Thursday, January 23, 2020

Gaining from Detective Work in Oedipus the King and A Scandal in Bohemi

A detective story is a genre of fiction in which a person attempts to solve a crime. The detective may be a professional or an amateur, and generally has nothing to gain from solving the crime. However in Sophocles’ â€Å"Oedipus the King†, the main character Oedipus is not only determined to solve a crime, but he is also in pursuit to find his own identity. This is similar to Arthur Conan Doyle’s â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia† where Sherlock Holmes has been hired to work as a detective in return for monetary compensation. Both situations enable Oedipus and Sherlock to gain from unraveling the mysteries that sweep their towns hence making these stories different from most detective stories. Few people think of detective work in regard to â€Å"Oedipus the King†, but this play builds on riddles solved, and unsolved, making it to be a mystery. Oedipus starts out as an optimistic individual who is in charge of a cold case proclaiming that he is going to solve the mystery of the murder of King Laius, in order to life the plague from his city Thebes. The people of Thebes look up to and Oedipus for solving the Sphinx riddle, â€Å"You freed us from the Sphinx; you came to Thebes and cut us loose from the bloody tribute we had paid that harsh, brutal singer. We taught you nothing, no skill, no extra knowledge, still you triumphed (Sophocles 44-47). The people believe in him without any prior knowledge of him. When he first hears of the murder, Oedipus immediately takes on the role as a detective when he hears â€Å"where shall we find clue to solve that crime after so many years† (Sophocles). The Oracle at Delphi tells Oedipus that the plague will be lift ed if Thebes banished the man who killed Laius (Sophocles 74, line 350). In the beginning Oedipu... ...pensation for his services, but he receives much more, he learns never to under estimate the power and wit of a woman. The label engages the reader to into the literature in order to piece the clues together to form and understanding of the story. When the reader gets all the clues they realize that these two stories go against the typical form of a detective story, because of the fact that they both gained from solving the crimes. Oedipus was able to benefit from solving the crime in that he was able to lift the plague from Thebes, save the people and find out his true identity. Although the answers didn’t necessarily benefit Oedipus in his favor they helped the city return to a state of normalcy. Holmes may have been beaten by a woman’s wit, he solved the mystery of â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia† received a monetary compensation as well as learned a life lesson.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Caroline O’Kane Essay

