The historical progression of African Americans Research Paper

The historical progression of African Americans - Research Paper Example Slavery and servitude was all they had ever known. The outcome of that was many Blacks sought to recreate their lives in freedom. Some found the means to open up a business or work as a free labourer. That did not mean however, the people of Southern states accepted them as their equals. Even though many Blacks sought to live a free life and in practical aspects they did, they were also forced to deal with segregation. White people who were angry about the abolition of slavery (especially in the Southern states) declared that Black people could only enter certain shops, streets, and they had to attend their own schools. They were often detained and held for questioning by prejudiced officials even in Northern towns (Volo & Volo, 2007). Black people sought to try and live their lives with as much dignity as possible, but they faced many barriers as a direct result of emancipation. The old prejudices that ran deep in American society were not going to be erased so easily, and the practical matter of integrating Black people into American society would take well over a century. As a result, many Black people remained extremely poor. They also faced lynchings, angry mobs and outright prejudice in many aspects of their lives. The people of the Southern states felt that abolition of slavery had been forced on them, and they were not going to be forced into integration. As a result of emancipation, Black people were free. They were not equal and would not be for a long time. In the period of 1877-1920 America moved through what some historians refer to as 'The Gilded Age'. It was a period of tremendous economic growth and technological innovation. For many African Americans who had lived their entire lives on a farm or in a rural area, the push towards greater urbanization represented a new trend in their lives after emancipation. Those who continued to live on plantations and work the land were free by proclamation but not in practicality. Plantation owners continued to be very angry about emancipation. One of the key issues they faced was the loss of the protection of Union troops who withdrew from Southern states in 1877. This forced African Americans to face the new reality that many White Americans were not happy about abolition and would not be subdued so easily. In addition, there was a great deal of immigration to the US at this time which brought people of many new cultures to the US. There were many Americans who were unhappy about this as the y saw them as outsiders and not real Americans (Mjagkij & Cantu, 1999). The African Americans were often perceived of as outsiders as well. Prejudice continued to run high as many Americans felt their country was being taken away from them. African Americans often faced lynchings and other horrific acts of prejudice against them. Mjagkij and Cantu (1999) noted that even though they were free from slavery many African Americans had no place to go and many Southern plantation owners no longer wanted them. The unfortunate reality is that they remained economically dependent on Whites and the work they could give them. A major blow during this period was the passing of the Jim Crow laws which basically recognized that American society was to be a segregated

Critics of the immigration law Essay Example for Free

Critics of the immigration law Essay The topic I have chosen is â€Å"Illegal Migration on the U. S. Border† since this is currently a significant issue as reflected by the heavy media coverage depicting the allegedly alarming rate by which the number of illegal immigrants has risen in the United States since 2004. The Washington Post, for instance, reports that approximately half a million immigrants have poured in last year, outnumbering the number of legal immigrants. (Cohn A13) The concern over illegal immigration has therefore drawn out varied responses and put immense pressure on the Government, including President Bush who is reported to be proposing granting temporary working visas to foreigners as part of the legal remedies to the situation apart from the proposed wall to be built in the borders between the U. S. and Mexico and heavy personnel enforcement in patrolling the borders. (BBC News) Its nearest neighbor, Mexico is logically the foremost source of both legal and illegal immigrants in the country. I have so far been able to check online sources of information such as the news networks mentioned above. I would like to peruse additional materials such as previous studies on the issue and other materials such as those printed by the advocates and critics of the immigration law in order to gain a deeper understanding of the topic mentioned. From my perspective, there is indeed a clear need to strictly enforce the immigration laws to address concerns on homeland security and other threats posed by illegal immigration, including the syndicate groups that have obviously been taking advantage of both the laxity of the State in patrolling its borders and the desperation of Mexicans and other nationals who are after the supposedly greener pastures offered by the United States. I therefore see no harm in the President’s proposal for the issuance of temporary work visas to immigrants. On the contrary, it would help make the monitoring easier for immigration officers and therefore also help control the influx of illegal immigrants in the country. Works Cited: Cohn, D’Vera. â€Å"Report Details Growth in Illegal Migration. † Washington Post. 28 Sept. 2005:A13 â€Å"Viewpoints: U. S. Illegal Migration. † 23 May 2006. BBC News Online. 1 July 2007. http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/world/americas/4989248. stm

