Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay Example for Free

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay In the book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass chronicles his slave life during the mid 1800s. By informing his readership of the realities and cruelties of slavery, Douglass’ seeks to persuade Northerners to become involved in the abolitionist movement. He accomplishes this purpose by delivering his message throughout the entirety of the book slavery is harmful to all participants – with the effective utilization of ethos, logos, and pathos. The trio works to support his thesis, and this support therefore aids Douglass’ overall purpose. Although each of the argumentative devices is effective, the most powerful component is pathos, which is a quality that evokes pity or sadness. Unlike ethos or logos, pathos speaks directly to the readers, in this case the North, and profoundly influences their emotions and thoughts on the issue of slavery. Therefore, pathos is the most effective strategy in Douglass’ narrative because it accomplishes the author’s purpose by sufficiently delivering his message, through the manipulation of emotions to Northern readers. Ethos is without a doubt an apparent strategy throughout Douglass’ narrative; in fact, the entire book is ethos. Douglass’ life was, at the time, living proof of the cruelties of slavery. He takes advantage of this fact in his narrative and describes almost every detail, being sure to leave out names whom he did not intend to offend or embarrass, and brings to reality the treatment of slaves in the 1800s. In addition, Douglass incorporates references to the Bible, often relating slaves’ lives to peoples’ lives in Biblical times. For example, â€Å"My friend Nathan Johnson (of whom I can say with a grateful heart, ‘I was hungry, and he gave me meat; I was thirsty, and he gave me drink; I was a stranger, and he took me in’).† This is a reference to Matthew 25:35, which discusses the importance of caring for others, even strangers. Douglass includes this passage to compare Nathan Johnson to a humble, selfless man that would care for anyone. Furthermore, the reference supports Douglass’ credibility as an educated man of God and a reliable non-fiction author. Just because he was once a slave, ignorant of freedom and all its blessings, including education, it did not stop him from brilliantly writing his narrative through which he sufficiently proves his credibility by means of correct grammar, references to the Bible and other highly respected pieces of literature, and the simple fact that he was once a slave and therefore contains the most reliable information. However, ethos is not the most effective strategy on his readers; it does not support his purpose or meaning as much as pathos does. Logos is also a strategy used throughout the entirety of the book, simply because it is a narrative of Douglass’ life, therefore it must be composed of non-fiction occurrences. He includes as much detail as he can, but he leaves out particular names and happenings in order to prevent embarrassment of the individual or even potential consequences. Despite his restrictions, Douglass still includes amazing thoroughness and accuracy. For example, â€Å"I left Master Thomas’s house, and went to live with Mr. Covey, on the 1st of January, 1833.† He uses three specific details in one tiny sentence, which just shows the reader his incredible memory and accuracy. Although his precision within the book is rather impressive to the Northern readers, the simple facts do not supply them with Douglass’ deeper meaning, that slavery is harmful to all participants. Rather, logos gives the readers the direct happenings of his slave life, but it does not reach out to the Northerners’ emotions, humans’ weakness and main influence to take action, to the extent pathos does. Pathos is a strategy in argument that aims to draw pity or sadness from the audience or reader, and it is often the most persuasive tool to accomplish a purpose. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass uses a generous amount of pathos in order to persuade his Northern readers to become involved in the abolitionist movement. He accomplishes this purpose by including sad incidences he saw or experienced himself. For example, Douglass tells the story of his Aunt Hester being punished with a whipping, â€Å"He commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood†¦came dripping to the floor. I was so terrified†¦that I hid myself in a closet.† This description of the first time he saw someone whipped is drawn out in detail purposefully; Douglass wants the reader to engage in the narrative and let his/her emotions drive them toward pity for slaves and hatred of slavery. He includes many other descriptions like this, but they all have the same purpose. Emotion drives many peoples’ actions, and Douglass wants to persuade his Northern audience to become active in the abolitionist movement by letting their emotion take over. Pathos also brings out the meaning of the essay; by explaining cruel experiences, Douglass includes proof of his meaning, that slavery is harmful to both the slave and the slaveholder. Northerners are persuaded by this meaning and affected by the traumatic incidences in the book, and are driven to involve themselves in the move to abolish slavery. Pathos is therefore the most effective strategy that encourages Northern readers to follow through with Douglass’ purpose. Douglass utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos in a brilliant way, but it is acceptable to claim that pathos had the largest effect on the readers of the North in the 1800s. While ethos and logos give the author credibility and information to discuss, pathos affects the reader directly. It becomes tiresome to hear of straightforward facts, like moving from master to master or plantation to plantation. The readers want to hear of excitement, so when Douglass talks about sad topics, it involves the reader, as well as affects their opinion of slavery. By taking advantage of pathos and the readers’ impressionable emotions, Douglass conveys his message and fulfills his purpose, and therefore, pathos is the most effective strategy in his book. Works Cited Douglass, Frederick, and Houston A. Baker. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1982. Print.

