The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain is a spectacular story which takes place about twenty years after Jesus ascended into Heaven. It tells of how a young man named Basil was adopted by a rich merchant. But, when the rich merchant died, Basil’s cousin stole Basil’s inheritance; and made him a slave. After a few years he was to be rescued, married, and to gain back his inheritance. The story begins when a rich merchant named Ignatius asked Theron, a seller of pens, if he was willing to give Ambrose up for adoption. The reason he chose Ambrose was because Ignatius loved the talent which enabled Ambrose to create such beautiful masterpieces of silver, clay, and wood. Theron gave his son Ambrose up for adoption only for one reason, because he was too poor to take good care of him. They made sure that the procedure of the adoption was followed to the letter of the law of the Twelve Tables. As a proof of the adoption, Ignatius gave each of the witnesses a belt. The name of Basil( Ignatius changed Ambrose’s name to Basil in honor of his father), and the date. Basil loved his new father, and became very devoted to hi Basil’s father passed away about three years after the adoption. Basil was heart broken. Even the servants grieved of his death. But the only person who was filled with ecstasy upon hearing the news, was Linus. He was Basil’s cousin. Little did Basil know how much his heart would harden against his cousin. Linus wanted the rich inheritance of his cousin, so he decided make it seem that he was never adopted as a son, but as a slave. By bribing the witnesses of the adoption to lie, Linus won the case. Basil was stripped of his inheritance, and was sold as a slave to a silver smith. The Silver Smith was a nice man, but his wife was meaner than a pack of wolves. She made Basil and the other slaves work past their limits. There, Basil met a slave girl named Agnes. She helped Basil deal with his losses and comforted him. She told him that if you pray and believe, you will be set free. Basil decided to pray. He prayed long and hard. What a surprise to see that his prayers were answered! That very night an old man knocked on the door of the silver smith’s house.
In the book, Apostles of Disunion, author Charles B. Dew opens the first chapter with a question the Immigration and Naturalization service has on an exam they administer to prospective new American citizens: “The Civil War was fought over what important issue”(4). Dew respond by noting that “according to the INS, you are correct if you offer either of the following answers: ‘slavery or states’ rights’” (4). Although this book provides more evidence and documentation that slavery was the cause of the Civil War, there are a few places where states’ rights are specifically noted. In presenting the findings of his extensive research, Dew provides compelling documentation that would allow the reader to conclude that slavery was indeed the cause for both secession and the Civil War.
Modris Eksteins presented a tour-de-force interpretation of the political, social and cultural climate of the early twentieth century. His sources were not merely the more traditional sources of the historian: political, military and economic accounts; rather, he drew from the rich, heady brew of art, music, dance, literature and philosophy as well. Eksteins examined ways in which life influenced, imitated, and even became art. Eksteins argues that life and art, as well as death, became so intermeshed as to be indistinguishable from one another.
One day, Alicia was informed that her brother had been hanged. After Zachary’s death, Alicia was befriended by a woman named Bella. She met many good friends in the ghetto, including a future friend as well as savior, Milek. Months later, Alicia and several other people were rounded up and sent to a prison in Chortkov. Here the conditions were very poor.
The current minimum wage right now in California is $9.00 per hour. The question is, will this be enough for people to pay off their rent and still able to not keep their fridge empty. In the book, "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich talks about working as a low wage worker. Barbara describes the environment of the jobs that she had done in a detailed manner. She also explained how most of her coworkers lived with more than one person in order to pay rent. One of her job was working in a nursing home which she got a really low pay to take care of elderly people. In addition to that job, she had another job in order to pay off her rent. Therefore, according to the book an individual may need more than one job or live in a house with more
A deeply pious man, John considers the Bible a sublime source of moral code, guiding him through the challenges of his life. He proclaims to his kid son, for whom he has written this spiritual memoir, that the “Body of Christ, broken for you. Blood of Christ, shed for you” (81). While John manages to stay strong in the faith and nurture a healthy relationship with his son, his relationship with his own father did not follow the same blueprint. John’s father, also named John Ames, was a preacher and had a powerful effect on John’s upbringing. When John was a child, Father was a man of faith. He executed his role of spiritual advisor and father to John for most of his upbringing, but a shift in perspective disrupted that short-lived harmony. Father was always a man who longed for equanimity and peace. This longing was displayed in his dealings with his other son, Edward: the Prodigal son of their family unit, a man who fell away from faith while at school in Germany. John always felt that he “was the good son, so to speak, the one who never left his father's house” (238). Father always watched over John, examining for any sign of heterodoxy. He argued with John as if John were Edward, as if he were trying to get Edward back into the community. Eventually, John’s father's faith begins to falter. He reads the scholarly books
In “The Gilded Six-Bits,” Zora Neale Hurston uses several techniques to characterize Joe and Missy May, the main couple throughout the story. Hurston uses her own life experiences to characterize Joe and Missy May and their marriage. She also shows their character development through her writing styles and techniques, which show reactions and responses between Joe and Missy May to strengthen the development of their relationship. Hurston supports her character development through her writing style, her characters dialect, and includes experiences from her own life to portray a sense of reality to her character’s personalities.
