Lifeboat Ethics by Garrett Hardin

                The author’s argument that it should be every nation for itself when they are in need of aid, whether financial or food, is brilliant and correct. If every nation were to always help out the others then the one that didn’t need help would end up depleting its own supplies and would in turn make that nation need help from other nations. These nations that were in need of aid would never learn how to manage their own country and they would keep relying on the aid of other nations to bail them out when they are in a crisis.(100)  

            For example, the United States is now sending financial aid to several different countries to help them out with their economy. However, now that we are sending all our money to different countries the nation is going bankrupt and the economy is on a downward plunge into oblivion.  There are a lot of government pay cuts and thousands of job cuts. This is leading to an increase in unemployment in our nation and our economy is worsening. Since we have started to help other countries it has only benefited other countries and hurt ours. This is definitely a really bad idea.(101)  

            The statement that “under a system of private property, the men who own property recognize their responsibility to care for it, for if they don't they will eventually suffer” is true because if we didn’t care for ourselves and we let other people take over for you then they would use the land to excess and ruin it for anyone around. Imagine letting several different people borrowing a pair of your pants in one week. Wouldn’t they look absolutely and hideously, awful when you got them back? You probably wouldn’t even want to use them again after that. In contrast, if you just kept your own pair of pants and only used them once a week then they would most likely look almost like new. (125)

            The author says that in rich nations the population increases at a low percentage, as opposed to poor nations’ population increasing steadily at a high percentage. These poor nations have to move into untouched land and end up destroying the environment in their quest to provide land to grow crops to support themselves. The author says that for example, the use of technology has done irrevocably  severe damage to the fish supplies, the forests and the pollution of waters, such as; ocean, lakes, ponds, creeks, and rivers.(87)

            If we continue to let immigrants come into the United States then our food supplies will dwindle and our fertility of land will decrease. We won’t have enough room for all these people coming into America and so we will not have enough food to feed everyone and so then we will have to turn to growing more agriculture. This will lead to the depleting of the rich, fertile soil used to plant crops and the environment will not be able to sustain our hastily growing population. (87)

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 8-9

1) "It amazed him — he had never been in such a beautiful house before. but what gave it an air of breathless intensity, was that Daisy lived there — it was as casual a thing to her as his tent out at camp was to him."  

-What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote is that the characters Daisy and Jay Gatsby were from separate worlds. He says that Daisy is comfortable in her big house and that the character, Gatsby, was comfortable in his tent. He uses this simile as a comparison of the difference between their status in society and how big of a breech it is. The author says that she is the one who breathes air into the house and makes it a home because she is so in tune with her world that is different from Gatsby’s.  

2)"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning ——"

3)"He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night."

             - What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote through the narrator, Nick, is that the character, Gatsby, is always described as always looking back instead of into the future, but he has actually not been looking back. He says that the character, Gatsby, had already put the past that he was accused of with Daisy was already behind him, but he never knew he had put it past him. The author uses imagery to open the readers mind and describe that Gatsby had left his past way behind him before he even came for Daisy.

4)"It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete."

            - What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote is that the circle of killings was a massacre. The author tells through the narrator, Nick’s, eyes is that the deaths were like the holocaust killings because the deaths were senseless with Wilson’s suicide in the end. It started with Myrtle’s unintentional death, and then it continued with Mr. Gatsby’s murder and ended with Myrtle’s husband, Wilson, committing suicide to complete the circle of senseless killings that shouldn’t have occurred.

5)"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. . . ."

- What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote is that the characters Daisy and Tom are snobby people who don’t care who they harm. He says that they are shallow people who do what they want without thought to how their actions are going to hurt the people they involve in their shenanigans. They wreak havoc on people and things, they hide behind their money and position in society, and then they expect other people to clean up their messes for them. He believes these characters to be shallow human beings that are flighty and only care for their selves.

            - What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote is that we are always running to escape the past and that if we don’t face it then we can never reach our future. He says that Gatsby was one of the people looking in the past and never able to look to the future because he was stuck behind. The author says that one day we will end up catching up to the future that we will grasp, but we have to work for it and not give up.

-What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote is that the characters Daisy and Jay Gatsby were from separate worlds. He says that Daisy is comfortable in her big house and that the character, Gatsby, was comfortable in his tent. He uses this simile as a comparison of the difference between their status in society and how big of a breech it is. The author says that she is the one who breathes air into the house and makes it a home because she is so in tune with her world that is different from Gatsby’s.  

Best In Class

           The author’s argument that high school students are pressured to be number one in their class and to be the valedictorian is correct. Throughout the four years students are in high school teachers and parents put a lot of emphasis on their children or pupils to strive to be in the top ten percent. This puts a whole lot of pressure on the students because they have to be competitive and waste their time trying to claim a spot in this percentile. Sometimes they used dishonest means to get to their position in the top ten percent.

It is said that if you make it into top ten percent then you have a guaranteed spot into any college you want. This statement isn’t necessarily true because you have to actually want to succeed and be able to work hard. A lot of people who were once in top ten admitted they came by it by cheating on homework, quizzes and exams. This means they didn’t truly strive by honest means and used illegal ways to make it the top.  You should make yourself want to strive on your own so you can make your way through life on your own.

