Robinson in court made them outsiders. It was enough to have people calling them names, threatening them and having them fear their father’s life at one point when Atticus sat guard (not stood guard cos he had a chair a desk and a book out) in front of Tom’s cell when he was approached by a group of many telling him to move aside. What kinds of attitudes, opinions or ideas does this person hold? Tom Robinson was a very nice man with a wife and kids which I’m pretty sure he loved and adored. He was a very kind man as well as he always helped Mayella Ewell out whenever she needed help and he would always do the work for free as well because he felt sorry her. He knew that her siblings hardly ever helped her out, and that she didn’t have a dime to spare on him and also had hunch that her father wasn’t the nicest person to her as well, and that was enough for her to gain his pity and kindness. Tom however feared the â€Å"whites†, not all whites or anyone in particular but the fact that whites always had the upper hand, the deciding verdict and so he ran. He ran away from the â€Å"crime scene† (not much really, just the presence of Mr. Ewell and his Mayella, after she kissed him), because he was scared of the very predicament he found himself in, explaining himself to the jury in a court defending his innocence. He knew that he had no chance against the whites and that’s why he ran. Both times. The Finch Family was a relatively anti racist family. Atticus was very much against segragation and was sure pleased to defend Mr. Robinson in court whereas his sister Alexandra Hancock is pretty much the opposite and always wants â€Å"what is best for the family† (13. 22) Scout compares her to Mount Everest: throughout my early life, she was cold and there (9. 36). But further on in the novel we see a development in her character as she shows more emotion at the shooting of Mr. Robinson. And she even hands Scout her overalls to where even though throughout the novel up until then she always preferred the picture of Scout in a dress. Scout and Jem didn’t separate themselves from the black and instead seemed more part of the black community than they were white. Always with Calpurnia, going to church with her and even sitting in the coloured side of court during the trial. Scout was right at home when with them and didn’t feel any different about them because of their skin colour, even sleeping on Reverend Sykes lap during the first part of the trial. The family is downright appalled by the justice system and all the favouritism of the white and the segregation of coloured people. What actions, behaviours or decisions make this person an outsider? Tom Robinson- nothing but his skin colour and his kindness made him an outsider. Atticus- Being Mr. Robinson’s lawyer, representing him in court, defending him in a rape charge was what made Atticus (and his family) outsiders. Even though he was told to defend Mr. Robinson by the (fair) Judge John Taylor, Atticus did not mind one bit. He knew that this would bring his family some trouble but he wanted to do it anyway. What challenges does the outsider face? Tom Robinson- The trial. He was sent to jail for a crime he did not commit and ended up being shot after an attempt to break out prison. Scout and Jem- yelled remarks and called names from people at school and even old ladies sitting on porches and being the subject of everyone’s whispers. Another challenge they faced was Mr. Robert Ewell’s attack after the play at school. They would have been as good as dead if it weren’t for the great luck they had and of course if it wasn’t for Boo Radley. Atticus- A â€Å"gang† coming close to hurting him when he stayed up outside the cell one night. The trial, was also a challenge, He knew his client was innocent and would be a difficult task to make the jury ponder over his innocence for 5 minutes at the most. His children’s lives were threatened because of a grudge gained from the trial. What consequences are there for the outsider in the text? Mr. Robinson and the Finch family, Being outsiders was the consequence of their actions. It was because of what they did ( and in Mr. Robinson’s case) who they were, that made them outsiders. How do other characters react to the outsider? Mr. Robinson is only made an outsider by the whites (generalisation, not all whites were against him, like Mr. Finch, Judge John Taylor, Heck Tate and Dolphus Raymond to name a few) but definitely had the backing of his own people. The Finch’s People were talking about them badly and they were the centre of gossip and even threats. They were despised by many, but like Mr. Robinson he was backed by the Coloured community and those who weren’t too keen on the whole â€Å"nigga’s always at fault† disease that almost everyone in Maycomb had caught What themes or messages does the text convey about society or the wider world? Racism, Segregation and ill-treatment of coloured is major theme explored in the text by Harper Lee. This problem in the little town of Maycomb is just a tiny reflection in the corner of the mirror, of America at the time. And even the world, with references to Nazi Russia in the novel also bringing to light segregation in other parts of the world. She comes right out to say that the world is a racist world, with this novel and she writes to show others what is happening and that it is actually not right. And she does so in a great way by highlighting one great injustice rather than the many and bringing to a realization how irrational and unfair the entire American Justice system was. But we also see a development in the white characters which a representative of the entire America in a sense (and the world) as thoughts and ideas change and people’s views about coloured people change, not abruptly but slow of course. The black characters in To Kill A Mockingbird contribute to the development of the white characters rather than appearing as individuals in their own right. Racism is learnt, and with this we can see that Racism can definitely be unlearnt. How are the author’s experiences of being an outsider or attitudes towards outsiders reflected in the text? Ms Lee drew on her own childhood experience and this reflected in the text because Like Scout, Lees father was an attorney who defended black men accused of crimes; like Scout, Lee had a brother four years older. And many critics noticed similarities between Dill and Lee’s on childhood friend, Truman Capote. But the novel wasn’t intended to be an autobiography. The novel looked like it was influenced by the Scottsborro Trials of the 1930’s which was pre-Civil Rights Movement era, where 2 white women accused 9 coloured men of rape and we can see many similarities to Mr. Robinson’s case. Her life and the event’s happening all around her is reflected in the plotline of the text and also the main theme running through the text of standing up for something even though the cost is high, and I think she does tying it all in and producing a great novel taking a powerful stand against racism.

