`` Violence Vanquished `` By Steven Pinker - 1355 Words

In his Wall Street Journal essay, â€Å"Violence Vanquished,† Steven Pinker claims that contrary to perceived notions of increasing violence and turbulence in the world, brutality is declining and empathy is on the rise.† Pinker establishes this argument through numeric comparisons of death tolls, genocides and other aggressive perpetrations in modern society with those in prehistoric times. He credits the fall in these quantifications of â€Å"violence† to the processes of pacification, civilization, humanitarian revolution, Long Peace, New Peace and the rights revolution that have together created an environment conducive to â€Å"our better angels.† While Pinker does an efficient job substantiating these claims with abstract examples of our â€Å"bloody history† drawn from sources like the Old Testament and feudal lifestyles, his argument rests upon a narrow denotation of violence that only looks at human death and no other manifestation of aggression. Though Pinker organizes his argument to prove each development process’s impact on peace, he fails to acknowledge the price society has paid in ways like global warming, diplomatic inadequacy and weak national governments. The data Pinker uses to prove his point obscures the collateral damage social change has generated by creating new forms of violence that are as destructive as wars but disproportionately affected certain communities. Although Pinker references historical violence as portrayed in, â€Å"gory mutilations in Shakespeare s

Essay on Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Film vs. Novel

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Film vs. Novel The film is severely different from the novel, as the director, Gary Sinise, made deliberate changes to influence the audiences feelings and reactions. He has altered and added scenes as he saw this as necessary to create the right kind of atmosphere and to keep the plot flowing. The whole story is about two men, George and Lennie. These are very two very different characters; the novel describes them as opposites. Lennie is a very large and burly while George is small and quick. In the book they wear exactly the same thing, but as the film has to rely on devices and stereotypes to pass the message across quickly, they dress Lennie in dungarees to show how different they†¦show more content†¦The length of the credits creates tension. The credits slowly melt into a scene on a train; the music changes also as the sound effects of the train merge into the soundtrack. Slowly the music disappears; there is a light that flashes past the wooden side of the cabin. This reminds you slightly of a prison, the light being searchlights and the wooden side the bars of a cell. Suddenly the music restarts as the image of George sitting on the train appears. It is still in black and white to keep it sombre then to emphasise the fact it bursts into colour; this makes the audience sit up and pay attention. As this happens, cymbals crash- the film has started properly, the music has returned but it has changed, it has built up, and gained more instruments. The director chose this type of music to create tension and a sorrowful atmosphere; this causes the audience to become jumpy and sad. The red dress of the girl signifies danger, it is torn quite severely but the white underwear could symbolise innocence. As she runs past the camera she is panting and crying and as she runs. These show something is wrong. In the novel they are dressed identically but in the film Lennie and George are dressed differently to show how different they are. Lennie is dressed in dungarees to show his childlikeness. The fierceness of the dogs and Lennies stumbling run makes you feel sorry for Lennie and George. George keeps looking overShow MoreRelatedCharacter Analysis Of Curleys Wife1470 Words   |  6 Pages In the novel, Of Mice and Men, there are many characters who face different conflicts that they have to overcome, whether it is man vs. man, man vs. self, or man vs. society. One of the characters who faces both internal and external conflicts is Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife is known for being the ideal stereotypical woman; always wears makeup, is always wearing a dress with heels, and is described as a â€Å"tart.† Although Curley’s wife has these qualities that may make you think shes just

Scientific Revolution Free Essays

Scientific Revolution – Documents Packet Primary and secondary documents are the backbone of historical research. Primary sources give us a first hand account of an event, while secondary sources give us a broader perspective on an event, given time, distance and new insight. As students of history, we must possess the ability to properly analyze a document in order to understand its value. We will write a custom essay sample on Scientific Revolution or any similar topic only for you Order Now This packet of documents relating to the â€Å"scientific revolution† of the 16th 17th centuries is designed to sharpen your historical thinking skills. Assignment: 1. Read each document. 2. Discuss what each document is about. 3. Write: What challenges did scientific minded people faced during the 16th and 17th Century? 