Not so Good Literature Essay Example for Free

Not so Good Literature Essay Almost half of the population of young people have read and have heard about Stephenie Meyer’s book â€Å"Twilight,† a story about Bella Swan, an average girl borne of a broken marriage and who fell in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. The book enjoyed much hype among young school girls and some boys as well, especially those in high school. It has provided young hearts and minds with ideals of fairytale love stories and superficial view of love and sacrifice. Twilight has received much popularity, but the question of whether it is a good piece of literature or not has not been given much attention amidst all this hype. Well, let me give you the answer for this: the Twilight books are bad literature, or to fulfill the requirement of the essay, they are not good for literary study. By literature, we mean, â€Å"the class of writings distinguished for beauty of style or expression, as poetry, essays, or history, in distinction from scientific treatises and works which contain positive knowledge; belles-lettres† (Brainymedia. com). Thus, bad literature means not passing the standards of literature from its definition which provides mentions it as â€Å"a class of writings distinguished for its beauty of style or expression† (Brainymedia. com). This paper would justify why Twilight is not good literature on the level of its form: the plot, style, characters, and content: the morals and lessons in life that it can give us. Good literature presents to the readers a complex and realistic plot, a certain literary style employing good use of figurative language and imagery and non-typical original characters. These elements define literary standards which distinguish literature from other forms of written works that claim themselves to be Literature. It adds to the enjoyment of reading and upliftment of the human soul. A good book must then enlighten us with lessons that are useful for us to grow in all aspects, with characters that are positive for us all to emulate. The oldest literary critics have told us to learn how to â€Å"teach and delight† (Plato). Literature is not only there to entertain but also to enlighten human minds about the workings of this life. Books that pass up these criteria can also be shelved with the likes of Charles Dickens, Khalil Gibran, Anne Rice, C. S. Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and Pablo Neruda, to name a few (Pearl). Twilight Does not do Away with the Form Let me go over the form of the novel. That novel did not do much when it comes to plot. It is too obvious and simple: a girl meets a guy. Both belong to different worlds, and both learn to accept each other and come up with sort of a stereotyped â€Å"love against all odds† kind of a relationship. There is nothing new in this kind of story. Next, the literary style used by the author can pass up for an amateur writer’s story book. About three things I was absolutely positive: First, Edward was a vampire; Second, there was a part of him and I didnt know how dominant that part might be that thirsted for my blood; And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him. (Meyer qtd. in Goodreads Inc. ) This is a quote from Bella’s narration of Twilight. This would sound more of a giggling girl’s journal entry than that of a respected literary disciple. It is too explicit and superfluous. There are other ways to depict these thoughts. It could be by using images or situations and the like. Another alarming fact here is that Meyer had the inclination to distort archetypes in a not so refined manner. Let us take Edward Cullen as an example. He took off the typical human blood-hungry image of a vampire. It could be credited as a good idea. However, the way Meyer has transformed him into a teenybopper boy-next-door type of character is definitely out of the question. Moreover, it is somehow impossible that an inhuman character like himself can go through the process of falling in love without much justification or establishment that yes, a vampire can also love a human being. In Yahoo answers, one of the members said that â€Å"Edward just tells Bella love lines and [stares] at her, blah. † Twilight Possess Content that Does Not Hit Off to Belong to the Average Thinking Person What lesson can we learn from Twilight? Twilight raucously presents us with the concept that infatuation mistaken for love should be the center of our universe. Bella has met Edward for only quite a time, and they cannot just say that they would want to live with each other forever. It seemed that the love story has been sped up to have itself called a real love story. Bella cannot just walk up to Edward and say that she loves him given the fact that they only had little to no interaction at all when Bella arrived at Forks. What can we learn from Bella? She became a stereotyped damsel in distress who would need to depend upon Edward with her life. I am appalled at how Bella reacts especially on the thought that she will be separated from Edward. Even a Twilight fan made mention of how she did not like this portrayal of Bella as a damsel in distress, and that Bella’s character is also a bad influence among young women (Lichens). It is just a stereotyped fairytale love story. There is nothing much that we can learn from it in both love and life. Khalil Gibran speaks much about love and relationships as thus: But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each others cup but drink not from one cup. Give your hearts, but not into each others keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each others shadow. (Gibran) Love is standing strong together and not being together all the time. It is a concept too far away from what Bella Swan and Edward Cullen shared with each other. The book basically entertains with a limited readership of first-time book readers. Not everyone can take these words with ease. The book was able to deceive not a few fans but a large multitude. You can actually locate not a few but many quotes from the novel which you think might disprove my claim that the book lacks good use of figurative language, one of which is indicated right here. Nevertheless, the timeliness or relevance of these quotes was not well-established, and aside from being cliche, they seemed to have been inserted to untimely situations in the novel, and they do not seem so natural anymore. Take this quote for example: â€Å"When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, is it not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end? † (Meyer qtd. in Goodreads Inc. ); or this: â€Å"Ill be back so soon you wont have time to miss me. Look after my heart Ive left it with you† (Meyer qtd. in Goodreads Inc. ). One may also claim that Twilight teaches us good lessons such as being selfless and being willing to sacrifice for love. Let us throw this question back: are the sacrifices that they have made necessary? We cannot expect that the public possesses considerable amount of literariness. Even people present in literary circles hail it as the very best. First-time readers might appreciate it, but there is a strong need to reeducate and process them that there are far more useful books than Twilight. There are books that can follow literary standards and are more substantial. Let us just see how long this book can withstand the test of time and the criticisms of people in the mainstream. Works Cited BrainyMedia. com. â€Å"Definition of Literature. † BrainyQuote. com. 2009. 1 April 2009 http://www. brainyquote. com/words/li/literature185325. html. Gibran, Khalil. â€Å"Chapter 3: Marriage. † The Prophet. n. d. Cypress Online: The Psychic Digest. 1 April 2009 http://www. geocities. com/Athens/5484/Gib03. htm. Goodreads Inc. â€Å"Quotes by Stephenie Meyer. † Good Reads. 2009. 1 April 2009 http://www. goodreads. com/author/quotes/941441. Stephenie_Meyer. Lichens, S. â€Å"A Unique Book in the Trilogy In All A Mix Between [Vastly] Disappointing and [Tragically] Romantic. † Rev. of Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer. Amazon. com. 13 August 2007. 1 April 2009 http://www. amazon. com/review/RRF68XOR2W8LR. Plato. The Republic. Trans. Benjamin Jowett. South Australia: University of Adelaide, 2005. 1 April 2009 http://ebooks. adelaide. edu. au/p/plato/p71r/. Pearl, Nancy. â€Å"Book Lust. † USA: Sasquatch Books, 2003.

