Essay --

Somewhere in August last year, around the date when anti-superstition crusader NarendraDhaborkar was killed, two women were killed in a remote village in Assam’s Kokrajhar district by villagers who suspected them of practising witchcraft. A 70-year-old woman and her 42-year-old daughter-in-law were killed by a large number of village women, who accused the duo of practising witchcraft in June 2013 in Ranchi. A 50-year-old womanFuloTopono and her 30-year-old daughter Suggidaughter were hacked to death in Khunti district in Ranchi in November 2013 for allegedly practising witchcraft. These are just few examples which found a mention in the English newspapers of our country. Of late the branding of women as witches and subjecting them to horrendous and irrational torture has been on a rise. The juxtaposition of this practise laced with superstition with the rapid modernisation in the rest of the country and the technological progress is hair-raising. A National Crime Records Bureau report quotes that a total of 1,157 women have been killed for witchcraft in Jharkhand between 1991 and ...

Reaction to Everyday Use Essay

Everyday Use is a short story written by Alice Walker about a family of three, Mama, the narrator, Maggie her youngest daughter, and Dee, her eldest daughter. Both daughters are completely different, Maggie is a simpler person and Dee is high maintenance. Dee has always the home she was brought up in and everything to do with her childhood. She always wanted more and Mama gave her the best she could. One day, years after Dee has gone off to college, she returns to visit Mama and Maggie’s new home (the other had been burnt down when Dee was still living with them), and she brings along a man, possibly her husband. When Dee returns she has changed her name and has come hoping to retrieve certain family heirlooms. Walker uses different literary tools to tell this story in a way that makes the audience think about what she is trying to tell the audience. Strategy The main literary strategy Walker uses in the writing of Everyday Use are irony and symbolism. Mama and Maggie value the quilts discussed in the story, not as folk art, instead for what they are intended to be used for, a source of warmth. Mama would rather give Maggie the quilts and let her put these quilts to use even though they may end up ruined because she knows that she is the one that will appreciate and love the quilts the most. Dee wants to in a sense save the quilts from the harm that she is sure that her sister, whom she seems to think is intelligently inferior will ruin but she does not understand the true value and worth of these quilts. Dee’s sudden interest in her heritage and want to embrace different objects from her family’s past is obviously seen by her mother as empty. In Mama’s eyes the best way to keep the quilts and the love and care that comes with them in the family is to hand them over to Maggie, even if it means them possibly being damaged or worse yet, destroyed. This is the irony in the story. Many would think that preserving the quilts is the only respectful way of keeping the spirit of their family alive, but instead Mama sees deeper than that, she sees in actuality the best way to keep the spirit of their family alive is to put them to use so that more memories can be connected to them. Using them in daily life is a way to keep the family history and spirit alive, and to even add onto it. Theme The consistent theme of Alice Walker’s â€Å"Everyday Use† is appreciating the past, and one’s family. This theme was one that I found I could identify with greatly along with certain aspects of the story. The author skillfully tells us the story of two sisters, Dee, and Maggie, to prove her point. Dee comes home with a new contemporary identity tied to her African heritage, which she believes white men and women have tried to take away from her. She now embraces this African heritage and sees it as an important part of her. She scornfully asks Mama (the narrator) to not address her by the name her mother gave her, Dee, but to instead call her Wangero, assumed to be a name from her African herritage: â€Å"What happened to ‘Dee’?† I wanted to know. â€Å"She’s dead,† Wangero (Dee) said. â€Å"I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.