Occupy Wall Street Movement Essays -- Political Science

Occupy Wall Street Movement If heavy student loan debt , soaring tuition fee, climbing taxes, plummeting financial aid, nose-diving employment opportunities, exacerbating inequality between common people and wealthy class, are some of the issues that infuriate you and lead you to blame government’s generous bailing out failed banks and other financial institutions then you cannot not know about Occupy Wall Street(OWS) movement. List all information you know about your subject Occupy Wall Street is one of the top 10 US protest movements inspired by popular revolts against authority in Egypt and Tunisia which finally led to toppling of their respective presidents. It began on 17th September 2011 in liberty square in Manhattan’s Financial District (occypywallst.org). As per Special news in Times Of India, OWS was initiated by Canadian Activist group, Adbusters. So far, this movement has spread over across 1500 cities globally and around 100 cities in US. According to Drake Benett, David Graeber is an anthropologist, who played a key role in transforming a small rally into global protest movement, this movement is in response to the common people’s frustrations and resentments with two important issues. The first issue is the influence of the corporates on government decision making system. The second issue is the way government treated debt issues of financial industry as opposed to individual borrowers as a consequence of financial crisis i n 2008.(Benett,†David Graeber-the Anti Leader of Occupy Wall Street, Oct,20011) According to the protesters, current dismal economic situation is a result of government bailing out the insolvent brokerage firms, banks and corporation in 2008. OWS has adopted the slogan; we are 99%. Paul... ...e a leader who is sensitive to issues and sensible enough to direct the movement to achieving its targeted goals and making us realize the dream of living in the utopian world! Works Cited Bennet, Drake. â€Å"David Graeber-The Anti-Leader Occupy Wall Street.† Business week. Bloomberg L.P, 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. Brenac, Sacha. â€Å"The Failures of Occupy Wall Street.† The Bullet. The Bullet, 25 Jan. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. Gray, Heather. â€Å"Occupy Wall Street vs Kingian Methods.† Positive Peace Warrior Network. N.p., 4 Oct. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. Krugman, Paul. â€Å"We Are the 99%.† New York Times. The New Yorks Time Co, 24 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. â€Å"99% vs 1%.† Times Of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, 1 Jan. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. Solomomn, Daniel. â€Å"Occupy Wall Street’s Failed Revolution.† PolicyMic. Mic Networks Inc., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.

Modernism, Mass Culture

Andrea Hussies argues that â€Å"since the mold 19th century, the culture of modernity has been characterized by a volatile relationship between high art and mass culture. † The writer states that Modernist artists strove to distance themselves from the â€Å"lark pour lark† movements of the turn of the century like Art Nouveau, Symbolism and ?aestheticism. This type of art pandered to the tastes of the middle classes striving to live â€Å"the good life† which evolved into a culture of decadence and indulgence. TheModernists also distanced themselves from Abstract Expressionism during the Post World War II years, favoring autonomy, a hostility to mass culture and a â€Å"radical separation from the culture of everyday life† rather than a desire to â€Å"find a content rich with meaning and redolent of social responsibility. † Hussies highlights that the most significant Modernist â€Å"attack† on the esthetics ideas of the self-sufficiency o f high culture In the 19th century resulted from a discord of the independent modernist stretch wealth the post World War I revolutionary politics in Russia andGermany, and the Increasingly rapid evolution of city life during the early 20th century. Hussies asserts that the attack was known as the historical avian garden symbolizing a new aesthetics approach, manifested in movements like expressionism, Berlin Dada, Russian constructivism, the post Russian Revolution purposeful and French Surrealism. The author ascribes this presence to a so-called â€Å"Great Divide† separating high art from mass culture, which he insists is imperative to the theoretical and historical understanding of modernism.The book Fin De Is ©clue and Its Legacy states that Hussein's thesis about postmodernist is highly debatable, and that artistic modernism can only be understood in relation to the developments that came after the emergence of new mass communications technologies from the time of Bau delaire to the Second World War. Despite a great divide, the developments of high art apparently came about as a reaction to and dependence on mass communications technologies. One might argue that artistic modernism can only be understood in relation to the mass culture of the time.Hussies asserts that both modernism and the avian-garden have always defined their identity in relation to traditional bourgeois high culture and modern commercial mass culture. He believes that most discussions relating to modernism, the avian-garden and even post modernism validate bourgeois high culture at the expense of the avian-garden or modernism. Artists of the mid 19th century like French Realist Gustavo Courier disapproved of the depiction of historical and fictional subjects in art, preferring to focus their work on mundane everyday contemporary life.Through his work, Courier broke away from academic forms and standards that advocated Idealism, and attempted to destabilize the economic power s tructure of the day. Although It might appear that there were grounds for wanting to separate the notion of high art from mass culture, the economic climate in France money of mass communication in order to make a living. Artists like Henry Toulouse- Ululate and Egg ©nee Grasses relied on poster making as a means of generating income.In the case of Grasses, after studying art and architecture and working as an accomplished painter and sculptor, he designed and produced posters, which was said to have become his fort ©. His posters eventually generated interest in the United States, and the artist was asked to design a cover for Harpers magazine in 1892 at a time of continuing expansion in the magazine industry. One might suggest that instead of there being a great divide between high art and mass culture, artists of the time were using the tools of high art to communicate ideas to mass culture, and that each existed in tandem with instead of in opposition to the other.Hussies ar gues that both Greenberg and Adorn insisted on a â€Å"categorical separation of high art and mass culture†, both men being driven by an impulse to â€Å"save the dignity and autonomy of the art work from the totalitarian pressures of fascist mass spectacles, socialist realism and degraded commercial mass culture in the West. † However, the writer goes on to agreeably postulate that although both men's impulses might have been correct at the time, their insistence of such a separation or divide became out dated.

