Definition Analysis on Patriotism Essay Example for Free

Definition Analysis on Patriotism Essay According to the American Heritage Dictionary, patriotism can be defined as :love and devotion to one’s country†. This seems a broad enough definition for a word that is often used by people, but seldom closely examined. One person’s practice of patriotism might be regarded as treason by another and visa-versa. In modern day America it is assumed that to be patriotic is a virtue, especially in times of national crisis. This paper will look at the uncertainty surrounding what the word actually means in reality. On 9/11/2001 the USA was attacked by terrorists and for a time afterwards it became very fashionable for people to fly American flags, to flag stickers on their cars with â€Å"we support our troops† on them. But can this really be regarded as â€Å"love† or even â€Å"devotion† to one’s country. It might be argued that it is very easy to put a sticker on one’s car: it takes a few second and then the person can forget about it. If this is what it means to be â€Å"patriotic† then it doesn’t seem to mean very much at all. Other definitions of patriotism include support for the government’s policy of the time. Thus those who supported the Vietnam war were regarded as â€Å"patriotic† (good) by the Nixon administration and those who did not were regarded as â€Å"unpatriotic† (bad). But the majority of Americans came to oppose the war, and so was the American government actually unpatriotic through going against their wishes? The question needs to be asked of what a â€Å"country† is. If a country is made up of the people who live in it, which seems a sensible definition, then it is patriotic to support what the majority of them support. This definition of patriotism will thus change with the changing opinions of the people. At one moment it may be patriotic to support a war (when the majority support it) and at another unpatriotic (when a majority are against it). If country is something more than just the group of individuals who happen to be citizens of it then patriotism can be extended even further. If a country is an idea, then the post unpopular ideas might be regarded as patriotic. Defending a country may take vision for the future. Thus environmental groups might be regarded as patriotic because they seek to preserve the American landscape for future generations. It becomes clear that the word patriotism means a myriad of different things. This is not a bad thing as it shows that there is a variety of ideas, as is necessary within a free society. Often people accuse others of being â€Å"unpatriotic† simply because they disagree with what the other person is saying. This is a bad trend within the country. It shows a very narrow point of view and definition of patriotism. What happens if an opinion changes in the course of someone’s life, as often happens? Patriotism should be defined in as wide a way as possible. It is in fact unpatriotic to suggest that other people do not love their country because they differ with you on some issues. This is especially the case in a country that prides itself on being free and democratic. Freedom depends upon the ability to accept opinions that differ from your own and to respect those people who espouse them. There are of course certain acts that in fact are unpatriotic. For example if a person decides to join army of another country in order to fight against the one he was born in then that is unpatriotic. Not caring about one’s country either way is also unpatriotic. A lot of people live within their own small worlds and do not think that their country effects them. In their day to day lives this may be true, but it is not the case when something important happens. Thus when you are attacked in a foreign country the first instinct is to contact your embassy. As your country looks after you, so you should look after you country. This may seem a difficult idea much of the time as people tend, quite naturally to be involved in their own lives. This is a good aspect of living in a free society: patriotism is not forced upon you. A person can decide to be patriotic or to be unpatriotic depending upon their point of view. Accepting that choice is a form of patriotism in itself. To conclude, patriotism is the love of country. This love may be expressed in many different ways. For one person it may be serving their country in the armed forces, for another it may be teaching children so the country’s future is assured. For another patriotism may be making sure that the country lives up to its principles even in the most difficult times. All these different people show patriotism and they should respect the different definitions of others as they would want to be respected themselves.