† Wangero (Dee) assumes and argues with her mother that she has been named after a white man or woman. Mama attempts to convince her that her name was not given to her by a white man or woman but that she was named after her grandmother. Dee resists what her mother has told her and insists that if she were to follow the line that it would go back to a white man or woman. Maggie, is unashamed of her past, she actually embraces it. She has always loved the quilts that her mother and aunt made from clothing that her grandmother had pieced. This section of the story is the prime difference between the sisters is revealed: Dee would like to use the quilts as pieces of artwork for her own home because it is something that would be stylish and argues with her mother that Maggie â€Å"would be backward enough to put them to everyday use.† Dee says this as if it were a bad thing to use the quilts as they were intended to be used but Mama believes that the everyday use, is the best way to value the past, to keep the spirit of the family going and not putting the items up for display as if they were in a museum or separating oneself from his or her family. This is something that I can identify with. When I was younger my great-grandmother had always crocheted afghans for each of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My cousins had when we were little looked down at these beautiful afghans and wanted instead store bought blankets. I treasured the afghan that my great grandmother had made me and used it often. When we were older, and she had passed away, my one cousin was going through a phase similar to Dee’s, she was suddenly very interested in our family history, and she now wanted the last afghan that my great grandmother made. She ended up being the one to receive the afghan because I did not feel like fighting over it. I did not want to receive it with a fight because I knew that it would tarnish the meaning for me but I always found it interesting how she changed her mind once became, for lack of a better word, â€Å"cool† to embrace family history and to like handmade items. Active and Responsive Reading While reading Everyday Use one inference that I made was that the story was set in the early 1970s. I made this inference from the way Mamma, the narrator, described Dee in the present day. I thought that the dress, accessories, and hair style Dee was described to have seemed to match up to fashion from the early 1970s. Dee is a vain, hypocritical, and condescending individual, this was my impression from my first reading of the story and after reading it twice more, I found that my impression of Dee did not change from my first reading. Mamma did the best she could for Dee as she grew up. Dee always despised the house they lived in and never saw the house that was built after the fire until she visited. Mamma and their church raised money so that Dee could get a higher education and go off to college. Dee uses her education as a way to look down on her mother and sister. She does not understand why they will not better themselves as she has. In this visit she begins asking her mother for things that she had never wanted before and looked down at. She now wants these items not as reminders of her family but more as pieces of art. Two of these items were quilts made by Grandma Dee. In the past when offered these, she had told her mother that the quilts were â€Å"too old-fashioned, out of style†. Now she thinks that they would make beautiful pieces Alice Walker writes this story I think for every family and every person in a family. In a world where people are consumed with art, fashion, and style, I think she is reminding us that there is more to some items than art, fashion, and style. Many times we think the only way to appreciate something is to frame it or put it up for display and not put it to everyday use in fear of ruining it but Walker uses this story to show us that there is more to appreciating something than just displaying it. Sometimes to best appreciate a piece of ones heritage through an heirloom you should use it for its intended purpose. In conclusion Walker teaches us a lesson about family and keeping the spirit and story of our family alive by not merely displaying our heirlooms but putting them to use. She uses irony to help tell her story and support her theme. Walker chooses a story that people can relate to and learn from.

