Major General Henry Halleck in the Civil War

Major General Henry Halleck in the Civil War Henry Halleck - Early Life Career: Born January 16, 1815, Henry Wager Halleck was the son of War of 1812 veteran Joseph Halleck and his wife Catherine Wager Halleck. Initially raised on the family farm in Westernville, NY, Halleck quickly grew to detest the agricultural lifestyle and ran away at a young age. Taken in by his uncle David Wager, Halleck spent part of his childhood in Utica, NY and later attended Hudson Academy and Union College. Seeking a military career, he elected to apply to West Point. Accepted, Halleck entered the academy in 1835 and soon proved to be a highly gifted student. During his time at West Point, he became a favorite of noted military theorist Dennis Hart Mahan. Henry Halleck - Old Brains: Due to this connection and his stellar classroom performance, Halleck was permitted to give lectures to fellow cadets while still a student. Graduating in 1839, he placed third in a class of thirty-one. Commissioned as a second lieutenant he saw early service augmenting the harbor defenses around New York City. This assignment led him to pen and submit a document on coastal defenses entitled Report on the Means of National Defense. Impressing the US Armys senior-most officer, Major General Winfield Scott, this effort was rewarded with a trip to Europe to study fortifications in 1844. While abroad, the Halleck was promoted to first lieutenant. Returning, Halleck gave a series of lectures on military topics at the Lowell Institute in Boston. These were later published as Elements of Military Art and Science and became one of the key works read by officers in the coming decades. Due to his studious nature and his numerous publications, Halleck became known to his peers as Old Brains. With the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846, he received orders to sail for the West Coast to serve as an aide to Commodore William Shubrick. Sailing aboard USS Lexington, Halleck used the long voyage to translate noted theorist Baron Antoine-Henri Jominis Vie politique et militaire de Napoleon into English. Arriving in California, he initially was tasked with building fortifications, but later took part in Shubricks capture of Mazatln in November 1847. Henry Halleck - California: Brevetted to captain for his actions at Mazatln, Halleck remained in California after the wars conclusion in 1848. Assigned as military secretary of state for Major General Bennett Riley, governor of the California Territory, he served as his representative at the 1849 constitutional convention in Monterey. Due to his education, Halleck played a key role in shaping the document and was later nominated to serve as one of Californias first US Senators. Defeated in this effort, he helped found the law firm of Halleck, Peachy Billings. As his legal business increased, Halleck grew wealthy and elected to resign from the US Army in 1854. He married Elizabeth Hamilton, the granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton, that same year. Henry Halleck - The Civil War Begins: An increasingly prominent citizen, Halleck was appointed a major general in the California militia and briefly served as president of the Atlantic Pacific Railroad. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Halleck promptly pledged his loyalty and services to the Union cause despite his Democratic political leanings. Due to his reputation as a military scholar, Scott immediately recommended Halleck for appointment to the rank of major general. This was approved on August 19 and Halleck became the US Armys fourth-most senior officer behind Scott and Major Generals George B. McClellan and John C. Frà ©mont. That November, Halleck was given command of the Department of the Missouri and dispatched to St. Louis to relieve Frà ©mont. Henry Halleck - War in the West: A talented administrator, Halleck quickly reorganized the department and worked to expand his sphere of influence. Despite his organizational skills, he proved a cautious and difficult commander to serve under as he often kept plans to himself and seldom ventured from his headquarters. As a result, Halleck failed to cultivate relationships with his key subordinates and created an air of mistrust. Concerned about Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grants history of alcoholism, Halleck blocked his request to mount a campaign up the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. This was overturned by President Abraham Lincoln and resulted in Grant winning victories at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in early 1862. Though troops in Hallecks department won a string of victories in early 1862 at Island No. 10, Pea Ridge, and Shiloh, the period was marred by constant political maneuvering on his part. This saw him relieve and reinstate Grant due to concerns over alcoholism as well as repeated attempts to enlarge his department. Though he played no active role in the fighting, Hallecks national reputation continued to grow due to the performance of his subordinates. In late April 1862, Halleck finally took to the field and assumed command of a 100,000-man force. As part of this, he effectively demoted Grant by making him his second-in-command. Moving cautiously, Halleck advanced on Corinth, MS. Though he captured the town, he failed to bring General P.G.T. Beauregards Confederate army to battle. Henry Halleck - General-in-Chief: Despite his less than stellar performance at Corinth, Halleck was ordered east in July by Lincoln. Responding to McClellans failure during the Peninsula Campaign, Lincoln requested that Halleck become the Union general-in-chief responsible for coordinating the actions of all Union forces in the field. Accepting, Halleck proved disappointing to the president as he failed to encourage the aggressive action that Lincoln desired from his commanders. Already hampered by his personality, Hallecks situation was made more difficult by the fact that many of his nominally subordinate commanders routinely ignored his orders and thought of him as nothing more than a bureaucrat. This proved the case in August when Halleck was unable to convince McClellan to rapidly move to Major General John Popes aid during the Second Battle of Manassas. Losing confidence after this failure, Halleck became what Lincoln referred to as little more than a first rate clerk. Though a master of logistics and training, Halleck contributed little in terms of strategic guidance to the war effort. Remaining in this post through 1863, Halleck continued to prove largely ineffective though his efforts were hampered by interference from Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. On March 12, 1864, Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and made Union general-in-chief. Rather than sack Halleck, Grant shifted him to the position of chief of staff. This change suited the studious general as it allowed him to excel in those areas which he was best suited. As Grant embarked on his Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and Major General William T. Sherman began advancing on Atlanta, Halleck ensured that their armies remained well-supplied and that reinforcements found their way to the front. As these campaigns pushed forward, he also came to support Grant and Shermans concept of total war against the Confederacy. Henry Halleck - Later Career: With Lees surrender at Appomattox and the end of the war in April 1865, Halleck was given command of the Department of the James. He remained in this post until August when he was transferred to the Military Division of the Pacific after quarreling with Sherman. Returning to California, Halleck traveled to newly-purchased Alaska in 1868. The following year saw him return east to assume command of the Military Division of the South. Headquartered at Louisville, KY, Halleck died in this post on January 9, 1872. His remains were buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. Selected Sources Civil War Trust: Major General Henry W. HalleckCivil War: Henry HalleckNNDB: Major General Henry W. Halleck