Sound and The Fury :: Faulkner Sound and the Fury Essays

Sound and The Fury    William Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury is a complicated story of   tragedy, lies, and destruction.   The whole Compson family is filled with negativity and bad decisions.   The family is broken down little by little until it is finally destroyed.   Ms. Compson is supposed to be in control but she is a   neurotic self-centered woman that escapes responsibility by depending on Dilsey for every need.   Ms Compson also created hostility between the Family.      Jason, the head of the family since their father died, is always knowing but only cares for himself.   He is a cold, vicious, and openly cruel person, he values only himself and ways to make himself richer.   Part of the reason he is like this is because of the lack of attention he received as a child, and because of the fact that he was not able to attend Harvard.   Nevertheless, Jason does what is needed for his family to survive, he goes to work and earns the living for the entire family.   Jason also spends a tremendous amount of time in his room counting and reviewing his money.   The money was another big  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   motivation for Jason to take responsibility for his family. If that motivation was not there I don't think that Jason would have been as responsible. However, Jason does still represent hate and ruthlessness. Jason is not the only that deteriorates in this book, Ms. Compson represents insanity and delusion.   She has an imagi ned illness, she tries to control things around her including people and she complains very often.   Ms. Compson is also in denial of many things, she imagines that people think ill of her and that her husband never liked her brother.   The deterioration of each family member is solid and consistent even though they are all different.    Quentin thinks that he is going out of his head because of his sister Caddy.   While Caddy does not smell like trees to Benjy anymore because of her actions.   Quentin then finds out that Herbert cheated on his test for Harvard.   Herbert tries to bribe Quentin's so that no one will find out about his wrong doing.   Everything that has been done wrong has been tried to be covered up by that person in the family.

