Assessment of Into the Wild Essays -- essays papers

Assessment of Into the Wild Although precisely on target in his assessment of Chris McCandless being "in touch with the bare-bones essence of nature", Gordon Young's preceding description of Chris should be rephrased: A profoundly Un-American figure, uncompromising in his approach and thoroughly optimistic about the future. For Chris McCandless did not set out to show or prove his American character. Neither does he approve or want to exemplify a true modern American character, because true American character does not seek solitude, preferring "the saddle to the streetcar", or "the star-sprinkled sky to a roof", or, especially, "the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown, to any paved highway and the deep place of the wild to the discontent bred by cities", as states Everett Ruess. In fact, in today's world of never-ending comforts and conveniences, nature and "getting away" means setting up a tent in the backyard, or driving our RV to a campground, plugging in the heat, the television, and the cell phone and drinking a beer. Yes, Chris McCandless exemplified what it is to be unconventional, untraditional, nature-loving. What's more important, Chris showed us a particular degree of freedom, what true liberty is about--the freedom not only of the individual, but the freedom of something much higher than that--the freedom of the mind. Freedom from societal restraints of always having to be someone, playing some role. More than anyone, so far, Chris ...

Disease and Death :: History Journal Diary Essays

Disease and Death May 14th 1963: The jungles of Zaire are much more intimidating and humbling in person than in the brochure at the Peace Corps office. I have been dispatched here to assist in the quarantine and treatment of the locals and some wild life. While I am overcome with the beauty of the flora I can't help but ponder the sheer amount of insects and mosquitoes that this sort of environment can support... After a 5 hour bus ride into the forest we come to a clearing with clusters of lean-tos and make shift buildings. What once was a clearing for farm animals to graze and to grow crops is now a make shift graveyard and apparently the process of burying the dead has become too much of a burden on the bereaved and a funeral pyre burns day in and day out. The air of the village hangs low with the stench of death and burnt flesh while the wailing of those that have survived, thus far, greet the ears of the volunteers. The doctors have already set up a make shift hospital in the largest of the buildings and the volunteers are shown to the quarters and are expected to work right alongside the doctors as an informal nurse. May 15th 1963: I have estimated that the population of the village before the outbreak of this plague was roughly 500-750 inhabitants with an equal population of livestock. It appears that the cattle were afflicted first and were promptly skinned and burnt. The disease then ran its course into the herdsmen who were responsible for disposing of the cattle. The first case occurred a month ago when one of the skinners nicked a finger while skinning. As I gathered, from the translator who has been interviewing people since his arrival two weeks ago, that at first people thought the man just to have a common cold and headache but after a few days his eyes were filled with blood and he became hot to the touch. Then the skin became horribly bruised as if he had suffered some sort of terrible flogging. As the disease progressed his fever steadily increased seeming to cook him alive and the bruises filled with what one could only imagine as his own wretched blood trying to escape the b ody housing it.

Home Schooling is Not the Best Option Essay example -- Argumentative P

Home Schooling is Not the Best Option For those of us who have never been exposed into the world of home schooling, it carries a certain mystique. We might envision a family alternating between algebra and Bible study, keeping a safe distance from the rampant worldliness in schools. Or perhaps we see children sitting around the kitchen table practicing spelling while mother supervises. Despite these traditional images, home schooling is growing and gaining respect. This is due in part to high profile success stories like home schoolers finishing first, second and third in the 2000 Scripps - Howard National Spelling Bee or the Colfax family in California who sent three sons to Harvard. However, home schooling raises many questions including issues of academics, socialization, and religion. Thus, despite the significant growth and special cases where home schooling is deemed necessary, I propose that it is not the strongest alternative for a child's education. The idea and practice of home schooling are not new. For centuries children have learned outside of formals school settings, even when schools were readily available. It was not until the 1950s that the contemporary home schooling movement began as a liberal, not conservative, alternative to public school (Lines 1/8). According to Patricia Lines, a senior research analyst for the U.S. Department of Education, schools were too rigidly conservative for a handful of families in the fifties and sixties who instead pursued the liberal philosophy that the best learning takes place without an established curriculum, and that the child should pursue his or her own interests with the support and encouragement of parents and other adults (2/8). Then, in the 1980s many conse... ...ek 5 Oct. 1998: 64-71. Kleiner, Carolyn, and Mary Lord. "Home School Comes of Age." U.S. News and World Report 16 Oct. 2000: 52-55. Paulson, Amanda. "Where the School Is." Christian Science Monitor 10 Oct. 2000: 18-22. Rakestraw, Jennie, and Donald Rakestraw. "Home Schooling: A Question of Quality, an Issue of Rights." Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Childhood and Society. Eds. Robert and Diana DelCampo. Guilford, CN: Dushkin Publishing Group, 1995. 274-281. Rudner, Lawerence M. Abstract. "The Scholastic Acievement of Home School Students in 1998." Education Policy Analysis Archives. 7.8 (1999). Date Accessed 22 Nov 2000. http://olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/abs7.html. "Frequently Asked Questions About Homeschooling." Home School Legal Defense Association. www.hslda.org 16 Nov 2000. http://www.hslda.org/media/faqs/index.stm.

