American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Essays - Free Essays

American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Essays - Free Essays American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Assess the impact of American foreign policy in bringing about the Cold War. Assess the impact of American foreign policy in bringing about the Cold War. The Cold War, distinct for its sustained military and political tensions, dominated global politics for over half a century; therefore, it is not surprising that its origins has been one of the most debated topics in not only the study of American diplomatic history but the world. The Cold War was more as a result of American foreign policy, as by establishing a policy that aimed to prevent the spread of communism it provoked Soviet aggression which as a result set the foundations of intensified tension among two of the world greatest superpowers. In this respect American foreign policy undeniably impacted on the Cold War; a view supported by historians such as William A.Williams. Alternatively, other historians have also increasingly come to a consensus that the Cold War was fundamentally a conflict of diverging ideologies as expressed by John Lewis Gaddis neither superpower can be held solely responsible for the ideological war. That said other factors such as the growing lack of t rust and post-war tension among both superpowers, emphasised in the post-revisionist theory, and the Soviet expansionist policies were also influential in bringing about the Cold War. Nonetheless the importance of American foreign policy in bringing about the Cold War cannot be undermined, as due to its fundamental shift from a long standing effort to reach agreements to a determination to limit Russias expansionism, it increased American involvement and as a result escalated tensions among both superpowers. In a letter from the then Secretary of Commerce, Henry A.Wallace urged Truman to build mutual trust and confidence in order to achieve an enduring international order. He also gave a speech which focused on the necessity of a political understanding with Russia, and that capitalist and communist systems should compete on a friendly basis and gradually become more alike. However the way in which Trumans administration reacted to Wallaces speech by dismissing him, symbolises the distance American foreign policy had moved since the close of World War II. This shift in dynamics of American foreign policy is marked by the use of policies such as the Marshall Plan but in particular the Truman Doctrine, which not only acted as an intrusive intervention into European affairs but also an indirect attack on the Soviet Union. Trumans motives could be numerous, as in addressing the Congress he may have exaggerated Soviet threat, in order to secure the funds. Nonetheless it did in fact have the desired effect as Truman managed to convince both the Congress and the American people, which were isolationist and averse to spending U.S. dollars on a remote region that did not seem to fit into U.S. strategic need. Therefore whilst Truman promised salvation to the world he intentionally took it upon the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures. That said, the official justification for the Truman Doctrine was to support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. However Stalin was not interested in aiding Greek communist cause as whilst Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Albania provided assistance to the Greek communist guerrillas Stalin wanted, in fact, to cap Titos ambitions. This shows how the belief of a Soviet threat that shaped the Truman Doctrine was based on false assumptions. Moreover the fact that the Soviet Union had been less aggressive in the months before the presidents announcement than any time in the post-war period strengthens the contradictory nature of the Truman doctrine. Consequently the impact of the Truman Doctrine exemplifies the significance of American foreign policy in bringing about the Cold War and also leading to a growth of U.S involvement in international relations, since the Doctrine was later used to justify American intervention in the affairs of other sovereign states. In a wider context the Doctrine symbolises the United States post-world war II global leadership role, as the drastic change in strategies translated into Americas foreign policy deepened tensio ns that ultimately brought about the Cold War. Conversely, the Soviet Union

The Worst Polluted Places on Earth

The Worst Polluted Places on Earth More than 10 million people in eight different countries are at serious risk for cancer, respiratory diseases, and premature death because they live in the 10 most polluted places on Earth, according to a report by the Blacksmith Institute, a nonprofit organization that works to identify and solve specific environmental problems worldwide. Top 10 Worst Polluted Places Chernobyl in Ukraine, site of the world’s worst nuclear accident to date, is the best-known place on the list. The other places are unknown to most people and located far from major cities and populations centers, yet 10 million people either suffer or risk serious health effects because of environmental problems ranging from lead contamination to radiation. â€Å"Living in a town with serious pollution is like living under a death sentence,† the report says. â€Å"If the damage does not come from immediate poisoning, then cancers, lung infections, developmental delays, are likely outcomes.† â€Å"There are some towns where life expectancy approaches medieval rates, where birth defects are the norm, not the exception,† the report continues. â€Å"In other places, childrens asthma rates are measured above 90 percent, or mental retardation is endemic. In these places, life expectancy may be half that of the richest nations. The great suffering of these communities compounds the tragedy of so few years on earth. The Worst Polluted Sites Serve as Examples of Widespread Problems Russia leads the list of eight nations, with three of the 10 worst polluted sites. Other sites were chosen because they are examples of problems found in many places around the world. For example, Haina, Dominican Republic has severe lead contamination - a problem that is common in many poor countries. Linfen, China is just one of several Chinese cities choking on industrial air pollution. And Ranipet, India is a nasty example of serious groundwater pollution by heavy metals. The Top 10 Worst Polluted Places The Top 10 worst polluted places in the world are: Chernobyl, UkraineDzerzhinsk, RussiaHaina, Dominican RepublicKabwe, ZambiaLa Oroya, PeruLinfen, ChinaMaiuu Suu, KyrgyzstanNorilsk, RussiaRanipet, IndiaRudnaya Pristan/Dalnegorsk, Russia Choosing the Top 10 Worst Polluted Places The Top 10 worst polluted places were chosen by the Blacksmith Institute’s Technical Advisory Board from a list of 35 polluted places that had been narrowed from 300 polluted places identified by the Institute or nominated by people worldwide. The Technical Advisory Board includes experts from Johns Hopkins, Hunter College, Harvard University, IIT India, the University of Idaho, Mount Sinai Hospital, and leaders of major international environmental remediation companies. Solving Global Pollution Problems According to the report, â€Å"there are potential remedies for these sites. Problems like this have been solved over the years in the developed world, and we have the capacity and the technology to spread our experience to our afflicted neighbors.† â€Å"The most important thing is to achieve some practical progress in dealing with these polluted places,† says Dave Hanrahan, chief of global operations for the Blacksmith Institute. â€Å"There is a lot of good work being done in understanding the problems and in identifying possible approaches. Our goal is to instill a sense of urgency about tackling these priority sites.† Edited by Frederic Beaudry

Literacy and numeracy demands in lesson plans Assignment

Literacy and numeracy demands in lesson plans - Assignment Example The following are the learning outcome for numeracy demands †¢ Be able to measure distances on the map using the scale provided †¢ Student should be able to locate places of interest using the map direction and scale †¢ Students should be able to read the compass direction of a place and pinpoint some of the resources found in Victoria †¢ Students should be able to locate various human environments, spread of settlement, population, towns and cities and land use in Australia. †¢ Students should be able to know why environments change †¢ The students will be able to identity a grid and read its location Literacy learning outcomes Literacy skills help the learner understand the aspects of language and how to employ these aspects in managing school work and social life. Literacy skills are developed through writing, speaking, listening, viewing and reading. Literacy shapes the way students view themselves in relation to their environment. †¢ Students should be able to find information on the maps and share it †¢ Students should be able to describe the accurate location of places on the map †¢ Student should be able and become familiar to tourist maps †¢ Students should be able to answer the question asked in the text book and share and check the response with the others †¢ Should be able to present their conduct group discussion and share the knowledge in class Justification of the numeracy demand... Teaching numeracy skills among ESL and SOSE learners will socialize them towards believing that numeracy skills are important and can be imbedded in their school and social life (Kemp & Hogan, 1999). Numeracy skills is not all about solving mathematical problem but being in a position to effectively sue them as required in normal life instances. According to Fin (1991), the interest of understanding how the school curriculum of the Post-compulsory Education and Training affected Australia’s economy began in the 1990’s. To investigate into the matter a commission was formed by the government to articulate the links among the sectors of schooling, training work and higher education. The results of the review indicated that numeracy cuts across all disciplines and that that it is relevant to the Australian economy in diverse ways. To be able to perform well in their overall aggregate mark, students need to have high level of numeracy skills. Numeracy is used in class in le arning other subjects such as physical education, geography, English among others. If a students skills in numeracy are not proficient the chances of performing well in other disciplines is relatively low (Barin, 1990). The student’s numeracy skills are essential in helping them figure out different places on the map. In this case, most of the S1 learners among the foreigners are not conversant with the directions and places around Australia. To help them familiarize with the new environment, the use of compass direction plays a central role. Learning how to find out direction through the use of a compass makes their life in a foreign land safe and easier. Lack of this skill may slower down the rate settling in Australia thus affecting all other social interactions. This skills also comes in

Thinkers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thinkers - Assignment Example Marx is considered to be is one of the founders of the International Working Men’s Association. The philosophy of George Friedrich Hegel is one of his most important intellectual influences and Karl Marx remains incomplete without the study of Hegel. He died at London, United Kingdom on March 14, 1883 (Engels, 1869). Karl Marx identified and shed light on the ills of capitalism and explained how it could be challenged. People of the world took his ideas as a guide towards changing the system of the world despite the regular efforts by the supporters of Capitalism to bury his ideas. He, along with Frederick Engels, identified the inevitable fault of a capitalist society that is class struggle; therefore, his dialectic holds Communism as the perfect and final form of the State that makes possible the appropriate use of human abilities. He believed that in the end socialism will replace capitalism and this world will be a classless society ensuring the rise of working class. Abov e all, Marx was a revolutionist whose main aim was to put an end to capitalism and contribute towards the liberation of the modern proletariat. As far as the influence of Marx’s ideas and beliefs on the world, as a whole, is concerned, most of the Americans have already accepted his main ideas unconsciously and uncritically despite the otherwise claims of the anti-Marxists. American and western businessmen who claim to be against the whole concept of communism are frequently found to be the ones who are convinced of the truthfulness of Marx’s ideas. They seem to have very little or no ideological defense against his Communist ideas when they encounter them under another name or are introduced to them without being labeled. Marx’s ideas have seemed to open the minds of American to their own propaganda. However, on the other hand, to label the ideas brewing in their minds as Marx’s might lighten some of their effective and successful talking points. At the same time, they are under the influence that depression cannot be solved by capitalism. He is one of the influential people whose ideas have such a strong impact even on those who think they abhor Marx and his beliefs. These ideas have an injurious influence on capitalist economy, clear political thinking and democratic action. The more politically radical European intellectuals have been influenced greatly by the ideologies of communism as well as socialism. Apart from economics and politics, he has a great influence on the way people think about culture despite the fact that he is not a pure cultural theorist (Rose, 1951). Marx’s hostility towards Europe, sometimes, resulted in strange extremes. For instance, he criticized the opposition to the Crimean war by calling the British Prime minister, Lord Palmerstone, a traitor and a paid agent of Russia. In the same way, Marx’s hatred for the Prussian monarchy can be observed his struggle with his Russian competitor Mikha il Bakunin for control of the International Working Men’s Association (Sperber, 2013). It is beyond doubt that Marx’s ideas about the commodity nature of Capitalist production plays an important role in describing the exploitation of working class under the system of profit. For Marx, class struggle was the major fault line of the Capitalist society which, indeed, is true even in the modern world for this

