Explore the ways in which Isobel Dixon and Mervyn Morris express their personal feelings in their poetry

Explore the ways in which Isobel Dixon and Mervyn Morris express their personal feelings in their poetry Explore the ways in which Isobel Dixon and Mervyn Morris express their personal feelings in their poetry Little Boy Crying by Mervyn Morris and Plenty by Isobel Dixon both explore the vivid childhood memories and experiences of the poets. In Little Boy Crying, a father deals with the troubles of raising a and disciplining a child; whereas in Plenty, Dixon describes her youth when she and her sisters could not afford the things they so greedily stole behind their mothers back; finally comparing it to her prosperous present. I will explore how the poets use imagery and language, voice and tone, and structure and form to create effects and convey their experiences. Little Boy Crying is based on a fathers true story revealing the how he once treated his son. It depicts the themes of sadness, remorse, and love. Morris describes his battle with fighting the regret he feels for slapping his son because he loves him so much, longs to lift you, curb your sadness. This is perhaps to depict the contrast between the two emotions and the danger of what happens when they collide. At first, the reader empathizes with the boy, however, as the poem progresses and the fathers situation is understood, the reader begins to empathize for him as well. Plenty, is based on Dixons chaotic youth with her sisters. It explores the themes of chaos, restriction, and realization. Dixon writes about her memories of the past, often referring to her mothers anger over the chaos she and her sisters create by ignoring the mothers restrictions, her lips anchored down not knowing then it was a clasp to keep us all from chaos. This shows that as you get older, you realize the importance of order and begin appreciating your parents hard labor. Mervyn Morris use of powerful language helps the reader relate to the situation described. The title, Little Boy Crying, already provokes a sad image of what is forthcoming in the poem, creating an instantaneous dramatic effect on the reader. In the first stanza, Morris expresses the changes which his son undertook since the slap, mouth contorting, laughter metamorphosed, and frame so recently relaxed now tight. The word metamorphosed, exemplifies the rapidity of the change of the boys facial expression, creating a more powerful image of the emotions the boy is feeling. These changes quickly introduce the reader to the circumstances. Powerful imagery of water is seen in the phrase swimming tears, splashing your bare feet, where sibilance and personification of the tears have been used to invoke a more dramatic sense of the boys misery. The phrase quick slap stuck, creates a more sped up and violent interpretation of the happenings; and the use of onomatopoeia in slap, creates a more graphic scene. Overall in the first stanza of Little Boy Crying, many sad and angry words are used to create a depressed mood: Howls, frame tight, frustration, swimming tears, and guilt or sorrow. Such powerful phrases are used to invoke a more immediate effect of grief and a relation to the situation by the reader. The reader becomes more compassionate and understanding of the characters. In the second stanza the father imagines himself in the sons position, alluding to the fairytale Jack and the Bean stalk, evoking powerful imagery of hatred as well, The ogre, grim giant, colossal cruel, Chopped clean the tree [the fathers] scrambling down. The use of alliteration of g in grim giant and c in colossal cruel, places emphasis on the phrases to describe the pure hatred the father thinks the boy must feel against him, signifying that he knows he is being mean and understands his decisions were harsh. The reference to a well-known fairytale increases the readers ability to relate to the situation and creates a more vivid scenario. In the third stanza, the line You cannot understand, not yet demonstrates that the child does not acknowledge the fact that his father is teaching him a lesson. The father seems very guilt struck and at fault that he had to take such measures to teach a lesson, The hurt your easy tears can scald him with. The boy does not realize the pain his display of sadness causes his father, who obviously takes no pleasure in making his son cry. The father seems to regret his actions however stays firm to teach the lesson, Longs to lift you, curb your sadness. The alliteration of l emphasizes the longing however the father stays strong to ensure his son is raised with the correct values. The last stanza implies the little boy has been playing in the rain, you must not make a plaything of the rain. This line has several meanings such as the immorality of trying to get sympathy by crying. On another level, it could be the father instructing himself to take his lessons more seriously and his need stay firm to show discipline. Isobel Dixon also uses powerful imagery and language to convey her messages. The title itself contrasts with nearly the entirety of the poem as poverty has placed them far away from Plenty. Isobel Dixon creates an intense mood using vivid description early on in the poem. In the first stanza the reader is introduced to Dixons memory of an enamel tub, age-stained and pocked upon its griffin claws, never full. Such an image conveys the impression that that the family cannot afford proper equipment such as a bathtub and is unable to fill it with water as it is too costly and in short supply. Water is recognized as a representation of their deprivation from basic necessities in the ongoing expanse of drought where dams leaked dry and windmills stalled. The alliteration of d in the phrase drought where dams leaked dry, enhances the effectiveness of the image created by making them more prominent in the description. The stalled windmills are subsequently compared with the mothers smile, Like mommys smile. This infers that her smile has stalled. Dixon uses metaphors to describe her mothers frown, a clasp to keep us all from chaos. The metaphor is used to create a more vivid