Lies and Deceit free essay sample

The Crucible is a 1953 play written by Arthur Miller, which portrays the story of the Salem Witch Trials, and the townspeople it affected. The play is an allegory of McCarthyism, which Miller unjustifiably experienced, due to the fact that he was a playwright. The prosecutions of the Salem Witch Trials led to the deaths of several innocent townspeople. As the accused individuals stood trial, it was the testimonies of villagers which essentially determined their fate. Whether lying to save a life, or take someone else’s, dishonest villagers created a chaos which shook Salem Village to its core. The Crucible depicts the extreme behaviors that occur when the difference between truthfulness and treachery is life or death. In The Crucible the most notable characters who conduct in deception are Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Mary Warren. The Salem Witch Trials could have never reached such infamy, if it were not for the lies and deceit of the people of Salem. We will write a custom essay sample on Lies and Deceit or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Abigail â€Å"Abby† Williams goes to the greatest lengths to deceive the townspeople of Salem, in order for her own selfish gain. When Abby is questioned about dancing in the woods with the other girls, she blames Tituba by stating, â€Å"She made me do it! She made Betty do it! † (187). Abigail is willing to sacrifice the life of Tituba, Reverend Parris’ slave from the Barbados, in order to spare herself from punishment. While Tituba did not force any of the girls to commit witchcraft, she confesses to the crime, as she knows Abby’s claims are held to a higher standard than those of a slave like herself. In an attempt to defend her lies, Abigail accuses Mary Warren of witchcraft by saying â€Å"†¦Oh, please, Mary! Don’t come down. † (224). After Mary Warren confesses to the court that the accusations she and the rest of the girls made were untrue; Abigail leads the other girls in an attack against Mary. Abigail goes as far to accuse Mary of sending her spirit upon them, an accusation that could’ve ended Mary’s life, in order to protect her lies. Abigail Williams is greatly responsible for the convictions of innocent townspeople, and all for her own gain and protection. In contrast to Abigail, Mary Warren is seen as the more innocent and obedient character. As the servant of the Proctors, Mary Warren is loyal to them in the beginning. When Elizabeth Proctor is accused of being a witch, Mary agrees to testify against Abigail and the other girls in order to save Elizabeth, as well as be faithful to God. However, when Abigail’s threats against Mary become too intense for her to handle, Mary lashes out at John Proctor by saying â€Å"You’re the Devil’s man! † (226). As a result of Abigail and the other girls taunting, Mary Warren re-joins them in their deceit in order to save herself from punishment. While Mary wanted to help stop the false accusations made by the girls, their lies were far too believable by the court. Mary Warren is an easily overcome character, who agrees to deceive the court in order to spare herself from punishment. John Proctor is The Crucible’s tragic hero. Although he is flawed by his previous affair with Abigail, Proctor seeks justice for Salem, and his falsely accused wife Elizabeth at all costs. When Proctor grows tired of Elizabeth’s failure to trust him, he says â€Å"You forget nothin, and forgive nothin† (194). While Abigail worked for the Proctors as a servant, John cheated on Elizabeth with her. In the time of the affair, Proctor lied to his wife in order to keep it a secret. When speaking to Elizabeth about whether or not to confess to witchcraft, John Proctor feels that since he has already been dishonest, it wouldn’t matter if he lied, â€Å"I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man. My honesty is broke, Elizabeth; I am no good man. † (236). John felt that he was not a godly man due to his affair, and telling the truth wouldn’t make him one. However, upon learning that his confession will be nailed to the church, John decides to protect his name and faith to God by being honest. John Proctor, once a deceiving man to his wife, fights for the truth even at the cost of his own life. Abigail Williams and Mary Warren lied to protect themselves, and convicted the innocent people of Salem. John Proctor however, fought selflessly to free his wife and imprisoned friends. While Mary Warren betrayed the Proctors in order to save herself, that event would not have taken place if it weren’t for Abigail Williams. Abigail pays no regards to moral standards or God, but instead only acts to benefit herself at whatever expense she deems necessary. The lies and deceit in Salem pinned neighbor against neighbor, and called for the unjust death of many.

