Web Du Bois Soapstone - 717 Words

W.E.B. Du Bois SOAPSTone * Subject * In this text, W.E.B. Du Bois analyzes Booker T. Washington’s views on race in America. Du Bois acknowledges many of Washington’s accomplishments, such as how Washington began Tuskegee University and how Washington could cater to both the Northerners and the Southerners. On the contrary to praising him, Du Bois also subtly criticizes how Washington approaches dealing with racism. Washington believes that Blacks should be submissive rather than challenge the White people. Washington asks the Blacks to give up three things, political power, insistence on civil rights, and higher education of Negro youth. Du Bois then goes on to show the results of Washington’s ideals, such as the†¦show more content†¦This topic is something that Du Bois personally feels passionate about, and because of this, he is able to write about it in this way. * Tone * Du Bois has a passionate and persuasive tone. He is trying to persuade the free Black men to be on his side and to not agree with Washington’s ideals. He speaks passionately because this is something that he truly cares about seeing a change in, and he tries to sway that audience towards his side of the

The Picture Of Dorian Gray - 1576 Words

Transformation in Literature Greek Philosopher Heraclitus once said â€Å"There is nothing permanent except change†. In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the theme of transformation is constant throughout the novel; however it is not portrayed as something that is permanent. Through the protagonist’s transformation, Oscar Wilde s novel is suggesting that the hedonistic lifestyle, a lifestyle where gaining pleasure is the main goal of a person’s life, may seem like it is an exciting and wonderful way to live, however a person will slowly be corrupted if they are not careful in the way they carry out their lifestyle. Their life must be taken into their own hands and they must choose the people to be around and what they will do with†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, Dorian Gray s transformation wasn t the only transformation in the novel; Painter Basil Hallward and actress Sybil Vane transform in different ways, while still conveying Oscar Wilde s idea that in order to stay pure and keep one’s life in control one must choose carefully where and with whom one spends their time. In the beginning of the novel Dorian Gray s transformation is slow and he is not aware of what is happening to him. Only when his transformation is presented in front of his face does he even consider the fact that he is changing. After Dorian comes back from the theater, where he rudely â€Å"breaks up† with an actress he had been in love with, he looks at a portrait of himself that his good friend Basil Hallward had painted for him a few years back. He sees a change in what had been a flawless face; he thinks he sees what might be cruelty. He questions what he sees and asks Had [I] been cruel?† (Wilde 81) He then realizes that he had been cruel to his â€Å"girlfriend,† the actress Sybil Vane. He finally sees that he is changing and he needs to stop being friends with the Hedonist, Lord Henry, the man who is corrupting him. While Dorian Gray needs to have the proof in front of his face to be able to understand that he is slowly changing, it is clear to other characters that the innocent young man that was presented at the very beginning of the novel is no longer the same. Basil Hallward realizes Dorian’s change before anyone else.