image of the mothers efforts to keep the family together. Additionally, the onomatopoeia of the word clasp creates a more powerful picture. Many cases of sibilance are found in the phrase she saw it always, snapping locks and straps, the spilling: sums and worries, shopping lists The ongoing repetition of the consonant s creates an almost explosive ringing. The poet uses contradictory phrases to exaggerate their meaning in the oxymoron, each month was weeks too long. A month is always an exact number of weeks long; however Dixon implies that they never had enough money to cover an entire months worth of spending. In the penultimate stanza, when describing the present, Dixon uses enjambment in the line waters plentiful, to excess, almost, here./ This creates a slower progression in the poem and exemplifies how she is disregarding all her previous worries about taking another precious of water. Little Boy Crying, is written from the voice of the father; however it changes perspective several times. In the first stanza, the father is observing the reaction of his son. In the second stanza, the father attempts to view the situation from his sons point of view. In the third stanza a third-person view responds to the happenings, explaining the fathers feelings. In contrast, Plenty, is written entirely from Dixons point of view. She writes in a voice which seems apologetic because of all the disorder she now recognizes she caused, not knowing then, and we thought her mean. Later, she compares it to the present, where bubbles lap my chin. Even though she is grateful for the present luxury in her life, she misses her childhood, miss my scattered sisters. In Little Boy Crying, Morris uses long sentences with small amounts of punctuation to create tension and make the reader keep reading. The first stanza is composed of seven lines, however only one sentence. The stanza length is a little beyond average, and the last stanza ends abruptly as it consists only of one line. Ending a poem with one line creates force and stress to the line, making the reader consider it more. The use of enjambment establishes a greater emphasis on the word previous to it, such as howls, frustration, and tears. This is done to put pressure on specific words, empowering their meaning and adding importance to their effect. They become more noticeable than the rest of the words In Plenty, Dixon uses normal length sentences and stanzas, which contradicts the chaos depicted in the poem. She does not use very much enjambment, creating an ongoing flow of reading. Her use of punctuation varies greatly as in the fourth stanza; three full-stops are used. On the other hand, in the fifth and sixth stanzas, altogether only one full-stop is used. This creates tension when its needed and adds a story-like effect. Little Boy Crying, by Mervyn Morris and Plenty, by Isobel Dixon both delve into the moving childhood experiences they have. In Little Boy Crying, a father resists the urge to apologize to his son for disciplining him; whereas in Plenty, Dixon describes her chaotic youth with her sisters; finally comparing it to her present. Little Boy Crying explores the themes of sadness, discipline, and regret. Plenty, explores the themes of chaos, restriction, and realization. Both poems have their underlying messages such as in plenty, where patience helps us all deal with many of lifes everyday problems. In Little Boy Crying, one learns the difficulty of punishing a child even though it is for the greater good of them.

The Genius of Hamlet, the Very Sane Prince of Denmark Essay -- Hamlet

The Genius of Hamlet, the Very Sane Prince of Denmark Hamlet in Shakepeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is often seen as a lunatic. Lucid and ingenious, Prince Hamlet falls into a state of emotional turmoil, but he is never insane. Hamlet feigns madness to reveal his anguish concerning the two women he used to love - his mother Gertrude and his lover Ophelia. To escape estrangement from his countrymen, Hamlet appears to waver between madness and sanity. And, to avoid moral estrangement, the Prince plans on revenging his father's death under the guise of madness. There is no question that Hamlet feigns insanity, and he does so to voice his emotions to the two closest women in his life, to influence the opinions of his peers, and to plan the revenge of his father's death. With his famous line "frailty, thy name is woman" (I, ii. 146), Hamlet descends into an abyss of emotional turmoil. He loses faith in his mother Queen Gertrude and in his lover Ophelia. Feigning madness, Hamlet is able to make his innermost anguish known to these two important women in his life. Still grieving at his father's death, Hamlet is shocked when his mother Queen Gertrude marries Claudius two months after the King's death. At this point in the play, Hamlet does not feign madness but is genuinely and openly melancholy. As Hamlet explains to his mother, his "inky cloak" shows his grief, but the pain is much deeper. Grief is not a sign of madness. Gertrude feels that her son has greatly changed, for he no longer views her as his mother . Instead, he calls her his â€Å"good-mother† - his step mother. Gertrude marrying her husband's brother is incestuous, and this bestirs feelings of bitterness in Hamlet. However, sinc... ...mark. Unable to speak freely before Queen Gertrude and Ophelia, Hamlet exaggerates his emotional turmoil so that these two women will soften their attitudes towards him and listen to him. Not only does Hamlet wish to win back the hearts of Gertrude and Ophelia, these two women also serve to verify Hamlet's supposed madness to the other characters. Furthermore, Hamlet must hide his rationality and cunning from his peers and from King Claudius so that he may proceed with his revenge plan. Freed from the suspicions of his mother, his lover, his peers, and King Claudius, Hamlet succeeds in avenging his father's death and in remaining sane throughout the play. WORK CITED Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In The Norton Shakespeare: based on the Oxford Edition. Edited by Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1997.

