Arcadia by Tom Stoppard Shows The Dangers and Chaos and Absolute Knowledge

Middlesex by Jeffry Eugenides is a book about Calliope “Cal” Stephanides. In the beginning of the book, Cal, as he likes to be referred to as, tells us about his condition. Cal has a 5-Alpha-Reductase pseudohermaphrodite which is, simply put, a condition that affects the sexual development of males before the birth of the child and also during puberty. In Middlesex, incestuous marriages were secretly accepted among the villagers which resulted in Cal being conceived by cousins. Before Cal’s birth, the tradition of his family was gender prediction by his grandmother, Desdemona Stephanides. It seemed to be a traditional thing for the family from the Greek roots. When it was time to predict Tessie’s, Cal’s mother, baby, Desdemona declared that the child would be a boy. Milton, Cal’s father, disagreed because there was no way the baby could be a boy scientifically. This could also be based on the fact that Tessie and Milton wanted a baby girl. Until the age of sixteen, Cal was raised as a girl even though he had a male brain biologically.

Using an outline really helped me with my writing. Having an outline there next to me, it help me to be able to go back and look to see if I forgot any main points. I actually used the outline because it helped me write strong paragraphs. Doing this I-Search paper, helped me to know how to evaluate websites and maybe some information. What I learned from this I-Search paper, was about the Warsaw Concentration Camp and websites I

Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides, inner struggles are paralleled with each setting. Taking place in the twentieth century each setting plays a significant role in explaining a theme in the novel. Fleeing Greece in a time of war and entering Detroit Michigan as immigrants parallel later events to the next generation of kin fleeing Grosse Pointe Michigan to San Francisco. These settings compliment a major theme of the novel, society has always believed to be missing something in their life and attempted to fill the missing piece.

Ross Gay’s book Against Which, portrays his poetry to readers allowing them to gain understanding of the cruel world that one lives in. Moreover, the unusual brutalities that people are inevitable confronted with in life. The common denominators within Gay’s poems such as violence, love, fear, and loss allows the reader to visualize characters’ transformation within his poems. In a world of calamity, Gay has created poems that portray the corporal conforming to gender and sex but also human development. Using a reader-response criticism lens, I will be demonstrating my interpretation of Ross Gay’s poems and the meaning that I believe to be a common interpretation of his work. Within, Gay’s poems, “It Starts at Birth” and Angels Out of Reach” one is able to see a pattern of human transformation. By experiencing pain, love, loss, fear, and wisdom one is able to see Gay’s characters evolve through the narrators and readers gaze. In doing so, one is able to reflect on Gay’s poems and gain wisdom themselves.

Ann Petry 's novella, "In Darkness and Confusion," explicitly exhibits the ramifications of being a poverty stricken African American in Harlem, New York – via the conscious of the extremely contemplative William Jones. In this short story, readers are allowed to experience William’s anxiety about residing in a slum ridden neighborhood, working at a barely paying job, and the mental health of his deployed son. In journeying alongside William throughout the weekend, sharing his past disappointments and disillusionments as well as his hopes and dreams, the reader is able to discern his feelings of mass frustration. In walking in the shoes of William Jones, it becomes evident how the entire Black community might be overwhelmed by circumstances which indubitably inspired and provided rationale for an urban black rebellion.

“Among the Hidden” is a dystopian book written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Luke Garner is a 12-year-old illegal boy in his family according to their society. In Luke’s society third child’s or as I may call it shadow children were illegal. However, if the government found out you had a third child the child was to be eliminated. Luke was raised in a farm near the woods. In addition, Luke wasn’t allowed to be near the windows anytime which is why he always stayed in the attic. One day Luke discovered another shadow child named Jen, this discovery changed Luke’s life extremely throughout this novel.