For example, 80% of the country's best students cheated to get to the top of their class. Today seventy-five to ninety-eight percent of college students say that they have used cheating in high school at least once. Most cheaters are getting one hundreds on their test while the people that are not cheating are getting nineties. This isn’t right that the people that do actually work hard are left behind while the people that breeze through and take the easy way out by cheating make it into to the top of the class. These cheaters are recognized as the most intelligent in their class even if it isn’t spoken allowed it is implied to all.

The valedictorian place is a great honor to be and everyone should be told the ground rules involved to be chosen as one. There shouldn’t be any unfair advantages because everyone should know what it takes to be a valedictorian. Everyone should be good sports about not being picked to be one and betrayal shouldn’t be even mentioned. Yes, it is wonderful to be the valedictorian because you get to congratulate the graduates on their success and you get to bid them farewell on their way to the rest of their lives.

            The statement that the honor of being a valedictorian should be able to go to the person who isn’t the smartest but the greatest at dealing with competitions pertaining to academics is both true and false because if you actually are very intelligent you should be able to be the valedictorian. The place for valedictorian should be open for anyone who wants to try obtaining the position as one. Not all intellects can handle friendly competition and sometimes the competition can use underhanded methods to position them in the place of the valedictorian.

The Great Gatsby Chapters 6-7

1)"Each night he added to the pattern of his fancies until drowsiness closed down upon some vivid scene with an oblivious embrace."

-What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader of in this statement is that the character James Gatz is a fanciful man filled with whimsical ideas and has a big imagination that spins ideas from being overractive. He says that Gatz stays up until he can fall off into a oblivian filled slumber trying to live in a world of his own creation because he can't handle the world as it is at present.The author says the man needed an outlet for his corrupt mind that was fascinated with the horrible concepts of the world.(100)


2)"... the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy’s wing."

-What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader of is that the basis of the world was founded on fanciful thoughts brought forth by different kind of men and women. He says that the thoughts that founded the world were about as solid as a fairy's wing. The author knew that this would not be a very solid example of personification because the fare folk are just made up creature which are born of myth and were created by someone with a hyperactive imagination that spend their down time filled with ridiculous thoughts and nothing else.(100)


3)"He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy."

-What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader of in this statement is that the character Jay Gatsby is always speaking a lot of the past because he is so far stuck in it and he also wants to regain something that he had lost a while back when he had first fell in love with Daisy. The author believes that Gatsby wants to obtain something lost from his younger self that he had contained while he was with Daisy and that was misplaced when he threw himself into loving Daisy and now he is missing a huge chunk of himself.(105)


4)"Through all he said, even through his appalling sentimentality, I was reminded of something — an elusive rhythm, a fragment of lost words, that I had heard somewhere a long time ago."

-What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader of in this statement is that the narrator, Nick, had a spark of a vague memory of feelings and words of long ago that was triggered by the words that Gatsby was saying. He said it was just a fragmented sentence that he had heard somewhere in his past long ago that had a similiar meaning the same as what Gatsby was saying and that it was said with the same kind of emotion too that Gatsby used in his words.(93)

5)"There was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture, and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together."

-What the author, F. Scotts Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader of in this statement is that the narrator, Nick, feels that the characters Daisy and her husband Tom  look as though they are working together to come up with a plan. He says that there was a "air of natural intimacy" as they spoke and it gave the deceptive image that they were "conspiring together" to formulate a plan about what they should do. Nick says that although Daisy didn't look happy about what they were talking about she was still nodding along with Tom and agreeing with what he was saying.(103)

Commencement Speech at Mount Holyoke College

The author’s argument is that you should stop trying to lead a perfect life and focus on who you are really is absolutely correct. You shouldn’t have to make yourself into what the world views as the ideal image that women or men have to be. It is too much hard work trying to be perfect all the time that you lose sight of yourself. You should be able to be the same person you were when you were a kid. If you try all your life to be what someone else wants you to be, then in the future when you need to connect with yourself, you will look inside yourself and find you have no real substance to your person.

Think back when you were in elementary school, you didn’t care what anyone thought of you, you were just yourself and there was really no judgment. You didn’t really think about how you were supposed to act because that was only for the grownups. The set of rules that apply to you now didn’t come into play until you reached your first year of middle school. This is when it set in that you to follow these rules that were set up by society that instruct you on how to behave in society.

For example, when you went to a grocery store and had a temper tantrum people would stare at you and think your parents were bad parents because they couldn’t get control of you. You didn’t care what people thought you just wanted to get your way even if you were embarrassing your parents the whole time and you would usually get it because your parents didn’t want to cause a scene so they would give in just to shut you up.

The statement that we strive to be what society perceives as the ideal person you are supposed to be is true. When we go against what rules we are to follow for our sex, we get judged and called crazy. When a man wants to stay home to take of his kids it is frowned upon because men shouldn’t depend on the woman in the relationship to bring in the money to support them. Society believes that women have to be pure, but yet men don’t want a woman that is innocent. This forces you to have to show a persona in public that reflects purity, but in private men expect you to not be so innocent.

