The American Civil War Essay -- American History

The American Civil War emanated feelings of joy, exuberance, and glory, yet it substantiated loneliness, destruction, and death. In the antebellum South, nationalism and pride forged a new path, and society saw soldiers as heroic actors and war as their stage. While these actors played out their roles, the audience, the world, could see that their stage did not make them heroes, but war deprived them of body and soul. In Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier develops this excitement and progression to hardship in both Ada and Inman’s journeys. The progression, corroborated by historical evidence, shows that while the antebellum South held a Romantic ideal of war, war itself negated the romantic opinion and became destructive, monstrous, and deadly. At the onset of civil war, a state of trepidation would be assumed; however, Cold Mountain shows that Southern society did not fear war but eagerly anticipated it. Inman and Ada show that people did not dread war, but instead school teachers spoke of the â€Å"grand wars fought in Ancient England† (5), and â€Å" each night, there was music and dancing† (140). People did not live in fear, but instead, a â€Å"strange time of war fever† (140) and excitement was created. â€Å"Young men considered dull and charmless suddenly acquired an aura of glamour shimmering about them† (140), not because they were instantly revitalized by Athena, but because they were adding themselves to the glory and honor of the ideal Romantic war. Society in Cold Mountain did not fear death, but they spoke of the glory of war, and had parties celebrating the coming war. Mrs. McKennett, a woman Ada converses with, â€Å"[holds] opinions exactly in accord with every newspaperâ₠¬  (180), that the fighting is â€Å"glorious, tragic, and he... ...inary Times of the Civil War Soldier. Ed. David Madden. New York: Simon & Schuster,2000. Billings, John D. Soldier Life in the Union and Confederate Armies. Ed. Philip Van Doren Stern. New York: Bonanza Books, 1961. Eaton, Clement. A History of the Southern Confederacy. New York: The Free Press, 1965. Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain. New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1997. Martin, Bessie. A Rich Man’s War, A Poor Man’s Fight. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2003. Ratchford, James Wylie. Memoirs of a Confederate Staff Officer: From Bethel to Bentonville. Eds. James E. Hansen II & Evelyn Sieburg. Shippensburg: Beidel Printing House, Inc. 1998. Thomas, Emory M. The Confederate Nation: 1861-1865. New York: Harper & Row, 1979. Vinovskis, Maris, ed. Toward a Social History of the American Civil War. 1st. ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990.

The Personality of a God :: essays research papers

The Personality of a God   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the year of 2003 there are many types of religions that are practiced in the United States, which involves a God, or a divine power. My personal preference of religion is Christianity. I believe in Jesus Christ and the all mighty God Jehovah. The characteristics of a God varies from religion to religion, but all leading up to love, an everlasting peaceful life, and salvation; therefore, giving strength to all human beings that believe in them and has faith in them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Loving is the first characteristic trait that Jehovah possesses The first book of Moses indicates, for he made man in his own image and gave him dominion over all the land and animals (Bib.Gen.); therefore, this was the first act of love; furthermore, he so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son to save it (Jn.3: 16). Jehovah’s love surpasses any kind of love that may be found upon the face of the earth because his love is unconditional. He is a merciful God. All sins may be washed away if you are sincere when you call upon him. His door is always open. He has no set hours of the day or night when you can call upon him. There are millions of people around the world that worship Jehovah, for these reasons, and more.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jehovah is a savior, for he freed slaves of all nationalities thus, I am not a slave, but I am a descendant of slaves, yet I can relate to the praises given to God, for releasing my ancestors from their bondage, for I live in a time now where faith in Christ helps me to cope with life’s obstacles, racism, and self-made mistakes, for his presence is always there with me providing comfort and assurance. Atheist disbelieve in Jehovah because they have never seen him, or talked to him. Jehovah is a God and he doesn’t have to prove himself to them by standing in their face just, so that they can see that he exists; whereas, polytheism on the other hand, are frowned up on by Jehovah, for he is a jealous God, and doesn’t want his children to love anyone more than he (Ex.34: 14).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The word provider pertains to Jehovah. He blesses us with food, shelter, clothing, and time. Each day that we open our eyes is a blessing because he didn’t have to wake us up.

