Harrison Bergeron Essay Example for Free

Harrison Bergeron Essay An impartial society: Utopia or Hell? What would happen to the world if the people were literally equal in every aspect of their lives? In the futuristic short story, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., the world is finally living up to America’s first amendment of everyone being created equal. In this society, the gifted, strong, and beautiful are required to wear handicaps of earphones, heavy weights, and hideous masks, respectively. Thus, these constraints leave the world equal from brains to brawn to beauty. With the world constantly pushing for equality among people, Vonnegut reveals a world that society is diligently working toward. Through this foreshadowing of the future, Vonnegut attempts to use Diana Moon Glampers and Harrison Bergeron as mechanisms to reveal and warn of the dangers of the two extremestoo equal or too unjust. Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, symbolically portrays the idea of fairness in a society. She is the one in charge of lowering the capacity of a bright and intelligent person to the level of a normal and unaware being. In the beginning of the story, the reader is given a picture of the world that Diana Moon Glampers watches upon: The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They werent only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the†¦Amendments to the Constitution, and†¦vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General. (Vonnegut 234) Diana Moon Glampers is the one who maintains the idea of checks and balances among the society of 2081. In God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Glampers is portrayed as a sixty-year-old virgin who, by almost anybodys standards, was too dumb to live†¦.No one had ever loved her. There was no reason why anybody should. She was ugly, stupid, and boring (Vit). Diana Moon Glampers is the epitome of every possible low in the world, and this allows her to hold such a high position in this futuristic society. Since everyone is created equal, her ugliness, stupidity, and boringness all play this major role in earning her such a high position as Handicapper General. She makes sure that no on is better than her, thus making everyone equal in every which way possible. Glampers represents the fairness that society is continually striving for to obtain. In this world, everyone stays at the same level no one is different, no one is jealous or fearful of anyone, and no one is trying to impress or overtake the next. In this sense, it is actually quite a positive point to be exactly equal in every way, or is it? Equality is a great idea that the world should extend and embrace; however, absolute equality is another issue in which too much of a good thing may cause matters to go wrong. In a world of absolute equality, each human being would never be looked upon as anything more or less than the person beside him or her. Unfortunately, this advantage may only go so far. For example, how can an intelligent being be given as much credit as the simple minded human beside him? This is the case with Harrison Bergerons parents. Harrisons mother, Hazel, is described as having perfectly average intelligence,†¦And [while] George[s]†¦intelligence was way above normal (Vonnegut 234). In order to stabilize their intelligence to the same level, Harrisons father has to wear a little mental handicap radio in his ear (Vonnegut 234). This societys method in maximizing complete equality is to have the intelligent people wear earphones (which give off horrible sounds) to distract ones trail of thought, which in turn, may unfairly give him the better advantage over the simple mindedsuch as Glampers and Hazel. Diana Moon Glampers symbolizes this world by not only being the one to support these customs, but by also shooting down and killing the one who is considered the symbol of freedom and differenceHarrison Bergeron. Through Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General and the murderer of freedom and individuality, Vonnegut is warning society to not lean completely towards being equal in every which way or else society loses its chances to excel past what it has become. He satirically suggests that in order for everyone to be equal, the ones who exceed the mark must be brought down to the standard. As a result, there is a loss of the exceptional talent and beauty. Moreover, just as Diana Moon Glampers represents th e fairness of society, Harrison Bergeron symbolizes the individuality in the world. In a society of excessive equality, Harrison Bergeron is the one who represents uniqueness through his physical and mental characteristics. Harrison is no ordinary being of society. In fact, he is described as a genius, an athlete,†¦and should be regarded as dangerous†¦.Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of ear phones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses†¦.Scrap metal [is] hung all over him†¦.he wear[s] at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, keep[s] his eyebrows shaved off, and cover[s] his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle-tooth random (Vonnegut 236). His physical appearance alone would definitely offset him from the rest of the crowd. Just by walking down the street, one could sense his greatness by his excessive handicaps. Furthermore, his mental capacity is great enough to override the annoying sounds that the H-G men create. The reader can obviously see that Harrison has something more to offer, yet his society is binding him down and taking away his individuality: Harrisons only crime was taking control of the television studio, but his motives outweighed the crime. He was shot for exposing the world to beauty (Marton). In this sense, Harrison represents uniqueness of an individual. He is the one willing to exploit his society and have variation as being a celebration of oneself not a crime, or is this possibly his only motive? Although Harrison symbolizes the individual, hejust as Diana Moon Glampersreveals that too much of a good thing may cause matters to go wrong. Harrison reaches freedom and takes it to the extreme. When he takes over the Television studio, he exclaims, I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once! (Vonnegut 237). Harrison completely takes away equality. He creates this caste system with him and his queen at the top, which is then to be followed by his loyal subjects. His mentality only brings him to a downfall where he literally tries to bring back anarchy. Moreover, Vonnegut tries to warn todays society of too much inequality. Although differences in brains, beauty, and brawn are a matter that should not be tied down, there needs to be a limit. Vonnegut shows that individuality can be a downfall because humans do tend to become envious and power hungry. He makes this point in the beginning when Hazel and George were discussing the dark ages†¦with everybody competing against everybody else (Vonnegut 235). People need some type of equality so that one will be able to be an individual and remain just as equal as the next. Vonnegut presents both extremes of equality and inequality and implores society to choose the median. If this median is not met, the world may become a Hell. In one corner, there is the equality that Diana Moon Glampers representsequal in every way possible; in the opposing corner, there is the inequality Harrison Bergeron symbolizesone king and his many subjects. Both extremes have extremely destructive consequences; one takes away individuality, the other takes away equality. As the future draws nearer, the only true Utopia that society should strive for is the type of equality that allows and commemorates individuality. Intelligence get their lives.