Writing Algebraic Expressions

Writing Algebraic Expressions Algebraic expressions are the phrases used in algebra to combine one or more variables (represented by letters), constants, and the operational ( - x / ) symbols.  Algebraic expressions, however, dont have an equals () sign. When working in algebra, you will need to change words and phrases into some form of mathematical language. For instance, think about the word sum. What comes to your mind? Usually, when we hear the word sum, we think of addition or the total of adding numbers. When you have gone grocery shopping, you get a receipt with the sum of your grocery bill. The prices have been added together to give you the sum. In algebra, when you hear the sum of 35 and n we know it refers to addition and we think 35 n. Lets try a few phrases and turn them into algebraic expressions for addition. Testing Knowledge of Mathematical Phrasing for Addition Use the following questions and answers to help your student learn the correct way to formulate Algebraic expressions based on mathematical phrasing: Question: Write seven plus n as an Algebraic expression.Answer: 7 nQuestion: What Algebraic expression is used to mean add seven and n.Answer: 7 nQuestion: What expression is used to mean a number increased by eight.Answer: n 8 or 8 nQuestion: Write an expression for the sum of a number and 22.  Answer: n 22 or 22 n As you can tell, all of the questions above deal with Algebraic expressions that deal with the addition  of numbers - remember to think addition when you hear or read the words add, plus, increase or sum, as the resulting Algebraic expression will require the addition sign (). Understanding Algebraic Expressions with Subtraction Unlike with  addition  expressions, when we hear words that refer to subtraction, the order of numbers cannot be changed. Remember 47 and 74 will result in the same answer but 4-7 and 7-4 in subtraction do not have the same results. Lets try a few phrases and turn them into algebraic expressions for subtraction: Question: Write seven less n as an Algebraic expression.Answer: 7 - nQuestion: What expression can be used to represent eight minus n?Answer: 8 - nQuestion: Write a number decreased by 11 as an Algebraic expression.Answer: n - 11 (You cant change the order.)Question: How can you express the expression two times the difference between n and five?Answer: 2 (n-5) Remember to think subtraction when you hear or read the following: minus, less, decrease, diminished by or difference. Subtraction tends to  cause students greater difficulty than addition, so its important to be sure to refer these terms of subtraction to ensure students understand. Other Forms of Algebraic Expressions Multiplication, division, exponentials, and parentheticals are all part of the ways in which Algebraic expressions function, all of which follow an order of operations when presented together. This order then defines the manner in which students solve the equation to get variables to one side of the equals sign and only real numbers on the other side. Like with addition and subtraction, each of these other forms of value manipulation come with their own terms that help identify which type of operation their Algebraic expression is performing - words like times and multiplied by trigger multiplication while words like over, divided by, and split into equal groups denote division expressions. Once students learn these four basic forms of Algebraic expressions, they can then begin to form expressions that contain exponentials (a number multiplied by itself a designated number of times) and parentheticals (Algebraic phrases which must be solved before performing the next function in the phrase). An example of an exponential expression with parentheticals would be 2x​2 2(x-2).