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe Essay --

Typically, a carnival masquerade is celebrated as a joyous and social liberation from the masses of mundane daily activities, but in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† by Edgar Allan Poe, the protagonist Montresor creates a different meaning to the festival for his so-called friend Fortunato. Edgar Allen Poe uses an inventive writing style which sets up a situation in the beginning of the story. He intrigues the reader in the first line of the story, â€Å"...but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge† (Poe Page 1). Poe uses this stylistic writing by providing subtle pieces of information and imagery to draw the reader in, anticipating the rest of what is to come of Montresor's plan for revenge. In a seemingly harmless exchange of words between men, time begins to draw to an end for Fortunato whose naivety and trust in Montressor earns grim fate as some would believe to be his destiny. Montresor, through his pride, became an angry individual and had felt that Fortun ato had caused him â€Å"a thousand injuries† (Poe 1). Overshadowed by his delirious thoughts, Montresor’s deep hatred for Fortunato can be perceived as no more than envy or jealousy. Fortunato, a very wealthy man, dabbled into hobbies, such as being an avid wine connoisseur. Along with that Fortunato is part of a high society by being a member of masons. By that, Montresor felt Fortunato’s status and ability to purchase anything he desired, specifically wine, degraded his own status , ultimately causing Montresor to become displeased, disrespected, and unloved. Therefore, forcing Montresor to believe that Fortunato needs to be repressed to protect himself from these insults. In this story, I will argue that through the usage of different types of irony, Montresor did not think of... ...akes Montresor the one preforming masonry while Fortunato is actually the one belonging to the Masons. Overall, the story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† displays a cleverly set usage of ironies to depict Fortunato’s death. As verbal, dramatic, and situational ironies were used, it can be said that not everyone may be who you think they are. Fortunato who thought Montresor was a dear friend, later betrayed his trust and soon after killed him. Poe makes the story more interesting and comprehensive as it sets certain emotions within the audience to sympathize with Fortunato for desire of the Amontillado, and the complete trust in his friend. Works Cited Delaney, Bill. "Poe's THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO." The Explicator 64.1 (2005): 33- 5. ProQuest. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. Poe, Edgar Allan. â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado.† Literature: A Portable Anthology. 14-18. Book. 21 Oct. 2013.

I’M Nobody, Who Are You – Emily Dickinson

â€Å"I'm Nobody! Who are you? † This poem opens with a literally impossible declaration—that the speaker is â€Å"Nobody. † This nobody-ness, however, quickly comes to mean that she is outside of the public sphere; perhaps, here Dickinson is touching on her own failure to become a published poet, and thus the fact that to most of society, she is â€Å"Nobody. † The speaker does not seem bitter about this—instead she asks the reader, playfully, â€Å"Who are you? ,† and offers us a chance to be in cahoots with her (â€Å"Are you – Nobody – Too? ). In the next line, she assumes that the answer to this question is yes, and so unites herself with the reader (â€Å"Then there’s a pair of us! †), and her use of exclamation points shows that she is very happy to be a part of this failed couple. Dickinson then shows how oppressive the crowd of somebodies can be, encouraging the reader to keep this a secret (â€Å"Donâ⠂¬â„¢t tell! †) because otherwise â€Å"they’d advertise,† and the speaker and her reader would lose their ability to stand apart from the crowd.It then becomes abundantly clear that it is not only preferable to be a â€Å"Nobody,† it is â€Å"dreary† to be a â€Å"Somebody. † These somebodies, these public figures who are so unlike Dickinson, are next compared to frogs, rather pitifully, we can imagine, croaking away to the â€Å"admiring Bog. † These public figures do not even attempt to say anything of importance—all they do is â€Å"tell one’s name,† that is, their own name, over and over, in an attempt to make themselves seem important.This â€Å"admiring Bog† represents those people who allow the public figures to think they are important, the general masses who lift them up. These masses are not even granted the respect of having a sentient being to represent them. Instead, they are something into whi ch one sinks, which takes all individuality away, and has no opinion to speak of, and certainly not one to be respected.