Cigarette Should Be Banned Essay Example

Cigarette Should Be Banned Essay Example Cigarette Should Be Banned Essay Cigarette Should Be Banned Essay Cigarettes Should be Banned Smoking cigarettes has been a worldwide habit for a long time. According to the World Health Organization report, about 2 billion people smoke all over the world, 48% men and 12% women and even a number of child smokers. Everyone knows the harm of cigarettes and many countries have published smoking bans. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan was the first one to forbid tobacco sales (BBC News). I strongly approve of the cigarette ban because cigarette is bad for people’s health and the litter will cause environmental pollution. I do not smoke, so I have no idea how exactly people feel when they smoke. Some people smoke to keep their weight, others need cigarettes to focus on something, and some believe smoking is pleasant and refreshing. There is a funny saying that Chinese heavy smokers always say, â€Å" smoking after dinner is more than living god. † No matter the reason that people like smoking, they should not ignore the disadvantages of cigarettes. My grandfather died from lung cancer in 2008. He had smoked more than fifty years. I would not say that he died because of smoking, but we cannot deny that lung cancer is indeed a tobacco-related disease. Smoking speeds up the process of aging and each cigarette smoked costs smokers six minutes of their life (HubPages). Every year, tobacco kills almost six million people, which includes five million users and ex users and even more that 600,000 nonsmokers affected by second-hand smoke. â€Å"Approximately one person dies every six seconds due to tobacco and this accounts for one in 10 adult deaths,† According to the World Health Organization (Tobacco, Media centre). Beside lung cancer, many other diseases caused by smoking such as blockage of the arteries, which causes strokes, heart attacks and impotence (Health Canada), high blood pressure and chronic bronchitis. Cigarettes contain nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide. Nicotine is highly addictive, and if people stop smoking temporarily then that person will become lethargic. According to research, nicotine from one cigarette can kill a mouse. To nonsmokers, even though they do not touch any cigarettes they might get some diseases as well. For instance, a father smokes a lot, a mother does not smoke, and their baby may have congenital malformation or even worse: die young. You cannot blame anyone but the cigarettes. Some families come apart because of smoking. Sometimes, teenagers learn to smoke because they see some adults doing it, or someone passes the cigarettes to them. Thus, cigarette smoke not only causes diseases, but also misguides young generations. No matter the smokers or nonsmokers, as long as they got diseases resulted from cigarette use, they would pay the medical fee to cure their diseases. So, another bad effect is spending unnecessary money for curing diseases result from cigarette smoke. Everyone cares about his or her healthy problems caused by cigarettes. But is there anyone concerned about the continuing pollution of the environment? Cigarettes do have a big effect on that pollution. Air pollution is one of the most important topics that people pay attention to. No matter the cigarette smoke or second hand smoke, they all belong to indoor air pollution. Tobacco Control once reported, cigarette smoke emits 10 times more air pollution than any diesel car exhaust. In addition, when cigarettes burn, they release nicotine, carbon monoxide, particulates and 4,000 different types of chemicals, which are bad for people’s health into the air. Also, the cigarette butts thrown on the ground or on the beaches can release the harmful chemicals into the air and water. Besides air and water pollution, deforestation happened in order to increase farmland for tobacco growth and cure tobacco plants. â€Å"An estimated 200,000 hectares of forests and woodlands are cut down each year because of tobacco farming,† According to Bellagio statement in June 1995 (Environmental issues). There is even more deforestation today than before. Tobacco plants leech nutrients from the soil also causing environmental deterioration just like fertilizers and pesticides pollute the environment. The tobacco factories produce a huge amount of waste almost everyday as well. The global tobacco industry produced about 2. 3 billion kilograms of waste and 209 million kilograms of chemical waste in 1995 (Environmental issues). Numbers do not lie and these numbers do not even include the immense amount of litter resulting from non-biodegradable cigarette butts. Cigarette butts indeed are a curse. People throw cigarette butts anywhere including some places that have inflammable material such as forests. Cigarette butts cause about 100,000 U. S. and 1 million global fires per year. And cigarette fire causes an estimated 30% of U. S. death because of fire and 10% of global death burdens by fire (Davis). In 1987, the Greater Khingan Range in China, which is a huge forest, burned by fires for 28 days. Since that day, people in China finally noticed that the power of fires. Fewer and fewer people throw cigarette butts into forests any more. But there are still some who do not remember the lessons and litter cigarette butts in hotels, schools and theatres. Almost every year has news reported about fires caused from cigarette butts in public places. Also, cigarette butts affect society’s appearance, and there is not anyone who likes to live around cigarette butts. In addition, the cigarette industry spends billions each year on advertising and promotion. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are $9. 94 billion total spent in 2008 and $27 million spent a day in 2008 (Smoking and Tobacco Use). Tobacco use cost the United States billions of dollars each year, of what cigarette smoking costs above $193 billion and secondhand smoke costs more that $10 billion (Smoking Statistics). Besides that, every state in America spent a lot of money on tobacco control. Every cloud has a silver lining. Federal cigarette tax increases will raise additional revenue of government and strengthen development of economy. As long as economy develops, it will push tobacco marketing forward. As the economy grows, agriculture will expand, and help increase employment opportunities. Nowadays, more and more people want to quit smoking. Among adult smokers, approximately 69% of smokers want to quit completely and about 52% of smokers attempted to quit in 2010 (Morbidity and Mortality). People become politically awakened little by little, and this is a good start to help government ban cigarettes. People should begin from every aspect of their daily life. For example, stop passing cigarette to another people; stop smoking at home or in front of children, and find something else to divert attention on cigarettes. Health is the most important in our life. Do not let cigarettes/tobacco ruins our beautiful life. Bhutan Forbids All Tobacco Sales. BBC News. BBC, 17 Dec. 2004. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/south_asia/4012639. stm. 30 Tips For Younger Looking Skin (Part 2). HubPages. N. p. , n. d. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. http://ingenira. hubpages. com/hub/30-Tips-on-How-to-Have-a-Younger-Looking-Skin-2. Tobacco. WHO. N. p. , May 2012. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. who. int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs339/en/index. html. Impotence and Smoking. Health Canada. N. p. , 16 Feb. 2009. Web. 12 Sept. 012. hc-sc. gc. ca/hc-ps/tobac-tabac/body-corps/disease-maladie/infertilit-eng. php. Environmental Issues. WHO. Bellagio, June 1995. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. who. int/tobacco/research/economics/rationale/environment/en/index. html. Davis. Fire Injuries, Disasters, and Costs from Cigarettes and Cigarette Lights: A Global Overview. National Center for Biotechnology Information. U. S. National Library of Medicine, 31 Aug. 2000. Web. 12 Sept. 2012. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/10938207. Morbidity and Mortality. Centers for Disease Control and