How do psychological mindsets act as enemies of intelligence How does Essay

How do psychological mindsets act as enemies of intelligence How does this influence surprise or failure Can the Intelligence - Essay Example It means that there will always be some cases wherein some members of the intelligence group can unconsciously destabilize the goal of being able to come up with a timely and accurate intelligence report (Betts, 2007, p. 264). Whether deliberately or not, the act of destablizing the goal of intelligence can happen each time the members of the intelligence group would manipulate or falsely interpretate the gathered information. Eventually, the use of distorted information can lead to inaccurate conclusions or wrong reactions. It means that each time a member of the intelligence community failed to identify misinterpreted data, there is a higher chance wherein the intelligence group can end up making wrong or inaccurate predictions (Betts, 2007, p. 6). How does psychological mindsets influence surprise or failure? There are cases wherein some members of the intelligence group tend to make use of their own biased personal judgment when making important decisions. Within this context, ps ychological mindset can pertain to a scenario wherein the human mind would considered some false information as something that is accurate and highly reliable. Therefore, aside from the risk of passing around some out-dated information in different agencies related to intelligence, one can argue that the use of a false mindset can distort the ability of the intelligence in terms of being able to accurately interpret or analyze the gathered information. Often times, the use of a false mindset can trigger the risk of intelligence failure. Each time intelligence failure happens, the members of the intelligence group can be caught up in a surprise because of the falsely predicted outcome. A good example of such case is the September 11 attack. Despite the number of agencies set out to protect the national security of the United States, the intelligence community ended up pretty much surprised by the attack (Betts, 2007, p. 4). Can the intelligence community overcome or optimize analysis despite these obstacles? To prevent the risks of national disaster, the main role of the intelligence community is to collect, correlate, and analyze information that are useful in terms of maintaining the national security (Betts, 2007, p. 1). However, intelligence group often faces obstacles which could prevent them from effectively fulfilling their goals. Among these obstacles include: (1) the outside enemies – which are referring to the main subject of intelligence such as a terrorist group or any groups or countries that are currently in conflict or are totally against the United States and are trying to mislead the intelligence community from performing their tasks in terms of preserving the national security; (2) the innocent enemies – which are referring to individuals who aim to destabilize the goal of being able to come up with a timely and accurate intelligence report; and/or (3) the inherent enemies – which are usually triggered by human interventio n that can affect the overall function of the intelligence group (Betts, 2007, p. 9, 12, 264). Despite all these obstacles, it is possible for the intelligence community to overcome or optimize the analysis of the gathered information. However, it will never be easy on the part of the intelligen

Theories of Conflict Resolution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Theories of Conflict Resolution - Assignment Example When it comes to conflict resolution, the NGOs and IGOs have access to territories and theories that enable them to participate in eliminating and mitigating conflict. The conflict theories and intervention strategies used by NGOs and IGOs have significantly influenced world politics; thus resulting in negative implications in conflict resolution. There are several theories that attempt to explain the causes of conflict in the society. These theories include the fundamentalist theory, the conflict theory and symbolic interaction theory. Each of these theories has their assumptions and ideologies regarding the cause of conflict in the society. For example, the conflict theory argues that conflict is as a result of a need in the society. Resultantly, individuals or groups in the society spur conflict so that the other party can meet their needs. This theory is different from the functionalist theory in that it acknowledges the societal change. Therefore, conflict is not undesirable but a necessary factor for change (Shepard 2012). Arguably, the functionalist theory assumes societies are complex and at the same time organized. According to the Functionalist theory, conflict arises when certain elements do not make a positive contribution to the society. (Shepard 2012). For example, if there are bureaucratic rules in the society that inhibit justice. Supporters of this theory argue that once the dysfunction is dealt with, the society often resumes to its original structure (Shepard 2012). The three theories are integral in examining how intergroup dysfunction can contribute to the emergence of conflict. Through the efforts of psychology, we are also able to comprehend how individual cognitive processes can contribute to the onset of a conflict, thus facilitating the adoption of effective conflict resolution strategies. The International Community uses