Hamlet :: essays research papers

Shakespeare’s characterization of Hamlet changes through the course of the play. It is most evident in an examination of his soliloquies. The progression of Hamlet is from an innocent person to a murderous madman. In Act II, Hamlet is blaming himself for many problems. He is angry with himself because he has done nothing with his plan to kill Claudius. It also bothers Hamlet he is not as emotional as the actor on the stage, who is portraying him. â€Å"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!/Is it not monstrous that this player here,/But in fiction, in a dream of passion,/Could force his soul so to his own conceit/That from her working all his visage wann’d,/Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspect,/A broken voice, and his whole function suiting. With forms to his conceit?† In this soliloquy, he is questioning how other people become emotional. He asks what Hecuba means to the mere actor on stage, who cried because of her. He wonders what he would do, had the actor had the same reasons to cry as Hamlet had. He says:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, /that he should weep for her?/What would he do,/Had he the motive and the cue for passion that I have? â€Å" He answers his own questions. He says that the actor would â€Å"drown the stage with tears† and â€Å"cleave the general ear with horrid speech.† He does not talk about his mother at all in this soliloquy. He is, however, still disgusted by what has just happened. He hates Claudius and talks about him more in this soliloquy. He says:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I should have fatted all the region kites/With this slave’s offal: bloody, bawdy villain!/Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!† Towards the end of the play, he comes up with yet another plan to find out for sure if Claudius indeed murdered his father. He stops assaulting himself and starts to talk more declaratively about his new plan. Even at the very start of Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act III, it is evident that he is in a more thoughtful mood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"To be, or not to be: that is the question:/Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/And by opposing end them? â€Å" These are Hamlet’s well-known lines. He is not attacking himself in this soliloquy; rather he is contemplating an issue. He is talking about mankind as a whole, as opposed to himself personally. Hamlet :: essays research papers Shakespeare’s characterization of Hamlet changes through the course of the play. It is most evident in an examination of his soliloquies. The progression of Hamlet is from an innocent person to a murderous madman. In Act II, Hamlet is blaming himself for many problems. He is angry with himself because he has done nothing with his plan to kill Claudius. It also bothers Hamlet he is not as emotional as the actor on the stage, who is portraying him. â€Å"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!/Is it not monstrous that this player here,/But in fiction, in a dream of passion,/Could force his soul so to his own conceit/That from her working all his visage wann’d,/Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspect,/A broken voice, and his whole function suiting. With forms to his conceit?† In this soliloquy, he is questioning how other people become emotional. He asks what Hecuba means to the mere actor on stage, who cried because of her. He wonders what he would do, had the actor had the same reasons to cry as Hamlet had. He says:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, /that he should weep for her?/What would he do,/Had he the motive and the cue for passion that I have? â€Å" He answers his own questions. He says that the actor would â€Å"drown the stage with tears† and â€Å"cleave the general ear with horrid speech.† He does not talk about his mother at all in this soliloquy. He is, however, still disgusted by what has just happened. He hates Claudius and talks about him more in this soliloquy. He says:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I should have fatted all the region kites/With this slave’s offal: bloody, bawdy villain!/Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!† Towards the end of the play, he comes up with yet another plan to find out for sure if Claudius indeed murdered his father. He stops assaulting himself and starts to talk more declaratively about his new plan. Even at the very start of Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act III, it is evident that he is in a more thoughtful mood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"To be, or not to be: that is the question:/Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/And by opposing end them? â€Å" These are Hamlet’s well-known lines. He is not attacking himself in this soliloquy; rather he is contemplating an issue. He is talking about mankind as a whole, as opposed to himself personally.

Herzberg Theory Essay

Herzberg’s Two Factor theory (Motivator-Hygiene) suggested that the factors involved in producing job satisfaction and motivation are separate and distinct from the factors that lead to job dissatisfaction. (Herzberg, 1987) In 1959, Frederick Herzberg found that people had two essential needs in life. 1. The human’s need as an animal to avoid pain 2. The human’s need to grow psychologically And from the two founding, Herzberg has come up with a two factor theory or is also known as Motivator-Hygiene theory that has been a stepping stone for motivation in the workplace. Motivator-Hygiene Theory Herzberg interviewed 203 engineers and accountants. A survey has been done to identify how they feel about their jobs. They were asked to remember back the time when they felt really good at their job and the feelings that associated during that time. And later, they were also asked to recall a time when they felt really bad towards the job and the feelings that associated with it. These results led to two categories Job Satisfiers Job Dissatisfiers. * Motivator Factors (Job Satisfiers) Factors that create positive feelings. These included things such as achievement, responsibility, growth in workplace and recognition. * Hygiene Factors (Job Dissatisfiers)  Factors that are related to work context and environment. These includes company policy, administration, job security, salary and work conditions. The theory states that if the motivator factors are present in conjunction with hygiene factors then the job will be satisfying. If the hygiene factors are the only present factors, then the job will be in a neutral state. Employees are not dissatisfied and they have average performance. If the hygiene factors are not present then the job becomes dissatisfying, with or without motivators. Even though hygiene factors do not lead to extra work they are needed as building blocks to start productivity. Therefore, in order move beyond this level, the motivator factors are needed. Herzberg, F.I. (1987), â€Å"One more time: How do you motivate employees?† Harvard Business Review, Vol.65 (5), pp.109 – 120 Herzberg, F., Maunser, B. and  Snyderman, B. (1959), The Motivation to Work, John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, NY

