The American Dream Reasearch Paper

Zac Duncan Mrs. Hill English 6th February 3, 2013 Many people believe the American Dream today has faded. It is no longer achieved as often as in the past. Although obtaining the Dream has become difficult, people still haven’t stopped pursuing it. Despite the obstacles, the American Dream is still full of hope and enlightenment both financially and emotionally. The American Dream is known for its positive connotation, but there are many obstacles surrounding it. According to, â€Å"Obstacles to the American Dream†, by Eddy Isango, the Dream is toughest for immigrants.Many immigrants have problems learning the English language. When they arrive it is as if they have to start all over. Immigrants also don’t receive state benefits such as health care and food stamps. They have to find jobs that provide these for them, which is tough with the lack of job opportunity and rising cost of living in America. Financial obstacles of the American Dream can be overcome. Riev a Lesonsky encourages people to get over these hills by saying, â€Å"Acknowledge the hard times† (Lesonsky 1). People believe the Dream is changing. â€Å"Today, they say, the ‘dream’ is more likely about making money†, (Lesonsky 1).People have moved towards opening small businesses to achieve their financial dreams. These businesses, over time, increase the revenue of the people. The American Dream is still filling the emotional needs of people. Jeremy Pratt has dealt with a learning disability his whole life, but doesn’t let this stop him from achieving his dream as he says: ‘I’ve always had to work a bit harder than my friends without disabilities,’ says the 28-year-old. ‘But I finally feel like I’m on the way to having what everyone dreams of. ’ Pratt’s diligence in saving money is paying off; he plans to start house hunting as early as 2013. Blatt 1) Jeremy is achieving his life-long goal of buyin g a house filled with his art. He fought through his disability and obtained what he wanted. The American Dream still has appeal to Americans today. People still strive for a better life for themselves and their families. The freedoms of America allow for people to obtain their financial and emotional dreams that they have longed for. Works Cited Blatt, Burton, Jeremy Pratt. Achieving the American Dream. February 5, 2013 Isango, Eddy. Obstacles to the American Dream. February 3, 2013 Lesonsky, Rieva. The American Dream is Alive and Well-and Transformed. February 3,2013

