Jessica Rodriguez Essay - 765 Words

The Romanticism in Wordsworth Romantic poetry has very distinct details which set it apart from previous poetry. William Wordsworth’s poem, â€Å"I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud,† is full of the Romantic characteristics which were so different during that time. The poem begins with the speaker â€Å"floating† along, as though he or she were a cloud, when he or she spots a â€Å"crowd/ †¦, of golden daffodils† (Wordsworth, 3,4). The speaker goes on to describe the daffodils and the lake that is beside them. The images of the daffodils return to mind during a difficult time , and cheers him up. It is important to note that the speaker is speaking in first person. As this is a commonly used technique in romantic poetry, it is easy to assume†¦show more content†¦In the first line of the poem, the speaker is metaphorically referred to as a cloud. Then, the speaker’s feelings are transmitted onto the daffodils, actually giving the daffodils his feelings. By doing this, the reader can associate his or her own feelings in a similar manner. It allows the reader to envision exactly how the speaker is feeling. This type of reverence for nature is a strong characteristic of Romantic poetry. Another important Romantic element used in this poem is the emotional one in human beings. This poem is full of emotion on the part of the speaker. He even views the daffodils as having such emotion. There is a progressive change, even an emotional maturity, taking place in him based on what is happening in the poem. The speaker speaks first of his loneliness which later turns to joy. Then, while in a depressed state, is able to return to that bliss by the simple remembrance of what he saw. Romanticism also focuses on the desire to understand what influences the mind. In the final stanza, the speaker’s loneliness is, once again, pushed away by the remembrance of the dancing daffodils. The speaker has discovered that by him associating with nature, he can change the tone of the â€Å"inward eye† (21). Memory, as is important in this poem, serves a great purpose. It allows one to simply forget what is happening in one’s life for just a moment, and reflect on something that brought peace and meaning at oneShow MoreRelated Jessica Rodriguez Essay1364 Words   |  6 PagesMoton and Paradise Historical Accuracy in Equiano’s Novel Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, has become a very important piece of literature. Equiano established a new type of literature with this novel. It was the first autobiography/slave narrative ever written. Many other slaves, such as Fredrick Douglass, followed his example in writing autobiographies or slave narratives. EquianoRead MoreThe Article The New Ad Game By Jessica Rodriguez851 Words   |  4 PagesThe article, â€Å"The New Ad Game†, by Jessica Ramirez, is an expository essay describing the in-game advertisement. The author wrote the essay, detailing what analysts predict to be huge growth in the ad market in the next five years. With the help of advanced technology, the in-game advertisement is thriving because of the large market, elimination of previous obstacles, and new degrees of connectivity comparable to that of PC. With 132 million gamers who are 13 years and older, the video game consoleRead MoreThe World Spun Is Every Direction Around Me709 Words   |  3 Pagesanything better to do tonight.† Said their unofficial leader, Jessica. If this was any other party, we would have walked away and let the plastics have their fun, but this was not where they belong, this was our night. â€Å"How about we play a game, ladies?† I suggested, â€Å"It’s called Triple Dog. We dare you to do some outrageous task, and if you don’t, you leave. And the other way around.† â€Å"Well pack your bags, this won’t take long.† Jessica said. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had just made the worstRead MoreVizconde Massacre1345 Words   |  6 Pagesand Jennifer, was in the United State on business when the murders took place. The case remained unsolved for almost four years until eyewitness, Jessica Alfaro Testified that Hubert Webb is the lead suspect and responsible of the crime committed. Including the defendants; Antonio Lejano II, Hospicio Fernandez, Michael Gatchalian, Miguel Rodriguez, Peter Estrada, Joey Filart and Artemio Ventura. The trial began on August 1995 before the Paranaque RTC Judge Amelita Tolentino. The prosecution offeredRead More`` Borrowed Powers : Essays On Cultural Appropriation, By Bruce Ziff1531 Words   |  7 Pagesdisrespect is the very definition of cultural appropriation. Jason Rodriguez expands on Ziff’s idea that white people are appropriating Black culture and explains why it is a phenomenon that makes no sense. In his article â€Å"Color-Blind Ideology and the Cultural Appropriation of Hip-Hop† Jason Rodriguez calls into question how white Americans can insist on appropriating Black culture yet still argue that race does not matter. Rodriguez asks the question, â€Å"How do individuals simultaneously insist on color-blindnessRead More Abstinence-Only vs. Comprehensive Sex Education Essay2397 Words   |  10 Pages(Malone, and Rodriguez). The â€Å"A-H guidelines†, which are the eight criteria that abstinence-only programs had to conform to so they could receive federal funding, give a clear view that what is most valued in these programs are the ideas that the only acceptable sexual activity is within the confines of marriage and that childbearing and sexual activity outside of these confines is likely to cause personal and societal problems. These ideas exclude LGBT individuals (Malone, and Rodriguez). PeopleRead MoreThe Man Who Down The Dirt1243 Words   |  5 PagesThe cop pulls out a wallet opens it up, and pulls a license out. â€Å"Well son it states here that your name infact is James Zimbardo† James struggles, â€Å"Sir, you are under arrest for the first degree murder of Billy Ray III, Jose Fernandez, Francisco Rodriguez, and my wife Stella Taylor.