A Discussion of the Final Chapter of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay

In the final stages of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, there are many ways in which the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, both explores human nature, and also creates a sense of sympathy on the part of the reader for Dr Henry Jekyll, which could be said to extend to Mr Edward Hyde as well. In reference to the author’s exploration of the nature of humanity, the settings of the story itself are very important. Previous to the writing of this story, there had been a firm tradition of horror stories being set exclusively in rural areas, perhaps due to the fact that only a minority of people lived in these areas, and so to those elsewhere it would have seemed far more remote and exotic. Stevenson’s thriller was ground-breaking in that it focussed its plot in an urban setting, by name London, but also with extraordinary resemblance to Stevenson’s home city of Edinburgh. This setting reflects the idea of urban expansion into the countryside, but more importantly the more modern appearance of this particular horror story. Because a large majority of the readers of this book would have been living in the city, it brings the story closer to them, and allows them to become more involved in the events of the plot. Stevenson’s use of the city as the setting for his story also is also representative of early manifestations of writers of this era moving towards using the city as a representation of fear and darkness, rather than its previous role as a deeply romanticized place. In terms of Stevenson’s investigation of human nature, the proximity of Jekyll’s laboratory and his fine house is very significant. The laboratory represents, in my opinion, the hidden, secretive side of his life, involving his work, as well his life as Mr Edward Hyde. The fact that this laboratory is so close to Jekyll’s expensive and upper-class house, representing his professional and social life as a doctor and a well-respected member of society, signifies the proximity of the two parts of his character, in fact their intricate relationship, intertwined and connected in so many different aspects. This idea is also mentioned by Jekyll himself in the final chapter, in his account of events, emphatically saying; â€Å"It was the curse of mankind that these two incongruous faggots were thus bound together-that in the agonized womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling.† I have decided to quote this sentence because I believe it is very revealing about the â€Å"thorough and primitive duality of man† explored in the text. Jekyll talks of â€Å"incongruous faggots† being bound together, meaning that the two elements do not combine, but that they are still as one. The phrase â€Å"polar twins,† is almost a contradiction in terms, and shows that the two elements of Dr Jekyll’s psyche are both united in their existence, but also that they are totally opposite. The phrase â€Å"duality of man,† used earlier in this chapter, also expresses the idea of two parts to every mind or conscience, an ego and a superego. Mr Edward Hyde is the ego, an utterly self-absorbed being, merely concerned with and conscious of themselves. Dr Jekyll, however, is the superego, the element of the character which socialises the entirety, enabling it to interact with others. No man is complete without both of these parts, and neither can truly exist without the other. However, Jekyll’s apparent desire to appear arid and utterly professional externally, and his recognition of his chief fault as â€Å"a certain impatient gaiety of disposition† seems to have forced him into a desire to separate the two parts of his character, the superego and the ego. This, in his mind, would allow him to live as two men, but his failure to predict the nature of these two individual characters leads to his suffering and isolation. In the final chapter, his retrospective account, he concedes, â€Å"all human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.† Stevenson himself shares some parallels with the character of Jekyll. Born into a strictly religious, part of the Calvinist movement, Stevenson grew up with the belief, although possibly inescapable, that there was an underlying and constant presence of sin in everything; every action and every person. This is shown in the character of Henry Jekyll, and the underlying evil that is personified by Edward Hyde. In Jekyll’s earlier life, he was forced to conceal his pleasures from his family, becoming rebellious against his father, just as Jekyll himself feels urged to do in the story, and from which the beginnings of his familiarity with a double-life or, as he says â€Å"a profound duplicity of life†, can be traced. The context of the story is also important in terms of the sympathy created by the author for