Rhetorical Analysis of “Making a Killing off Captivity” by Melissa Richards

Kept in captivity since 1961, orcas have been spectacles for millions of people each year who flock to marine parks around the world in hopes of entertainment and education. The chance to get close to such an incredible creature that one may not have the opportunity to see otherwise is undoubtedly an amazing experience. But Melissa Richards questions in â€Å"Making a Killing off Captivity†, at what cost are we getting this experience? She argues that the positive image big-name aquatic parks create for animals is in actual fact leading people to unknowingly support a cruel industry. Explaining the detrimental effects of taking an orca out of its natural habitat, Richards emphasizes her concern for the conservation of Orcas and the importance of treating these powerful and dangerous creatures with respect. Richards begins by setting a joyful scene of a SeaWorld orca performance, an invitation for the reader to enter a high spirited fun spectacle of an orca. Weighing several tonnes the orca circles, leaps and splashes the delighted audience. Suddenly, the mood shifts horrifically as the trainer becomes victim to an orca attack in front of a stunned audience. The sharp change in mood is established by Richards when she says, â€Å"The show ended to a usual bout of applause and cheers, until ‘Tilly' grabbed his trainer, Dawn Brancheau, by her ponytail and dragged the woman into his tank. † Just as one would think that the spectacle was over, the reader is shocked at the unexpected ending as the audience would have been at Seaworld. The reader's perception of the orca as being a fun loving, friendly creature, emphasized by the amusing nickname ‘Tilly', immediately changes to perceiving the orca as a villain. Richards questions â€Å"what could have prompted this sudden violent outburst from Tilikum, a whale who has been in captivity for almost thirty years? † This question brings new dimension to the matter at hand. Suddenly the situation isn't as black and white as one would have assumed. She elaborates by stating, â€Å"the stress of being captive and made to perform daily had elicited a frustration against his trainer†. Richards manipulates the reader's perception towards the orca, from a villain to a victim. The deliberate changes of perception towards orcas helps in avoiding predictability in Richards' argument, this is an effective way to keep the reader focused and intrigued in her writing. Richards elaborates by stating that captivity has had many detrimental effects on orcas including ‘atypical illnesses, erratic behavior, deformities, neurotic problems and early death'. These conditions bring light to the fact that the matter at hand is life threatening and ‘counterproductive to the goals of wildlife appreciation and conservation'. Intertwining these critical issues of wildlife conservation and animal cruelty, she stresses the urgency in her argument. There is a need to convey the message that action must be taken immediately. It is acknowledged that to know whether the orcas are being mistreated in their artificial habitat, we must know the natural habitat of an orca. Richards does a commendable job of familiarizing the reader the sheer magnitude of a creature that many people are unknown to via statistics. Travelling â€Å"one hundred nautical miles every day† (qtd Landeau 1) and weighing â€Å"1. to 3. 6 tons† it is no wonder that their power and strength has earned them the nickname of the â€Å"wolves of the sea†. Despite the general unfamiliarity of these exotic creatures, Richards draws comparisons of the behavior and characteristics of Orcas to that of humans. Orcas have been found to create social and familial bonds with one another, The idea that whales share similar bonds to thei r family as we do encourages the readers to change their belief that whales may not be as alien of a species as they had imagined. This is further elaborated when Richards states â€Å"Mothers are the main caretakers of their offspring, but fathers will remain with their own matriarchal pod, helping to care for the young within this maternal line. † Words such as â€Å"caretakers†, â€Å"helping† and â€Å"care† appeal to the reader's emotions as we see how affectionate the orca species can be within their pod just as we are affectionate to our kin. â€Å"The familial bonds within orca pods are very strong and only can be broken through death and capture of member† (qtd Williams 9). Suddenly, the loving image of an orca pod is brought back to our harsh reality as she clearly states that captivity devastates innocent orca families. While Richards draws emphasis to the social behavior of orcas, she also informs us of their impressive cognitive abilities. â€Å"orcas are one of the few animals besides humans to have such distinctive language and shared speech patterns among individuals living in the same area† This shows that not only do orcas have strong communal bond with each other, they also communicate so effectively that this is a rare occurrence in the animal kingdom. She stresses the similarity between the reader and the orca species here, this creates familiarity. Moreover, she compares the habitat and behavior of orcas in the wild to those held captive in marine parks. Incorporating the opinion of a former Seaworld trainer (Jeffrey Ventre), a truly credible source considering her experience, the argument is strengthened by a bold statement. â€Å"the SeaWorld system is the best of all seaquaria in the world, if I was an orca, that would be the last place I'd want to live† This suggests that even at its best, marine parks and seaquarias are far from the ideal habitat for an orca. Ventre compares an orca tank to â€Å"an acoustically dead cement pond† emphasizing the numbing