Fire, Brimstone, and Greener Pastures for Religious Involvement :: Free Essays Online

Fire, Brimstone, and Greener Pastures for Religious Involvement Lacking the ready opportunity to visit a unique congregation while stuck, carless, on campus over break, I instead focus on a "field trip" that my churchs' Sunday School class took one Sunday morning last summer. Picture if you will a group of white Presbyterian teenagers hopping into a shiny church van and cruising 15 minutes south, into the poorer, blacker reaches of inner-city Memphis (where neighborhood segregation is still very much the rule). Our destination was relatively near our own church, and yet worlds apart, too. Ours was the area of stately old homes with well-kept lawns along oak- and elm-lined streets, homes filled with the genteel, white urbanites of the city. A mere handful of blocks to the south, however, lay a land of equally old but far more poorly maintained homes, streets long since denuded of any trees they may once have sported. We had left our comfortable zone of neighborhood watches and block clubs, choosing instead to spend our worship hours in a part of t he city instead known for its special police precinct and its multitudinous economic redevelopment zones. Thus did we find ourselves at the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church. Venturing inside, we all noticed two things very quickly: we were at once wearing entirely too much clothing to be comfortable in the sweltering heat, and entirely too little to fit in with the rest of the congregants assembled. And yet we were welcomed with open arms. We had arrived, the Reverend Rogers L. Pruitt emphasized as we filed into the sanctuary, on a very special day. As he distributed bulletins and hearty handshakes to the rest of the group, I noticed that the front of mine read "Fragment Day." As I looked around the modest sanctuary, I wondered what the service had in store for us. The sanctuary was bare, and the pews hard. I mentally tallied a comparison between my own church's sanctuary and this. The two, I found, were similarly austere, but with theirs tending toward items of religious kitsch and our own tending instead towards polished brass. Both lacked stained glass in the windows. I suspected, however, that where our sanctuary was plain in token tribute to the long-dead strict streak of our Calvinist tradition, theirs was bare because it could not economically be otherwise. And the lack of air conditioning  ­ ! Memphis' summer heat is unbearable and pervasive, and a roof overhead does nothing against the big blanket of humid air.

The central theme of both the poems is old age. Sylvia Plath and Jenny

The central theme of both the poems is old age. Sylvia Plath and Jenny Joseph express their ideas of old age through the poems Mirror Mirror and Warning Introduction The central theme of both the poems is old age. Sylvia Plath and Jenny Joseph express their ideas of old age through the poems ‘Mirror’ and ‘Warning’. The intention of Sylvia Plath and Jenny Joseph are different. The message they want to get through to us differs. Jenny Joseph gearing us up towards old age through Warning and Sylvia Plath making old age sound terrible in Mirror. In the poem mirror, Sylvia Plath uses a lot of dull and negative words making old age sound terrifying â€Å"darkness† â€Å"drowned† and â€Å"terrible†. â€Å"Then she turns to those liars, the candles the moon† in this sentence she refers to the candle or the moon being a liar putting a negative image. Where as candles and moons are know to be a source of light making it positive. However the poem is very complicated to understand because it has a lot of hidden meanings. She use a lot of vivid language and personification meaning bringing lifeless object to life, for example when she says â€Å" Now I’m a lake† first line second paragraph. The lady also portrays her life to be like a non-living thing mirror, lake. This is because she describes her life to be less objective comparison to Warning. Here Jenny Joseph describes the lady to be quite cheerful, happy, and looking forward to old age. There is a rhythmic pattern in Warning. The repetition of the word ‘and’ and ‘ I shall’ goes on through out the whole poem. The word and suggest Jenny Joseph is writing while she’s thinking, as she goes along perhaps. This is telling the readers she is looking forward to her future and old a... ...tive, uglier. The word terrible is used in both the poems. Mirror â€Å"Like a terrible fish† giving it a negative image. And Warning â€Å"You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat† making it a positive word. The woman in Mirror is dreading old age in fear of becoming uglier. And the woman in warning looks forward to it believing that it is fun being old, like having her youth back. Conclusion I think ‘Warning’ by Jenny Joseph is more successful in getting its message across to the readers. Her message is that old age can be really fun, and after reading the poem I believe so too. On the other hand ‘Mirror’ by Sylvia Plath is also slightly effective but not as much. Sylvia Plath is trying to say old age is something to dread because of how you may look but no everything is about your appearance. Overall Warning wins for being more effective and lively.

