Essay on Shirley Jacksons The Lottery - Message of Social Responsibili

The Message of Social Responsibility in The Lottery      Ã‚  Ã‚   Often, we paint a fairytale view of life for ourselves and our children. Sometimes, an author paints a frightfully realistic picture of life and forces us to reconsider the fairytale. In Shirley Jackson’s story, "The Lottery," a town each year conducts a lottery in which the winner or looser, in this case, is stoned to death by his or her own neighbors. The tradition is supposed to uphold social structure within the town, but in order to comprehend the true meaning of the story you must be able to read between the lines. "The Lottery" is a story about a town that has let its traditions go too far. Also, it is clear that the story contains eye-opening facts that lead me to believe that the author’s intentions were not to write a horror story, but rather cry to all to stop and realize we have problems that we can and should approach, that can make a difference in many people’s lives in our society. The author states that the lottery is conducted every year in the spring. The flowers are blooming and the birds are singing, but this warm town quickly becomes a gloomy, overcast setting for a satanic event. This horrifying ritual ends in bloodshed and death. In our society today, there are large cities which have beautiful parks and people usually keep them clean and pretty th... ...lottery, and that could lead to many more deaths of innocent people. The fact that there are places in the world today that immoral actions occur, means that we, as responsible citizens, are not doing our job. The people of America must wake up and learn to stand up for what they believe in. Works Cited Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1986. 862-868 McQuain, Michelle. "Change Only When Affected." Ode to Friendship & Other Essays. Connie Bellamy, Virginia Beach: VWC, 1997. Walden, John. "Critical Essays by John Walden." Electric Library. http://www.elibrary.com/id/230/270/lid, 1996.

Persuasive Writing Essay

The next type of writing we will do is the persuasive essay. In this essay, you will be working to convince your reader of the rightness of your point of view on a specific topic. As I have already said, in some ways every type of writing is a form of persuasion: you are always trying to make your reader see the correctness of your opinion. In this assignment, however, you will stake out your position on a particular topic and argue forcefully and explicitly in favor of it. As always, you want to state your opinion explicitly in your thesis statement (of course, without saying, â€Å"I think that. . . .†). As always, you also want to pick a topic that is fairly focused, narrow, and specific: pick a topic that you can adequately discuss in four to five paragraphs. I will say it again: it is always better to say a lot about a small topic than to try to say a little bit about many aspects of a large topic. (For those who are counting, that is the 3,248th time I have said that thi s year.) Use the first paragraph to state and fully explain your thesis. The rest of your essay should then be the marshalling of evidence in support of your thesis statement and an explanation of and commentary on your evidence. Facts are necessary to support your thesis, but by themselves facts are not enough. You need to explain and comment on them fully; show how these facts support your view and not the view of the opposing side. Try to find three or four really strong pieces of evidence to support your opinion. There is no way you can say everything or think of every point; choose the strongest evidence you can. While arguing in favor of your position, you should also include arguments against the opposing view. For example, if I am writing about the wrongness of capital punishment, I should also include arguments showing the wrongness of arguments made in favor capital punishment. Try to anticipate the other side’s arguments. That will show you are thinking and will also strengthen your argument. In general, it is best to work from your weakest to your strongest argument. As usual, conclusions are difficult. End with a strong, powerful concluding paragraph that brings together your various ideas but does not merely restate them. Certainly do not end by saying something like, â€Å"For all these reasons . . . .† I have listed below a few sample thesis statements and a number of possible topics. Please do not be  limited by my suggestions. As with any piece of writing, you will do the best job if you write about something you care about. I will give you a sample essay. Your essay should be 1-2 pages typed or 4-5 sides handwritten, double-spaced either way. The essay is due Tuesday, 30 January. It is worth 100 points. We will work on the essay in class; you can always show me drafts. Do your best. SAMPLE TOPICS the dress code (or, better yet, some more significant and meaningful issue at school!) your allowance or curfew or some other family issue gun control, abortion, capital punishment (or any other political issue) your view on dating or relationships advocating for a particular religious or spiritual practice: for example, meditate everyday the need for more late-night activities for teenagers the war in Iraq of course, anything else you feel strongly about SAMPLE THESIS STATEMENTS Limiting civil liberties is not an appropriate way to keep this country safe from terrorism. Capital punishment is an unjust and immoral way to punish criminals. A vegetarian diet is a sensible and meaningful response to world starvation and environmental destruction. The dress code provides a meaningful way to minimize the economic competition between students and unite them in their common academic purpose. A vegetarian diet is a sensible and meaningful response to world starvation and environmental destruction. So many Americans are often caught up with finding the â€Å"perfect† diet. While such a diet does not exist, a vegetarian diet provides significant health, environmental, and political benefits. Choosing such a diet is a simple but significant way to make a real difference in one’s own life and the world. First of all, a vegetarian diet is far more healthful than the traditional  American diet that emphasizes meat. A meat-free diet is higher in fiber, lower in saturated fat, and richer in a wide range of vitamins and minerals than a meat-based one. While we do hear conflicting evidence about the various health claims of different diets, nutritionists and scientists seem to agree that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables provides the greatest health benefits. Some people might say that a vegetarian diet is boring: quite the contrary. Compared to the relatively few kinds of meats and ways to prepare them, there are scores of vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes and almost countless ways to prepare them. A meat-based diet also puts far too much protein into the body, taxing the kidneys and wasting expensive food. As it is, Americans eat too much protein; eating a vegetarian diet is one way to reduce our intake of excessive and expensive protein. Eating a diet based on fruits and vegetables also creates less environmental havoc than a meat-based diet. Raising the animals necessary for the traditional meat-laden diet requires large amounts of land, mountains of processed feed, and the disposal of tons of waste. But a family of four could, if necessary, live for a year off the fruits, grains, and vegetables produced from a few acres of land. And, once the crop is taken, there are few or no ill effects. If the agriculture is done organically, vegetarian eating has even fewer harmful effects upon the land. In an age of diminishing arable land and resources and increasing populations, we need to find ways to get the most nutrition from our land use. A vegetarian diet provides such efficiency. Finally, a meat-rich diet consumes many more scarce resources than a vegetarian diet. It takes about 800 pounds of cattle feed to produce one pound of beef. In a world in which nearly one-fourth of the planet’s population is malnourished or starving, a meat-based diet is simply a luxury we can no longer afford (if we ever could have). In good conscience, it only makes sense to eat lower on the food chain – as we do with a plant-based diet. If everyone in the world ate a vegetarian diet, there would be an immediate surplus of food available to feed people at far lower cost and with wiser use of precious resources. In this way, vegetarianism becomes a moral choice. For reasons of politics, environment, health, and justice, vegetarianism is the only intelligent and compassionate choice in a world of scarce resources and increasing population. It may take some getting used to, but the benefits and rewards of a vegetarian diet – for the planet, the self, and the human race – far outweigh whatever minimal sacrifice may be involved. sentence in bold: thesis statement underlined sentences: topic sentences for each paragraph