Social class is often judged upon by the following criteria; money, possessions, and ranking. In our society today, so much of our life is focused on social ranking. There are those who actively try to climb the social ladder while there are others simply who seem to be at the highest status. In Westport, it seems that most people are privileged in some way. I’ve grown up being on the soccer team, traveling on vacations to Arizona, the Caribbean, and London, never giving much thought to social class. These activities and gifts are just part of my life. However, over the last few years, I have come to realize that there are people who do not have these privileges. That is when I began noticing different social classes. I am part of the National Charity League, a Mother / Daughter organization formed to do charity work throughout Fairfield County to benefit others who don’t have as much as we do. We make dinner for the Gillespie Center, babysit at Bacharach Houses, homes owned by the town to help educate women with children, and so much more. However, out of all the philanthropies that I have been a part of throughout the years, the most influential experience for me has been tutoring children at the Caroline House in Bridgeport. After traveling a mere 7 exits on I-95 from Westport, one finds Bridgeport, Connecticut, a town so vastly different from Westport yet so close. Houses are packed elbow to elbow, each only spanning one room wide. There are no bright colors painting the houses, if there is any paint at all. A few blocks off the highway is a â€Å"home† called the Caroline House. Children and adults come daily to learn, play, and have a safe haven. With the National Charity League we are given the opportunity to help teach elementary and middle school students. Over the summer I chose to tutor at the Caroline House. Seeing the kids show up at 9 o’clock each and every day ready to learn made me very proud to see young students with such a desire to learn, willing to give up their summer days to read, write, and practice math facts. After a few hours of learning in the morning, there would be snack and a recess break. As Sister Anne, a nun who runs the house, would give goldfish out, all the kids would take them eagerly and eat them as if they hadn’t had a similar bag just the day before. The protection they showed for what was given to them stood out to me after seeing the kids in both the Coleytown and Staples Cafeterias. Westport kids often buy a bag of goldfish  to then leave it on the table, let others take a few, and when they feel satisfied throw away the remains. At Caroline House the kids ate every last fish, knowing their next snack might not be until the same time the next day. During the same snack break, we opened the doors to go outside. The boys run ran around laughing and playing wallwith a ball as the girls played with chalk, making fancy creations of butterflies on the pavement. I clearly remember one girl sitting on the Little Tikes slide she had outgrown. She wore a homemade tie-dye shirt with jean shorts that were one size too big, with her skinny legs hanging out over the side of the slide. Blue, green, and yellow friendship bracelets ran up the length of her arm. Her big brown eyes were burrowed into the crease of her Magic Tree House book, glancing left and right though the words. , â€Å"reading† a Magic Tree House book. Upon walking over and asking what her book was about she replied saying she did not know, but she really wished she knew how to read the text.. This It especially touched me to see seeing a little girl holding a book, that inside of which existed its pages held an entire world that she wanted to join. Throughout my entire elementary school education, I dreaded my 30 minutes of reading each night because I would much rather have been able to gogone outside and to bounce on the trampoline. I am glad my mMom made me stick with reading, often reading with me to help encourage me. RAs reading soon became almost second nature since we, after learn iting at such a young age as we do in the Westport school system., Wwe have fortunately never had to known what it is like not being able to explore the various worlds that books have to offertake us to. I am happy to try and instill the same in the children of Caroline House. After that conversation, I made it my project to teach this girl how to read. I felt compassion for her when she got frustrated, and I also felt proud of her for wanting to learn, especially in an environment where learning is not as much of a priority as it is here. Looking back, today and everyday I am thankful for the strong education values and system along with the unconditional support from my family and teachers. I look back and see a younger version of myself and I don’t think at the time I understood the gift of reading that I was trying to give back to this little girl at the Caroline House. I try to remember each day to be appreciative of everything I have; I now know there is always someone that needs more than I ever will. It makes me realize that the  children at the Caroline House are even lucky compared to others in America, and the world as a whole. This experience has taught me to try my hardest to be as nonjudgmental as I have come to realize that no matter who we are, some of us have more and some of us have less but should that define us as people? The Caroline House in Bridgeport introduced me into a whole new life, that of children, some close to my own age, who lived a life so different than mine and anyone that I know, just 10 short miles up the road. I personally try to remember each day all the privileges we have and often take for granted. The most basic routines in our day to day in life are the things that can change peoples lives in ways that you would never understand unless you stepped into their lives. Despite my fortunate reality that I have grown so used to, I was brought into a world where I was surrounded by different people showing me a different class, making me vigilant to help even in the smallest ways to improve their future. I am grateful for this opportunity because as much as I teach the children of Caroline house, they teach me.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

