Love and Other Impossible Pursuits

Aquinas considered that one may never achieve final happiness on Earth, instead, good deeds could send a soul to Heaven (McInerny, 1997). Chaucer establishes a sense of humanity in The Canterbury Tales because he makes his characters sinful in their pursuit of happiness. Since Chaucer is making a very…

In Sense and Sensibility specifically, there are valuable things to be gained from its examples of courtship, marriage, and love. To set this kind of cascade up for success, the novel presents many factors that will contribute to the success of a relationship. Getting to know a person is of great value in order to lay the foundation of any relationship, especially in the process…

exponentially harder, by being in constant conflict with both the military and The Catholic Church. One could make the argument that the modern Brazil he helped to develop was made in the name of Positivism itself. Nonetheless, it was technically impossible for him to model Brazil as Positivist and unite it under militaristic means, i.e, using the military to embue a sense of national pride. Positivism began to fade out during the early 20th century, replaced once again by militarism. Even after…

societies modern views and values should be taken into account while interpreting key constitutional phrases. The typical argument for this is that the the constitution is written in such a way that it is impossible to accept it as a cemented policy and would need progressive interpretations. The other way one could interpret the constitution is that it is written so broadly that we can liberally interpret the constitution as times permit. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote in 1914 said that “the…

Literature is a two way relationship, when an author writes a work they are simultaneously entrusting that whomever picks up that work will seek to understand its intentioned purpose and how that purpose applies to them. In other words, a prominent work of literature does not become prominent until readers put something of themselves into it. This is one of the primary themes Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. In the chapter “Is That a Symbol?” Foster indicates that…

“D’entre les Morts,”. The novel translates into Among the Dead, and is a 1954 crime novel by Pierre Boileau and Pierre Ayraud. The novel was published only four years before Hitchcock’s movie. While reading the reviews, I also noticed the whole love story between James Stewart’s character, Scottie, and Kim Novak’s character, Madeline, is very closely related to the Orpheus…

unacceptable that is looked down upon and is punishable by law. But to others, crime is the only option they are compelled to. The government has seemingly given up on them and they have nowhere else to go to acquire food in their stomachs and maybe a little bit of protection. Some commit crimes to feel alive, to feel that feeling of adventure and danger. And others commit crime to stay alive because they have lost all hope in any other pursuit of life. The real question is, what would you do in…

but followed this rule and promoted friendship and happiness at the same time. The last commandment is about accepting human beings’ flawed nature and forgiving ourselves for making mistakes. There are things we can change, but some mistakes are impossible to fix. They should be accepted, remembered and forgiven. I forgave myself for saying something that hurt a person, not managing time to find a campus job, forgetting Chinese tutorial sessions. However, the essence of this rule is not leaving…

takes a step-up from Plato’s. In The Republic’s utopia has art gone, but people can still pursue knowledge, However Brave New World allows neither. It goes to show how censorship is a slippery slope. It can result in art, as well as science and many other forms of expression, being banned because they could oppose the ideals of the regime, by not painting the picture needed and exposing its flaws. This view of censorship leads to…

The Merchant of Venice reveals an important warning for modern society. Characters and Plot Shylock is a Jewish moneylender. Jewish people during the period of the play are mistreated by the larger Christian community. Jews in Venice (and many other European cities) are forced to live in ghettos. They are locked in after dark, and have to distinguish…