Americas Next Top Model Show in Light of Power Dynamics Essay

Americas Next Top Model Show in Light of Power Dynamics - Essay Example Center of discussion in this paper is America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) as a big brother show in which successful women applicants come together to compete for America’s Next Top Model title. This show is meant to give the women a chance to start a modeling career. The show is hosted by a female professional and model by the name Tyra Banks. It is rated as one of the biggest television shows in the world. The show is professionally constructed with episodes ranging from nine to eighteen. In all the seasons, there are about ten to twenty five female participants who vie for the adorable title. Each episode is structured in a way that one of the participants considered weak is eliminated by a panel of judges, Tyra Banks being part. The shows also provides a makeover in the earlier part of the show where the participants who are considered weak is put on probation and the audience is allowed to vote to save their preferred contestant. During the show, contestants undergo vig orous training in line with the theme of the particular week. This is meant to coach the girls and teach them various aspects related to the modeling career including press interviewing skills, sales skills, and cat walking. This is followed by photo shooting of the contestants who are given dresses that barely cover the bodies; the girls are actually semi-nude as they pose. From the photos shot, the judges make a decision and the female contestants with the lowest marks are eliminated or put on probation for a makeover. Other events featured in the show include in-depth assessment of personality traits and general knowledge. Each of the episodes ends with the ruling by a panel of judges who are experts in the fashion industry, regular judges of the show. A special guest judge is also usually called upon to assist in making a judgment. This involves posing challenging questions on modeling and fashion to the contestants, and their video photos are displayed and analyzed by the panel ists. The contestants are often asked to leave the room to give the panelists a chance to deliberate on their decisions and make the rulings. The female contestants are then called upon to the show room and face their fate; the successful ones remain in the show while those who score low are put on probation or sent packing (Kowalski 47). In view of the above, it is beyond doubt that the show is, therefore, professionally structured in a way that real women contestants are put into unreal events in order to create a story. Criticism of the Reality Shows Most of the reality shows run for a bout thirty to sixty minutes, a constant duration. If the show could be real then the events would run for an unidentified period. This shows that there are some incidences behind the scene that the audience is not able to know. It also brings out an element of editing of the events behind the scene to enable the program run within the stipulated period. It also shows that the story being told is n ot real but is subject to a lot of editing and manipulation of the contestants or participants. The editors, therefore, become the storytellers and take the positions of the contestants by altering the sequence of events that actually happened behind the scenes. Meanwhile, the audience

