Fahrenheit 451 Study Guide

Fahrenheit 451 Study Guide Fahrenheit 451 is a novel by Ray Bradbury. Published in 1953, the book takes place in a dystopian future world where the job of a firefighter is to burn books, rather than put out fires. The main character, Guy Montag, is one such fireman, who slowly begins to perceive the world around him as perverse and superficial even as it slides inexorably towards a nuclear war. A commentary on the power of literacy and critical thought, Fahrenheit 451 remains a potent reminder of how quickly a society can fall apart. Fast Facts: Fahrenheit 451 Author: Ray BradburyPublisher: Ballantine BooksYear Published: 1953Genre: Science FictionType of Work: NovelOriginal Language: EnglishThemes: Censorship, technology, conformityCharacters: Guy Montag, Mildred Montag, Clarisse McClellan, Captain Beatty, Professor Faber, GrangerNotable Adaptations: 1966 film by Franà §ois Truffaut; 2018 HBO adaptation by Ramin BahraniFun Fact: Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 on rented typewriters at his local library, spending $9.80 to write the book. Plot Summary The protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman whose job is to burn hidden caches of books, which are forbidden in this unspecified future society. At first, he goes about his job fairly mindlessly, but a conversation with a non-conforming teenager spurs him to question society. He develops a restless dissatisfaction that cannot be quashed. Montag steals a Bible and smuggles it into his home. When he reveals the book (and the others hes stolen) to his wife Mildred, she panics at the thought of losing their income and thus the huge wall-sized televisions she watches constantly. Montag’s boss, Captain Beatty, gives him 24 hours to burn the book or face the consequences. Montag eventually buries his book collection with help from Faber, a former professor. Soon, however, a call comes in for the Firemen to burn a new book cache- and the address is Montag’s house. Beatty insists that Montag do the burning; in response, Montag kills him and flees into the countryside. There, he meets a group of drifters who tell him of their mission to memorize books in order to eventually rebuild society. At the end of the book, there is a nuclear attack on the city, and Montag and the drifters head out to begin rebuilding. Major Characters Guy Montag. The protagonist of the story, Guy is a fireman who has been illegally hoarding and reading books. His blind faith in society erodes and opens his eyes to the decline of civilization. His efforts to resist conformity make him a criminal. Mildred Montag. Guy’s wife. Mildred has retreated entirely into a fantasy world stoked television. Mildred is unable to comprehend Guy’s dissatisfaction and behaves in a childish, superficial manner throughout the story. Her behavior represents society at large. Clarisse McClellan. A teenage girl who lives in Guy Montag’s neighborhood. She is curious and non-comformist, representing the nature of youth before the corrupting effects of society and materialism. She is the catalyst for Montag’s mental awakening. Captain Beatty. Montag’s boss. Beatty is a former intellectual whose disappointment in books’ inability to truly solve problems has turned him into an anti-intellectual. Beatty tells Montag that books must be burned because they make people unhappy without offering real solutions. Professor Faber. Once a professor of English, Faber is a meek, timid man who deplores what society has become but lacks the bravery to do anything about it. Faber embodies Bradbury’s belief that knowledge without the willingness to use it is useless. Granger. The leader of a group of drifters who have escaped society. Granger and the drifters preserve knowledge and wisdom by memorizing books. He explains to Montag that history is cyclical, and that a new age of wisdom will follow the current age of ignorance. Major Themes Freedom of Thought vs. Censorship. The novel is set in a society where the state forbids certain kinds of thought. Books contain the collected wisdom of humanity; denied access to them, people lack the mental skills to resist their government. The Dark Side of Technology. Passive pastimes like watching TV are portrayed as harmful purveyors of passive consumption. Technology in the book is consistently used to punish, oppress, and otherwise harm the characters. Obedience vs. Rebellion. Humanity assists in its own oppression. As Captain Beatty explains, banning books didn’t require effort- people chose to ban books, because the knowledge in them made them think, which made them unhappy. Literary Style Bradbury uses rich language filled with metaphors, similes, and figurative speech throughout the book. Even Montag, who has no formal education, thinks in terms of animal images and poetic, deeply beautiful symbols. Captain Beatty and Professor Faber frequently quote poets and great writers. Bradbury also uses animal imagery throughout to associate technology with dangerous predators. About the Author Born in 1920, Ray Bradbury was one of the most important writers of the 20th century, particularly in the science fiction genre. Bradbury framed technology and supernatural forces as dangerous and foreboding, which reflected the anxious, uneasy atmosphere of the newly atomic post-World War II world.

The Shocking Aspects of Theater in Ancient Rome

The Shocking Aspects of Theater in Ancient Rome Roman theater began before Roman culture began to emulate the Greeks. However, very little is known of early theater produced by Etruscans and other ancient cultures. The Roman plays that live on in written form were produced in Greek-style amphitheaters, and many of the plays were essentially rewritten versions of Greek stories. In ancient Greece, plays were unlikely to contain graphic violence or sexuality, but the opposite was true in Rome. The Roman Theater and Violence The Roman public loved a good spectacle. They loved to watch combat and admired blood sports and gladiator competition. As a result, there was plenty of gore in most Roman theater. Roman audiences also preferred less subtlety than the Greeks when it came to sexuality on stage. In fact, according to  the book Living Theater by Edwin Wilson, one Roman emperor ordered an entire troupe of mimes to engage in actual intercourse on stage. The fact that this event was recorded for posterity suggests that it wasnt the norm, but it may not have been an isolated event. Famous Roman Playwrights Fewer plays were written in ancient Rome than in Greece. Many of those that were written seemed to be retreads  of old Greek myths (transplanted with the very similar Roman Gods). Perhaps the noted exception to this rule would be the domestic comedies of Plautus and Terence. And of course, Seneca - perhaps Romes best-known tragedian. There were hundreds more playwrights besides the three mentioned below. The Roman Republic and its subsequent empire greatly enjoyed the arts and entertainment. However, while there were many playwrights in ancient Rome, only a small percentage of their works  have survived the passage of time. Plautus If you have ever seen Stephen Sondheims A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, then you have experienced a taste, albeit with a corny 1960s flavor, of the Roman comedy master Plautus. A founder of the comedic theater, he created over a hundred plays in his remarkable career, many of which lampooned iconic figures within Roman society: the soldier, the politician, the clever slave, the philandering husband, and the wise but nagging wife. Terence Terences life story is an ancient tale of rags to riches. Terence was the slave of a Roman senator. Apparently, his master was so impressed with young Terences intellect that he released him from his service and even funded Terences education. During his adult years, Terence crafted comedies which were primarily Roman-style adaptations of Greek plays by Hellenistic writers, such as Menander. Seneca In addition to being a playwright, Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a lawyer and a Roman senator. He witnessed some of the darkest days of Romes empire, as he served under the sadistic Emperor Caligula. The next emperor in line, Claudius, banished Seneca, sending him away from Rome for over eight years. After returning from exile, Seneca became the advisor to the infamous Emperor Nero.  According to dramaturg William S. Turney, Nero ordered the assassination of his own mother and then commissioned Seneca to write a speech that excused Neros crimes. During the playwrights lifetime, he wrote tragedies, many of them re-inventions of Greek myths of decadence and self-destruction. For example, his play Phaedra details the sensual depravity of Theseus lonely wife who lusts after her step-son, Hippolytus. Seneca also adapted the Greek myth of Thyestes, a sordid tale of adultery, fratricide, incest, and cannibalism, with enough carnage to make even modern audiences cringe. Seneca retired from public life assuming that he might spend his elder years writing and relaxing, but the suspicious Nero ordered Seneca to commit suicide. Seneca complied, slashing his wrists and arms, slowly bleeding out. Apparently, it was too slow, because according to the ancient historian Tacitus, Seneca called for poison, and when that failed him, he was placed in a hot bath to be suffocated by the steam. Source Wilson, Edwin. Living Theatre: A History of Theatre. Alvin Goldfarb President, 6th Edition, McGraw-Hill Education, January 10, 2011.

Britains Control Over Industrialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Britains Control Over Industrialization - Essay Example The industrial revolution brought about the invention of iron and textile industries as well as the steam engine that were the central roles of the revolution. Britain is known to be the leader in the industrial revolution as most of the industrial revolution revolves around it. It is also known that Britain maintained much authority over the revolution period and controlled the economic and political structures of many states. From this perspective, it is clear that Britain had much control over the industrial revolution due to various reasons. A number of reasons have been tabled down backing up Britain’s dominance in the Industrial Revolution. Some are geographical while others seem to e social-political in nature. On the geographical factors, Britain had huge coal deposits that were used to power the newly invented machines (Dunn and Laura, 25-28). The other geographical factor was that Britain had many waterways. Most of the rivers in the country were navigable, and much of the coal deposits were near these rivers. Also, the country had many and long coastlines that made transportation easier through the water. Therefore, the availability of both coal and waterways enabled extra coal extraction and transportation in the country possible. The other factor that made Britain dominate during the Industrial Revolution was the fact that it had created a huge empire for itself overseas. All British Empire were used to provide raw materials that were used in the Britain mills. On the other hand, these empires had been m ade captive markets by the Britain for its finished products. For instance, the British had captured most of the Asian countries creating a free market for raw materials. Also, it had made it impossible for these countries to build their industries so that it could dominate the market (Dunn and Laura, 28-33). Any country that resisted Britain’s dominance faced the risk

Justification write up for nominating for Environment, Health & Safety Term Paper

