Edgar Allan Poe Essay Example for Free

Edgar Allan Poe Essay A famous author who initiated the start of detective stories and could spook his readers out with his tales of horror was born in January 19,1809. He was a wonderful short story writer and a poet. One of his masterpieces that he is well known for is known as â€Å"The Raven.† I’m sure by now you’ve guessed that I’m speaking of the â€Å"Father of the Detective stories† known as Edgar Allan Poe. Poe’s work reflected his own bitter and mysterious life. In most of his writing there is a blur between what is real and what if fiction because many of his narrators are on some sort of drugs. Edgar was a romantic writer, and his style was gothic. Edgar Allan Poe was a romantic in his writing. He was a part of the American renaissance movement and it is apparent he along with many other American writers rejected the British form of writing. He seemed to embrace that writing should express emotions. It shouldn’t just follow a certain rubric of rules but effuse from the heart. The tell-tale signs of a romantic writer are strong idealism and rejection of classicism. These characteristics are vividly found in his work known as â€Å"Ligeia†. In this story the narrator is an opium addict who marries a woman named Ligeia. He finds her to be very intriguing. He sees her as a beautiful woman with a mysterious personality. Unfortunately, she dies and he ends up marrying a stereotypical woman named Rowena. She is the complete opposite of Ligea in that she is exactly the way all the women of his era are supposed to be like. At the end of the story this woman also dies but then Ligea returns to the author through Rowena’s dead body. The romantic writer uses many examples to illustrate his preference for Romanticism over British literature and Classicism. The preference of the author for his first wife is an example of strong idealism and rejection of classicism. For instance, the writer describes his wife as an extraordinary being†¦almost inhuman: â€Å"She came and departed as a shadow.† Then he goes on to talk about her eyes and mentions that they are much bigger than normal eyes should be. He has a soft spot for her unique features and admires her intelligence. It is because she is different from the norm of women, he finds her attractive. She is a symbol of rebellion to the rules of classicism and her characteristics paint the art of romanticism. He then contrasts her â€Å"Singular yet placid cast of beauty† with the â€Å"fair-haired† and â€Å"blue-eyed† classical beauty of Rowena. It is apparent he prefers his first wife over the latter one because he repeatedly compares the two but compliments the first one. Poe then goes on to demonstrate strong idealism in his work. Idealism was basically a term used to define the optimistic nature of American writers in the good nature of mankind. In this story the fact that the narrator’s first wife comes back to life through the body of his second wife is a symbol of optimism. The author had described his wife as a woman who had wisdom of divine matters. He believed in her wisdom so much that he was sure she had used it to resurrect herself. It is also useful to know that the author was an opium addict. His point of view may have been distorted with hallucinations but the opium usage itself is an example of strong idealism. It is through this usage he is able to find his favorite wife come back to life simply because he willed for her to return to him. Her return could even be literal after she claims that, â€Å"Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will† (Lombardi). So maybe she was really there and if she was then this is a fine example of idealism. Considering, idealism is the hope of having a very unlikely event occur because of someone’s optimism. One more example of idealism in Ligeia is no significance of time or space. The American writers wanted to be very distinct from the old literature and wanted to cut off from them. As a result, they made time and space irrelevant to their work as a rebellion to rules. This explains why readers are never told how or when the author met his first wife or at what time she was reincarnated. For example, Poe says â€Å"I cannot, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely where, I first became acquainted with the lady Ligeia. (Deter) In addition, the author is so caught up the description of Ligeia he doesn’t remember the beginning of his relationship with her or what the ending to her is. She seems to consume him to the point that time and space don’t matter to him. Does she even have an ending? Considering she comes back to life as if manipulating time is one of her skills. All of these details just add to how much of a romantic writer Edgar Allan Poe really is. Poe used a very gothic style of writing. His work was usually dramatic, suspenseful and melodic. â€Å"The Raven† is a perfect example of these writing techniques. For instance, in â€Å"The Raven† the setting of the story is in his apartment in a lonely December night. The narrator is missing his lover, Lenore, who died. He is trying to distract himself by delving into the realms of his books but is sadly failing in all his attempts. Then a Raven appears at his window and knows of one word, â€Å"Nevermore.† He asks the Raven if he would see his lover again, but it replies â€Å"Nevermore.† The Raven angers the author and he tells it to leave to which the Raven gives the same answer, â€Å"Nevermore†. This poem is very meaningful and pretty much defines the themes and styles that Edgar loved to promote in his work. One thing to be noted when reading this poem aloud is that repeating Nevermore aloud after each stanza is a purposeful tactic. Edgar’s melodic instincts shine through this technique. He does this to emphasize the unity of effect and so that each stanza reflects the meaning of the poem as a whole. In addition, the â€Å"O†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s in â€Å"Lenore† and â€Å"Nevermore† are too emphasized so that the unity of effect occurs once more. Moreover, this woman has left him and she is no more so the two words are parallels to the emotions of the author at the moment. They signify his loneliness. Edgar’s poetry is always well thought-out and he is always on a mission to have relatable but dramatic themes that will suck his readers in. In this poem he combines the theme of beauty with death. The beauty is represented by the memory of his beloved lover but who has met the ugly reality of death. He asks the Raven whether he will meet her in heaven but is hit by the cruel answer â€Å"Nevermore†. This blatantly ugly reality is what makes his poem have an even more gothic and depressing touch.

