Catcher In The Rye :: essays research papers

The Catcher in the Rye can be strongly considered as one of the greatest novels of all time and Holden Caufield distinguishes himself as one of the greatest and most diverse characters. His moral system and his sense of justice force him to detect horrifying flaws in the society in which he lives. However, this is not his principle difficulty. His principle difficulty is not that he is a rebel, or a coward, nor that he hates society, it is that he has had many experiences and he remembers everything. Salinger indicates this through Holden's confusion of time throughout the novel. Experiences at Whooten, Pency, and Elkton Hills combine and no levels of time separate them. This causes Holden to end the novel missing everyone and every experience. He remembers all the good and bad, until distinctions between the two disappear. Holden believes throughout the novel that certain things should stay the same. Holden becomes a character portrayed by Salinger that disagrees with things changi ng. He wants to retain everything, in short he wants everything to always remain the same, and when changes occur; Holden reacts. However the most important aspect of Holden Caufield's character can be attributed to his judgment of people. Holden Caufield, a character who always jumps to conclusions about people and their phoniness, can be labeled as a hypocrite because he exemplifies a phony himself. Holden Caufield the 16 year old protagonist and main character of The Catcher in the Rye narrates the story and explains all the events throughout three influential days of his life. A prep school student who has just been kicked out of his second school, Holden struggles to find the right path into adulthood. He does not know what road to follow and he uses others as the scapegoat for his puzzlement in life. Harold Bloom explains, His central dilemma is that he wants to retain a child's innocence., but because of biology he must move either into adulthood or madness. As a sort of compromise Holden imagines himself as "the catcher in the rye," a protector of childhood innocence exempt from movement into adulthood, which is neither possible nor sane." (Bloom's Notes 22) Even Gerald Rosen states that, "It is important to note here that Holden's rejection of an adult role is not a case of sour grapes. He believes he will succeed and it is the successful life he fears"(101).

Standardized Testing is NOT Effective Essay example -- Standardized Te

Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students. Too much time is being devoted to preparing students for standardized tests. Parents should worry about what schools are sacrificing in order to focus on raising test scores. Schools across the country are cutting back on, or even eliminating programs in the arts, recess for young children, field trips, electives for high school students, class meetings, discussions about current events, the use of literature in the elementary grades, and entire subject areas such as science (if the tests cover only language arts and math) (Kohn Standardized Testing and Its Victims 1). Alfie Kohn, author of The Case against Standardized Testing, recalls a specific incident of how children are being cheated out of valuable class time. He states that a school in Massachusetts used a remarkable unit, for a middle-school class, where students chose an activity and extensively researched it, and reported or taught, it to the class. This program has had to be removed from the course curriculum in order to devote enough time to teaching prescribed material for their standardized tests. At my high school all students in the tenth grade were required to take the Graduation Qualifying Exam. Many students did not pass the test their first time, and were forced to go through the test up to four more times, and if they did not pass the test in this amount of time, they did not graduate. It is hard to test students in this way since no one was taught the same way all 12 years or learned the same exact things; these differences are why people are different (Popham 2). School is more about testing now, and we have veered away from creative teaching to teach a test. We need to have teachers who inspire kids to want to ... ... Testing: Pro and Con. Web. 28 June 2015. . Kohn, Alfie. â€Å"Standardized Testing and Its Victims.† Education Week. September 2000. Kohn, Alfie. The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools. Portsmouth NH: Heinemann 2000. Kohn, Alfie. â€Å"The Worst Kind of Cheating.† Streamlined Seminar. Winter 2002-03. Meier, Deborah. Will Standards Save Public Education? Boston: Beacon Press, 2002. Morse, Jodie. "Is That Your Final Answer?.† Educational Tests and their Measurements. June 2000. Web. 30 June 2015. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,997209,00.html Popham, W. James. â€Å"Standardized Achievement Tests: Misnamed and Misleading.† Education Week. September 2001. Web. 28 June 2015. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2001/09/19/03popham.h21.html Sacks, Peter. "The Toll Standardized Tests Take." National Education Association. 2000. Web. 2 July 2015. http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/interviews/2953178/toll-standardized-tests-take Wellstone, Paul. The Conscience of a Liberal: Reclaiming the Compassionate Agenda. New York: Random House, 2002.

