Huck Finn And Superstitions Essays - English-language Films

Huck Finn And Superstitions Narrative Voices in Huck Finn- Huckleberry Finn provides the narrative voice of Mark Twain's novel, and his honest voice combined with his personal vulnerabilities reveal the different levels of the Grangerfords' world. Huck is without a family: neither the drunken attention of Pap nor the pious ministrations of Widow Douglas were desirable allegiance. He stumbles upon the Grangerfords in darkness, lost from Jim and the raft. The family, after some initial cross-examination, welcomes, feeds and rooms Huck with an amiable boy his age. With the light of the next morning, Huck estimates it was a mighty nice family, and a mighty nice house, too(110). This is the first of many compliments Huck bestows on the Grangerfords and their possessions. Huck is impressed by all of the Grangerfords' belongings and liberally offers compliments. The books are piled on the table perfectly exact(111), the table had a cover made from beautiful oilcloth(111), and a book was filled with beautiful stuff and poetry(111). He even appraises the chairs, noting they are nice split-bottom chairs, and perfectly sound, too--not bagged down in the middle and busted, like an old basket(111). It is apparent Huck is more familar with busted chairs than sound ones, and he appreciates the distinction. Huck is also more familar with flawed families than loving, virtuous ones, and he is happy to sing the praises of the people who took him in. Col. Grangerford was a gentleman all over; and so was his family(116). The Colonel was kind, well-mannered, quiet and far from frivolish. Everyone wanted to be around him, and he gave Huck confidence. Unlike the drunken Pap, the Colonel dressed well, was clean-shaven and his face had not a sign of red in it anywheres (116). Huck admired how the Colonel gently ruled his family with hints of a submerged temper. The same temper exists in one of his daughters: she had a look that would make you wilt in your tracks, like her father. She was beautiful(117). Huck does not think negatively of the hints of iron in the people he is happy to care for and let care for him. He does not ask how three of the Colonels's sons died, or why the family brings guns to family picnics. He sees these as small facets of a family with a handsome lot of quality (118). He thinks no more about Jim or the raft, but knows he has found a new home, one where he doesn't have to go to school, is surrounded by interior and exterior beauty, and most importantly, where he feels safe. Huck liked that family, dead ones and all, and warn't going to let anything come between us(118). Huck is a very personable narrator. He tells his story in plain language, whether describing the Grangerford's clock or his hunting expedition with Buck. It is through his precise, trusting eyes that the reader sees the world of the novel. Because Huck is so literal, and does not exaggerate experiences like Jim or see a grand, false version of reality like Tom Sawyer, the reader gains an understanding of the world Mark Twain created, the reader is able to catch Twain's jokes and hear his skepticism. The Grangerford's furniture, much admired by Huck, is actually comicly tacky. You can almost hear Mark Twain laughing over the parrot-flanked clock and the curtains with cows and castles painted on them even as Huck oohs and ahhs. And Twain pokes fun at the young dead daughter Huck is so drawn to. Twain mocks Emmeline as an amateur writer: She warn't particular, she could write about anything you choose to give her to write about, just so it was sadful(114). Yet Twain allows the images of Emmeline and the silly clock to deepen in meaning as the chapter progresses. Emmeline is realized as an early portent of the destruction of Huck's adopted family. The mantel clock was admired by Huck not only for its beauty, but because the Grangerfords properly valued beauty and wouldn't took any money for her(111). Huck admired the Grangerfords' principles, and the stake they placed in good manners, delicious food, and attractive possessions. But Huck realizes in Chapter 18 that whereas the Grangerfords may value a hand-painted clock