Some Beneficial Features of the Unix Operating System

Some Beneficial Features of the UNIX Operating System CIS 155 Some Beneficial Features of the UNIX Operating System Safety issues have always been one of the major aspects of effective operation of human beings and systems invented and implemented by individuals all over the world in different periods of human history. The rise of the personal computer in the market is another potential threat; nowadays this threat comes from the internet through computers and other devices.As stated in the study by Garfinkel, Spafford, and Schwartz (2011), â€Å"in today’s world of international networks and electronic commerce, every computer system is a potential target† (p. 3). Computers and servers store information that can be damaged or retrieved by hackers that are not interested in keeping the operating system safe and sound. As such, the UNIX operating system can be considered one of the safest for your network activities with a minimum threat to your operating system and the computer in general. Benefits of the UNIX Operating SystemThere are many benefits of the UNIX operating system when viewed independently or in comparison with other operating systems. It is natural that UNIX has supporters and those who oppose the use and benefits of this OS. Nevertheless, everything depends on the purposes for which the operating system is installed and the activities for which it operates. In other words, the scope of commands makes UNIX one of the cheapest and compatible operating systems on the market (Afzal, 2008). With the option of being installed on any type of hardware regardless of the brand and price, UNIX is a viable option for any information technology professional.In addition, it is important to mention that UNIX became the basis for other operating systems generally referred to as the UNIX-like ones as they use UNIX codes and are rather competitive compared to non-UNIX-like systems (Afzal, 2008). Simplicity and Origins The UNIX operating system becam e one of the first attempts of the information technology age to make the computer popular among average users. The contribution was made in the form of this beneficial operating system that helps people all over the world get access to the internet and surf the web for hours without being under threat of getting a virus or damage to software.It is simple and user-friendly compared to other operating systems. One of the examples of simplicity in UNIX is the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), â€Å"an Internet standard for transferring electronic mail between computers [implemented by UNIX] with programs or systems called Message Transfer Agents† (Garfinkel, Spafford, and Schwartz, 2011, p. 347). The overall simplicity of the UNIX operating system can be traced in all its utility programs and other supportive agents that help the system to operate effectively without application of complicated schemes and codes.In other words, the simplicity of the system makes it attractiv e for programmers and people working with codes and programs to be written (Afzal, 2008). So, simplicity, toolbox, democratic approach, flexibility and stability, as well as virtual memory and cheap hardware are the basis for making this operating system an attractive solution for people that need a good and reliable OS for their personal or professional purposes. Open Standards and Portability The open standards and cross-platform portability of the UNIX operating system is another great beneficial feature of this operating system.As stated in the study by Liu, Yue, and Guo (2011), â€Å"since most of the networking protocols were initially implemented on UNIX and most of the Internet services are provided by server processes running on the UNIX operating system, UNIX has a fundamental and profound influence on computer networking† (p. 316). The impact of UNIX on the development of other operating systems and the overall progress of information technology so far has been und eniable. However, it is necessary to emphasize the applicability of this operating system to a small number of computers due to the users’ preferences.Different types of machines can be considered valid for the UNIX operating system, because it is treated as highly portable. Various computing machines can host UNIX, which would be only advantageous for them. The UNIX operating system was not coined for the expensive machines with the hardware changing every six months or less and upgrades available for even higher prices. Its flexibility and cross-platform portability make it an integral part of the democratic approach used by the creators of the operating system. Main-frame and micro-computers can benefit from the UNIX operating system and all its features (Afzal, 2008).Stability of the operating system is another beneficial feature that can be treated as a competitive advantage compared to other systems, such as Windows, with regard to maintenance and related procedures. Se curity features as well as processing power can also be treated as beneficial features of the UNIX operating system, especially when compared to other operating systems. Prerequisite software is something pertaining to all operating systems except the UNIX operating system, because it does not require additional upgrades in terms of hardware and software being absolutely cheap in maintenance and administration (Afzal, 2008).Besides, users can use UNIX on the cheapest and simplest hardware regardless of the brand. Most effective operating systems operate on the codes designed and introduced to the market by AT&T that created UNIX and contributed positively to the development of personal computers. The UNIX operating system is aimed at solving problems in the field of information technology: It uses simple tools, agents, and codes that are free of charge and helps the users operate effectively and safely on this basis (Afzal, 2008).Application programs compared to the simple tools by UNIX are too complicated to be beneficial for users and the overall effective performance of the system. The memory of the UNIX system is protected and considered to be as secure as the overall operating system and the number of programs that can be launched with no threat or compromise to other running programs in the same instance (Afzal, 2008). The benefits of the virtual memory should be described in another section, whereas it is necessary to mention that UNIX security, customization, and controls options make users select this operating program out of dozens of other existing ones.Open standards enable the UNIX operating system to share its codes and achievements with the users and other developers. As stated in the study by Raymond (2004), â€Å"Unix is still the only operating system that can present a consistent, documented application programming interface (API) across a heterogeneous mix of computers, vendors, and special-purpose hardware† (p. 8). Moreover, no othe r operating system can compare to its applicability and open standards as well as its cross-platform portability.Along with all other advantages of this OS, open standards attract more users that can value the portability of UNIX and its simplicity. Virtual Memory, Toolbox, and Customization The benefits of the UNIX operating system are numerous with the virtual memory and customization options as well as the authorization procedures and the general security of it all. So, the virtual memory of the UNIX operating system is on the high level: Low or medium levels of physical memory cannot compromise the virtual memory of the operating system (Afzal, 2008).So, users can launch many programs at once with no threat to the performance of the UNIX OS. The resources of the system are capable of running many programs being active which will not make the work of the entire system less effective. In other words, more complicated and proficient tasks can be performed with the help of other com mands and utility programs combined in the framework of UNIX (Afzal, 2008). Files are unified to make the operation of UNIX more efficient in terms of times needed to respond to commands and costs necessary to upgrade the overall system.As such, all types of data and devices are identified by UNIX as files, making it better and more appropriate for different purposes. Access to the computer is reached only via application of valid passwords and keys that are aimed at making UNIX rather protected and security-based (Afzal, 2008). Authentication is another tool that helps the system to operate effectively. Accounts and their owners are subject to the owner of the personal computer with the UNIX operating system to decide whether he or she wants anyone else to use the computer or not.The toolbox is designed in a way that makes the operations fast and efficient. Utility programs and commands are used to perform specific tasks; so, they are created for very particular purposes. This appr oach is contrasted to the one when commands and utilities serve for a variety of complicated tasks rather than simple ones. In other words, the UNIX operating system can be referred to as a box with all necessary tools that carry out their tasks in a corresponding manner (Afzal, 2008). Customization enables the users to adjust the system to their needs and purposes without being designed for particular settings and menus.As such, a user owning the UNIX operating system can change the options and settings unlike the user of other operating systems with pre-configured settings. Overall, the UNIX operating system is used all over the world due to the approach selected by its developers: they made it a free-access tool that can be used by any individual that has a personal computer and needs an operating system. Main-frame computers and mini-models of personal PCs can operate on UNIX without visible or invisible threats to their effectiveness. It can be used on different platforms regar dless of their origin and compatibility.UNIX is a well-documented system with everything stocked within that a user would need. References Afzal, A. (2008). CIS155: UNIX Operating System: Custom edition (5th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson Custom Publishing. Garfinkel, S. , Spafford, G. , & Schwartz, A. (2011). Practical UNIX and internet security (3rd ed. ). Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Medis, Inc. Liu, Y. , Yue, Y. , & Guo, L. (2011). UNIX operating system. Beijing: Springer. Raymond, E. S. (2004). The art of UNIX programming. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley Professional.