Justification write up for nominating for Environment, Health & Safety award - Term Paper Example Central Operations is committed to creating and sustaining an accident free culture for our employees and customers, as well as the public. Each operating system is responsible for integrating EH&S considerations, aimed at minimizing and controlling potential risks and hazards, into the planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the company’s energy delivery system and facilities. Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) was performing the design of the East Side Access (ESA) project, which is intended to bring Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) to the Grand Central Terminal. As part of this project, blasting was performed to break their wall adjacent to the existing steam delivery system. This blasting created vibrations below ground which damaged the steam support components. As a result of the blast, a 16† steam pipe shifted and fell off the supports. Engineering, in collaboration with Operations, determined the risks, scope of work, performed stress analysis, layout, and field inspections to resolve this problem. SDE and Steam Operations made field visits, identified the potential risks, and acted urgently to maintain safety, reliability, and to restore the system. In an effort to restore the system, the team inspected the affected site and recommended installing 4 special beam guides at the pipe offsets to accommodate for unusual pipe stress. Due to limited drilling depth, as a result of city sewer pathways crossing below our structures, the guides were designed to have a special base plate and anchor bolts. Field inspections found asbestos containing material insulating the original steam pipe. The abatement crew removed the asbestos insulation, using procedure 11924-5, and prior to doing any construction work to re-align the main. They then took measurements submitting them to contracted engineers selected to begin work on the repairs. Next, our

Martin Yan’s Biography Essay Example for Free

Martin Yan’s Biography Essay Culinary Arts is widely acknowledged today as the art of cooking, and its popularity is increasing all over the world. There are numerous renowned and skilled chefs who have become well-known for their knowledge, creativity, and passion on culinary arts. Today, a lot of gifted chefs are getting famous for their cooking shows, cook books, and different contributions to the world of culinary arts. One of the famous and respectable chefs in the world is Martin Yan. Martin Yan is a Chinese-American chef; he was born in Guangzhou China on the year 1948. His father was a restaurateur, and his mother operates a grocery store. Martin started and learned how to cook at the age of 12. He decided to move and live in Hong Kong when he reached the age of 13 years old and studied in Kowloon City in Munsang College. Martin experienced working for his uncle’s Chinese restaurant and learned a lot of traditional methods of Chinese cooking. He then got the opportunity to study in Canada and later got his masters degree in food science in University of California in Davis on 1975. He finally got the passion for teaching and became a professor in the university’s extension program, and he also appeared on a local TV talk show in Calgary, Canada in the year 1978 (Yan Can Cook, 2008). Since then, he has been hosting different cooking shows. Among these shows is â€Å"Yan Can Cook,† now a popular cooking show which started in the year 1982 (Yan Can Cook, 2008, n. p. ). He became a celebrity indeed, winning different awards from his enthusiasm, talent, interest, and creativity as a culinary chef. He received the â€Å"James Bean Award for best television cooking show† in 1994, and two years later, he was granted an award for â€Å"best television food journalism† by the same award-giving body (Yan Can Cook, 2008, n. p. ). In 1998, he won an â€Å"Emmy Award for the best cooking show† (Yan Can Cook, 2008, n. p. ). In addition, he also received an award from the â€Å"Chef’s Association of the Pacific Coast† and the â€Å"Courvoisier Leadership Award† on the Antonin Award (Yan Can Cook, 2008, n. p.). He also sometimes appears on a cartoon talk show called â€Å"Space Ghost† which is now currently airing in the Cartoon Network show â€Å"Adult Swim† (Yan Can Cook, 2008, n. p. ). He was also a part of the Singaporean movie â€Å"Rice Rhapsody† during the year 2005. He currently hosts his own show entitled â€Å"Martin Yan Quick and Easy† and can be seen sometimes as one of the judges in the popular show â€Å"Iron Chef of America† (Yan Can Cook, 2008, n. p. ). Nowadays, he is also hosting â€Å"Martin Yan’s Chinatown Cooking,† a show wherein he tours different Chinatowns all over the world (Yan Can Cook, 2008, n. p. ). The format of his shows encompasses the different approaches and styles in Asian cooking; he travels in different places all over the world to introduce a certain local cuisine on TV (Yan Can Cook, 2008). Aside from hosting and having different cooking shows, Martin Yan has published several cookbooks as well, wherein he introduces Chinese American culinary arts all over the world. He wrote about 25 different cookbooks, which include â€Å"Martin Yan’s Chinatown Cooking† and â€Å"Chinese Cooking for Dummies† which also won an award (â€Å"Martin Yan Biography,† 2008, n. p. ). His main objective is to represent the Asian culture and culinary arts not only in the western part of the world but around the globe as well (â€Å"Martin Yan Biography,† 2008). Martin Yan is one of the most famous guest instructors at different culinary institutions and academies mostly in the Western and Asian part of the world such as the â€Å"Wales University, California Culinary Academy, Chinese Cuisine Institute in Hong Kong, the Culinary Institute in America, University of San Francisco and the Chinese chef training programs in North America† (â€Å"Martin Yan Biography,† 2008, n. p. ). Furthermore, Martin Yan also founded his own culinary school in San Francisco California named â€Å"Yan Can International Cooking School† (Martin Yan Biography, 2008, n. p. ). Like his father, he also became a restaurateur; he opened the Yan Can Restaurant in 2002 in San Francisco bay area in California. His restaurant offers Asian menu, and it is more likely to have different branches all over the world in the years to come (â€Å"Martin Yan Biography,† 2008). Martin Yan has greatly contributed in the culinary industry. He became a culinary diplomat for the American Culinary Federation. He received a doctorate degree in culinary arts for his contribution to the food and hospitality industry. Moreover, he also received a doctorate degree in humane letters from the Colorado Institute of Art. Aside from that, he also received an exceptional recognition from his peers as a master chef. In 2001, he became an inductee of â€Å"James Beard Foundation’s DArtagnan Cervena Whos Who of Food and Beverage,† which honors food and beverage professionals for their significant and lasting achievements (Yan Can Cook, 2008, n. p. ). Thus, due to his success in the culinary arts industry, he became a respected professional chef and a member of different prestigious organizations such as the â€Å"American Institute of Wine and Food, American Culinary Federation, Chinese Cuisine Research Institute, Chefs Association of the Pacific Coast, Association of Chinese Cooking Teachers, Institute of Food Technologists, International Association of Culinary Professionals, and American Authors Guild† (Yan Can Cook, 2008, n. p. ). There are vast number of chefs that people can watch on TV and different cookbooks made available for everyone, but Martin Yan has become exceptional because of the distinct Asian influence he brought in the industry of culinary arts. With all the awards and honors Martin Yan received, he is regarded as one of the top famous culinary chef all over the world. He has made a lot of worldwide remarks on the culinary arts and greatly influenced countless chefs, professionals, and people with his passion and knowledge in the art of culinary. He has shaped a lot of people to become a good chef. He teaches and passes his knowledge to other people so that he will always be reminded with his own style and contributions in the culinary world. Hence, with his cooking shows, cookbooks, and teachings that focus on the Asian culinary arts and culture, Martin Yan is continuously inspiring people to pursue their passion. References Martin Yan Biography. (2008). American Entertainment International Speakers Bureau. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from http://www. aeispeakers. com/print. php? SpeakerID=1103 Yan Can Cook. (2008). Meet the chef. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from http://yancancook. com/mybio. htm

Bobby Knight Essay -- Coach Coaching Bobby Knight Essays

Bobby Knight In the San Juan heat of 1984, coaching legend Bobby Knight became infamous for his assault on a Puerto Rican security guard over a practice time during the Olympic preliminaries (Biography 2). Headlines of one of the most famous college basketball coaches of all time haven’t come to an end since. The veteran coach from the state of Ohio has since thrown a chair across a gym floor, been video taped choking a player, and assaulted school employees and fellow students on the campus of Indiana. He has been in heated arguments with anyone from school presidents to the media after heart breaking losses. Scrutiny and controversy have followed Bobby Knight ever since he brought his disciplined style of basketball to the scene of college athletics. Love him or hate him, Bobby Knight is one of the most controversial and talked about coaches of all time. He steals the headlines and spotlight no matter where he is which leaves a fine line in public opinion. The criticism of Knight and actions were displayed very strongly by J.C. Watts in the Sporting News magazine. J.C. Watts is a well respected and known Republican Representative of the state of Oklahoma. He was an All-American college football player at the University of Oklahoma and has been around strong traditional athletic programs ever since his collegiate career (Watts 1). In his article My Turn which appeared in the January 12, 2004 edition of the Sporting News, Watts voices his opinion on Bobby Knight as an outsider looking in with strong incite. Watts, like many individuals, feel that the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and the general public have seen enough antics from Bobby Knight. He believes the tirades and disruptions of coll... ...an most coaches could even dream of. The guy is a winner, competitor, disciplinarian, and most importantly a great individual. Oh, and he may just be the greatest college basketball coach of all-time! Works Cited Caldwell, Christopher. â€Å"Knight Falls.† National Review 9 Oct. 2000: 30. Ebsco Host. Academic Search Premier. Indiana University. 14 Apr 2004 . Watts, J.C. â€Å"Knight’s Act is Old, Even in a New Year.† The Sporting News 12 Jan 2004: 7. Lexis Nexis. Academic Search Premiere. 14 Apr 2004 . Outside the Lines. College Athletics. ESPN. Bristol, CN. 2001. Biography of Bobby Knight. 2000. A&E Biography., .

