edgar allan poe :: essays research papers

American poet, a master of the horror tale, credited with practically inventing the detective story. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, to parents who were itinerant actors. His father David Poe Jr. died probably in 1810 and his mother Elizabeth Hopkins Poe in 1811. Edgar was taken into the home of a Richmond merchant John Allan and brought up partly in England (1815-20), where he attended Manor School at Stoke Newington. Never legally adopted, Poe took Allan's name for his middle name. Poe attended the University of Virginia (1826), but was expelled for not paying his gambling debts. This led to a quarrel with Allan, who later disowned him. In 1827 Poe joined the U.S. Army as a common soldier under assumed name and age. In 1830 Poe entered West Point and was dishonorably discharged next year, for intentional neglect of his duties. Little is known about his life in this time, but in 1833 he lived in Baltimore with his father's sister. After winning a prize of $50 for the short story "MS Found in a Bottle," he started a career as a staff member of various magazines, among others the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond (1835-37), Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in Philadelphia (1839-40), and Graham's Magazine (1842-43). During these years he wrote some of his best-known stories. In 1836 Poe married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm. She burst a blood vessel in 1842, and remained a virtual invalid until her death from tuberculosis five years later. After the death of his wife, Poe began to lose his struggle with drinking and drugs. He addressed the famous poem "Annabel Lee" (1849) to her. Poe's first collection, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, appeared in 1840. It contained one of his most famous works, "The Fall of the House of Usher." During the early 1840s Poe's best-selling work was The Conchologist's First Book (1839). The dark poem of lost love, "The Raven," brought Poe national fame, when it appeared in 1845. The Murders in the Rue Morgue(1841) and The Purloined Letter are among Poe's most famous detective stories.

The Right to Bear Arms Essay -- argumentative, persuasive, gun control

Currently, The United States of America is at war against 27 words that were written by James Madison in 1789. The Bill of Rights is known as the first 10 amendments to The Constitution of the United States. The Bill of Rights states the rights of its citizens. The Second Amendment states: â€Å"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed†(Madison). Many people have argued that â€Å"to keep and bear arms† is not very obvious. James Madison is not alive to clear up this misunderstanding that, for hundreds of years, has caused controversies. Some experts argue that, gun ownership laws should be relaxed because this country cannot guarantee the safety of its citizens. Others say that gun ownership laws should not be relaxed because it would increase the number of weapons and increase the availability of weapons for criminals. And thus, the debate over the right to bear arm s continues, again. Gun ownership is a hot topic in this country. The United States has almost always been a country know for its’ lenient gun laws. â€Å"Gun Ownership is a civil liberty protected by the Second Amendment of The Constitution† (Roth 1). The Constitution says that we can â€Å"bear arms†, which in turn, makes it very complicated to make a simple change/addition of words. States can choose to make restrictions to state laws as long as it follows the amendments and the U.S. Constitution. For example, states can take different paths when it comes to the death penalty as long as it is constitutional. â€Å"Illinois is one of only two states—the other is Wisconsin—that does not allow some sort of concealed carry by its’ residents† (Brownfield). 48 other states allow concealed we... ...eryone on the ‘lookout’, it is hard to just live your life. â€Å"None of these bills actually prevent violence. Rather, they help deteriorate the quality of life in our communities† (Roth 1). Guns are ruining our communities by showing the people that it is acceptable to take action if you are frightened. Sometimes, taking action can be the worst possible solution to a crisis. If a person takes action, it shows that you are brave, but, it also shows the criminal that you are actually a threat to them. This would raise the death toll significantly. As you now know, gun ownership is a very arguable topic. Countless people believe that guns will help citizens protect themselves when targeted for a crime, whereas, a large handful of citizens say that guns â€Å"help deteriorate the quality of life in our communities† (Roth 1). What if all the guns in the world just vanished?