Harm Reduction And Zero Tolerance

Harm Reduction And Zero Tolerance In this essay the author will explore and critically evaluate harm reduction in drug rehabilitation versus zero tolerance approaches, with reference to public policy issues in drug use. Drawing on available literature on the policy context, and on literature and evidence from the rehabilitation domain, the author will develop a discursive analysis of how harm reduction can present a workable and potentially valuable intervention solution in developing concrete policies which might effectively address this rapidly increasing social need. Harm reduction is a process by which those involved in the rehabilitation process with illegal drug users attempt to reduce the risks of drug taking behaviour rather than trying to eradicate drug use altogether. In Australia, drug users have traditionally been addressed with a zero tolerance approach, in which the drug user is counselled towards complete abstinence from drug use (Wodak and Moore, 2002). Socio-politically this approach is both lauded and condemned and both for good reason. A reorientation away from legal and punitive, law enforcement approaches to controlling illegal drug trafficking and use and towards a health-oriented model of rehabilitation of drug users is now taking place (Wodak and Moore, 2002), mimicking international trends based on research evidence. Thus the policy context has been subject to pressure to engage in new approaches to drug rehabilitation (Wodak and Moore, 2002). Thus policy responses to the moral model of drug use have been viewed as insuffici ent, and the disease model of drug use has grown in popularity in socio-political and therapeutic arenas (Hamilton and Cape, 2002). Australia and New Zealand have both adopted this approach, which is both pragmatic and forward thinking (Hamilton and Cape, 2002). However, it could be argued that this approach represents societies and their governments affording license to an immoral trade which has a significant negative personal, social and medical, not to mention economic, impact on society. This approach accepts that drug use is a common feature of human experience à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦[and]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ recognises that abstinence may be the ultimate goal, but accepts that this may not be achievable (or desirable) at least in the short-term (Hamilton and Cape, 2002, p 24). Thus social and political critics can view this as a tolerant attitude which fails to punish those who perpetrate the drug trade and cause significant suffering amongst those who abuse illegal and harmful drugs. All psychoactive drugs have the potential to cause some type of harm (Rumbold and Hamilton, 1998), and as such, represent a risk to the individual and society. However, drug use is viewed by many as normal social behaviour (Rumbold and Hamilton, 1998), and therefore policies which totally outlaw drug use can be viewed as inappropriate. Harm reduction strategies in Australia as enshrined in the National Drug Strategy (Rumbold and Hamilton, 1998), and as such present a more cohesive approach to managing the multiple facets of the problem or social phenomenon that is illicit drug use. Although law enforcement advocates argue that harm reduction strategies are not as effective as their own, economically, treatment and rehabilitation are actually much more cost effective in decreasing drug consumption (King, 1998). However, it is also possible to view legal, legislative and law enforcement approaches themselves as a form of harm reduction. Kutin (1998) shows how leglisative and law enforcement approaches have reduced violence associated with alcohol use. Harm reduction approaches, therefore, need not be viewed as diametrically opposed to the law enforcement approach, and this would argue that current policy orientations which encompass both approaches are actually the ideal way in which to approach the ongoing social an d public health drivers requiring an effective response from the policy level right down to the therapeutic level. According to Hellawell (1995 in Kutin, 1998, p 181): More realistic goals include attempting to reduce the frequency of sue, the quantity and toxicity of drugs consumed and to reduce harm to drug users and the community generally. Harm reduction must be embraced. Police strategies must encompass all these elements. There is ample evidence that harm reduction strategies are beneficial to indvidual clients, and represent the opportunity for significant public health improvement (Ritter and Cameron, 2006). However, McKeganey (2006) shows that in relation to the growth of the prevalence of drug abuse, and the increase in occurrence of drug related harms, including drug related crime, it is now the time to make drug prevention, rather than harm reduction, the focus of policy and practice. Futterman et al (2005) suggest a therapeutic approach which combines effective therapies with harm reduction strategies, working on behaviours with an overall end point of reducing drug use. But the ongoing arguments both for and against harm reduction policies are subject to forces which relate to key features of harm reduction, including: the primary goal being reducing harm rather than reducing drug use; the acceptance that drugs are a part of social life and cannot be eradicated from this; harm reduction is a c omprehensive public health framework; the priority is achievable and immediate goals; and that harm reduction is based upon values of pragmatism and humanism (Ritter and Cameron, 2006). This means that while reducing harm may be an improvement for the individual, and may be more realistic and achievable, there will always be groups and individuals who do not believe that this is a sufficiently aggressive approach, and while harm reduction produces individual benefits (Riley and OHare, 2000; Christie and Anderson, 2003), it does not prevent drug use or remove the threat, risk and harm associated with this practice, and it does not punish those who are effectively breaking the law. Ultimately, many will always reject a humanistic approach which is so pragmatic as to tolerate law breaking and the potential causing of harm to others, as well as to the self (Christie et al, 2008). Yet the evidence remains clear that harm reduction strategies can impact on drug use rates, on risk-associated behaviour such as needle sharing, and on transmission of blood-borne diseases and engagement in rehabilitaton (Hunt, 2005; Stoltz et al, 2007; Strathdee et al, 1999). Therefore, public policies may be subject to an ethical imperative to address illegal drug use via every possible (and effective route), because the long term social costs of untreated drug dependency are of such significance (Wall et al, 2000). Therefore, it could be argued that the zero tolerance approach is, as already demonstrated, not sufficiently effective on its own, and that the harm reduction approach, as one element of a wider policy framework, is likely to bring benefits in the longer term.