Kite Runner

The kite runner: Literacy Essay A single event can shape the rest of a lifetime. Redemption is a way that makes up for the cause of the guilt. The Kite Runner  is very much a â€Å"novel of redemption. † The main character, Amir, has to find a way to redeem himself after having betrayed Hassan. Sanaubar, likewise, must find redemption. Baba resolves his past guilty by doing good deeds First, Amir redeems himself by steps into courage and rescues the son of his brother Hassan Redemption is the act of saying or being saved from sin, error or evil, which the main character Amir seems to need the most.Amir lives with the guilt he has built up over the years because of one incident from his childhood. Amir's father’s words still echo through his head  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything. † Pg (24). Although Amir destroyed the lives of many people, and he has had more than one opportunity to redeem himself of his guilt, he is not the selfish little boy he once was. Before Amir can go on the road to redemption, Amir must realize that he can't go back and change what he has done as a child, and he must find inner peace.Although if it was not for Amir's actions as a child, Sohrab never would have needed to be saved in the first place but by saving Sohrab, the last piece of Hassan's life, does make a difference. From the moment he chose to turn his back on Hassan, there were many chances where  Ã¢â‚¬Å"There's a way to be good again† (238). For all his wrongdoings, but he chose not to take any of these. Sohrab was his last and only chance for redemption. â€Å"I have a wife in America, a home, a career and a family†.But how could I pack up and go back home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things? And what Rahim Khan revealed to me changed things. Made me see how my entire life, long before the winter of 1975, dating back to when that singing Hazara w oman was still nursing me, had been a cycle of lies betrayals and secrets† (238). Amir finally became the man who stood up for himself and his sins. Throughout his childhood, Amir looked for his father's affection and he never could get it. His father had said  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I'm telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy (24).Amir's father would have been proud of him at this very moment because that was all he had wanted from him. The guilt that was built over the years was finally put to rest at the safety of Sohrab. In Afghanistan when Amir stood up for Sohrab and Assef aggressively beat him up, Amir had said  Ã¢â‚¬Å"My body was broken just how badly I wouldn't find out until later but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed. † (289) which showed Amir had come to terms with what he had done as a child and was finally felt relieved.Although he was getting beat up, it did not matter anymore, he just wished he had stood up to Assef years ago, and maybe he w ould have earned his redemption in that alley. Second,  In the novel Baba Seeks redemption by treating Hassan well and always remembering his birthday. Amir and Baba were planting tulips, when Amir had asked Baba if he'd ever consider getting new servants And Baba said ‘’Hassan's not going anywhere, he'd barked. He’s staying right here with us, where he belongs. This is his home and we're his family. He had wept, wept, when Ali announced he and Hassan were leaving us. † (237) Kite Runner Human beings are morally ambiguous people. We are neither purely evil nor purely good, but often a mix. And maybe that’s why many of us are attracted to literature works with morally ambiguous characters such as The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner was set in Kabul, Afghanistan, proceeds to United States during the Soviet Union invasion, and then the setting goes back to Kabul when the Taliban rises in power. In this novel, Amir, to whom the whole story of the book is centered around, is a morally ambiguous character.Amir is a Pashtun boy; he betrays his friendship with Hassan, a Hazara son of Amir’s father’s servant. Guilt haunts Amir for years even after he had left Kabul and moved to United States. Amir is a morally ambiguous character because he’s a coward, he’s selfish, he betrays his friend and lies, but he also finds courage to face what he had done wrong and finds salvation. The first part of the book The Kite Runner proves ho w Amir is not a purely good character.Amir often hangs out with the Hazara boy, Hassan and would tell Hassan that they are friends, but he still feels he’s above Hassan because Amir is Pashtun and Hazara people are considered below the Pashtun people. Amir wouldn’t hang out with Hassan when other Pashtun boys are with him, he also mocks the fact that Hassan can’t read, not considering the fact that Hassan doesn’t have the opportunity to get an education. Amir couldn’t stand Hassan’s intelligence: Amir had written a story about how a man’s tears turn into pearls when they fall into this magic cup, and the story ended with man’s wife dead in his arms on a mountain pile of pearls.When Hassan heard the story, he had enjoyed it, but he also raised a few questions that angered Amir, â€Å"Why did the man kill his wife? In fact, why did he ever have to be sad to shed tears? Couldn’t he have just smelled an onion? † (p. 3 4). Amir was angry because a mere Hazara boy who couldn’t read had taught Amir something he, an educated boy, didn’t figure out. These few examples that show how Amir is mean and arrogant are nothing compared to what he does to Hassan later on.Assef is a Pashtun boy that truly hates Hazaras and believes that Hazaras should all disappear. When Amir catches Assef raping Hassan, instead of stepping in, Amir runs away and pretends nothing had happened. When guilt started eating Amir up and he couldn’t stand facing Hassan because Hassan reminds him of his cowardly action, he pinned a crime of thievery on Hassan in order to have Hassan evicted from his house. The second part of the book shows that Amir isn’t purely evil despite what he has done.For a while, Amir’s life is filled with the guilt of not saving Hassan from the rape and it kept Amir from being completely happy, even though he found the love of his life in America and got married. Then one day , Amir’s father’s friend, Rhahim, called him to give him a chance to redeem himself. â€Å"There’s a way to be good again† (p. 226). Amir did find a way to be good again. Amir went back to Afghan to find Hassan’s son, Sohrab, to take him with Amir because Hassan and his wife had been shot to death on the street by the Taliban.Amir finds Sohrab with Assef and ends up getting into a physical fight with Assef. Amir basically lets Assef beat him up and while being beat up, Amir feels relieved. â€Å"My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed. Healed at last† (p. 289). Amir felt that he was being healed from the guilt that has been crawling beneath his skin every single day. He had betrayed his one and only friend, Hassan, lied, and destroyed a chance where Hassan might have left to United States with him and would still be alive.Amir felt that he finally got what he deserved and h e felt much better, he had found salvation. And he had afterwards taken in Sohrab as his own son. Amir had been a coward; he had made selfish decisions and ruined Hassan’s live, but if he had been purely evil then he would not have felt guilt, nor would he have risked his life to bring back a mere Hazara’s son. But he had been filled with guilt and he had gone to find Sohrab and redeemed himself. And thus, Amir is a perfect example of a morally ambiguous character. Kite Runner In â€Å"The Kite Runner,† written by Khaled Hosseini, tells a vivid story that demonstrates the political and religious discrimination in Afghan society. Concerns about discrimination are reminded to the reader as one reads about the story of two Afghan boys. A major struggle is evident between the two groups in Afghanistan, the Pashtuns, and the Hazaras. Discrimination sets into place as we learn about the history between the two family lines. On page 9, Amir read from a book that says â€Å"Pashtuns had persecuted and oppressed the Hazaras †¦ the reason was that Pashtuns were Sunni Muslims, while Hazaras were Shi’a.This sets in the idea that the Pashtuns killed the Hazaras simply because they were not Sunni Muslims, resulting in the discrimination in society against the Hazaras. Throughout the novel, there were many scenes of discrimination such as how Hassan was never invited to Amir’s birthday parties, Assef constantly picking on Ali and Hassan as they are from a different class, and especially when Assef was raping Hassan. Assef believed that it was his right to rape Hassan because in his eyes, he was only a Hazara, an object which he can own and control.The Author Khaled Hosseini also used many literary devices to emphasize the effects of discrimination in society. This is shown on page 298 when Assef says â€Å"Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage, and someone has to take out the garbage. † This is a metaphoric device where Khaled Hosseini had Assef regard the garbage as the Hazaras. He also clearly portrayed Assef in terms of being Hitler by having the same ethnic and political views.Another technique the author used to show discrimination was on page 380 when General Taheri says â€Å"they will want to know why there is a Hazara boy living with my daughter. † This is when the General begins to question Amir’s actions. This shows that even a likeable character like the General, ha s a nastier side and that even he would show discrimination. More importantly, this depicts the common prejudice in society. Discrimination, racism, prejudice, these are themes that people tend to avoid discussing about.Discrimination is everywhere; everybody knows about it as it is happening, yet nobody says anything to stop it. This reminds me of a book I once read called â€Å"How To Kill A Mockingbird. † To sum it all up, a black man was accused of raping a white daughter, and although the man was clearly innocent, the jury ultimately decided to convict the man, because he was an African American descent. This illustrates how discrimination is like a poison gas; it is easily contagious and affects everybody in the community, clouding our judgments.In the novel, I read a passage that I found very bizarre. It was on page 27 when Amir says â€Å"the curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either†¦ but we were kids who had learned to crawl togethe r, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that either. † I found this to be strange because Amir seems to be contradicting himself, making this a paradox because no amount of history, ethnicity, or society, can change the fact that Amir and Hassan practically spent all their childhood moments together, making them friends, if not, best friends.Another powerful passage in the novel was on page 169 when Baba says â€Å"we may be hardheaded and I know we’re far too proud, but, in the hour of need, believe me that there’s no one you’d rather have at your side than a Pashtun. † This perplexing reference makes me wonder if even Baba represents prejudice in civilization. This also makes me think that Baba believes you want a Pashtun at your side only if you’re a Pashtun and likewise to Hazaras. This shows the segregation and ethnic problems that constantly crawl its way up to the surface.Year after year, discrimination o nce again sets foot into society. We’ve all believed discrimination would disappear after Martin Luther King’s speech, but unmistakably, discrimination is like a spark of flame that refuses to go out. In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini used many tactics to show that every character discriminates against others, representing society. This is evident on page 27 when Amir says â€Å"in the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara.I was Sunni, and he was a Shi’a, and nothing was going to change that. † This shows that despite the fact that Amir and Hassan are really close, social prejudice sets foot once again, demonstrating that it can even influence children. I wonder why society discriminates against other cultures. Is it because it makes them feel that their culture is superior? Or perhaps it satisfies people by seeing others in emotional pain. From this point forward, I understand that the world is filled with discrimination, which must now be stopped.People have believed that as long as there are people of different background and culture, discrimination would live on. I believe that discrimination only lives because we want it to. People are afraid of others from different cultures simply because they might not share the same customs, which scares some of us. However, if people can look past the differences disconnecting us all, then civilization would be able to coexist harmoniously with others from a different race, thus, ending this long lasting chain of discrimination. Kite Runner In â€Å"The Kite Runner,† written by Khaled Hosseini, tells a vivid story that demonstrates the political and religious discrimination in Afghan society. Concerns about discrimination are reminded to the reader as one reads about the story of two Afghan boys. A major struggle is evident between the two groups in Afghanistan, the Pashtuns, and the Hazaras. Discrimination sets into place as we learn about the history between the two family lines. On page 9, Amir read from a book that says â€Å"Pashtuns had persecuted and oppressed the Hazaras †¦ the reason was that Pashtuns were Sunni Muslims, while Hazaras were Shi’a.This sets in the idea that the Pashtuns killed the Hazaras simply because they were not Sunni Muslims, resulting in the discrimination in society against the Hazaras. Throughout the novel, there were many scenes of discrimination such as how Hassan was never invited