Reputation

Michael Sells 10/29/2012 Period:3rd Reputation Essay In life today there are numerous people that have different views on reputation. Reputation could be a desired thing to for people that worry about what people think of them. In a reversal view of reputation, some people don’t care what people think about them and go on about their life being who they truly are. All throughout history athletes in sports are sometimes viewed by their reputation and what others think about them.With good reputation people will look up to them and follow them in their life to try to be like them, and a lot of athletes love that. Athletes with bad reputations are most of the time, very dis-liked. An example of that would be Terrell Owens, because people see him on and off the field smack talking and being cocky everywhere he goes and the majority of the people hate that and start to get mad when they see him because of his reputation. In my opinion reputation is an important thing to have in lif e. With a good reputation, one would be treated better by people, better liked, and go further in life.I say that because, if there is an opportunity in person’s job where they can get a raise or move up from the position they are in, that person is more likely to succeed in that, than a person with a bad reputation. A person with a bad reputation won’t get the opportunity to be in the same position as the other person with the good reputation because; they wouldn’t be trusted as well. Shakespeare writes â€Å"reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving† the significance of that quote pertaining to the play is that the line is spoken by Iago who is the villain to Cassio.Cassio at that time fallen into dishonor, causing Othello to dismiss him as an officer, and Cassio is devastated and cries out â€Å"Reputation! Reputation! Reputation! O I have lost my reputation! † In the part of the quote that says â€Å"reputation is an idle and most false imposition.. †, and Iago tries to convince Cassio is that reputation is an empty and entirely imaginary â€Å"false† thing. Also that many people who have a good reputation, haven’t done anything to earn it, which is the â€Å"merit† part of the quote. Then â€Å"†¦ without deserving† means that, many people who have lost reputation haven’t done anything to deserve the loss of it.

American Dream Essay Essay

Does American still provide access to the American Dream? Yes, America still provides access to the American Dream because it is â€Å"the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.† It provides America access because it doesn’t matter what goes on or what happens in your life. It doesn’t matter your cultural background, life experiences, or the language you speak. All people are given the equal right and opportunities to become self-sufficient, independent, successful and prosperous. Education plays a great part in one achieving his/her goals with adequate preparation and application of knowledge. America still provides access because it gives you the opportunity to vote, speak, and have freedom. For example, to vote means that you can go and vote as you please, to speak means to say what you want to say when you want to say it, and freedom means you have the opportunity to go to school, graduate, get a college degree, and land a job in your career. I feel that America still provides access because you have the right to vote. However, you can determine which candidate campaigning for office you want to vote for. When choosing the person you think is best for the office it’s a hard choice because one person will have different views from the other. When it comes down to choosing you have to weigh your pros and cons. Voting is only a right and you should exercise the right to go and vote in order to have a voice or opinion about candidates. Although not everyone votes, every vote counts. Your verbal vote is not what counts. The American Dream does give you the opportunity to speak because you have the right to say what you want to say if you see something that you disagree with. When disagreeing with something that someone is doing, it has to be something that you don’t like or something that isn’t going the way you think it should be going. The pros and cons of speaking are saying the wrong thing at the wrong time or place and saying the right thing at the appropriate time. For example, when having a discussion about the American Dream and you have a negative statement about it keep it to yourself because you may offend someone just by what you stated. When discussing cigarettes or drugs, and you have a positive statement about it let it be heard because  you may change someone’s life about smoking again. America gives you the freedom to get an education. By getting an education it means you have the opportunity to become a successful and productive citizen as well as becoming a positive asset to society. It takes dedication, perseverance, and determination to be what you want to be in life. You must be honest, beginning with self and then with others. You must also be respectful to oneself and others. By the same token you must demand respect from others. The American Dream is bringing to reality the ideals of ambitious individuals who respect and expect to be respected while in pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.