The Interests and the Freedom of the Members of Society Essay

The Interests and the Freedom of the Members of Society - Essay Example Sneakers, on the other hand, is a 1992 film starring Robert Redford as Martin Bishop. For 20 years, Bishop has done what he could to evade the arm of the law and has established a new identity for him. Knowing that he had not done anything wrong and that he was just wrongly accused, Bishop works to secure his freedom. The movie is about Bishop and his team of sneakers and a code breaker box they have been blackmailed into stealing. Failure to do so will mean that Bishop’s real identity will be revealed to authorities and may eventually lead to his capture. Several turns in the plot occur, the biggest one being that the Bishop finds himself in a situation where he can finally erase his bad record which will inevitably lead to his complete freedom. In the end, Bishop and his group develop a plan to make sure that no group makes use of the code breaker and at the same time ensure that Bishop remains free and all other members get what they’ve always dreamt of. As previousl y mentioned, freedom is a central theme in both works of art discussed. As with Valjean, Bishop makes use of all means possible to preserve his freedom. Both main characters are evading authorities determined to catch them. In fact, both Valjean and Bishop established new identities for themselves in order to avoid being arrested. Such a similarity exists because both stories focus on the lives of men on the run. Both show how protecting one’s freedom sometimes entails running away and turning one’s back on his past.

Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Knowledge Management - Essay Example Coming to the skills and ethics that I have and the skills that are required for carrying out the research, it is clear that there is some amount of gap between my current skills and what is required. I have very good and promising plans for the research, but these ideas can come to fruition only if they follow the set path of academic data gathering and research and knowing how to write properly. I have to carefully follow ethics and maintain the required ethical behavior while conducting the research. The ethical behavior can be compromised in a number of factors such as bias, plagiarism, reuse of data, institutional review board, reviewing and reporting results. Bias can occur from actions of the researcher as well as the respondents. It is true that many of my colleagues would be ready to help me complete the research and I also would have sufficient organizational support. However, this should not lead to a situation where ethics are compromised. I should not wittingly or unwitt ingly attempt to goad and direct the research subjects to give responses that I want. In effect, the research should be clear, unbiased and be natural. It is also important that all instances of plagiarism be avoided and this extends to beyond citing sources used in the paper. Efforts should be taken to carefully avoid any previously published research and the research should be original in content, thoughts and spirit. Plagiarism can be avoided by paraphrasing; carefully rewriting the content but this is not observing the spirit.

Everyday Use Essay: Lost Heritage :: Everyday Use essays

Lost Heritage in Everyday Use    By contrasting the family characters in "Everyday Use," Walker illustrates the mistake by some of placing the significance of heritage solely in material objects. Walker presents Mama and Maggie, the younger daughter, as an example that heritage in both knowledge and form passes from one generation to another through a learning and experience connection. However, by a broken connection, Dee, the older daughter, represents a misconception of heritage as material. During Dee's visit to Mama and Maggie, the contrast of the characters becomes a conflict because Dee misplaces the significance of heritage in her desire for racial heritage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mama and Maggie symbolize the connection between generations and the heritage that passed between them. Mama and Maggie continue to live together in their humble home. Mama is a robust woman who does the needed upkeep of the land,      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   hands. In the winter, I wear   overalls during the day.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man.   I   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   can work outside all day,   One winter I knocked a bull   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   calf straight in the brain   with a sledge hammer and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall. (Walker   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   289)    And Maggie is the daughter, "homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs," (Walker 288) who helps Mama by making "the yard   so clean and wavy" (Walker 288) and washes dishes "in the kitchen over the dishpan" (Walker 293). Neither Mama nor Maggie are 'modernly' educated persons; "I [Mama] never had an education myself.   Sometimes Maggie reads to me. She stumbles along good-naturedly   She knows she is not bright" (Walker 290). However, by helping Mama, Maggie uses the hand-made items in her life, experiences the life of her ancestors, and learns the history of both, exemplified by Maggie's knowledge of the hand- made items and the people who made them--a knowledge which Dee does not possess.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Contrasting with Mama and Maggie, Dee seeks her heritage without understanding the heritage itself. Unlike Mama who is rough and man-like, and Maggie who is shy and scared, Dee is confident, where "Hesitation is no part of her nature," (Walker 289) and   beautiful:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "   first glimpse of leg out of the car tells me it is   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dee. Her feet were always neat-looking, as if God had   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   shaped them Dee next. A dress down to the ground   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Earrings gold, too   (Walker 291)    Also, Dee has a 'modern' education, having been sent "to a school in Augusta" (Walker 290). Dee attempts to connect with her racial heritage by taking