“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer and “The Flea” by John Donne Essay Example for Free

â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Tale† by Geoffrey Chaucer and â€Å"The Flea† by John Donne Essay In this paper I will compare the approach to marriage in the works â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Tale† by Geoffrey Chaucer and â€Å"The Flea† by John Donne; in both cases it is a means to an end: in the first the old woman wants to get â€Å"the thing that most of all Women desire† and in the second the lover seeks â€Å"How little which his lover (thou) deniest him (me)† and uses an allusion to marriage to achieve this. In â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Tale† the old woman seems to ask the knight a naà ¯ve request; there is no hint that what she will ask of him is to marry her: â€Å"Swear me true that whatsoever I ask of you, you’ll do it if it lies whithin you might†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . After the knight returns to the queen, and the answer the old woman gave the knight is the one the queen looked for, the old woman’s intent becomes clear: â€Å"Before the court I ask you, then, sir knight, To take me, as you wife.† The knight in shock tries to refuse, but as he has sworn â€Å"upon his (my) honor† he has no way out of the deal he closed; therefore, they get married. As married couples are due in the night of the wedding, the couple goes to bed to consummate the marriage. Here is when we learn what the old woman’s plan was. As they lay in bed they old woman is waiting for the knight to act as a newlywed husband, but she then realizes that the knight’s intentions were not the ones she hoped for: â€Å"You are so loathsome and so old as well†¦ †¦It is no wonder that I toss and turn.† The wife tells her husband that he has two choices, and he is welcome to choose what he best prefers, for she will do as he bids and never complain. The knight thinks carefully, and weighs his options, and then realizes that this choice should not be his: â€Å"My love and lady, my dear wife. In your wise government I put my life†¦ †¦I am content, whatever pleases you.† Now the old woman’s motive is clear, and she got â€Å"the thing that most of all Women desire† â€Å"to have sovereignty†¦ †¦above their husbands, and to have their way in love†; the choice is hers to do as she pleases, and what she wants is to please him, so she gives her husband everything he could have wanted. The decision she makes can be confusing since she denies herself the power she wanted after getting the choice, but the main point is that even so she was able to choose. In â€Å"The Flea† the man is not looking for marriage, he seeks only to consummate it. The allusion to marriage is used to undermine the importance of the act that comes after the wedding: the bedding. The poem starts with the comparison between both lovers being bitten by a flea, and the lover thinks that the act of being bitten by a flea is less than the consumption of marriage: â€Å"Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pampered swells with one blood made of two, And this, alas, is more than we would do.† The fact that they were bitten by the same flea means that they are as good as married. The lover tries to convince his mistress that what he wants is not sinful as she thinks since they are already married by the bite of the flea, so they may as well do what married couples do: â€Å"The flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed and marriage temple is.† The woman is not convinced by his words, and tries to kill the flea, but her lover tries to convince her that this flea is them, and their love and marriage, and if she kills the flea, not only the flea will die: â€Å"†Three sins in killing three.† After the flea is killed by his lover, he finds a way to turn around the situation for his benefit, and tells her that the fact that flea is dead only shows that nothing is as important as it seems; therefore, why should not them lay together? She will lose as much as the flea lost which apparently she thinks it is not a lot: â€Å"’Tis true; then learn how false fears be: Just so much honor, when thou yield’st to me, will waste†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this works the use of marriage although used for alternate purposes is given different meaning. In â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Tale†, the old woman wants â€Å"the thing that most of all Women desire†, and is willing to do anything to get it; in â€Å"The Flea† the lover wants to lay with his mistress, and will say anything to convince her, even that they are â€Å"married† after being bitten by a flea. The use of the marriage in both stories is done differently since the old woman lures the knight into marrying her, so that she can get what she want, and the lover tries to convince his mistress they are already married in a sense, so that he will able to bed her. One may well say nevertheless that in both cases marriage is a means of leverage, a tool to be best used as the authors see fit, in order to allow their characters achieve their aims; whatever those aims might be. In these sense marriage gets a similar treatment in both stories.