A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay -- essays papers

A Good Man is Hard to Find Virtue and â€Å"the grandmother† If you were to ask someone what their definition of a happy life would be, they would probably give you an answer like, â€Å"having fun.† This is completely untrue in Aristotle’s terms. According to Aristotle, for a man to lead a happy life he must learn each of the intellectual virtues, and practice each of the moral virtues throughout his life. These moral virtues are justice, courage, temperance, magnificence, magnanimity, liberality, gentleness, prudence, and wisdom. With so many virtues to constantly abide by, a man cannot know if he has led a happy life until his life is nearly finished. In the story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† by Flannery O’ Connor, the question is raised whether the grandmother has achieved a state of happiness according to Aristotle’s terms at the time of her death. The answer is no, because she is a person who is dishonest, cowardly, and unwise. Of all the virtues, honesty is practiced the least by the grandmother. Honesty is defined as â€Å"The capacity or condition of being honest; integrity; trustworthiness† (Honesty). There are several examples of the grandmother’s dishonest and untrustworthy actions. In the beginning of the story, â€Å"The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida† (O’ Connor 1106), so she made up false excuses to try to persuade her family to take her to Tennessee. â€Å" his fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida. I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it’† (O’ Connor 1106). On the way to Florida, the grandmother notices an old house she visited as a child. When she wants to stop and re-visit the house, the grandmother tells the... ...n the story, (honesty, courage, and wisdom) none of the virtues are abided by. Although there are six other virtues, all of the virtues must be abided by in order to achieve happiness. Besides, if the grandmother doesn’t abide by the three virtues represented in the story, this leads one to believe that she doesn’t abide by any of them. In conclusion, the grandmother does not lead a happy life in accordance to Aristotle’s theory of happiness. Bibliography: Works Cited â€Å"Courage.† The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2000. â€Å"Honesty.† The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2000. O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's 1999, 1106-1117. â€Å"Wisdom.† The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed. 2000.

King Lear :: essays research papers

ACT ONE, SCENE ONE  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  KING LEAR Lines 248  ¡V 260 It is said by Lear that it would have been better if Cordelia  ¡Ã‚ §hadst not been born than not t ¡Ã‚ ¦have pleased me better ¡Ã‚ ¨, but France supports her by referring to her as  ¡Ã‚ §Fairest Cordelia ¡Ã‚ ¨ to put her into a better light. As France is portrayed as a  ¡Ã‚ §true gentleman ¡Ã‚ ¨ his views and opinions are respected more by the audience than Lear ¡Ã‚ ¦s, because Lear appears to the viewers as an egotistical and cruel man. Therefore, when France describes Cordelia as being  ¡Ã‚ §rich ¡Ã‚ ¨ but  ¡Ã‚ §poor ¡Ã‚ ¨,  ¡Ã‚ §Most choice ¡Ã‚ ¨ yet  ¡Ã‚ §forsaken ¡Ã‚ ¨ and  ¡Ã‚ §most loved ¡Ã‚ ¨ though  ¡Ã‚ §despised! ¡Ã‚ ¨ the audience sees a major contrast through these paradoxes and agrees with France. This makes Lear look as if he is doing something  ¡Ã‚ §monstrous ¡Ã‚ ¨ as his opinion differs so much from France ¡Ã‚ ¦s. The fact that Lear is saying such shocking things about his daughter who he earlier called  ¡Ã‚ §our joy ¡  ¨ shows that his words are not to be trusted. Lear ¡Ã‚ ¦s  ¡Ã‚ ¥monstrous ¡Ã‚ ¨ behaviour is greatly emphasised by the different language techniques that France uses, such as the use of the paradoxes and the rhyming couplets like  ¡Ã‚ §my chance ¡Ã‚ ¨ with  ¡Ã‚ §fair France ¡Ã‚ ¨ and  ¡Ã‚ §cold ¡Ã‚ ¦st neglect ¡Ã‚ ¨ to  ¡Ã‚ §inflamed respect ¡Ã‚ ¨. By using these