History 202, United States History from 1865 to the Present

The Building of a New Nation Following the Civil War, the United States was a country that had experienced great loss and had gone to great lengths to either maintain or abolish slavery. As a nation, they were given the difficult task of repairing the damaged country as a whole, but especially the south and its economy. Their job was to not only to restore the country, but to modernize it and make it stronger compared to other nations. The task presented to the United States, its president, and its government as a whole was one that probably seemed impossible, but it would only prove to be difficult, not so much impossible.The United States faced many challenges after the end of the Civil War. Few of which include the assassination of Lincoln, rebuilding the destroyed southern economy, the federal government’s role in helping the 4 million freed African Americans, how to treat the former states of the Confederacy, and conflict over which branch of government should decide on h ow to reconstruct the south. Reconstruction is the process of readmitting Confederate states to the Union, rebuilding the south, and granting or protecting the citizenship rights of African Americans.Before Lincoln was assassinated, his plan for reconstruction was to make it simple for the south. He believed the southern states did not technically secede because no state could leave the Union, and also that secession was the fault of a disloyal minority in the South. President Johnson clashed with Republicans over reconstructing the Union and liberating African American slaves. With the disfranchisement of all former Confederate leaders, office holders, and Confederates with over $20,000 in taxable property, Johnson kept Lincoln’s plan’s power to grant individual pardons to southerners.By the summer of 1865 all seven of the remaining Confederate states met Johnson’s reconstruction requirements, but none of the constitutions extended voting rights to African Amer icans. By the fall of 1865 Johnson had granted 13,000 pardons to many former Confederate leaders. Many debates arose due to southern governments under presidential reconstruction limiting the rights of African Americans. Southern state legislatures passed â€Å"black codes† to limit the rights of African Americans, which prohibited blacks from testifying in court, renting land, or borrowing money to buy land.Work contracts also forced freedmen to work cotton fields under conditions similar to slavery. Black codes combined with Johnson’s reconstruction plan widened the rift between Johnson and Republicans in Congress. What resulted from this and the fact that Republicans were unhappy with Johnson’s â€Å"soft† treatment of the south, was Congressional Reconstruction. Congressional Reconstruction was meant to be harsher on southern states and more protective of African American rights. In 1867, the south was under military rule, and each state had to write a new constitution fulfilling Congressional requirements and elect new state governments.The Freedmen’s Bureau was created by Congress in March 1865. It was the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, and it acted as a type of early welfare agency providing food, shelter, and medical aid for blacks and whites in need after the Civil War. Originally it had the authority to resettle freedmen on confiscated Confederate land, but the resettlement power was removed when President Johnson pardoned Confederate land owners and the courts restored the lands to their original owners.The Freedmen’s Bureau’s greatest success was in education. It established 3,000 schools for African Americans, established black colleges, and taught an estimated 200,000 African Americans to read. The Amnesty Act of 1872 removed restrictions on ex-confederates and allowed Democrats to retake control of state legislatures. By 1876 Congress had removed federal troops from all but thr ee states: South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, and Democrats returned to power in all southern states but those three.Republican governments in the south made many adjustments during reconstruction such as universal male suffrage, property rights for women, internal improvements, and state supported public school systems, hospitals, and asylums for the care of the handicapped. The end of Reconstruction meant the beginning of intense discrimination against African Americans in the south. The Gilded Age was a time of dramatic transformation in the nation, and African Americans were seen as an inferior race during the Gilded Age. The only active organization for the blacks was the NAACP founded by W. E. B.Du Bois and others in 1910. It wasn't until the 1950s that the civil rights movement started in earnest to bring the rights of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments to the U. S. Constitution passed shortly after the Civil War during Reconstruction that said blacks w ere free, made citizens, and given the right to vote. Some people would say that although American society was advancing after the Civil War, many problems were not resolved beneath the surface. It’s true, the overall level of richness and power of the country was increasing for example, but so was the level of poverty.Not to mention the struggle to find legal rights to defend the individual was often made difficult. Big companies and powerful writers and politicians were able to defend the ‘American dream' even while others were suffering, losing their rights, or being exploited in the workplace. The political history of the Gilded Age is usually reduced to a tale of corruption and scandal, and indeed there were plenty of both to go around at all levels of public life. This was the age where income inequality was an increasingly pressing issue in the Unites States and around the world.The United States was experiencing a widespread of economic growth, due to the expans ion of railroads, factories, and mines, which lead the nation in industrialization. Most big businesses supported the Republican Party and they favored monopolies, trusts, and the spoils system. Farmers created a movement called Populism, and supported increased money supply using silver. The population of post-Civil War America boomed with a new tide of immigration. This made The U. S. the third most populous nation in the Western world after Russia and France.While farmers struggled and barely maintained their numbers, business and industry boomed with America’s increasing demand for goods and services. The Gilded Age saw the United States shift from an agricultural to an urban, industrial society, as millions of Americans flocked to cities in the post–Civil War era. Even though there was much corruption people were supposed to