The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example for Free

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay During the nineteenth century, regional and period language was used in a way that most 21st century readers would find offensive, for modern society standards do not tolerate overt racism. In Mark Twain’s classic 1884 novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, particular words are so disturbing that individuals across the country are still, to this day, attempting to have the book banned in schools and libraries. The idea that any book should be locked away in a vault, let alone an example of a beloved American classic such as this, is profoundly disturbing. Such acts are against what America stands for. Works of art, like this book, should be used to open dialogue and analysis on both the piece itself and the society from which it came. Rather than attempting to censor this particular novel, society should encourage students to have a discussion about why the offending words are so egregious, and why it is important that a record of these words and attitudes exist for generations to come. Words carry weight, and the significance of the â€Å"N† word in Huckleberry Finn is heavy and dripping with a sordid history of racism. It is a term that holds an impassable amount of cultural appropriation and painful association. The word, used in a classic literary context, is then a perfect way to open up a dialogue about issues that are difficult to talk about. Political correctness, racial slurs, America’s dark past—these are all topics that can be used to teach young people how to have a meaningful conversation about a torrid subject matter. Instead of banning the book and ignoring the past, society should be embracing the story and teaching people how to deal with the words in a tactful and progressive way. If young people can understand the horrible impact of such language, they will be less likely to use these words in casual conversations. Moving forward from America’s shameful history of racism is difficult and taxing. But the only way to progress toward a more loving and tolerant future is to learn from past mistakes. Twain was a product of his time, putting words into the mouths of his characters that would easily have come from the mouths of real people. It is also important to remember that the character of Huck Finn himself is anti-racist, so teaching the book to young people is not teaching racism, but acceptance. It is imperative for people to connect with the period of history that Huckleberry Finn comes from because suppressing these truths about America’s past can easily create a skewed interpretation of facts. If this occurs, society is one step closer to forgetting and repeating mistakes from past events. Banning books is an effective way to censor, and in the case of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, censorship would directly resolve inappropriate language being heard and used in the high school English class. With this said, Americans whole-heartedly believe that open expression is a very important personal right. The right to free speech is sacred, and it is mostly untouched even in circumstances where highly polarizing or hateful words are being used. A work of fiction that integrates dialogue containing the â€Å"N† word may seem hateful to some, but it is unequivocally the intention of the author to use it in a context of satire. Censorship will effectively close the book on meaningful discussion when what society really needs is to open it for thoughtful examination. At a time when it is nearly impossible to find an adult engaged in a healthy debate or discussion, teaching young adults how to think and speak analytically and fairly is a dire need. Using fictional novels such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as a bridge to a discussion of what used to be, and what has become, is a perfect opportunity that this country cannot afford to dismiss. By keeping books deemed controversial in public education, Americans can begin to understand the preciousness of the right to speak their minds, as well as respect and acknowledge the lessons of the past. This alone will heal the mistakes of the past and create a future of tolerance and opportunity for all.

Cruel Intentions Essay -- essays research papers

The film â€Å"Cruel Intentions,† directed by John Hughes, is a fast-paced glimpse into the lives of New York yuppies whose entire existence revolves around money, power, sex, and drugs. Hughes’ direction for the movie concentrates on those who prey on innocence and will stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions. The story centers on Sebestian, played by Ryan Phillipe, whose main intention in life is to sleep with, and ruin the reputations of, girls whom he labels â€Å"Manhattan’s insipid debutantes.† Using his good looks, charm and vast wealth, he manipulates the naà ¯ve ladies found in his elite private school, Manchester Prep, as easily as a ten year-old boy manipulates Tetris pieces on his Game Boy. Phillipe is perfect for the part. He executes Sebestian’s dry humor and wry wit flawlessly. His raw good looks and style captivates every room he enters, not to mention the fact that he has no problem whatsoever wearing the threads of those meticulous Armani outfits with such class that Prince William could take notes. However, Sebestian holds a burning flame for his cunning step-sister Katherine, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. She is well aware of Sebestian’s forbidden desire and, in her own conniving way, uses it to bait Sebestian and make him her own puppet. Gellar also plays her part right on cue. She brings Katherine to life, emphasizing her snobby accent and fake goodiness, while all the while snorting cocaine from her misconceiving rosary that she wears around her neck. By b...