4. Which documents are most useful in helping you answer the question above? Why? Give examples of individual documents. |Document 1 | |SECONDARY SOURCE: Michael Postan, â€Å"Why Was Science Backward in the Middle Ages? in A Short History of Science: Origins and Results of the Scientific | |Revolution 1991. | |It is generally agreed that the Middle Ages preserved for the use of later times the science of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Therein lies both the | |scientific achievement and the scientific failure of the medieval civilization. . . . What the Middle Ages took over they did not very much enrich. | |Indeed so small was their own contribution that historians of science are apt to regard the Middle Ages as something of a pause or vacuum in | |scientific advancement. . . although some advance on planes both p urely intellectual and technical there was; yet taken together and placed against | |the vast panorama of medieval life, or indeed against the achievements of Greek and Roman science until in the fourth century B. C. , or with the | |scientific activity of the17th century, all these achievements are bound to appear very poor. Why then this poverty? | | | |To this question many answers can be and have been given. But what most of them boil down to is the absence in medieval life of what I should be | |inclined to call scientific incentives. Students of science sometimes differ about the true inspiration of scientific progress. Some seek and find it | |in man’s intellectual curiosity, in his desire to understand the workings of nature. Others believe that scientific knowledge grew and still grows out| |of man’s attempts to improve his tools and his methods of production; that, in short, scientific truth is a by-product of technical progress. I do not| |want here to take sides in this particular controversy; what I want to suggest is that the Middle Ages were doubly unfortunate in that both the | |inspirations, the intellectual as well as the practical, failed more or less. | | | |The easiest to account for is the intellectual. The Middle Ages were the age of faith, and to that extent they were unfavorable to scientific | |speculation. It is not that scientists as such were proscribed. For on the whole the persecution of men for their scientific ideas was very rare: rare| |because men with dangerous ideas, or indeed with any scientific ideas at all, were themselves very rare; and it is indeed surprising that there were | |any at all. This does not mean that there were no intellectual giants. All it means is that in an age which was one of faith and men of intellect and | |spirit found the calls of faith itself. To put it simply, they had no time for occupations like science. | | | |In fact they had neither the time nor the inclination. For even if there had been enough men to engage in activities as mundane as science, there | |would still be very little reason for them to do so. In times when medieval religious belief stood whole and un- shaken the intellectual objects and | |the methods of science were, to say the least, unnecessary. The purpose of scientific enquiry is to build up piecemeal a unified theory of the | |universe, of its origin and of its working. But in the Middle Ages was that process really necessary? Did not medieval man already possess in God, in | |the story of Creation a complete explanation of how the world came about and of how, by what means and to what purpose, it was being conducted? Why | |question the bible and the church which held the keys to salvation? | | | |So much for intellectual incentive. The practical incentive was almost equally feeble. Greater understanding of nature could not come from technical | |improvements, chiefly because technical improvements were so few. Medieval occupations continued for centuries without appreciable change of method. |After the great period of initial development, i. e. , after the late eleventh century, the routine of medieval farming in the greater part of Europe | |became as fixed as the landscape itself. During the Middle Ages as a whole technical improvement was very rare and very slow. For this medieval | |economic policy was largely to blame†¦. | | | |What is more, so deeply ingrained was the spirit of protection tha t in every local trade the technical methods were treated as a secret. . . The men| |of the Middle Ages were unable to do more than they did because they were lacking in scientific incentive. | |Document 2 | |SECONDARY SOURCE: Sir George Clark, Early Modern Europe. 1982. | |There were an infinite number of motives which led men to engage in scientific work beginning around the 16th Century at about the same time as the | |â€Å"renaissance† and to encourage the scientific point of view. We may group together some of the most important under general headings, always remembering| |that in actual life each of them was compounded and influenced by the others. There were economic motives. The Portuguese explorers wanted their new | |instrument for navigation; the German mine-owners asked questions about metallurgy and machines for lifting and carrying heavy loads; Italian engineers | |improved their canals and locks and harbors by applying the principles of hydrostatics; English trading companies employed experts who used new methods | |of drawing charts. | | |Not far removed from the economic motives were those of the physicians and surgeons, who revolutionized anatomy and physiology, and did much more good | |than harm with their new medicines and new operations, though some of them now seem absurd. Like the doctors, the soldiers called science to their aid in| |designing and aiming artillery or in planning fortifications. But there were other motives far removed from the economic sphere. Jewelers learnt much | |about precious and semi-precious stones, but so did magicians. | | |Musicians learnt the mathematics of harmony; painters and architects studied light and color, substances and proportions, not only as craftsmen but as | |artists. For a number of reasons religion impelled men to scientific study. The most definite and old-established was the desire to reach absolute | |correctness in calculating the dates for the annual fixed and movable festivals of the Church: it was a pope who presided over the astronomical | |researchers by which the calendar was reformed in the 16th century. | | | |For many reasons, deeper and stronger was the desire to study the wonders of science across Europe, and the order which it unraveled in the universe, as | |manifestations of the Creator’s will by around 1600. | |Document 3 | |PRIMARY SOURCE | |Left – Geocentric model of the universe as first described by Ptolemy (90-168 AD). |Right – H eliocentric model of the universe as first described by Copernicus (1473-1543) | [pic] |Document 4 | |PRIMARY SOURCE: A Letter to Christina of Tuscany from Galileo Galilei, 1615. | |I think that in discussions of physical problems we ought to begin not rom the authority of scriptural passages, but from sense-experiences and | |necessary demonstrations; for the holy Bible and the phenomena of nature proceed alike from the divine Word. It is necessary for the Bible, in order | |to be understood by the average man, to speak many things which appear to differ from the absolute truth so far as the bare meaning of the words is | |concerned. But Nature, on the other hand, is inexorable and immutable and never transgresses the laws imposed upon her, or cares whether reason and | |method of operation are understandable to men†¦ | | | |For that reason it appears that nothing physical which sense-experience sets before our eyes, or which necessary demonstrations prove to us, ought to | |be called in question (much less condemned) upon the testimony of biblical passages which may have some different meaning beneath their words. For the| |Bible is not chained in every expression to conditions as strict as those which govern all physical effects; nor is God any less excellently revealed | |in Nature’s actions than in the sacred statements of the Bible. . . . The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go. | | | |From this I do not mean to infer that we need not have an extraordinary esteem for the passages of Holy Scripture. On the contrary, having arrived at | |any certainties in physics, we ought to utilize these as the most appropriate aids in the true meaning of the Bible and in the investigation of those | |meanings which are necessarily contained therein, for these must be understood with demonstrated truths. I should judge that the authority of the | |Bible was designed to persuade men of those beleifs and propositions which, surpassing all human reasoning, could not be made credible by science, or | |by any other means than through the very mouth of the Holy Spirit. | | |Yet even in those propositions which are not matters of faith, Biblical authority ought to be preferred over that of all human writings which are | |supported only by bare assertions or opinions, and not set forth in a demonstrative way. This I hold to be necessary and proper to the same extent | |that divine wisdom surpasses all human judgment and conjecture†¦ I do not feel obliged to elieve that that same God who has endo wed us with senses, | |reason, and intellect has intended all humanity to forgo their use and by some other means to give us knowledge. | |Document 5 | |PRIMARY SOURCE: The Papal Inquisition’s condemnation of Galileo, 1633. | |We say, pronounce, sentence, and declare that you. he said Galileo, by reason of the matters discussed in trial, and by your confession as you | |rendered, are in the’ judgment of this Holy Office vehemently suspected of heresy, namely, of having believed and held the doctrine-which is false and| |contrary to the sacred and divine Scriptures–that the Sun is the center of the world and does not move from east to west and that the Earth moves and| |is not the center of the world†¦ | | | |Furthermore, your opinion has been declared and defined to be contrary to the Holy Scripture; and that consequently you have incurred all the censures| |and penalties imposed and stated in the sacred laws of the Church, for [breaking] this sacred lawà ¢â‚¬ ¦ | | | |From which we are content that you be absolved, provided that, first, with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, you renounce, curse, and detest before| |us the aforesaid errors and heresies and every other error and heresy contrary to the Catholic and Apostolic Roman Church in the form to be prescribed| |by us for you. | Document 6 PRIMARY SOURCE | |Isaac Newton, The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1729. | |RULE 1 | |We are to admit no more causes of natural things, than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances. | |To this purpose the philosophers say, that Nature does nothing in vain, and more is in vain, when less will serve; for Nature is pleased with simplicity, and | |affects not the pomp of superfluous causes. | |RULE II | |Therefore to the same natural effects we must, as far as possible, assign the same causes. |As to respiration in a man, and in a beast; the descent of stones in Europe and in America; the light of`our culinary fire and of the sun; the reflection of | |light in the earth, and in the planets | |RULE III | |The qualities of bodies, which admit neither intension nor remission of degrees, and which are found to belong to all bodies within reach of our experiments, | |are to be esteemed the universal qualities of all bodies whatsoever. | |For since the qualities of bodies are only known to us by experiments, we are to hold for universal, all such as universally agree with experiments. We are | |certainly not to relinquish the evidence of experiments for the sake of dreams and vain fictions of our own devising†¦. Lastly, if it universally appears, by | |experiments and astronomical observations, that all bodies about the earth, gravitate toward the earth; and that in proportion to the quantity of matter which | |they severally contain; that the moon likewise, according to the quantity of its matter, gravitates toward the earth; that on the other hand our sea gravitates| |toward the moon; and all the planets mutually one toward another; we must, in consequence of this rule, universally allow, that all bodies whatsoever are | |endowed with a principle of mutual gravitation. I affirm gravity to be essential to all bodies. By their inherent force I mean nothing but their force of` | |inertia. This is immutable. | |RULE IV | |In experimental philosophy we are to look upon propositions collected by general induction from phenomena as accurately or very nearly true, notwithstanding | |any contrary hypotheses that may be imagined, till such time as other phenomena occur, by which they may either be made more accurate, or liable to exceptions. | | | |This rule we must follow that the argument of experimentation and evidence may not be evaded by hypotheses. | How to cite Scientific Revolution, Essay examples Scientific Revolution Free Essays