believe that with enough willpower and determination, anyone could be a success, even become wealthy, if they just tried to fit in. However, this was not really possible.It is crazy how someone could believe that they could become successful just by trying to ‘fit in,’ yet everyone was expected to ‘buy’ the story of the golden American dream anyway. Concern with gold was certainly heightened by U. S. money being minted in scarce gold coins. In addition, gilding, in the sense of gold plating, is often done to make objects beautiful that must also be strong and durable, because gold itself is a soft metal. This might reflect an American sentiment of that era that their efforts toward culture and refinement were just a veneer over a strong but coarse base.In the 1800s America was a second-rate power. Most Americans who looked overseas were interested in expanded trade, not territorial possessions. In 1893, the depression that heightened the belief that a more aggressive foreign policy was necessary to stimulate American exports began. At the time, Cuba had been fighting for independence since 1868, and the United States intervened and went to war with Spain to gain Cuba’s liberty and freedom. This resulted in The Splendid Little War. The most highly publicized land battle of the war took place at San Juan Hill, outside Cuba.This is where Teddy Roosevelt charged up the hill with his fleet known as the Rough Riders, only to find a black regiment had already preceded them. In the treaty with Spain ending the war, the United States acquired the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the Pacific island of Guam. America’s interest in its new possessions had more to do with trade than gaining wealth from natural resources or large-scale American settlement. Many believed that American participation in the destruction of Spanish rule would lead to social reform and political self-government.The American rule of more territory also brought with it American racial attitudes. America’s triumphant entry into the ranks of imperial powers sparked an intense debate over the rela tionship among political democracy, race, and American citizenship. The Foraker Act of 1900 declared Puerto Rico an â€Å"insular territory,† different from previous territories in the West. Americans spread racial views to new colonial possessions and embraced the idea of the white man’s burden paternalism while other nations influenced by U. S. attitudes and policies The cost of the Spanish American War was 6. billion, but the growing economy gained also, a permanent lease on naval stations in Cuba, including what is now Guantanamo Bay. America’s interest in its new possessions had more to do with trade than from gaining wealth from natural resources or large scale American settlement. The Philippine War cost the lives of well more than 100,000 Filipino’s and 4,200 Americans. The aftermath allowed for the expansion of railroads, harbors, brought in school teachers, public health officials, and sought to modernize agriculture. The Progressive Era in Amer ican history was a time of great change and reform in the United States.It was marked by a series of political and social reforms aimed at problems that arose as a consequence of urban growth and the Industrial Revolution. Activism, new federal laws, and a series of constitutional amendments marked this era of change. There were many problems during the Progressive Era. They included poverty and unsanitary slums in American cities, poor working conditions including child labor in factories, corporate trusts that eliminated competition and raised prices with impunity, discrimination against women and ethnic minorities, and corruption in the so-called urban political machines.During the Progressive Era, women and African-Americans were effectively barred from political participation. In addition, African-Americans in the South were subjected to mandatory segregation and â€Å"Jim Crow† laws. Susan B. Anthony led the movement for women's suffrage, which resulted in the 1920 rati fication of the nineteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, which extended voting rights to women. Labor unions grew in opposition to unfair labor practices and dangerous working conditions in American factories. Journalists began writing stories about unsanitary meat packing facilities.In result, â€Å"The Jungle,† an expose of America's meat-packing factories written by Upton Sinclair, intended to generate public sympathy for America's working class; instead, the attention focused on the safety of meat. Congress later passed food-and-drug safety legislation. In addition to the various reform laws passed by Congress during the Progressive Era, this period of history saw the ratification of four constitutional amendments: the sixteenth, the seventeenth, the eighteenth, and the nineteenth. The sixteenth authorized a graduated income tax to fund government operations, and the seventeenth provided for direct election of Senators.The eighteenth amendment banned the sale and i mportation of alcohol, and the nineteenth amendment extended voting rights to women. The eighteenth amendment failed because prohibition fueled the rise of organized crime and had little public support as time passed. It was repealed in 1933. The Progressive Era included other reforms as well. The U. S. government exercised greater control over the banking system through the creation of the Federal Reserve System. After multiple wars, conflicts, and controversies, the United States is well on its way to becoming and advanced and industrialized new world.The Progressive Movement was an effort to cure many of the ills of American society that had developed during the great spurt of industrial growth in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Although not all individuals were equal, it is still not even that way today, but what mattered was that there were improvements being made. African Americans were no longer enslaved, and were free to start their own business, open their own s chools and churches, and educate themselves; something that would have been unheard of just forty years ago.The nation had also grown tremendously in the aspect of modernization and industrialization. New factories were popping up along with coal mines, and railroads were being built all across the country to transport goods and create national brands. A downfall to this was that the rich were becoming richer, and the poor were becoming poorer. The nation was also making itself stronger by acquiring more territory such as, Guam, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Not to mention gaining permanent naval stations in Cuba. As a whole, the United States grew quickly and prospered tremendously, regardless of their rocky start.