Nursing: Lifting, Transferring And Positioning Of Patients Essay

Nursing: Lifting, Transferring and Positioning of Patients ABSTRACT Lifting, transferring and positioning of patients is frequently undertaken by nurses on each working day. This is necessary for patient comfort, medical reasons and completion of self care needs. Lifting can be done in numerous ways. As well as the nurse physically lifting or moving patients, a number of devices are also available to assist in the transfer of patients. These range from straps that are attached to or placed under the patients, to mechanical hoists and lifters. Any assistance the nurse has is beneficial for both the patient and the health care worker, as patient's weights are generally heavier than the nurses physical capabilities. This, combined with incorrect lifting techniques, can result in muscle strain, or more seriously, spinal injury for the nurse, and discomfort, muscle strain or further injury for the patient. INTRODUCTION When lifting, transferring or positioning patients, the most important consideration is safety. Any of these procedures need to be undertaken with it in mind. This safety is inclusive of both the patient and the health care worker. Communication is an important part of the lifting process as the nurse should elicit information from the client to find out how and when they prefer to be moved. This allows the patient to be involved in the decision making process and be fully aware of what is occurring. By communicating with the client, the nurse is also aware of whether or not the patient is experiencing any discomfort during or after the lift. The actions of lifting, transferring or positioning need to be completed for numerous reasons, including relief of pressure points. Due to the patient being in one position continuously, they are prone to the development of pressure areas. In terms of patient needs, being in the same position constantly is physically uncomfortable. However, mentally, a change in the immediate surroundings is also beneficial for the patient. It is also necessary for the patient to be moved for completion of their self care needs. This includes their hygiene needs, which include, bathing or showering, elimination, hair, oral and nail care. METHOD When lifting, transferring or positioning patients manually, safety is the most important factor. This safety is for the nurse thems... ... of using the lifters there may not be as much manual lifting necessary. Education about manual handling is also vital to ensure correct lifting techniques are used. Constant re-evaluation of the staff's abilities and methods would ensure safety for both parties involved. This would make staff aware that the least amount of strain placed on the muscles and joints as possible is beneficial to them. The re-evaluation is also important in the fact that it allows the health care worker to be constantly up to date on any new procedures which may be developed. REFERENCES Kozier, B., Erb, G., Blais, K., Wilkinson, J.M. 1995, {italics on} Fundamentals of Nursing {italics off}, 5th Edition, Addison Wesley Publishing Company Inc., United States of America. Love, C. 1995, 'Managing manual handling in clinical situations', {italics on} Nursing Times {italics off}, vol. 91, no. 26, pp. 38-39. Scott, A. 1995, 'Improving patient moving and handling skills', {italics on} Professional Nurse {italics off}, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 105-110. Seymour, J. 1995, 'Handling Aids - Lifting and moving patients', {italics on} Nursing Times {italics off}, vol. 91, no. 27, pp. 48-50.

Why Does Mankind Seem so Incurably Religious

Mary Beth Lindsey September 9, 2011 Intro to Religion Wagner Why does mankind seem so religious? There is a lot of influential reasoning that can attribute to religion because some of it is man-made and the other is a divine revelation. I think that no matter what, all humans yearn for a universal presence of some kind that is responsible for our existence. Religion is thought to fulfill deep individual needs of humanity. Humans is incurably religious because of the passing of generational opinions and beliefs, such as from churches and other religious sources and organizations, and also what we learn in schools, varying from Greek mythology to evolution and more. The argument from universal belief insists that every human being has an innate knowledge of God- a sense of the divine- that these clues or arguments simply confirm it. However, Roman 1 also insists that we have a tendency to suppress this, this innate knowledge of God, choosing instead to rebel against our Creator (Romans 1:19-23). I agree with this due to the actions of society. In addition, man has always sought to worship something or someone. In contrast, a nineteenth century socialist philosopher, Karl Marx, argued that religion emerged from economic frameworks a mean for oppressing people and maintaining an unjust economic system. In his view, religion is an opiate for the masses to keep them submissive and unquestions about their lot in life. I do not think that man would use the law for an economic system or some kind of punishment. We are taught in school about religion , now depending on the approach the teacher is trying to give off can influence the outcome or the intensity of students perception of religion , because teachers/professors teach our growing youth. Religion goes beyond facts in the form of faith which has a connection to the facts. All the while, we come up assumptions when we look at the facts to determine reasonable conclusions. Work Cited Page 1. The New English Bible. London. Oxford UP and Cambridge UP. 1970. 2. atheism. about. com/od/philosophyofreligion/a/marx. htm