Pyramus and Thisby Essay

In spite of that, Bottom considers his acting to be remarkable, so remarkable that he thinks he can play all the characters of â€Å"Pyramus and Thisby†. â€Å"†¦ I will roar you as gently as any sucking dove; I will roar you an ’twere any nightingale. † Bottom feels that he is fully capable of playing the role of a gentle, charming Thisby, and even that of a monstrously horrifying lion. This characteristic of his is very effective in generating hilarity as he very naively presumes that he alone can handle the production of â€Å"Pyramus and Thisby†. Contrarily, his performance as Pyramus alone is rather alarming. â€Å"Now die, die, die, die, die. † Bottom tries exceedingly hard to convince the audience of Pyramus’ death. The word â€Å"die† is repeated four times, implying how incessantly Bottom tries to assure the onlookers that he is unquestionably dead. This initiates some final mirth on Bottom’s foolishly absurd identity. Bottom’s transformation into a donkey is another very amusing part of the play. What makes this idiosyncrasy all the more entertaining is his nescience about it throughout the play. â€Å"I see their knavery. This to make an ass of me, to fright me, if they could. † Bottom never realises the radical change he has undergone and very potently amplifies the hilarity of the comedy since he leads all his actions normally, never comprehending how abnormal he looks. Also very effective in this dialogue of Bottom’s is the usage of the word â€Å"ass† as a pun. He is completely unaware that at the precise moment that he is uttering the dialogue, an ass is literally what he looks. His declaration of the other workmen making an â€Å"ass† of him is also humorous since his name â€Å"Bottom† already signifies his existence as an ass. Furthermore, is the levity of Bottom’s romance with Titania. Unfamiliar with the fairies, Bottom is far from apprehending why Titania confesses love for him. â€Å"Methinks mistress, you should have little reason for that. And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together now-a-days. † Bottom’s statement is greatly suited to the moment, not only to describe his situation but also that of the four lovers. Like Lysander’s immortal line, â€Å"The course of true love never did run smooth†, Bottom’s opinion goes well with the obstacles and complications that have developed in the play. Despite that, it does not stop the ridiculousness of his and Titania’s liaison from augmenting the humour of the Elizabethan comedy. â€Å"O how I love thee! How I dote on thee! † Titania’s love for Bottom is entirely unreasonable. Being the queen of the fairies, she has one of the highest ranks in the play, while Bottom being a workman, has the lowest. The fairies also consider themselves to be of a much higher position than mere human beings. In the face of this, Titania loses both mind and body to an ass-headed and ugly Bottom, a low class workman. This efficiently illuminates the impediments that the love juice can bring about and the thoughtlessness that attaches itself to all that encounter it. The central figure of this Elizabethan comedy is Puck, the mischievous sprite. He conducts all the melodrama of the play; all the confusion, all the mischief, begins with him. â€Å"What, a play toward! I’ll be an auditor, An actor too perhaps, if I see cause. † Even before watching any of the drama, Puck has plans to play a part in it. Apart from being Master of Revels to Oberon, Puck forms a schedule of his own; he always satisfies his interests and curiosities. This makes the audience more cognisant of the trickery and complexities going on in the play. Not being related to either the fairies or the lovers, the mechanicals have no reason to be a target of Puck’s pranks. Correspondingly, his involvement in the disruption of their rehearsals proves how he has his independent diversions. The roles and traits of Theseus, Hippolyta and Philostrate are rather similar to those of Oberon, Titania and Puck. In theatrical performances of â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream†, the actors playing the roles of Theseus, Hippolyta and Philostrate often tend to play the roles of Oberon, Titania and Puck, respectively. In relation to this, Philostrate and Puck have analogous characteristics as Master of Revels. At the beginning of the play, Theseus tells Philostrate to spread celebration and joy of the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. â€Å"Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments, Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth,† Midsummer’s Eve was traditionally a time for celebrating with decoration, greenery and a sense of magic. Philostrate obeys the orders of Theseus as Puck obeys Oberon. Puck enters the play as a reflection of Philostrate, spreading magic and havoc with a mischievous side to all his intentions. Notwithstanding, Puck does make a critical mistake amidst his effervescent pranks. The highlight of the play is Puck’s misunderstanding of Lysander for Demetrius. â€Å"Did you not tell me that I should know the man By the Athenian garments he had on? † Puck makes an easy error with the love juice. Asked to recognise Demetrius by his attire, he mistakes Lysander for him. This is sure to instigate some tension on the audience’s part as they realise that something confusing can happen with the application of the love juice to the wrong person. It also potently marks an Elizabethan comedy because it opens the second phase of the play, where chaos is at its peak. The love juice is the key element of this romantic comedy. Love and friendship turn to hatred in a moment, and vice versa. â€Å"Injurious Hermia, most ungrateful maid, Have you conspired, have you with these contrived, To bait me with this foul derision? † Helena accuses Hermia of deliberately setting up Lysander and Demetrius’ love for her, to mock her and humiliate her. The love juice has unconditionally distorted the relationships amongst the four lovers. The purpose and positions of love and hatred have interchanged. The circumstances change over in a moment and later, go back to normal in the bat of an eye. This efficiently improves the prospect of a dream. The onlookers will themselves be forced to wonder if all that had happened was real, or just an illusion. Despite the fact that love and companionship instantaneously transfigure into repugnance, all the anger and vexation lacks asperity. â€Å"Get you gone, you dwarf, You minimus, of hindering knot-grass made, You bead, you acorn. † The bitterness amongst the lovers tends to be somewhat mild reflecting that past love has suddenly changed into enmity. The insults, although vociferated under strain and anxiety, do not come across as seriously as they are interpreted amongst the lovers. This helps in enriching the humour. The words â€Å"dwarf†, â€Å"bead† and â€Å"acorn† are tiny, pleasant things that have been used as objects of offence. Construed seriously amidst the characters, these insults are catalysts to laughter from the viewers as they hardly initiate any anger or humiliation. When the play’s focus returns to the centre of civilisation in Athens, there is harmony, peace and the order of matrimony for all couples. Marriage itself is one of the chief traits of an Elizabethan comedy. During the Elizabethan era, comedies customarily followed the pattern of order and peace at the beginning, followed by extreme chaos, and ending in harmony with a marriage to mark the return of order. It can hence be concluded that â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream† is a thoroughgoing Elizabethan comedy. Yet, throughout the play, the lovers and their love is made fun of. â€Å"Cupid is a knavish lad,† All the love and its intricacies, the anxiety, loss, sorrow, bereavement and broken hearts are the exquisite ingredients of a first-rate tragedy. Nonetheless, â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream† is intentionally developed as a romantic comedy, with the disruptive elements to mark its midst. The viewers can efficiently see all the arcane aspects of love and devotion, and at the same time, enjoy the humour of romance. The ending of the play is greatly suited to finish off the confusion and misunderstandings of the past. In the epilogue, the actor playing the role of Puck steps out of character to accost the viewers. â€Å"That you have but slumbered here†¦ No more yielding but a dream,† The audience is addressed with an apology for any unsatisfactory or offending presentations. This helps in ending the show on a merry and cordial note. The mention of a dream creates the perfect theme for the epilogue; it relates back to the situations of the four lovers where complexities and discords were passed off as a dream. In my opinion, William Shakespeare has been tremendously successful in portraying this play as Elizabethan comedy. I liked the structure of order at the beginning, followed by despair and disorder and an ending with marriage to restore happiness for all. â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream† is by far the best play of William Shakespeare that I have read. I have loved the storyline and the humour as well the legendary characters.

