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Mark Twain’s books analysis (2)
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Mark Twain’s books analysis
Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in 1835 in Florida, Missouri. The Hailey’s comet marked the entry of the young child into the world. Later in life, he could use it to predict his death. In his words, he came with the comet and that he would go with it. It was a surprise that this eventually happened. He was the sixth child of Jane and John Marshall Clemens. However, out of the seven children, only four survived the harsh childhood conditions as was common at the time. At the age of four, the family relocated to Hannibal, Missouri. The port town greatly influenced his publications such as “Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. The latter book is regarded as the Great American Novel by many literalists. John Clemens served as an attorney and judge. Twain described him as an intelligent and stern disciplinarian. His mother had a natural sense of humor and took care of them compassionately. The parent’s traits can be reflected in his character and books (Wuster).
Hannibal town was majorly dusty and quiet and was surrounded by great depths of forests and natural landscape that formed the setting of his two books named above. The Mississippi river was always lively with rafts, skiffs, and steamboats. Consequently, the boys in the town dreamt of being steamboat pilots. At the time, it was a well-paying job that caught the eye of the boys. His father died of pneumonia when Twain was eleven. As a result, Twain dropped out of school to become a printer’s apprentice. “Well, everybody does it that way, Huck.” “Tom, I am not everybody.”― Mark Twain, Later, Twain worked as a typesetter at the Hannibal Journal that his brother Orion owned. Here, he wrote several humorous sketches that were printed in the newspaper. At eighteen years, he left Hannibal and moved to several cities where he worked as a printer.
In 1856, Twain got a chance to train to fulfill his long term dream. He worked with a riverboat pilot that taught him the ways of the pilot. He learned how to row his boat in the muddy waters. In 1857, he became a cub pilot on the Paul Jones’s steamboat until 1859 when he received his pilot’s license. Twain worked as a steamboat pilot for four years, during which he familiarized himself with the towns along the river. He also learned of their practices and dialect, which would later influence his works. In 1861, the American Civil War broke out, effectively terminating his tenure as a pilot. Driven by loyalty, Twain joined the confederate forces but resigned under two weeks (Wuster).
Mark Twain joined an expedition to the Nevada region, which would later influence his work on “Roughing It”. S. L. Clemens began to use the pseudonym “Mark Twain” while in the Nevada Territory specifically for humorous sketches and travel letters. He maintained his official name for serious pieces. The humorous works garnered more fame than his serious writings. In light of this, he focused his mind on writing humorous pieces. For six years between 1864 and 1870, Twain wrote several articles and humorous letters to newspapers. In 1870, he married Olivia Langdon, who had rejected his first marriage proposal. Twain would later describe the meeting as love at first sight. The Longhorns were stern slave abolitionists and immensely influenced his views about slaves. “Who knows, he may grow up to be President someday, unless they hang him first!” Aunt Polly about Tom Sawyer” Twain grew up in Hannibal, which held moderate perceptions about slavery. Twain stated that he never saw anything wrong with it because of the vicinity he was nurtured in. Olivia was a blessing to Twain’s work. Consequently, Mark Twain wrote many letters supporting the antislavery movement (Wuster).
In 1869, he published “Innocent Abroad”. The publication was an instant achievement that made him give up his career as a journalist-reporter and venture into writing short stories and novels. In these publications, he used satire to illustrate the claimed superiority of the Old World in disparity to the familiar American common sense. The satire is also eminent in later works such as “A Tramp Abroad” “The Prince and the Pauper” and “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”. Twain’s best works were shaped by his life as a child, youth, and pilot on the Mississippi River. His interaction with these peoples’ culture and dialect influenced his works on the respective books. “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” was his most successful best-selling book until his death (Twain).
The 1890s were the darkest part of Twain’s life. First, he was bankrupt at the time and was forced to makeshift to survive. Secondly, his family was sick at this time and was living in Europe. The decade was marked by dark humor, which reflected the sorrow he was going through. His work on “Pudd’nhead Wilson” addressed issues of slavery that were ongoing in the South. Works such as “Tom Sawyer Abroad, ” “Detective, ” and “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc” were among his worst-selling novels majorly because they were written hurriedly to pay back his creditors.