† â€Å"No, No, No I never get caught!† James shouted. He started weeping, and crying as he was shove into the back of the police car. November 22nd 2029: â€Å"Savannah! What did you get for your sixth birthday?† James askedRead MoreMovie Review : Good Morning Mr. Brown 2041 Words   |  9 PagesJessica: â€Å"Good morning Mr.Brown, How are you doing today? Mr Brown: I’d be a lot better if I can get out of here and get back to my couch, so I can watch the game today. Jessica: Well Mr. Brown, that’s our goal today. To get you feeling much better. Jessica: Mr. Brown I am now going to tell you your results as well as explain them so you can better understand what you’re up against. And that way, we can all come together and figure out the best plan of action to get your cholesterol under controlRead MorePersuasive Essay On Chemistry Love2060 Words   |  9 Pagesstudies show that the secret to having good health is by practicing mindfulness. By doing this, you can reduce stress levels, keep your brain activated, and power the body (Rodriguez 86). Meet Jessica Obenschain, who underwent a mid-life crisis which further allowed her to discover a practice that completely transformed her life. Jessica went under a reality shock when she was forced to adapt to the world of being independent. She had terrible anxiety that led to panic attacks and even having to call herRead More Is The Education System Excluding Minorities? Essay2061 Words   |  9 Pagesthe system in order to provide individuals with an exceptional education. At my current job I met Jessica. Jessica is twelve years old. She was born in Argentina and migrated to the United States one year ago. Due to the economic and political crisis in Argentina, her family traveled to the land of opportunity in search of a better life. Upon her arrival and enrollment in middle school, Jessica was placed in sheltered classes. These classes are designed for students who have a language barrier

Belonging Essay - 1279 Words

Belonging consists of a struggle with opposing pressures. A desire to belong also consists of emotional conflicts and struggles between being acknowledged while also remaining as an individual and retaining personal ideals which may ultimately result in a connection. This is explored in Emily Dickinson’s selected poetry I died for beauty, but was scarce and I had been hungry all the years , as well as Scott Westerfeld’s novel Uglies. These texts all depict a struggle between being recognised and accepted in society and the desire to remain true to one’s self, exploring the paradoxical nature of belonging which, on one hand, provides fulfilment, but also removes a sense of personal identity. Dickinson’s I died for beauty, but was scarce†¦show more content†¦Struggles between opposing pressures of conformity and individuality which can also bring about connection is successfully explored by Dickinson through the depiction of the persona’s conflict between a desire to belong yet desiring individuality as an artist, which ultimately results in a harmony between the two personas due to similar desires. Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies also explores the struggle with maintaining individual identity while wishing to be accepted society through the perspective of protagonist Tally Youngblood.  ¬Tally and Shay display conflicting perspectives towards the ‘pretties’ where Tally’s desire to join the community evident in a positive tone that is used when describing them such as â€Å"beautiful† is contrasted with Shay’s views of the society in â€Å"doing what youre supposed to do is always boring†, where a struggle between opposing views is illustrated through the two in which Tally shows a wish to be accepted while Shay instead only wants to remain herself rather than have her ideals forcefully removed.Show MoreRelatedBelonging1049 Words   |  5 PagesBelonging can be a possible path to an individual’s self-actualisation. A sense of identity can be identified by belonging or not belonging to a particular group or place. A person can portray different values of belonging through different situations and settings, like in Shakespeare’s period and the period in ‘Fight Club’. Maslow’s Hierarchy of belonging suggests that belonging is one of the basic needs of human existence. All humans aspire to belong but only a few are able to transcend this basicRead MoreBelonging882 Words   |  4 Pagesindividuals through a vast range of different processes and levels. A sense belonging is vital for our existence as it creates a sense of fulfilment and protection in our lives. We spend our lifetime searching to belong and be accepted and in the absence of this our lives can becoming meaningless and lose value. So what does Belonging mean, although a sense of Belonging may vary from person to person a universal meaning of belonging may be a way of acceptance,having security, fulfilment and a connectionRead MoreIdentity and Belonging758 Words   |  4 Pagesbelong is a confusing and unfortunate case, where one can find themselves lost and frustrated, as they do not have a safe zone. Through the use of text and film, it can be explored that this concept if difference hinders one from feeling a sense of belonging. Whether it be a persons inability to adapt or their lack of confidence. As