How Votes Are Counted on Election Day

After the polls close on  Election Day, the task of counting the votes begins. Each city and state use a different method to collect and tabulate ballots. Some are electronic, others paper-based. But the process of counting votes is generally the same no matter where you live and vote. Preparations As soon as the last voter has voted, the election judge at each polling place makes sure poll workers have sealed all of the ballot boxes and then sends the sealed ballot boxes to a central vote-counting facility. This is usually a government office, like a city hall or county courthouse. If digital voting machines are used, the election judge will send the media on which the votes are recorded to the counting facility. The ballot boxes or computer media are usually transported to the counting facility by sworn law enforcement officers. At the central counting facility, certified observers representing the political parties or candidates watch the actual vote counting to make sure the count is fair. Paper Ballots In areas where paper ballots are still used, election officials manually read each ballot and add up the number of votes in each race. Sometimes two or more election officials read each ballot to ensure accuracy. Since these ballots are filled out manually, the voters intention can sometimes be unclear. In these cases, the election judge either decides how the voter intended to vote or declares that the ballot in question will not be counted. The most common problem with manual vote counting is, of course, human error. This can also be an issue with punch card ballots, as youll see. Punch Cards Where punch card ballots are used, election officials open each ballot box, manually count the number of ballots cast, and run the ballots through a mechanical punch card reader. Software in the card reader records the votes in each race and prints out totals. If the total number of ballot cards read by the card reader does not match the manual count, the election judge can order the ballots recounted. Problems can occur when the ballot cards stick together while being run through the card reader, the reader malfunctions, or the voter has damaged the ballot. In extreme cases, the election judge can order the ballots to be read manually. Punch card ballots and their infamous hanging chads led to the controversial vote count in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. Digital Ballots With the newer, fully computerized voting systems, including optical scan and direct recording electronic systems, the vote totals may be transmitted automatically to the central counting facility. In some cases, these devices record their votes on removable media, such as hard disks or cassettes, which are transported to the central counting facility for counting. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly half of all Americans use optical-scan voting systems, and about a quarter use direct-recording voting machines. Like any electronic device, these voting machines are vulnerable to hacking, at least in theory, experts say. But as of August 2017, there is little to no evidence suggesting that hacking has occurred. Recounts and Other Issues Whenever the results of an election are very close, or problems have occurred with the voting equipment, one or more of the candidates often demand a recount of the votes. Some state laws call for mandatory recounts in any close election. The recounts may be done by a manual hand-count of ballots or by the same type of machines used to make the original count. Recounts do sometimes change the outcome of an election. In almost all elections, some votes are lost or incorrectly counted due to voter mistakes, faulty voting equipment, or errors by election officials. From local elections to presidential elections, officials are constantly working to improve the voting process, with the goal of making sure that every vote is counted and counted correctly. Of course, there remains one absolutely certain way to make sure your vote will not be counted: dont vote. Effect of 2016 Russian Interference on Future Vote Counting Since Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued his â€Å"Report on the Investigation Into the Russia Interference in The 2016 Presidential Election† in March 2019, the U.S. House of Representative has passed legislation intended to reform the voting process and protect future elections. While the Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced two similar bipartisan bills on election security, they have yet to be debated by the full Senate. In addition, several states have announced plans to replace their current voting machines and computerized vote counting systems with more modern and hacker-proof equipment before the 2020 presidential election. According to a report by the Brennan Center for Justice, local election officials in 254 jurisdictions across 37 states plan to purchase new voting equipment in the â€Å"near future.† Election officials in 31 of the 37 states hope to replace their equipment before the 2020 election. In 2002, Congress enacted the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) allocating $380 million to help states strengthen their election security.