civil war1 :: essays papers

civil war1 [The following document comes from the Confederate Veteran, a magazine published throughout the South from the 1890s until the 1940s. It comes from Volume ? which contains writings from the year 1926, page 379.] If there ever was a hell on Earth, Elmira Prison was that hell, but it was not a hot one, for the thermometer was often 40 degrees below zero. There were about six thousand Confederate prisoners, mostly from Georgia and the Carolinas. We were housed in long prison buildings, say one hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet wide, three tiers of bunks against each wall. A big coal stove every thirty feet was always kept red hot; but for these stoves, the most of us would have frozen. Around each stove was a chalk mark, five feet from the stove, marking the distance we should keep, so that all could be warm. We were thinly clad and not half of us had even one blanket. Our rations were ten ounces of bread and two ounces of meat per day. My weight fell from 180 to 160 in a month. We invented all kinds of traps and deadfalls to catch rats. Every day Northern ladies came in the prison, some followed by dogs or cats, which the boys would slip aside and choke to death. The ribs of a stewed dog were delicious, and a broiled rat was superb. One day I was at the guardhouse when about thirty-five of our boys had on barreled shirts, guards marching them around. A barreled shirt was made by knocking out the head of a barrel then cutting a hole in the other head and putting it on the body. On these barreled shirts was written in big letters, "Stole a dog," "Stole a cat," "Stole a ration," "Stole a fur," etc. If a lady's fur was not fastened on, the boys would grab it, and some of them had been caught. All the Yankees soldiers were not cruel. The chalk marks were drawn around the stoves so that all could get some of the heat. One day a poor sick boy lay down near the chalk line and went to sleep. In his sleep he threw his leg over the chalk line. A big guard caught him by his shoulder and threw him against the wall, making his nose bleed. I popped my big fist against the guard's jaw, knocking him heels over head.