methods, stress is put onto the point that is being made by France and therefore is more explicit to the audience. France also uses loaded verbs to describe Lear ¡Ã‚ ¦s actions, including  ¡Ã‚ §cast ¡Ã‚ ¨ and  ¡Ã‚ §thrown ¡Ã‚ ¨, to suggest that Lear is being harsh and barbaric towards Cordelia, as these verbs sound aggressive. Lines 237  ¡V 239 When France remarks that  ¡Ã‚ §Love ¡Ã‚ ¦s not love ¡Ã‚ ¨ when it is  ¡Ã‚ §mingled with regards ¡Ã‚ ¨ that stand  ¡Ã‚ §Aloof from th ¡Ã‚ ¦entire point ¡Ã‚ ¨ he reveals a major issue that arises in this play. By saying this, he means that when there are other things being considered at the same time as love, the love cannot be true, as love should never be conditional. This is being directed towards King Lear and Burgundy, as being a father and a prospective husband, respectively, they should have unconditional love for Cordelia, which they evidently do not have. King Lear disowned his daughter within seconds because she didn ¡Ã‚ ¦t  ¡Ã‚ §mend ¡Ã‚ ¨ her  ¡Ã‚ §speech a little ¡Ã‚ ¨ to boost her father ¡Ã‚ ¦s ego and the result of this was that she would  ¡Ã‚ §mar ¡Ã‚ ¨ her  ¡Ã‚ §fortunes ¡Ã‚ ¨. Burgundy, a possible suitor for Cordelia, stated that she would  ¡Ã‚ §lose a husband ¡Ã‚ ¨ unless he got his  ¡Ã‚ §portion ¡Ã‚ ¨ of the King ¡Ã‚ ¦s wealth, which was to be his dowry.

HOW ARE TENSION AND SUSPENSE BUILT UP AND MAINTAINED IN AT LEAST TWO :: English Literature

HOW ARE TENSION AND SUSPENSE BUILT UP AND MAINTAINED IN AT LEAST TWO GOTHIC HORROR STORIES? The original use of the term `Gothic Horror' was applied to a group of novels, including Mary Shelley's `Frankenstein', written before 1914. These novels usually included some or all of the following characteristics, which seem demonstrative of the original use of the term `Gothic': An emphasis on portraying the terrifying, a common insistence on archaic settings, a prominent use of the supernatural, the presence of highly stereotyped characters, barbarism as opposed to elegance, and the attempt to set up and perfect techniques of literary suspense. Bram Stoker's `Dracula' would be another example as the novel includes most of the characteristics above. The setting would generally have a sense of eeriness and darkness and there is usually a lack of an escape route. This can make a character experience a dramatic loss of self-control and overwhelming emotions. A sense of helplessness or vulnerability heightens the dramatic climaxes of these stories. As well as vulnerable characters appearing in these stories there would also be a rational, scientifically thinking character. He, or she, would represent the newly literate middle class and would have lent credibility to the tale. ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ is an example of a pre 1914 Gothic Horror story. It is about a man who receives a paw which can allow people to make a wish but can also cause evil things to happen. Mr White wished for two hundred pounds, which he was given, but as compensation for the coincidental death of his son. Mrs White came up with the idea to wish for their son to come back. Mr White, knowing that his son would be mutilated after being buried for nine days, wished for everything to be back to normal after they received a strange knock on their door in the early hours of the morning. ‘The Red Room’ is about a protagonist who visits ‘Lorraine Castle’, in a deserted place, to see whether the stories of a haunted room were true. After a long walk through the castle he gets to the room. On his way there he encounters ordinary objects which look menacing due to the contrast of the moonlight. Once in the red room strange things started happening. What made the room feel haunted was fear. In the Victorian era, pre 1914, people were very rational. People in the 19th Century had just come out of the Industrial Revolution, they were more educated than before and by then they had became less superstitious ‘of the myths about earls, countesses or the timid wife’, mockingly alluded to in 'The Red Room'.