U.S- Cuban Trade When Does a Cold War Strategy Become a...

Project: U.S- Cuban Trade: When does a Cold War Strategy Become a Cold War Relic? Able to weather a variety of political leaders, economic events, and historical eras, the U.S. embargo of Cuba is the longest and harshest embargo by one state against another in modern history. Following Castro’s overthrow of the Batista government in 1959 and threats to incite revolutions elsewhere in Latin America, the Unites State cancelled its trade agreement to buy Cuban sugar. Then, following a series of increasing hostile events, the United States severed diplomatic relations and initiated a full trade embargo in 1962. Trade between the United States and Cuba stopped. Spurred by the collapse of communism more than thirty years later, Congress†¦show more content†¦The governing strategy executes inhumane rules and regulations that has caused difficulties and anguish among its citizens and has caused families to have fewer interactions and fewer relationships with other citizens. The embargo has constrained the crossing of the borders for Cuban citizens, the exiles of Cuba and the businesses, its subsidiary to not be able to do their business in Cuba without facing penalties. This embargo has forbid the Cuban citizens’ contact to consumer goods that the United States presented. Cuba’s expansion of its infrastructure has also been limited therefore the country continues to be a poor country. Trade helps in business growth and it helps the economy of the country as the different business enterprises can learn from other businesses’ ideas and would help in the growth of the enterprises with its global competitiveness. The embargo may have been effective in the times of Cold war but in the modern times it is perceived as useless especially for the Cuban-American families and business enterprises that are looking for opportunities in Cuba. Devoid of the Cuban embargo the two countries will be able to enjoy economic growth and there will be an abundant circulation of cash between the two countries. Upon the removal of the embargo there will be more business opportunities and better advantages for the trade to open for the two countries. With its