Religion in Singapore Essay -- Religion, Asian History

INTRODUCTION The major religions of the world are no longer distant from us. They are now closer to us than we can conceive; our neighbors, schools, offices and market places. These beliefs and faiths are much a part of our everyday lives, which make it important for us to have a clear view of our history, teaching, customs and traditions, so we can better relate to people who profess them. In this research paper, I endeavor to make a small, but intensive contribution and bring to light religious history on Singapore. The philosophy of religion is different to various people. But in all we can say that religion is a set of beliefs and practices of a particular individual or group of people or sects. In any nation or society, people have a caboodle of cultural structure, belief structure and world views that create symbols that relate to spirituality and moral values. Many religions have symbols and traditions, passed in from generations down that are intended to give life a meaning or explain its origin. Many countries if not all have their own religion. Some practice one, others two and many others are known for their polygamous religions. Among these countries, we have Singapore. There are many religions in Singapore considering the fact that many ethnic groups exist. That is to say, there are many religions in Singapore as a result of their different beliefs. It is home to ten religions. Coming into Singapore, the first thing you will notice the diversity of its citizens.. Singapore is an uncommon but corporeal sample of a nation where people from different facets of life, live together, irrespective of their tribe or religion, without fear or favor. As a matter of fact freedom of worship is topm... ...ment/Government-Restrictions-Index-(GRI).aspx "Religion in Singapore." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. â€Å"Ethno-religious Conflicts." Dawodu.Com - Premier Site Dedicated to Nigeria's Socio-Political and Economic Issues since 1998. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. http://www.dawodu.com/adeyemi3.htm 8 http://app.www.sg/who/31/Pre-Colonial-History.aspx Asiaweb . n.d. 3 december 2011 . buddha dharma production. 1996. 16 november 2011 . Guruswamy, Rekha. live.com. n.d. 16 october 2011 . Pew forum. 17 2009 december. 17 november 2011 . Straits Times. 20 Janurary 2009. . Wikipedia. n.d. october 2011.