Film Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Film Studies - Essay Example The film Amelie begins with an omniscient narrator detailing the likes and dislikes of Amelie’s parents providing insight into Amelie’s formative childhood that led to her introspective personality. Both parents eschew touching. For example, the father hates his swimming costume sticking to his legs and the mother hates when someone brushes her hand. Although the child-Amelie craves physical affection, her father only touches her once a month with his stethoscope during her check-up. Excited by this contact, Amelie’s heartbeat quickens causing her father to diagnose her with a heart condition that causes her to become home schooled by her neurotic mother. Amelie develops into an extraordinarily imaginative child whose only friend is a suicidal goldfish. Yet, Amelie is not simply a recluse; she shows a spark for something more in her life. She craves tactile pleasure eating raspberries from her fingertips, pulling â€Å"glue skin† from her finger, running h er finger around a wineglass top, or plunging her hand into a sack of beans. She also demonstrates an ability to feel her interconnectedness with society at large as well as a bit of fire for harmless revenge. When a nasty neighbor tricks Amelie into believing that her taking photographs lead to a car accident and other citywide accidents, she innately believes in her ability to connect with others in this unseen, spiritual way. Yet, once she realizes the neighbor’s trick, the cheeky Amelie revenges the avid football fan by unplugging his TV at pivotal match moments. Quite opposite to Amelie’s solitary upbringing, her future love Nino suffered a fate much like Oskar from Let The Right One In as classmates bully both. Of course, Nino’s bullying is slanted towards humor, yet Oskar’s world of isolation is far more detrimental, sad, and violent. Oskar’s divorced mother and father seem completely disconnected from their son. Oskar retreats into an imagi nary world where he is the tough bully threatening and debasing weaker boys. The film opens with the prepubescent Oskar standing shirtless holding a small knife commanding an unseen foe to â€Å"Squeal like a pig† (Lindqvist). Oskar is attempting to reverse the power relationship between himself and the bullies by inventing his own bully identity within the mirror image reflected in his apartment window. Of course, neither Oskar nor Amelie’s identities remain unchanged by their films’ conclusions. Within Amelie’s world, hearing the shocking report of Lady Diana’s death causes Amelie to drop a bottle top that nocks loose a tile revealing a long lost box of a child’s treasures. Frances notes â€Å"Princess Di, often referred to in the film†¦represented for the collective, heart values that lie in the shadow of cultures† (2003). Inspired to find the owner and become an agent of kindness, Amelie enters a manic world where characters drives plot and plot drives characters. Riding the maze-like subway, Amelie locates the owner, who is so touched by this anonymous gift that he vows to reconnect with his daughter to meet his grandson. Just as characters incite change within each other in Amelie’