Executive Privilege

Executive Privilege| | | | Virginia Commonwealth University November 14, 2012| | In the past, the power of executive privilege has been used by Presidents to conceal information that has to do with foreign affairs and negotiations, military, national security issues as well as deliberations and policy making that is done between the President and his top aides. This power is only used when Congress asks the President or one of his top aides to produce all of the information pertaining to an event or situation.If the President then feels that parts of this information needs to be kept secret to protect the best interest of the public, or the other issues listed previously, then he will use executive privilege in order to not give that information to Congress. A huge part of executive privilege is to protect the deliberations and advice given by the President’s aides. When the President’s advisors give him advice, they need to be able to give him the best advice possible and if there is a chance that everything they said could be made public.For instance if the President and advisors are discussing what needs to be done in relation to a foreign power and one suggests to nuke them, one suggests a covert attack and one suggests a peaceful resolution. If the final decision is a peaceful resolution, and Congress asks for all of the information on the subject, then the President should use executive privilege to keep those other possible outcomes from going public, both to keep the public from getting out of control or uneasy and to keep the other country from finding out the other options and retaliating.This power ensures that the President’s advisors can be completely honest and say what needs to be said without being worried about their words being taken the wrong way or too harsh or hurt their image. A big argument for those against executive privilege is that there is nothing in the constitution about it even though there is something about Congress keeping secrets.Article I states that â€Å"Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy† (US Constitution, Article 1 Section 5). Their argument is that the Constitution states that each House can withhold information that they think should be kept secret and there is nothing about secrecy when it comes to the President’s powers, however just because the words are not explicitly in the constitution does not mean that this power was not intended for the President.Even our founding fathers appreciated the importance of executive privilege and that is highlighted by this passage taken from The Works of Alexander Hamilton. In 1794, the Senate asked President George Washington, â€Å"‘to lay before the Senate the correspondences which have been had between the Minister of the United States at the Republic of France, and said Republic, and between said Minister and the office of Secretary of State. † Washington consulted his cabinet members, Henry Knox, Alexander Hamilton, and Edmund Randolph.Alexander Hamilton later wrote: General Knox is of the opinion that no part of the correspondences should be sent to the Senate; Colonel Hamilton is of the opinion that the correct mode of proceeding is to do what General Knox advises; but the principle is safe, by excepting such parts as the President may choose to withhold; Mr. Randolph is of the opinion that all correspondence proper, from its nature, to be communicated to the Senate, should be sent; but that what the President thinks is improper, should not be sent.Washington later told the Senate â€Å"After an examination of [the correspondence], I directed copies and translations to be made; except in those particulars, which, in my judgment, for public considerations, ought not to be communicated. † (Hamilton 1851) Three of these men signed the constitution and contribut ed a great deal towards it and they clearly believe that it is the President’s right to withhold information that he deems unfit to be made public. When it comes to foreign affairs it is very important that the President has the ability to use executive privilege.For instance, if the United States was making a treaty with another country, both countries may have to give things up in order to come to an agreement, and everything considered by both sides as well as everything agreed upon should not be made public for everyone, including other countries to see. This is best stated in 1796 by George Washington after the House of Representatives requested that he give them information concerning his instructions to the United States Minister to Britain regarding the treaty negotiations between the United States and Britain.Washington replied by saying: The nature of foreign negotiations requires caution, and their success must often depend on secrecy; and even when brought to a co nclusion a full disclosure of all the measures, demands, or eventual concessions which may have been proposed or contemplated would be extremely impolitic; for this might have a pernicious influence on future negotiations, or produce immediate inconveniences, perhaps danger and mischief, in relation to other powers.The necessity of such caution and secrecy was one cogent reason for vesting the power of making treaties in the President†¦the boundaries fixed by the Constitution between the different departments should be preserved, a just regard to the Constitution and to the duty of my office.. , forbids a compliance with your request. † (Richardson 1897) As Washington states, we cannot simply make every detail public because other countries may retaliate and they will also be less likely to deal with the United States in the future. However, by invoking executive privilege the President can protect that information from causing such havoc.As he stated, it is not only the President’s right to use executive privilege, but it is his duty to use it in situations that require secrecy. Without a doubt executive privilege can have its usefulness, but it should only be invoked in certain, specific situations. In our recent history this has not been