Compare/Contrast Imperial Goals free essay sample

Long before Christopher Columbus discovered America accidentally in 1492, different people had wandered into America or had previously been there. People such as the Norse seafarers from Scandinavia wandered up the northeastern coast around 100 A. D. They landed in present day Newfoundland, before it was known as L’Anse aux Meadows. However, they were unable to support their already weak and flimsy villages. Over in the Middle East, the Crusades were taking place. Once fought, Europeans discovered a liking for Asian goods that had been unknown to the European world. However, Europeans had to travel to acquire these unique Asian goods, which made the goods more expensive once in Europe. The expensive prices gave Europeans a motive to find alternate routes to the supplies. The European taste buds were further extended when Marco Polo came back from Europe in 1295 telling the wonders of his trip to China. New technologies and the strong desire for goods gave Europeans even more motive to explore. We will write a custom essay sample on Compare/Contrast Imperial Goals or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Consequently, Europeans wandered into Africa in search of gold. After explorers sailed down the west coast of Africa, the Spanish monarchs to find an easier route to India funded Christopher Columbus. However, he accidentally ran into America after believing that he could travel west to India, having no clue that America was in existence. Once Christopher Columbus had discovered North America in 1492, three major European countries, Britain, France, and Spain, all competed for land in the New World. Between the years 1580 and 1763, all had some similar and different imperial goals and motives, none of which prevented them from acquiring some land. Britain, France, and Spain all competed against each other in the race for America even id they had some of the same imperial goals. All three countries had a monarch to push overseas exploration. Britain had Queen Elizabeth, who pushed for overseas exploration after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. France had Louis XIV as a monarch and he took great interest in overseas colonies. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand pushed the Spanish imperially. Also, all three nations wanted to establish markets for trade in the overseas colonies. France was able to make a profit off of the popular beaver, Spain traded items from the West Indies, and Britain traded tobacco and rice. Britain and France, before even starting overseas exploration, had to clear up the problems within their own countries. Religion was at the top of their list of problems, which is why many citizens fled to America. In France, there were clashes between the Roman Catholics and the Protestant Huguenots in the late 1500s. Once the Edict of Nantes was issued, the Protestant Huguenots had motive to travel to the New World for religious toleration. In England, the Catholics and Protestants clashed for decades and when Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1588, Protestantism became the dominant religion. So, the Catholics came to America. Also, France and Britain, upon their arrival at America, sought friendly relationships with the natives. Britain wanted to preserve the peace and to provide the â€Å"needed foodstuffs. † The French kept stable relations for trading purposes. Lastly, a major imperial goal of both the British and Spanish was to find the sources of gold and silver in America. Each searched for gold and silver in different places because each country knew that it could make their home lands wealthy. All countries were successful in acquiring land through their imperial goals and determination, even with their similarities in imperial goals. Although all the countries had some similar imperial goals, they also had their differences. The different countries wanted different areas of land. They Spanish were took the southwest, which included parts of Texas, Mexico and New Mexico. The French claimed northern America, areas in Canada, and also the island of Haiti. The English wandered up the northeastern coast and claimed the area of New England. Also, all three nations traded and made profits off of different goods. The French made a profit off of the beaver, which was extremely valuable. The English traded tobacco and rice with the Old World. The Spanish, while conquering the southwest portion of America, was out converting people to Catholicism. People such as the Spanish Conquistadores had motives to convert pagans to Christianity to ensure God’s favor. England, on the other hand, had a freshly acquired sense of nationalism after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. They used this vibrant sense of nationalism as an imperial goal, along with their strong thirst for adventure, a new spirit of self-confidence, bright patriotism, and their faith that England would succeed. On the contrary, France was more about the quantity of land rather than the amount of control they had over the land. They acquired French Haiti, a majority of the Midwest, and a large portion of Canada. Though different motives were kept on mind, all three countries ventured overseas in the hopes of acquiring land in New World, which they were able to do. Britain, France, and Spain all wanted a part of America. In order to get there they needed goals and motives, which they all had, whether similar or different. All three countries had monarchs to push their countries imperially and they all wished to establish overseas trade. Britain and France set out for the New World in the hopes of religious toleration and they also sought to preserve and create friendly relations with the natives. Spain and Britain were out for gold and silver, which they knew would increase the wealth of their country. All three countries also had their differences, such as the different areas of land that the countries conquered, the different trading that they established, the fact that the Spanish were out to convert people, the fact that Britain wanted to spread their sense of nationalism and the fact that France cared more about quantity rather than control. The migration from the Old World to the new was reflected later in history. Also, the fact that the countries sent out explorers is seen in history when Lewis and Clark were sent to explore the Louisiana Purchase in 1804 by Thomas Jefferson. In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was passed to remove the Indians from their land. The colonists, in the years leading up to 1830 and afterwards, were extremely prejudice against the Native Americans. The Indian Removal Act was merely a succession of their prejudice attitudes. Following the Indian Removal Act was the Trail of Tears, where the Indians had to march on foot off of their land. Many Indians died on the way to â€Å"Indian territory. † This was also a further continuation of the prejudice attitude. Approximately ten years later, people had a desire for the West. Better known as Manifest Destiny, explorers traveled the distance to search for gold. They had imperial goals just as Britain, France, and Spain did. Lastly, the Underground Railroad of the 1850s was where slaves were mistreated so they escaped the prejudice feelings of their masters. The feelings gave slaves a desire to escape their masters, which is what they did with the help of the Underground Railroad. Overall, Britain, France, and Spain, all competed for land between the years of 1580 and 1763 with similar and different imperial goals in mind, which can be connected to later historical events.