Discussion and Critique of Disney’s Pocahontas

Stereotypes are simply assumptions and generalizations that people make concerning a particular group. In most cases, these generalizations are often negative and are used to discredit and demean the target group. In the United States of America they have been in use since colonial times and are used to propagate racism. These stereotypes are spread by various methods such as in paintings, plays, comedies and films like in the case of Disney movies where the same is expressed through animated films such as Pocahontas, the Little Maiden among others.To narrow down the scope of this essay, the paper will specifically focus on how Disney films depict stereotypes of the Native Americans in the film, Pocahontas. In most of the Disney films, stereotyping is a subject that cannot be ignored. It has in many of their films been depicted as negative towards the Native Americans although in some cases they have been depicted as positive like in the case of Pocahontas. Most of these stereotypes are expressed by use of animated characters to represent various groups for example, women and young girls have been portrayed as oversexed especially those with big breasts and thin waists.Disney in the film Pocahontas though not overtly expressing the negative stereotypes that are found in the previous movies replicates some of them in a concealed manner while at the same time trying to portray other positive ones. Unlike in the previous films where women like Pocahontas were seen as overly sexed, in this film the young lady was portrayed as somebody who is shapely, mature high fashioned super model who is courageous, bright, politically progressive and literate. (Kilpatrick, J. )All Disney movies whether positively or negatively do not reflect a true picture and representation of races and in one way or the other try to reinforce negative cultural stereotypes of the native Americans. Disney in most films shows the natives as people who are primitive, savagery, unintelligent by th is is done by use of various animated creatures to represent this for example, in the Little Maiden Disney uses a dark and a light maiden to represent the characters of the natives and the whites respectively (Peach, L. J. 58).With reference to the above case, Disney uses the light mermaid which is portrayed as having good characters to represent the Whites while the dark mermaid with bad characters is used to represent the natives but unlike in the Little mermaid, Disney in Pocahontas brings the stereotype of love conquering racism by this super model saving the life of a Whiteman, Smith through love. â€Å"Pocahontas exudes a kind of soppy romanticism that not only saves John Smith’s life, but convinces the crew of the British ship to turn its greedy captain and return to England† (Giroux, 117).Disney films’ trials to depict native females as supportive, romantic, saviors and non-racists are challenged by other people who view this move in a negative light. Th ese are people like Green Rayna in the essay; The Pocahontas Perplex contradicts this by showing Pocahontas as a lady who betrays her race to the white race. (Peach, 95) In the film Pocahontas, there is under representation of races something that poses a very great danger to the children. The film fills the mind of these young children with a false notion that racism does not exist.Considering that the brain of a child is not yet fully developed, this child will take whatever is provided to them. Many parents do not see the harm that these films cause to the children and they think they are harmless something that is highly opposed by one of the top theorists Jack Zipes who argues that Disney films are dangerous to the children who watch them. To support this Giroux (121) says, â€Å"There is nothing innocent in what kids learn about race as portrayed in the magical world of Disney. †In the book, Celluloid Indians, the Native Americans are totally misrepresented in the films and are depicted as inferior to the whites. Those stereotypes that are depicted in this book can be classified into three that is mental, spiritual and sexual but the most important is the mental one. In most cases, native Indians have been depicted as warlike and have been portrayed as people who would fight at the slightest provocation and for this reason according to Kilpatrick (xvii), â€Å"they (the natives) have been firmly placed in the echelons of intelligence by many Euro-Americans†¦.There are other bad terms that have been used by the whites to refer to the Native Americans and especially to the Indians. These are terms such as dirty and red skinned, filthy, primitive, savagery and innocent. Most of these terms were used to compare the level of intelligence of the natives with that of the whites and thus insinuate that they are lesser intelligent that the whites. (Kilpatrick 1999; 32-35) In short in all Disney films, stereotyping is eminent whether positively or neg atively portrayed.In Pocahontas Disney tries to brainwash people into thinking that racism is a thing of the past but this is not true as in the end the two parties seem to go into separate ways. Nonetheless, the film tried to ameliorate the negative aspects of the Native Americans that have been portrayed by Disney’s previous films. These stereotypes are said to negatively impact on the children who in most cases tend to take what they see in the movies as the gospel truth.

