Margaret Atwood Essay Example for Free

Margaret Atwood Essay I came across the quote Context is all; or is it ripeness? One or the other[1] when reading Margaret Atwoods novel The Handmaids Tale for English. I didnt give it much attention, because since I was 12, I had come to the conclusion that there was no such thing as a fact and every thought depended on other factors for it to be true. However in this essay Im going to see if my original assumption was true or if there is a way to reach a truth through different branches of knowledge. Im going to take the definition of truth from the dictionary, solely to have a base for which to compare the rest of the essay to; A verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle[2].Which means that that there are facts that are backed by evidence, such as; it is 14:24 (at the time of writing). However in this case we can apply Atwoods context is all, and change it to context is location, as this scenario isnt necessarily true, seeing that in Sydney the time is 22:25, therefore the truth can be considered relative. Relativism is a doctrine where there is no absolute truth; that truth is always relative to some particular frame of reference, such as a language or a culture[3]. Which brings up a paradox as if someone were to say context is irrelevant meaning the truth would remain a truth in every situation, it would contradict themselves, as that statement would be relative depending on the context. Francis Bacons Empiricism or otherwise known perception, is the process of arriving at the truth through sense experience.[4] People use their five senses to arrive at a truth, however depending on the context, the exact same senses can make that truth false. An example that happens to me frequently is; when I look at a shirt, to me it looks black, but then when I put it under a stronger light and look at it carefully it often turns out to be dark blue. It doesnt mean the senses are faulty or cant be trusted, but the observation; truth, arrived from the use of perception, isnt congruent when the context is changed. Another very bizarre example that happened to me last year when I bought my new phone; is before purchasing it, I didnt know of anybody that had one, but as soon as I had it in my pocket I started realising that a lot of people around me had it as well. Language is the use of characters, symbols, images and sounds as a means of communicating a message.[5] We assume that language is a truth, as we have a general consensus of the different characters, symbols, images and sounds in language. However once again the truth is challenged with the context is all axiom, where in certain cases the truth behind language doesnt stand. My father told me the following example; when Vice-President Richard Nixon, at the end of the 1950s was visiting Colombia, he used the commonly known OK hand sign, denoted with a circle formed by the thumb and the first finger, with the remaining three fingers outstretched, to which the Colombian people, thought they were being called assholes. Rene Descartes Rationalism is the use of reason, be it inductive or deductive to logically arrive at the truth.[6] Descartes used reason to arrive at his famous; Cogito Ergo Sum, I think therefore I am.[7] He was asking the question How do I know I exist ? and he deduced by no more than reason that it all boiled down to; I doubt that I exist, therefore I think, ergo I am.  When I first heard this deduction, it seemed to me that it was flawless. However I remember looking around the room I was in at the time; I realised that objects such as the chairs, tables and even trees to an extent, couldnt deduce their existence like Descartes did, therefore according to his deduction they wouldnt exist. Once again I came to the conclusion that context will undermine truth.

Personal Narrative: Hiking Accident :: essays research papers

Many years ago when I was a freshman in high school, an event happened to me that changed my life for the better. My friend invited me to go hiking with him and his sister. He was going to go hiking in Yosemite. The following day I prepared myself mentally and physically in order to accomplish this hike. While on the road my friend’s sister and I got to know each other very well. We talked about how we were doing in school, and many other things. As time went by we could see the mountains getting closer and closer to us. We could not wait to climb El Capitan. When we finally arrived, we unpacked and got ready to hike El Capitan. On the way up the hike we had a great time because as we hiked up we talked about how cool it was going to be up there on top of the world. After three hours we arrived at our first break stop. We stopped at a section that was on top of the waterfall. The view was amazing and spectacular because we had never seen anything like this. As we continued our hike after several more break stops, and nine more hours of hiking, we finally arrived at the top of El Capitan. Once we got to the top the view was amazing. We could not imagine how beautiful it was up there on top of the world. After about half an hour we started heading back down, when all of a sudden out of no where I felt someone push me out of the way. A man that was in a hurry to get back down pushed me so hard, that I lost my balance and fell of a twenty foot cliff. At that moment in time I could see flashbacks of my life. After a couple seconds of falling I somehow landed between two rocks which shattered my right foot. After that happen every one that was there tried to get help but unfortunately cell phones do not work in Yosemite, but the man that pushed me ove r the cliff had a walky-talky and he called for help.