Forgiveness In Dickens Great Expectations Essay -- GCSE English Litera

Forgiveness In Dickens' Great Expectations  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Miriam A felt completely choleric. She just could not forgive her husband's apologies anymore. Almon B was a drunkard. When he came home intoxicated, he was always extremely apologetic and told her that he'd never get drunk again. Miriam now knew that Almon was not really repentant. She could forgive him until she was blue, but unless Almon truly repented, their marriage would not work. Forgiveness is an important aspect in the family as well as in society, which is built on the family. In Charles Dickens' peerless novel called Great Expectations, many characters find it easy to pardon others, but some have to learn to forgive. Dickens uses the characters in his novel to illustrate how in society forgiveness is a desideratum to bring about peace and harmony. One character in the novel who lives a very serene life because of his great ability to forgive is Joe Gargery. Ever since he was a child, Joe demonstrated his amazing quality of forgiveness. He grew up having a father who was an alcoholic. When Joe's dad came home, he would beat Joe and his mother and they would run away. When they were away from Joe's dad, Joe would start school but his dad would always find his stray family, pull Joe out of school, and bring them home. For this reason, Joe lived most of his life an illiterate man. He could have been very angry and resentful about this, but Joe justified his father's actions which caused his illiteracy by saying that he pulled him out of school because he loved him. Joe shows "his natural virtue in the sincere quality of forgiveness in the epitaph he wrote for his dad."1 It said, "Whatsume'er the failings on his part, remember reader he were that good in ... ... 1O. Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1980) 208. 11. Great Expectations, 347. 12. Jenkin, 69. 13. Great Expectations, 348. 14. The NIV Study Bible, ed. Kenneth Barker, et al, (Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1985) II Corinthians 2:7. 15. Jenkin, 70. 16. Great Expectations, 35. 17. Great Expectations, 35. 18. Great Expectations, 35. 19. Jenkin, 70. 2O. Colossians 3:13. 21. Jenkin, 87. 22. Miller, 257. 23. Miller, 257. 24. Miller, 258. 25. Miller, 257. 26. Charles Dickens, The Letters of Charles Dickens, ed. Laurence Hutton (New York: Bigelow, Brown, and Co., 1893) 279. 27. Dickens wrote many moving letters to friends and family besides the one quoted in the text. Check out The Letters of Charles Dickens (n. 26) for further reading.   