Human trafficking in Turkey Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Human trafficking in Turkey - Term Paper Example They are usually brought by force or allure to the land of opportunities, that is, USA, European nations and Canada. In current times, human trafficking is considered to be an organizational and administrative concern. It has become precedence for those working in many other strategic areas such as human rights, health, gender, law enforcement, and community services. The organization formed by European Union conference on â€Å"Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings,† held in Brussels from 18-20 September 2002, is an instance of the increasing political concern for combating human trafficking (BRUSSELS DECLARATION ON PREVENTING AND COMBATINGTRAFFICKING IN HUMAN BEINGS, n.d.). Over the recent past, Turkey has been witnessing a significant problem of human trafficking, which in fact is an international concern. This issue is related with irregular ad illegal migration. The neighboring regions of Turkey have been affected by political turmoil and conflicts due to w hich the people have been flooding in Turkey from these lands to ensure a better living, protection from harassment and safety. Instances of civil wars and conflicts taking place in the Middle East, Balkan and Caucasus lands have urged such mobility. The nation has therefore become a final dumping ground of trafficked women and children for sexual exploitation and workforce. ... The first section focuses on the context of the problem providing some statistical evidence on the incidence of trafficking along with cases and evidence involving women and children. In a nutshell this section provides an impression of the persistent problem in the nation with an insight into the severity of the issue. This part will logically analyze why human trafficking has become a problem for the society, especially in Turkey. The second part brings out what policies and measures have already been adopted by Turkey and an assessment of the existing policies with respect to their ability to address the problem. This reveals the actions undertaken by the NGO’s. It covers the scope of the issue both within and outside the Criminal Justice System. The section will also highlight the actions being adopted in the international scenario towards resolving the problem. The third section will discuss what the nation of Turkey and the other countries across the world are doing in o rder to combat the problem. This reveals some policies undertaken at micro level and in the operational departments. This section highlights the policies with respect to employment, economy, education and best practices of other nations, which could be applicable in Turkey to resolve the problem of human trafficking. The section also projects some recommendations to suggest Turkey’s next best steps those can be adopted for a better future with respect to the problem of human trafficking. Social Relevance and severity of the problem Turkey connects Asia and Europe and hence plays as a transit and also a target for human trafficking victims. The cities of Istanbul, Izmir and Trabzon are the most popular destinations for victims of

Development of Electronic Data Flows

Development of Electronic Data Flows 1. Introduction The current development on the flow of electronic data, especially those relating to personal data across nations is increasing daily. Most of the flows are related to business activities whereas services are provided to fulfill the needs of people. It also leads to the transformation of commerce, which becomes worldwide and increasingly international. The transfer of huge quantities of data, relating to customers and employees, are required and often occurred among entities that located in different countries. An example would be the system of outsourcing, a practice in which companies and governments hire an external service provider in another country to deliver a program or provide a service, such as managing database of human resources or customers. This can often result in improved efficiencies and levels of services. Further, the advancement of global networks, such as the internet, provides the possibilities to collect, process, and distribute personal data on an unprecedente d scale. However, the trans-border flow of personal data is not only performed by companies or governments but also conducted by individuals in everyday life as well. When the data is used by companies or government, this can represent a high volume of data, such as in the form of the transfer of databases. There will be a quite different volume of data when it is provided by individuals when they disclose their personal data while participating in particular activities, such as browsing the internet or registering on various websites to obtain certain services. Additionally, there is a strong possibility for individuals, who are engaging in data transfer activities to lack of full awareness concerning what could be done to their personal data. In some instances, they do not realize that they have disclosed their personal data and it is subject to transmission and processing within countries not offering the same level of protection as their own country. For example, a student physically located in the Netherlands may complete an online game registration form, containing several spaces soliciting his/her identities, not knowing that the actual service provider is registered in India. Another example, a social worker residing within the United Kingdom might disclose his/her personal data on a web application for an internet banking service provided by a bank based in the United States. From the short description above, the trans-border flow of personal data exists in everyday life on a daily basis and it becomes a vital need of every stakeholder, whether governments or private sectors, including individuals. Nevertheless, while the flow has led to greater efficiencies and economic benefits, on the other hand this kind of flow has also raised concerns that some information could end up in the hands of people for whom it was not intended. Worse even is the situation when no one has realized the flow has taken place, spawning a great opportunity for infringement upon ones privacy rights. Some rules concerning privacy and data protection have been set up at national, regional, and international levels to guarantee privacy as one of the human rights is not harmed by any activity, including data processing as the final purpose of trans-border flow. Consequently, the trans-border flow of personal data has to be conducted in a lawful manner. In this respect, a legal framework on trans-border flow of personal data has been enacted in Europe by the European Commission (EC) under two directives. The first one is Directive 95/46/EC concerning the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data. This Directive has been further equipped by the second directive, Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications). In relation to the research objective of this thesis, Directive 95/46/EC is the most relevant and therefore, Directive 2002/58/EC will be referred to when necessary. It should be noted that whenever a term the Directive is being used in this thesis, the term shall refer to Directive 95/46/EC. Under the Directive, a main rule concerning the trans-border flow of personal data has been set up. These include the obligation of data controller to use personal data for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes, to collect only relevant and necessary data, to guarantee the security of the data against accidental or unauthorized access or manipulation, and in specific cases to notify the competent independent supervisory body before carrying out all or certain types of data processing operations. On the other hand, there is a series of rights for individuals as data subject, such as the right to receive certain information whenever data is collected, to access and correct the data, and to object to certain types of data processing. Nevertheless, all of the practice of these rights and obligations present a significant problem when the trans-border flow of personal data takes place from the European Union/European Economic Area (the EU/EEA) Member States to countries outside the EU/EEA, for the reason that the Directive requires an adequate level of protection in the destination countries. The transfer of personal data to a third country is prohibited when the third country does not have an adequate level of protection to ensure that the processing of personal data will not cause any violation to the rights of data subjects. The binding power of the Directive to the EU/EEA Member States requires each of the Member States to embed the provisions in the Directive into their national legal system. Thus, there is a free zone where trans-border flow of personal data can take place freely among the Member States because they provide the adequate level of protection. Any approval, adequate safeguard, or additional requirement is not necessary to any further extent. As far as public international law is concerned, by applying the extra-territoriality principle, the requirement of the adequacy is automatically fulfilled at the official representatives of the EU/EEA Member States in the third country, such as the Embassy or Consulate General because of the extended jurisdiction of the Member States. However, this principle is not extended to private sectors, since subsidiary offices of multinational companies, still have to abide to the national law in the third country although the base of operations of the company is located in the EU/EEA Member States. In this case, the adequate level of protection is still required even though the transfer is conducted internally among the subsidiaries of the company located in third countries. Currently, the EC has conducted some adequacy findings and has compiled a white list of countries providing an adequate level of protection. This approval means the trans-border flow of personal data can take place as in the free zone between the EU/EEA Member States. However, to date, the white list covers a limited list of countries, seven to be exact. This list might not prove too sufficient from the point of view of multinational companies in accommodating their interest, as it does not include many countries of growing commercial interest. From this point of view, there is a need to harmonize various privacy and data protection regulations in many countries through the establishment of an internationally congruent legal framework for privacy and data protection. Unfortunately, it will take some effort and time for the establishment, while a fast solution is needed. By considering the Directive thus far the strictest legal framework compared with other existing legal framework on privacy and data protection, obviously, there is a need for countries outside the EU/EEA Member States to improve their legal framework to become compliance with adequate level of protection requirement under the Directive. Since Indonesia is neither a Member State of the EU/EEA nor included in the white list of adequacy finding, the requirement of adequate level of protection is applied to Indonesia as a third country. The trans-border flow of personal data only can take place after the data controller is certain that the protection level of personal data in Indonesia is adequate under the Directive. Apparently, Indonesia is needed to criticize, whether or not its legal framework providing an adequate level of protection. Moreover, Indonesia as a Member State of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has received a pressure to provide a sufficient level of protection on trans-border flow of personal data, in relation to the existence of the APEC Privacy Framework. This pressure has become heavier because of Indonesia position as the Association of South East Asian Nations/ASEAN Member States. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to examinehow Indonesia can improve its legal framework to comply with the adequate level of protection in view of Directive 95/46/EC. Conducting this examination is important in determining ways Indonesia might be developed into an attractive destination country for international commerce activities. In order to answer the objective of this thesis, three research questions have to be answered: firstly,currently, why Directive 95/46/EC is being acknowledged as the strictest legal instrument concerning privacy and data protection on conducting trans-border flow of personal data compared with other existing legal instruments. Secondly, how the European Commission determines the adequate level of protection in the third country in question under Directive 95/46/EC. Then, thirdly, to what extent legal framework of data protection in Indonesia measures up to the adequate level of protection in Indonesia under Directive 95/46/EC. In line with the effort to answer the first research question, this thesis will try to identify any possibility for improvement towards the current adequacy finding system. Hence, a balance accommodation might be obtained and maintained between the one who requires the adequate level of protection and the one who has to fulfill it. This thesis will be structured as follows. The first chapter is the introduction in which the objective of this thesis is explained. In the second chapter, there will be a brief comparison between the Directive with other legal instruments concerning privacy and data protection. Afterwards, some explanations on the requirement of the adequate level of protection in the light of the Directive will be provided, including the measurement to be used in conducting the adequacy finding and will explore any possible solution if there is no adequate level of protection in the third country in question. Further, this chapter will cover the current problems within the Directive as well as possible suggestions to overcome them. Thus, answering the first and second research question. In the third chapter, relevant issues surrounding Indonesian legal framework will be discussed, including a brief explanation on how Indonesia regulates privacy and data protection as well as a number of the difficulties experienced in doing so. The findings in the second and third chapters shall be employed to carry out the examination in the fourth chapter, which objective is to answer the third research question. The chapter serves to analyze the adequate level of protection of Indonesian legal framework by applying the measurements in the light of the Directive. The analysis will include various potential problems faced by Indonesia on its effort to improve protection of personal data along with several suggestions on how to overcome them. At the final stage, there will be a conclusion, to what extent Indonesia can be deemed as providing an adequate level of protection. As a result, a solution on how Indonesia might improve its legal framework under the Directive to both avoid a lack of protection and offer an adequate level of protection will be achieved. 2. The EU Legal Framework regarding trans-border flow of Personal Data The trans-border flow of personal data is stipulated by regulations concerning data protection. Since the early eighties, several regulations, drawn up by different organizations, have been published in this respect. The first initiative was performed by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) by establishing the Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Trans-border Flows of Personal Data (the OECD Guidelines) in 1980. The intention of the Guidelines is to prevent any conflicts between national laws, which can hamper the free flow of personal data between the OECD Member States. This establishment brought an awareness of the importance protection of the trans-border flow of personal data. A similar purpose with the OECD Guidelines has brought the Member States of the Council of Europe (the CoE) to publish a convention on their interest in the following year. They agreed that it is needed to reconcile the fundamental values of the respect for privacy and the free flow of information between them. The agreement is stated in the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (CETS No. 108), with purpose to take into account the right of privacy and the increasing flow across frontiers of personal data in regards of automatic processing, as a way to extend the safeguards for everyones rights and fundamental freedoms. In 1990, by considering the UN has more Member States compared with the OECD and the CoE, Guidelines concerning Computerized Personal Data Files (the UN Guidelines) was established as a way to bring the principles on privacy and data protection being implemented wider among countries. The UN General Assembly through Resolution No. A/RES/45/95 on 14 December 1990, requests the Governments of every Member States to take into account this Guidelines in their legislation. Further, the governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organizations are also requested to respect the Guidelines in carrying out the activities within their field of competence. Nonetheless, the OECD Guidelines, the CETS No. 108, and the UN Guidelines still have some weaknesses. There are some principles of data protection, which are required to be embedded in national laws of each of the Member States but there is no means for ensuring their effective application. For examples, there are no supervisory authority provision in the CETS No. 108 and a lack of procedural clauses in the OECD Guidelines. In another case, concerning the binding power of the instrument, the OECD Guidelines is voluntarily binding to its Member States as well as the UN Guidelines, even though the UN Guidelines has the supervision and sanction provisions. Therefore, Directive 95/46/EC on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data has been established by the European Union (the EU) to overcome the limited effect of the two Guidelines and the Convention as mentioned above. Good level of compliance, support and help to individual data subject, and appropriate redress to the injured parties are the means used by the Directive for ensuring the effective application of the content of the rules. Apart from the compliance issue, the obligations and rights set down in the Directive are built upon the OECD Guidelines, the CETS No. 108, and the UN Guidelines. These three legal instruments contain similar principles, except for lawfulness, fairness, and non-discrimination principles are from the UN Guidelines; and special categories of data and additional safeguards for the data subject principles are from the ECTS No. 108. While the rest of the adopted principles are collection limitation, data quality, purpose specification, use limitation, security safeguard, openness, individual participation, and accountability. Further, the aims of the Directive can be seen from two perspectives. The first one is the economical perspective, in relation to the establishment and functioning of an internal market, in which to ensure the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital, including the free movement of personal data. The second is from the fundamental rights perspective, in which to set the rules for high-level data protection to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights of the individuals. The newest legal instrument concerning privacy and data protection is the APEC Privacy Framework 2004 (the Framework), established by Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The purpose of the Framework is to ensure there are no barriers for information flows among the APEC Member Economies by promoting a consistent approach to data protection. There are nine principles in the Framework that are built based on the OECD Guidelines. In brief, the adopted principles are preventing harm, notice, collection limitation, uses of personal information, choice, integrity of personal information, security safeguard, access and correction, and accountability. However, this Framework has the same weakness as the previous legal instruments on privacy and data protection before the Directive, which is the absent of means for ensuring the effective application of the principles. Additionally, it should be noted that APEC is a forum that established based on a voluntary basis, without any constitut ion or legally binding obligations for the Member Economies. Hence, the Framework is not binding to the Member Economies. From the brief analysis above, currently, the Directive posses the highest level of protection compared with other existing legal instruments on privacy and data protection. In this respect, to achieve the objective of this thesis as stated in the first chapter, the research questions will be answered by focusing on the Directive. Therefore, in the next section, there will be an explanation on the legal bases of trans-border flow of personal data to third countries under the Directive, followed by a rationalization on how the European Commission (EC) determines whether or not an adequate level of protection exists in the third country in question. Subsequently, the means for ensuring the effective application of the content of rules will be elaborated upon a description on a series of possibilities if the third country in question is not deemed to provide an adequate level of protection. Although currently, the Directive provides high-level of protection, some problems and suggestions will be provided, as an effort to address input for improvement. The findings in this chapter will be used to carry out the adequacy finding of Indonesia as a third country (in the fourth chapter) by doing a comparison with the findings on Indonesian legal framework in chapter three. 2. The Legal Bases of Trans-border Flows of Personal Data to Third Countries The trans-border flow of personal data to a third country to be acknowledged as lawful, it has to be conducted in accordance with the national data protection law of the EU/EEA Member States. It is applicable to the data controllers established in the EU, both at the time when data is being collected and processed. In general, the law consists of a combination between the obligations of data controllers and the rights of data subject. Before the establishment of the Directive, these rights and obligations were regulated under some national data protection laws with different level of protection. In the light of the functioning of internal market in the EU/EEA, all these obligations and rights, including certain procedures to be applied in case of trans-border flow of personal data to a third country, are regulated in the Directive. Whereas the Directive is legally binding to the EU/EEA Member States, an adequate level of protection is fulfilled and consequently trans-border flow of personal data is able to take place among them. Further, when the personal data is used for electronic communication purposes, then the rights and obligations as lay down in Directive 2002/58/EC shall take place. There are three possible types of transfer under the Directive. The first and second types are a communication of personal data by a data controller based in the EU/EEA Member States to another data controller or to a processor based in a third country. Another possibility type is a communication of personal data by a data subject based in the EU/EEA Member States to a data controller based in a third country. Nevertheless, it should noted that the Directive does not cover transfers of personal data in the course of judicial and police cooperation activities falling within Titles V and VI of the Treaty on European Union. The main regulation in the Directive concerning trans-border flow of personal data to a third country is Article 25. The first paragraph of the Article sets out the principle that the EU/EEA Member States shall allow the transfer of personal data only if the third country in question ensures an adequate level of protection. From this provision, it is necessary to explain further on the subject of the transfer of personal data and an adequate level of protection. First, what the Directive means by the transfer of personal data. Undoubtedly, it is often associated with the act of sending or transmitting personal data from one country to another, for instance by sending paper or electronic documents containing personal data by post or e-mail. By seeing from a different perspective, the situation where one conducts a certain activity with the purpose to make data available for others, besides the owner of the data (the data subject), and located in another country, is included as a trans-border flow of personal data. However, by making data accessible for everyone who connects to internet by uploading any personal data on internet web pages, even though that person is located in another country, is not included in the meaning of transfer of personal data to another country. The reason for the previous statement is this kind of activity is properly acknowledged as publishing activity, not transferring activity. This exception is stated clearly by the Court of Justice in the Bodil Lindqvist Case as there is no transfer of personal data to a third country where an individual in a Member State loads personal data onto an internet page making those data accessible to anyone who connects to the internet, including people in a third country. Subsequently, since the Directive is binding to 27 EU Member States, including three countries (Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland), which are bound by the Directive by virtue of the European Economic Area agreement (EEA), personal data can flow freely among them. In other words, there is a free zone among the EU/EEA member states. Therefore, transfer in the light of the Directive has to be seen as transfer of personal data from EU/EEA member states to other countries outside EU/EEA, which are recognized as third countries, and the adequate level of protection in those third countries has to be assessed. There is a so-called white list of countries, which have been assessed by the EC and affirmed to provide an adequate level of protection according to the Directive. Currently, the list consists of seven countries as follows: Argentina, Canada (limited to private sector data), Switzerland, United States (Safe Harbor and specific type of transfer: Passenger Name Record/PNR), the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The approval of adequacy shall be analyzed more carefully because once a country is listed in the white list, does not automatically mean that personal data can flow to the country freely. One should pay attention whether the affirmation is given for the entire legal framework or only for certain part of it in a specific field, sector (public or private), or regarding a specific type of transfer. Insofar, even though the result of adequacy finding shows that the data protection level in certain countries is not adequate, the EC will not create a black list for that negative finding because of political consequences. Instead of the black list, the EC tends to enter into negotiation with the certain country in order to find a solution. It can be concluded from the foregoing, that the adequacy finding is temporary and subject to be reviewed. Procedure of the Adequacy Finding In acknowledging the adequacy finding, the EC has to follow certain procedure, which has been determined in Article 25 Paragraph (6) of the Directive and is known as comitology. At first, there will be a proposal from the EC, followed by an opinion from Article 29 Working Party and an opinion from Article 31 Management Committee, which needs to be delivered by a qualified majority of member states. Afterwards, the EC submits the proposed finding to the European Parliament (EP), who will examine whether the EC has used its executing powers correctly and comes up with recommendation if necessary. As a final point, the EC then can formally issue the result of the adequacy finding. In the next section, the measurements used by the EC in conducting the finding will be explained in detail. 