we progress through life we discover that our differences make it harder for us to belong. As shown in ‘growing up in australia’, tormenting young adolescents is somethingRead MoreBelonging Essay1301 Words   |  6 PagesBelonging Essay Concept, perceptions and ideas to belong or not to belong differ from person to person. This is due to experiences that shape ones personality that come through personal, cultural, social and historical context. The idea of belonging allows one to have some sort of connection and communal with people, places, groups, communities and the wider world. In contrast not belonging causes one to suffer from alienation, exclusion and marginalisation. As a result these factors can cause anRead MoreBelonging Essay1459 Words   |  6 PagesPeter Skrzynecki Belonging Essay Significant moments in time shape an understanding of belonging. Explore how this is evident in you prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing. Belonging is defined as fitting in to a particular environment or having the right personal or social qualities to be a member of a particular group. Our belonging to or connections with people, places and groups allows one to develop a distinct identity characterised by affiliation, acceptanceRead MoreBelonging Essay.1303 Words   |  6 Pagesexperience of belonging.† Discuss this view with detailed reference ( 2010 HSC Question) Considered a fundamental aspect of being human, belonging is an ambiguous concept which can offer individuals a sense of identity, security and connectedness. Experiences of belonging are closely related to a person’s interaction with others, as positive experiences can enrich their sense of belonging, and negative experiences can limit their sense of belonging. An individual’s limited experience of belonging throughRead MoreBelonging Place2198 Words   |  9 PagesFinding a sense of belonging to a place can influence an individual’s sense of acceptance within the community and culture or opposingly can enhance their sense of isolation and alienation from society.This is reflected through Raimond Gaita’s memoir Romulus My Father and Manfred Jurgensen’s poem Bonegilla 1916 through extensive literary devices.We learn individuals perceptions of place and their ability to adjust to new places governs their ability to belong and feel at home with new cu ltures. Read MoreBelonging Essay2272 Words   |  10 Pages  ENGLISH   CONTENTS    PAGE:   BELONGING    BELONGING   ESSAY   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ   PAGES   2- ­Ã¢â‚¬ 3    BELONGING   SHORT   STORY   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ   PAGES   4- ­Ã¢â‚¬ 5       1        BELONGING   ESSAY    Perceptions   of,   and   attitudes   towards   belonging   are   varied   and   complex,   with    individuals   shaped   by   their   social,   historical   and   cultural   contexts.   Despite   being    inherent,   a   sense   of   belonging   may   be   experienced   throughRead Morebelonging speech1151 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Belonging speech Good morning/Afternoon teachers and students today I will be showing you how a sense of belonging or not belonging greatly influences an individual’s identity. A change in identity occurs when belonging is found through meaningful, intimate relationships, with senses of place, community, safety and familiarity. The free verse novel, The Simple Gift, composed by Steven Herrick, the dramatic fairy tale film, Edward Scissor hands, directed and created by Tim Burton and the novelRead MoreEssay on Belonging1074 Words   |  5 PagesDickinson’s set poems, a vast array of representations of belonging have been discerned. Through an abundance of ideas, and devices used to convey thesis’s, the texts provide variable discourses as to how we can view belonging, exploring the state of belonging, mainly through its paradoxes. Thus the study of The Smith’s songs individually as well as comparatively to Emily Dickinson has contributed significantly to my understanding of belonging. The concept of alienation is continually reverted to in

The Host Chapter 43 Frenzied Free Essays

string(26) " as much as I could hide\." I imagined that from the outside, I looked as still as a statue. My hands were folded in front of me, my face was without expression, my breathing was too shallow to move my chest. Inside, I was spinning apart, as if the pieces of my atoms were reversing polarity and blowing away from one another. We will write a custom essay sample on The Host Chapter 43: Frenzied or any similar topic only for you Order Now Bringing Melanie back had not saved him. All that I could do was not enough. The hall outside our room was crowded. Jared, Kyle, and Ian were back from their desperate raid, empty-handed. A cooler of ice-that was all they had to show for three days of risking their lives. Trudy was making compresses and laying them across Jamie’s forehead, the back of his neck, his chest. Even if the ice cooled the fever, raging out of control, how long until it was all melted? An hour? More? Less? How long until he was dying again? I would have been the one to put the ice on him, but I couldn’t move. If I moved, I would fall into microscopic pieces. â€Å"Nothing?† Doc murmured. â€Å"Did you check -â€Å" â€Å"Every spot we could think of,† Kyle interrupted. â€Å"It’s not like painkillers, drugs-lots of people had reason to keep those hidden. The antibiotics were always kept in the open. They’re gone, Doc.† Jared just stared down at the red-faced child on the bed, not speaking. Ian stood beside me. â€Å"Don’t look like that,† he whispered. â€Å"He’ll pull through. He’s tough.