Carrie Buck Essay Example for Free

Carrie Buck Essay Buck versus Bell 274 U. S. 2000 (1927) was the United States Supreme Court ruling that upheld a statue instituting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the mentally retarded â€Å"for the protection and health of the state. † (Holmes) It was largely seen as an endorsement of negative eugenics which is the attempt of science to improve the human race by eliminating â€Å"defectives† from the gene pool. (Elof) Paul Lombardo argues (in N. Y. U. Law Review, April 1985, 60(30):30-62) that the Buck case was a milestone in government power over individual rights. Lambardo) In his essay â€Å"Carrie Buck’s Daughter: a popular, quasi-scientific idea can be a powerful tool for injustice,† Stephen Jay Gould attacks the injustice of the false â€Å"science† of eugenics, and champions Carrie Buck as the example of the victims. This paper aims scrutinized Gould’s writing skills by studying and analyzing the five metaphors he used in the essay. First, the comparison to Judeo-Christian (Exodus) and pagan Greco-Roman (philosopher Plato) ideas of punishment through 3 generations which is unjust will be tackled. Second, Carrie Buck is an instrument of showing the people what injustice is. Third, the references to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi’s policy of eugenics through gas ovens will be analyzed. Fourth, the issue of the dishonesty of the American legal system and the issue regarding Oliver Wendell Holmes will prove that government powers overpower the individual rights. This should not be the case. Lastly, the metaphor from the ballad â€Å"Barbara Allen† will be talked about. At the end this paper will also examine and evaluate whether Gould succeeded or not in his argument or persuasion essay Gould was a world renowned historian of science. (Shermer) This is why one believes that he uses metaphors that happened in history. He wanted to prove his arguments by relating to what has already happened in the past which is unique for a writer to do. The first metaphor was a comparison to Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman ideas of punishment through 3 generations. In addition to that is the superstition of bad things happens in threes. One supposes that Gould wants the readers to realize the similarity of the ruling and the ancient beliefs. He argued though that the injustice here is that the children are innocent of the crimes of their fathers or grandfathers. (Gould) When Gould referred to Adolf Hitler as the perfect metaphor for evil, it could be he was coming from a point of view that no person in the history of the world had done what Adolf Hitler did and all for the reason of eugenics. Gould was also known to write about philosophical matters. He was clearly disgusted by the eradication of over 9 million people through gas ovens just because they were considered â€Å"imperfect. † (Gould) How could Hitler know what is perfect if he is imperfect? Surely, it seems illogical when one sees this argument. As for the issue of dishonesty of the American legal system were the victims were not told of sterilization and that the government falsified records was just plain unjust. The government does not have powers to undermine the rights of any individual. The individual is in the proper perspective to know how to better a government and a sense of bettering a society rather than one person holding a high office. That should better fulfill each individual needs and in turn produce a more controlled government. A government should be entirely equal to all citizens and each individual should make his or her own decisions. (Rousseau) One of the most notable documents in history tells of the necessity of individual rights and explains why those rights are a necessity. Individuals’ wants and needs could possibly be blind to the state running the government and everyday pleasures that many take for granted could quickly come to light once they were gone. Often, the state does not visualize this method and can sometimes ignore the individual’s needs all together when proposing things. This basically give power to the federal government to control and set laws for people instead of letting the individual think for him or herself and control their own actions. With having the states predominate control over individuals, problems often occur and the different laws and propositions could alienate some people. The Declaration of Independence originally established different rights for the population of the United States in which gave the people rights of freedom that the citizens needed and a norm to have a guide for the people. Plato’s â€Å"from Crito† is a document that established and guidelines to be held by the states instead of the individual. The Declaration of Independence sought for individual unlike the principles regarded in â€Å"from Crito†, in which saw the power of the government to be lead by the state. Over time people have swayed from the views of the Declaration of Independence and have abused their rights that were allowed to them. That should be no reason to have these freedoms taken from them. Individual rights are a must in society and are important in the function of everyday life. The individual’s rights should predominate and not the government powers. In fact, the government has defeated their purpose by doing acts like fraud and telling lies. (Rousseau) They have the responsibility to defend and protect the innocent and helpless against people that will try to harm them. In this case, the people who are harming the innocent are the ones that should have been protecting the victims. Gould argued that as we can see in the evidences that Carrie Bucker is a victim of this injustice. Gould also made a reference to the ballad â€Å"Barbara Allen†. The ballad was about two lovers who were united only in their deaths which is similar to what has happened to the mother and child in the Buck case. Carrie and Vivian Buck were reunited when they were already dead. Gould’s tone during this part was a person who mourns as if the two people were related to him. He was so disappointed in what happened in their lives and was disappointed that because of the injustice done by the government we see the end of the Buck lineage with Vivian. Stephen Jay Gould is one unique writer. What distinguishes Gould from other writers is that he has taken his work beyond academia and into everyday life. He takes certain aspects of information in history or in any topic that appeal to a general audience and makes them relevant to the here and now. Gould uses his unique style to condense the key contributions of influential figures into a single essay. He also uses his own seemingly mundane experiences to make larger points. In this essay, one could see that readers will be enthralled to read from the very first page. He uses ordinary language but this does not mean that the depth of his words and thoughts would suffer. One can also see that he uses different perspectives in looking at the problem and not just contained in his expertise. He definitely succeeded in this persuasion essay if what he really wants was to open the eyes of the public to the negative effects of eugenics in our lives. Gould captures the emotions of the readers by using information that is both scientific and historical. However, if one questions whether Gould was impartial or objective then one would say that he was impartial. Although he did not directly state it in the essay, one could feel his emotions when one is reading through the article. Gould has established an interesting point in this essay. It was fascinating to see how he had developed the theme and wrapped it up. The essay was like a more structured version of a good and intellectual conversation. Gould has his own unique philosophy of science that has influenced both his career and his life. That philosophy can best be summed up in a quotation from Charles Darwin, frequently cited by Gould as a sound principle of philosophy: â€Å"All observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service. † (Darwin) Gould has followed Darwin’s advice throughout his career and his extensive writings.