The author has the right idea in mind when she goes against the mold of society. You should learn to take risk in everything you do because if you spend so much time focused on being scared you miss many opportunities that come your way. When you look back to find that you are unhappy it is because you didn’t take many, if any, risks and just looked for the easy way out. Don’t listen to people when they say you’re crazy for wanting to be yourself and don't be afraid to go out on a limb to go after something you want.

The Great Gatsby: Chapters 4 and 5

1)"...the world and its mistress returned to Gatsby’s house and twinkled hilariously on his lawn."
       - What the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote is that as soon as the church bells rang to start the day  everyone in the East Egg and the West Egg had descended to be on Mr. Gatsby's doorstep ready to party. When the author says "twinkled hilariously on his lawn" he means that they were most certainly not sober and were falling over, happily giggling like hyennas. When he says that "the world and its mistress" was at Gatsby's mansion, he means everyone worthwhile that lived in West Egg and th East Egg were at Gatsby's mansion.(103)

2)"But I can still read the gray names, and they will give you a better impression than my generalities of those who accepted Gatsby’s hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatever about him."

       - What the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote is that he could not generalize all these people that were at Gatsby's mansion and their characteristics so he thought that if he listed their names the reader could get a better idea of what these characters were like through . Each name that was on was at least included with a little tidbit of something about and this list helps the reader creates an image in their minds of the person that they each name belonged to. He says all of these people that were on this list probably wouldn't know Mr. Gatsby if he was right in front of their faces having a conversation with them. (123)

3)"He was balancing himself on the dashboard of his car with that resourcefulness of movement that is so peculiarly American"

       -What the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote is that(17) in this time period that the social class that Mr. Gatsby and the narrator was in didn't have to do any really hard work or have any worries. He also says that Gatsby isn't use to heavy lifting and plays sporadic games that shows in his his movement as a restlessness. He doesn't have to strain his back with responsibilities or have any strict rules to follow. (84)

4)"...I felt that there were guests concealed behind every couch and table, under orders to be breathlessly silent until we had passed through."

       - What the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote that the narrator is so use to Mr. Gatsby's mansion being fulled to the maximum with people crushed in every room that it is very unexpected to see the mansion so empty and so he keeps expecting to see people hidden behind the furniture. The narrator, Nick, hasn't ever been to Mr. Gatsby's house when there is no one around so he is unnerved by the silence that fills Gatsby's house upon his tour with Daisy. He seem to keep hearing the laughing of this drunk man that is always at all of Gatsby's parties.(110)

5)"No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart."
    
        -What the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, is trying to persuade the reader in this quote is that Mr. Gatsby has built up this fantasy as to how when he showed his mansion to Daisy it was going to go. He had built up this huge illusion and when it didn't go exactly as he had pictured he became bewildered. He had thrown himself into creating this illusion with all these little mundane things and Daisy fell short of some of his illusion. (82)

Total: 502 words

Let Teenagers Try Adulthood

        The author's arguement that high school should start at seventh grade and you should be able to graduate at the age of sixteen is a jest. Do you really think that anyone at the age of sixteen is ready to graduate? No they most certainly are not. Almost all sixteen year olds have just been hired to work at a job and have only just then gotten their liscense. They are just barely mature enough to get a job let alone face the world on their own without enough experience to help them on their way.

        For example, eighteen year olds are immature. However, eighteen year old generally have two years more experience under their belts than sixteen year olds do and usually spend their times trying to get their acts together for when they enter out into the great unknown. While the sixteen year olds are busy trying to raise their social status in school and improve unpon their reputation. It has been said that sixteen year olds cause a pretty good precentage of fatal car accidents when texting while behind the wheel. They are so not ready to be let loose on the world.

        The statement that in the late twentieth century the young people have matured considerably is hardly believable because it seems as though the further we progress in technology and our research, the less we actually pay attention in our day to day life. What we have actually done is we come to a point where we never really mature. Everyone thinks life is a game and that reflects on our young teens. They want the latest in styles and in technology, which in turn makes them become dependent upon the technology and they come to not rely on their intelligence too much.

         Botstein's idea of the institutions being constructed for the young adults with one subject in mind is actually a pretty brilliant idea. This would get rid of any learning problems that someone would have because the school would be entirely centered on that one subject. There wouldn't be any other things hindering their progress since there wouldn't be any other subjects to take their time away. They would be able to become more knowledgeable of the career they are going into since they have professionals to help with hands on training and in the long run these institutions would help the students become very successful in their careers.

         The claim that sixteen year old Americans should be taken serious is absolutly hilarious. To think that sixteen year olds actually want to be taken serious is even funny. If they wanted to be taken seriously they should act like mature adults not as if they just came out of elementary school. They should learn to grow up and to accept the fact that they aren't little kids anymore. No one wants an immature kid to be working with them at their jobs because they would just distract and annoy them from what they are doing. This would lead to them getting fired or them getting in trouble on their job.