breif explination of characters and themes of catcher in the rye :: essays research papers

Catcher in the rye Vocabulary 1. Fencing - The art or sport of using a foil, epà ©e, or saber in attack and defense. 2. Grippe - an acute febrile highly contagious viral disease. 3. Phonies - Something not genuine; a fake. 4. Ashamed - Feeling shame or guilt. 5. Compulsory - Obligatory; required: a compulsory examination 6. Peculiar - Unusual or eccentric; odd. 7. Descriptive - Involving or characterized by description; serving to describe. 8. Conceited - Holding or characterized by an unduly high opinion of oneself; vain. 9. Psychoanalyzed - To analyze and treat by psychoanalysis. 10. Halitosis - The condition of having stale or foul-smelling breath. 11. Moron - A stupid person; a dolt. 12. Suave - Smoothly agreeable and courteous. 13. Ostracized - To banish from society; to put under the ban; to cast out from social, political, or private favor; as, he was ostracized by his former friends. 14. Bourgeois - A person whose attitudes and behavior are marked by conformity to the standards and conventions of the middle class. Questions 1. Why is Holden expelled from Pency? He flunks all of his classes, except English. 2. Identify the following characters and tell about Holden’s attitude toward them: Spencer: Holden's history teacher at Pencey Prep. Holden seems to dismiss his opinions because he is older and sick at the time. Ackley: Holden's next-door neighbor in his dorm at Pencey Prep. Holden feels that Ackley is a phony because he lies about his sexual experiences. Stradlater: Holden’s roommate at Pencey Prep. Holden calls him a â€Å"secret slob† because his one razor is very dirty. Holden also calls him a â€Å"sexy bastard† because he is well liked and experienced with girls. Sally Hayes: A girl who Holden has dated and known for a long time. He thinks she is â€Å"stupid† even though he says she is well read. He also calls her a phony quite a bit. Mr. Antonlini: Holden’s former English teacher at the Elkton Hills School. Holden seems to respect him and find him to be clever. 3. Which people in the novel does Holden like? Why does he like these characters and dislike others? Holden’s main distinction for liking or not -liking someone is whether or not he thinks they are phonies. Some of the characters he likes are his sister and brothers, Mr. Antolini, Jane and Carl Luce. 4. Holden has trouble communicating with adults. Pick three adults in the novel and show how Holden â€Å"miss-communicates† with them. Spencer: Holden doesn’t respond to his concern and lecture the way an average student would by listening, instead he starts thinking of how he’s in a robe and how he doesn’t’ like to see old men’s chests or having to be around someone with grippe.

French Existentialism Philosophers Essay

Part A: Gabriel Marcel’s Philosophy on Problem and Mystery Part B: Simone De Beauvoir’s Philosophy on why there is a moral obligation to overcome oppression (our own and that of others) and why is an existentialist ethics an ethics of freedom Part A: Gabriel Marcel is known to be one of the more religious philosophers who was a French Existentialist. He was a committed Catholic Philosopher and he believed that by being connected to others he will be connected to god. He believed that philosophy should be about hope and wanted to portray the more positive aspects of human characteristics through his writings and thoughts. Marcel has a belief that problems and mysteries were two separate ideas where problems exist outside and apart from ourselves and mysteries were unsolved queries that were more internal to one’s self. For example determining what a body is, is a problem and determining what my body is, is a mystery. He believes that we can use primary and secondary reflections in order to seek a solution to the problem or mystery being faced with. Primary reflections use analytical skills to separate the thinker from the problematic object in order to find a resolution. Separating the thinker from the problem is important in order to effectively reflect and create intellectual and moral means to a solution. Primary reflections use means of abstracting data and using it in order to manipulate the world and deal with the problem that is not always black and white or a right or wrong answer. Primary reflection approaches problems from an objective standpoint where the thinker is separate from the problem while the secondary reflection begins with the experience of existence within the problem and is used with reflection of a mystery. The secondary reflection is open to contemplation by looking at it as a unique presence. The existence within the world is not a problem that needs to be solved because humans and their bodies are intrinsically related to the world and they are in relation to each other, not objects or problems that can be manipulated. Marcel believed that Philosophy is a part of reflecting on a mystery and the mystery requires participation of the person reflecting because it is an experience of presence itself. A mystery involves you as an intrinsical part of the question wh ich is a question of yourself and requires a solution by secondary reflection. A question becomes a mystery when it takes itself into the subject. Marcel believes that humans are increasingly becoming defined by their problems which cause alienation of themselves from themselves and also causing separation from others. The questions of â€Å"being† and humans are mysteries within the Marcel philosophies. When something is recognized as â€Å"not being† it cannot be a mystery. As humans we have a need for â€Å"being† with â€Å"ontological exigence† which consumes â€Å"being† upsurges of joy, happiness, hopefulness, expectations and desires. â€Å"Being† as a human means existing and experiencing the world and the subjects within it. Having something means exercising power over that thing by possession and rights to those possessions. By having rights over a possession can also enables that person to have the ability of disposal of that subject as well. Having something is different