Macbeth Apperance vs Reality

?The world is governed more by appearances than by realities. Throughout society people are judged based on their appearance. This is unfortunate because appearance can be deceiving. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth appearances are not what they seem. Some people may change because they think that their true self does not fit in society while others pretend to be something they are not. In the theme of appearance versus reality Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have an image but as the time passes by their true personalities began to show. Macbeth portrays himself differently from his true inner self.He pretends to be a strong and intelligent person but from inside he is weak and indecisive. When Macbeth first confronts the witches’ prophecies he says, â€Å"Come what may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day† (1. 3. 152-153). Macbeth is leaving his future to ‘chance’. He wants to appear noble and strong but in the end he refutes his statement by killing Duncan and Banquo to get to the throne. Also, when Lady Macbeth explains the plan to Macbeth he asks â€Å"If we should fail? † (1. 7. 59). He is still afraid of the consequences of his actions. His actions look pungent but he does not have any reason to kill Duncan.Macbeth has a debate within himself to murder King Duncan or to spare his life. Macbeth hesitation to kill Duncan proves in realty he is a weak man. Lady Macbeth represents herself as a beautiful and powerful woman in society but she is as weak as her husband Macbeth. To convince Macbeth to follow the plan she says â€Å"I have given suck, and know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn† (1. 7. 54-58). Macbeth asks for her help, but she responds by being harsh to him to keep up her appearances.Even when Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, instead of he lping him, she tells him to go to bed and stop imagining weird things. Lady Macbeth appears heartless toward others. However, one night a gentlewomen and a doctor see her sleep waking and mumbling â€Å"Out, damned spot! Out, I say! † (5. 1. 25). She appears to be wide awake but she is unconsciously revealing her true self. Her guilty conscious leads to her downfall through suicide. In this scene her appearance crumbles. She seemed powerful and unsympathetic, but in reality her guilt of Duncan’s murder driver her crazy proving she has become weak.In Macbeth the theme of appearance versus reality is shown through the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. They both revealed a fictitious picture of their personality even though on the inside they are different people. Macbeth’s indecisive personality leads to his destruction. The iron lady, Lady Macbeth appears to be a tough woman, who feels no guilt. But in the ending she shatters to pieces because of her guilt- ridden conscious. No matter what one appears to be reality will defeat appearance. People can put disguise on reality for time being but in the end truth reveals itself.

The Teamsters Union - 1899 Words

The Teamsters Union derived from a group of people who fought for the freedoms most Americans do not appreciate today. They stood together to develop the American Dream to start union and labor movement. This advancement helped the working and living standards for the people of America, gaining privileges and rights within their communities and families. Teamsters has the most strength and diverse labor union in North America. The group began by connecting two leading team driver associations in 1903. Team Driver’s International was the original name, then becoming the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and years later going by The Teamsters Union. They were the sturdiness of economic growth in America, but needed to come together to seize their participation with corporations tending to be more self-concerned. The Teamsters Union still has the same goals and tactics today. They are striving for change on global labor and trade, state and living wages, the United States Labor alone, and social justice. Teamsters strive to help workers who want to bargain collectively. As management enforces a set agreement and sign it, the Union works to make it happen and hold the management to its standards. Contracts under Teamsters can guarantee fair wages, proper promotion, health insurance, job safety, off-time pay and retirement pay. The Teamsters earliest strike was made up of 4,600 people from Chicago against Montgomery Ward. The strike did not go as planned andShow MoreRelatedThe Art of Negotiation1144 Words   |  5 PagesNegotiation Kelley Verenysee Gunn Dr. Deborah Hill Strayer University BUS 526 January 27, 2014 Abstract This paper will discuss the art of negotiation. The focus will be on the UPS Strike Negotiation of 1997 between UPS and the Teamsters. The negotiation will be briefly described. 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