to Amir’s birthday parties, Assef constantly picking on Ali and Hassan as they are from a different class, and especially when Assef was raping Hassan. Assef believed that it was his right to rape Hassan because in his eyes, he was only a Hazara, an object which he can own and control.The Author Khaled Hosseini also used many literary devices to emphasize the effects of discrimination in society. This is shown on page 298 when Assef says â€Å"Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage, and someone has to take out the garbage. † This is a metaphoric device where Khaled Hosseini had Assef regard the garbage as the Hazaras. He also clearly portrayed Assef in terms of being Hitler by having the same ethnic and political views.Another technique the author used to show discrimination was on page 380 when General Taheri says â€Å"they will want to know why there is a Hazara boy living with my daughter. † This is when the General begins to question Amir’s actions. This shows that even a likeable character like the General, ha s a nastier side and that even he would show discrimination. More importantly, this depicts the common prejudice in society. Discrimination, racism, prejudice, these are themes that people tend to avoid discussing about.Discrimination is everywhere; everybody knows about it as it is happening, yet nobody says anything to stop it. This reminds me of a book I once read called â€Å"How To Kill A Mockingbird. † To sum it all up, a black man was accused of raping a white daughter, and although the man was clearly innocent, the jury ultimately decided to convict the man, because he was an African American descent. This illustrates how discrimination is like a poison gas; it is easily contagious and affects everybody in the community, clouding our judgments.In the novel, I read a passage that I found very bizarre. It was on page 27 when Amir says â€Å"the curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either†¦ but we were kids who had learned to crawl togethe r, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that either. † I found this to be strange because Amir seems to be contradicting himself, making this a paradox because no amount of history, ethnicity, or society, can change the fact that Amir and Hassan practically spent all their childhood moments together, making them friends, if not, best friends.Another powerful passage in the novel was on page 169 when Baba says â€Å"we may be hardheaded and I know we’re far too proud, but, in the hour of need, believe me that there’s no one you’d rather have at your side than a Pashtun. † This perplexing reference makes me wonder if even Baba represents prejudice in civilization. This also makes me think that Baba believes you want a Pashtun at your side only if you’re a Pashtun and likewise to Hazaras. This shows the segregation and ethnic problems that constantly crawl its way up to the surface.Year after year, discrimination o nce again sets foot into society. We’ve all believed discrimination would disappear after Martin Luther King’s speech, but unmistakably, discrimination is like a spark of flame that refuses to go out. In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini used many tactics to show that every character discriminates against others, representing society. This is evident on page 27 when Amir says â€Å"in the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara.I was Sunni, and he was a Shi’a, and nothing was going to change that. † This shows that despite the fact that Amir and Hassan are really close, social prejudice sets foot once again, demonstrating that it can even influence children. I wonder why society discriminates against other cultures. Is it because it makes them feel that their culture is superior? Or perhaps it satisfies people by seeing others in emotional pain. From this point forward, I understand that the world is filled with discrimination, which must now be stopped.People have believed that as long as there are people of different background and culture, discrimination would live on. I believe that discrimination only lives because we want it to. People are afraid of others from different cultures simply because they might not share the same customs, which scares some of us. However, if people can look past the differences disconnecting us all, then civilization would be able to coexist harmoniously with others from a different race, thus, ending this long lasting chain of discrimination. Kite Runner Friendship Sometimes, up in those trees, I talked Hassan into firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbor's one-eyed German shepherd. Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn't deny me. Hassan never denied me anything. And he was deadly with his slingshot. Hassan's father, Ali, used to catch us and get mad, or as mad as someone as gentle as Ali could ever get. He would wag his finger and wave us down from the tree. He would take the mirror and tell us what his mother had told him, that the devil shone mirrors too, shone them to distract Muslims during prayer. And he laughs while he does it,† he always added, scowling at his son. â€Å"Yes, Father,† Hassan would mumble, looking down at his feet. But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor's dog, was always my idea. But we were kids who had learned to crawl together, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that either. I spent most of the first twelve years of my life playing with Hassan.Sometimes, my entire childhood seems like one long lazy summer day with Hassan, chasing each other between tangles of trees in my father's yard, playing hide-and-seek, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, insect torture – with our crowning achievement undeniably the time we plucked the stinger off a bee and tied a string around the poor thing to yank it back every time it took flight â€Å"Think of something good,† Baba said in my ear. â€Å"Something happy. † Something good. Something happy. I let my mind wander. I let it come: Friday afternoon in Paghman.An open field of grass speckled with mulberry trees in blossom. Hassan and I stand ankle-deep in untamed grass, I am tugging on the line, the spool spinning in Hassan's calloused hands, our eyes turned up to the kite in the sky. Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything †“ that's how it is between people who are each other's first memories, people who have fed from the same breast. A breeze stirs the grass and Hassan lets the spool roll. The kite spins, dips, steadies. Our twin shadows dance on the rippling grass.From somewhere over the low brick wall at the other end of the field, we hear chatter and laughter and the chirping of a water fountain. And music, some thing old and familiar, I think it's Ya Mowlah on rubab strings. Someone calls our names over the wall, says it's time for tea and cake Next to me, Sohrab was breathing rapidly through his nose. The spool rolled in his palms, the tendons in his scarred wrists like rubab strings. Then I blinked and, for just a moment, the hands holding the spool were the chipped-nailed, calloused hands of a harelipped boy.I heard a crow cawing somewhere and I looked up. The park shimmered with snow so fresh, so dazzling white, it burned my eyes. It sprinkled soundlessly from the branches of white-clad tree s. I smelled turnip qurma now. Dried mulberries. Sour oranges. Sawdust and walnuts. The muffled quiet, snow-quiet, was deafening. Then far away, across the stillness, a voice calling us home, the voice of a man who dragged his right leg Quote #1Sometimes, up in those trees, I talked Hassan into firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbour’s one-eyed German shepherd.Hassan never wanted to, but if I asked, really asked, he wouldn't deny me. Hassan never denied me anything. And he was deadly with his slingshot. Hassan's father, Ali, used to catch us and get mad, or as mad as someone as gentle as Ali could ever get. He would wag his finger and wave us down from the tree. He would take the mirror and tell us what his mother had told him, that the devil shone mirrors too, shone them to distract Muslims during prayer. â€Å"And he laughs while he does it,† he always added, scowling at his son. â€Å"Yes, Father,† Hassan would mumble, looking down at his feet.But he never told on me. Never told that the mirror, like shooting walnuts at the neighbor's dog, was always my idea. (2. 2-3)| This passage shows up early in the novel and really tells us quite a bit about Amir and Hassan's friendship. Hassan protects and defends Amir and, foreshadowing later events in the novel, refuses to tell on Amir. (Hassan will later take the blame for the wad of cash and the watch. ) We should also note that Amir seems like the gang leader in this passage, getting the two boys into trouble. Does Amir control the relationship? Is this why Hassan often takes the blame for things?Does Amir ever take responsibility for anything in the novel? Quote #2Then he [Ali] would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who had fled from the same breast, a kinship that not even time could break. Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His w as Amir. My name. | There's a primal closeness between Amir and Hassan. Later, we'll find out the two boys have the same father, but notice how Hosseini is laying the groundwork for that revelation.The two boys might as well be brothers: they learn to walk together, they learn to speak together, and they feed from the same breast. Which brings up an interesting question: What does Rahim Khan's revelation – that Amir and Hassan are half-brothers – really change? Aren't the two already brothers in everything? Or does â€Å"blood† fundamentally change Amir's relationship with Hassan? Quote #3Ali and Baba grew up together as childhood playmates – at least until polio crippled Ali's leg – just like Hassan and I grew up a generation later.Baba was always telling us about the mischief he and Ali used to cause, and Ali would shake his head and say, â€Å"But, Agha sahib, tell them who was the architect of the mischief and who the poor laborer? † Bab a would laugh and throw his arm around Ali. But in none of his stories did Baba ever refer to Ali as his friend. (4. 2-3)| Baba and Ali's friendship parallels Amir and Hassan's on a number of levels. First, as this passage indicates, there's a similar pattern of leadership (and power): both Baba and Amir have dominant roles in each friendship.And, lest you forget, Baba betrays Ali much like Amir betrays Hassan. As they say, two peas in a pod. Or, maybe it would be four peas in a pod. We're not sure. Anyways, after Amir learns that Baba lied to him for years, he says: â€Å"Baba and I were more alike than I'd ever known. We had both betrayed the people who would have given their lives for us† (18. 7). Four peas in a pod. Quote #4But we were kids who had learned to crawl together, and no history, ethnicity, society, or religion was going to change that either. I spent most of the first twelve years of my life playing with Hassan.Sometimes, my entire childhood seems like one lon g lazy summer day with Hassan, chasing each other between tangles of trees in my father's yard, playing hide-and-seek, cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, insect torture – with our crowning achievement undeniably the time we plucked the stinger off a bee and tied a string around the poor thing to yank it back every time it took flight. (4. 6)| Amir lays out the opposing argument just prior to this paragraph. In it, he says ethnicity will always define a relationship.We believe Hosseini really wants us to grapple with Amir's contradictory stances: Does Amir's friendship with Hassan ever get past history, ethnicity, society, and religion? Later, Amir will justify his cowardice in the alleyway by asking himself if he really has to defend Hassan (since Hassan is a Hazara). Does Amir ever get past his prejudices? We're really not sure about this one. Hosseini devotes the entire novel to this question. Quote 5†³I know,† he said, breaking our embrace. â€Å"Inshallah, we'll celebrate later. Right now, I'm going to run that blue kite for you,† he said.He dropped the spool and took off running, the hem of his green chapan dragging in the snow behind him. â€Å"Hassan! † I called. â€Å"Come back with it! † He was already turning the street corner, his rubber boots kicking up snow. He stopped, turned. He cupped his hands around his mouth. â€Å"For you a thousand times over! † he said. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner. The next time I saw him smile unabashedly like that was twenty-six years later, in a faded Polaroid photograph. (7. 52-54)| Yet again, Hassan demonstrates his loyalty and devotion to Amir.If we were to judge Amir and Hassan's friendship by actions and not simply expressions of loyalty, the score would be pretty lopsided. (Of course, Amir saves Hassan's son at the end of the book from a pathological pedophile so that counts for something. ) We also want to point out the irony in Hassan's reply: â€Å"For you a thousand times over! † Amir will develop a pretty nasty case of insomnia as the guilt piles up inside him. Really, Amir returns to the alleyway thousands of times in his memory before he comes to peace with his cowardice.And so the phrase â€Å"a thousand times over† is colored with some pretty devastating irony. Yes, Hosseini is using irony again. Quote #6[Assef:] â€Å"But before you sacrifice yourself for him, think about this: Would he do the same for you? Have you ever wondered why he never includes you in games when he has guests? Why he only plays with you when no one else is around? I'll tell you why, Hazara. Because to him, you're nothing but an ugly pet. Something he can play with when he's bored, something he can kick when he's angry. Don't ever fool yourself and think you're something more. † Amir agha and I are friends,† Hassan said. He looked flushed. â€Å"Friends? † Assef said, laughing. â€Å"You pathetic fool! Someday you'll wake up from your little fantasy and learn just how good of a friend he is. Now, bas! Enough of this. Give us that kite. † (7. 