from experiencing that thing, for example having a body is different form experiencing your body because you cannot rid yourself of your body without ceasing to be. Life is not identical to a person’s â€Å"being† because â€Å"being† is the whole self which is more than life and it is what a person aspires to be. Humans can only evoke the fullness of â€Å"being† by engaging with others and coming together as a community. Marcel promotes the idea of living I-Thou which opens up and enhances a person’s â€Å"being† which God being the ultimate Thou. The I-Thou idea requires a person to be open to the â€Å"being† of others within their lives and not living only for themselves. Marcel has an interesting stance on the subject of love and how it should be defined. He believes that love has to do with inner subjectivity and it is about seeking and experiencing the â€Å"being† of the other. Love is not about possession or having another person which is commonly thought to be the main definition of what love means. Marcel believes that a self does not love, but it is the self that is constituted by love. When we attach predicates to a thou we limit our love for another and it’s trust and faith which constitutes love in the â€Å"being† of the other. I always thought that love had to do with possessing and labeling a person or subject as yours. However, Marcel’s philosophy on love has changed my point of view into believing that love is about fully accepting a person as who they are instead of trying to possess them and changing them into being an object of your desire and control. Part B: In Simone Beauvoir’s writing of The Ethics of Ambiguity she begins to elaborate on ethics and the importance of a moral obligation to overcome oppression. Moral acts and willing one’s self free is an obligation of a person in order to become a moral person. With moral freedom a person is not free unless they can deal with free individuals. We all should strive for our freedom as well as the freedom of others and the freedom of all. The freedom to choose is shaped by social and political freedom of people. Beauvoir believes that in order to free all we must take a stand for justice especially in the political sense. We ought to respect freedom when it serves freedom, but not when freedom distances itself from itself. For example when freedom is used in the oppression and the abuse of others, we ought not to respect it in cases such as a dictatorship oppressing the freedom of its people. Oppressing an oppressor is justified even when it requires violence and in cases of people rising up and rebelling the person or the system that has been oppressing them it is justifiable. In such cases casualties of war with sacrifices is justified when fighting for freedom because it makes it a just war. Simone Beauvoir states â€Å"the truth is that if division and violence define war, the world has always been at war and will always be; if man is waiting for universal peace in order to establish his existence validly, he will wait indefinitely: there will never be any other future.† (Beauvoir ) With this she means that if the only reasons for war are for violence to annihilate the other opponent because of division then war will never end and people will never reach complete liberation. However, oppressing and oppressor should never be driven by blind faith. The actions must be considered fully well and deliberate over choice. Each circumstance should be considered on a case by case basis and analyzed by practical problems. Ethics emphasize physical and social interaction in relation to other human beings because of freedom. Authentic morality involves engagement with the world that is not abstract intellectualism. People who sit by and talk about the problems and the circumstances that accustom the world are not engaging with the world directly. Beauvoir stresses that in order to achieve authentic morality people must do something to engage with the world not intellectualize the problems within it. Humans have a moral commitment to liberate the oppressed individuals because it causes limited liberation of their own freedom. Oppressed individuals may not even know that they are being oppressed and this why it is important for others to enlighten them and help them become liberated from their situation. With an oppressed individual, their own judgment that they are oppressed is what counts and this is why it’s an obligation of others who recognize the oppression to give them knowledge of their situation. Oppressed people are cut off from the future without the power of liberation to decide what is next for them in their lives. With liberation a person must be able to question values and oppressed individuals are not able to do this. Being oppressed does not gain moral character because character is not built by suffering. A person cannot say that they are a strong person because they have been accepting oppression and the suffering that comes with it. A person is strong when they take a stand for their liberation and fight for their own values as well as the liberation of others. However, power is limited within liberation, Beauvoir enforces this by stating that â€Å"to be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future; the existence of others as a freedom defines my situation and is even the condition of my own freedom.† (Beauvoir ) Power is a foundation of moral freedom and in order to engage the world a person must have power, but it is a limited power. Not only individuals of the world, but state also has an obligation to ensure that it’s people have a minimum level of well-being because this is necessary to freely act within the world. External help is needed in order to alleviate oppression and once an oppressed individual is placed within the presence of freedom they must pursue freedom for themselves and one cannot force freedom upon them or it would not be recognized as freedom at all. Works cited Beauvoir, S. D. The Works of Simone de Beauvoir. Zuubooks.com, 2010. Print. Marcel, Gabriel. A Gabriel Marcel Reader. 1st edition. St. Augustines Press, 2011. Print.