Psychology †Nature/Nurture Debate Essay

â€Å"Outline and comment on the two schools of thought involved in the study of the nature-nurture debate in psychology. Explain, using examples, why this debate gives rise to so much controversy.†Ã‚  The debate concerning the influence of nature and nurture (or heredity and environment) on human behaviour is one of the longest running, and most controversial, both inside and outside psychology. It deals with some of the most fundamental questions that human beings ask about themselves, such as ‘How do we come to be the way we are?’ and ‘What makes us develop in the way we do?’ (Gross 2005, P.900) There are three sides to the debate: on the nature side are the nativists or ethologists who believe that children develop almost entirely as a result of genetic influences, with their environment having little effect; on the nurture side are the behaviourists or empiricists who believe people are born as a blank slate which is ‘filled-in’ over a lifetime through learning and experience; and in the middle are the interactionists who, hence the name, believe children develop as a result of an interaction between biology and environment. I will now look at the arguments in more detail. Genetic transmission is the way we acquire characteristics through inheritance. Each cell in the body contains a nucleus, which contains a substance called DNA. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is organised into long strands called chromosomes, and each chromosome is made up of thousands of genes. Genes are the basic unit of hereditary transmission and direct the way that growth and development happen within a plant or animal. Just after an animal is conceived, it is made up of a tiny group of cells. As these grow and divide, each gene acts as a code or set of instructions for making a particular protein. These proteins control the cell’s internal chemistry and tell the cell what to do, giving the organism particular characteristics and determining the way its body functions. We inherit 23 pairs of chromosomes from our parents, 46 in all, half from our Mother and the other half from our Father. They combine to produce all the information an embryo needs to develop biologically. Since we inherit particular chromosomes through the egg and sperm, we also inherit the particular characteristics coded for by the genes on those chromosomes. Arnold Gesell, a pioneer of developmental psychology, was an extreme nativist. He believed all individuals pass through the same genetically programmed series of changes, with the instructions for these changes being passed on at the moment of conception. â€Å"Gesell was mainly concerned with infants’ psychomotor development (such a grasping and other manipulative skills), and locomotion (such as crawling and walking)† (Gross 2005, P.901). Gesell established a research institute devoted to identifying ‘normal’ ages for a wide variety of behaviors and characteristics; he used a motion picture camera to film thousands of children in various stages of development. This genetically programmed series of changes is called maturation. It is important to look at maturation as we try to understand genetic influences on behaviour. Some genetic influences are obvious at birth such as hereditary illnesses or abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome, but the things we inherit don’t necessarily show up all at once. â€Å"The physiological changes which take place during puberty, for example, arise because of genes that are present at conception, but they only happen when the body is mature enough for them to take place. In the same way, certain forms of behaviour may only emerge once the individual is mature enough† (Hayes and Orrell 1998, P.7). In 1938 Lorenz and Tinbergen put forward four characteristics to identify directly inherited behaviour in animals. These are: stereotyped behaviour, which always occurs in the same way because behaviour which is directly caused by genetic influence can’t be affected by the environment; species-specific behaviour, because each species has its own genetic make-up the behaviour should differ to that of other species; the behaviour should appear in animals raised in isolation, because if it is truly inherited there should be no need to learn it; and the behaviour should appear complete even if the animal has not had chance to learn it.