Hyde. The period in which the book is set was one of enormous scientific progress and discovery, and in my opinion, this adds a further element to the reasons for a feeling of sympathy for Henry Jekyll. Jekyll himself cites a burning ambition inside himself as being a key reason for his unquenchable thirst to discover the true nature of humanity, and thus his desire to become Hyde. The intensity of the scientific world of the period, and the temptation which face Jekyll after his first experience of the transformation both appear to contribute towards his inability to stop himself becoming Hyde. Jekyll himself seems to realise the responsibility of these factors towards the end of the book, in his account of events. One particular example of this is; â€Å"Strange as my circumstances were, the terms of this debate are as old and commonplace as man: much the same inducements and alarms cast the die for any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part and was found wanting the strength to keep it† This clearly shows Jekyll’s impotence to stop himself from leaning towards the temptation of his new life, and also that this was not a vice exclusive to him as an individual, but that it was something unavoidably and unquestionably natural for mankind. This creates a sense of sympathy on behalf of the reader, because it emphasises Jekyll’s lack of power and control over his actions, as well as explaining to the reader that the evil which is brought out of Henry Jekyll is not something that he is to blame for, instead that he is a victim of his own ambition and daring, as well as the ambition and aspirations of the society in which he lived. Another remark which shows this idea is, â€Å"It was thus the exacting nature of my aspirations, than any particular degradation in my faults, that made me what I was†, expressing the feeling of blamelessness in Jekyll, and thus the sympathy in the reader for him. Another way in which the reader is led to sympathise with Jekyll is the way in which Jekyll is tempted to become Hyde by his feelings of restriction and his desire to find pleasure, whilst keeping his life as Dr Henry Jekyll separate from this. In his account, Jekyll explains that, in becoming Hyde, he is free â€Å"from the bonds of obligation† and is able to, â€Å"like a schoolboy, strip off these lendings and spring headlong into the sea of liberty.† These quotations clearly show the immense need for freedom that Dr Jekyll faces, and the extent to which he is prepared to act in order to obtain this freedom. There seems, to me, to be a certain resemblance to the idea of sin and temptation in this element of the story. Jekyll clearly feels restricted by, and in, the world in which he lives, and the fact that he is aware of a way out of this world causes his inability to resist the temptation of taking the path to freedom. When he has experienced the freedom for the fi rst time, he is unable to stop himself from using the potion in order to free himself from the burdens of society. The sympathy induced by Stevenson is not, however, limited to the character of Dr Jekyll. To a certain extent, Mr Hyde is worthy of some pity himself. The main way in which this applies is in relation to Hyde’s death and disappearance. Hyde commits suicide because he is afraid of being caught, and subsequently punished for his violent actions. If we are to believe that Hyde is evil incarnate, and that he possesses no element of good in his character, then the fact that he is unable to forgive himself his wrongdoings, and that he makes excuses for his actions, would seem to suggest that he cannot be seen as utterly ruthless, and thus in a sense he is weak. This inability to ignore his conscience, means, in my opinion, that he is not in fact entirely evil, and that the relationship between good and evil, and between Dr Henry Jekyll and Mr Edward Hyde, is not as defined as one might think, that there are â€Å"shades of grey† to be considered. I believe that this creates sympathy for Hyde, making him appear wretched and pitiful. Indeed, Dr Jekyll himself creates and expresses a certain degree of pity for Hyde, admitting that he cannot wholly condemn his actions, because he himself envies the way in which Hyde embraces his freedom. He says, â€Å"But his love of life is wonderful†¦I find it in my heart to pity him† The fact that even Jekyll feels pity for his wretched inner self merely serves to encourage similar feelings in the reader. In conclusion, I believe that Dr Henry Jekyll bravely sacrifices his own life in order to prevent the evil Edward Hyde from being free. In this sense, I feel that he shows another side of human nature which is almost entirely exclusive to Jekyll’s superego, the conscience. Jekyll shows an ability to consider the situation of others above himself, and importantly, an ability to recognise between good and evil.