Andrew Jackson Was Not a Democrat

People voted Jackson as president with the title of a democratic. He was completely the opposite; his ruling was more like the practice of tyranny. Democracy is a political system in which supreme power depends on citizens who can elect people to represent them, and believe in majority rule. Jackson’s Presidency was not democratic because he lacked the with â€Å"the power of the people† concept, He practiced the Indian Removal Act, the spoil system, and inflames the poor against the rich for the National Bank. DOC G) Democracy is basically known as power to the people, and the majority rule. Methods of electing presidential electors changed when Jackson started ruling. Even though more people were voting instead of legislative (DOC A), Natives were still not allowed to vote. The common people were universal-white-manhood which only benefitted them. (DOC B) To be democratic, all offices must fall under absolute control of the people, (DOC D) which it wasn’t. Jack son didn’t represent power to the people.When Jackson was president, they had the spoil system. The spoil system doesn’t represent democracy what so ever. In the politics of the United States, a spoil system is a system where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters. (DOC C) If Jackson were a true democratic, he would give jobs to people who qualified and deserve them, not just because they are of the same affiliation. (DOC I) Another reason why Jackson was not democratic is because he practiced the Indian Removal Act. DOC J) You can tell it wasn’t democracy because he had one thousand Seminoles, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Cherokee Indians forcibly moved to Indian Territory West of Mississippi. (DOC L) In democracy, it means everyone is entitled to be equal, and Jackson sending people away and taking their land is obviously not treating someone equal. Jackson didn’t support being a democratic because (DOC F) An drew Jackson claims that out of 25 bank directors 5 are chosen by the government and 20 by the citizen stalk holders.He finds this to be an evil to our country when the majority of these people are actually chosen by stalk holders. Daniel Webster claims that Andrew Jackson seeks to inflamed the poor against the rich. (DOC G) This could disrupt a democratic society. (DOC E) The cartoon picture shows that he is willing to use his veto to just stop anything he doesn’t like. This is abuse of power. The picture also shows him as a king, we all know that a king isn’t an elected official.Jackson wasn’t a democratic because he lacked power of the people concept (DOC A,D,H,B,N), He practiced the Indian Removal Act, (DOC L,K,R,M), The spoil system,(DOC C,I) and inflames the poor against the rich for the National Bank (DOC E,F,G). The best piece of evidence that he wasn’t democratic was Jackson’s slave holdings. Jackson served as president starting in 1829. A t that time, Jackson had over 90 slaves. In the mid 30’s, Jackson owned more than 120 slaves. If he truly believed that all people deserved equal, he wouldn’t own slaves. Jackson did not practice democracy like people believed he did.

Diplomacy As A Communication Process Of International...

In the field of International relations, one of the most important instruments is referred to as Diplomacy. Diplomacy according to various scholars is extremely important in the process of implementing a country’s foreign policy and its various objectives in the international community. Some scholars describe diplomacy as a communication process between international actors that seek through negotiation to resolve certain issues and also to push their foreign policy objectives. Research states that the act of conducting negotiations between two people or two nations at a large scope is essential to the upkeep of international affairs. Without diplomacy, some scholars state that much of the world’s affairs would be abolished. Institutions like international organizations would not be possible, and above all the world would be at a constant state of war. Scholars of international relations state that it is due to diplomacy that the majority of states exist in harmony. Di plomacy is split into two types of diplomacy, which are referred to as Traditional Diplomacy and New Diplomacy. Traditional Diplomacy refers to the diplomatic process only being conducted by Monarchs (kings and queens) and was seen as a process of pushing their own individual gains and was normally conducted in secret. New Diplomacy called for the diplomatic process to be more open, it involved government and non-government actors, unlike in traditional diplomacy which only involved government actors such asShow MoreRelatedEssay on Why I Want to Study International Relations628 Words   |  3 PagesDebating since middle school made me concluded that I want to study international relations and I hate debating yet I love story-telling. What I don’t like about debating is not only because we have to be ruthless for the reason all that matter is how we win the motion from the other side without taking concern of other party’s opinion, but also the win-lose situation that debate forced. 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