English 100 is a course that is basically designed to assist the students

English 100 is a very important course as far as our college education is concerned. It is the basic foundation for our higher education. It equips us with skills which help us to cope with the challenges which we are bound to encounter as we pursue our college education.English 100 is a course that is basically designed to assist the students to develop critical writing and reading skills. It is a build up for what we learned in the high school only this time we are required to adapt to a college way of thinking.To be a successful student in this crucial course one must do things in the right way. In this paper I will take you through what you should do so that at the end of it all you can come out shining. It is based on my own experience as an English 100 student and also tips taken from the various     experts of this area.One of the biggest asset you have as a student is time, how you mange it will determine your destiny as a student as it will greatly influence your perform ance in this course and your studies in general.It is very important that you take control of your time as a student in this course. You should make a plan on how you are going to utilize your time as far as this course is concerned. You should prioritize the most urgent and important activities giving them ample time so that you can produce quality work which will earn you good grades.You will be given many assignments which will require your input, if you plan your time well late submission of papers will not affect you. Late submission is highly penalized and it is something you can easily avoid through managing your time properly.You should make a time table early enough allocating areas which you feel you are weak more time than the other to get enough time to tackle them. It is also important to allocate some time for interaction with your fellow students so that you can learn from them also. (Lannon, J 11 2006)Class attendance allows the student to have an interactive session with the instructors and the other students. You should make a point of attending the classes regularly to ensure you gain maximally .If by any chance miss any lesson make sure you ask what was covered and go through it before the next session.Through this you ensure that you at no any time   Ã‚  you lag behind in your studies. While in class you should participate actively without fear of making mistakes. It is only through making these mistakes that you will learn to be confident. We all learn from the mistakes we make now and then, just bear in mind nobody is perfect. If your fellow colleagues we perfect surely you would not be seated in the same class with them learning this course, they would be somewhere else.It is also very important that you learn to respect other people opinions; at no time should you laugh at other people mistakes as this can affect your studies negatively.This is a very interactive course where you will learn greatly from the other, that is why you sho uld at all cost try to maintain good relations with your fellow students and also with the instructors. (Lannon, J 18 2006)Instructors are there for us and we should make every effort to utilize them to our advantage. Any difficulties that you may be experiencing should be discussed with your instructor. Always book an appointment with your instructor to avoid disappointment since there are other students who require the same kind of help from them.Group work has helped me a lot in polishing my writing skills as I have been able to get some vital tips from my fellow students. It is also in group work where your work can be read by the other student and get their opinion about it. On the other hand you will have a chance to go through their piece of work and offer advice where necessary.  Always give an honest opinion about your colleagues work but at the same time bearing in mind not to hurt their feelings as this may come to haunt you later.Note taking is an essential part of thi s course; it is advisable that you develop an accurate method of taking notes which can be referred to later when revising. Aim at noting all the important points you come across either in the cause of group discussion or class lectures. (Lannon, J 39 2006)

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is known to many as a person taking control of another persons mind and controlling their actions. While that is a fair understanding of hypnosis, most hypnosis only works if the person being hypnotized wants to be hypnotized. After studying all the aspects and features of hypnosis, the most amazing factor is the enormous influence on a subjects suggestibility. The history of hypnosis is as ancient as that of sorcery, magic and medicine, to whose methods it belonged. Hypnosiss scientific history began in the later part of the 18th century with Franz Mesmer, a Viennese physician, who used it in the treatment of patients. Ever since Franz Anton Mesmer proposed his theory of animal magnetism more than 200 years ago, hypnosis has fought an uphill battle for scientific credibility. Hypnosis has been used in place of anesthesia to numb the pain of childbirth and major surgical procedures such as amputation and abdominal surgery. Numerous reports attest the effectiveness of hypnosis in the treatment of warts. In those who have been hypnotized, warts later disappear entirely on their own with out medicine or surgery. Since warts are virally induced, this striking phenomenon has fueled belief that hypnosis somehow mobilizes immune response. Patients can be hypnotized during amputation in order to relieve pain when morphine is not ava! ilable or when a person is allergic to medicine or if medicine is unavailable. Because of the mistaken belief that it was an occult force, which he termed animal magnetism that flowed through the hypnotist into the subject, Mesmer was soon discredited. Hypnotism or mesmerism, as it was nicknamed after Mesmer, continued to interest medical practitioners. In the mid-1880s, Sigmund Freud visited France and was impressed by the therapeutic potential of hypnosis for neurotic disorders. On his return home, he used hypnosis to help neurotics recall disturbing event...

