Crevecoueur’s - What is an American Essay Example for Free

Crevecoueur’s What is an American Essay Crevecoueur, in his essay ‘What is an American’ attempts to carve out a unique identity for the ‘American’, an identity that would unify the dwellers of this sprawling country under one roof while at the same time it establishes its differences from Europe from where it derives most of its numbers. Crevecoueur describes the country as the great melting pot of the world, a place where a truly diverse set of people come together and forgetting religious, social, economic, national as well as linguistic differences are molten into one, that is, an American. The process of becoming one forgetting all differences involves the common pursuit of what has since then come to be known as ‘the American Dream’. America, the land of equality, liberty and opportunity welcomes every new arrival on its shores with open arms. The new arrival, in his/her turn, grateful for all that this new country has to offer, internalizes the American Dream, and in the midst of his/her pursuit of an honest, respectable, free and happy life becomes an American leaving his/her previous identity behind. The concept that is America has come a very long way from the time of Crevecoueur. Now, the ‘American’ identity in the guise of a ‘green card’ is perhaps the most sought after throughout the world. Being an ‘American’ is no longer just an opportunity to be grabbed freely, it is privileged bestowed upon the best and brightest from all over the world. However, some things never change. America still remains the great melting pot of the world. Even more so in the present, for unlike in Crevecouer’s times, it is not only the Europeans or different sects of Christianity that arrive at the shores of this ‘land of dreams’ but people from every possible nation and belonging to every possible religion co-habit in peace sharing in on the modern day versions of the ‘American Dream’.

Ancient Stories Of The Flood :: essays research papers

Stories of a primeval flood exist in all parts of the world, virtually every branch of the human race has traditions of a Great Flood that destroyed all of mankind, except one family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The closest parallel to the Biblical story of the flood occurs in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, our fullest version of which is furnished by an Akkadian recension prepared, in the seventh century B.C. for the great library of King Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. The story itself is far older. We have fragments of versions dating as much as a thousand years earlier, and we possess also portions of a Summerian archetype.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Mesopotamian version: the gods apparently displeased with the evils of mankind decided to destroy it by means of a great flood. Ea, the god of wisdom and subtlety, was privy to their council and warned Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah, of the coming disaster. Utnapishtim was told to build a ship thirty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. Provision it and put in it specimens of every living thing. Then to board it with his family and possessions and launch it on the waters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For six days and nights the wind and flood raged. On the seventh day the flood abated. Everything, including mankind, had turned to mud and clay.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Utnapishtim sent out a dove on the seventh day but it came back. He then sent out a swallow, but it came back. Finally he sent out a raven. The raven, however, saw that the waters had receded; it found food, and started to caw and wallow in the mud; it never came back. Eventually the ship grounded on Mount Nisir. Utnapishtim, seeing that the flood had receded, disembarked and set out an offering for the gods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Enil, “Lord of the underworld,'; was very angry when he saw that Utnapishtim had been spared. He was soon calmed by the other gods and gave his blessing to Utnapishtim and his wife by granting them the gift of immortality and transferring them to a remote island.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Older versions, of which only fragments survive, tell virtually the same story, though the hero is sometimes called Atrahasis, or “Superwise,'; rather than Utnapishtim. In Western Asia the legend of the flood is of Summerian origin, and is now known from the excavations at Kish and Ur to have been based upon an historical catastrophe. In the Summerian version the hero is named Ziusudra, “the long lived.

