Saturday, January 25, 2020

A Bond between Sisters :: Personal Narrative

A Bond between Sisters The kitchen is sweltering, like everywhere else in the house, so the ice melts quickly as I drop it into the pitcher of freshly brewed mint tea. A fly buzzes around my head, and I try not to flinch as I pour five glasses of the light green liquid. One is for dad, who is in the garden picking tomatoes, another for mom who is diligently preparing for tomorrow's birthday party, and one is for my youngest sister Rachel who is running around the neighborhood with her dog. I take a sip from one of the remaining cups and carry the last to my other sister, Anna. Though I have not heard from her in hours, I know she will be sitting in the same position I last saw her: reclined on the porch chair, feet rested on the railing, and mind deeply lost in her newest science fiction or fantasy novel. "Anna, would you like some tea," I offer as the screen door slams behind me. She doesn't move. "Anna," I try again, this time touching her shoulder with my elbow. She turns her chin towards me, but her eyes continue scanning the page until she has reached an appropriate stopping point. She lifts her slightly glazed, hazel eyes towards mine, unwilling to disengage from the world created by Anthony Piers or Terry Brooks. The corners of her mouth curl upwards, eyes slightly squinting from the bright sunlight, and she reaches out her empty hand, decorated with an intricate henna design, to grasp the sweating glass of tea. My sister and parents have settled on henna as an acceptable form of body art, as opposed to piercings, tattoos, or even hair dye. My sister's artistic talents and desire to decorate herself have been evident since she was little when she longed for the day she could wear the makeup that mom donned every Sunday. One morning, my sister's desire and daring five-year-old spirit got the better of her, and she snuck a tube of bright red lipstick to church. Our mother was mortified, but most of the congregation thought it amusing to see Anna's crimson lips. Anna's artistic side has manifested itself in many other ways. She carried a sketchbook, making drawings of the various churches we visited, our family, or the creatures in her imagination. In her late elementary school years, Anna discovered the joy of using beads to make jewelry.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Hawthorne’s Display of Evil Essay

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† are literature classics. Hawthorne thoroughly portrays his main themes and ideas in these works. Both of these works illustrate the effects of evil on the human soul. Through Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† we can clearly see that evil causes people to judge other people, evil corrupts one’s faith, and that evil has the power to transform the human soul. In â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† we see just how much evil causes people to judge others. Hawthorne effectively shows this through his character of Hester Prynne. Since Prynne committed the sin of adultery, she is forced to stand upon a scaffold in front of the whole city of Boston to be questioned and scolded. One of the townsmen said to Chillingworth, â€Å"The penalty thereof is death. But in their great mercy and tenderness of heart they have doomed Mistress Prynne to stand only a space of three hours on the platform of the pillory and†¦ wear a mark of shame upon her bosom. † (Hawthorne p. 4) This quote shows us that the public’s opinion on Hester Prynne has now forever changed. She is forced to wear a scarlet â€Å"A† upon her bosom to let everybody know exactly what she has done. The evil she has committed has greatly affected everyone’s point of view on Hester Prynne. Evil can harm a person in multiple ways. Another way it can harm you is by causing you to lose your faith. In Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† we see Goodman lose his faith in multiple things. He loses faith in God, in his family, and in all of the people who he associates with. While the Devil leads him into the forest, Goodman sees many familiar faces. He recognizes the faces of his wife, Faith, and he also recognizes the faces of the priests in his town. Though Goodman Brown is not sure whether it was a dream or not, he is convinced that evil is all around him. While in the forest, the Devil says, â€Å"By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin, ye shall scent out all the places – whether in church, bedchamber, street, field or forest –â€Å"(Hawthorne p. 613. ) Since he has heard the Devil’s word and witnessed these familiar faces, Goodman Brown has forever been changed. Evil has taken a toll on Goodman Brown, and it has caused his faith in his wife, family, and associates to be corrupt. One of the worst things evil can do to a human is transforming their soul. Hawthorne’s story of â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† illustrates this concept thoroughly. Goodman was transformed by evil in many negative ways. Before his meeting with the Devil in the forest, Goodman believed his whole family and his whole town to be very godly and he felt that he was living a great prosperous life. After his meeting with the Devil, Goodman had a negative outlook on everything in his life, he trusted no one but himself, and he lost hope in everything that he had going for him in his life. Hawthorne displays ways that evil can transform the human soul in â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† through his character of Chillingworth. Throughout the story, Hawthorne displays Chillingworth as â€Å"the man in black† also known as the Devil. Chillingworth, Prynne’s actual husband, goes through many changes in the story. His figure begins to change dramatically, making him look more evil. Chillingworth also desires to seek out the man who is the father of Pearl. He wants to find him because; he wants to make sure that the man does not repent of this sin. They people of this story believed that if one did not repent for a sin, then he or she would go to Hell. Chillingworth was not an evil man before he knew about the child. However, after the evil was committed against him, he began to turn evil, and wished the worst for the minister, the father of Pearl. It is apparent that the evil in both of these stories took a toll on both of these men’s souls. Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† both effectively display how evil can cause people to judge other people, how evil corrupts one’s faith, and how evil has the power to transform the human soul. Though evil has always been apparent in every day society, Hawthorne is attempting to influence us to always stick to your faith. No matter how bad the sin you commit is, God allows repentance for all sins. Hawthorne’s works are persuading us to never lose hope or give up on our faith.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Democracy Vs American Democracy - 973 Words

The idea of democracy is the power of the people that they have democratic rights such as the doctrine of democracy and the freedom of expression. In a complete democratic society, everyone is born equal. People not only have power in democracy but also have a responsibility to the society. In addition, democracy relates with Constitutions and election. There are a lot of democracy societies except the United States. As a democratic country, the United States and Canada have similar political and rules, but still have differences. Thomas Paine, who was an English-born American political activist, considered that human beings have two rights which are in-born rights and civil rights. In-born rights are the foundation of civil rights. And†¦show more content†¦The judicial branch is one of the three branches that are independent of the other two branches of the federal government. For this reason, the independent federal justice system is seen as the key to ensuring justice and equality for all citizens. The law of America insists on jury system because it is believed that the constitutional system and the goal of rule of law can be guaranteed by exercising the jurisdiction of the people. However, sometimes the law put undue emphasis on the procedural justice that makes a beneficial judgment to the defendant and damage benefit of victims. In an instance, the case of American football player Simpson in 1994 showed that in the case of sufficient evidence, due to procedural evidence not being adopted, the two first-degree murder charges were acquitted. The goal of law should prevent citizens from being infracted their rights. To compare with the United States, Canada is one of the Commonwealth countries. The queen of British is a nominal national leader of Canada and the viceroy is a representative of nominal leaders who are appointed by the Queen. 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