The Cay is a novel by Theodore Taylor. The book’s plot revolves around a twelve-year-old boy, Phillip, who, although American-born, is living on the Caribbean isle of Curaçao due to his father’s job with an oil company. However, World War II is raging, and Phillip leaves the island aboard a steamer with his mother. The steamer is torpedoed by a Nazi German submarine, and Phillip is rescued by an elderly West Indian named Timothy, who pulls him aboard a life raft. The two float to a deserted cay, which they struggle to survive on, all the more so after Phillip goes blind because of a head injury sustained during the ship’s sinking.
Neither white nor black people want to be poor, hungry, or unfair judgment put on them. However, being born with the blood of their parents, they have to live under different circumstances. Their lives are comfortable or struggled that depends on the kind of blood their parents give them. Especially, the mulattos who have mixed blood of white and black have more difficulties in life because of having multiple cultures. Indeed, the novel “the House Behind the Cedars” of Charles W. Chesnutt main message about race relation is that mulattos struggle dramatically in racial society of white, black, and mulatto their own kind people.
Given these points, the excerpt of A Death in the Family by James Agee followed the Alias for James himself, Rufus. Rufus used his own father’s death to help him advance further. Experiences shape the way a situation is viewed. And when something as severe as A death in the family occurs, perspectives and ideas are susceptible to
“Without Conscience" by Robert D. Hare is one aimed towards making the general public aware of the many psychopaths that inhabit the world we live in. Throughout the book Hare exposes the reader to a number of short stories; all with an emphasis on a characteristic of psychopaths. Hare makes the claim that close monitoring of psychopathy are vital if we ever hope to gain a hold over Psychopathy- A disorder that affects not only the individual but also society itself. He also indicates one of the reasons for this book is order to correctly treat these individuals we have to be able to correctly identify who meets the criteria. His ultimate goal with the text is to alleviate some of the confusion in the increase in criminal activity by determining how my of this is a result of Psychopathy.
Plautus’ play, the haunted house, is full of imagery that subverts and goes against the grain of the traditional imagery associated with the characters he describes. In Roman society, the slave should be subservient to his master and the son subservient and reverent towards his father. This is not the case for Plautus. In it the slave (often referred to as a “Plautine slave” by scholars.) is shown to be far cleverer than his master and the Father, who has committed no misdeed, is made a fool of, whilst the slave tries to rescue the son from trouble he has landed himself into through his poor behaviour. This is often shown very vividly, with the son’s first appearance being drunk onstage and Tranio’s final appearance being atop an altar to escape the anger of his masters Father, Theuropides. Plautus employs very vivid and notable imagery to portray his characters this way.
In the TED Talk, Shawn Achor shows us the advantages of being happy and how positive emotions can lead to a better output performance; however, in the novel The Scarlet Letter the main character Hester Prynne willingly makes herself unhappy to cleanse herself of the sins she has committed. Hester has convinced herself that if she stays long enough and endures the torture of her daily shame that eventually she would become more saintlike and possibly gain a better sense of happiness. Achor’s philosophy was to encourage people to do what they have a passion for in order to bring forth job performance and to build a sense of happiness in present time. Hester’s main passion in life was her needlework because it soothed her and allowed for her to
In the “Gospel of wealth”, Andrew Carnegie argues that it is the duty of the wealthy entrepreneur who has amassed a great fortune during their lifetime, to give back to those less fortunate. Greed and selfishness may force some readers to see these arguments as preposterous; however, greed is a key ingredient in successful competition. It forces competitors to perform at a higher level than their peers in hopes of obtaining more money and individual wealth. A capitalist society that allows this wealth to accumulate in the hands of the few might be beneficial to the human race because it could promote competition between companies; it might ensure health care for everyone no matter their social standing, and parks and recreation could be built for the enjoyment of society.
According to C. Wright Mills’ “The Promise”, he feels that an individual’s life and how they act is based on the society and what is happening around them at that time. Mills states in his essay that the sociological imagination helps us understand each individual’s background, lifestyles, and habits and/or traditions. It also allows us to understand the influence society may have on a person and how “historical” events led to it. Based on what he wrote, to understand this “imagination” we must be able to connect a person’s public or personal issues with the events happening within society during that time. According to this a person may act differently depending on their religious beliefs, whether or not they live within the city or the suburbs, etc. For example Mills argues that if a person’s “values” are not threatened then they would be in a state of “well-being” but, if their values were threatened then they would go into some sort of “crisis”. If Mills means “values” as in a person’s “standards of behavior” then this is happening today in our society with the LGBT equal rights movement. Many people feel that being homosexual is not a “standard behavior” and that it is perhaps a sickness. They feel that men should be with women therefor many have gone into a “crisis” and have begun belittling the gay community or bullying them due to the fact that they feel that this is not how an individual should be. Another example is homelessness; a person can be homeless due to a fire destroying their home, being kicked out, being unable to care for themselves due to being mentally ill, developing a heavy drug habit and losing their home due to trying to support the habit, or perhaps some sort of depression. Looking at it without un...
Marcus Aurelius was a famous philosopher in 121 through 180 C.E. He lived a hard life and even though he was surrounded by crowds he was considered a recluse. He was known for his kindness and mercy. The last years of his life were spent on a military campaign. It is said that these years were the hardest and loneliest. However, instead of becoming bitter and angry Aurelius wrote The Meditations. This was a diary or journal of his personal thoughts. He believed that by writing this it was his duty to his soul. The Meditations, is a popular piece of stoic literature. In this paper I will be describing how Aurelius used stoicism in book two of The Meditations and what I liked and did not like about what he said.