Russians Conversion to Christianity

The conversion of Russians to Christianity was a big step towards Slavic civilization. The role of converting these people was upon the Orthodox Church which played an important role in helping the neighbors of Byzantine to take Byzantine cultures while at the same time helping to spread Christianity. Emperors from Byzantine in their bid to help their neighbors change their barbaric and hostile ways of life tried to use such methods as church conversions, judicious diplomacy and promotion of international trade. There were various reasons why Russians were converted to Christianity and in doing so; some strategies were employed by the Orthodox Church and the emperors. This paper is mainly going to focus on these two issues. One of the key steps that were taken in 863 was to provide the Russians or the Slavs who included the Danube who later were conquered by Magyars, the Czechs, the Moravians, Polinians and the Lyakhs who were also sometimes regarded as the Poles with a custom made Slavic alphabet or simply a modified Greek alphabet which was known as Glagothic. This helped them to make these people feel proud of their work as the Slavic alphabets were to be used in scripture translation and translation of other liturgical works. Invention of Slavic language was a milestone in the spread of Christianity and this became the platform that future conversion activities for the Russians took place. As per the Russian Primary Chronicle, because of the presence of emperors who highly valued Byzantine cultures, many Moravians had been converted by the Orthodox Church into Christianity but the problem was that they could not read the scripture and interpret it in their own language . This was because they were not familiar with Latin and Greek language that was used in the scripture and the problem was that there were preachers who would teach them this today and tomorrow interpret the same topic differently, now they wanted to be taught a language that they would use to read the bible for themselves and interpret it accordingly because those that came to preach to them would take advantage of their inability to read and interpret the scripture. We understand neither Greek nor Latin some teach us one thing and some another. Furthermore, we do not understand written characters nor their meaning. Therefore send us teachers who can who can make known to us the words of the scriptures and their sense† . To achieve this end, Moravian Slavs led by emperor Kostel, Rostilav and Sviatopolk requested Michael, the Byzantine emperor to help them with teachers who would assist in scripture translation into their native language. After receiving their request, the emperor asked the most professional scholars in his region to lend a hand in the translation work and they agreed to help. The scholars went to Kostel, Rostilav and Sviatopolk and took it upon themselves the duty of teaching Moravian Slavs how to read the scripture especially after they successively translated it into their Slavic native tongue. They started by composing Slavic alphabet and later they started the work of translating the scripture especially the Acts and the Gospels. Nothing made these Slavs happier than to hear the gospel preached in their native language. These scholars also helped in translating other pieces of work apart from the scripture for example they translated books such as Oktoechos and the Psalter among others . The zealots were not pleased by the idea of translating the scripture into Slavic language and thus they openly criticized this move. They argued that only Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages were supposed to be used in the scripture but the Pope did not share these sentiments and he dismissed these claims. To facilitate the conversion work of the Russians into Christianity, Methodius was appointed by Prince Kostel as one of Apostle Paul’s seventy disciples and he was given the task of bible translation, a job that he effectively did within six months but with the help of the two priests who were also professional writers. Methodius being an apostle worked hand in hand in hand with Bishop Andronicus who had been appointed by Apostle Paul to help him in the spread of the gospel to the Moravians . Another major break in the conversion of Russians into Christianity was achieved during the reigns of Vladimir in 980. Vladimir was a pagan leader who prayed idols and had even erected some of them on the hills and decorated them with gold moustaches and silver heads. Some of these idols were Khors, Stribog, Mokosn’, Dazh’bog and Simar’gi. People would sacrifice their offspring to these idols and thus this land was full of blasphemous blood. In 987 Vladimir after many trials by Bulgars to accept their religion summoned his ‘nobles’ to seek for their advice on whether they should abandon worshipping their idols and adopt other types of religion like that for Germans, Greek or for Jews. All of these had approached Vladimir and asked him to join their religion and now he was at crossroads to know what step to take from there. The Greeks claimed that whoever worshipped their God would have eternal life but those who followed other faith would burn in eternal fire. After asking nobles their stand, they said that unless they experience immediate knowledge of those rituals then they were not in a position to advice. They thus went and learnt for themselves but were not impressed by how Germans and Jews practiced their rituals but for the Greek the answer though not very direct was positive. â€Å"Everyman, after tasting something sweet, is afterward unwilling to accept that which is bitter, and therefore we can no longer remain here (Paganism)† . They argued that in German rituals they did not see any beauty and that for the Jews was bad but to the Greek’s ritual they could not know whether they were still on earth or in heaven because it was beauty beyond human description. This made Vladimir jealous and attacked his opponents a year later and proceeded to Kherson and conquered this Greek city. After this he issued demands to the Greek emperors-Constantine and Basil that they had to give to him their unmarried sister or else he would destroy the whole city but they told him that he would only get the girl if and only if, he got baptized as it was against their Christian faith and teachings to sell off their Christian sister to a pagan. Vladimir badly wanted this girl and thus he softened his heart and agreed to get baptized on condition that he would be baptized by this unwedded girl known as Anne. The emperors agreed to this and people rejoiced and danced as he got baptized. Vladimir then disclosed to them that he knew of their religion as he had sent emissaries before to enquire on the same and they gave him a positive answer . Just as it was a custom to pay bride price after marrying a girl, Vladimir returned Kherson to its rightful owners as his dowry. When he went back home he ordered all idols to be destroyed and said that those who would not get baptized the following day were not his friends any more and thousands big and small, young and old went to the river to be baptized and a history was made as never before had so many people been baptized at one time. Vladimir after this constructed wooden churches on the grounds where he had set his idols to show the world that he was truly a converted Christian. He also sent priests to go all over the town and cities to preach to the unconverted and convert and baptize them. The reasons that made the Russians to get baptized was their desire to be able to read and interpret the scripture without asking for an interpreter as those people who came to teach them took advantage of their inability to read and write. That was why they asked Emperor Michael to assist them in composing Slavic alphabets something that they did willingly. Another thing that acted as a catalyst towards Russians conversion to Christianity was Vladimir’s desire to marry Emperor’s unwedded sister. This led to his baptism as well as the baptism of other hundred thousands of his followers.

Dance Appreciation Essay - 1051 Words

PROFESSOR: JAMES RANDY DancePlus I attended DancePlus show On Friday December 2, 2011 at 7:30pm at night. It was performed in the Victoria K. Mastrobounno Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey. There were four different parts that I saw that day. All of the dances were very interesting and very different from each other. All of the dances had its own unique key factor that separated it from each other. I enjoyed the entire show very well. Out of all the dances I had strong reaction to â€Å"Lapa’s Lament†. I believe this specific dance stood out to me compared to the other dances from the show. This show had many different factors that stood out from other shows in the entire performance. This specific show was†¦show more content†¦The costume that the dancers were wearing seemed very interesting. The costumes looked very comfortable on the dancers. When I saw the piece, named, â€Å"Lapa’s Lament, I thought it was very unique and interesting. When the dancers were doing several movements with it, I got very confused. As a result, this confusion caused me to draw all the attention towards the dancer and to their performance. After a dance progresses, dancers were trying to tell a story with their movements. I think some of the dance movements, they were doing was very fascinating to watch. As a result, I was trying to make the whole story in my mind, as it was very unclear for me, what they were doing, but when Randy James came and talk little bit about the dance, I would able to understand what the dance is about. The way his dancers performed by showing their emotions, I thought it was incredibly performed. I felt that this dance was not losing its limelight throughout the performance. That is, the way they were communicating with each other through their body language and physical contact was just amazing. It shows their effort, as the dance steps included twisting and tumbling. 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