† I couldn’t respond. Couldn’t even hear the words, really. Doc knelt beside Trudy and pulled Jamie’s chin down. With a bowl he scooped up some of the ice water from the cooler and let it trickle into Jamie’s mouth. We all heard the thick, painful sound of Jamie’s swallowing. But his eyes didn’t open. I felt as though I would never be able to move again. That I would turn into part of the stone wall. I wanted to be stone. If they dug a hole for Jamie in the empty desert, they would have to put me in it, too. Not good enough, Melanie growled. I was despairing, but she was filled with fury. They tried. Trying solves nothing. Jamie will not die. They have to go back out. For what purpose? Even if they did find your old antibiotics, what are the chances they would still be any good? They only worked half the time anyway. Inferior. He doesn’t need your medicine. He needs more than that. Something that really works†¦ My breathing sped up, deepened as I saw it. He needs mine, I realized. Mel and I were both awestruck by the obviousness of this idea. The simplicity of it. My stone lips cracked apart. â€Å"Jamie needs real medicines. The ones the souls have. We need to get him those.† Doc frowned at me. â€Å"We don’t even know what those things do, how they work.† â€Å"Does it matter?† Some of Melanie’s anger was seeping into my voice. â€Å"They do work. They can save him.† Jared stared at me. I could feel Ian’s eyes on me, too, and Kyle’s, and all the rest in the room. But I saw only Jared. â€Å"We can’t get ’em, Wanda,† Jeb said, his tone already one of defeat. Giving up. â€Å"We can only get into deserted places. There’s always a bunch of your kind in a hospital. Twenty-four hours a day. Too many eyes. We won’t do Jamie any good if we get caught.† â€Å"Sure,† Kyle said in a hard voice. â€Å"The centipedes will be only too happy to heal his body when they find us here. And make him one of them. Is that what you’re after?† I turned to glare at the big, sneering man. My body tensed and leaned forward. Ian put his hand on my shoulder as if he were holding me back. I didn’t think I would have made any aggressive move toward Kyle, but maybe I was wrong. I was so far from my normal self. When I spoke, my voice was dead even, no inflection. â€Å"There has to be a way.† Jared was nodding. â€Å"Maybe someplace small. The gun would make too much noise, but if there were enough of us to overwhelm them, we could use knives.† â€Å"No.† My arms came unfolded, my hands falling open in shock. â€Å"No. That’s not what I meant. Not killing -â€Å" No one even listened to me. Jeb was arguing with Jared. â€Å"There’s no way, kid. Somebody’d get a call off to the Seekers. Even if we were in and out, something like that would bring ’em down on us in force. We’d be hard-pressed to make it out at all. And they’d follow.† â€Å"Wait. Can’t you -â€Å" They still weren’t listening to me. â€Å"I don’t want the boy to die, either, but we can’t risk everyone’s lives for one person,† Kyle said. â€Å"People die here; it happens. We can’t get crazy to save one boy.† I wanted to choke him, to cut off his air in order to stop his calm words. Me, not Melanie. I was the one who wanted to turn his face purple. Melanie felt the same way, but I could tell how much of the violence came directly from me. â€Å"We have to save him,† I said, louder now. Jeb looked at me. â€Å"Hon, we can’t just walk in there and ask.† Right then, another very simple and obvious truth occurred to me. â€Å"You can’t. But I can.† The room fell dead silent. I was caught up in the beauty of the plan forming in my head. The perfection of it. I spoke mostly to myself, and to Melanie. She was impressed. This would work. We could save Jamie. â€Å"They aren’t suspicious. Not at all. Even if I’m a horrible liar, they would never suspect me of anything. They wouldn’t be listening for lies. Of course not. I’m one of them. They would do anything to help me. I’d say I got hurt hiking or something†¦ and then I’d find a way to be alone and I’d take as much as I could hide. You read "The Host Chapter 43: Frenzied" in category "Essay examples" Think of it! I could get enough to heal everyone here. To last for years. And Jamie would be fine! Why didn’t I think of this before? Maybe it wouldn’t have been too late even for Walter.† I looked up then, with shining eyes. It was just so perfect! So perfect, so absolutely right, so obvious to me, that it took me forever to understand the expressions on their faces. If Kyle’s had not been so explicit, it might have taken me longer. Hatred. Suspicion. Fear. Even Jeb’s poker face was not enough. His eyes were tight with mistrust. Every face said no. Are they insane? Can’t they see how this would help us all? They don’t believe me. They think I’ll hurt them, hurt Jamie! â€Å"Please,† I whispered. â€Å"It’s the only way to save him.† â€Å"Patient, isn’t it?† Kyle spit. â€Å"Bided its time well, don’t you think?† I fought the desire to choke him again. â€Å"Doc?† I begged. He didn’t meet my eyes. â€Å"Even if there was any way we could let you outside, Wanda†¦ I just couldn’t trust drugs I don’t understand. Jamie’s a tough kid. His system will fight this off.† â€Å"We’ll go out again, Wanda,† Ian murmured. â€Å"We’ll find something. We won’t come back until we do.† â€Å"That’s not good enough.† The tears were pooling in my eyes. I looked to the one person who might possibly be in as much pain as I was. â€Å"Jared. You know. You know I would never let anything hurt Jamie. You know I can do this. Please.