Evolution of an Urban Area

James L. Minter, III PD 120 Assignment #2: Evolution of an Urban Area Location: Atlanta, Ga. / Fulton County I have chosen to do my research on the city of Atlanta, Georgia within Fulton County. Atlanta is the largest city within Fulton County and has significant value to the Black community. It is of interest to me as Black/Latino man who has been astonished by how quickly so many minorities have jumped at the opportunity to head south when we not so long ago were heading north at a record pace for the same reason, opportunity. I will discuss what I have read, researched, and learned from my own experiences as well.In this country, so many squirm at the very mention of the suburban â€Å"White Flight† of White persons buying suburban homes every since WWII. However, the fact remains that in this country no matter what race you are if you are presented with a better alternative for living and working you will gravitate towards that lifestyle. This is extremely evident in my re search, as so many Blacks headed back to where their mother’s and father’s fled to either escape death, racism, slavery or was just simply looking for a job to make a living.Within my community the state of Georgia was not looked upon favorably, in fact, when I was a child, 40 years ago, it would have been considered just about crazy to leave progressive New York for the racist south, especially Georgia where cotton was a mainstay to the economy. Nowadays, it’s becoming just the opposite; the businesses are leaving for the south (along with the jobs) and the racism being experienced up north, I believe, is because of the shrinking market for jobs and the disdain for someone in a minority group â€Å"taking† what used to be â€Å"yours job†.So for those reasons, I’d like to take you on a journey to understand what Atlanta has become and why many Blacks affectionately refer it to as â€Å"Chocolate City†. Fulton County in 1900 had a pop ulation of 117,363 persons and has grown to 816,006 in the 2000 census. Whereas, the City of Atlanta in 1900 had a population of 89,872 persons and has grown to 537,958 since the 2000 census. Fulton county since the early 1900’s has steadily been in the low single digits as far as foreign born persons residing within the county ntil 2000 where the foreign born rate climbed to 10%. Although historically in Atlanta and Fulton County the predominant immigrants are those whose ancestry are from Russia, Germany, UK, Italy, Ireland, and Greece it wasn’t until the 2000 census that Africans were migrating to Atlanta as the 4th largest migrating group on record. It further demonstrated that those of African descent and those who were American Blacks looked upon Atlanta as a chance for minorities to â€Å"get ahead† and share some form of American success.Many Blacks from the north began migrating south, just the opposite as the early 1900’s, as industries such as auto plants began downsizing, steel plants were shutting down more and more, affirmative action was being frowned upon, and the large incomes that were being made within the construction industries (both via developing and trade unions in the west and north east) was not being shared with northern & western Blacks. The trade unionist, still to this day, struggle to â€Å"give up† what they perceive to be their own trade with minority groups (i. e.Italian cement masons & laborers, German Operators, Irish Iron Workers, etc. ). This shutting out phenomenon of varying industries, especially within the northeast, has caused many minority groups (esp. Blacks and Latinos) to migrate south for opportunities that were not present to them at home. When you couple the â€Å"black/brown migration† south to Atlanta along with subsidies being given to oil companies and big corporations to relocate headquarters along the â€Å"Sunbelt†; there is no wonder that opportunity was available for those who were willing to work non-union and compete for low paying jobs against migrant workers.Since the immigration laws were eased via legislation in 1965, the most extreme documentation of â€Å"Sunbelt† workers in Fulton County have been those of Spanish speaking origin for various reasons. Since the 1970 census, Hispanic ethnicity in Fulton County went from 8,260 to a whopping 48,056 in the 2000 census. Whether it be Cubans fleeing communism, Mexicans looking to just make a decent living, or Blacks fleeing