Mark Twain’s story about Huckleberry Finn is a sequel of Tom Sawyer, which is a story packed with adventure and pleasure. Twain uses satire and humor to address the essential issues in 19th century America. Several fundamental themes namely, slavery, lies, betrayal, morality, and true friendship form the core of this great masterpiece (Bin). The author tries to show a biting satire founded on the American South romanticism. The book also points out the way of life of the pre-civil War American society. As one reads through the book, one cannot help but get allured to the way of life of these people. Finn is portrayed as a naive boy in pursuit of freedom who meets a black American, Jim who had run away from his mistress because she had made plans to sell her out. The raft serves as imagery of freedom, which they seek throughout their journey. The travels are characterized by trials and dangers that help to strengthen their friendship. “So endeth this chronicle. It being strictly a history of a boy, it must stop here; the story could not go much further without becoming the history of a man.” The book chose some sympathetic approaches to racism and slavery and was therefore heavily criticized. It was banned in some southern American states (Bin).
Huck was a runaway kid. He was escaping his father, who was constantly beating him, and he sought to free himself from this social injustice. Huck met Jim at Jackson Island, together with whom their journey began. Each of the scenes shows the naivety of Finn towards the issues in society. He describes things in a blunt, straightforward manner. For example, he said that “Humans beings can be awful cruel to one another”. The words describe the situation between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons (Mark). In this world, slavery was accepted entirely. It was a crime for a slave to run away from their home. A slave could only be of service to his master for the rest of his life. Slavery was the order of the day, especially in the South.
Finn and Jim are metaphorically used to portray the minorities in society. Pap reveals the section of humanity that is corrupted. Widow Douglas and Miss Watson represent the proportion of the comity of religious women, while the judge embodies the government that enacts laws. The author uses humor to depict the end of romanticism and the beginning of realism. Huck is an agent of realism, unlike Sawyer. Huck cannot comprehend the tenacity of Tom’s reasoning, which provides the humor. Twain utilizes devices to attack romanticism throughout the novel. For example, the twig snap incident in chapter one is an attack on it. Another theme is the moral compass, which heightens when Huck states that he would rather go to hell than betray Jim. He seeks to rescue his friend, who ironically does not need his help (Mark).
The readers get a chance to drown themselves in the life of the American people of the 19th century. Mark Twain acquired the status of the Great American Humorist from the success of this book. The author is successful in making us understand the issues of racism, slavery, and realism that dominated at the time. “Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a body ain’t got no business doing wrong when he ain’t ignorant and knows better.” Slavery and racism were prevalent in the 19th century. Even though, Lincoln had passed abolitionist bills, the country was far from healing. Besides, the aftermath of the war is known as the reconstruction period when the citizens questioned these issues.
Works cited
Bin, Yu. “A Critical Analysis on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Foreign Language Research 2 (2015): 12.
Mark, Twain. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. 2015.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing, 2018.
Wuster, Tracy. Mark Twain, American Humorist. Vol. 1. University of Missouri Press, 2017.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Massacre
HYPERLINK “https://mdc.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_190173_1&content_id=_9783949_1&mode=reset” o “Alternative formats” Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Massacre
On February 14, 2018, 19 year old Nikolas Cruz was alleged to have committed a massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Many students and faculty were killed and injured and the alleged shooter is now facing charges for these crimes
Answer the following:
What occurred (background and evidence of/in the case)?
Did the school administration respond appropriately to the incident?
Did law enforcement response appropriately to this occurrence?
Were there any “red flags” that could have prevented this from occurring?
What changes, if any, in security would you suggest at Parkland and/or all schools?
Were there any legislative enactments in the State of Florida in response to this occurrence?
Is violent crime a common occurrence in schools (local/Florida/nationally)?
What would be the appropriate punishment for the offender in the event he is found to be guilty of the charges?
BE SPECIFIC . EXPLAIN.
NOTE THIS MUST BE SUBMITTED PRIOR TO THE DEADLINE ON April 11, 2021 AT 11:59 PM TO BLACKBOARD AND MY EMAIL ADDRESS.