3. Assessing the Adequate Level of Protection The Article 29 Working Party has given an obvious statement thatany meaningful analysis of adequate protection must comprise the two basic elements: the content of the rules applicable and the means for ensuring their effective application.According to WP 12 of the European Commission (EC), a set of content principles that should be embodied in the existing regulations are the following: Purpose limitation principle: data should be processed for a specific purpose and subsequently used or further communicated only if it is compatible with the purpose of the transfer. Data quality and proportionality principle: data should be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. Transparency principle: individuals should be provided with information as to the purpose of the processing, the identity of the data controller in the third country and other necessary information to ensure fairness. Security principle: technical and organizational measures should be taken by the data controller that are appropriate to the risks presented by the processing. Rights of access, rectification and opposition: the data subject have the right to obtain a copy of all data relating to him/her that are processed, to rectification of those data that are shown to be inaccurate, and be able to object to the processing of the data. Restrictions on onwards transfers to non-parties to the contract: further transfers of the personal data by the recipient of the original data transfer only permitted if the second recipient provides an adequate level of protection. In addition to these content principles, another set of the means for ensuring the effective application of the principles, whether judicial or non-judicial, are required in order to fulfill the following objectives: Good level of compliance with the rules: the level of awareness of controllers and data subjects and the existence of effective and dissuasive sanctions are the measurements to examine the compliance level, including direct verification by authorities, auditors, or independent data protection officials. Support and help to individual data subjects: an individual should be able to enforce his/her rights rapidly and effectively without prohibitive cost. Institutional mechanism is needed to conduct independent investigation of complaints. Appropriate redress to the injured parties: where rules are not complied, redress to the injured party with independent adjudication or arbitration is provided, including compensation and sanction impose. Beyond the content principles, some additional principles are still needed to consider when it comes to certain types of processing. Additional safeguards when sensitive categories of data are involved and a right to opt-out when data are processed for direct marketing purposes should be in place. Another principle is the right for the data subject not to be a subject to an automated individual decision that intended to evaluate certain aspects, which can give any legal effects and have a significant effect to the data subject. These content principles, including additional principles, and the means for ensuring their effectiveness should be viewed as a minimum requirement in assessing the adequate level of protection in all cases. However, according to Article 25 Paragraph 2 of the Directive, in some cases, there will be two possibilities. There is a need to add the list with more requirements or to reduce it. To determine whether some requirements need to be added or reduced, the degree of risk that the transfer poses to the data subject becomes an important factor. The Article 29 Working Party has provided a list of categories of transfer, which poses particular risks to privacy, as mentioned below: Transfers involving certain sensitive categories of data as defined by Article 8 of the Directive Transfers which carry the risk of financial loss (e.g., credit card payments over the internet) Transfers carrying a risk to personal safety Transfers made for the purpose of making a decision which significantly affects the individual (e.g., recruitment or promotion decisions, the granting of credit, etc) Transfers which carry a risk of serious embarrassment or tarnishing of an individuals reputation Transfers which may result in specific actions which constitute a significant intrusion into an individuals private life (e.g., unsolicited telephone calls) Repetitive transfers involving massive volumes of data (e.g., transactional data processed over telecommunications networks, the Internet, etc.) Transfers involving the collection of data in a particularly covert or clandestine manner (e.g., internet cookies) To sum up, the circumstances should be taken into account when assessing adequacy in a specific case, being: the nature of the data the purpose and duration of the proposed processing operations the country of origin and the country of final destination the rules of law, both general and sectoral, in force in the country in question the professional rules and the security measures which are complied with in that country. Self -regulation From the circumstances as referred to Article 25 Paragraph 2 of the Directive, it can be seen that the assessments of the adequate level of protection is conducted according to the rules of law as well as the professional rules and the security measures. In other words, it has to be examined from a self-regulation perspective as well. The Article 29 Working Party presents a broad meaning of self-regulation asany set of data protection rules applying to a plurality of the data controllers from the same profession or industry sector, the content of which has been determined primarily by members of the industry or profession concerned.This wide definition offers the possibility to on the one hand a voluntary data protection code developed by a small industry association with only a few members and on the other hand a set of codes of professional ethics with quasi judicial force for a certain profession, such as doctors or bankers. Still, one should bear in mind, to be considered as an appropriate legal instrument to be analyzed, it has to have binding power to its members and has to provide adequate safeguards if the personal data are transferred again to non-member entities. Ob Development of Electronic Data Flows Development of Electronic Data Flows 1. Introduction The current development on the flow of electronic data, especially those relating to personal data across nations is increasing daily. Most of the flows are related to business activities whereas services are provided to fulfill the needs of people. It also leads to the transformation of commerce, which becomes worldwide and increasingly international. The transfer of huge quantities of data, relating to customers and employees, are required and often occurred among entities that located in different countries. An example would be the system of outsourcing, a practice in which companies and governments hire an external service provider in another country to deliver a program or provide a service, such as managing database of human resources or customers. This can often result in improved efficiencies and levels of services. Further, the advancement of global networks, such as the internet, provides the possibilities to collect, process, and distribute personal data on an unprecedente d scale. However, the trans-border flow of personal data is not only performed by companies or governments but also conducted by individuals in everyday life as well. When the data is used by companies or government, this can represent a high volume of data, such as in the form of the transfer of databases. There will be a quite different volume of data when it is provided by individuals when they disclose their personal data while participating in particular activities, such as browsing the internet or registering on various websites to obtain certain services. Additionally, there is a strong possibility for individuals, who are engaging in data transfer activities to lack of full awareness concerning what could be done to their personal data. In some instances, they do not realize that they have disclosed their personal data and it is subject to transmission and processing within countries not offering the same level of protection as their own country. For example, a student physically located in the Netherlands may complete an online game registration form, containing several spaces soliciting his/her identities, not knowing that the actual service provider is registered in India. Another example, a social worker residing within the United Kingdom might disclose his/her personal data on a web application for an internet banking service provided by a bank based in the United States. From the short description above, the trans-border flow of personal data exists in everyday life on a daily basis and it becomes a vital need of every stakeholder, whether governments or private sectors, including individuals. Nevertheless, while the flow has led to greater efficiencies and economic benefits, on the other hand this kind of flow has also raised concerns that some information could end up in the hands of people for whom it was not intended. Worse even is the situation when no one has realized the flow has taken place, spawning a great opportunity for infringement upon ones privacy rights. Some rules concerning privacy and data protection have been set up at national, regional, and international levels to guarantee privacy as one of the human rights is not harmed by any activity, including data processing as the final purpose of trans-border flow. Consequently, the trans-border flow of personal data has to be conducted in a lawful manner. In this respect, a legal framework on trans-border flow of personal data has been enacted in Europe by the European Commission (EC) under two directives. The first one is Directive 95/46/EC concerning the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data. This Directive has been further equipped by the second directive, Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications). In relation to the research objective of this thesis, Directive 95/46/EC is the most relevant and therefore, Directive 2002/58/EC will be referred to when necessary. It should be noted that whenever a term the Directive is being used in this thesis, the term shall refer to Directive 95/46/EC. Under the Directive, a main rule concerning the trans-border flow of personal data has been set up. These include the obligation of data controller to use personal data for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes, to collect only relevant and necessary data, to guarantee the security of the data against accidental or unauthorized access or manipulation, and in specific cases to notify the competent independent supervisory body before carrying out all or certain types of data processing operations. On the other hand, there is a series of rights for individuals as data subject, such as the right to receive certain information whenever data is collected, to access and correct the data, and to object to certain types of data processing. Nevertheless, all of the practice of these rights and obligations present a significant problem when the trans-border flow of personal data takes place from the European Union/European Economic Area (the EU/EEA) Member States to countries outside the EU/EEA, for the reason that the Directive requires an adequate level of protection in the destination countries. The transfer of personal data to a third country is prohibited when the third country does not have an adequate level of protection to ensure that the processing of personal data will not cause any violation to the rights of data subjects. The binding power of the Directive to the EU/EEA Member States requires each of the Member States to embed the provisions in the Directive into their national legal system. Thus, there is a free zone where trans-border flow of personal data can take place freely among the Member States because they provide the adequate level of protection. Any approval, adequate safeguard, or additional requirement is not necessary to any further extent. As far as public international law is concerned, by applying the extra-territoriality principle, the requirement of the adequacy is