Socrates: Guilty or Not

Socrates is one of the founders of Western philosophy. The dialogues, written by many of his students, such as Plato, represent a unique way of questioning how we should live our lives, and who do we aspire to become. He was a very intelligent man who was very concerned about ethics, being a good Athenian, and doing what is just. In Plato’s Apology the reader experiences all of Socrates characteristics as if they where sitting right there with all the other five hundred men representing the jury. Socrates is trying to persuade the jury by defending himself against accusations made by fellow Athenian, Meletus. He accuses Socrates of corrupting the youth and of not believing in the gods the city of Athens believes in (Apology, 24 b-c).Socrates, not being familiar with courts, attempts at defending himself stating that is most likely to engage in a defense not using the language of lawyers, but in the way he is used to speak to the public. Even though Socrates was found guilty in the court of law, hence being sentenced to death, he still persuaded one of the jury men that was not present that day in to believing he was not guilty. I believe that Socrates defended himself more than well against his accusations, and the lack of evidence presented by his accusers gives more than enough reason that he was indeed not guilty. But there are two things I do not agree with Socrates: One being that he says he is not a wise man, and the other being that if someone does wrong to another person unwillingly, is a good enough reason for the wrongdoer to not have repercussions for his acts.It is Important to see that during the entire defense Socrates is attacking his accusers, mainly Meletus and he shows this right away when he goes through the first accusation of supposedly corrupting the youth. He says that most of the kids that follow him around are kids of very rich parents who just enjoy hearing people being questioned. Socrates states that every time his accusers ar e asked what he does and what is he teaching that corrupts the young, they have no answer for the question, and that most of the men are just angry because he questioned them on their supposed more than human wisdom (Apology, 23c-d).The great Socrates was known for going to every man who said was wise and ridiculing them in front of other spectators, in which he made a lot of enemies. It is very important to state that Socrates has been accused before; actually he has been receiving accusations since he was very young. Socrates says that he has two types of accusers: the earlier ones, and the recent ones, which he says listened to what the older accusers said about him making it easier to create a disliking for him. For me this is a very important point, because it is just another reason to believe that the accusations made are just repressed anger and disliking for a man who does not believe in committing any wrongdoing.Socrates continues his defense attacking Meletus and asking hi m who is allowed to improve and educate the youth, and he answers that everyone including the jurymen, the audience, the members of the council, the assembly, all Athenians except for Socrates himself (Apology, 24e-25a). This leads him to conclude that Meletus, using an analogy of horses and horse breeders, does not really care about the youth, because he believes that only one man in Athens can corrupt the youth while he goes on thinking that every other Athenian is educating and improving them (Apology, 25b-c). Socrates once again questions Meletus evidence.In another excerpt of the Apology, Socrates says how can so many people enjoy being around him and listening him questioning others. He then invites all of the supposedly men he has corrupted to stand up as witnesses, but he only finds all of the people that love him and follow him in the audience (Apology, 33c-34b). As you go through the first defense it just keeps on demonstrating the lack of evidence by the part of the accus ers, who could not even bring a single person to the stand that has been corrupted. This leads us to Socrates second part of the defense. In the affidavit it says that Socrates is charged for not believing in the cities gods, but when Meletus is questioned he says: â€Å"This is what I mean, that you do not believe in gods at all† (Apology, 26c).This completely changes is early accusation, and it certainly makes it clear that he is contradicting himself. Socrates continues to question Meletus about believing in spirits. Meletus answers a question that made by Socrates, in which he asked, â€Å"Do we not believe spirits to be either gods or the children of gods†, Meletus answers â€Å"Of course†(Apology, 27c-d). This leads me to my second point; does Socrates really believe in any supernatural being? I believe that he actually does.One small observation I made was that he mentions the god Zeus more than once during the trial (Apology, 17c, 25c, 35d). But more imp ortantly he talks about A* god who has put him in earth to do the work he does, to be a philosopher, to question what others do not dare. He states that they are treating a gift from god unjustly (Apology 30e-31b). He really persuaded me when he talked about a â€Å"divine or spiritual sign† that speaks to him when he needs to be turned away from something (Apology, 31d).Some jurymen would say he is just talking about this to get away with not being sentenced to death, but I say to those people why would a man who clearly says he does not fear death will lie in the court of law, which he has respected his entire life, because that is how he was brought up. But even if I agree with Socrates defense, there are two things I do not agree with. The first is that he says he is not a wise man, which I find to be completely absurd. In a sense I see it as his way for people taking him for a humble man.Early in the trial he expresses how he visited all the men who said they were wise, but he never says he questioned who said they were not wise. For Socrates being wise is someone who has knowledge and the more arrogant you are about knowing something the less of a wise man you are. To make my point Socrates never thinks of himself as a wise man, so by using his own explanation of a wise person makes him a wise man if not the wisest in Athens. (Santi remember that he believed that you truly do not understand anything until you understand yourself and your own beliefs. Socrates at least knows this truth about himself.)The second argument I do not agree with Socrates that if someone does something wrong unwillingly is exempt from being accused or even punished from his acts. I do believe in doing what is just, and I do believe Socrates was prosecuted unjustly. But just because you do wrong unwillingly does not give the state to let you go freely. Take this for example you are in a bar and you are carrying a weapon with you, for precaution measures. The gun accidental ly goes of and you injure a person. This would go under unwillingly causing harm to another person, but it does not mean that you should not receive any punishment for acting carelessly while carrying a fire weapon. I arrived at the conclusion that Socrates was never to be punished in any sort of way.The main reason is because the accusations were vague and were not backed up by any type of evidence. These accusers were blinded by a hatred that was born when they were young and  continued to build up when they see the man named Socrates walking through the streets of Athens questioning everything. The city of Athens and the people who lived there were taught everything they know and believe, and those things were never to be questioned because that is what they were taught. Then came Socrates, a wise man, and questioned everything, but I do not believe he ever intended, and surely did not, to corrupt the youth. I strongly believe that he was helping every single human being he spo ke to.Socrates was teaching the people of Athens to question things, to be curious and question everything, and that is the basis of philosophy: to question. One could say that Socrates prophecy was fulfilled his conviction will be shameful for Athens because there will be others to take his place. By reading the Apology I felt a one more jurymen, and I definitely found this man to not be guilty on any of the charges.