the case, some of our Presidents have tried to abuse the power of executive privilege, giving it a bad name and encouraging people to believe it should be done away with. When President Richard Nixon was in office, the Watergate scandal surfaced and Congress asked him to produce all of the information he and his aides had on the case.In an attempt to conceal what had been done as well as to protect everyone from punishment, President Nixon tried to use executive privilege. This case was brought to the United States Supreme Court because the executive privilege was being used to protect one of Nixon’s advisors from criminal prosecution, thus obstructing justice. This was by far an abuse of executive privilege and leads many to want it gotten rid of, however just because a power can be abused does not mean that its use should stop; it just means that restrictions need to be put in to place.This is highlighted by the ruling of the Supreme Court. The Court acknowledged the need for the President to used executive privilege, but determined that in cases of inquiry into possible criminal actions, the Executive has to release relating information. If we want to curb the abuse of executive privilege, we need to put guidelines into place, because without them, the meaning of executive privilege is at the discretion of the President until checked by other branches. President Nixon was neither the first nor last President to abuse this power (United States v Nixon 1974).President Bill Clinton also tried to invoke executive privilege in a very wrong way as well. Clinton tried to use executive privilege to prevent his advisors from testifying on whether he had sexual relations with Monica Lewinski or not. However, this claim of executive privilege was shot down, rightfully so (Baker 2012). These instances of abuse may lead some to think it is just a better option to not have executive privilege, but as long as barriers and restrictions can be put into place on it to prevent this from happening in the future, this power needs to stay around.This comes with some exceptions; this power should only be used when the President truly believes that if this information were to get out it would either be damaging to the public or in the best interest of the public to not find out. This power should also be used in situations where the President needs to protect national security intelligence and other matters as well as being used to protect military secrets, operations and intelligence.Lastly, this power should be used in situations where the United States is dealing with a foreign power, whether it is a treaty, a negotiation, a meeting or anything else containing sensitive m aterial that either the United States or the foreign power needs to be kept secret. This brings up another argument against executive privilege. Some feel that this power should be done away with because Congress does not have the power of checks and balances over executive privilege; however that is not the case.If the President is refusing to give Congress the information that they are asking for, they can decide to stop funding things that the President is trying to do. They can also hold people in contempt of Congress, which was done as recently as this year in the Fast and Furious case where Congress demanded that Attorney General Eric Holder give them all the information on this case. President Obama stepped in and claimed executive privilege, however in a response to this, Congress moved, then voted to hold Holder in contempt of Congress unless he hands over the information (Silverleib 2012).Another thing Congress can do if the President continues to refuse to cooperate is to impeach him. This would obviously be only done in serious situations, but would work either to get their message across or to show future Presidents that they cannot just invoke executive privilege without consequence. On top of this, the courts can rule on cases where the President tries to use executive privilege like they did in the case with President Nixon.Articles II of the Constitution states that the President â€Å"shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient† (US Constitution Article II Section 3) As the Constitution says, the President does need to inform Congress on the State of the Union from time to time, however it does not say anywhere that the President is required to divulge all the information having to do with certain incidents.Between Article I and Article II, others take this to mean that Congress has an unlimited power of inquiry, but in reality that is not the case. This fact has been ruled on multiple times by different courts, where usually they determine that either the President does not have to give up the information, or that the President has to give up certain aspects of that information based on other laws. It is also Congress’s right and duty to challenge the President when he uses executive privilege, in order to make sure that the power is not being abused, which is the exact reason for having separate branches and a balance of power.If it wasn’t for executive privilege, other countries might be less inclined to deal with the United States because they fear that every detail could go public. Along the same lines the president’s advisors can’t give their best advice if they have to worry that anything they say could be made public. Military secrets and intelligence also needs to be protected to better ensure our troops safety as well as protect our country and citizens from retaliation after an exposed military operation. There is also information that needs to remain secret because it is in the best interest of the public to not find out.Lastly and most importantly, if it wasn’t for executive privilege, national security and military intelligence matters could be made public, exposing our informants and jeopardizing our national security. In order to keep this power alive and protect sensitive information, the United States needs to add guidelines or an amendment that properly codifies executive privilege to prevent its abuse. Once this is done, in theory, there would not be any more issues of whether power can or cannot be used.Everything would be stated to say that the President can only use executive privilege in the situations previously stated and any other instance where executive privilege is claimed would be thrown out. Executive privilege helps to protect our citizens, our national security and our good standing and abili ty to negotiate with other countries. If we were not able to guarantee that level of secrecy it would be nearly impossible to conduct policy making, decision making, foreign negotiations, treaties, as well as threaten the United States and their citizens’ safety.References Baker, Peter, and Susan Schmidt. â€Å"Washingtonpost. com Special Report: Clinton Accused. † Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis. N. p. , 6 May 1998. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/starr050698. Hamilton, Alexander, and John C. Hamilton. The works of Alexander Hamilton comprising his correspondence, and his political and official writings, exclusive of the Federalist, civil and military. New York: J. F. Trow, 1851.Print. Richardson, James D.. A compilation of the messages and papers of the presidents. New York: Bureau of national literature, 1897. Print. Silverleib, Alan. â€Å"House holds Holder in contempt  œ CNN. com. † CNN. com – Breaking News, U. S. , World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. N. p. , 29 May 2012. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. http://www. cnn. com/2012/06/28/politics/holder-contempt/index. html. United States v. Nixon, 418 U. S. 683 (1974) (Justice Burger Opinion of the Court) United States Constitution, 1789

Two Views of the Mississippi

Two Views of the Mississippi Before beginning his vocation of being an author Samuel Clemens better known by his pen name Mark Twain, fulfilled his one lasting childhood ambition of becoming a steamboat pilot. Twain writes about his journey on the river in his autobiographical book Life on the Mississippi where in one section he talks about how one thing he would have to do is learn to distinguish the two views of the Mississippi, the beauty of the river and the navigational aspect of the river.I believe that one of the main messages is that even though you may love something, as time goes on you lose the beauty and innocence you had one seen in it. He describes this message through the use of figurative language and well placed rhetoric as he juxtaposes the ideas of the beauty and practicality of the Mississippi River. Mark Twain begins the first section of this excerpt with the statement that he â€Å"had mastered the language of this water†, which in all reality is actually a hyperbole, or an exaggeration, because nothing, ranging anywhere from breathing to performing a surgery, is ever truly able to be perfected or mastered.He uses this hyperbole at the beginning of this section to show how advanced he was in the knowledge of the river in that part of time. Twain then move on to use an oxymoron to describe the features of the river that he had â€Å"mastered† as â€Å"trifling†, or unimportant, saying that he knew every â€Å"trifling feature† along the river as he â€Å"knew the letters of the alphabet† with this he is saying that he knew all of these features of the river very well and to him they seemed irrelevant and saying he made a â€Å"valuable acquisition†.He uses this language to show us that all of the things along the river that he deals with everyday are irrelevant and unneeded. At the end of this section Twain juxtaposes this statement completely by calling all of these features â€Å"useful. † This language works because it creates a paradox with what he had previously said to show. This paradox shows that even though he may have said that this language is unimportant he actually does find it useful and needed in being a steamboat pilot.Twain carries on to say that he had lost something also, saying all of the beauty that he had once seen in the river was all gone except for one â€Å"wonderful† sunset that he experienced when he was new to steamboating. He describes the sunset with a metaphor saying â€Å"a broad expanse of the river was turned to blood† saying that the river is actually blood; this also personifies the river giving the river the human characteristic of having blood. Whereas later in the section Twain juxtaposes and begins the next bigger paradox with this by saying later in the piece that all the sun meant was that they were going to have wind the next day.Twain then describes the color of the water saying â€Å"in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold. † He also talks about the other memorable sights that he saw on the Mississippi that night such as a log floating by and how in one place the water was smooth and there was a â€Å"slant mark lay sparkling across the water† and in another the â€Å"surface was broken by boiling tumbling rings that were as many-tinted as an opal. † Mark Twain uses a simile to describe the way that the sunset made a tree on the shore look by comparing to a glowing flame saying that â€Å"a single leafy bough glowed like a flame. He uses other romantic words to describe the condition of the water and the surroundings such as â€Å"delicately traced† and â€Å"graceful curves and that the lights of the sunset were covering his surroundings â€Å"with new marvels of colors. † The reason that Twain uses all of this figurative language and tools of figurative language is to in essence describe the beauty he saw that night in a way that it w ould paint in picture in the mind of the audience.He then goes on to juxtapose all of these previous features that he witnessed during the subject by describing that all that the â€Å"floating log means the river is rising† and that â€Å"slanting mark refers to a bluff reef† that could â€Å"kill somebody’s steamboat† and he continues to explain that all of the other sights he saw that night of the sunset were simply just nautical phenomena that he must watch out for to keep the