106-108)| This is a fairly complex scene. Assef, before he assaults and rapes Hassan, asks Hassan whether he really wants to sacrifice himself for Amir. We know Amir is listening in – and watching – this exchange between Assef and Hassan. In a way, Assef's speech is not prophetic but descriptive: Amir is abandoning Hassan right now.However, we wonder if Assef's description is inaccurate. Is Assef describing his own relationship with Hazaras or Amir's with Hassan? Sure, sometimes Amir does cruel things to Hassan, but he also reads to Hassan and spends almost all his free time with Hassan. Amir may hesitate to call Hassan his friend, but perhaps that's because neither â€Å"friend† nor â€Å"servant† really describes Hassan. â€Å"Brother† might do the trick, but Amir has no idea at this p oint. Quote #7†³Think of something good,† Baba said in my ear. â€Å"Something happy. † Something good. Something happy.I let my mind wander. I let it come: Friday afternoon in Paghman. An open field of grass speckled with mulberry trees in blossom. Hassan and I stand ankle-deep in untamed grass, I am tugging on the line, the spool spinning in Hassan's calloused hands, our eyes turned up to the kite in the sky. Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything – that's how it is between people who are each other's first memories, people who have fed from the same breast. A breeze stirs the grass and Hassan lets the spool roll.The kite spins, dips, steadies. Our twin shadows dance on the rippling grass. From somewhere over the low brick wall at the other end of the field, we hear chatter and laughter and the chirping of a water fountain. And music, some thing old and familiar, I think it's Ya Mowlah on rubab strings. Someone calls our names over the wall, says it's time for tea and cake. (10. 73-75)| You need some context for this quote. Baba and Amir are on their way to Pakistan, but they're not traveling by taxi or bus. They're in the belly of an oil tanker along with dozens of other Afghans.Baba tells Amir to think of something â€Å"good,† something â€Å"happy. † So what does Amir think of? His childhood with Hassan. We believe this passage proves Amir's (brotherly) love for Hassan. Notice that Amir doesn't recall a special moment with Baba, or even his books or poetry. He thinks of Hassan. Quote #8Lying awake in bed that night, I thought of Soraya Taheri's sickle-shaped birthmark, her gently hooked nose, and the way her luminous eyes had fleetingly held mine. My heart stuttered at the thought of her. (11. 104)| Soraya doesn't sound that hot here.From Hosseini's description, we picture the witch in â€Å"Sleeping Beauty†: her nose is hooked like a scythe , and her eyes are glowing in a potion-induced mania. However, we do think Soraya's sickle-shaped birthmark should remind you of someone else in the book. Give up? That's right: Hassan. (Hassan has a harelip. ) Why do you think Hosseini compare these two characters through their physical features? What else do they have in common? Quote #9When we got to Kabul, I [Rahim Khan] discovered that Hassan had no intention of moving into the house. â€Å"But all these rooms are mpty, Hassan jan. No one is going to live in them,† I said. But he would not. He said it was a matter of ihtiram, a matter of respect. He and Farzana moved their things into the hut in the backyard, where he was born. I pleaded for them to move into one of the guest bedrooms upstairs, but Hassan would hear nothing of it. â€Å"What will Amir agha think? † he said to me. â€Å"What will he think when he comes back to Kabul after the war and finds that I have assumed his place in the house? † Then, in mourning for your father, Hassan wore black for the next forty days. (16. 4-25)| You may be confused by the voice here. It's actually not Amir – Rahim Khan gets one chapter in the book. Rahim Khan recounts his trip to Hazarajat to find Hassan and bring him back to the house in Kabul. When Hassan does move back to the house with Rahim Khan, he refuses to live where Baba and Amir lived. Does Hassan's refusal suggest that Hassan is only Amir's servant and the two never achieved an equal friendship? (Side question: Does Hassan sense – on some unconscious level – Baba's true relationship to him? Is that why he mourns Baba for forty days? )Quote #10Next to me, Sohrab was breathing rapidly through his nose. The spool rolled in his palms, the tendons in his scarred wrists like rubab strings. Then I blinked and, for just a moment, the hands holding the spool were the chipped-nailed, calloused hands of a harelipped boy. I heard a crow cawing somewhere and I looked up. The park shimmered with snow so fresh, so dazzling white, it burned my eyes. It sprinkled soundlessly from the branches of white-clad trees. I smelled turnip qurma now. Dried mulberries. Sour oranges. Sawdust and walnuts. The muffled quiet, snow-quiet, was deafening.Then far away, across the stillness, a voice calling us home, the voice of a man who dragged his right leg. (25. 150)| We think this is one of the most beautiful passages in the book. Hosseini moves effortlessly between the past and present. Sohrab becomes Hassan, and the park in Fremont, California becomes a snow-quiet Kabul. The smells of Kabul mix with the smells of the New Year celebration in the park. Perhaps, at least in the space of this passage, Amir does find peace. America allowed Amir to escape his past for so many years; but, in this moment, the two homelands merge.Ali calls Amir home, and Amir doesn't seem to mind. ROAD TO AMIR'S REDEMPTION† – THE KITE RUNNER REVISION ———â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- Top of Form zainboThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Author: Zain Mehdi | Edited by: zainbo Mar 11, 2012, 12:58pm #1| The topic of the Essay is â€Å"After reading the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, do you think Amir has found redemption in things he's done. If so, please explain how† I wrote this essay based on the events that took place in the novel. Each paragraph must have a quote from the book and I've included that.I just need to see if my essay is well written, correct grammar and other little mistakes. Please and thank you. â€Å"ROAD TO AMIR'S REDEMPTION In a lifetime, everyone will face personal battles and guilt, some large and some small. Such as guilt over sneaking out, not doing homework, or telling your parents a little white lie. People find peace of mind through redeeming themselves, in other words, we do something that makes up for the cause of guilt. Khaled H osseini's novel The Kite Runner revolves around betrayal and redemption.Redemption is the act of saying or being saved from sin, error or evil, which the main character Amir seems to need the most. Amir lives with the guilt he has built up over the years because of one incident from his childhood. Amir's fathers words still echo through his head â€Å"A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything. † ? pg. 24 Although Amir destroyed the lives of many people, and he has had more than one opportunity to redeem himself of his guilt, he is not the selfish little boy he once was. How often does one stop and think, â€Å"How will this affect everyone else in my life? Amir had a chance in the alley, to put Hassan first and change the path of both their lives, but he made the decision to turn around and run because it was what he thought was best for him: â€Å"I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was goi ng to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan ? the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past ? and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me.I was afraid of getting hurt. That's what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan. That's what I made myself believe. I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba. † ? pg. 77 Amir's selfish ways were a result of the lack of his father's affection in his life. As a young boy, he was forced to deal with his father's disinterest in him, which made him incredibly jealous of Hassan.Amir could not understand at the time, why his father adored his servant's son more than his own son. As the tension increases between Amir and Hassan, Amir can no longer stand to see Hassan everyday because of what Amir had not stopped and he could not bare seeing his father showing Hassan love and not him. Hassan and his father are forced to leave their home after Amir places his watch under Hassan's pillow and accuses him of stealing it. Hassan did not even deny the accusations because he had figured out what Amir was doing. â€Å"Hassan knew.He knew I had betrayed him and yet he was rescuing me once again, maybe for the last time. † ? pg. 111 Even after the alleged theft of the watch, Amir's father is willing to forgive Hassan, which stunned Amir, and made him see that the love his father has for Hassan is greater than he imagined. Amir did not just ruin Hassan's life; he also ruined the lives of many people with his decisions after the incident in the alley. Baba lost a chance to watch his son, Hassan, grow up and also lost the chance to bring him to America so he could start a new life.Sohrab lost both his parents to war because they were still living in Afghanistan, lost his childhood to war, and tried to commit suicide as a result of Amir going back on his promise to keep him safe from orphanages. Soraya lost her right to the truth when Amir kept his past a secret even though she opened up to him about hers. It is one thing to destroy your own life with guilt, but it is a completely different issue when you destroy the lives of others. Before Amir can go on the road to redemption, Amir must realize that he can't go back and change what he has done as a child, and he must find inner peace.Although if it was not for Amir's actions as a child, Sohrab never would have needed to be saved in the first place but by saving Sohrab, the last piece of Hassan's life, does make a difference. From the moment he chose to turn his back on Hassan, there were many chances where â€Å"There's a way to be good again† ? pg. 238 for all his wrongdoings, but he chose not to take any of these. Sohr ab was his last and only chance for redemption. â€Å"I have a wife in America, a home, a career and a family†. But how could I pack up and go back home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things?And what Rahim Khan revealed to me changed things. Made me see how my entire life, long before the winter of 1975, dating back to when that singing Hazara woman was still nursing me, had been a cycle of lies betrayals and secrets. † ? pg. 238 Amir admits that he cost Hassan a chance at a good life and that he had many opportunities to change the outcome of Hassan's life. But at this moment he realized he could lose everything he has built in America, but for the first time in his life, Amir did not care about only himself, he came to terms with what he had done, and he was ready to redeem himself at any cost.Amir finally became the man who stood up for himself and his sins. Throughout his childhood, Amir looked for his father's affection and he neve r could get it. His father had said â€Å"I'm telling you, Rahim, there is something missing in that boy. † ? pg. 24 Amir's father would have been proud of him at this very moment because that was all he had wanted from him. The guilt that was built over the years was finally put to rest at the safety of Sohrab. In Afghanistan when Amir stood up for Sohrab and Assef aggressively beat him up, Amir had said â€Å"My body was broken? ust how badly I wouldn't find out until later? but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed. † ? pg. 289 which showed Amir had come to terms with what he had done as a child and was finally felt relieved. Although he was getting beat up, it did not matter anymore, he just wished he had stood up to Assef years ago, and maybe he would have earned his redemption in that alley. | | Jennyflower81Threads: – Posts: 884 Author: Jennifer Reeves 85 | Mar 11, 2012, 02:17pm #2| Such as guilt over sneaking out, not doing homework, or telling your p arents a little white lie. Not a full sentence.You could start this sentence with: â€Å"Guilt can stem from†¦ † People find peace of mind when they redeem themselves, in other words, they do something that makes up for the cause of their guilt. Amir had a chance in the alley, to put Hassan first and change the path of both their lives, but he made the decision to turn around and run because it was what he thought was best for him: I would break up this sentence into 2 sentences, because it is a bit too long, it would be easier to read if it was in 2 shorter sentences. Amir's selfish ways resulted from the lack of his father's affection in his life.At the time, Amir could not understand why his father adored his servant's son more than his own son. As the tension increases between Amir and Hassan, Amir can no longer stand to see Hassan everyday because of what Amir had not stopped and he could not bare seeing his father showing Hassan love and not him. Right here, you be gin writing in present tense, when the beginning of the essay is written in past tense, be sure to stay consistent with this, it makes your paper easier to read that way. | | zainboThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Author: Zain Mehdi | | Thank you, any more updates? | Jennyflower81Threads: – Posts: 884 Author: Jennifer Reeves 85 | Mar 11, 2012, 05:04pm #4| Amir did not just ruin Hassan's life; he also ruined the lives of many people with his decisions after the incident in the alley Can you be more specific about how exactly did he ruin Hassan's life? This