automatically fulfilled at the official representatives of the EU/EEA Member States in the third country, such as the Embassy or Consulate General because of the extended jurisdiction of the Member States. However, this principle is not extended to private sectors, since subsidiary offices of multinational companies, still have to abide to the national law in the third country although the base of operations of the company is located in the EU/EEA Member States. In this case, the adequate level of protection is still required even though the transfer is conducted internally among the subsidiaries of the company located in third countries. Currently, the EC has conducted some adequacy findings and has compiled a white list of countries providing an adequate level of protection. This approval means the trans-border flow of personal data can take place as in the free zone between the EU/EEA Member States. However, to date, the white list covers a limited list of countries, seven to be exact. This list might not prove too sufficient from the point of view of multinational companies in accommodating their interest, as it does not include many countries of growing commercial interest. From this point of view, there is a need to harmonize various privacy and data protection regulations in many countries through the establishment of an internationally congruent legal framework for privacy and data protection. Unfortunately, it will take some effort and time for the establishment, while a fast solution is needed. By considering the Directive thus far the strictest legal framework compared with other existing legal framework on privacy and data protection, obviously, there is a need for countries outside the EU/EEA Member States to improve their legal framework to become compliance with adequate level of protection requirement under the Directive. Since Indonesia is neither a Member State of the EU/EEA nor included in the white list of adequacy finding, the requirement of adequate level of protection is applied to Indonesia as a third country. The trans-border flow of personal data only can take place after the data controller is certain that the protection level of personal data in Indonesia is adequate under the Directive. Apparently, Indonesia is needed to criticize, whether or not its legal framework providing an adequate level of protection. Moreover, Indonesia as a Member State of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has received a pressure to provide a sufficient level of protection on trans-border flow of personal data, in relation to the existence of the APEC Privacy Framework. This pressure has become heavier because of Indonesia position as the Association of South East Asian Nations/ASEAN Member States. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to examinehow Indonesia can improve its legal framework to comply with the adequate level of protection in view of Directive 95/46/EC. Conducting this examination is important in determining ways Indonesia might be developed into an attractive destination country for international commerce activities. In order to answer the objective of this thesis, three research questions have to be answered: firstly,currently, why Directive 95/46/EC is being acknowledged as the strictest legal instrument concerning privacy and data protection on conducting trans-border flow of personal data compared with other existing legal instruments. Secondly, how the European Commission determines the adequate level of protection in the third country in question under Directive 95/46/EC. Then, thirdly, to what extent legal framework of data protection in Indonesia measures up to the adequate level of protection in Indonesia under Directive 95/46/EC. In line with the effort to answer the first research question, this thesis will try to identify any possibility for improvement towards the current adequacy finding system. Hence, a balance accommodation might be obtained and maintained between the one who requires the adequate level of protection and the one who has to fulfill it. This thesis will be structured as follows. The first chapter is the introduction in which the objective of this thesis is explained. In the second chapter, there will be a brief comparison between the Directive with other legal instruments concerning privacy and data protection. Afterwards, some explanations on the requirement of the adequate level of protection in the light of the Directive will be provided, including the measurement to be used in conducting the adequacy finding and will explore any possible solution if there is no adequate level of protection in the third country in question. Further, this chapter will cover the current problems within the Directive as well as possible suggestions to overcome them. Thus, answering the first and second research question. In the third chapter, relevant issues surrounding Indonesian legal framework will be discussed, including a brief explanation on how Indonesia regulates privacy and data protection as well as a number of the difficulties experienced in doing so. The findings in the second and third chapters shall be employed to carry out the examination in the fourth chapter, which objective is to answer the third research question. The chapter serves to analyze the adequate level of protection of Indonesian legal framework by applying the measurements in the light of the Directive. The analysis will include various potential problems faced by Indonesia on its effort to improve protection of personal data along with several suggestions on how to overcome them. At the final stage, there will be a conclusion, to what extent Indonesia can be deemed as providing an adequate level of protection. As a result, a solution on how Indonesia might improve its legal framework under the Directive to both avoid a lack of protection and offer an adequate level of protection will be achieved. 2. The EU Legal Framework regarding trans-border flow of Personal Data The trans-border flow of personal data is stipulated by regulations concerning data protection. Since the early eighties, several regulations, drawn up by different organizations, have been published in this respect. The first initiative was performed by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) by establishing the Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Trans-border Flows of Personal Data (the OECD Guidelines) in 1980. The intention of the Guidelines is to prevent any conflicts between national laws, which can hamper the free flow of personal data between the OECD Member States. This establishment brought an awareness of the importance protection of the trans-border flow of personal data. A similar purpose with the OECD Guidelines has brought the Member States of the Council of Europe (the CoE) to publish a convention on their interest in the following year. They agreed that it is needed to reconcile the fundamental values of the respect for privacy and the free flow of information between them. The agreement is stated in the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (CETS No. 108), with purpose to take into account the right of privacy and the increasing flow across frontiers of personal data in regards of automatic processing, as a way to extend the safeguards for everyones rights and fundamental freedoms. In 1990, by considering the UN has more Member States compared with the OECD and the CoE, Guidelines concerning Computerized Personal Data Files (the UN Guidelines) was established as a way to bring the principles on privacy and data protection being implemented wider among countries. The UN General Assembly through Resolution No. A/RES/45/95 on 14 December 1990, requests the Governments of every Member States to take into account this Guidelines in their legislation. Further, the governmental, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organizations are also requested to respect the Guidelines in carrying out the activities within their field of competence. Nonetheless, the OECD Guidelines, the CETS No. 108, and the UN Guidelines still have some weaknesses. There are some principles of data protection, which are required to be embedded in national laws of each of the Member States but there is no means for ensuring their effective application. For examples, there are no supervisory authority provision in the CETS No. 108 and a lack of procedural clauses in the OECD Guidelines. In another case, concerning the binding power of the instrument, the OECD Guidelines is voluntarily binding to its Member States as well as the UN Guidelines, even though the UN Guidelines has the supervision and sanction provisions. Therefore, Directive 95/46/EC on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data has been established by the European Union (the EU) to overcome the limited effect of the two Guidelines and the Convention as mentioned above. Good level of compliance, support and help to individual data subject, and appropriate redress to the injured parties are the means used by the Directive for ensuring the effective application of the content of the rules. Apart from the compliance issue, the obligations and rights set down in the Directive are built upon the OECD Guidelines, the CETS No. 108, and the UN Guidelines. These three legal instruments contain similar principles, except for lawfulness, fairness, and non-discrimination principles are from the UN Guidelines; and special categories of data and additional safeguards for the data subject principles are from the ECTS No. 108. While the rest of the adopted principles are collection limitation, data quality, purpose specification, use limitation, security safeguard, openness, individual participation, and accountability. Further, the aims of the Directive can be seen from two perspectives. The first one is the economical perspective, in relation to the establishment and functioning of an internal market, in which to ensure the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital, including the free movement of personal data. The second is from the fundamental rights perspective, in which to set the rules for high-level data protection to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights of the individuals. The newest legal instrument concerning privacy and data protection is the APEC Privacy Framework 2004 (the Framework), established by Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The purpose of the Framework is to ensure there are no barriers for information flows among the APEC Member Economies by promoting a consistent approach to data protection. There are nine principles in the Framework that are built based on the OECD Guidelines. In brief, the adopted principles are preventing harm, notice, collection limitation, uses of personal information, choice, integrity of personal information, security safeguard, access and correction, and accountability. However, this Framework has the same weakness as the previous legal instruments on privacy and data protection before the Directive, which is the absent of means for ensuring the effective application of the principles. Additionally, it should be noted that APEC is a forum that established based on a voluntary basis, without any constitut ion or legally binding obligations for the Member Economies. Hence, the Framework is not binding to the Member Economies. From the brief analysis above, currently, the Directive posses the highest level of protection compared with other existing legal instruments on privacy and data protection. In this respect, to achieve the objective of this thesis as stated in the first chapter, the research questions will be answered by focusing on the Directive. Therefore, in the next section, there will be an explanation on the legal bases of trans-border flow of personal data to third countries under the Directive, followed by a rationalization on how the European Commission (EC) determines whether or not an adequate level of protection exists in the third country in question. Subsequently, the means for ensuring the effective application of the content of rules will be elaborated upon a description on a series of possibilities if the third country in question is not deemed to provide an adequate level of protection. Although currently, the Directive provides high-level of protection, some problems and suggestions will be provided, as an effort to address input for improvement. The findings in this chapter will be used to carry out the adequacy finding of Indonesia as a third country (in the fourth chapter) by doing a comparison with the findings on Indonesian legal framework in chapter three. 