Euthanasia: The Strange Case of Dr. Kevorkian Essay -- Argumentative

Euthanasia: The Strange Case of Dr. Kevorkian Physicians face an ethical dilemma when confronting their patients who are suffering. Many have to choose between abiding by the law or ignoring the law and acting on their own beliefs by assisting in a patient’s suicide. Dr. Jack Kevorkian is certainly one doctor who has taken the illegal route in assisting in many of his patients suicides. In â€Å"Killer Doc,† William F. Buckley provides a brief overview of the case and informs his audience of the shocking incidents of Kevorkian’s performed euthanasia on Thomas Youk. In â€Å"Offering a Helping Hand to those Who Long to Die,† Mark Nichols compares the famous euthanasia doctors, Dr. Kevorkian and Austrailia’s Dr. Philip Nitschke. Dr. Kevorkian was an avid supporter of euthanasia. He believed people shouldn’t have to suffer if they chose not to. As a result, the unlawful physician would rig machinery so that the patient had the opportunity to kill him/herself. Buckley introduced the case of Thomas Youk in which his death was taped on a home video. The documentary was later shown ...

Allotropes of Carbon Essay

Allotropes are the existence of an element in more than one form. Carbon is one of the elements that contain many allotropes. Each allotrope of carbon has its own different properties. The allotropes of carbon are diamond, graphite, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanobuds, amorphous carbon, glassy carbon, lonsdaleite, and carbon nanofoam. Diamond is the best know allotrope of carbon. It is the hardest known natural mineral which makes it very rough. In the structure of the diamond, each carbon atom is covalently bonded to four other carbon atoms and has a tetrahedral shape, meaning it is a nonpolar molecule. Diamond has a very melting point and has a density of 3.51 grams per cubic centimeter. Graphite is the second allotrope of carbon. Its atoms of carbon are arranged in layers. Within each layer of carbon atoms, the atoms join to form six-membered rings and each carbon atom is connected to three others. Two of the three bonds is a single covalent bond and the other bond is a double covalent bond. Graphite is very soft and slippery because the layers are not chemically bonded and can slide over the other. Graphite also has electrical conductivity and is less dense than Carbon since its density is 2.22 grams per cubic centimeter. A third allotrope of carbon is the fullerenes. Each atom is bonded to three other atoms of carbon just like in the graphite structure, however, the atoms join to form both five-membered rings and six-membered rings. The chemical properties of fullerenes are still being researched by scientists and they are also studied for potential medical use in the belief that they can be put into specific antibiotics to target bacteria and cancer cells. Another allotrope of carbon is carbon nanotubes. They have a cylindrical or circular cylinder shape. The name nanotube comes from their size because they only have a diameter of a few nanometers. They are made up of layers of graphite in the form of a cylinder and they are often closed at both ends(wikipedia). They exist as single or multi walled nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes have many properties that make them useful in many things. They are extremely strong, and they have special electrical properties. Their  unique electrical properties make them a very good conductor of heat. Nanotubes can be made in two ways. One is by mixing the soot of nanotubes of carbon in water and surfactant. The solution is rotated into a substance that is able to collect the nanotubes. Then a liquid is injected to help the formation of the rectangular shape, which later rolls itself into a cylinder shape. The other way is to decompose methane with a catalyst. Carbon