† He met my gaze for one long moment. Then he looked around the room, at every other face. Jeb, Doc, Kyle, Ian, Trudy. Out the door at the silent audience whose expressions mirrored Kyle’s: Sharon, Violetta, Lucina, Reid, Geoffrey, Heath, Heidi, Andy, Aaron, Wes, Lily, Carol. My friends mixed in with my enemies, all of them wearing Kyle’s face. He stared at the next row, which I couldn’t see. Then he looked down at Jamie. There was no sound of breathing in the whole room. â€Å"No, Wanda,† he said quietly. â€Å"No.† A sigh of relief from the rest. My knees buckled. I fell forward and yanked free of Ian’s hands when he tried to pull me back up. I crawled to Jamie and pushed Trudy aside with my elbow. The silent room watched. I took the compress from his head and refilled the melted ice. I didn’t meet the stares I could feel on my skin. I couldn’t see anyway. The tears swam in front of my eyes. â€Å"Jamie, Jamie, Jamie,† I crooned. â€Å"Jamie, Jamie, Jamie.† I couldn’t seem to do anything but sob out his name and touch the packets of ice over and over, waiting for the moment they would need changing. I heard them leave, a few at a time. I heard their voices, mostly angry, fade away down the halls. I couldn’t make sense of the words, though. Jamie, Jamie, Jamie†¦ â€Å"Jamie, Jamie, Jamie†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ian knelt beside me when the room was almost empty. â€Å"I know you wouldn’t†¦ but Wanda, they’ll kill you if you try,† he whispered. â€Å"After what happened†¦ in the hospital. They’re afraid you have good reason to destroy us†¦ Anyway, he’ll be all right. You have to trust that.† I turned my face from him, and he went away. â€Å"Sorry, kid,† Jeb mumbled when he left. Jared left. I didn’t hear him go, but I knew when he was gone. That seemed right to me. He didn’t love Jamie the way we did. He had proved that. He should go. Doc stayed, watching helplessly. I didn’t look at him. The daylight faded slowly, turned orange and then gray. The ice melted and was gone. Jamie started to burn alive under my hands. â€Å"Jamie, Jamie, Jamie†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My voice was cracked and hoarse now, but I couldn’t stop. â€Å"Jamie, Jamie, Jamie†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The room turned black. I couldn’t see Jamie’s face. Would he leave in the night? Had I already seen his face, his living face, for the last time? His name was just a whisper on my lips now, low enough that I could hear Doc’s quiet snoring. I wiped the tepid cloth across his body without ceasing. As the water dried, it cooled him a little. The burn lessened. I began to believe that he wouldn’t die tonight. But I wouldn’t be able to hold him here forever. He would slip away from me. Tomorrow. The next day. And then I would die, too. I would not live without Jamie. Jamie, Jamie, Jamie†¦ Melanie groaned. Jared didn’t believe us. The lament was both of ours. We thought it at the same time. It was still silent. I didn’t hear anything. Nothing alerted me. Then, suddenly, Doc cried out. The sound was oddly muffled, like he was shouting into a pillow. My eyes couldn’t make sense of the shapes in the darkness at first. Doc was jerking strangely. And he seemed too big-like he had too many arms. It was terrifying. I leaned over Jamie’s inert form, to protect him from whatever was happening. I could not flee while he lay helpless. My heart pounded against my ribs. Then the flailing arms were still. Doc’s snore started up again, louder and thicker than before. He slumped to the ground, and the shape separated. A second figure pulled itself away from his and stood in the darkness. â€Å"Let’s go,† Jared whispered. â€Å"We don’t have time to waste.† My heart nearly exploded. He believes. I jumped to my feet, forcing my stiff knees to unbend. â€Å"What did you do to Doc?† â€Å"Chloroform. It won’t last long.† I turned quickly and poured the warm water over Jamie, soaking his clothes and the mattress. He didn’t stir. Perhaps that would keep him cool until Doc woke up. â€Å"Follow me.† I was on his heels. We moved silently, almost touching, almost running but not quite. Jared hugged the walls, and I did the same. He stopped when we reached the light of the moon-bright garden room. It was deserted and still. I could see Jared clearly for the first time. He had the gun slung behind his back and a knife sheathed at his waist. He held out his hands, and there was a length of dark fabric in them. I understood at once. The whispered words raced out of my mouth. â€Å"Yes, blindfold me.† He nodded, and I closed my eyes while he tied the cloth over them. I would keep them closed anyway. The knot was quick and tight. When he was done, I spun myself in a fast circle-once, twice†¦ His hands stopped me. â€Å"That’s okay,† he said. And then he gripped me harder and lifted me off the ground. I gasped in surprise as he threw me against his shoulder. I folded there, my head and chest hanging over his back, beside the gun. His arms held my legs against his chest, and he was already moving. I bounced as he jogged, my face brushing against his shirt with each stride. I had no sense of which way we were going; I didn’t try to guess or think or feel. I concentrated only on the bouncing of his gait, counting steps. Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three†¦ I could feel him lean as the path took him down and then up. I tried not to think about it. Four hundred twelve, four hundred thirteen, four hundred fourteen†¦ I knew when we were out. I smelled the dry, clean breeze of the desert. The air was hot, though it had to be close to midnight. He pulled me down and set me on my feet. â€Å"The ground is flat. Do you think you can run blindfolded?† â€Å"Yes.