In Drown, author presents readers with an impoverished group of characters through harsh, but vivid language Essay Example For Students

In Drown, author presents readers with an impoverished group of characters through harsh, but vivid language Essay In Drown, a collection of short stories, author Junot Diaz presents readers with an impoverished group of characters through harsh, but vivid language. Through the voice of Yunior, the narrator throughout the majority of the stories, Diaz places the blame for Yuniors negativity and rebellious nature on the disappointment caused by his father and the childhood illusion of America. Diaz, through language and symbolism, forces readers into an emotional bond with Yunior while exposing the illusory nature of the American dream. Although intertwined with each story, Fiesta, 1980 allows for a more concise discussion of Diazs purpose. Diazs language, even at first glance, appears very different from conventional authors: Mamis younger sister- my tia Yrma-finally made it to the United States that year. She and Tio Miguel got themselves an apartment in the Bronxà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦He didnt say nothing to nobody. Drown, 23 Two aspects, his Spanish interjections into the text and his tendency to disregard English rules of grammar, surface in the opening of Fiesta, 1980. Yuniors narratives contain Spanish words an average of about every other sentence. Diaz uses them to keep readers aware of Yuniors culture and homeland, attempting to stop the stifling effect America often has on immigrants cultures. Also, Yuniors rejection of the norms of English writing, evident in the phrases got themselves and nothing to nobody in the above quote, gives his narratives a certain rebellious quality. Not only does he rebel against Americas tendency to smother cultural values but rebelling against American rules in general, even the rules of grammar. Diaz continues his grammatical attack on the United States rules with his lack of quotation marks: Papi pulled me to my feet by my ear. If you throw up- I wont I cried, tears in my eyesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Ya, Ramon, ya. Its not his fault, Mami said. All of the conversations are printed in the manner above, without any quotation marks and sometimes even a new paragraph to indicate another speaker. Diaz successfully attacks the United States in Yuniors defense, but through language style rather than blatant statements. Yuniors narration, besides being a political one, also appears very negative, but also extremely personal. His voice is conversational, which has a powerful effect: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦trooped back into the living room with their plates a-heaping and all the adults ducked back into the living room, where the radio was playing loud-ass bachatas. Drown, 37 In the above quote Yunior invents the words a-heaping and loud-ass, but the reader understands what he means. Yuniors casual wording, essential to the tone, creates the illusion that the reader knows him personally and thus demands an emotional response to his suffering. His negativity, undoubtedly stemming from a combination of his fathers abuse and the false hopes of America, adds to the storys sense of intimacy: A third-world childhood could give you thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦he found me sitting on the couch feeling like hellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I wasnt that sort of son. Drown, 25, 29 Yuniors frequent references to his difficult childhood and his current discomforts, third world, like  hell, that sort of son in the above excerpts; never allow the reader a moments relief from what he experiences. Diaz, having established a close relationship between reader and narrator, expects the reader to experience all of this simultaneously with Yunior. The reader suffers a let down in discovering Yuniors unhappiness. Diaz creates the effect with language to contrast the readers disappointment with Yuniors. Once again regarding Diazs language style, vulgarity and blatant phrases as well as cultural references add to the power of the story: He was looking at her like she was the last piece of chicken on earth. Drown, 36 .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 , .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 .postImageUrl , .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 , .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00:hover , .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00:visited , .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00:active { border:0!important; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00:active , .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00 .