Langston Hughes “Theme for English B”

Langston Hughes â€Å"Theme for English B,† was written in part of an assignment given to Hughes from his college instructor. The instructor said, â€Å"Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you-Then, it will be true† (Hughes lines 2-5). Hughes viewed his assignment as expressing how he felted in the moment. He starts his paper by describing his journey from Durham, then to Harlem, where he is the only African American in his college class. At the same time, he outlines his walk from Harlem to his room. Later, Hughes expressed that at age twenty-two, his likes and interest was not much different from other races. Hughes then expresses his feelings toward connection. He says, â€Å"Yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. That’s American. Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me. Nor do I often want to be a part of you† (32-35). This expresses how he views different races in America. He views other races as being a part of one another because of the connection to the American life style. Basically, he is saying that because he and whites is American, they are connected through the way of American living, but at the same time, he expresses how the connection is not wanted or favored. Hughes ends his paper saying, â€Å"I guess you learn from me-although you’re older-and white-and somewhat more free† (37-39). Expressing that, even though the whites have more rights then him, they still influence him and vice versa.

TYPES/CATEGORIES OF EXPERT SYSTEM

TYPES/CATEGORIES OF EXPERT SYSTEM An expert system is designed to solve problems and to produce advices as outputs. The expert system applications can be used for: ADVICE SYSTEMS This system is used to give information to the user on a course of action. For example, oil companies use expert system like GeoQuest and GeoPlay to advise on the most likely places to drill for oil. CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS This system can identify and grade information. For example, botanist use expert system to classify rare plants. DIAGNOSIS SYSTEMS This system can predict or determine the cause of problem. For example, medical experts are used to diagnose illness and diseases. PLANNING SYSTEMS This system can design or prepare an itinerary or schedule. For example, PowerGen uses the SHIRAS deductive database to plan shift patterns. PREDICTIONS SYSTEMS This system can give forecast future events resolving in solving problems from the past. For example, Metasite predict hot spots in the molecule to help chemists focus their design of compounds to optimize CYP, FMO3, and AOX1 mediated metabolism. GENERATIONS OF OPTIONS This system can generate alternative solutions to a problem. DEBUGGING AND REPAIR SYSTEMS A debugging and repair expert system can generate and administer remedies for system faults. For example, COOKER ADVISER provides repair advice with respect to canned soup sterilizing machines. (Joshik, n.d.) CATEGORIES OF EXPERT SYSTEM FOR PROPOSED SYSTEM The proposed system can be categorized as advice system as it gives information to the user on course of action. This is because our project recommends engineering fields to take for A level students on user’s preferences and requirements. For example, at the beginning of the system Julia will ask the user what field the student wants to enter in, if the user has no idea, a series of questions will be asked by Julia to recommend a suitable field for the student. The system will assist the student throughout till it satisfied with all the possible question asked and will be answered based on the input given. Another expert system proposed is the help of scheduling planning which is well built for the student to prepare them for any engineering course. After the student has input its interest and the system has decided the best solution it will then display a schedule or plan on how to proceed without having any problems.