† He grabbed my elbow tightly in his hand and took off, setting a rigorous pace. It wasn’t easy. He caught me time and time again before I could fall. I started to get used to it after a while, and I kept my balance better over the tiny pits and rises. We ran until we were both gasping. â€Å"If†¦ we can get†¦ to the jeep†¦ we’ll be in†¦ the clear.† The jeep? I felt a strange wave of nostalgia. Mel hadn’t seen the jeep since the first leg of that disastrous trip to Chicago, hadn’t known it had survived. â€Å"If we†¦ can’t?† I asked. â€Å"They catch us†¦ they’ll kill you. Ian’s†¦ right about†¦ that part.† I tried to run faster. Not to save my life, but because I was the only one who could save Jamie’s. I stumbled again. â€Å"Going to†¦ take off the blindfold. You’ll be†¦ faster.† â€Å"You sure?† â€Å"Don’t†¦ look around. ‘Kay?† â€Å"Promise.† He yanked at the knots behind my head. As the fabric fell away from my eyes, I focused them only on the ground at my feet. It made a world of difference. The moonlight was bright, and the sand was very smooth and pale. Jared dropped his arm and broke into a faster stride. I kept up easily now. Distance running was familiar to my body. I settled into my preferred stride. Just over a six-minute mile, I’d guess. I couldn’t keep up that pace forever, but I’d run myself into the ground trying. â€Å"You hear†¦ anything?† he asked. I listened. Just two sets of running feet on the sand. â€Å"No.† He grunted in approval. I guessed this was the reason he’d stolen the gun. They couldn’t stop us from a distance without it. It took about an hour more. I was slowing then, and so was he. My mouth burned for water. I’d never looked up from the ground, so it startled me when he put his hand over my eyes. I faltered, and he pulled us to a walk. â€Å"We’re okay now. Just ahead†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He left his hand over my eyes and tugged me forward. I heard our footsteps echo off something. The desert wasn’t as flat here. â€Å"Get in.† His hand disappeared. It was nearly as dark as it was with him covering my eyes. Another cave. Not a deep one. If I turned around, I would be able to see out of it. I didn’t turn. The jeep faced into the darkness. It looked just the same as I remembered it, this vehicle I had never seen. I swung myself over the door into the seat. Jared was in his seat already. He leaned over and tied the blindfold over my eyes again. I held still to make it easier. The noise of the engine scared me. It seemed too dangerous. There were so many people who shouldn’t find us now. We moved in reverse briefly, and then the wind was blasting my face. There was a funny sound behind the jeep, something that didn’t fit Melanie’s memories. â€Å"We’re going to Tucson,† he told me. â€Å"We never raid there-it’s too close. But we don’t have time for anything else. I know where a small hospital is, not too deep into town.† â€Å"Not Saint Mary’s?† He heard the alarm in my voice. â€Å"No, why?† â€Å"I know someone there.† He was quiet for a minute. â€Å"Will you be recognized?† â€Å"No. No one will know my face. We don’t have†¦ wanted people. Not like you did.† â€Å"Okay.† But he had me thinking now, thinking about my appearance. Before I could voice my concerns, he took my hand and folded it around something very small. â€Å"Keep that close to you.† â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"If they guess that you’re†¦ with us, if they’re going to†¦ put someone else in Mel’s body, you put that in your mouth and bite down on it hard.† â€Å"Poison?† â€Å"Yes.† I thought about that for a moment. And then I laughed; I couldn’t help it. My nerves were frayed with worry. â€Å"It’s not a joke, Wanda,† he said angrily. â€Å"If you can’t do it, then I have to take you back.† â€Å"No, no, I can.† I tried to get a hold of myself. â€Å"I know I can. That’s why I’m laughing.† His voice was harsh. â€Å"I don’t get the joke.† â€Å"Don’t you see? For millions of my own kind, I’ve never been able to do that. Not for my own†¦ children. I was always too afraid to die that final time. But I can do it for one alien child.† I laughed again. â€Å"It doesn’t make any sense. Don’t worry, though. I can die to protect Jamie.† â€Å"I’m trusting you to do just that.† It was silent for a moment, and then I remembered what I looked like. â€Å"Jared, I don’t look right. For walking into a hospital.† â€Å"We’ve got better clothes stashed with the†¦ less-conspicuous vehicles. That’s where we’re headed now. About five more minutes.† That wasn’t what I meant, but he was right. These clothes would never do. I waited to talk to him about the rest. I needed to look at myself first. The jeep stopped, and he pulled off the blindfold. â€Å"You don’t have to keep your eyes down,† he told me when my head ducked automatically. â€Å"There’s nothing here to give us away. Just in case this place was ever discovered.† It wasn’t a cave. It was a rock slide. A few of the bigger boulders had been carefully excavated, leaving clever dark spaces under them that no one would suspect of housing anything but dirt and smaller rocks. The jeep was already lodged in a tight space. I was so close to the rock, I had to climb over the back of the jeep to get out. There was something odd attached to the bumper-chains and two very dirty tarps, all ragged and torn. â€Å"Here,† Jared said, and led the way to a shadowy crevice just a little shorter than he was. He brushed aside a dusty, dirt-colored tarp and rifled through a pile hiding behind it. He pulled out a T-shirt, soft and clean, with tags still attached. He ripped those off and threw the shirt to me. Then he dug until he found a pair of khaki pants. He checked the size, then flipped them to me, too. â€Å"Put them on.