' Dead Men's Path, By Chinua Achebe

While Thoughts From The Tao-te Ching by Lao-Tzu and The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli are both pieces of work that serve as ground rules or guidelines for a ruler on how to rule a country, the two authors’ prepositions vary tremendously. One author takes on a susceptible viewpoint, while another takes on a much more conservative outlook. There are many factors as to why they differ so much. Even though Lao-Tzu and Machiavelli both provide intricate structures as to how rulers should run their state, there are extreme differences between the two.

Chris McCandless, John Krakauer, and Henry David Thoreau all relate to the thoughts of Transcendentalism. In the book, Into the Wild, by John Krakauer and excerpts from Walden by Thoreau, there is a definite relationship between Chris McCandless and Thoreau’s beliefs on Transcendentalism. McCandless and Thoreau both understand living deliberately, having a simple life, and moving on. Chris McCandless’s decisions with his life in the book Into the Wild reflect on The Transcendental beliefs of Thoreau in Walden.

Where Men Win Glory is an ironic euphemism for war. The title is ironic because there is nothing glorious about war or the way it ended Pat Tillman’s beautiful life. Jon Krakauer orchestrates this masterpiece with his diligently, articulated descriptions and with a timeline sewn together from the threads of two worlds. The author’s style can best be characterized by his challenging, precise diction and his ability to fluently intervene pertinent quotes and facts that further persuade the reader toward his cause. Throughout the book, the author’s tone harnesses resentment towards the militant hierarchy; for through its ingenuousness, deceit, and manipulation, the military uses Pat’s death as propaganda to bolster the war’s support.

Throughout Alain Locke’s works “Values and Imperatives,” “Pluralism and Intellectual Democracy,” “Cultural Relativism and Ideological Peace,” “The New Negro,” and “Harlem,” I found there to be a number of reoccurring themes, such as absolutes, imperatives, values, and relativism and their place in pluralism. I am going to be focusing on all the aforementioned themes and showing how they are all intertwined into the principles of pluralism.

Commonly, people believe that Thomas Jefferson is a hypocrite, due to the fact that one of his most famous quotes is “all men are created equal”. Although that was one of his famous quotes, he owned slaves all throughout his lifetime. The topic over slavery including Thomas Jefferson is extremely controversial today in America.

Embedded in the human spirit is the notion that people possess an innate sense of being an individual, free to think, act, and understand the world surrounding them. In George Orwell’s 1984, individuality is removed to support the Party’s abilities in controlling and exploiting the masses. Yet, despite their success in suppressing the citizens of Oceania there is something rooted in humanity that although can be repressed, still remains implanted within the deepest parts of a person’s mind. In the novel, while the Party attempts to annihilate all human instincts in order to acquire pure and absolute power, it is unknown to them that despite their best efforts there lies something much more dominant in the human mind which although can be inhibited may never be entirely eliminated. As Winston ponders revolutionary ideas, his physical body unknowing to his conscious mind, is complacent with his innermost thoughts to rebel in any way possible. Winston’s thoughts of unorthodoxy become enhanced through Julia because he discovers someone who desires and understands him, conjuring up something instinctual in him which has been waiting to be released. To care and protect someone else becomes instinctive when he/she experiences suffering or pain and this kind of understanding is acknowledged through the only people Winston believes express any sanity in a corrupt world: the proletarians. A person’s impulse to resist an oppressive nature is instinctual and this is validated through

Anthropology and genetics are two fields that, when put together, discover some amazing things. Most of these amazing things are written in the book The Journey of Man, by Spencer Wells. In it, he explains where humans originated from, and how we came to populate the entire globe. It is both humbling and riveting, and a great start to understanding how much work truly goes in to studying our past.

Early this morning, 1 January 2021, three minutes after midnight, the last human being to be born on earth was killed in a pub brawl in a suburb of Buenos Aires, aged twenty-five years, two months and twelve days.

In “Dead Man’s Path,” Chinua Achebe uses character, diction, and setting to illustrate how unwillingness to change never results in a positive outcome. The characters of Obi and Ani are very stubborn in their ways refuse to give in to each other’s beliefs. The stubbornness displayed by each character intensifies the tension between the traditional village and the contemporary school. The conflict in this story highlights a problem that is still deeply rooted in society today, resistance to

Fuller Buckminster once said “Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.” Due to the inventions in computers and the internet, people have lost the ability to interact with one another face-to-face. In the article, “Authenticating,” Brain Christian emphasizes on how advancement in code programming has created a chat stimulated program called “Chatbots” which mimics human behavior. However, one’s attachment to these robotic humans have taken away the opportunity one has in order to have a real life conversation. Similarly, Francis Fukuyama in his article “Human Dignity,” mentions how he is concerned with what it means to be a human. He talks about Factor X which are inner traits such an emotions, and thoughts that distinguishes one person from another. Even though, technology is essential in everyday life, the misuse of it, such as constantly engaging in a conversation with a chatbot, can lead to abandoning the Factor X of humanity.

ukio Mishima, a Japanese rebel who wanted his government to bring back imperial power and samurai traditions back to Japan soon after the ending of world war 2. As past traditions had been overrun by more westernized influences which Mishima had believed lacked courage and principles. All resulting in Mishima committing ritual suicide in the commander’s office soon after taking the commander hostage and addressing the local garrison from the commander’s balcony. Although Mishima had took his life, he had done it with honor; he had rather commit suicide than accept his country’s way of governing. In “Patriotism,” Yukio Mishima explains how this kind of suicide is an honorable act rather than a cowardice one through his fictional character, Lieutenant

Michael Obi versus the Tribe The short story “Dead Men’s Path” by “Chinua Achebe” portrays and explores the contrast between ideologies of modernity and tradition. The protagonist, Michael Obi, an ambitious young man, wages a war against the social norms of the tribal population, to bring the village’s education system up-to-date. Upon trying to fulfill and impose his modern beliefs on the tribal community, the tribals instead negate his believes and his post as headmaster, concluding the story to a tragic irony. All in all, the story expounds how misguided zeal can impact ones fate to doom and tragedy.

A person’s heartbeat changes to mimic the music they listen to. Different types of music portray an emotion or specific memory of an individual. In Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe is a story of pre-colonial times in the Niger villages. The protagonist, Okonkwo, ideals of masculinity are challenged by various forms of misfortune demonstrated through the music in his community, Umuofia. The music highlights the key points of Okonkwo's village disintegration to their values; because there no longer is harmony between the flute and drums because the drums are the heartbeat of the community.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being". The book The Essential Gandhi expresses Gandhi’s views on issues like untouchability, religion, nationality, his movements like civil-disobedience are deeply shown in this book. Readers can learn about Gandhi’s childhood, his early married life, his realization and transition in South Africa, and his ways of approach towards attaining Independence in India. The book did a fantastic job in showing the Gandhi’s principles like non-violence with exemplary contexts.

A person’s heritage and cultural identity may be lost when moving to a new country where the culture is different and other cultures are not easily accepted. In the short story “Hindus”, Bharati Mukherjee uses setting, characters and the plot to discuss what it is like to lose your cultural identity while being a visible minority in America. Mukherjee uses the plot to describe the events that take place in the main characters life that lead her to realize how different the culture and life is in the America’s. She also uses the characters as a way of demonstrating how moving away from one’s culture and heritage can change a person’s perspective and ways of thinking. Mukerjee also uses setting in her story to identity the physical differences in culture between living in India and America. Alike the setting and characters, the plot helps describe the loss of culture with a sequence of events.