atmosphere of a captive orca's habitat. Case studies of orcas being neurologically and physically damaged because of captivity add credibility to Richards case. Due to â€Å"inadequate space in which to swim† (qtd Williams 52), the dorsal fins of an orca can collapse. This could happen as a result of colliding with the side of the small tank. The size of orca tanks can have great effect on the neurological stability of an orca where some have been documented to self induce physical damage. According to ‘Listening to Whales' by Alexandra Morton, a young killer whale was observed â€Å"rushing over to a particular spot and banging her head against the underside of a dock†. Swimming in circles and being separated from their families causes the orca to become neurotic. Isolation can be severely detrimental for an orca as some are forced to be in solitary confinement. If orcas cannot adapt to captivity they are made to endure horrifying conditions as in the case study of â€Å"Junior† who died â€Å"lethargic and psychotic† after being kept in an indoor pool without natural light and other orcas. Richards emphasized that orcas are highly social creatures so the idea that it is common practice for captive orcas to be isolated is truly shocking. To further support her argument, Richards shows us how captivity is harmful to orcas with the use of numbers and statistics. After the first orca was taken into captivity in 1961 â€Å"at least 106 (79%) are now dead† (qtd Williams 4). The average lifespan of an orca is approximately sixty to eighty years, which means the majority of orcas do not die from a natural death. This is addressed when Richards states â€Å"one in five of these deaths were a result of avoidable or preventable causes†. It is clear that preventing the death of orcas is not unachievable if more people knew the risks of captivity. Richards appeals to the reader by explaining how the relationship between a mother orca and it's offspring can be heartbreakingly affected by living in a tank. After a giving birth to a series of orcas that died in weeks, â€Å"Corky† the killer whale was encountering a problem in which her offspring could not instinctually find the spot on Corky to nurse on. This is because of the circular nature of the tank. In the wild, orcas travel in straight lines that make it easier for the offspring to feed. Corky had been continuously pregnant for almost ten years and â€Å"finally at the young age of twenty one, Corky stopped ovulating. † † The death of multiple innocent babies that was so easily avoidable is tragic and makes the reader sympathize with these creatures. Other occurrences that may not be seen in the wild is aggression between orcas. Richards documents a sickening account of two orcas fighting aggressively. â€Å"As Kandu hemorrhaged into the tank and spouted blood from her blowhole onto the stage, SeaWorld staffed ushered a shocked audience out of the audience†¦ This gruesome event graphically conveys the point that captivity induces strange behavior in orcas, ultimately due to neurological damage. This study makes a point of noting the sheer strength and ferocity that an orca can possess. Overall I believe Richards does a commendable job of conveying her argument. She uses credible sources and reliable statistics in order to support her point of view. I have personally been to an orca show in California, reading this article made me reflect on that experience and completely change my percep tion. At the time the experience was completely positive and almost magical as we stepped in to a fantasy land where Shamu was almost a cartoon character, jumping and leaping out of glee. Reading this article has made me realize that Shamu is far from an enchanting Disney character but is actually one of the fiercest, most powerful predators in the ocean. Richards has achieved this with her various case studies that enlightened me on the magnitude of an orca and its ability to kill not only humans but other orcas too. She has persuaded the reader to support her argument with the use of emotions. However, Richards has made an effort to avoid rambling needlessly to provoke empathy by using clear facts to accompany her opinions. An aspect of her research paper that I would change would be the incorporation of the Vancouver Aquarium. The aim of Richards argument was to eliminate captivity in order to conserve the orca population and animal cruelty. However, she has shown Vancouver aquarium in a positive light by stating it â€Å"eliminates parallel surfaces, reduces noise transmission and improves acoustics within the water†. Although Vancouver Aquarium vowed to end orca shows after the death of an orca in their aquarium, I believe Richards message in this quotation is that these conditions are acceptable for an orca in captivity. My personal belief is that no orca should be taken from their natural habitat and away from their pod at all. I believe that this article was written at a point in time that it was needed the most. Conservation and wildlife protection is of utmost importance as hundreds of species a day are rapidly moving towards extinction. This article has shown that we need to be more aware of how we treat animals. Ultimately, Richards has done a fantastic job of educating the reader about a topic that is alien to many. With the use of powerful statistics, thought provoking points and emotional case studies, she has produced a strong argument. The ultimate reaction I believe many readers will walk away from this article with is disappointment, distaste and disillusionment towards orca shows and marine parks. The next time one makes a trip to SeaWorld they must question whether they are going for a day of education and entertainment or whether they are supporting a business built on exploitation of innocent orcas.