All Quiet on the Western Front :: All Quiet on the Western Front Essays

All Quiet on the Western Front Millions dead, tens of millions injured, for what? For a petty argument between two countries. War is devastating to countries and most indefinitely individuals. Men can be left disturbed mentally, physically, and socially for the rest of their lives. Is this necessary? Well maybe you should decide after reading the next few paragraphs. You can decide if the war being fought is a war of dignity and glory as everyone would make it out to be or if it was a battle of death and gore. You maybe surprised at what happens to men out there. Well it would be glorious to be wounded and or die for your country right? Well maybe if you were the one seeing everything from the outside looking in. If you were a soldier your outlook on war may be a little different. The physical ailments of the young men are terrible. Some even consider it lucky if you die. For example, Remarque made it very clear that he was aware of the pains men were forced to endure when he put Paul and Albert Kropp in the hospital. Paul was going on leave and asked Albert if there was anything that he could get for him and Kropp said, "A gun." Paul showed his disapproval of this idea and Albert said something to the degree of I would rather die then live without a leg. Another example was when Kat was wounded by the bomb that went off while he was delivering supplies to the men on the front. Kat could not even walk. Then while Paul was taking him back to the First Aid center the man said, "He's stone dead." Paul was so oblivious to what was going on that he simply replied, "No, he's just fainted." When he looked at his hand and found a bullet wound in the back of Kat's head he was so stunned that he could not even think or see straight. In the real world people would leave their homes cheerful young men and return tattered worn cripples. Men would return with missing appendages. Some would return without legs. Others would come home without sight or unable to breathe on their own.

Argumentative Essay: All Handguns MUST Be Banned :: Gun Control Essays

All handguns must be banned because they are the cause (s) of many deaths amongst the people of the world today. Gun violence result in fifty percent of today’s tragedies. Handguns causes too many deaths, the government need to make gun less accessible, and the law/law enforcement need to really enforce the laws they make. First, and foremost many handguns have claimed the lives of too many people. This is a very serious issue we must tackle globally not just in the United States. The same problem is killing our past, present, and future. Gun violence has claimed the lives of so many Americans that we are the leading country in crimes committed by guns. These guns are claiming the lives of people ranging from babies to adults to even the elderly. Handguns are just causing too many deaths. Second, if handguns or guns in general weren’t that accessible and it wasn’t that easy to get a hold of one most of this senseless violence would not occur. I believe that if the proper laws go in effect we would have fewer criminals. In addition to those laws we need to be sure proper authorities enforce them. The lawmakers of today make laws and they don’t think about the decisions they make from both perspectives. They may say it’s all right to own a handgun but they may have different intentions than the user has on how and why they need one. The owner may need one for their protection but the lawmaker may think it’s for hunting or something other than it causing violence. To ensure these guns are not being used for violence the law needs to make a set of rules and regulations on the conditions of guns. How to use them/abuse them need to be the number one law. It should state guns are not intended to be used for violence of no kind. The law need to enforce the laws they make to ensure proper safety it would eliminate half of the gun violence. On a personal note I lost a cousin to gun violence. I really can’t say at first I blamed "the gun" but I blamed the person. When I thought about it I has to ask certain questions like†¦ how did this guy get the gun any how?