American Obedience essays

American Obedience essays The story I chose to read was If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably. I chose to read this story because its title appealed to me. I was interested from the very start to find out what the author of this story was talking about. I have also been reading a lot about Hitlers Germany lately, so I have been trying to obtain as much information on this topic as I possibly can. The story told Stanley Milgrams experiments to prove that Germans were more willing to obey than Americans. He set up an experiment to test Americans obedience in New Haven, CT and planned to then take the experiment to Germany to test Germans obedience. He never took the experiment to Germany. He found Americans to be much more obedient than hed expected. The people were not blindly obedient, just obedient. Hen then saw no reason to continue on to Germany. This story was very interesting. It showed, in a way, that something as terrible as what happened in Germany during World War II could happen to any nation and any race of people because of peoples obedience. While most of the participants in Milgrams experiment protested at some point, the majority continued with the experiment. This fact was very disturbing. The people who participated in the experiment were hurting innocent people, and although they realize it was wrong, they continued on, simply because they were told to. Anyone who believes that the only reason that the German nation went along with Hitler was because they were weak people should read about this experiment. It seems as though Americans would have gone along with him as well.. ...

What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row

What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a Row By Mark Nichol Using a word twice in a row isn’t always a no-no, but there’s always a more elegant way to revise a sentence in which you might initially be inclined to repeat a word immediately. When words collide, try these approaches: 1. â€Å"What you do do is your own business.† Even if this sentence is intended as a counterpoint to a â€Å"what you don’t do† proposition, the emphatic first do is superfluous (â€Å"What you do is your own business†). If you must retain the repetition, introduce a separating phrase: â€Å"What you do decide to do is your own business.† 2. â€Å"They had had many arguments.† Replace the second had with a prepositional phrase (â€Å"They had gotten into many arguments†) or a more specific verb (â€Å"They had endured many arguments†), or introduce more vivid imagery into a revision (â€Å"They had verbally sparred many times†). 3. â€Å"I showed her her message.† Replace one pronoun preferably, both of the pronouns with a noun (â€Å"I showed my sister the woman’s message†). This isn’t a problem with him, because two forms of the pronoun would appear (â€Å"I showed him his message†), though, again, if him and his refer to different men, it might be better to specify, in place of one pronoun or the other, one of the men in question. 4. â€Å"He came in in disarray.† Replace the prepositional phrase with a simple verb (â€Å"She entered in disarray†). 5. â€Å"She gives in in every case.† Simply recast the final phrase (â€Å"She gives in every time†) or flip the phrase to the front (â€Å"In every case, she gives in†). 6. â€Å"What it is is a travesty.† â€Å"What it is† is always an unnecessarily verbose way to start a sentence. Start with the subject (â€Å"It’s a travesty†). 7. â€Å"I placed the card I had written on on the desk.† Recast the prepositional phrase â€Å"written on† with on at its head (â€Å"I placed the card on which I had written the note on the desk†). But first confirm that the modifying phrase involving written is necessary at all. 8. â€Å"We realize that that will not be satisfactory.† Replace the second that with a noun (â€Å"We realize that the proposal will not be satisfactory†). 9. â€Å"We will discuss this this evening.† Replace the first this with a pronoun (â€Å"We will discuss it this evening†) or a noun (â€Å"We will discuss the matter this evening†). 10. â€Å"Is there someone I can talk to to resolve the issue?† Employ a participial phrase in place in the infinitive phrase â€Å"to resolve† (â€Å"Is there someone I can talk to about resolving the issue?†) or amplify the second to by replacing it with the phrase â€Å"in order to† (â€Å"Is there someone I can talk to in order to resolve the issue?†). Occasionally, an immediate repetition of a word, separated from the first instance by punctuation, is appropriate for emphatic effect (â€Å"I have come here from far, far away†). At other times, even though punctuation separates the repetition, a recast would improve the sentence. For example, â€Å"Even though I was there, there didn’t seem to be anything for me to do† might be revised to â€Å"Even though I was there, I didn’t seem to be of any use† or â€Å"Despite my presence, there didn’t seem to be anything for me to do.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Talking5 Brainstorming Strategies for Writers20 Ways to Cry