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Essays - Literature, Fiction

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" EARLY INFLUENCES ON HUCKLEBERRY FINN Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel about a young boy's coming of age in the Missouri of the mid-1800's. The main character, Huckleberry Finn, spends much time in the novel floating down the Mississippi River on a raft with a runaway slave named Jim. Before he does so, however, Huck spends some time in the fictional town of St. Petersburg where a number of people attempt to influence him. Before the novel begins, Huck Finn has led a life of absolute freedom. His drunken and often missing father has never paid much attention to him; his mother is dead and so, when the novel begins, Huck is not used to following any rules. The book's opening finds Huck living with the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Both women are fairly old and are really somewhat incapable of raising a rebellious boy like Huck Finn. Nevertheless, they attempt to make Huck into what they believe will be a better boy. Specifically, they attempt, as Huck says, to "sivilize" him. This process includes making Huck go to school, teaching him various religious facts, and making him act in a way that the women find socially acceptable. Huck, who has never had to follow many rules in his life, finds the demands the women place upon him constraining and the life with them lonely. As a result, soon after he first moves in with them, he runs away. He soon comes back, but, even though he becomes somewhat comfortable with his new life as the months go by, Huck never really enjoys the life of manners, religion, and education that the Widow and her sister impose upon him. Huck believes he will find some freedom with Tom Sawyer. Tom is a boy of Huck's age who promises Huck and other boys of the town a life of adventure. Huck is eager to join Tom Sawyer's Gang because he feels that doing so will allow him to escape the somewhat boring life he leads with the Widow Douglas. Unfortunately, such an escape does not occur. Tom Sawyer promises much--robbing stages, murdering and ransoming people, kidnaping beautiful women--but none of this comes to pass. Huck finds out too late that Tom's adventures are imaginary: that raiding a caravan of "A-rabs" really means terrorizing young children on a Sunday school picnic, that stolen "joolry" is nothing more than turnips or rocks. Huck is disappointed that the adventures Tom promises are not real and so, along with the other members, he resigns from the gang. Another person who tries to get Huckleberry Finn to change is Pap, Huck's father. Pap is one of the most astonishing figures in all of American literature as he is completely antisocial and wishes to undo all of the civilizing effects that the Widow and Miss Watson have attempted to instill in Huck. Pap is a mess: he is unshaven; his hair is uncut and hangs like vines in front of his face; his skin, Huck says, is white like a fish's belly or like a tree toad's. Pap's savage appearance reflects his feelings as he demands that Huck quit school, stop reading, and avoid church. Huck is able to stay away from Pap for a while, but Pap kidnaps Huck three or four months after Huck starts to live with the Widow and takes him to a lonely cabin deep in the Missouri woods. Here, Huck enjoys, once again, the freedom that he had prior to the beginning of the book. He can smoke, "laze around," swear, and, in general, do what he wants to do. However, as he did with the Widow and with Tom, Huck begins to become dissatisfied with this life. Pap is "too handy with the hickory" and Huck soon realizes that he will have to escape from the cabin if he wishes to remain alive. As a result of his concern, Huck makes it appear as if he is killed in the cabin while Pap is away, and leaves to go to a remote island in the Mississippi River, Jackson's Island. It is after he leaves his father's cabin that Huck joins yet another important influence in his life: Miss Watson's slave, Jim. Prior to Huck's leaving, Jim has been a minor character in the novel--he has been shown being fooled by Tom Sawyer and telling Huck's fortune. Huck finds Jim on Jackson's Island because the slave has run away--he has overheard a conversation that he will