being shut out during the up rise of our economy during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the fact remains that Atlanta was viewed as a city where minorities could go and make a better life for themselves and their families.This â€Å"black/brown migration† was not going unnoticed by the native White’s of Atlanta. As Blacks became the majority group in Atlanta by 2000 at 60% of the city’s population, Whites continued to move a way to their suburban homelands of Fulton County, as they made up 66% of the suburbs population in 2000. Atlanta and Fulton County continued to grow but it was evident that it was growing into a more extreme segregated population. However, there was a transformation-taking place, the Black suburb.The more populated the city of Atlanta was getting; the more Blacks began populating the suburbs themselves. Along with the pattern of the housing market targeting low and middle-income residents to buy homes from the mid 1990’s through the 2000’s. Blacks (and other minority groups) began buying suburban homes attempting to gain the â€Å"American Dream†. As a political foresight to the â€Å"black/brown† migration, the affluent suburb of Buckhead was annexed and became part of Atlanta, as many believe, to keep the majority-voting block in the city White.So, now being part of Atlanta, many Blacks began buying beautiful homes in Buckhead and other surrounding subu rbs creating the vision of a â€Å"Black suburb†. However, since this annexation there has been increased feuding with the northern residents of the more affluent White suburbs with the collection and distribution of taxes towards the southern portion of the county. The feeling amongst the northerners within the county is that they are subsidizing the south because that’s where the most local support service dollars are being spent.So after the 2000 census Blacks now make up at least 28% of the Fulton County suburbs, and still maintain over 60% of the population in the city of Atlanta, thus justifying the affectionate name of â€Å"Chocolate City†. Another varying phenomenon is the research numbers that show that even with a heavy influx of Asian/Pacific Islander into Fulton County and the city of Atlanta less than 1% actually migrated to the city while over 4% migrated immediately to the suburb.This further shows the trend of those even born in another country knows that to live in the suburbs in America is a matter of status more than anything else. Especially when the suburbs in European cities represent all the ills of their societies, and it’s literally vice versa. Our affluent residents look to leave the central cities, while European affluent residents look to live as close to the center of the city as possible (Paris, for example).Between 1950 and 1960 is when the greatest changes came to the region, with the city growing by almost 140,000 persons due to its annexation of the Buckhead suburb. The city of Atlanta varies from its suburbs in Fulton County for one main reason, the highway structure and volumes of headquarters for major corporations and media outlets. While the suburbs in Fulton County are littered with strip malls and sub divisions, the City of Atlanta is filled with tall corporate buildings surrounded by winding and crisscrossing highway roads.The Fulton County suburbs are predominantly White (with a heavy infl uence of Russian and German ancestry), clean and quiet within the neighborhoods, while the City of Atlanta is predominantly Black, loud and busy (especially during the day), with stand still traffic on the highways during the morning and evening rush hours, covered under a layer of fog from vehicle emissions. The problem that â€Å"Chocolate City† and Fulton County will be facing soon is the lack of jobs even in this economy that may be on the rise.The burst of the dot com bubbles, the failing oil refineries, and globalization of businesses will surely have the residents of this once bubbling land of opportunity in Atlanta possibly fleeing again for greener pastures elsewhere, or fighting for jobs for even less pay with migrant workers or desperate residents willing to take almost anything that you would not, if you had a choice. So â€Å"Chocolate City† has been good to many minority workers, especially over the last two decades, however the sun may be rising and the chocolate sweetness of success may be melting sooner than one might think.