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf5c8a65e0a211dbce8e9f54cd71f2c00:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: To what extent can Steinbeck's The Pearl be classed as a parable Essayoften deceiving to Yunior and his family. Yunior remains so scarred by his continually being let down that when the family finally acquires some possessions, what they have been striving for; he cannot enjoy them: Brand new, lime-green and bought to impress. Oh, we were impressed, but me, every time I was in the VW and Papi went above twenty miles an hour, I vomitedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that van was like my curse. Mami suspected it was the upholstery. In her mind, American thingsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦have an intrinsic badness about them. Drown, 27 In other words, Yunior becomes unable to accept the VW van, or America, after so much trauma caused by broken hopes and abuse. We see this once again at the fiesta. He starved in the Dominican Republic, in the campo mentioned earlier in the novel, but every vision of his homeland in Fiesta, 1980 appears happy and mystical, but far away: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦shes surrounded by laughing cousins Ill never meet, who are all shiny from dancing, whose clothes are rumpled and loose. You can tell its night and hot and that mosquitoes have been biting. She sits straight and even in a crowd she stands out, smiling quietlyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Drown, 41 The above passage refers to Mami in the Dominican Republic before she married. Yunior fondly reflects his place of birth, contrasting it to the harsh realities of America. When anything goes right in America, like the family party, Yunior finds much awry and again cannot enjoy the good parts of a predominantly bad situation: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but when I joined the other kids around the serving table Papi said, Oh no you dont, and took the paper plate out of my hand. His fingers werent gentle. Whats wrong now? Tia asked, handing me another plate. He aint eating, Papi saidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Why cant he eat? Because I said so. Papi, representing America, prevents Yunior from eating. Although, in reality, Yunior is able to eat in America, this symbolizes his inability to enjoy any progress his family makes. Papis fingers werent gentle, once again referring to the difficulty Yunior has accepting Americas reality, harsh and invading. Papis reply because I said so alludes to the lack of answers America offers to Yuniors questioning of authority and the broken promises. Diazs symbolism mainly concerns his ideas about the image of America and the reality immigrants must face after such high hopes. Mami and Papi not only represent different countries, but an internal conflict within Yunior. He wants to believe that their family has finally achieved a level of success, but has become so hardened against hoping that he physically and mentally cannot accept it. Overall, the stories in Drown possess both a sadness and an anger. Yuniors voice, although often vulgar and negative, draws readers into his life. As we read, we form a bond with Yunior. In doing so we move to another level, the political one Diaz wants to express. Thus, in knowing Yunior, Diazs cause also becomes important to readers, exposing the American dream The word choice often takes the reader by surprise, as it most likely did in the above quote. However blunt, Diaz creates a vivid picture. The wording, strong and punchy, reflects the difficult situation in which the family must live. Vulgarity has the same effect: Its the only pussy youll ever get, Rafa said to me in English. Drown, 31 The word pussy, especially out of the mouth of a young boy, shocks readers with its bluntness. Besides conveying the familys style of speech, it paints a clear picture of Yuniors lifestyle, even at an age as young as nine. Diaz does inject occasional imagery that contrasts with the nearly constant blatant vulgarity. In the following quote Mami feels less ambitious to have a good time after Papi comes home from work, ready to fight: That morning, when she had gotten us up for school, Mami told us she wanted to have a good time at the party. I want to dance, she said, but now, with the sun sliding out of the sky like spit off a wall, she seemed ready just to get this over with. Drown, 24 .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf , .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf .postImageUrl , .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf , .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf:hover , .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf:visited , .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf:active { border:0!important; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf:active , .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf2beb4ab1acc0f8285b0242bf1c63adf:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Fathers in To Kill a Mockingbird EssayIn the above quote the images of the sun sliding from the sky and the spit on a wall are juxtaposed, revealing Diazs opinion of the United States. The character Mami represents the Dominican Republic, home, where Yunior feels safe. Papi, domineering and selfish, represents America and all of its false promises. The juxtaposed images represent the countries, opposites in Yuniors mind. Yunior feels his homeland slipping away while America takes over, his culture fading on American soil: The fact that I am writing to you in English already falsifies what I wanted to tell you. My subject: how to explain to you that I dont belong to English though I belong no where else. Drown, 1 This poem, shown on the first page of the collection, illustrates Diazs ideas about America and its tendency to stifle ones culture. The powerful effect Fiesta, 1980, and Drown as a whole, has on readers can be greatly attributed to Diazs careful construction of each story, incorporating tough wording and elements of Spanish culture. Secondly, symbolism presents another important aspect of Diazs writing. The lime-green Volkswagen van helps to convey just how profoundly affected Yunior becomes by disappointment. Green, the color of the van, represents money and hope two things  for what it is: an illusion.