† I hesitated for a moment while he waited, wondering what my problem was. I flushed and then turned my back to him. I yanked my ragged shirt over my head and replaced it as quickly as my fumbling fingers could manage. I heard him clear his throat. â€Å"Oh. I’ll, uh, get the car.† His footsteps moved away. I stripped off my tattered cutoff sweats and pulled the crisp new pants into place. My shoes were in bad shape, but they weren’t that noticeable. Besides, comfortable shoes weren’t always easy to come by. I could pretend I had an attachment to this pair. Another engine came to life, quieter than the jeep’s. I turned to see a modest, unremarkable sedan pull out of a deep shadow under a boulder. Jared got out and chained the tattered tarps from the jeep to this car’s rear bumper. Then he drove it to where I stood, and as I saw the heavy tarps wipe the tire tracks from the dirt, I comprehended their purpose. Jared leaned across the seat to open the passenger door. There was a backpack on the seat. It lay flat, empty. I nodded to myself. Yes, this I needed. â€Å"Let’s go.† â€Å"Hold on,† I said. I crouched to look at myself in the side mirror. Not good. I flipped my chin-length hair over my cheek, but it wasn’t enough. I touched my cheek and bit my lip. â€Å"Jared. I can’t go in with my face like this.† I pointed to the long, jagged scar across my skin. â€Å"What?† he demanded. â€Å"No soul would have a scar like this. They would have had it treated. They’ll wonder where I’ve been. They’ll ask questions.† His eyes widened and then narrowed. â€Å"Maybe you should have thought of this before I snuck you out. If we go back now, they’ll think it was a ploy for you to learn the way out.† â€Å"We’re not going back without medicine for Jamie.† My voice was harder than his. His got harder to match it. â€Å"What do you propose we do, then, Wanda?† â€Å"I’ll need a rock.† I sighed. â€Å"You’re going to have to hit me.† How to cite The Host Chapter 43: Frenzied, Essay examples

How Technology Has Changed Our Lives Essay Example For Students

How Technology Has Changed Our Lives Essay Technology has traditionally evolved as the result ofhuman needs. Invention, when prized andrewarded, will invariably rise-up to meet the freemarket demands of society. It is in this realm thatArtificial Intelligence research and the resultantexpert systems have been forged. Much of the materialthat relates to the field of Artificial Intelligencedeals with human psychology and the nature ofconsciousness. Exhaustive debate on consciousness andthe possibilities of consciousnessness in machines hasadequately, in my opinion, revealed that it is mostunlikely that we will ever converse or interract witha machine of artificial consciousness. In JohnSearles collection of lectures, Minds, Brains andScience, arguments centering around the mind-bodyproblem alone is sufficient to convince a reasonableperson that there is no way science will ever unravelthe mysteries of consciousness. Key to Searlesanalysis of consciousness in the context of ArtificialIntelligence machines are refutations of stro ng andweak AI theses. Strong AI Theorists (SATs) believethat in the future, mankind will forge machines thatwill think as well as, if not better than humans. Tothem, pesent technology constrains this achievement. The Weak AI Theorists (WATs), almost converse to theSATs, believe that if a machine performs functionsthat resemble a humans, then there mustbe a correlation between it and consciousness. Tothem, there is no technological impediment to thinkingmachines, because our most advanced machines alreadythink. It is important to review Searles refutationsof these respective theorists proposition toestablish a foundation (for the purpose of this essay)for discussing the applications of ArtificialIntelligence, both now and in the future. Strong AI Thesis Strong AI Thesis, according to Searle,can be described in four basic propositions. Proposition one categorizes human thought as theresult of computational processes. Given enoughcomputational power, memory, inputs, etc., machineswill be able to think, if you believe thisproposition. Proposition two, in essence, relegatesthe human mind to the software bin. Proponents of thisproposition believe that humans just happen to havebiological computers that run wetware as opposed tosoftware. Proposition three, the Turing proposition,holds that if a conscious being can be convinced that,through context-input manipulation, a machine isintelligent, then it is. proposition four is where theends will meet the means. It purports that when we areable to finally understand the brain, we will be ableto duplicate its functions. Thus, if we replicate thecomputational power of the mind, we will thenunderstand it. Through argument and experimentation,Searle is able to refute or severely diminish these propositions. Searle argues that machines may wellbe able to understand syntax, but not thesemantics, or meaning communicated thereby. Essentially, he makes his point by citing the famousChinese Room Thought Experiment. It is here hedemonstrates that a computer (a non-chinese speaker,a book of rules and the chinese symbols) can fool anative speaker, but have no idea what he is saying. Byproving that entities dont have to understand whatthey are p rocessing to appear as understanding refutesproposition one. Proposition two is refuted by thesimple fact that there are no artificial minds ormind-like devices. Proposition two is thus a matter ofscience fiction rather than a plausible theory A goodchess program, like my (as yet undefeated) Chessmaster4000 Trubo refutes proposition three by passing aTuring test. It appears to