A vanished World written by Chris Lowney chronicles the daily life of the Jews, Muslims and Christians, living in the Muslim kingdoms in Medieval Spain. He covers different spectrum of this world that was torn by religious antagonism. In Medieval Spain, in the medieval Spanish villages Muslims, Christians, and Jews rubbed shoulders on a daily basis. They shared irrigation system, bathhouses, municipal ovens, and marketplaces. But they created a system that made everything work efficiently. Medieval Spaniards introduced Europeans to paper manufacture, Hindu-Arabic numerals, philosophical classics, algebra, citrus fruits, cotton, and new medical techniques. More astonishing than Spain 's wide-ranging accomplishments, however, was the

John Locke cites reason as the “law of nature” which “teaches all mankind” and describes passion as that which “carries [humans] too far in punishing others” thus resulting in a state of war (Locke ). However, modernity tends to view reason and passion in a more Aristotelian manner. Rather than understanding reason as a virtue and passion as a vice, modernity finds that true virtue lies betwixt the extremes, an idea which Tom Stoppard explores extensively in his play, Arcadia. Although Locke might have thought passion pollutes scientific endeavors, the tenets of modernity would view passion as a necessity of effective scientific thought. Stoppard’s Arcadia examines the interplay between cold, calculating logic and fervent, unadulterated passion

Throughout, the book, The Accidental Universe, Alan Lightman the author of the book discusses a number of ideas ranging from, how the world came to be, to the multiverse, as well as other various ideas and his thoughts on them. Consistently throughout the book, Lightman was wishy-washy and it appeared he was trying to please both Atheists, as well as religious people. However, his key idea stays prevalent throughout the entirety of the book. The idea being that this universe came to fruition accidentally, out of nothing.

Have you ever wondered what human nature would be like if everybody looked and sounded the same?

Usually in high school or even in real world events, if one doesn’t fall into the social norms of their peers, they become socially excluded from social events. In most cases, people in high school could agree with this statement. If one doesn’t dress the way people dress, socialize the way they do, and even act the way their peers do, not only would they be excluded from any social life but they would also feel very lonely. In the story Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, one could compare Bernard Marx to the lonely kid at school who feels isolated and criticized by his peers. Bernard 's physique and high level of status makes him feel so out of place and insecure. On Pg.67, Huxley describes him in a way that gives us an insight on how

Throughout the course of history, society had stereotyped women, making it merely impossible for a woman to achieve her goals and desires in life. This had weighed them not as equals, and for this, they were given different standards by which to live. At this day and age, and during the ancient Greek times, women have always been treated as second best by biased men, although today’s society has started to understand this inequality better as time progresses further into the future. Even with society becoming more equal for women, females are still treated similar as to time of the ancient Greeks. Women still don’t have as much power as men, are still “blamed” for wrongdoings and thought as untrustworthy, and are still used as “currency”

Watchmen by Alan Moore and David Gibbons makes many comments on the good and evil of humanity. The heroes in the book are very human and thus are very flawed. Most of the time, it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Quite frankly, the heroes themselves are relatively bad people and show the inner darkness that humans possess. However, there still seems to be a representation of the good in people. In this panel, there are many aspects that draw on the idea of the evil and good of humanity. This panel is able to capture so much of the story at once and it also presents the reality of what Veidt did. Even more so than the destruction caused, it is the images of the two Bernies, the “Black Freight” magazine, and representation

A person’s doubts can cloud their judgment on certain tasks at hand. On the other hand, a person’s certainty can blind someone from the truth. The argument ofDoubt versus Certainty is relevant today in the sense that it is the main argument for and against religion. The theory of doubt can also be used in literary works for a number of reasons. In John Patrick Shanley’s movie/play Doubt, the theme of “certainty versus doubt” is shown throughout the story to signify the importance of characterization and to symbolize the importance that a person must be cautious of the people around them.

Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1 provides the context for several of the characters' actions. It is a soliloquy about fearing the unknown that lies waiting on the other side of the grave (are we punished and/or rewarded according to our actions on earth?) and as Hamlet reasons, "Conscience does make cowards of us all" (3.1.2). In other words, Hamlet feels that he is unable to act because of the haunting voice of doubt inside him. He doubts that he would find peace in the afterlife should he kill himself. He doubts the events he sees before his very eyes and so cannot exact revenge as the spirit of his father urges him to do. Yet, as Hamlet begins to unravel, other characters expose their doubts as well, revealing how they too are troubled by the unknown. King Claudius reveals his troubled conscience after witnessing the play and wonders what he has done; Hamlet's mother tries to block out the reality of the situation she has entered into when Hamlet attacks her with what he knows (not knowing is better than knowing, she feels). This paper will examine the ways in which the unknown affects the actions of the characters in Hamlet and show that at the heart of each character is an unwillingness to confront the unknown (which is oftentimes themselves).