The Constitution Of The United States - 1092 Words

It was accepted on November 15, 1777, by Congress and confirmed by the state on March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation were a respectful effort by a new country and to create an ideal national government. Although to some states that form of government was not happy because the Articles of Confederation will soon become a disadvantage. The Constitution Of United States was established in 1787. The Constitution of United States was written as a set of rules for this country. Many of the â€Å"rules† have helped the country stay in order. The constitution gave more power to the national government than the Articles of Confederation. Fifty-five representatives met in Philadelphia in 1787 to establish a new government for the better. The†¦show more content†¦Check and Balances makes sure no one has more power than the other so everyone can be treated equal. We live in a democracy which means as United States citizens we get the freedom to express yourself, fair trial by jury, right to vote, freedom to pursue â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness†, and etc. We get freedom living in a democracy regardless of what happens in the future, they can not take our rights away from us. For the first written Constitution of the United States which was the Articles of Confederation the power to make laws known as the legislative branch was made equal. The congress had full power to form a union and to make war. Therefore, the power gives to the Congress allowed it to operate with an minimum control over every other state. One thing that was effective was in the allowance of equal votes in Congress for each state. However, the United States government lacked a system of taxation. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress had no power to tax the states instead of the tax they depended on the donations by the states. The states wished for a moderate government involvement and were repulsed by the idea of federal taxation. Another obstacle in a successful government was that the Articles did not grant Congress the power to impose its laws.In place of executive and judicial branches, theShow MoreRelatedThe United States Constitution And The Constitution Essay1491 Words   |  6 PagesThe United States Constitution, this very detailed group of words was written in 1787, but it did not take effect until after it was ratified in 1789, when it replaced the Articles of Confederation. It remains the basic law of the United States then and till the present day of 2016. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware; the last of the original thirteen to ratify was Rhode Island and since only nine were required, this was two years after it went into effect. When the U.S. ConstitutionRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States Constitution Essay1185 Words   |  5 Pages(framers’ of the U.S. Constitution) position on the Presidency: The framers experienced the abuse of the English monarchs and their colonial governors. As a result, the framers were skeptical of the excessive executive authority. Furthermore, they also feared excessive legislative powers. This was something that the Articles of Confederation had given their own state legislatures. The framers of the constitution deliberately fragmented power between the national government, the states, and among the executiveRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States885 Words   |  4 Pages In 1787, our founding fathers came up with a few principles that would establish what we now know as the United States of America. These principles were put on paper to serve as a guideline for how the United States would be operated and structured. This historical piece paper became known as the Constitution of the United States. In the Constitution, a Preamble is implemented at the beginning that essentially tells what the founding fathers set out to do. â€Å"We The People, in order to form a moreRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States894 Words   |  4 Pagesthe substratum for that country. A Constitution can be defined as a document that is the substratum of the country’s principles. Elements in the Constitution may contain sundry information. Which can include: how many terms a leader may serve, what rights the citizens have, how the judicial system works, etc. The United States in no different from those countries. Every constitution is different, no country has the exact constitution as another. The U.S Constitution is a four-page document detailingRead MoreThe United States Constitution Essay1515 Words   |  7 PagesThe United States constitution was written in 1787 by the founding fathers of this country. Now it might be appropriate to question why a document that is the basis of the government for one of the most culturally and racially diverse countries in the world, was written by a group of heterosexual, cisgender, rich, white men. Some might think that a constitution written well over 200 years ago would be outdated and irrelevant to the American society of today but with some research, it is quite theRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States756 Words   |  4 PagesPromulgation and Legislation in the U.S. Constitution: The federal system of government of the United States is based on its constitution. The Constitution grants all authority to the federal government except the power that is delegated to the states. Each state in the United States has its own constitution, local government, statute, and courts. The Constitution of the United States sets the judiciary of the federal government and defines the extent of the federal court’s power. The federalRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States1007 Words   |  5 PagesThe United States of America has previously experienced failure every now and then. With trial and error, the country has learned to correct its ways and move toward(s) perfecting itself. Realizing the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation is a prime example of the U.S. learning how to better itself. Subsequent to the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution of the United States was set as our new and improved framework of government. Possessing knowled ge on how America, although strongRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States951 Words   |  4 Pageshappening again. Unlike the artifacts, The Constitution of the United States has not been forgotten, it is actually still very alive today. Unlike most relics, The Constitution still holds a very heroic and patriotic implication, freedom. With freedom comes self-government, freedom of speech, religious tolerance, etc. With all these things comes the great responsibility to adapt and fit to the wants and needs of the decade. Even though the Constitution was made for the interests of the people ofRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States1338 Words   |  6 Pages The Constitution is the basis of law in The United States and has been since it was written in 1789. Since then it has been amended 27 times with the first ten amendments collectively known as the Bill of Rights. The US Constitution was preceded by the Articles of Confederation and supported by the Federalist Papers which we will touch more on later. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson all wrote or influenced The Constitution in a very important way. Alexander HamiltonRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States1388 Words   |  6 PagesInterpretation of the Constitution is one of the biggest conflicts within the United States–the highly contentious issue of states’ rights resulted from two different interpretations of what powers should belong to the federal government versus what powers belong to the individual states. No issue has ever caused as much turmoil as the issue of states’ rights–but one side must have more v alid arguments. Should the federal government’s power be superior, or should the authority of the individual states be held