2. The Legal Bases of Trans-border Flows of Personal Data to Third Countries The trans-border flow of personal data to a third country to be acknowledged as lawful, it has to be conducted in accordance with the national data protection law of the EU/EEA Member States. It is applicable to the data controllers established in the EU, both at the time when data is being collected and processed. In general, the law consists of a combination between the obligations of data controllers and the rights of data subject. Before the establishment of the Directive, these rights and obligations were regulated under some national data protection laws with different level of protection. In the light of the functioning of internal market in the EU/EEA, all these obligations and rights, including certain procedures to be applied in case of trans-border flow of personal data to a third country, are regulated in the Directive. Whereas the Directive is legally binding to the EU/EEA Member States, an adequate level of protection is fulfilled and consequently trans-border flow of personal data is able to take place among them. Further, when the personal data is used for electronic communication purposes, then the rights and obligations as lay down in Directive 2002/58/EC shall take place. There are three possible types of transfer under the Directive. The first and second types are a communication of personal data by a data controller based in the EU/EEA Member States to another data controller or to a processor based in a third country. Another possibility type is a communication of personal data by a data subject based in the EU/EEA Member States to a data controller based in a third country. Nevertheless, it should noted that the Directive does not cover transfers of personal data in the course of judicial and police cooperation activities falling within Titles V and VI of the Treaty on European Union. The main regulation in the Directive concerning trans-border flow of personal data to a third country is Article 25. The first paragraph of the Article sets out the principle that the EU/EEA Member States shall allow the transfer of personal data only if the third country in question ensures an adequate level of protection. From this provision, it is necessary to explain further on the subject of the transfer of personal data and an adequate level of protection. First, what the Directive means by the transfer of personal data. Undoubtedly, it is often associated with the act of sending or transmitting personal data from one country to another, for instance by sending paper or electronic documents containing personal data by post or e-mail. By seeing from a different perspective, the situation where one conducts a certain activity with the purpose to make data available for others, besides the owner of the data (the data subject), and located in another country, is included as a trans-border flow of personal data. However, by making data accessible for everyone who connects to internet by uploading any personal data on internet web pages, even though that person is located in another country, is not included in the meaning of transfer of personal data to another country. The reason for the previous statement is this kind of activity is properly acknowledged as publishing activity, not transferring activity. This exception is stated clearly by the Court of Justice in the Bodil Lindqvist Case as there is no transfer of personal data to a third country where an individual in a Member State loads personal data onto an internet page making those data accessible to anyone who connects to the internet, including people in a third country. Subsequently, since the Directive is binding to 27 EU Member States, including three countries (Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland), which are bound by the Directive by virtue of the European Economic Area agreement (EEA), personal data can flow freely among them. In other words, there is a free zone among the EU/EEA member states. Therefore, transfer in the light of the Directive has to be seen as transfer of personal data from EU/EEA member states to other countries outside EU/EEA, which are recognized as third countries, and the adequate level of protection in those third countries has to be assessed. There is a so-called white list of countries, which have been assessed by the EC and affirmed to provide an adequate level of protection according to the Directive. Currently, the list consists of seven countries as follows: Argentina, Canada (limited to private sector data), Switzerland, United States (Safe Harbor and specific type of transfer: Passenger Name Record/PNR), the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The approval of adequacy shall be analyzed more carefully because once a country is listed in the white list, does not automatically mean that personal data can flow to the country freely. One should pay attention whether the affirmation is given for the entire legal framework or only for certain part of it in a specific field, sector (public or private), or regarding a specific type of transfer. Insofar, even though the result of adequacy finding shows that the data protection level in certain countries is not adequate, the EC will not create a black list for that negative finding because of political consequences. Instead of the black list, the EC tends to enter into negotiation with the certain country in order to find a solution. It can be concluded from the foregoing, that the adequacy finding is temporary and subject to be reviewed. Procedure of the Adequacy Finding In acknowledging the adequacy finding, the EC has to follow certain procedure, which has been determined in Article 25 Paragraph (6) of the Directive and is known as comitology. At first, there will be a proposal from the EC, followed by an opinion from Article 29 Working Party and an opinion from Article 31 Management Committee, which needs to be delivered by a qualified majority of member states. Afterwards, the EC submits the proposed finding to the European Parliament (EP), who will examine whether the EC has used its executing powers correctly and comes up with recommendation if necessary. As a final point, the EC then can formally issue the result of the adequacy finding. In the next section, the measurements used by the EC in conducting the finding will be explained in detail. 3. Assessing the Adequate Level of Protection The Article 29 Working Party has given an obvious statement thatany meaningful analysis of adequate protection must comprise the two basic elements: the content of the rules applicable and the means for ensuring their effective application.According to WP 12 of the European Commission (EC), a set of content principles that should be embodied in the existing regulations are the following: Purpose limitation principle: data should be processed for a specific purpose and subsequently used or further communicated only if it is compatible with the purpose of the transfer. Data quality and proportionality principle: data should be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. Transparency principle: individuals should be provided with information as to the purpose of the processing, the identity of the data controller in the third country and other necessary information to ensure fairness. Security principle: technical and organizational measures should be taken by the data controller that are appropriate to the risks presented by the processing. Rights of access, rectification and opposition: the data subject have the right to obtain a copy of all data relating to him/her that are processed, to rectification of those data that are shown to be inaccurate, and be able to object to the processing of the data. Restrictions on onwards transfers to non-parties to the contract: further transfers of the personal data by the recipient of the original data transfer only permitted if the second recipient provides an adequate level of protection. In addition to these content principles, another set of the means for ensuring the effective application of the principles, whether judicial or non-judicial, are required in order to fulfill the following objectives: Good level of compliance with the rules: the level of awareness of controllers and data subjects and the existence of effective and dissuasive sanctions are the measurements to examine the compliance level, including direct verification by authorities, auditors, or independent data protection officials. Support and help to individual data subjects: an individual should be able to enforce his/her rights rapidly and effectively without prohibitive cost. Institutional mechanism is needed to conduct independent investigation of complaints. Appropriate redress to the injured parties: where rules are not complied, redress to the injured party with independent adjudication or arbitration is provided, including compensation and sanction impose. Beyond the content principles, some additional principles are still needed to consider when it comes to certain types of processing. Additional safeguards when sensitive categories of data are involved and a right to opt-out when data are processed for direct marketing purposes should be in place. Another principle is the right for the data subject not to be a subject to an automated individual decision that intended to evaluate certain aspects, which can give any legal effects and have a significant effect to the data subject. These content principles, including additional principles, and the means for ensuring their effectiveness should be viewed as a minimum requirement in assessing the adequate level of protection in all cases. However, according to Article 25 Paragraph 2 of the Directive, in some cases, there will be two possibilities. There is a need to add the list with more requirements or to reduce it. To determine whether some requirements need to be added or reduced, the degree of risk that the transfer poses to the data subject becomes an important factor. The Article 29 Working Party has provided a list of categories of transfer, which poses particular risks to privacy, as mentioned below: Transfers involving certain sensitive categories of data as defined by Article 8 of the Directive Transfers which carry the risk of financial loss (e.g., credit card payments over the internet) Transfers carrying a risk to personal safety Transfers made for the purpose of making a decision which significantly affects the individual (e.g., recruitment or promotion decisions, the granting of credit, etc) Transfers which carry a risk of serious embarrassment or tarnishing of an individuals reputation Transfers which may result in specific actions which constitute a significant intrusion into an individuals private life (e.g., unsolicited telephone calls) Repetitive transfers involving massive volumes of data (e.g., transactional data processed over telecommunications networks, the Internet, etc.) Transfers involving the collection of data in a particularly covert or clandestine manner (e.g., internet cookies) To sum up, the circumstances should be taken into account when assessing adequacy in a specific case, being: the nature of the data the purpose and duration of the proposed processing operations the country of origin and the country of final destination the rules of law, both general and sectoral, in force in the country in question the professional rules and the security measures which are complied with in that country. Self -regulation From the circumstances as referred to Article 25 Paragraph 2 of the Directive, it can be seen that the assessments of the adequate level of protection is conducted according to the rules of law as well as the professional rules and the security measures. In other words, it has to be examined from a self-regulation perspective as well. The Article 29 Working Party presents a broad meaning of self-regulation asany set of data protection rules applying to a plurality of the data controllers from the same profession or industry sector, the content of which has been determined primarily by members of the industry or profession concerned.This wide definition offers the possibility to on the one hand a voluntary data protection code developed by a small industry association with only a few members and on the other hand a set of codes of professional ethics with quasi judicial force for a certain profession, such as doctors or bankers. Still, one should bear in mind, to be considered as an appropriate legal instrument to be analyzed, it has to have binding power to its members and has to provide adequate safeguards if the personal data are transferred again to non-member entities. Ob

America! - Home of Millionaires and Homeless :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

America! - Home of Millionaires and Homeless If you've been to San Francisco lately, then you know homelessness is a big problem. It's impossible to go anywhere in the city without being confronted by panhandlers and other people living in exile. More and more common is the frowzy vagabond with the sign "Homeless. Will work for food. God Bless." Even outside urban communities, this has become a common sight at busy intersections and freeway off-ramps. I'm not trying to say homelessness is a newly emerging problem in our society. I'm sure homeless people have been around since the Pilgrims left Europe in search of religious freedom. However, the situation has escalated to such a degree in the last ten years that it's obviously now a chronic problem that our government is trying to write off. Ironically, as the number of homeless families increase across our beloved country, so do corporate profits. Driving right past the beggar on the street corner are sixty thousand dollar automobiles with passengers too busy to stop and throw out a dollar to help feed a hungry American with no place to live. Something is very wrong with that picture. I once had the misfortune of being stranded in San Francisco in the middle of the night. My car was stolen, I had no money and no one to call. I went to an all-night restaurant to escape the cold and sat on a couch in the lobby to think about what I was going to do. After about thirty minutes, I was approached by a squalid gentleman who asked if I needed a place to stay. A little hesitant, I shrugged my shoulders and nodded. We walked a couple blocks to a shelter for homeless people. My guide said his name was Evan, and the place we were going wasn't exactly the Hilton, but it was safe. It was an empty government building in the Civic Center area. The smell was horrendous; a mixture of BO, bad breath and urine. The sleeping area was a bare room, no furniture, with literally hundreds of people sleeping on the floor. I didn't think I was going to be able to stay because of the loud snoring and bad smell of the other occupants. Evan sensed my discomfort and began to tell me a story abou t how he came to be homeless. He had worked as a long distance operator at AT&T for several years.