Articles Of Confederation Essays - United States, James Madison

Articles Of Confederation Essays - United States, James Madison Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States of America. The Articles of Confederation were first drafted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1777. This first draft was prepared by a man named John Dickinson in 1776. The Articles were then ratified in 1781. The cause for the changes to be made was due to state jealousies and widespread distrust of the central authority. This jealousy then led to the emasculation of the document. As adopted, the articles provided only for a "firm league of friendship" in which each of the 13 states expressly held "its sovereignty, freedom, and independence." The People of each state were given equal privileges and rights, freedom of movement was guaranteed, and procedures for the trials of accused criminals were outlined. The articles established a national legislature called the Congress, consisting of two to seven delegates from each state; each state had one vote, according to its size or population. No executive or judicial branches were provided for. Congress was charged with responsibility for conducting foreign relations, declaring war or peace, maintaining an army and navy, settling boundary disputes, establishing and maintaining a postal service, and various lesser functions. Some of these responsibilities were shared with the states, and in one way or another Congress was dependent upon the cooperation of the states for carrying out any of them. Four visible weaknesses of the articles, apart from those of organization, made it impossible for Congress to execute its constitutional duties. These were analyzed in numbers 15-22 of The FEDERALIST, the political essays in which Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay argued the case for the U.S. CONSTITUTION of 1787. The first weakness was that Congress could legislate only for states, not for individuals; because of this it could not enforce legislation. Second, Congress had no power to tax. Instead, it was to assess its expenses and divide those among the states on the basis of the value of land. States were then to tax their own citizens to raise the money for these expenses and turn the proceeds over to Congress. They could not be forced to do so, and in practice they rarely met their obligations. Third, Congress lacked the power to control commercewithout its power to conduct foreign relations was not necessary, since most treaties except those of peace were concerned mainly with trade. The fourth weakness ensured the demise of the Confederation by making it too difficult to correct the first three. Amendments could have corrected any of the weaknesses, but amendments required approval by all 13 state legislatures. None of the several amendments that were proposed met that requirement. On the days from September 11, 1786 to September 14, 1786, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia had a meeting of there delegates at the Annapolis Convention. Too few states were represented to carry out the original purpose of the meetingto discuss the regulation of interstate commercebut there was a larger topic at question, specifically, the weakness of the Articles of Confederation. Alexander Hamilton successfully proposed that the states be invited to send delegates to Philadelphia to render the constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union." As a result, the Constitutional Convention was held in May 1787. The Constitutional Convention, which wrote the Constitution of the United States, was held in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. It was called by the Continental Congress and several states in response to the expected bankruptcy of Congress and a sense of panic arising from an armed revoltShays's Rebellionin New England. The convention's assigned job, following proposals made at the Annapolis Convention the previous September, was to create amendments to the Articles of Confederation. The delegates, however, immediately started writing a new constitution. Fifty-five delegates representing 12 states attended at least part of the sessions. Thirty-four of them were lawyers; most of the others were planters or merchants. Although George Washington, who presided, was 55, and John Dickinson was 54, Benjamin Franklin 81, and Roger Shermen 66, most of the delegates were young men in their 20s and 30s. Noticeable absent were the revolutionary leaders of the effort for independence in 1775-76, such as John Adams, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson.

Post Colonial Lit & A Small Place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Post Colonial Lit & A Small Place - Essay Example With no power to launch a counter attack on any fronts, Antiguans just succumbed to the pressure. The natural process of cultural development of Antigua came to a dead halt. The nation lost the equilibrium. The power of colonization is so intense that it has the capacity to totally obliterate any culture that it encounters on the way and it leads to economic, cultural, and social and above all the slavery of the minds of the people. That is true of Antigua. The British had created a rosy picture of standard of life before the combustible younger generation of Antigua. The local populace had been experiencing for hundreds of years the impact of British culture, tradition and power and the process of slow subversion continued. The middle class was attracted by the promises and wealth-generating capability of the capitalist state like Britain. As for morals, the British were no match as compared to the standard of Antiguans. The presence of the British in different segments in the life of Antiguans is being experienced, even when they have left the country for good. Indirect colonization in the segments of culture and economy is going on unabated and unchecked, unfortunately though. Kincaid treats the arrival of the tourist the post-colonial era in Antigua in an interesting and thought-provoking style. She articulates that the tourist does not arrive with an intention to exploit. But he does expect to be treated in a preferential manner. Is it superiority complex? It is so; even though the tourist may not say it openly. He has come to a country to spend his disposable wealth and to enjoy. How do the locals react to the arrival of the tourists in their country? Kincaid explains their attitude with lots of sarcasm: â€Å"An ugly thing, that is what you are when you become a tourist, an ugly empty thing, a stupid thing, a piece of rubbish pausing here and there to gaze at this and taste that, and it will never occur to you that the people who inhabit the place in wh ich you have just paused cannot stand you, that behind their closed doors they laugh at your strangeness.†(17)The host country, lacks in the areas of industrial development and other wealth-generating infrastructure, wants such tourists, as they bring money and employment to the locals. So, the tourism industry does not have a national goal or destination in Antigua. It develops like a service industry to cater to the ethnocentric demands on this country and contributing to the further advancement of cultural colonialism. Colonists are ruling from outside, without the liability of the governance of the territory of Antigua. This is a small but intimidating book, which sets the sociologists, economists and the politicians thinking. She provides the under-represented version of what happened in Antigua, which is also true of most of the colonized countries. She attacks the Europeans viciously for all the evil they heaped upon the people of Antigua, and she has own perspective of judging the past and visualizing the present and the future. She tones town her attack and makes the realistic assessment about the plight of the people of Antigua thus: â€Å"Of course, the whole thing is, once you cease to be a master, once you throw off your master's yoke, you are no longer human rubbish, you are just a human being, and all the things that adds up to. So, too with the