nanobuds are a newly discovered allotrope of carbon. They have fullerene like buds that are covalently attached to the outer walls of nanotubes. It is basically a combination of carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. This is because nanobuds have a combination of the useful properties of both nanotubes and fullerenes. Carbon nanobuds are exceptionally good field emitters. Amorphous carbon is the name used for carbon when it does not have any crystalline structure. Some short range order can be seen but there is no long range pattern of atomic position. Amorphous carbon is used to describe the carbon materials found in soot and coal that is neither graphite nor diamond. Another allotrope of carbon is glassy carbon. Glassy carbon is a class of non-graphitizing carbon that is mostly used as an electrode material used in electrochemistry. It was first made by using cellulose but later it started being produced with a similar material phenolic resin. The making of glassy carbon is by taking organic precursors and exposing it to a series of heat treatments. Glassy carbon is impermeable to gases. The oxidation of certain glassy carbons in oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor are much lower then of any other carbon. They are also highly resistant to acids. Lonsdaleite is a hexagonal allotrope of the carbon allotrope diamond. This allotrope is also known as â€Å"hexagonal diamond†. It is believed to be formed when meteoric graphite falls to the Earth. The great heat and stress of the impact causes it to turn into diamond however it retains the graphite hexagonal crystal lattice. Lonsdaleite has a transparent brownish yellow color. It has a hardness of 7-8 on Mohs hardness scale. The reason why it  has a lower hardness then diamond is because of the imperfections in the naturally occurring materials. Lonsdaleite can also be made by the thermal decomposition of a polymer at the atmospheric pressure under argon starting at 110 degrees Celsius. A final allotrope of carbon is carbon nanofoam. It consists of a low density cluster assembly of carbon atoms strung together to form a three dimensional web. Each cluster of carbons are about 6 nanometers wide and have about 4000 carbon atoms that are linked together in graphite like sheets that are given negative curvatures. This is because there are heptagons within the regular hexagonal pattern(saskschools). Carbon nanofoam is a poor conductor of electricity and they have many unpaired electrons. It is believed that the unpaired electrons are due to bonding defects. http://www.chemsoc.org/ExemplarChem/entries/2003/bristol_shanley/carbonallotropes/ http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/chem20/networks/allotrop.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotropes_of_carbon

Graduation Speech English Class - 888 Words

English class seemed to be the most dreadful to take within school. Writing essays for most of my grade in a class is not what I was looking forward too. When I entered college I knew that it would be one of many challenging classes I would have to take. Starting from the lowest English class to moving on up, the writing assignments became longer and more thought out. The time came when I got into this class that I knew more work was going to have to be put into essays and thus brought out what I had not seen before in my work progress. At the beginning of this class I was nervous on how this semester will go and whether or not I will succeed to my fullest potential in English. With that in my mind I still was trying my best to work at getting better, despite how much it made me cringe at the thought of it. My perspective of writing began to change as time went on, the assignments were based on interesting topics which made it a bit bearable for me. 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