‘Montana 1948’ Is About the Choices People Make

Larry Watson’s novel ‘Montana 1948’ is told from the perspective of narrator David Hayden, recalling the experiences of his 12 year old self. The observations he witnesses and describes reflects the choices that are made by the adult characters of the novel. Not only changing himself but also changing the situations and environment around the small town of Bentrock. David’s uncle Frank played a major role in this novel displaying his selfish and egotistical choices. Along with these self-centered decisions, Wesley, was torn between protecting his family and obeying the law. These choices heavily influenced David’s own decisions therefore using his knowledge respectively. However, not everyone’s decisions and choices were used. Gail the main woman figure in the novel had her choices declined and disregarded due to the fact that she is a woman. These decisions and choices that were made by frank greatly influenced on the whole of the family. David’s uncle, Frank Hayden is a highly confident, ignorant and narcissistic doctor who is clearly only interested in his own priorities, status and position in the community. His choices that are presented throughout the novel do heavily influence the entire family’s decisions. Which do shape the future events for the family. Frank has had a long line of being the favourite sibling between the two brothers (Wesley and Frank) due to this his father, Julian is fully aware of the fact that Frank is engaging in adult behaviours with Indian women, this had started in his early teens. Such things as these are explained when Marie stated that â€Å"When he examines an Indian he†¦he does things he shouldn’t. He takes liberties. Indecent Liberties. † This statement explains how the American Indians in particular, Marie feels about frank and his methods while examining Indian women. The choices that frank made were extremely significant on the opinions and future decision that were made throughout the rest of the story. Franks actions and choices caused conflict and distress within the Hayden family, causing rifts and a divide in the family. His choices changed the views of Wesley and his choices. Wesley, the strong, respected father and sheriff of Bentrock is torn between the decisions of protecting his family from the harsh truth and unpleasant situations of Bentrock, Montana and enforcing the law and his duties as sheriff. Due to Franks immoral acts, Wesley is forced to decide Franks fate, whether he is to be locked up in prison because of his misconducts or, to have his crimes forgotten about to protect the Hayden name. Throughout the novel, Wesley is under a lot of stress and pressure to make the right decision. He is unsure and confused although he finally does stand up to his father and think for himself, as he was heavily influenced by Julian’s actions and wishes. Because of Wesley’s choice to lock frank up in the basement of their home, frank tries to convince Julian what frank has really done. Julian little respect for what Wesley has done to find out the truth nor will he ever have faith or belief in Wes because frank is the more favourite sibling. This is represented in the statement â€Å"you-Investigating† how through these two words displays how little respect Julian has for Wesley. The choices that were made my both Frank and Wesley affect the knowledge and the information that David has gained, influencing his choices. David, the innocent and extremely influential child of the Hayden family, uses his incorruptibility to his advantage. As David is the youngest character featured in the novel, he is shown as the innocent and unknowing character. David observes the on-goings of the family including, their discussions, ideas and opinions and uses his knowledge to for his own advantages. David’s decision to over-hear the conversations of the adult characters shows his curiosity and slyness, towards the situation. Throughout the novel, David displayed only a few decisions, including the fact that although insignificant, David did tell Wesley about Frank breaking into the house and murdering Marie. As David was unaware of the consequences of the actions Frank committed, David was shocked and slightly scared of what might happen to him as David idolised frank, even more than his own father. David’s innocence is shown when repeating what he says to his father â€Å"Uncle Frank. Uncle Frank was here. †, this statement shows how he had chosen to keep the fact that frank had gotten into the house, displaying David’s anxious behaviours. As shown all of the male characters have chosen to lie and use their knowledge to use, although Gail seems to be the only character who choices were disregarded but also the right ones to make. Gail Hayden, the dominant female figure in the novel, discovers choices and decisions that would benefit the future events or situations, although they were all declined. Gail Is the mother of David and wife of Wesley. This meaning that she is written to be contrasting the rest of the characters. This means that because she is a female, her decisions and choices that she may or may not have made were in fact the correct choices but were declined. Gail, throughout the novel, chose to uncover the terrible secrets of frank, and what he does with Indian women. Gail tries to confess his immoral actions to Wesley, the sheriff and brother of frank. Although these accusations made by Gail were true although as mentioned, all of Gail’s choices like to tell Wesley about frank shows how others do not have respect for her, therefore everything that she believed was contradicted. Although Gail was one of the main characters of the novel, all of these decisions were made inferior by the entire Hayden Family. Gail had given up trying to convey her opinions and choices because of the Hayden family, who all made personal and non-personal choices. Larry Watson’s novel, throughout the entire story every character made at least one important decision as these problems unravelled as the story progresses. Even if the choices were life threatening or dangerous to the rest of the family, all of the characters made a choice. If it was a choice to continue a lifelong lie, such as Frank. The choice to protect your family from dangerous situations. The decision to tell the truth to as higher authority. Or even if your opinions and choices were disregarded and ignored. The characters in the novel â€Å"Montana 1948† all displayed choices which made up the basis of the story.

Professional Development An Exploration Of Their...

Pool, I. A., Poell, R. F., Berings, M. G. M. C., ten Cate, O. (2016). Motives and activities for continuing professional development: An exploration of their relationships by integrating literature and interview data. Nurse Education Today, 38, 22-28. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2016.01.004 By means of a qualitative study, the research offered by Pool, Poell, Berings, and ten Cate, explores, defines, and expounds on the topic of continued education as it relates to new and established professionals. The purpose of this study was to understand how professional development and motivation are related in a specific career field. The authors focused equally on motivational factors and learning activities. The literature review used to conduct†¦show more content†¦Primarily, the research attempted to approach the subject of differentiating the position and stages of the organizational learning based on the discourse and the current paradigm shift in discourse: pre-modern, modern, and postmodern. The authors associated learning organization with economic growth and evolution while explaining how the learning activity was implemented based on obligated behaviors. These artificially imposed values inhibited personal growth and identity as they related to workplace learning and identity. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between organizational frame and workplace learning. The issue identified was the presence of conflict that enveloped the two different yet equally important areas of an organization: human resource and management. In essence, the problem was based on the theory that change to the type of work required in forward moving organizational environments necessitated professional development and engaged learning from a mirrored styled discourse or training activities. Crouse, P., Doyle, W., Young, J. D. (2011). Workplace learning strategies, barriers, facilitators and outcomes: A qualitative study among human resource management practitioners. Human Resource Development International, 14(1), 39-55. doi: 10.1080/13678868.2011.542897 The workplace learning process is clearly and concisely defined. TheShow MoreRelatedWomen in Law Enforcement3461 Words   |  14 Pagessampling was used to identify and recruit a representative number of policewomen as study participants. Subjects completed surveys and participated in in-depth interviews. Data was analyzed through the use of constant comparative procedures, with member checks and interrater reliability scores obtained to ensure trustworthiness of the data. 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