Time Traveler’s Wife

2012-07410March 15, 2013 ENG 2 G-3RDraft no. 1 The Time Traveler’s Wife (Film) A Reaction Paper Why is love intensified by absence? (Niffenegger, 2003) The Time Traveler's Wife is a romantic drama film directed by Robert Schwentke and was based on a novel by Audrey Niffenegger of the same title. The film tells the story of Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana), a librarian who suffers from a genetic disorder that causes him to jump back and forth in time, and Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams), as they endeavor to live a happy and normal life.In the early 1970s, a six year-old Henry survives a car accident wherein his mother died. The tension before the impact enabled him to travel back two weeks before the accident. He was then transported back into the present and witnessed the death of his mother before him. An older version of him tries to help Henry by explaining that he is indeed a time traveler. Henry finds himself living the past, present, and future at the same time. In 1991, Henry meets for the first time an art student named Clare.Though she is delighted to see him, Henry was not able to recognize her. She later reveals that the future Henry time traveled and met the six year old Clare. They develop a relationship and Henry finally felt permanence in his life. Subsequently, the couple enters a married life which will be teemed with obstacles brought about by Henry’s condition. The film Time Traveler’s Wife employed time travel as one of main character’s flaw and strong point at the same time expressing the love story that attracts most of the women audience.Its title and movie trailer just provides sufficient ideas that will make you think about it and finally watch the film. Considering the fact that it was primarily based on a book, it can be posited that the story was crammed and made to fit in the specific amount of time. This caused the movie to lose its richness which left the supporting characters with little exposure who may have contributed to the audience’s understanding and interpretation and to the story’s further development.Moreover, the film focused too much on the love story of Henry and Clare and ignored the other characters’ involvement and influence on the main characters’ decision as opposed to the book. Critiques aside, the story was very poignant. It provided various themes such as the importance of time, love, family, marriage, sex and reality. Love was expressed and interpreted by the characters in various ways—physical lovemaking, Clare’s patience (or impatience) for waiting Henry from his travels, and sacrifices that each of them made in their pursuit of happiness.It was emphasized that love is an important aspect of life that overcomes and recognizes no obstacles. The film also gives the audience the idea of struggle between life as something that is already written and pre-determined, and the capacity or power of our free will and choices. Sex an d racism, to some extent, is depicted in the movie. It shows the importance of physical connection to the intimacy of the main characters. In addition, the character of Eric Bana criticized the Republicans and hunters.Lastly, versions of reality were presented—that of Henry’s and of Clare’s. It gives the audience the impression that reality is subjective and thereby influenced by emotions. Time Traveler’s Wife can be considered as a carpe diem movie. Although it contains a timeline structure that is quite confusing for the viewers and disturbing scenes and language, the film earns the audience awe and tears by the story of two lovers who are victims of the unpredictable fate.

colored people essays

colored people essays Segregated Peace: an essay on Colored People Integration was a main theme or topic in this memoir. It played an important role in the time when Gates was growing up and had a big affect on him throughout his book. Integration changed the way Gates viewed, whites, blacks, restaurants, hairstyles, church, school, etc. He went from a conformist to a rebel to an Episcopal. His community changed with him and the older generation of course did not take to integration as well as most of the younger generation did. Integration was considered a good thing to most people and others believed that Blacks had lost something through the whole ordeal. They believed that they had lost the close knit family ties that segregation indirectly created. Gates sums up the way the community felt about integration in one of his last sentences in his memoir. He writes, All I know is that Nemos corn never tasted saltier, his coffee never smelled fresher, than when these hundreds of Negroes gathered to say goodbye to themselves, their heritage, and their sole link to each other, wiped out of existence by the newly enforced anti-Jim Crow laws.(Gates, 216) It was hard for blacks to integrate into all white schools after being surrounded by blacks for most of their lives. Whites werent the only ones to critique black attitude and black style, blacks did it to themselves. Gates writes that when he was a child he remembered that when blacks were admitted to all white neighborhoods or schools, Negroes were the first to censure other Negroes(Gates, xiii). His father would say things like, Dont go over there with those white people if all youre going to do is Jim Crow yourselves(Gates, xii). Even Gates writes, I always reserved my scorn....for someone too dark, someone too loud, and too wrong.(Gates, xiii). The way Gates writes it, blacks would scrutinize their own kind. ...