Dad By Elaine Feinstein

The poem that I'll be analyzing in this commentary is called ‘Dad' by Elaine Feinstein. This poem is an emotional and lyrical poem in which the author is reflecting and recalling upon the memories of her deceased father. The main tones that are portrayed in this poem are sorrow, lovingness and mournfulness, and one way in which this is portrayed is through the methodology in which the poem is read, which is in a slow rhythmic speech and enjambment since it is a free verse poem. The author’s intentions behind this poem are clear. She is simply portraying her loving feelings for her father and the grief that she undergoes through his decease.She shows her intentions through the loving lines and sentimental memories, for example in lines 1-3 â€Å"Those black fat raisins you like to press into my palm from your soft heavy hands† the author recalls such simple yet meaningful memories with great detail which shows that she valued the memories dearly. Signs of grief are shown from when the she moans about her father, such as in lines 12-14 when she says, â€Å"Beached: cold, white-faced, shivering. What happened, old bull, my loyal hoarse-voiced warrior? †; In these lines, Elaine uses diction to prove a stronger point .As well as that, Elaine uses lots of imagery throughout this poem, such as in that last quote and in lines 4-6 â€Å"I see you staggering back up the path with sacks of potatoes from some local farm, fresh eggs, flowers. †; This quote however also shows how dearly she loved her father. Imagery is an effective poetic device for this poem since it generates/creates an emotional connection for the audience/reader making her message clearer. As well as imagery, the author uses many different poetic devices, for example in lines 13-14 when she says â€Å"Beached: cold, white-faced, shivering.What happened, old bull, my loyal hoarse-voiced warrior? † she is using a metaphor and comparing her father to a bull, which is a courageous and strong animal. With this metaphor, Elaine is portraying how dearly she loved her father and how he was a â€Å"bull† in her eyes. As well as that in lines 5-6 when Elaine says â€Å"Farm, fresh eggs, flowers† the author uses alliteration to evokes emotion and the pleasing tone of alliteration then catches the reader’s attention before telling the audience about her father’s death â€Å"Every day I grieve† at the end of line 6.

The First Knight

In medieval times people lived by the medieval code of chivalry which is usually associated with ideals of knightly virtues, honor and courtly love. In a knights code of chivalry a knight was expected to have strength and skills to fight but also was expected to be kind. In the rules of courtly love it describes the pure romance of love but also the love for another man’s wife. In the movie the first knight, Lancelot displays the ideals of medieval chivalry and courtly love in admirable ways but also in ways that caused pure chaos.In the film, Lancelot illustrates the knight’s code of chivalry even before he became a knight. In the code of chivalry, one of the rules is to protect the weak and defenseless. Lancelot shows this again and again by protecting Guinevere. The first time he shows this is when Guinevere’s carriage was attacked by prince Malagants followers and her carriage was being taken away he saved her and brought her back safely.Another time is when he goes to save her from Malagants cave when she was abducted by his people from the castle in the middle of the night. Although he protects her all the time his reason to do so is very abstruse because he doesn’t do it to protect the queen but because they both have a clandestine love for each other which later on leads to a calamity. Courtly love is very well illustrated in Lancelot’s love for Guinevere in the film the first knight.In the rules of courtly love it points out that a true lover is continually and without interruption obsessed by the image of his beloved and that in sight of his beloved, the heart of the lover begins to palpitate. In the first knight, Lancelot admits to Guinevere more than once that he cherishes her so much that he can’t balk the thought of her out of his head. Another part of the movie where he displays courtly love is when the people are playing the gauntlet and he sees her you can see that he is mesmerized by her sight and that his heart is palpitating.Even though Lancelot was in love with King Arthur’s wife (Queen Guinevere) behind his back he still displayed even more chivalry when King Arthur noticed he would make an adept knight and made him a knight of the round table. When Lancelot joined this camaraderie he vowed to protect every one of his brothers no matter what. In the knights code of chivalry it points out that you have to guard the honor of his fellow knights and to protect them.When Lancelot saw that his brothers (Knights of the Round Table) needed help during a battle, he would go and protect them from the enemy. Although I accede with many of the rules of courtly love the times have changed and today its hard to find someone who still follows the rules as well as Lancelot followed them for the love he had for Queen Guinevere. In spite of the fact that he is loving a married woman Lancelot stuck to many of the rules of chivalry and courtly love.