Healing the World Through Literature Essay

Literature has influenced our lives in many ways. One is the way we perceive the events around us. The media have always been telling and informing the public about wars. Instead of informing us about how we can heal the world, all we hear is whose fault it was as soon as a war breaks out. The question here is: How can literature help to heal the world in terms of war and peace? This is important because there are so many wars in the world and instead of fighting we can use them to help create peace and heal the world. We will then be able look back to the past and think how we can progress for the next time. It will also help us create peace by allowing everyone to understand each other. Thomas Hardy, Anthony Hecht and Muriel Rukeyser are three authors that help show how literature can heal the world. The first poem, Thomas Hardy’s â€Å"The Man He Killed† focuses on the senselessness and futility of war, where a man has killed another quite simply because they were fighting on opposing sides at war. It was written in the point of view of one of the soldiers who was enlisted in the infantry. In the opening stanza he states, â€Å"Had he and I but met by some old ancient inn, we should have sat us down to wet right many a nipperkin! † (Hardy 347) By this he means if they met outside of a pub, they would have enjoyed some drinks together, but because of the war, they are forced to shoot at one another. Then it explains how they met as soldiers in opposing sides and one had to die so they both shot each other, but the narrator shot killed the other. In the third stanza, he explains why he had to kill him. Literature could help us with war by displaying this poem. The poem shows how even when people just meet that because of a war, they are forced and required to kill another man instead of having peace. People fight in wars for all different reasons. Some people were born to join the army and be soldiers while others just join to get by in life with financial support from the army. In the lines thirteen through sixteen, towards the end of the poem the author is saying how both the men enlisted into the army because they were out of work, and they needed to sell their traps to get money, and now because of the war one of the men was killed unwontedly by another man who joined because he was out of work as well. In the second poem called â€Å"More Light! More Light! † by Anthony Hecht, it talks about two different stories in the poem. In the first story there is a man who was being charged for a crime he prays to his God he didn’t commit. He states, â€Å"I implore my God to witness that I have made no crime† (Hecht 349). He was being burned to death and one of the soldiers who was burning him because of his crime felt badly for the prisoner’s suffering. So he threw gun powder hoping it would catch fire and to end the prisoner of his misery but the gunpowder did not ignite, and the prisoner was burnt to death. â€Å"And that was but one, and by no means one of the worst; permitted at least his pitiful dignity; and such as were by made prayers in the name of Christ, that shall judge all men, for his soul’s tranquility† (Hecht 349). The second story is about three prisoners who were brought to the woods, two Jewish prisoners and one Polish prisoner. The German guards forced the Polish man to bury the Jewish men alive, but the Polish man refused to do it. So the German guards instead changed the roles, and the Polish man was shot in the stomach, buried up to his head, and was left there for three hours to bleed to death. The second story seemed to be much worse than the first because the Polish man was suffering and was only left there with his thoughts and prayers as he slowly died. â€Å"No prayers or incense rose up in those hours which grew to be years, and every day came mute ghosts from the ovens, sifting through crisp air, and settled upon his eyes in a black soot† (Hecht 350). Literature help with war and peace because this poem shows the past how the Jews and Polish men and women were tortured by the Nazis and war. And this poem can teach us how even during the darkest times of war some people like the Polish did not keep his dignity. And not be forced to kill another man because war, even if the result of not listening is your own death. In the third poem â€Å"Letter to the Front† by Muriel Rukeyser, talks about being a Jew in the twentieth century. This poem explains how Jewish people should be proud of being Jewish, and they shouldn’t hide it. The Jewish people went through a lot with World War II, with all the deaths and sufferings, but the Jewish population shouldn’t try to hide what they are. â€Å"Wishing to be invisible, you choose death of the spirit, the stone insanity† (Rukeyser 351). Hiding meant reducing God to nothing more than what you are. The author is saying that the Jews should be proud of who they are and what they believe in. To believe in God and pray for freedom to all people, and pray to live the impossible which can only happen with faith to their God. Not by hiding who they really are and their beliefs. Literature can help with War and peace by using this poem to show that belief in your God can help you get through any situation and not by hiding from your beliefs and who you truly are. Some people are already used to wars and violence that it doesn’t affect them. In order to find peace, we must first make an effort to understand all types of people. In terms of race, ethnicity, culture, values, religion, beliefs, etc. When people see life through someone else’s eyes they understand what they go through. That would be the only way to avoid violence. Literature can heal the world after devastation from war. Maybe one day we won’t have to worry about the war because there would be peace. Work Cited: Hardy, Thomas. â€Å"The Man He Killed. † Writing about the World. By Susan H. McLeod, John Jarvis, and Shelley Spear. Boston, MA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. 346-48. Print. Hecht, Anthony. â€Å"More Light! More Light! † Writing about the World. By Susan H. McLeod, John Jarvis, and Shelley Spear. Boston, MA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. 349-50. Print. Rukeyser, Muriel. â€Å"Letter to the Front. † Writing about the World. By Susan H. McLeod, John Jarvis, and Shelley Spear. Boston, MA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005. 351-52. Print.