is kinda vague. Another example of a life ruined is that of Soraya- you say: Soraya lost her right to the truth when Amir kept his past a secret even though she opened up to him about hers I don't know if this is her life being ruined, although she was wronged.How did this ruin her life? Clarify this. †¦ but it is a completely different problem when you destroy the lives of others. Although if it was not for Amir's actions as a chil d, Sohrab never would have needed to be saved in the first place but by saving Sohrab, the last piece of Hassan's life, does make a difference. This sentence is long and confusing, I would make it into 2 shorter sentences. Amir admits that he cost Hassan the chance at a good life and that he had many opportunities to change the outcome of Hassan's life.At this moment, he realizes he could lose everything he has built in America, but for the first time in his life, Amir did not only care about himself, he came to terms with what he had done, and he was ready to redeem himself at any cost. | | chalumeau | | ROAD TO AMIR'S REDEMPTION? â€Å"During their lifetime, most people face guilt: some appropriate some inappropriate. Redemption is a way that makes up for the cause of the guilt. In Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner, the theme revolves around betrayal and redemption. † I looked up the word â€Å"redemption† in The Kite Runner: p. 5, â€Å"All I saw was the blu e kite. All I smelled was victory. Salvation. Redemption. If Baba was wrong and there was a God like they said in school, then He'd let me win. I didn't know what the other guy was playing for, maybe just bragging rights. † Important quote. p 231, â€Å"And from this one last chance at redemption. † What is going on here? â€Å"My body was broken? just how badly I wouldn't find out until later? but I felt healed. Healed at last. I laughed. † ? pg. 289 Good quote you found. Salvation is when God saves you. Redemption may be part of salvation, but redemption also has a place separate from the Divine.After doing a wrong, a person may be redeemed by performing some act, or saying something, or fighting for (or against) someone. You know how they say, â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder? † Redemption is in the eye of the wronged party. It's why you hear phrases such as, â€Å"redeemed in her eyes. † You can't be redeemed without permission. Hopefu lly, the wronged party accuses the right person, and the right person knows what wrong was committed. Otherwise, you have a very confusing situation for all parties. One that cannot be redeemed. Ever. Try writing your essay again with the theme of redemption as the main focus.Try to answer these questions: 1) What wrongs were committed? Pick the best 3 wrongs he committed. You partially explained these. 2) What does Amir think about redemption? Why does he seek it? Usually a person feels badly about something, or the other party is making his life miserable enough to cause him to cry,† ___! † 3) What action or words support him receiving redemption? 4) What action or words deny him redemption? 5) At the end is he redeemed? In the eyes of the wronged party? Did the wronged party (parties) know the truth that the reader knows? Does he feel redeemed?Did he know the same truth as everyone else? For the record, I've never read The Kite Runner. I don't have a copy of the novel either. I wanted to try to help you focus and organize your essay. I've written many A-essays over the years. | | zainboThreads: 1 Posts: 3 Author: Zain Mehdi | Mar 12, 2012, 08:37pm #6| thanks, ill try to work on it| | Essay Forum / Literature Review /| Unanswered [this forum] / Featured / Similar| Bottom of Form Similar discussions: * Michigan Supplement. Kite Runner * The Kite Runner: A Marxist Perspective * The Kite Runner Thesis Statement * HELP! Kite Runner Essay on Father/Son relationship * Persuasive essay on The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini + The Devil in the White City * The redemption of Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities * Run after the kite –common app essay * UC Essay — I am a runner, track and cross-country * Developing Runner's Mindset — Common App Essay for Stanford * Morality and Responsibility essay (connection between Frankenstein and Blade runner) Random: MSW Essay on Parent Advocacy- Child Protective Services The discrimination theme in The Kite Runner helps explain? DiscriminationThe Kite Runner tackles the issue of ethnic discrimination in Afghanistan with an example of the relationship between Pashtuns and Hazaras. Baba's father sets an example for him of being kind to Hazara people, even though they are historically demeaned and persecuted. He could have easily sent Ali to an orphanage after his parents' death, but chose to raise him in his household. Baba does the same with Hassan, although this is complicated by the fact that Hassan is actually his son. Even in Baba's house, the house of best intentions, the class barrier between the Pashtuns and Hazaras endures.Ali is as dear to Baba as a brother; he calls him â€Å"family. † But Ali still lives in a hut and sleeps on a mattress on the floor. He tends the garden, cooks, and cleans up after Baba, and raises Hassan to do the same. So strong is Hassan's identity as a servant that even as an adult, when Baba is gone, he has no sense of entitlement. He insists on staying in the hut and doing housework. When Hassan dies defending Baba's house, he does so not because he feels it belongs to him, but because he is being loyal to Baba and Amir.In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, discrimination is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. On the one hand, the Taliban do not seem to care whom they are beating, torturing, or executing. Children like Sohrab and grandmothers like Sanaubar are all susceptible to the Taliban's cruelty. In this way, the Talibs discriminate against everyone but themselves. As Amir notices, Assef forces Sohrab to dance to music for his enjoyment dancing and listening to music have long been banned. Amir thinks, â€Å"I guessed music wasn't sinful as long as it played to Taliban ears. On another level, the Taliban discriminate specifically against the Hazara people. They massacre the Hazaras not only in Mazar-i-Sharif, but in the region of Hazarajat and nearly anywhere else they can find them. Assef and his fellow s do not see the Hazaras' lives as worthwhile; they barely see them as human. Assef tells Amir, â€Å"Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage, and someone has to take out the garbage. † Like his idol, Hitler, he feels entitled to killing those he deems unworthy of living in his land.He even relishes the term â€Å"ethnic cleansing† because it goes so well with his garbage metaphor. Hosseini has mentioned in interviews that his focus on discrimination in The Kite Runner angers some Afghans, who feel it is inappropriate. Like Baba, many people do not mention the Hazaras' history of persecution. Perhaps these people are so uncomfortable with this topic because by having Assef appear in pre-Taliban times and emerge as a leading Talib, Hosseini shows that the Taliban's persecution of the Hazaras and other Shiites is not new, but a greatly intensified outgrowth of long-held discrimination.In The Kite Runner friendship is a recurring theme, particularly in terms of how friendship is experienced between different social classes and castes. This is explored in the relationships between Baba and Amir who are Pashtun and Ali and Hassan who are Hazara. A central issue in the novel is how friendship is experienced, understood and expressed between social unequals when they have been pushed together by circumstances (Baba’s father’s adoption of Ali meant he and Baba grew up from boyhood together, followed by Amir and Hassan sharing their entire childhoods in the same house, despite their very different status within the household. Amir constantly reflects on the question of friendship: ‘But in none of his stories did Baba ever refer to Ali as his friend. The curious thing was, I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either. Not in the usual sense anyhow†¦Because history isn’t easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a and n othing was ever going to change that. Nothing. ’ When questioned by Assef about his friendship with a Hazara Amir admits: â€Å"But he’s not my friend! † I almost blurted. â€Å"He’s my servant! Had I really thought that? Of course I hadn’t. I hadn’t. I treated Hassan well, just like a friend, better even, more like a brother. ’ Hassan regards Amir as his friend and shows it by his unfailing loyalty which is indicative of his awareness of the unequal power in the relationship. Amir is bothered by Hassan’s unfailing loyalty and self denial on his behalf. ‘For you a thousand times over’ is the repeated phrase expressive of this loyalty – and we note how it is this phrase which finally comes from Amir himself at the end of the novel.Hassan’s loyalty is brought out by Assef’s remarks before he assaults him: ‘Before you sacrifice yourself for him, think about this: Would he do the same for yo u? †¦ to him, you’re nothing more but an ugly pet. Something he can play with when he’s bored, something he can kick when he’s angry†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Hassan then says that he and Amir are friends, a remark which is again cynically rebuffed. The retrieved kite symbolises the strength of Hassan’s loyalty; this is in sharp contrast to the cowardice and disloyalty that Amir is about to show. However, Hassan never ceases to regard Amir as his friend as his letter confirms. Kite Runner Human beings are morally ambiguous people. We are neither purely evil nor purely good, but often a mix. And maybe that’s why many of us are attracted to literature works with morally ambiguous characters such as The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner was set in Kabul, Afghanistan, proceeds to United States during the Soviet Union invasion, and then the setting goes back to Kabul when the Taliban rises in power. In this novel, Amir, to whom the whole story of the book is centered around, is a morally ambiguous character.Amir is a Pashtun boy; he betrays his friendship with Hassan, a Hazara son of Amir’s father’s servant. Guilt haunts Amir for years even after he had left Kabul and moved to United States. Amir is a morally ambiguous character because he’s a coward, he’s selfish, he betrays his friend and lies, but he also finds courage to face what he had done wrong and finds salvation. The first part of the book The Kite Runner proves ho w Amir is not a purely good character.Amir often hangs out with the Hazara boy, Hassan and would tell Hassan that they are friends, but he still feels he’s above Hassan because Amir is Pashtun and Hazara people are considered below the Pashtun people. Amir wouldn’t hang out with Hassan when other Pashtun boys are with him, he also mocks the fact that Hassan can’t read, not considering the fact that Hassan doesn’t have the opportunity to get an education. Amir couldn’t stand Hassan’s intelligence: Amir had written a story about how a man’s tears turn into pearls when they fall into this magic cup, and the story ended with man’s wife dead in his arms on a mountain pile of pearls.When Hassan heard the story, he had enjoyed it, but he also raised a few questions that angered Amir, â€Å"Why did the man kill his wife? In fact, why did he ever have to be sad to shed tears? Couldn’t he have just smelled an onion? † (p. 3 4). Amir was angry because a mere Hazara boy who couldn’t read had taught Amir something he, an educated boy, didn’t figure out. These few examples that show how Amir is mean and arrogant are nothing compared to what he does to Hassan later on.Assef is a Pashtun boy that truly hates Hazaras and believes that Hazaras should all disappear. When Amir catches Assef raping Hassan, instead of stepping in, Amir runs away and pretends nothing had happened. When guilt started eating Amir up and he couldn’t stand facing Hassan because Hassan reminds him of his cowardly action, he pinned a crime of thievery on Hassan in order to have Hassan evicted from his house. The second part of the book shows that Amir isn’t purely evil despite what he has done.For a while, Amir’s life is filled with the guilt of not saving Hassan from the rape and it kept Amir from being completely happy, even though he found the love of his life in America and got married. Then one day , Amir’s father’s friend, Rhahim, called him to give him a chance to redeem himself. â€Å"There’s a way to be good again† (p. 226). Amir did find a way to be good again. Amir went back to Afghan to find Hassan’s son, Sohrab, to take him with Amir because Hassan and his wife had been shot to death on the street by the Taliban.Amir finds Sohrab with Assef and ends up getting into a physical fight with Assef. Amir basically lets Assef beat him up and while being beat up, Amir feels relieved. â€Å"My body was broken – just how badly I wouldn’t find out until later – but I felt healed. Healed at last† (p. 289). Amir felt that he was being healed from the guilt that has been crawling beneath his skin every single day. He had betrayed his one and only friend, Hassan, lied, and destroyed a chance where Hassan might have left to United States with him and would still be alive.Amir felt that he finally got what he deserved and h e felt much better, he had found salvation. And he had afterwards taken in Sohrab as his own son. Amir had been a coward; he had made selfish decisions and ruined Hassan’s live, but if he had been purely evil then he would not have felt guilt, nor would he have risked his life to bring back a mere Hazara’s son. But he had been filled with guilt and he had gone to find Sohrab and redeemed himself. And thus, Amir is a perfect example of a morally ambiguous character.