General Categories of Sexual Harassment

As more and more women have entered the workforce in the last several decades, there has been a heightened awareness of the problem of sexual harassment. The recent spate of successful employee litigation in this area, combined with tan extension of an employer†s liability for acts of its supervisors and often its rank-and-file employees, has created an area of serious concern to employers. This is particularly so given the heightened awareness to the issue inherent in the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Justice Clarence Thomas. It is important for supervisor and manager to be familiar with the laws of sexual harassment. Their knowledge and actions will not only legally bind the company, but may also make themselves personally liable for violation the law. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces federal prohibition against sexual harassment, defines sexual harassment as â€Å"unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.† The California Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC), which enforces state law, further defines sexual harassment to include: Verbal harassment, such as epithets, derogatory comments or slurs; Physical harassment, such as assault or physical interference with movement or work; and Visual harassment, such as derogatory cartoons, drawings or posters. Two General Categories of Sexual Harassment Over the years, the courts have separated sexual harassment into tow main categories: 1. â€Å"Quid pro quo† occurs when a supervisor or manager conditions an employment benefit or continuing employment on the employees acquiescence in the form of sexual behavior. 2. â€Å"Hostile† or â€Å"offensive† work environment sexual harassment. No employment benefits need be lost or gained, and this type of harassment may be engaged in not only by management, but also by coworkers or persons who are not even employed by the employer. An offensive work environment occurs where sexual jokes, suggestive remarks, cartoons, physical interference with movement such as blocking or following, and sexually derogatory comments create an offensive working environment. In determining when conduct is unwelcome, it†s important to determine is whether the victim indicated by his/her conduct that the sexual advance or conduct were unwelcome, not whether any participation was voluntary. The victim†s conduct may be totally passive, such as not laughing at sexual jokes. In determining whether a work environment is hostile, the conduct must be sufficiently severe and pervasive so as to alter the condition of the employee†s employment. Trivial or merely annoying conduct is not enough. A pattern of offensive conduct is generally required also. Unless severe, a single incident or isolated incident of sexual conduct or remarks will not be sufficient to show environmental harassment. Finally, the conduct will be evaluated from the objective viewpoint of a reasonable person facing the same conditions. The victim†s perspective will be used, not community standards or stereotypes of acceptable behavior. In California, an employer is strictly liable for the sexual harassing conduct of managers and supervisors in both the â€Å"quid pro quo† and â€Å"hostile environment† situation on the common law theory that holds an employer liable for injuries committed by employees during the course of their employment. The assumption is made that if the manager/supervisor did it, then the manager/supervisor knew about it, and therefore the company knew about it. The employer is liable for harassment of an employee by a co-worker and possibly even of non-employees, if the employer knew, or should have known, of such conduct and failed to take immediate and appropriate action. Sexual harassment also may occur where employment benefits are granted because of one employee†s submission to a supervisor†s request for sexual favors, but where other employees equally or better qualified to receive the benefits are denied them. If the employer did not know of the conduct, the FEHC will consider that the employer had notice unless the employer can establish that it took reasonable steps to prevent the harassment from occurring. Such reasonable steps may include having a sexual harassment policy in place, as well as providing sexual harassment training to supervisors and managers. Supervisors, managers, and employees must know and follow the company†s policy against sexual harassment. If a violation of company policy is found, a prompt and effective remedy should be provided to the complaining employee and disciplinary action taken against the harasser. The company can only determine whether company policy was violated. Supervisors and mangers should avoid making any statements or conclusions that illegal sexual harassment has taken place.

Happiness Found in Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde Essay

Most heroism deals with promotion of virtue and reproach of vice. Sloughing off from such a hackneyed, yet widely used frame of thought, the novel ‘The Happy Prince’ (1888) by Oscar Wilde connects heroism with compassion. With a subconscious reminiscent between ‘courage’ and ‘hero’, compassion is generally not a primary association with a strong image of a hero. Oscar Wilde however, through utilization of ‘the happy prince’ as a mechanism, conveys the idea of compassion and sacrifice which consists of happiness and beauty under a plot of heroism. The compassion felt by the Happy Prince can be distinguished in two levels of analysis: on himself and on the poor. The Happy Prince, once a real prince who lived within absolute extravagance, had a life far from poverty, hunger or servility. Upon encountering the inferior reality of civilian faces after becoming a statue, the Happy Prince expresses his compassion on himself by saying: â€Å"My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. (5)This distinction indicates the realization of the Happy Prince on the difference between aesthetic happiness and materialistic pleasure. It also foreshadows the displacement of the Happy Prince’s compassion from his own past self to the poor, which causes heroic action by the Happy Prince. The jewels sent by the Happy Prince to the poor in the novel are not just simple sapphires or gold. Rather, they are ‘true’ jewels resulted from self compassion. Such open-mindedness of the Happy Prince allows him to be penitent for his past misdeeds and sacrifice himself to supplement such faults, which resulted in promotion of the common good. History tells us that those who are titled as ‘leaders’ sacrifice themselves for others. Regardless of how much sacrifice they burden, all leaders have a certain extent of private loss to yield common welfare. Similarly, the story ‘The Happy Prince’ also depicts heroism based on sacrifice. In the novel, the Happy Prince, having beauty as a single reason for its production, sacrifices himself to the non haves on the streets by distributing his jewels through the help of a sparrow. Since the purpose for its existence diminishes, the mayor of the city eventually destroys the statue of the Happy Prince. The point Oscar Wilde makes at this part is that action for others with sincerity and truthfulness overwhelms the loss one gets through such action. As Erich Fromm, a German philosopher wrote in his book, ‘To Have or To Be’, property without purpose loses the value of it and absence with a purpose is more valued than its presence. Having firm belief on his action, the Happy Prince was able to practice his heroism. Mother Theresa said she lived a happy life. Her ‘happy life’, Mother Theresa said, seems to overlap with the life the Happy Prince lived as a statue. They both gave everything they had for others and earned happiness as exchange. Compassion and sacrifice may be a true key to opening a treasure box full of happiness and beauty.