50 Inspiring Writing Prompts to Kick Writers Block

50 Inspiring Writing Prompts to Kick Writers Block Are you stuck for something to write about? Maybe youre scratching your head trying to come up with a fresh idea for a personal essay- a narrative or an extended description. Perhaps youre in the habit of keeping a journal or a blog, but today, for some reason, you cant think of a blessed thing to say. Maybe you need exercise to start a short story or need to do some prewriting for plot or character development for a longer fiction piece. Heres something that may help: a list of 50 brief writing prompts. The items on the list are not full-blown essay topics, just hints, snippets, cues, and clues to prod your memory, kick  writers block, and get you started. 50 Writing Prompts Take a minute or two to look over the list. Then pick one prompt that brings to mind a particular image, experience, or idea. Start writing (or freewriting) and see where it takes you. If after a few minutes you hit a dead end, dont panic. Simply return to the list, pick another prompt,  and try again.  Inspiration can truly come from anywhere. Its just a matter of freeing your mind from distraction and letting your imagination lead you where it may. When you discover something that intrigues or surprises you, thats the idea to develop further.   Everyone else was laughing.On the other side of that doorLate againWhat Ive always wantedA sound Id never heard beforeWhat if...The last time I saw himAt that moment I should have left.Just a brief encounterI knew how it felt to be an outsider.Hidden away in the back of a drawerWhat I should have saidWaking up in a strange roomThere were signs of trouble.Keeping a secretAll I have left is this photo.It wasnt really stealing.A place I pass by every dayNobody can explain what happened next.Staring at my reflectionI should have lied.Then the lights went out.Some might say its a weakness.Not again!Where Id go to hide out from everyoneBut thats not my real name.Her side of the storyNobody believed us.It was time to change schools again.We climbed to the top.The one thing Ill never forgetFollow these rules, and well get along fine.It may not be worth anything.Never againOn the other side of the streetMy father used to tell meWhen nobody was lookingIf I could do it over againOf course it wa s illegal. It wasnt my idea.Everyone was staring at me.It was a stupid thing to say.Hiding under my bedIf I tell you the truthMy secret collectionFootsteps in the darkThe first cut is the deepest.Trouble, big troubleLaughing uncontrollablyIt was just a game to them.

Stem Cell Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stem Cell Research - Essay Example This is precisely what makes them so promising: the ability and the developing technology to regenerate much-needed body parts. What makes stem cell research so problematic however is the fact that embryonic stem cells, those that come from human fetal tissue, are the best source of stem cells. More significantly, the embryo is destroyed when stem cells are harvested. On the other hand, there are good arguments in favor of stem cell research. Primary is the undeniable need for human organs, a need that is not met by simply relying on organ donation. Other sources for organs are needed. Animal-to-human transplants are highly problematic both scientifically and ethically, and hence cannot be the preferred solution. The shortage for human organs makes underhanded organ sales in the black market profitable and widespread. Further, there are patients who are suffering from neurological conditions that can be helped greatly by regenerative technology. If the above can be addressed using do nated fetal tissue, then there is a strong argument in favor of stem cell research because of the potential for promoting the greatest good for the greatest number. It should be noted however, that there are also strong moral reasons for arguing against stem cell research. The primary reason is the seeming devaluation of human life as indicated by the term â€Å"harvest†, in itself a loaded term, signifying an act that turns a human embryo into a commodity. Second, there is a significant degree of moral reprehensibility in the act of manipulating an entity that is already a potential human being, treating it as a means to achieve other ends. These two premises harp on the notion of intrinsic value, that certain acts have inherent moral worth, as opposed to the aforementioned argument in favor of stem cell research that focuses on the projected beneficial