Okonkwo “Falls Apart”: The Tragic Hero Essay

Psychology teaches us that we retain information presented to us in an emotional and  compelling manner.   Facts and figures may speak to the mind, but stories speak to the  heart—.the heart of individuals and the heart of humanity as a whole.   Why have books and  authors endured for centuries, outlasting nearly every other form of entertainment? Books are  the faithful guardians of humanity’s timeless bonds, and in their words and their images resonate  core human principles.   For this reason, novels are among humanity’s most powerful history  books.   Emotions are, after all, what make us human.   Who better to speak to these unstop-  pable forces than tragic dramatists, who capture the universality of human emotions in their  timeless â€Å"life-in-capsules†:   .their stories.   Classic masters like Sophocles and Shakespeare may  have introduced us to the tragic hero, but contemporary storytellers have transcended race,  regions, and centuries   to gift modern society with its own tortured messengers. In Chinua  Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the struggle between the late nineteenth century Igbo people of  Nigeria and the white colonialists who sought the tribes’ conversion to Christianity are docu-  mented.   However, it is the rise and fall of one great Igbo warrior, Okonkwo, that truly drives  this modern tragedy†¦. and demonstrates how a â€Å"tragic   hero† is often anything but â€Å"heroic.† Much like Shakespearean tragic hero Macbeth and many others, Okonkwo is a multidimensional blend of light (good) and dark (evil).   The clan leader is admirable in his self-made status (a unique fulfillment of the tragic hero’s usual noble nature) and his determination to create a better future by shunning his father’s questionable actions. Achebe presents Okonkwo and his tribesmen as a people who value thought and artistry:   â€Å"Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten† (12).  Ã‚   During the era of imperialism and romanticism, many dismissed indigenous Africans as the â€Å"noble savage†Ã¢â‚¬â€beings high in morality but low in intelligence.   Achebe’s tale challenges both of these assumptions.   Achebe peppers his tale with Igbo language and words, to illustrate the vital role which communication played in the Igbo community and culture.   Such a representation is a far cry from the dull-witted and language-less â€Å"savage† of popular lore. Despite these positives, the reader may be left with an uncomfortable feeling—and even an active dislike—of the novel’s protagonist.   He beats his wife (although he is punished for it); he constantly berates his son for not being masculine enough; he wishes his daughter (although he adores her character and strength) was a son; he rarely shows emotion (because he perceives feeling as weakness)—and that very fear leads him to remorselessly participate in the premeditated murder of his favored surrogate son Ikemefuna. Two of the aforementioned events are particularly crucial in Okonkwo’s path of development, demonstrating the cruel interaction of fate and choice that guides the tragic hero.   During his formative years, Okondwo firmly captains his own destiny by building himself up as a respected and well-regarded warrior and provider, although these actions are fueled by the disrepute of his dishonest father, a background over which Okonkwo has no control. This secret shame is the first mark of the warrior’s spiritual wounding (parental issues similarly drive other celebrated tragic heroes such as Hamlet and Oedipus).   Spiritual hurt instills Okonkwo with a tragic flaw that damages his decision-making process.   And, as with all tragic heroes, the crossroads (the point of decision) is everything.   When the warrior is faced with a choice regarding how to handle his wife’s presumed negligence, his pride leads him to one brutal conclusion:   a beating.   The action shatters a sacred time for Okonkwo’s tribe, and, more importantly, fractures their trust in an important leader. As a result, the warrior has only wounded himself more, a fact for which he repents but does not yet truly recognize.Only Okonkwo’s second crossroads will irrevocably alter the story, and the man himself.   After all, how could a man look into the eyes of a child whom he has sheltered, mentored, and admired—a child, with no blood ties, who is still no less a â€Å"son† to his â€Å"father†Ã¢â‚¬â€how could such a man look into the past and future and allow his pride to deal that child a fatal blow? How could a piece of that man—of his soul—not die with his child?   For Okonkwo, the answer is clear, and his tragic recognition of the consequences of this action (his moment of truth) sets the ensuing chain of events on its inevitable—and unavoidable—course.   The warrior has further severed the tenuous connection with his family; more death befalls his family; the â€Å"fates† punish him with a tragic accident, which leads to his exile; and he must watch passively as his people are swindled by questionable outsiders. Yet the repeated emotional pummelings have reawakened within the warrior two important virtues:   honor and courage.   Through his revolution of one (his final choice, his final act of defiance), Okonkwo both finds himself and, ultimately, loses himself forever.     In some regards, Okondwo’s self-murder is the murder of humanity’s hope: The fall of the Igbo people—and their once mighty warrior—represents a slower,   more devastating form of humiliation and subtle slavery.   Two passages in particular speak to the colonialist impact:   â€Å"And at last the locusts did descend. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass; they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground† (71); â€Å"He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart† (164).   The first passage indicates how suddenly these indigenous peoples found themselves in the midst of colonialists (like the locusts), while the second passage laments how easily the outsiders were able to turn loyal tribesmen against one another. In the story, the tribesmen were at first seduced by the kindly ways of Mr. Brown (who respects the tribesmen yet lures away the tribe ‘outsiders’ first), but then they fall victim to the much more aggressive Reverend Smith.   Once under Smith’s leadership, the tribe converts’ actions become much more disreputable and disloyal (such as when Enoch unmasks the egwogwu), and the leaders of the tribe eventually lose their will to fight the colonialists, leading to Okonkwo’s suicide.   But it is perhaps the final lines of the book which most symbolize the â€Å"falling apart† of this once proud people: â€Å"He had already chosen the title of the book, after much thought: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger† (224). The tribe is reduced to some white man’s conquest, while the very symbol of that tribe’s former strength, Okonkwo, becomes â€Å"a paragraph or two†Ã¢â‚¬â€a mere footnote in colonialist history.     In this sense, Okonkwo’s suffering (like many tragic heroes) is instilled with greater meaning because he serves as a symbol—a symbol of his culture’s greatness and its inevitable, tragic demise. Two words best summarize the complex creation of Okonkwo:   tragic hero.   Within this man is a piece of every individual, past and present.   The audience relates so well because they see themselves in Okonkwo’s shortcomings, flaws, and basically imperfect human nature.   In watching this memorable character’s own struggles against the   Ã‚  insurmountable, generations of audiences have found an outlet for their own hopes and fears.