Employee Benefits and Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Employee Benefits and Services - Essay Example The reason behind this is that he/she enters the country with an aim to attain financial stability through struggle and hard work . Therefore, they work hard to gain opportunities and occasionally become successfull eventually as a good entrepreneur. There has been a continuous debate on whether a Citizen or Non-Citizen should receive the same employee benefits working for the same organization or country (United States). One view point is that if a person who is not a citizen, but has been working in US legally, is entitled to Social Security Number and subsequently, he can receive benefits almost equivalent to a native US Citizen. This provision was passed on January 1, 2004 that a non-citizen can be granted SSN if he stays in the country and works legally. A non-citizen is also entitled to unemployment benefit if an organization terminates his contract without any valid reason and after he has received SSN. (U.S. Social Security

The gospel of Mark Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The gospel of Mark - Essay Example It is a critical time in the history of the Church and the passage in Mark 7:1-23 must be seen against this particular historical background. There is one major theme throughout this passage, and that is the difference between purity and defilement, and the key motivation of Jesus appears to be to announce a very significant shift from Jewish to Christian thinking. It is a transitional passage, therefore, and this can be seen in two ways. Jesus signals a transition from the Old Covenant based on the law, to something that transcends the law, and he shifts his mission from the Jewish heartlands to the Gentile territories. These two dimensions are, of course, connected. The passage in question introduces a phase of preaching and teaching in the Gentile territories. The major difference between Jews and Gentiles is the observance of Jewish law by the Jews only. As a Jew himself, Jesus attracted much criticism from Jewish authorities for his liberal attitude to some of the Jewish command ments, and no doubt also some apprehension from the Gentiles who would need to know whether following Jesus would mean converting to Judaism with all that this entails. It is clear from the text that some of the followers of Jesus observed the Jewish dietary rules, and some did not. The issue was, therefore, not clearly settled and this was a potential cause of disunity in the early Church. In fact this issue is documented again and again, as reported in Acts2 and in the letters of Paul.3 The gospel passage spells out what the Jewish laws entail, even though the disciples are already well aware of these rules. This detail is evidence that the teaching of these points is designed for Gentile listeners in the first instance, to explain what the issue is about and invite them now to join with the followers of Jesus on an equal basis, not constrained by the laws that had previously separated all those of Jewish heritage form all those of gentile birth. In other words, this is a message intended for non-Jews. This point is raised now because it is necessary in order to remove social boundaries that could hamper Jesus’ mission to the Gentiles.4 The issue is not completely resolved, however, and commentators note that the position of Jews who became followers of Christ is left open, suggesting that continued observance of the dietary laws is an option for them.5 In the first part of the passage, Mark 7:1-14 the writer of the Gospel clearly is setting down a definitive teaching here which absolves Gentile followers from having to obey the Jewish laws. The position for the disciples is further discussed in the remainder of the section, and in this case the message is taken to a different level. Some commentators suggest that the passage signifies a departure from the old Jewish laws: â€Å"the Markian Jesus declares that in fact all people are defiled – not by what they eat and drink but by what they will say and do†.6 This utterance signals a depa rture from the situation that pertained when God gave the law to the Jews, since, in the words of Boring it is â€Å"not descriptive, but performative; not explaining what has always been the case, but changing the situation by Jesus’ authoritative declaration†.7 The distinction between purity and impurity is maintained, but the source of defilement is now defined in terms of what a person does, and not what kind of food he or she eats. It opens the door for Jesus to go on and mingle with lepers, male and female Gentiles, and all kinds of sinners without fear of defilement in the traditional Jewish sense. When Jesus or his disciples are accused of defilement, he responds â€Å"by dismissing these boundaries as â€Å"