William Wordsworths Nuns Fret Not - 800 Words

I before e except after c, avoid omitting serial commas, and never EVER let a participle dangle. Those who choose to write are perhaps too familiar with these specific rules. Some are tedious, some are almost impossible to remember, yet all help the author to create lucid writing so her point may be established. For poetry, the case is no different. There are various forms to choose from, versatile meters to pace the reader, and the ability to layer information to gradually make a point. Some forms can be generous in what they allow the author to do, and in William Wordsworth’s â€Å"Nuns Fret Not† the author admits that forms can be restricting in meter, rhyme, and length. That does not mean however that he’s immobile, Wordsworth is able to†¦show more content†¦When one reads the complete line 13th line, â€Å"who have felt the weight of too much liberty,† the emphasis is then directed onto the reader, showing that Wordsworth himself has felt tha t weight and offers the reader to do as he’s done, to find the benefits restraining has to offer. The third instance can be found between lines eight and nine. Usually in sonnets, both parts (octave and sestet) are separated by independent sentences, yet in â€Å"Nuns†, a sentence connects the octave and sestet, marking another breach from a normal approach. All examples show that even though Wordsworth has confined himself to a set of rules, with a little tweaking, he’s able to emphasize that one can find joy even when limited in specific ways. Not only does Wordsworth change the structure of his poem, his diction also deviates from what’s considered normal. The first four lines of the octave describe five different occupations and the restrictions each entails. The restrictions, being narrow rooms; confinement to a cell; studying in a pensive citadels; working at a maid’s wheel or a weavers loom, are either physical, or offer little to no sensory stimulation. The second part of the octave further emphasizes this point, by nothing that even insects, things we thing of having infinitely more freedom than humans, are also harnessed to the same chains. A bee which is free to fly wherever it chooses,Show MoreRelated Freedom and Liberty in Wordsworths Prefatory Sonnet Essay1576 Words   |  7 PagesFreedom and Liberty in Wordsworths Prefatory Sonnet  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Wordsworths Prefatory Sonnet, originally published in his book, Poems, In Two Volumes, deals with the concept of liberty as a personal goal and its relevance on the larger political spectrum. The poet likens Nuns and Hermits, who find solace in their confining spaces, to himself and the writing of sonnets. Building upon this framework, Wordsworth makes an important observation about personal liberty and its place in politicalRead MoreFrench Revolution Impact On Romantic Poetry1829 Words   |  8 Pagesboundaries not just in poetry, but in the lives of the British as well. As this shift occurred, women perceived their lack of equality, as they were disheartened to obtain knowledge. Some of the most well-known poets during the Romantic era were William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Mary Wollstonecraft - all whom made an immense impact upon individuals. The French Revolution influenced Romantic Poetry through philosophical ideas. Historical Background The birth of Romanticism originated