Kublai Khan essays

Kublai Khan essays Kublai Khan was born in 1216; he was the grandson of the great conqueror Genghis Khan. Kublai founded the Mongol or Yuan Dynasty that ruled China from 1279 to 1368. He began to play a major role in the consolidation of Mongol power in 1251. Kublai was the son of Tolui and brother of the fourth Great Khan, Manghu. He conquered Yunnan and Annam, but when Manghu died he became ruler of the Mongol empire. He was also known as being a great Mongol military leader. Between 1260 and 1279 he was successful in driving the Kin Tatars out of northern China. In 1264 Kublai established his own capital in Cambulac. He relinquished all the claims to the parts of the Mongol empire outside China. Kublai also undertook many foreign wars in attempts to enforce tribute claims on neighboring states. For the first time in Chinese history a barbarian people had conquered. His name was known all over Asia and also in Europe. The court at Cambulac attracted an international group of courageous men. One of these men included the famous Venetian Marco Polo. Kublai Khan did much to encourage the advancement of literature and arts as well. He was a devout Buddhist. Kublai also made Buddhism the state religion during his dynasty. Although Buddhism was the main religion, during his reign many other religions evolved and were tolerated. Kublai moved the Mongol capital from Cambulac to the place closer to Beijing. From then on he ruled and empire that extended from Eastern Europe to Korea. Him and his successors took over much of the administrative machinery that existed under the Song. The reign of Kublai was one of the highest points of the Mongol power. Kublai had many major achievements during his reign. One of his major achievements was reconciling China to rule by foreign people or the Mongols. He also had a few failures. His failures were series of costly wars, including two disastrous attempts to invade Japan. This brou...

Running the Gamut and Running the Gauntlet

Running the Gamut and Running the Gauntlet Running the Gamut and Running the Gauntlet Running the Gamut and Running the Gauntlet By Maeve Maddox Two frequently confused expressions are â€Å"to run the gamut† and â€Å"to run the gauntlet.† Gamut originated as a medieval musical term. The word is still used to mean â€Å"the full range of notes that a voice or instrument can produce.† Figuratively, gamut means â€Å"the full range or scope of something.† For example, a person might â€Å"run the gamut of emotions from rage to despair.† Gauntlet derives from the French word for glove: gant. In the Middle Ages, a gauntlet was a reinforced glove, usually made of leather, covered with plates of steel. A medieval custom gave rise to figurative expressions still used in modern English: one knight would challenge another by throwing down one of his gauntlets. His opponent, if willing to fight, would pick up the gauntlet. From this custom derive the expressions â€Å"to cast the gauntlet,† â€Å"to fling down the gauntlet,† and â€Å"to throw down the gauntlet,† meaning, â€Å"to issue a challenge.† Likewise, modern speakers use the expression â€Å"to take up the gauntlet,† meaning â€Å"to accept a challenge.† The word gauntlet in the expression â€Å"to run the gauntlet† has nothing to do with the word for glove. It’s a corrupted form of the Swedish word gatlopp, which was borrowed into English with the meaning â€Å"military punishment in which the offender runs between rows of men who beat him in passing.† Early spellings of gatlopp in English were gantelope and gantlope. At the same time, gauntlet had the variant spellings gantelet and gantlet. Not surprisingly, the words came to be confused with one another: â€Å"to run the gantlope† became â€Å"to run the gantlet.† and eventually, â€Å"to run the gauntlet.† Purists object to the spelling gauntlet in the expression â€Å"to run the gauntlet.† Some stylebooks, notably Chicago and AP, support gantlet, but Paul Brians (Common Errors in English Usage), disposes of the gantlet version as a variant. On the Ngram Viewer chart beginning with 1800, â€Å"to run the gauntlet† is by far the more common form. The earliest citation of â€Å"to run the gauntlet† in the OED is dated 1676. Bottom line: â€Å"To run the gauntlet† is the more common version of the expression that means, â€Å"to run past a row of people who are trying to hurt you.† It can be used either literally or figuratively: Political prisoners in Tehran’s Evin prison have allegedly been forced to run a gauntlet of armed guards armed with batons. Kasich, if he is to run a successful race for president, will have to run the gauntlet of the Republican primaries first. What is not acceptable is mixing up â€Å"running the gauntlet† with â€Å"running the gamut.† The following examples are from printed books. The first two are from self-published novels, but the third- O tempora, O mores- is from a serious nonfiction book published by Penguin: INCORRECT: His emotions ran the gauntlet from  calm to sobbing quietly.  Mike Holst, The Last Trip Down the Mountain, iUniverse, 2011. CORRECT : His emotions ran the gamut from  calm to sobbing quietly.   INCORRECT: Their  experiences  ran the gauntlet from  Ã¢â‚¬Å"sadistic preferential† pedophiles, to serial killers who were depressive or enraged Bill Riveron, The Trojan Killer, AuthorHouse, 2011. CORRECT : Their  experiences  ran the gamut from  Ã¢â‚¬Å"sadistic preferential† pedophiles, to serial killers who were depressive or enraged INCORRECT: Treatment ran the gauntlet from kindness to torture. Deborah J. Swift, The Tin Ticket, Penguin, 2010 CORRECT : Treatment ran the gamut from kindness to torture. If an adverbial phrase follows â€Å"to run the gauntlet,† the most usual choices for the preposition to introduce it are past or through: Farragut  ran the gauntlet past  Vicksburgs guns 28 June. Men fell back on either side so that he  ran the gauntlet through  their ranks.    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 Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Grammar Mistakes You Should AvoidAbstract Nouns from Adjectives1,462 Basic Plot Types

The Future of Information Systems Research Paper

The Future of Information Systems - Research Paper Example The researcher states that an information system helps the business organization manage and organize these huge volumes of data effectively. These information systems allow them to use these sets of data to run as well as improve the business performance by taking effective decisions. There are various categories of information systems and each category contains particular kinds of information systems for instance management information systems and decision systems. At the present, the success of an organization completely depends on the effectiveness of an information system. The basic purpose of developing and implementing the modern and up-to-date information systems in the business and corporate structures is to enhance the overall corporate performance and enhanced management of the business data. In their book Turban, Leidner and McLean define an information system as a system which collects, processes, stores, evaluates, and distributes information in order to carry out a spec ific task. Additionally, the nature of tasks varies from department to department. For instance, an information system can be used to manage human resource related operations or for managing accounting related functions. However, like any other system, an information system comprises various elements such as inputs (in the forms of instructions and data) and outputs (in the forms of reports, calculations). In addition, it generates the required outputs by performing operations on the given input. In addition, various other authors such as consider an information system in technical perspective.

FBI Jounral The Deadly Mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

FBI Jounral The Deadly Mix - Essay Example This is just an example of an occurrence where the Deadly Mix came together, which, according to the authors, have caused deaths and fatal injuries to the enforcement agents involved. Hence, profound understanding and insightful examination of these elements as well as proper knowledge with regards the issue could save an officer's life as it is quite impossible to profile which offender will likely assault an officer. Similarly, even an officer who relies on his long experience in confronting offenders in risky circumstances may discover that his 'complacency' can be a trap. The interaction of each of the facet of these components, the authors contends, 'are fluid and dynamic' as wrong perception and assumption of at least one of the three have dangerous consequences to an officer. A careful examination of these occurrences can prevent an officer from putting his life to risks (Pinizzotto et al, 2007). An assessment of this issue is ex