No Furture for Humanity Essay

No Furture for Humanity Essay No Furture for Humanity Essay The Future of Humanity By: Jason Lee We live in a world where we have many different types of life. One that is exponentially grown within the past century is humanity. This type of life consists of many different aspects because of the universal expectation put on life forms. Once again, this complicated process of expectation is exclusive to humanity. It is said that one of the most influential forces in the development of humanity is religion. Religion has caused humans to find peace with themselves and others, but also have been known to disrupt the peace as well. The way religion achieves these results is by having control. To control something, is to be able to alter its state without consent or a rebuttal. Religion does this in a very intellectual way. Religions reassure that the individual is the one with the control, but the way they should use that control should be limited and/or confined. When this type of deception occurs, people become blind and are unable to reach their true potential. Of course, this ty pe of deception is passed on to the next generations until stopped. Parents and religious organizations brainwash children who are unaware that they are given the birthright to be free. Since children are unable to analyze information critically, they feel that the only right thing to do is follow the herd. If the world is filled with followers, then who’s left to lead? Only the ones who are smart enough to attain those followers are. Religion is very similar to the way the government systems and politics work, which is why they are so successful. Religion is able to strike fear in the hearts of many, without a way for them to retaliate safely. Religions have taught their followers that if they are with someone who hasn’t followed a similar way-of-life, then their opinion and thoughts shouldn’t account for anything important, or that their ideas are ‘wrong’. Some religions even impose that those who oppose their religion shouldn’t deserve to live to the end of their natural lives. Life’s questions that can’t be answered by an ordinary individual’s mindset seem to be answered by religions across the globe. The masses are unable to think freely, so they attend masses, and participate in classes, that only enforce the fact that their religion is correct. Many people are content with the ideals that religions have to offer, but to impose them on people who are unwilling is wrong. Are people willing to seek what is truly right and wrong, or are they just searching for an easy way out? Many people that follow religions don’t seem to follow the practices that an individual in the religion should. Prayer is an important aspect of staying true to one’s religion, but not many follow this sacred ritual. Communicating with the ultimate power that supposedly gave you and everything around you life and animation should be a significant part of daily routine. Thanking the force that

The South essays

The South essays The Origins, Perspectives and Conseqeunces of Reconstruction Laws The period following the American Civil War was plagued with racial violence, political and social turmoil as well as a great sense of divisiveness. The period of Congressional Reconstruction was an immensely significant chapter in the legal history of the south and the United States as a whole. In less than a decade the entire perception of the American system of government took an enormous shift towards that of federalism. These laws took the form in the period of Reconstruction of all three theoretical forms of legal evolution, Law and Custom, Structuralist and Conflict. An examination of all three perspectives The Law and Custom Theory states that law originates from the custom of society and customary practice. However the Enforcement Act as well as the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution prohibited an ingrained custom in Southern antebellum society, which was slavery. If we were to make the argument that law is a product of social custom why did so many reconstruction laws renounce a southern custom? It was in fact custom in the South for all blacks to remain subordinate to whites. In fact all over the country, prior, during and following the Civil War blacks were held in a very inferior social caste in the American social structure. It was post-Civil War Reconstruction legislation that attempted to change this, against the will of a large portion of the American populous. Law and Custom Theory also implies that to a certain extent law reflects popular will, the will of society and culture. However in response to Congressional Reconstruction laws, protests, many violent occurred all across the South and even some instances in the North. The laws and Constitutional Amendments that lead to the Reese and Cruikshank cases were not derived from custom; they were designed, written and enforced for the purpose of abolishin...

The use of foul language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The use of foul language - Essay Example Tracing the origin of the rise of foul language is a very easy task since a quick click of the remote control will you lead you to a world where the utterances of defamatory, explicit, foul language is as natural as breathing. Foul language has already invaded our living rooms and learning it will take only a few minutes. Hence, it is imperative that the government puts into practice laws to control public use of bad language. The first step that our law enforcers should do is to discuss with the students and school authorities ways which could prevent students from using bad language to each other. As the students and the young people are the ones who spend the most time watching TV, they are also the ones who use foul language the most. What's worse is that, many students use defamatory and abusive expressions to each other which sometimes cause deeper problems such as fighting and bullying. School authorities, enforcers and students should make agreements to set up the rules with regards the avoidance of abusive language within the school premises.