The Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered Essay example -- MLDA, Underag

We knocked on the door of the off-campus apartment, as it opened we were confronted with the heavy stench of alcohol. A young girl was passed out on the living room floor, a pile of empty beer cans filled the kitchen sink, and the deafening music rattled the window panes. A group of girls managed to stumble past us. They waved goodbye to the host, who was handing drinks to me and my sister. It was not my first time drinking. In fact, everyone there was quite experienced – after all, it’s college. Half of the guests were completely drunk, and I had no problem with it. That is, until later that night when my sister locked herself in a room with a guy she had met only a week before. This prompted me to seriously consider the effects of alcohol. Would my sister have been able to see the danger of the situation had she been sober? Would the absence of alcohol have prevented the events of that night from occurring? These questions, along with the vivid memory of that night, fueled my examination of the complex social problem of underage drinking. In the 1960s, the drinking age was set as 21, to match the voting age. However, around the time of the Vietnam War, the public began to argue that if an 18-year-old was old enough to fight and die for his country, then he should be able to vote as well. As a result, the voting age was lowered to 18. Between 1970 and 1976, 29 states lowered their legal drinking age as well. In the words of Carla Main, author of Bulldozed and various other published works concerning law and society, the results were â€Å"catastrophic,† as â€Å"[h]ighway deaths among teenagers and young adults skyrocketed† (Main 33). Many states began raising the legal drinking age up again. In 1984, under the supervision of Ronald ... ...hus, focus should be on better enforcing the law, rather than amending it. Works Cited DeJong, William. â€Å"Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18? No.† American Teacher 93.3 (2008): 3. Wilson OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. Main, Carla T. â€Å"Underage Drinking and the Drinking Age.† Policy Review. June/July 2009: 33-46. Wilson OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. Martinez, Julia A., Miguel A. Munoz Garcia, and Kenneth J. Sher. â€Å"A New Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA)? Some Findings to Inform the Debate.† Addictive Behaviors 34.4 (2009): 407-10. Wilson OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. Muhlenfeld, Elisabeth. â€Å"Seeking a Drinking Age Debate.† University Business 11.10 (2008): 53-4. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. â€Å"The 21 Club.† Economist 392.8645 (2009): 26. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Mar. 2010.

The Taming of the Shrew; Is Kate Tamed?

Katherina may be a shrew, but Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew does not truly show a study of how a selfish, spoilt individual is made to conform to society’s expectations, or be tamed into a ‘proper’ woman. At the end of the play, Katherina is not, necessarily, tamed – she just realizes what she must to do in order to get the things she wants. Two main examples of her submitting to Petruchio in order to achieve her desires are in Act 4, scene 5, (the sun versus moon scene) as well as Act 5, scene 2 (the kiss me kate scene and her final monologue).In Act 4, scene 5, the audience is shown a major part of Petruchio’s ‘taming’ process. Petruchio exclaims: â€Å"Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon! † (iv, v, line 3, page 185). It is, of course, the sun shining brightly, as Kate rightly corrects him. When Petruchio threatens Kate by telling her that they will not proceed on their journey to her father’s house unless she agrees with him, Kate is smart enough to realize that the only way to continue on the trip would be to comply.She readily agrees with Petruchio, quite respectfully and subserviently, in fact. Even when Petruchio counters her agreement with â€Å"Nay, then you lie. It is the blessed sun† (iv, v, line 20, page 187) Kate manages to control her anger and, once again, agrees with him. The audience is aware that Kate knows Petruchio is using this ‘obedience’ strategy as a way to tame Kate and that she seems to have caught on to his tactic. By showing her self-control during that moment, instead of having an outburst, it is obvious that Kate outsmarted Petruchio.She is not, at all, tamed; simply able to get the things she wants in a calmer manner. Instead of taming her, Petruchio has taught her new ways of achieving the things she wants. As well, in Act 5, scene 2, Kate is also shown to be manipulating the situation around her while appearing â€Å"tam ed†. When the couple is heading towards Lucentio and Bianca’s wedding dinner, Petruchio pauses in the street and asks Kate to kiss him. She is a little appalled at his forward behaviour and questions him briefly. â€Å"What, in the midst of the street? †¦ / No, sir God forbid, be ashamed to kiss. † (v, ii, line 148, 149, page 205). Again, she is threatened with having to return home instead of joining in the festivities, and Kate gives Petruchio a kiss. This obedient kiss may indicate Petruchio’s power over her, but it was clear to Kate that if she did not give him the kiss he asked for, she would not have been allowed to proceed to the wedding feast. Kate is smart and cunning and she manipulated his yearn for her tameness in order to do everything that she wants to while making him happy and pleased.In addition, Kate’s final monologue, also in Act 5, scene 2, tells the audience a lot; about the play itself, as well as the society in Shakespear e’s era. On face value, Kate’s final monologue seems to be a long lecture about serving your husband, no questions asked. â€Å"Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot, / And place your hands below your husband’s foot† (v, ii, lines 92-3, page 221). However, Shakespeare gave Kate the last word in the play, a sign of her consistent power and control.As well, her monologue can be perceived as quite ironic. Kate is aware of the beliefs about how women in the household should act and, as clearly portrayed throughout the entire play, the role Petruchio has been trying to get her to fill. By playing along fullheartedly with society’s expectations, in front of the large audience of guests, Kate becomes â€Å"truly tamed† – or just incredibly clever. By teaching Bianca and the widow how to treat their husbands properly, she is deemed tamed. â€Å"‘Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tamed so. v, ii, line 206, page 221). Now, Ka te has cleared her reputation. The Taming of the Shrew shows how shrewd Kate changes – but she never morphs into the Elizabethan wife Petruchio, and all the other characters, thinks she becomes. Instead, she learns how to manipulate situations in order to get the things she desires without having large outbursts and a sour attitude. This Shakespeare comedy is a laugh at society’s expectations, as it shows how a powerful woman, Kate, outsmarted her arrogant, Elizabethan husband. Katherina:

Invisible Man Essay - 1474 Words

Invisible Man is a story told through the perspective of the narrator, a Black man struggling in a White culture. The term â€Å"invisible man† truly idealizes not only the struggles of a black man but also the actual unknown identity of the narrator. The story starts during the narrator’s college days where he works hard and earns respect from the college administration. Dr. Bledsoe, a Black administrator of the school, becomes the narrator’s friend. Dr. Bledsoe has achieved success in the White culture which becomes the goal which the narrator seeks to achieve. The narrators hard work culminates in him being given the opportunity to take Mr. Norton, a White benefactor to the school, on a car ride around the school area. Against his†¦show more content†¦Often in today’s society people become â€Å"invisible† due to their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or social class. They are often shunned away or discrimina ted against because of these factors. The spirit of this book is defined by the will to overcome personal tragedy and social injustices. The book’s main focus is on the gradual disillusionment of the narrator and his personal battles. In particular, the book develops the battle the narrator faces when he discovers the truth about the Brotherhood organization. He eventually realizes that they are using him for their own purposes and encouraged him to incite the blacks to a riotous level so they will kill one another. The narrator develops feelings of hopelessness when it becomes apparent that he is being betrayed by both white and black cultures. His overwhelming feeling of emptiness comes to a climax when he falls into a manhole during a riot. While hibernating in the underground black community, the narrator struggles to find meaning in his invisibility and to come up with his true identity. The seclusion allows the reader to realize the disillusionment of the narrator. Ellison does an incredible job of getting inside the narrator’s character and describing his emotional battle. At times it feel s as if the text is purely his thoughts transcribed directly onto the page. The narrator traces back his historyShow MoreRelatedInvisible Man1346 Words   |  6 PagesJanelle Clovie Dr. Blanchard AP Literature 3 November 2017 Familial Connections in Invisible Man Family. It is a very fluid yet rigid idea. It has a wealth of definitions, all of which range in degree and magnitude, and vary from person to person; yet the concept of how a family should work and operate is very concrete in most American minds. Family is a bond that is crafted every second of everyday until it is powerful, and this can shape beliefs, outlooks, and confidence. A study found that childrenRead More Invisible Man Essay: Values of the Invisible Man1267 Words   |  6 PagesValues of the Invisible Man      Ã‚  Ã‚   Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man is the story of an educated black man who has been oppressed and controlled by white men throughout his life. As the narrator, he is nameless throughout the novel as he journeys from the South, where he studies at an all-black college, to Harlem where he joins a Communist-like party known as the Brotherhood. Throughout the novel, the narrator is on a search for his true identity. Several letters are given to him by outsiders thatRead More Invisible Man Essay: Self-Identity in Invisible Man1040 Words   |  5 PagesSelf-Identity in Invisible Man      Ã‚  Ã‚   In the novel, Invisible Man, the main character carries around a briefcase throughout the entire story. All of the possessions that he carries in that briefcase are mementos from learning experiences. Throughout the novel, the Invisible Man is searching for his identity and later discovers that his identity is in those items. As the narrator is leaving Marys house for the Brotherhood, he sees a Negro-doll bank in his room. He is angry that the dollRead MoreImprovisation Of The Invisible Man1392 Words   |  6 Pagesand Composition III February 15, 2017 Improvisational Music In Invisible Man â€Å"My only sin is in my skin, What did I do to be so black and blue?† The protagonist, the invisible man, is stoned from marijuana as he listened to Armstrong s rendition of What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue and determined that invisibility gives one a slightly different sense of time, you re never quite on the beat. (Prologue.)† The invisible man respected Armstrong for making something beautiful out of invisibilityRead MoreHamlet Invisible Man1412 Words   |  6 Pagesthe need to search for . 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Stereotypes define how society believes these people should act and how they should be treated. These stereotypes are, in effect, a pre-made identity. There are three options an individual must face when presented with this pre-made identity. The individual can accept this identity as his/her own. This would maximizeRead MoreThe Brotherhoods in the Invisible Man2033 Words   |  9 PagesThe Brotherhood in the Invisible Man Brotherhoods are associations, usually of men, that unite for common purposes. The members in the brotherhood typically respect one another, defend one another, and cooperate to obtain specific goals. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States, whose goal is to create better employment opportunities for workers. Kappa Sigma and Sigma Chi are two of the largest university fraternities in the countryRead More The Invisible Man Essay964 Words   |  4 Pages The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells, is composed of many small themes that combined to form two major themes in the novel. Some of the minor themes are acting before thinking and denial of unexplainable events. It is based on the two major themes of science experiments gone wrong and the ignorance of society. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The most important theme in the novel was the experiment that Griffin, the invisible man, was working and it was not going exactly as planned. The way that the experiment