British Telecommunications Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

British Telecommunications - Assignment Example 2) BT's current focus on cost savings and retained earnings to fund operations has created heightened investor confidence and has made the company leaner, which will help it compete effectively in markets facing price pressures (Engebretson 2003). 3) As BT makes capital structure decisions going forward, it should adhere to the 'pecking order' philosophy of capital structure, which states that a firm's first choice for financing should be internal funding, followed by debt and then the issuance of equity (Liesz 2001). Like many firms throughout the world, BT became caught up in an acquisition frenzy during the late 1990s and at the turn of the century. In the process, BT relied on a capital structure that was very dependent on bank debt to finance its activities. Richard Fairchild points out that BT management consistently increased the company's level of debt from 1998-2001 and, in the process, investor confidence eroded (Fairchild 2003). Perhaps BT, as a former government monopoly, does not attract investors looking to assume a high level of risk. At any rate, investors took notice of BT's mounting debt and BT's stock price suffered. From 1998-2001, BT's debt increased from 4.8bn to 31bn, mostly from acquisition activities, particularly the licensing rights for 3G (third generation) in the United Kingdom and Germany (Fairchild 2003). Fairchild points out that, during this period, BT's stock price decreased by approximately 65%, eventually leading the company to use a rights issue in 2002, to decrease its debt to 18.4bn (Fairchild 2003). It is hard to blame BT management for increasing the company's bank debt during this period, as this path was followed by several other European telecommunications companies. BT competitors France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and KPN all have sold or spun-off divisions in the past five years to protect their credit ratings after acquiring high levels of debt (Asset sales to provide new challenge for telco 2006). Analysts described the problem faced by telecommunications providers as a "damned if they do, and damned if they don't" scenario (Asset sales to provide new challenge for telco 2006). In BT's situation, the market clearly was nervous about management's decision to base its capital structure around bank debt. Fairchild points out that when BT increased its level of debt to 31bn, Standard and Poors downgraded BT's credit rating from AA+ to A, which is a reduction of four levels (Fairchild 2003). One could argue that the market was ignoring the various positive aspects of debt in a company's capital structure. As Fairchild indicates, capital

COMPARATIVE TEXUAL ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

COMPARATIVE TEXUAL ANALYSIS - Essay Example This paper compares and contrasts Mother Tongue by Amy Tan and The Misery of Silence by Maxine Kingston in terms of techniques and the use of stylistic devices that include repetition, humor, personification, irony, back shadowing, storytelling, description, metaphors, setting and objectification. Amy Tan has used many rhetorical devices to emphasize the main theme of her story, which are cultural differences. First she uses repetition and this can be seen where she says, â€Å"And I use them all- all the Englishes I grew up with†¦Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use" (Tan 78). This emphasizes the point that the English used by her mother and the English used by the locals are different ones. This shows the cultural differences between immigrants and the locals. Direct speech, sincere tone, The other rhetorical device is personification. This is clearly seen in the phrase, â€Å"the intersection of memory upon imagination† (Tan 79). This again emphasizes the different English she speaks, one that is native and the other broken, as used by her mother. Amy Tan also uses anecdotes, such as â€Å"At this point in the story† (from paragraph five and on) (Tan 77). This is used to pull the attention of the reader and maintain it as she explains the difference of the effects of the languages she is exposed to. Both Mother Tongue by Amy Tan and The Misery of Silence by Maxine Kingston have used humor that comes through language. In Mother Tongue, Amy Tan’s mother speaks in broken English because she does not understand the whole English language because she is an immigrant. Tan’s mother speaks freely because she thinks that her English is good. However, when she realizes that her English is not good she lets her daughter do the talking on the phone instead of her. This is humorous. The Misery of Silence presents Maxine’s difficulty in speaking English when she moved to America. In the first three years in America, she did not speak at all. The humor is clearly brought out when Maxine and her sister recited the lesson in front of the class. They recited as if they wanted to cry but went on until they finished the recitation (Kingston 209). Maxine Kingston also uses several rhetorical devices. First, Kingston has used back shadowing. For example, this is seen where she starts the narration and she says, â€Å"When I went to kindergarten and had to speak English for the first time, I became silent† (Kingston 208). This helps her to narrate her story and help the reader understand the experiences she encountered when she was a child. The back-shadowing helps the audience identify with the experiences that she passed through. Maxine also uses objectification where she says, â€Å"My silence was thickest - total - during the three years that I covered my school paintings with black paint† (Kingston 209). She objectifies the silence to make the audience feel the stren gth that the silence had and its extent. Maxine also uses direct speech in the story. This is seen where she includes her father’s response to the pictures, by saying, â€Å"The parents and teachers of criminals were executed†, said my father. This shows the extent to which she was problematic both to teachers and to parents. Maxine has also used a simile where she says, â€Å"was a tie-tac-toe mark, like barbed wire, on the map† (Kingston 209). This is meant to emphasize the fact that the Japanese kids were arrogant. In mother tongue, Amy Tan