Ensuring Truth Within Creative Nonfiction Essay -- Literary Analysis

The difference between creative nonfiction and fiction is unassuming: fiction is derived from the fabrications of an author’s imagination, whereas creative nonfiction is contingent on facts. A novelist has the freedom to create scenes which never existed, whereas an author of creative nonfiction must convey a truthful story. However, the line between creative nonfiction and fiction, fact and falsehood, has become ever so thin as â€Å"writers of memoir [have been] revealed to be frauds and fiction writers masquerade as memoirists in order to sell books† (Bradley 203). Recent events have revealed authors such as James Frey and Tim Barrus to have combined elements of fiction and nonfiction within their creative nonfiction books (Buck 56), further blurring this line. Overlooked embellishments and whole fabrications were found to exist within their alleged creative nonfiction works – stirring angst within the nonfiction community (Bradley 208). Allegations arose and investigations ensued, all revolving around the question: who is to blame? As a result, the entire creative nonfiction genre received negative publicity and harsh criticism (Bradley 203). For creative nonfiction to restore its legitimacy and veracity as a genre, authors, and not publishers, are to be held responsible for ensuring their creative nonfiction books are truthful. Creative nonfiction, often labeled the â€Å"fourth genre† (Bradley 203), requires the depiction of factual events and happenings through past memories, with a literary touch. Books under this genre include memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies. However, memory is malleable and fades. Hence, authors are given leeway in this respect and to be â€Å"truthful† is defined as an author recollecting and portraying p... ...ate to. For authors to deceive readers knowingly through a creative nonfiction medium is to rob readers of the intrinsic connection and empathy felt towards the story. The story becomes significantly less powerful and not as personally important to the reader. It is then dismissed as fiction, an untrue fairy tale once lost in the nonfiction realm. Writers of creative nonfiction books must then write truthfully to ensure creative nonfiction books are truthful. This is the only practical approach for the creation of true creative nonfiction books. Fact-checking is too onerous a practice when applied to the book publishing industry and avoids the inherent issue at hand: deceitful authors. For the fiction itself created by these authors is not the issue, but the deception, the robbing of unsuspecting readers, which has created this entire mess in the first place.

In what ways is the environment of your country threatened?