Advantages of Chemical and Biological Weapons Essay

Chemical and Biological Weapons are Your FriendsAs we go on our daily lives, terrorists are buying and developing dangerous and hazardous biological and chemical weapons to obliterate us. They do not care who they harm; their mission is to cause terror, to spread chaos, to engulf the world in anarchy. They want to know that they are making people terminally ill and sick. They will be enjoying a job well done while your skin is covered with excruciating painful blisters, or while you tell your loved ones that everything will be fine when there will clearly be a fatal result. Chemical and biological warfare has been around for many centuries. This type of warfare is not new. The Chinese, Greeks, and indigenous groups from South America used it. Whether it was arrows tipped with toxins, or the catapulting bacteria infested bodies, or the burning of toxic chemicals, each had its own deadly way of taking out the enemy. (Solomon 5-6) The U.S. should not stop developing biological and chemical weapons. Chemical and Biological warfare is most useful for taking out enemy personnel behind enemy lines. Al Mauronis book, Chemical and Biological Warfare, states, The larger artillery projectiles [] might use mustard, VX, or thickened GD to contaminate areas behind enemy forces, threatening their ability to resupply or to reinforce a particular sector (108). It is an inexpensive way to eliminate foes compared to sending in an army battalion and risk losing human lives. The biggest benefit from using biochemical weapons, as opposed to sending in persons to do the attacking, is that you can be far away from the danger of combat, and thereby limit exposure to your own troops. The biochemical strike can be executed from either a long-range cruise missile or you can have a stealth bomber deliver it to the exact point where the enemy is situated. This way the U.S. military have less casualties and losses. To further understand how to protect ourselves, we must develop these weapons and test them. There is no way of knowing when a terrorist cell in hiding is planning an attack so we must be prepared with full comprehension of these destructive weapons. How are we supposed to defend ourselves without any knowledge whatsoever of these weapons? We must not only protect ourselves  with precautionary weapons and plans but we must also arm ourselves with knowledge of these weapons. The U.S. must develop, research, and execute defensive plans so we can be safe. There are countries that will use these weapons, but they are also fearful of those weapons being used against them. That is why it crucial for the U.S. to have these weapons at hand. You can prevent a war and make a nation surrender with just the threat of launching a biochemical strike. Saddam Hussein stalled the US for a total of six months from invading Iraq by just mentioning that the country was willing to use biochemical weapons if the U.S. tried to invade. This is called brinkmanship. Just having biochemical weapons is like having a temporary shield that protects against invasion from an opposing country. Countries are fearful of brinkmanship and usually one country will back down for fear of total annihilation- annihilation, a reality that our generation must now try in order to do everything in our power to prevent it from happening. One may think that these weapons of mass destruction will only cause, well destruction, but what people dont know is that they have already done some good. Smallpox has been eradicated because it was proven to be extremely deadly in weapons tests and so it was practically wiped out. It now exists only in two heavily guarded facilities in Russia and the United States. They are not to be destroyed because these weapons of mass destruction may be useful in developing vaccines, antiviral drugs, and diagnostic tests. Bibliography: Mauroni, Al. Chemical and Biological Warfare. Contemporary World Issue. California: Santa Ana, 2003Solomon, Brian, ed. Chemical and Biological Warfare. New York: Dublin, 1999. Stone, J.D.. Free Republic 10/8/2008 .

Persuasive Speech Essay - 1128 Words

I ll start where you left off. I am very much pro-choice. As my wife would say, stay out of my guns and stay out of my body. You are absolutely right to let people be people no matter what they prefer so long as it doesn t infringe upon our rights then yeah go for it. Texas is not as backward as the left would have you believe. I have 19 sets of aunts and uncles. 8 on my mom s side and 11 on my dad s side. Of those 4 are in openly gay marriages and I don t remember there ever being a thing said to me or them about their preference in whom they marry or who they sleep with. It s just no one s business. That s as crazy as one of them telling me who I can marry or have a child with. If you had a line and on the left you had†¦show more content†¦They re sending people that have lots of problems, and they re bringing those problems with us. They re bringing drugs. They re bringing crime. They re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we re getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They re sending us not the right people. It s coming from more than Mexico. It s coming from all over South and Latin America, and it s coming probably— probably— from the Middle East. But we don t know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don t know what s happening. And it s got to stop and it s got to stop fast. Now on June 25, 2015 NPR is interviewing Roberto Orci of Acento Advertising, a Hispanic agency in Los Angeles. Orci quotes Trump saying . They re sending people that have lots of problems, and they re bringing those problems with us. They re bringing drugs, they re bringing crime. They re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. He went on further to say, With one short speech about us, he tarred the entire Latino culture as being rapists and murderers and terrorist In the days following the speech, Hispanic leaders and commentators excoriated Trump. Jorge Ramos, a Univision news anchor, said Trump had become the Hispanic community s most hated man. Now, Univision has backed up Ramos comments with action. The network announced it is ending its relationship with Trump and theShow MoreRelatedEssay on Persuasive Speech822 Words   |  4 PagesAshley Buckner Persuasive Speech COMM210D 4/20/12 Why should you smile? I. Imagine: you wake up in the morning. You get ready and grab a cup of coffee. Then, you walk out the door, seeing many faces as you make your way to work, and walk up to your building. When you walk inside expecting to be greeted by many more positive faces, you see none, and so you walk over and sit down at your desk. 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