Please answer the questions fully and concisely in your own words, in essay (APA) format. Be sure to use standard English, spelling and grammar.
Your answer should be a minimum of 1000 words not including the cover page and reference page. You must include a word count at the end of your paper.
You must have a separate cover page and reference page.
Your paper must be double-spaced (not including the cover page or reference page).
You must use a minimum of three scholarly articles to support your position/findings on a separate reference page.
Assignment should be prepared as a Word document (only) and then submitted through the dropbox on Blackboard prior to the deadline on April 10, 2021 before 11:59 PM.
You also MUST submit a copy of your essay paper to my email at tbass@mdc.edu prior to the deadline.
Essay format means the paper should contain an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
Do not include references in your paper for which you have not provided the reference. If you take anything–even one sentence which is word for word from the source, it must be in quotation marks even if you have included the reference. Even if you paraphrase something that you took from a source, you must include the reference or it is plagiarism. Your papers will be checked by a plagiarism checker. If your “originality report” is higher than 20%, that usually means that much of your paper is either copied or plagiarized. Any person committing plagiarism will receive a zero on the essay paper and possibly turned over to the administration for academic consequences. This includes paying someone or an online vendor from writing the paper for you.
Hint: The introduction states your thesis or the purpose of the paper. Organize your body paragraphs to include a main idea, which is then developed or illustrated by support evidence. The conclusion is a restatement of your thesis.
Papers that are not submitted as described above will not be graded and will result in a zero (0).
Do not copy and paste from the Internet. Plagiarizing will result in a zero (0).
Lessons On Ethics
Lessons on Ethics
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Institution
Introduction
Taking stock of every progress that is made on the way is imperative in determining whether one’s academic journey is on course. Indeed, this involves the review of the knowledge that has been gained, as well as its applicability to real life situations. This is the only way that an individual would determine the worth of the academic journey, the course units, as well as the concepts, theories and knowledge that has been learnt in such courses. This paper is, essentially, an evaluation of the ethics course undertaken, the concepts learnt and their applicability in real life.
Analytical skill building
This comes as one of the most fundamental progresses that this course has allowed. Analytical skills refer to the capacity of an individual to visualize, articulate, as well as solve uncomplicated and complex problems and concepts, thereby making sensible decisions thereof on the basis of the available facts and information. This course has given me the capacity to apply logical thinking to the gathering and analysis of information, which essentially allows me to design and test varied solutions to problems, as well as formulate plans for the same.
This is especially with regard to the analysis of papers and information. This course involved the perusal of voluminous papers and literary works. A comprehensive understanding of such information required that I ask certain questions prior to getting the information. These include determining the information needed, the time allotted to the papers, what I need to know or even what I know already. Indeed, I am no longer embarrassed of asking the seemingly simple questions even as I allow the research me to the different directions. Considering the importance of such research, I never make assumptions as to the sufficiency of the time allocated, ease of finding the information or even the availability of similar information. Considering the high possibility of occurrence of mistakes and errors, I have learnt to cross reference research and information, as well as look deeper so as to determine the intrinsic or real value of information. This also allows for determination of the authenticity of the sources of information so as to determine what authority the authors of such information have to come up with credible information. The examination of issues such as factory farming necessitates the examination of statistics especially considering its impact on the health of individuals. Such an issue would necessitate a clear line of thought especially when examining the ethical side of it. This is the case for other issues that touch on ethics including euthanasia, abortion and death penalty and issues that touch on the confidentiality of patient information. The course has given me writing skills that would allow me to make a case for any side of the argument pertaining to these issues.
This may be evidenced by the improved quality of papers that I have written in the recent times. Not only are the papers made up of quality information, but also the sources used are credible and authoritative. On the same note, the information is always presented in such a way that the reader would be flowing with the papers rather than skimping though without a logical flow. This would essentially underline why I did not go straight to tackling the sections that are outlined in the instructions but rather gave the reader a soft landing through a carefully thought-out introduction.