American Literature

Edwin Arlington Robinson- father/mother/ 2 brothers died. Love of life married brother. Never Married. Wanted to be poet since age 11 and chose to live In poverty. Wrote traditional poems. Old-fashioned but deals with modern problems. Philosophy: Behind â€Å"the peaceful and genteel communities of small-town America† lies a substrata of failure, â€Å"loneliness, and terror. † Conflict with light and dark with the individual. Major Works; The Children of the Night, The Man Against the Sky, and The Man Who Died Twice. Quotes; I finally realized I was doomed, or elected, or sentenced to life, to the writing of poetry†¦Major Works; A Boys Will, North of Boston, West-Running Brook. Quotes; â€Å"l am not a teacher but an awakener. † ; Education is the ability to listen† ; â€Å"Poets are eke baseball pitchers. † ; â€Å"In three words I can sum up everything† ; A poem begins In delight and ends in wisdom† ; â€Å"The world Is full of willing people† ; â€Å"And where an epitaph to be my story I'd have a short one ready for my own. † Mending Wall, Home Burial, The Road Not Taken, Birches, Fire and ice, Stopping by Woods, Desert Places, Design, Nothing Gold Can Stay, Out Out, Departmental. T. S. Eliot; The Hollow Men, The Love Song of J. Alfred Frock.William Carols Williams- pediatrician. Images, suggest rather than offer, present concrete Images, strive for Pictures from Brushes, Paterson, The Farmer's Daughter and Other Stories. Quotes: â€Å"If you can bring nothing to this place† ; â€Å"The better work men do is always† ; â€Å"When they ask me, as of late† ; â€Å"If they give you lined paper, write the other way. † ; â€Å"It is difficult to get the news from poems† ; â€Å"Poets are damned but they are not blind† ; â€Å"One thing I am convinced more and more is true and that is this† ; Tract, The Great Figure, The Red Wheelbarrow, This Is Just to Say, A Sort of Song.E. E. Cummings- 3 months in French prison, Harvard. Unorthodox punctuation, compressed spacing, literary cubism. (Grasshopper) Images: avoid click ©s, create new rhythms, use common speech. Philosophy; spontaneous, rebellion against conformity, authority, exploitation of life, romantic and sexual love. Major Works; Tulips and Chimneys, XSL Poems, ViVa, No Thanks, 1 * 1, Agape: Seventy-One Poems, The Enormous Room. Quotes; â€Å"The most wasted of all days is one w/o laughter. ; â€Å"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing† ; â€Å"A political is an erase upon which† ; â€Å"The poems to come are for you and me† In Just, My Sweet Old Etcetera, I sing of Loaf glad and big, If There are any heavens, Plato Told, I thank you God, she being brand-new, Jimmies got a soil, Old age sticks, Pity this busty monster unkind, L(a), Next to of course God America l, look at this, who are you, little l, Maggie and mills and molly and may, I carry your heart with me, I like your body when it is with your. Longboats Hughes- Lawrence, Topeka.Black writer. Rhythms of Jazz and blues. Oral tradition of black culture. Philosophy: direct engagement with people, pride of heritage, promotion of racial Justice. Major Works; The Dream Keeper, Montage of a dream deferred, Not Without Laughter. Quotes; â€Å"A dream deferred is a dream denied. † ; â€Å"l have discovered in life that there are ways† ; â€Å"Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it. ; â€Å"Like a welcome summer rain† ; â€Å"l swear to the Lord† ; â€Å"l will not take but for an answer. † ; â€Å"Well I like to eat sleep drink and be in love. ; â€Å"Oh god of dust and rainbows† ; â€Å"7 * 7 + Love = † The Energy Speaks of Rivers, The Weary Blues, Song for a Dark Girl, Trumpet Player, Motto, Harlem, Dream Variations, I too sing America, theme for English B. F. Scott Fitzgerald- named af ter cousin who wrote star spangled banner. Wife was Zelda. Heavy drinker. Zelda became mentally ill. Clear lyrical prose. The American Dream. Philosophy: The lost generation, all gods dead, all wars, fought, all faiths hake. Major Works; The Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby, Tales of the Jazz Age, Tender is the Night, The Last Tycoon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.Quotes; â€Å"In a real dark night† ; The test of a first-rate† ; â€Å"Sometimes it is harder† ; â€Å"First you take a drink† ; â€Å"Either you think or else others have you think for you† ; â€Å"Family quarrels are bitter things† ; â€Å"I'm a romantic† ; â€Å"It is in the thirties† ; â€Å"Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. † ; â€Å"The world as a rule† ; â€Å"The faces of most American women† ; â€Å"Show me a hero and I will write you a ragged. † ; â€Å"There are no second ac ts in American Lives. † Babylon Revisited allegory, gothic romance. Philosophy; southern memory, reality, myth.Major Works; Sartorial, As I lay dying, light in august, Abyssal, the unvanquished, go down Moses, intruder in the dust, the sound and the fury. Quotes; â€Å"Given the choice† ; â€Å"The young man or woman writing today' ; â€Å"Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do† ; â€Å"If I were reincarnated† ; â€Å"A mule will labor 10 years† ; â€Å"Loving all of it even while he had to hate some of it† ; â€Å"I believe that man will not merely endure. He will prevail. A Rose for Emily Ernest Hemingway; mother dressed him as a girl until he was 6. Suffered from malaria, skin cancer, anemia, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure.Etc. Survived 2 plane crashes in 2 days. Athletic prose, iceberg theory writing style. Major Works: The Sun also rises, in our time, men w/o women, a farewell to arms, death in the afternoon, the snows of Kilimanjaro, for whom the bell tolls, the old man and the sea. Quotes; â€Å"Always do sober† ; â€Å"But man is not made for defeat. † ; â€Å"Courage is grace under pressure. † ; â€Å"Every mans life ends the same way.. † ; â€Å"Madame all stories if intended far enough end in death† ; â€Å"Never think that war no matter how necessary' ; â€Å"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places. The Hemingway Hero; suffered traumatic experience and lives.. Code Hero Big Two-Hearted River John Steinbeck; Journalistic, lyrical, biblical rhythms. Philosophy; fight against poverty/ social injustice, combo of realism, romanticism, and naturalism. Major Works; Tortilla Flat, The long valley, the red pony, of mice and men, the grapes of wrath, the pearl, the log from the sea of Cortez, cannery row, east of Eden, the winter of our discontent, travels with charley. Valued privacy. Wrote screenplay for Lifeboat . American Literature ?American literature is any written work of art that is created in the United States. American literature is like all literature, it has literary experiences and contextual history of America. It depicts how America has changed is still changing today. American literature has changed over time just like most canons of literary works. The uniqueness of American literature is that America from its beginning had a special philosophy of life and freedom. The special philosophy of life and freedom that made American literature so unique was reflected in its writings.Americans believed and had faith that God was and is the given of all our rights and freedom. We as Americans had faith in ourselves that we could succeed in anything that we try doing. The literature that we Americans wrote made life worth living because it was displayed for the world to read and understand that life was what we made it. Also by Americans having the ability to spring back from diversity made life worth living and George Washington was a perfect example of this. Literary canon is basically a suggested list of readings that belongs to a country or a certain period in time.Literary canon contains literary works that is mainly by authors who are accepted as an authority in their field and their writings constituting a serious body of literature in any given language. The works that are collected that is included in a literary canon is approved largely by cultural and academic institutions and is observed as literature of that language. Literary work’s popularity is not based only on the quality, but on the relevance of what matters to the context historically, socially, and artistically.Literary canon relate very well to what is going on in society because of what is most important at that time work is being written. The context of the society, whether it is historical, social, or artistic, that is basically the topic. Ethnic writers express the special challenges of realism, natural ism, and regionalism within the American literary experiences. Realism labels a movement in English, European, and American literature that gathered force from the 1930s to the end of the century.Realism attempted to record life as it was lived rather than life as it ought to be lived or had been lived in times past. William Dean Howells stated that realism â€Å"is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material. † Present-day literary theorists are probably more aware of what may be called â€Å"the crisis of representation†-the difference between representation and the thing represented-than were these realists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.Naturalism is understood by some as an extension or intensification of realism. It introduces characters from the fringes and depths of society whose fates are determined by degenerate heredity, a sordid environment, and/or a good deal of bad luck. Regionalism writing, another expression of the realist impulse, resulted from the desire both to preserve a record of distinctive ways of life before industrialization dispersed or homogenized them and to come to terms with the harsh realities that seemed to be replacing these early and allegedly happier times.By the end of the twentieth century, every region of the country had a â€Å"local colorist† to immortalize its natural, social, and linguistic features. Ethnic writers define literature as literature that is written by people of a different culture, language, religion, or race. It differs from the canon of traditional American literature because literary canon is a list of work from American instead of from a different race or religion. The historical, socio-political, and cultural topics that might be covered by ethnic writers would be slavery and how the slaves were treated during that time.Slavery is a topic that can be covered under all three. Government issues are a topic that could be covered under so cio-political. The debate against government issues such as health care and taxes could be something that ethnic writers could write about. It does not differ from the canon of traditional American literature because the writings have to be by authors who are accepted as an authority in their field and their writings of literature in any given language. American Literature A . Some of the best names that come into mind when one speaks of modern English literature and fantasies are Editha, and Kate Chopin. Their works stand tall in the golden pages of modern literature, influencing most people of this generation and many more to follow. They have painted and breathed life into each character of the novel, The Awakening, with great magical artistic skills. Such is the greatness and purity of the artists that they are believed to have given birth to a completely new form of writing that the modern Literature is so proud of.Hence they are considered premodern. There are some more writers such as Tolkien who have contributed immensely towards this. â€Å"I believe, Mr. Tolkien has succeeded more completely than any previous writer in this genre in using the traditional properties of the Quest, the heroic journey, the Numinous Object, the conflict between Good and Evil while at the same time satisfying our sense of historical and social reality† (W. H . Auden, 1956). The greater the power, the more dangerous is the abuse. The truth in the statement is well proved in Tolkien’s The Hobbit.The author makes his political report in this twentieth-century fable that could be relished as an elating and exhilarating story. He, very well comments upon the abuse of political power and how the poor and down trodden fall prey to the diplomacy of sly rulers. In the midst of haziness between an imagination and reality this twentieth-century fable portrays the evil in Middle-Earth as totalitarian evil and that war is an immense ingredient of this malevolence. Many premodern authors have flourished on the fantasy genre. Age cannot wither their novels nor custom stale their infinite variety.The best, modern novels seem inexhaustible. They are a permanent source of inspiration for humanity. Fantasy literature generally encompasses unreal, nonhuman creatures, unusual powers, created mythologies and imaginary settings. Frost, who can also be termed as a premodern poet remains faithful to the spoken language of his time. His language, in the poem, is a mixture of playfulness and seriousness. He portrays regionalism with its rich stock of images, situation and anecdotes. This in turn provides an abundant source for metaphors and symbols.The conversational tone and the dramatic situation in the poem strike the readers. The picture at the core of â€Å"Mending Wall† is striking. Two men convene on terms of good manners and sociability to put up a barricade between them. The wall is erected out of convention, out of tradition. Nevertheless the very ground works against them as well as makes their task thorny. The two neighbors thrust stones, back on top of the wall; however as a result of hunters or elves, or the chill of nature’s imperceptible hand, the boulders topple downward yet again.The informal fashion and lack of rhyme masquerade the ploy in Petit the Poet. Some of his most praised and entertaining work s involve Petit the Poet and Seth Compton, marvelous creations of Edgar Lee, best reveal his blending of wit with humor. His personal and conversational style makes the reader involved in his tone and mood. He takes the reader into confidence through his easy and delightful pace. Furthermore it appears quite realistic with some witty descriptions.The tone is very somber and the reader cannot help but a distinct hopelessness, of the plight of human beings not being able to choose what they remember, and also that the