Equality diversity and inclusion in dementia Essay

The term consent capacity means for an adult to have the ability to understand information relevant to making an informal or voluntary decision. A wide range of diseases, disorders, conditions and injuries can affect a person’s ability to understand and give consent to information that has been relayed to them. Informed consent is a phrase often used in law to indicate that the consent from the individual meets the certain minimum standards. In order to give informed consent the individual concerned must have adequate reasoning faculties and be in possession of all relevant facts at the time that the consent is given. Impairments to reasoning and judgment which may make it impossible for someone to give informed consent include such factors as basic intellectual or emotional immaturity, high levels of stress such as post-traumatic stress disorder or as severe mental retardation, severe mental illness, intoxication, severe sleep deprivation, Alzheimer’s disease, or being in a coma. Questioning and challenging decisions that are made by others this would depends on the mental capacity of the individual you want to support. First, you would obtain their permission and then you must get them to explain as exactly as possible what help they reckon they need. Then you can offer further information, suggestions, and a plan to challenge such decisions. You could offer to be their spokesperson if they weren’t confident enough to speak out, or to accompany them to any hearing or appointment. However if the person is mentally impaired, you would have to get their signed permission to speak and act on their behalf before any health or social care workers would listen to you because of issues of confidentiality, you either have to be next of kin, or obtain powers of attorney or guardianship. How identity, self-image and self-esteem are linked is that self-esteem is how much you value yourself, in an ideal world this would be an equal to anyone purely on the basis of being human. Self-Image is the spinoff of countless self-esteem choices, and is basically your mental image of you as you are, usually not accurate. Identity is linked with this because everyone has their own identity and this is unique to each person. People’s identity is built up on their self-image and self-esteem. Every part of your life is influenced by your state of wellbeing. These factors enhance person’s wellbeing; a happy relationship with a partner, enjoyable and fulfilling career, a good network of close  friends, a supporting family, enough money, regular exercise, a balanced diet and fun hobbies and leisure. There is lots of different uses for risk assessments for example there will always be a risk assessment carried out and the start of the day or the start of a shift, this is normally and formal risk assessment. You will also risk assess things as you are getting on with your work for example if there is an object in the middle of your path you will may move it out of the way or to the side so you and others can get past safely, these risk assessments you may not realise that you are doing them because they just seem obvious and come so easy to you. You may also risk assess whether people that are in your care are not likely to get injured or lost by contractors that are also using the facilities. Every individual has rights of their own choices and decisions weather it is putting them at risk, this is why risk assessments are carried out to make sure the risks that the individual are willing to take is kept down to the lowest risk. As a carer you have responsibilities to make sure you and your service user are kept out of risks and danger. Risk assessments need to be regularly revised because peoples abilities change which could mean that they can no longer use stairs so you will have to risk assess what may happen if they were to use the stairs and how to prevent them from being at any danger. You also have to risk assess your ability to carry out some activities. So they need to regularly revised because you never know when an environment is going to change.

Poverty in Russia Essay

Poverty is not simply about being on a low income. It is also about having poor health, education and housing. Poverty makes people’s lives shorter and more difficult than they need to be. Measuring poverty is difficult. Nevertheless, it is undisputed that a large share of the Russian population lives below the poverty line. The transition from communism to a market-based economy did not create poverty in Russia, but it certainly made life more difficult for many groups of people. The economic transition also witnessed the â€Å"feminization† of poverty. Single-mother families and single elderly women make up a group with the highest poverty risk. In the case of single-mother families, poverty factors include the low individual income of the mother. The elderly also suffer from insufficient pensions, of which 90 percent go to women. The problem for women retirees is compounded by the fact that a pension, which for this age group is largely the only source of income, are higher for men of retirement age than for women. I think that the main problems in Russia are corruption and bureaucracy. It’s a bureaucracy who steals in most cases. They steal from the state. And they steal from citizens in acts of corruption. However Russia isn’t truly poor country. For example: the Human Development Index in Russia is ‘high’, almost ‘very high’. Russian poverty is unnecessary. Like all poverty in today’s high-productivity age, it is the result of bad policy. In my opinion, Russia has many issues that must be solved. Due to the transition Russia has had many struggles, but in order to help the people of the country, the country of Russia has to discover a way to stabilize itself. Russia has the same issues as any other country and hopefully can solve those issues by studying other countries examples and even some of their own to combat the problems that they have.