Research for Health Professionals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research for Health Professionals - Essay Example Therefore, basic research is undertaken to extend the base of knowledge in a discipline that helps to refine and redefine a theory (Pope & Mays, 2004). Critical Analysis Skills: Critical analysis is a multidimensional skill, a cognitive or mental process or set of procedures (Timmins, 2006). It involves reasoning and purposeful, systematic, reflective, rational, outcome-directed thinking based on a body of knowledge, as well as examination and analysis of all available information and ideas. Nursing practice mandates the use of high-level, systematic and organized critical thinking skills within the nursing process since it enhances clinical decision making, helping to identify patient needs and to determine the best nursing actions that will assist the patient in meeting those needs (Evans, 2003). Evidence-Based Practice: Nursing practice is increasingly dependent on evidence-based practice, where patient care decisions are made on the basis of the most updated and best clinical evidence. It is generally agreed that research findings from rigorous and relevant studies comprise the best type of evidence for modifying and reinforcing the nurses' decision-making processes, actions in the practice area, and interactions with clients. This indicates that nursing actions would increasingly be based on research evidences that would lead to clinically appropriate, cost-effective nursing actions with intent to producing more positive outcomes for the clients (Goldenberg, 2006). Research and Advancement in Nursing Practice: The advancement of the nursing profession would be heavily reliant on the integration of research, research outcomes, and education into the practice setting. Clinical nursing is and is expected to be enhanced by the products of research activities, development of theory and validation, identification of problems, and resolution of those based on science that is the derivative of research. This would, as expected, lead to the desired development of new nursing knowledge, advancement of health policies, and ultimately would culminate into enhancement of nursing profession (Sackett, Straus, , & Richardson, 2000). Key Elements of Literature Review: The "evidence" in the evidence-based practice is gained by systemically searching and analyzing reports of studies and research that are accessed through databases and libraries. In fact, the systemic review process is also a form of research where the reviewer develops a protocol for the review, asks legitimate questions, endeavors to glean the evidence, appraises it, and takes decisions whether the evidence is applicable in practice. In that sense, a research or literature review is not a summary of the study, rather it is a careful appraisal of its merits and flaws. A good critique objectively identifies both adequacy and inadequacy, and virtues as well as faults. This task involves a background literature review, formulating objectives and questions and describing inclusion criteria, a search strategy for the literature, assessment criteria, extraction and synthesis of data (Paterson, Thorne, Canam, & Jillings, 2001). Critical Analysis of the Literature Review In the paper, The Study of Nursing Documentation Complexities, published in

Economic Injustices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic Injustices - Essay Example t involves exploitation of children as labor, also they are forced to work for longer hours, paid low wage rates, poor working conditions that endanger their health and they are denied their rights to education. (Liz Stuart (2005)) There are two factors that lead to child labor and they include the demand factor and supply factor, the demand factor refers to the demand by employers to employ children, firms will employ children given that the children are paid less wages, they are more obedient given that they are not members of any labor union and that these children can be coerced to work more hours. The supply factor refers to the supply of labor, children may want to work in order to support their families or even earn a living. An Article by Liz Stuart (2005) provides a good example of child labor, the article states that in 1996 it was discovered that some products that were being sold in Mark & Spencer shops were produced using child labor, it was discovered that the shops were importing cloths from a factory in morocco that employed children aged 12 years, when this was made public the girls were dismissed from the factory. (Liz Stuart (2005)) On going efforts to eliminate child labor include product boycotts, consumers refuse to buy products produced using child labor, in the above example of Mark Spencer the company was afraid of the consequences of a boycott and this is why they stopped employing children. Another effort to stop child labor is the implementation of laws by various organizations, example the UN declaration on children rights regarding child labor. (Katharine Johnson (2004)) Sweatshops refers a factory that employs labor for long hours and at the same time offering low wages, it is an economic injustice given that this is a form of exploitation whereby laborers are forced to work for more hours against their will and also are paid low wage rates. The firms earn large profits as a result of this form of exploitation, due to high