Malaysia Unemployment Rate Essay

An unemployed person is one who is able and willing to work yet is unable to find a job. Unemployment rate is the number of people officially unemployed divided by the labor force. Official unemployment measures those over the age of 16 who are able for employment, but are unable to obtain a job. The labor force is the number of people over the age of 16 who are either employed or unemployed. In year 2005, unemployment rate in Malaysia (3.0%) higher than unemployment rate in Cambodia (2.5%). Malaysia is a heaven for job seekers who are not so particular on what job is available. As long as there is a job, they will just take it. The fact is true for foreigners especially from Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, China and many more. With their presence, the field of job market in Malaysia is becoming more competitive. This is because employers prefer to hire these foreigner rather than Malaysian due to the relatively cheaper labor cost and easier to manage. That is why graduate Malaysian who is having straight A’s is no longer to secure a job or to give one a competitive edge in career advancement. Unemployment rate in Malaysia increases to 3.6 % while Cambodia remains the same which is 2.5% in year 2006. Another contributing factor of higher unemployment rate in Malaysia is due to job matching. Even though there is over 300 thousand of graduate Malaysian from university or college entering the job market in 2006, the competency of these graduates is still a concern where their qualification and experiences cannot directly match the needs of the employers. Graduate might choosing the wrong course or with the poor result. Nowadays, the employer will hire the worker who had a lot of experienced one. In Malaysia, the private sector today is not interested in recruiting local graduates because they lack of essential skills, such as proficiency in English, a lack of ICT proficiency and interpersonal skill. This leads to appears to be gaps between what employers require and what skills graduates have. Graduates themselves have to realize that they need to adapt to the needs and wants of their future employers. In year 2007, the unemployment rate in Cambodia still remains constant which is 2.5%. Unemployment rate in Malaysia had decreased to 3.5%. The unemployment rate in Cambodia does not decrease and remains constant in three years started from 2005 until 2007. The first cause is poverty. Most of the Cambodia citizens are poor, that is why they cannot send their children to school. Children will be lack of knowledge, skills and qualification. As a result, it will be difficult for them to find a job. Besides, with the poor quality of education system in Cambodia, schools can produce only non-quality human resources. With the limited number of university, there is no guarantee that all graduated students will find job which relevant to them because only people with quality are selected to work. The unemployment rate in Cambodia is 3.5% in year 2008 is greater than in Malaysia, 3.2%. The unemployment rate in Cambodia suddenly increased 1.0% from year 2007 to 2008. This happened due to the job opportunity. Since Cambodia is small and poor, it is not good enough to attract foreign investor. In this case, only small numbers of job opportunities are available for the rest of population. Moreover, this cause might due to lack of encouragement from government in the investment climate. In addition, the development of technology is another reason why unemployment rate in Cambodia increased. With the advantages of using machinery in their factory, some owners have dismissed their workers. Therefore, many people suddenly lose their job. This helps nothing but to increase unemployment rate higher and higher. In year 2009, the unemployment rate in Cambodia remains the same as the year of 2008, 3.5% while there is an increase in Malaysia unemployment rate which is 3.3%. Even though there are many job opportunities in Malaysia, the unemployment rate among Malaysian are increases. Obviously the reason contributing this factor is due to the world economy meltdown. Malaysia is a developing country which fully relies on foreign direct investment (FDI) especially from countries such as Americas, Japan and Europe. Most of these FDI are into the manufacturing sector. Many major multinational companies (MNC) in Malaysia have announced layoff plans including factory and office shutdowns to mitigate the impact of the economic slowdown. With the presence of manufacturing of MNC in Malaysia are significant, the layoff plans contributed to the increase of the unemployment rate.