Knowledge acquisition
While every course allows for the acquisition of varied skills, the implicit knowledge of the concepts, theories, perspectives and ideas in the course comes as the primary goal. Indeed, any course undertaking would be deemed unsuccessful if at the end of the day the individual did not grasp the fundamental concepts, ideas, perspectives and theories that are outlined in the course. In my case, I would say that I have at least grasped the general ideas of the concepts and perspectives brought out in the course. This is especially with regard to the theories of ethical decision-making, including utilitarianism, altruism, and egoism ethical theory of decision-making. In utilitarianism, an individual would determine the how appropriate a course of action is by examining the benefits and the costs with which it comes. In this regard, the varied options or potential solutions to a problem would be examined and their potential benefits and costs evaluated (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2009). These would then be compared amongst the varied potential solutions, with the one that has the most benefits against costs for the largest number of people being taken. This is irrespective of how unethical or “morally upright” the course of action may be. In this case, the theory states that no action is intrinsically wrong or right, rather this would be determined by the consequences as this theory aims at maximizing the utility of a particular course of action for the greatest number of people (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2009).
Altruism, on the other hand, is a practice where an individual is primarily concerned about other people’s welfare. This has nothing to do with duty or moral obligation that an individual has to other people, rather it revolves around some motivation for an individual to offer that is of value to another person rather than oneself (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2009). In its pure form, altruism would revolve around making a sacrifice for another person while expecting no benefits or compensation, whether direct or indirect.
Egoism, on the other hand, would be the opposite of altruism, as the individual would determine the best course of action by determining the course of action that would bring the greatest good, benefit and pleasure to oneself alone (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2009). In this case, the individual would primarily look at his own good and welfare irrespective of how bad the course of action is to another part.
The list of theories outlined here is simply not exhaustive especially considering the multiplicity of ethical principles described including beneficence, least harm, justice and respect for autonomy among others. These would go a long way in allowing for an analysis of decisions made and the basis for their making.
Practical application
The utility of any form of knowledge revolves around its applicability in real life situations and in tackling day-to-day issues. Indeed, this is the only way that any form of knowledge would be said to be beneficial to any individual. Indeed, the concepts and perspectives that have been examined in this course would go a long way in guiding my decision-making in my daily life. It goes without saying that every day comes with its own challenges and problems with numerous decisions and choices to be made. In most cases, there are conflicting solutions to the varied moral or ethical dilemmas that I come across. It is worth noting that in most cases, the application of the theories examined in the course is not absolute. In most cases, the decisions I make are not merely synchronized to one theory, rather they involve a combination of theories.
For instance, there was this one instances when my neighbor gave me some money and asked me to buy her some lottery tickets. She insisted that I should not mix those coins with mine and I should use those coins specifically to buy her tickets. I am not an ardent buyer of lottery tickets but this time round, I chose to buy some for myself alongside some for my neighbor. When the lottery hour came, I realized that my neighbor’s tickets had won some substantial amount. Of course, my neighbor wanted to know whether her cards had won any money, in which case I had to make a decision on whether to reply in the affirmative or not.
In this scenario, I had to combine varied theories in determining the most appropriate course of action. However, I happen to particularly like the utilitarian theory of ethics as it allows for a logical pattern of decision making. First, I am under an obligation to give out the winning card as the money that had bought it belonged to the neighbor. On the other hand, I had to consider the fact that I was in a financial rut and I could, in fact, do with some extra coins. On the same note, there was no relationship between the coins that she had given me and the tickets that I bought. In this regard, I could comfortably say that I was at liberty to make any decision. Nevertheless, I chose to tell her that they got mixed up, in which case I could not know which one was hers’ or mine. In this case, I would offer to split the money, thereby settling my financial issues and assuaging my conscience with regard to denying her what may be seen as her right. This means that both of us would be happy with the decision, and since the neighbor does not know whether it is her, she is bound to be fine with it.
This is simply one of the moral dilemmas where the ethical theories learnt in the course have been applied alongside other concepts.
References
Thiroux, J. P., & Krasemann, K. W (2009). Ethics: Theory and Practice 11/e VitalSource ebook for Kaplan University (1st ed). Pearson Learning Solutions.