Quantitative business and management journal Essay

Quantitative business and management journal - Essay Example elaborates that the relation of transfer of knowledge and contribution with the motivational level in the different network structures. The involvement of the employees in the knowledge sharing makes them feel their importance in the firm and the decision making of the company and hence increase the motivational level of the employee. The motivational level of the employees is increase as with their involvement in the knowledge sharing along with that when the involvement is done from every employee the contribution is of wide variety and different aspect of knowledge is contributed which is beneficial for the company as a whole. The research of this paper is aimed as to determine the different network structures in which the contribution from different and variety of sources improves the quality of the research and information and how different collaborating sources improve the motivational level of the employees. The knowledge sharing within the organization is seemed to be benefic ial for the company as a whole or not by including the motivational level increase within the employees and the benefits of the contributions as a variety of angles and perspective. Theory The theory in this paper is that the motivational level either intrinsic or extrinsic leads to the connectedness of the employees. There are several factors that lead to intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. The internal satisfactory factors that leads the sharing of knowledge of an individual leads to intrinsic motivation. The internal satisfaction may be of different intensity and thus they have the relative impact upon the sharing of knowledge of the individual. The extrinsic motivation comes along the external satisfactory conditions which are in terms of reward which may not necessarily be quantitative. The theory in this paper has been studied before as to the individual extent only where the motivational level relation with the connectedness of knowledge sharing of the individuals within the social circle. In this paper the research includes the involvement of the employees in the knowledge sharing of the company which shall be beneficial for the company as whole. The connectedness of the employees with the organization comes along with their involvement in the knowledge sharing of the employees as it enhances the motivational level of the employees. the employees’ extrinsic motivational and connectedness is dependent upon the rewards, hence as long as the employee is employee is rewarded then the contribution and the sharing of knowledge continues but as the reward is not awarded then the sharing of knowledge stops. In this paper the implication of the motivational level of the individual within the organization as the sharing of knowledge is dependent upon the network of the organization. Thus the implication of the motivational level and the connectedness within the organization is done. Quantitative Method and Analysis The connectedness of the empl oyee within the organization in terms of sharing of knowledge is related with the intrinsic motivation of the employee. Employees within the organization develop a social circle where the connectedness and sharing of knowledge is enhanced. As the theory elaborated the sharing of knowledge is done when the full innovative transfer of knowledge network is provided to the employee the motivation of the employee enhances. The hypothesis that the intrinsically motivated employees are well connected provided with the network of innovative transfer of knowledge is carried upon and tested with the practical implication within the organization. Hypothesis The hypothesis in this research is the relationship between the connectedness and intrinsic motivat

Returning to school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Returning to school - Essay Example However, this year was different. This year was the tenth anniversary of high school for our batch and a reunion had been planned in accordance with the school tradition. I was excited several days in advance for this event. The anticipation of meeting old friends and colleagues, most of whom I had lost touch with, added to the excitement. Finally the day came and I left for my school. Special arrangements were made by the school for our stay. We were greeted with music and flowers. Many of my colleagues had arrived with their spouses. I was still unmarried and single. I could have a glance at my school crushes. It was amazing to see the transformation in the people in ten years. Some so called dumb people had become millionaires and billionaires while some of the smartest guys were leading mediocre lives. A few of my colleagues had become mothers and fathers of two while the others were still taking their chances at the party. Some had become partly bald while the others were seen with a pot belly. It was heart-warming to meet old teachers who were still there. We could recognize them easily while they found it hard to do so. All of us were served a delicious dinner and drinks. Thereafter, we went on the dance floor and made a lot of fun. We took contact numbers of each other and promised to be in touch. We waved good bye to each other with heavy hearts. Returning to school after 10 years was just an amazing experience. It made me realize how far I have come in life and what has been left behind. We would plan such reunions in the future as well and try to relive the good old