steamboat out of danger.. All of these sights and contradictions that he made conclude the large paradox that Twain had set in this piece.These two sections also juxtapose each other in the sense of the style of language used. In the first section Twain uses more poetic or romantic type of language such as â€Å"river was turned to blood† and â€Å"single leafy bough glowed like a flame† to show and describe the beauty in what he had witnessed. Whereas in the secon d section Twain uses a more realistic style of language when he describes that all the things he saw were all just evidence of the changes in the river such as the sun meant that there was going to be wind the next day and the log meant that the water was rising or that the tree with the ingle branch would stand as a landmark to help guide him down the river. The language in these two sections differs so drastically because of the fact that Twain had gained more knowledge and experience in being a steamboat pilot and in his understanding in the river, and with this gained knowledge and experience all of the assets he had seen as beautiful and that astounded him during that memorable sunset had turned into simply just dangers that he had to look out for routinely as a steamboat pilot.The language difference in these sections reiterate the message of this piece being that as you gain knowledge and experience in something you lose the innocence you once had and in turn all the beauty a nd enjoyment fades and it seems to become merely a routine. It also shows how Mark Twain first saw so much beauty in the river when he was new to steamboating that he was â€Å"in a speechless rapture† and how as he gained experience and knowledge the beauty that the river had once held for him began to slowly diminish until it was completely gone and became simply signs that he must look for while piloting his steamboat down the river.Twain starts off in the next section of this excerpt describing the wonderment that the sunset he experienced had brought to him saying that he stood â€Å"like one bewitched†¦in a speechless rapture† and stated that â€Å"the world was new† to him and that he â€Å"had never seen anything like this at home. Not long after this he continues on and says that he â€Å"began to cease from nothing the glories and charms which the sun and the twilight wrought upon rivers face† and that â€Å"if that sunset scene had been repeated, I should have looked upon it without rapture†, this describes how he has lost all of the sense of beauty that the river had held during that sunset. He even says that at one time he altogether ceased to take notes of what he noticed on the river, which means that at one point he had completely lost interest in observing and learning about the river.This entire section is a complete contradiction to the previous section in which he described the beauty that the sunset held and how â€Å"a broad expansion of the river was turned to blood† to saying that none of that was correct that that â€Å"the romance and beauty were all gone from the river† and it was merely just all in all signs that a steamboat pilot needs to look out for when piloting a steam boat saying â€Å"all the value†¦was the amount of usefulness it could urnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat. † I believe that the river is a metaphor for all things that are l ost as time passes, because as the river lost its beauty to Twain, Twain also lost the whole hearted ambition that he had as a child to be a steamboat pilot. In the final paragraph of this excerpt Twain goes on to explain that all of the beauty that he had once seen in the river was nonexistent now.He then explains how he feels sorrow for everyone who has had all of the beauty they once saw in something simply fade away from them to where they ended simply in a routine-like life style like what Twain had happen to him. He finishes this passage with four rhetorical questions using a doctor, which I believe represents society, and a beautiful patient, which is representative of all the beautiful things in life, as an example asking if the doctor ever even notices the beauty in his patient or if he just works strictly in a professional, or routine, manner.He ends this excerpt with the most powerful question saying â€Å"and doesn’t he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade† it is in whole the message of this piece saying that someone may see beauty or enjoyment in certain aspects of life, but as you progress in gaining the knowledge and experience you lose your innocence and the beauty and enjoyment you had once seen fades to black and that passion becomes a task or a routine that you have to go through day after day; in a sense it is saying is it better to know few details and see the true beauty in things or would you rather understand all the details but see no romance or beauty? I believe that by this whole doctor scenario he actually asking does society even see the beauty in life or do they simply see what they need to see?Throughout this entire excerpt from his autobiographical piece Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain talks about his life as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, he talks about how he once saw such beauty and had so much fascination in the Mississippi River but as time progressed and he gained more and more knowledge and experience that beauty and wonderment he once saw began to disappear into just the things that became signs that he had to look for while piloting a steam boat just for safety. While doing this he has uses an extensive amount of rhetoric and figurative language to try to send a warning to his audience of the message that this piece holds. Twain uses this piece to warn his audience to the fact that as you gain knowledge on some aspect in your life you begin to lose your innocence, and with that loss of innocence something that may have once fascinated you so much may seem to lose the enjoyment it once held and eventually that part of your life will become simply a routine and machine-like habit.