Communications 215 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Communications 215 - Essay Example I agree with Ezenberger that the media has industrialized the human mind in the way that it has now come to influence our thoughts (Berger, n.d). In my own experience, whatever opinions I have on what is the best brand of toothpaste to use, or which shampoo gives the most silky hair, all come from what I have seen on television; without having access to a television, I would not have had these ideas at all. Moving onto how the media is "amusing" us to death, Postman believes that the main focus of television is to fill the human life with "triviality and incoherence," and to instill in us the belief that life is like some kind of circus show where the point is just to be entertained (Berger, n.d). For Postman, television is only instructing us what products to buy in order to bring excitement into our lives (Berger, n.d). While there are many television programs that try to educate viewers, I believe that most television channels have an agenda to simply amuse the audience and keep t hem in a sedated state where they do not care about the more important things in life. (A2) For Jameson, postmodernism entails a blurring of the lines between what is regarded as high culture and mass culture in modernism (Berger, n.d). Since postmodernism does not believe in metanarratives and is eclectic in the way it defines things, for Jameson postmodern art maintains no division between elite and popular culture, and that "anything goes," (Berger, n.d). The postmodern landscape is "degraded" in the way that it is composed of "schlock art" (Berger, n.d). I do agree that in the postmodern era there is a kind of art that eliminates the previous boundaries between elite and popular culture; for example, Marcel Duchamp constructed a ceramic urinal and passed this off as postmodern art, thereby blurring the lines between high and low art. (A3) Baudrillard's theory on the effects of media is influenced by the notion of simulacra; he claimed that in today's postmodern era which is domi nated by the media, there are not true copies of something, there are only "simulations of reality which aren't any more or less "real" than the reality they simulate," (Mann, n.d). For Baudrillard whatever we see in the media becomes our reality, and seems more real than what is actually real. These simulacras, these images of things that do not exist in reality, become part of hyperreality. As Baudrillard rightly states, postmodernism entails " the death of the real," since we are connecting more and more with media where the content "merely simulate reality," and thus living in a kind of hyperreality that is not real (Mann, n.d). I can see this in the way that we relate to actors on TV; I myself have spent hours with my friends discussing Blair and Chuck's relationship in the TV serial Gossip Girl, as if we personally know them. There are often times when I feel I can connect to people from TV shows more than I can relate to my own family. This all shows that media has created a hyperreality with simulacras that we are now relating to more than we relate to real life. (A4) For Rheingold, a smart mob has emerged from the onset of mobile phone technology (Berger, n.d). Smart mobs are characterized as groups of people who can be rallied for social and political campaigning though the use of mobile

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 26

Journal - Essay Example s not just limited to developed countries who have traditionally been more favorable towards women in careers; typically more male-centric areas of the world like India and China are also showing massive improvements in the way that women are treated in the workplace and their access to jobs and education. However, it must be noted that there are still areas for improvement, despite the fact that the arena has changed so much for the better. Women still do not make as much as men overall (men make $23.4 trillion compared to a female $10.5 trillion) which means that their power and access to some things may be limited. However, it is noted by Foroohar et al (2009) that this may be because it will take a while for the elder women who make less money to retire and allow younger women with higher standards of education and economic prospects to take their place. This is again, proof that women are in a much stronger economic position than they have been previously and that this effect will continue to be seen across the globe. There is also evidence that economic conditions, whilst not necessarily excellent for women in the developing world, will continue to improve as households get more access to technology (like television) and see other countries attitudes towards female economic