be intelligent, but I knowit beats me through number crunching and symbolmanipulation. The Chessmaster 4000 example is also anadequate refutation of Professor Simons fourthproposition: you can understand a process if you canreproduce it. Because the Software Toolworkscompany created a program for my computer thatsimulates the behavior of a grandmasterin the game, doesnt mean that the computer is indeedintelligent. Weak AI Thesis There are five basic propositions thatfall in the Weak AI Thesis (WAT) camp. The first ofthese states that the brain, due to its complexity ofoperation, must function something like a computer,the most sophisticated of human invention. The secondWAT propositionstates that if a machines output, ifit were compared to that of a human counterpartappeared to be the result ofintelligence, then the machine must be so. Propositionthreeconcerns itself with the similaritybetween how humans solve problems and howcomputers do so. By solving problemsbased on information gathered from their respectivesurroundings and memory and by obeyingrules of logic, it is proven that machines canindeed think. The fourth WATproposition deals with the fact that brains are knownto havecomputational abilities and that aprogram therein can be inferred. Therefore, the mindisjust a big program (wetware). Thefifth and final WAT proposition states that, since themind appears to be wetware, dualismis valid. Proposition one of the Weak AI Thesisis refuted by gazing into the past. People havehistorically associated the state ofthe art technology of the time to have elements ofintelligence and consciou sness. Anexample of this is shown in the telegraph system ofthelatter part of the last century. Acid Rain (3433 words) EssayModern neural network systemproperties include a greatly enhanced computationalabilitydue to the parallelism of theircircuitry. They have also proven themselves in fieldssuch asmapping, where minor errors aretolerable, there is alot of example-data, and whererulesare generally hard to nail-down. Educating neural networks begins byprogramming a backpropigation of error, which isthe foundational operating systemsthat defines the inputs and outputs of the system. Thebest example I can cite is the Windowsoperating system from Microsoft. Of-course,personal computers dont learn byexample, but Windows-based software will not runoutside (or in the absence) ofWindows. One negative feature of educatingneural networks by backpropigation of error is aphenomena known as, overfitting. Overfitting errors occur when conflictinginformationis memorized, so the neural networkexhibits a degraded state of function as a result. Atthe worst, the expert system maylock-up, but it is more common to see an impeded stateof operation. By running programs inthe operating shell that review data against a database, these problems have beenminimalized. In the real world, we are seeing anincreasing prevalence of neural networks. To fullyrealize the potential benefits ofneural networks our lives, research must be intenseandglobal in nature. In the course of myresearch on this essay, I was privy to severalinstitutions and organizationsdedicated to the collaborative development of neuralnetworkexpert systems. To be a success, research anddevelopment of neural networking must address societalproblems of high interest andintrigue. Motivating the talents of the computingindustry willbe the only way we will fully realizethe benefits and potential power of neural networks. There would be no support, naturally,if there was no short-term progress. Research anddevelopment of neural networks must beintensive enough to show results before interestwanes. New technology must be developedthrough basic research to enhance the capabilities ofneural net expert systems. It isgenerally acknowledged that the future of neuralnetworks depends on overcoming manytechnological challenges, such as datacross-talk (caused by radio frequency generation ofrapid data transfer) and limited databandwidth. Real-world applications of theseintelligent neural network expert systems include,according to the ArtificialIntelligence Center, Knowbots/Infobots and intelligentHelp desks. These are primarily easily accessibleentities that will host a wealth of data and adviceforprospective users. Autonomous vehiclesare another future application of intelligent neuralnetworks. There may come a time in thefuture where planes will fly themselves and taxiswill deliver passengers without humanintervention. Translation is a wonderful possibilityof these expert systems. Imagine theability to have a device translate your English spokenwords into Mandarin Chinese! This goesbeyond simple languages and syntacticalmanipulation. Cultural gulfs inlanguage would also be the focus of such devices. Through the course of Mind andMachine, we have established that artificialintelligencesfunction will not be to replicate theconscious state of man, but to act as an auxiliary tohim. Proponents of Strong AI Thesisand Weak AI Thesis may hold out, but the inevitablewill manifest itself in the end. It may be easy to ridicule thoseproponents, but I submit that in their research intomakingconscio us machines, they are doing thefield a favor in the innovations and discoveriesthey make. In conclusion, technology will prevailin the field of expert systems only if the philosophybehind them is clear and strong. Weshould not strive to make machines that may supplantour causal powers, but rather onesthat complement them. To me, these expert systemswill not replace man they shouldnt. We will see a future where we shall increasingly findourselves working beside intelligentsystems.