Our survival depends on how well we handle our environment. The term environment refers to mountains, land, seas, oceans, forests and rivers. It also includes men, animals and plants. Mauritius, being a small country, is prone to many environmental hazards. Environmental pollution has become a great menace to man. Our environment is threatened in many ways including modernization, industrialization, deforestation, urbanization, agriculture, transport and travel and tourism. Measures and solutions are being taken to reduce them as eliminating them is impossible. The rapid growth of population is the most important cause in the imbalance of our environment. The larger the population, the greater the facilities and resources are required. Mauritius, being on of the small islands developing state is limited in size and resources. The demands of the population are increasing day by day and this is causing harm to our surroundings. There is not much space available for agriculture. If the growth is not checked, the pollution will get worsened. Modernization and industrialization in a tiny country like ours are having harmful effects on the environment. There is no proper zoning system in the country. The setting up of industries anywhere is giving rise to all types of pollution. The factories owners do not abide by the laws and run their factories as per their wish without thinking about what would happen to the environment. Land, noise and air pollutions are very common things nowadays. Aquatic lives have to suffer also because of factories which throw dyes in water. Moreover, in the name of road networks and residential areas, we are affecting our physical environment. The large scale destruction of forests is a great threat to mankind. People are cutting down trees to make buildings and the beauty of nature is thus disappearing. We depend a lot on our forests. Even animals depend on forests for food and shelter. Our cities provide for their inhabitants all the material comforts that modern science has bestowed upon man. They do not have the time to observe nature and appreciate its beauty. They are more interested in having big shopping complexes, houses and restaurants. Coromandel, which once used to be an agricultural land has now turned into a residential one. There is no control over population in urban areas and therefore over-crowding and environmental pollution have increased. The overuse and use of chemicals in agriculture affect our land our food. The insecticides used by farmers on the plants are washed away by rain and absorbed by the soil which caused the plants to die. These chemicals have proved to be very bad for health. Pesticides also form part in killing harmful pests and harmful wild lives. Chlorinated hydrocarbons are estimated to stay in the soil that contains those chemicals can accumulate them into their tissues. Human beings, very often unaware of these facts, are victims of all types of illnesses. Atmospheric pollution is being caused by the increasing fleet of vehicles and industries. Vehicles use fuels such as kerosene, diesel and oil. There is no control of the number of vehicles running our roads and motorways. The exhaust fumes from vehicles contribute a lot on our environmental imbalance. Noise pollution is another drawback of overuse of cars. Moreover, the industrial machines also contribute to noise pollution. The expansion of tourism is an opportunity for Mauritius but there are many environmental challenges. Sea activities mean a lot to tourists. They come to our island especially because of our beautiful beaches and lagoons. Due to marine pollution, the tourism can be very much affected. Many tourists will refuse to choose Mauritius as destination for holidays and will rather turn to the neighborhood islands like Seychelles and Reunion. Also, in Mauritius, many hotels have been built for tourists. At times there are no clients at all in those hotels. Then why is the need of having so many hotels? We are working according to a wrong planning and management. Several measures can be taken to diminish the risks of environmental hazards. A forestation will prove to be very beneficial. If ever we are cutting one tree, it will be good to plant another two trees. By doing this, there will be a balance in nature. The government must put a tax on fertilizers which will discourage those making excessive use of them and they will be more careful. Furthermore, catalytic converters or even unleaded petrol should be used. This will be helpful to decrease the level of pollution. Also environment education must be taught in schools. This will create awareness among the children and they will therefore know how to maintain their surroundings. Bins must be placed everywhere so as to have a clean and perfect environment. No work is done correctly without motivation. If awards for best villages, best cities and gardens are given, then the environment might become much more pleasant. Let us conclude the essay quoting the two famous sentences used by Mrs Indira Gandhi when she inaugurated the 12th World Energy Congress- â€Å"We should be good guests on earth, neither too demanding nor disturbing its delicate balance. We should allow it to renew itself for those who are to follow.†

Using the Present Simple for ESL Students

The reading-comprehension passage below focuses on the present simple tense to describe habits and daily work routines. The present simple is typically one of the first verb tenses that new English students learn. It is used to describe an action that takes place on a regular basis. The present simple also can be used to express feelings, facts, opinion, and time-based events. The passage describes the daily routine and work habits of Tim, a typical worker in a central California city. Use the passage to help students better understand what is the present simple tense and how to use it. Before Reading the Passage Prepare students before they read the passage by explaining when to use the present simple tense and how to conjugate verbs in this tense. Explain that in English, you use the present simple to describe what you (or others) do every day. You also use verbs of frequency (such as always, sometimes, and usually) to indicate a habit. Ask students to tell you some things they do every day, such as setting the alarm before going to bed, waking up at a certain time each morning, eating breakfast, and traveling to work or school. Write their answers on the white board. Then explain that the present simple tense can be expressed in three ways: positive, negative, or as a question, for example: I eat lunch at noon.I never play tennis at noon.Does he walk to school every day? Tell students that theyll be reading a story about Tim, a worker who does a number of things regularly in getting ready for work, traveling to work, and performing his duties. Then read the story as a class, having students each read a sentence or two. Tims Story Tim works for a company in Sacramento. Hes a customer service representative. He gets up at 6 oclock a.m. each workday. He drives to work and begins his job at 8 oclock each morning. During the workday, Tim speaks to people on the telephone to help them with their banking problems. People telephone the bank to ask questions about their accounts. Tim doesnt give information about accounts until callers answer a few questions. Tim asks callers their birth date, the last four digits of their Social Security number, and their address. If a person gives incorrect information, Tim asks him to call back with the correct information. Tim is polite and friendly to everyone. He has lunch in a park next to his office. He returns home at 5 oclock in the evening. After work, he goes to the gym to work out. Tim has dinner at 7 oclock. Tim likes watching TV after dinner. He goes to bed at 11 oclock at night. Follow-Up Questions and Answers To extend the lesson, have students answer the following questions: What time does Time get up each workday? (6 oclock a.m.)What time does he begin his day at work each day? (8 a.m.)What are some of the duties Tim performs each day? (Tim verifies callers personal information. He answers questions from callers about their accounts. He is polite with each caller.)What time does Tim turn out the lights each night? (11 p.m.) Have students tell you a few more things Tim does each day as you complete your lesson on the present simple tense.