memories cherished today, will be much different than the memories cherished tomorrow. C. Mending Wall Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, U. S. A, in 1874. Disenchanted with the lofty subjects of many American poets, Frost opted to write about country life with which he was most familiar. In the poem, â€Å"Mending Wall† shows sound posturing, a form of writing based on the tones of everyday speech.In his collection, North of Boston (1914), Frost began to exp eriment with poems of monologue and dialogue, which critics have called his dramatic poems. The present poem, â€Å"Mending Wall† too reflects his interest in dramatic and natural speech. The stanzas of the poem â€Å"Mending Wall† are straightforward also sound more akin to an extraordinary human frame of mind than a fuming portrayal of the poet’s neighbor. A breakdown of the rhyme scheme sends the reader into a mesmerizing situation and the words is comparatively free from portentous and dark imagery. Robert Frost’s poetry is well known for its intensely personal and touching theme.A great deal of Frost's verse is confessional and reveals his life experiences through metaphor or explicitly. â€Å"Mending Wall† asserts his abhorrence for a wall or a barrier between human beings. This Frost does through the exercise of powerful imagery articulated through language, structure, and tone. A wall divides the poet's land from his neighbor's. They get to gether to saunter to the wall and mutually mend it, when it is spring time. â€Å"Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun,And makes gaps even two can pass abreast†. (Lines 1-4) The speaker sees no reason for the wall to be kept–there are no cows to be contained, just apple and pine trees. He does not believe in walls for the sake of walls. The neighbor chooses to stick to his father’s words: â€Å"Good fences make good neighbors. † The poet remains skeptical and impishly forces the neighbor down to come across the outdated interpretation. However his neighbor will not be persuaded. The poet visualizes his neighbor as a leftover from a reasonably obsolete time. He is an existing paradigm of an old orthodox.Nevertheless the neighbor merely goes back over the saying. Frost retains five stressed syllables designed for each line; however he shows a discrepancy in the fee t widely to maintain the usual dialogue in the rhyme. The dearth of radiance, gloom and unhappiness, have been brought into play. Perceptibly the wall is thought of as a vengeance for transparency, light and security. The turnaround of proceedings in the poem reiterates the dismay of hostilities and the futile misfortunes that could have been evaded if those drawn in would have scrutinized the dealings they were caught up with.Even though the reader of the poem gets the notion of the neighbor portrayed in the poem by Frost, he does not subsist outside of descriptions of men from the past or historical pictures. The poet’s neighbor is, in many senses, of a weak temperament rather undeserving of examination because there is nothing that detaches him an ordinary human being. There is realization that hostilities are but a ploy to gain power and supremacy over the feelings of people. A sense of guilt revolves around the entire novel and expresses that wars are unfortunate and onl y a gamble where the leaders resort to exploit the poor, down trodden masses.â€Å"Mending Wall† is a lingering recollection of life events and dreams that have spiraled out of control due to hostilities. The hopes and dreams that once seemed so right and so justifiable become shattered because of the wall that inflicts the very core of the poet’s soul. Frost remains faithful to the spoken language of his time. His language, in the poem, is a mixture of playfulness and seriousness. He portrays regionalism with its rich stock of images, situation and anecdotes. This in turn provides an abundant source for metaphors and symbols. The conversational tone and the dramatic situation in the poem strike the readers.The picture at the core of â€Å"Mending Wall† is striking. Two men convene on terms of good manners and sociability to put up a barricade between them. The wall is erected out of convention, out of tradition. Nevertheless the very ground works against them a s well as makes their task thorny. The two neighbors thrust stones, back on top of the wall; however as a result of hunters or elves, or the chill of nature’s imperceptible hand, the boulders topple downward yet again. â€Å"The work of hunters is another thing: I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone,But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,†(lines 5-8) Even then, the neighbors carry on with their work of mending the wall. The poem, consequently, looks as if it contemplates typically on themes like, human construction of blockades, separation, and hostility. What sets in motion in unsophisticated candor ends in intricate symbolism. This wall-building work appears primeval, as it is portrayed in formal, conventional terms. It engrosses â€Å"spells† to work against the â€Å"elves,† and the neighbor comes into view as a Stone-Age savage at the same time as he lifts and carries a boulder. â€Å"We have to u se a spell to make them balance:‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned! ‘ We wear our fingers rough with handling them. Oh, just another kind of out-door game,†(lines 18-21) Frost’s treatment of objects of nature shows that he does not idealize or glorify them. His attitude towards the stone wall is not actually that of a realist, nor so much of a romantist. Frost’s poems on natural objects are not dealt with as the starting point for the mystical meditation. Like other poems, â€Å"Mending Wall† carries a moral but the moral is indirectly presented either as a dramatic situation. Frost’s poems are profoundly philosophical in spite of their homely diction.In â€Å"Mending Wall†, he uses symbolism to communicate a deep rooted principle. The symbolism in the poem comes out as an indirect method of communication. The poem has a surface meaning but it also shows a deeper significance, which is understood only through a closer scrutiny of the poem. D. Edgar Lee Masters is acclaimed as one of the leading humorous poets of the world. He has produced some of the best works of his time. His readers have long appreciated him for his classical interpretation of human nature and several critical thematic concerns of society but yet in a most humorous, easy and light hearted representation.One of the simplest and easy flowing poems of Edgar Lee is Petit the Poet. The informal fashion and lack of rhyme masquerade the ploy in Petit the Poet. Some of his most praised and entertaining works involve Petit the Poet and Seth Compton, marvelous creations of Edgar Lee, best reveal his blending of wit with humor. His personal and conversational style makes the reader involved in his tone and mood. He takes the reader into confidence through his easy and delightful pace. Furthermore it appears quite realistic with some witty descriptions.The tone is very somber and the reader cannot help but a distinct hopelessness, of the plight of human beings not being able to choose what they remember, and also that the memories cherished today, will be much different than the memories cherished tomorrow. The poem is composed to 18 lines. The concluding verse shows an analogous allusion. â€Å"Seeds in a dry pod, tick, tick, tick, Tick, tick, tick, what little iambics, While Homer and Whitman roared in the pines? † The concluding part of the poem brings us backwards in time, which allows the reader to view true accounts and suffering that people have to endure in a village.Thus Petit the poet, no doubt is thought to appall us yet again but with a twist. Thus the irony in, Petit the poet, comes through as we read it. The analytical issue of Seth Compton is beautifully depicted with a humorous disposition. The poet describes human behavior through the process of loving and forgetting. The poet tactfully and with an aroma of humor, describes the social and moral matters of the modern times from the perspective of a clean hearted human being. He craftily incorporates humor to the arena and at the same time, trying to bring into light the disgrace of corruption.For this kind of his writing, he has been also long criticized for his more moderate representation of the extents of social illness of the time. The Poet is distressed to see the state of the people after death. The circulating library that he constructed was son disposed off. â€Å"When I died, the circulating library Which I built up for Spoon River, And managed for the good of inquiring minds, Was sold at auction on the public square† The poem gives a feeling that Seth Compton has been keeping a note of all the happenings after his death.During the period when the poem was written, although seemingly flowing in a positive direction, human relations were beginning to withstand new strains, trapped now in a cleverer and more civilized society. These relations were more official and formal than social and personal. This new form of the society was less institutionalized but at the same time was more difficult to resolve or combat. This new tactic, intoxicated with the velvety diplomacies of pity, care and tolerance, made things even worse. Very ironically and rightly, the Poet criticizes the aspects of morality in terms of critical social concerns. American Literature Mark Twain's celebrated novel Tom Sawyer (1876) has generally been considered by literary critics to slightly less accomplished on a technical and thematic level than its purported sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, (1885).Although many reasons for this discrepancy in the level of critical reception of the two works may be reliably cited, one of the contributing factors to the critical reception of Tom Sawyer both on its initial publication in the nineteenth century and during its present status in critical estimation is the function of literary realism. In short, because Tom Sawyer represents to most literary critics a â€Å"less sophisticated† execution of Twain's literary technique, it also functions a less developed example of Twain's expression by way of literary realism.Important, also, is that fact that Twain was and is viewed by critics as one of America's foremost realist writers and Twain's realism is regarded as having had a liberating influence on American literature as a whole: â€Å"It led him to make use of the vernacular and ultimately to develop popular speech, as an instrument for character portrayal and effective narrative, to near perfection,† (Long 102) which, in turn, led to the first authentically American idiom in fiction.However, as in Huckleberry Finn, the aspects of realism (or verisimilitude) which permeate Tom Sawyer, also function as â€Å"scaffolding† for mythic ideas and iconographic expression which directly contradicts the purpose and function of literary realism itself. In essence, by regarding realism in Tom Sawyer not a governing principle of Twain's aesthetic, but rather as a tool or a literary device which is used to convey a deeper theme or aesthetic — namely romanticism — can be identified.In Twain's case, the romantic or idealized strains of his theme in Tom Sawyer relate directly to the myth of American expansion and prosperity which were as prevalent cultural fascinations in nineteenth century America as they are in twenty-first century America.Before Tom Sawyer itself can be examined in light of its use of realism as a literary device, it is important to restate what the (critical) understanding of literary modernism is really all about and what literary modernism meant to the writers who comprised the movement in its earliest stages and what literary realism means to contemporary literary critics, and specifically those critics who have turned their energies to explicating Tom Sawyer.It should also be pointed out that Twain presents special problems even for the most studious and energetic of critics because his work is founded, first adn foremost upon humor, which is a very difficult literary premise to quantify and define in critical terms. Despite the fact that â€Å"criticism is notoriously helpless in the presence of writing that is really funny† (Smith 1), specific aesthetic principles and influences can be rooted out and separated to so me extent from the over-riding satirical vision in Twain's work.Any attempted critical understanding would be greatly aided in first accepting Twain as a literary realist as this designation is the most expedient as to opening a â€Å"clear window† into the purported purpose and themes of Twain's writings. Literary realism comprised an artistic response to the changing social conditions beginning in the 19th century which saw a dominant rise of industry, science, and rationality in western culture. Realism attempted to develop a literary idiom which was able to convincingly portray the actual events and circumstances of life.The movement toward realism can be seen as an artistic mode of grappling with changing and frightening circumstances of western culture. In addition to seeking out themes of social significance, writers such as Zola, Dos Passos, Eliot and Flaubert — advanced a narrative technique which â€Å"jettisoned rhetoric–a stylized language of elevat ed expression designed to demonstrate that the writer had mastered the tradition of polite letters–for everyday speech, (Borus 22) so that highly-stylized narratives still evoked the realism of everyday speech and everyday life.Part of the technique of literary realism involved the use of dialect, sometimes extensively, to create the sense of verisimilitude which was essential to the realist aesthetic. The combination of real-world dialect and the studies technique of the realist writers resulted in a unique blend of linguistic styles which resulted in a generating a set of readers who considered themselves â€Å"cultivated readers of dialect, † (Barrish 37). because realist writers sought to evoke in extensive detail, the living settings of their works, many realist writers were committed to regionalism — that is, they wrote about the world they experienced directly.Examples of this are Faulkner who wrote extensively about a fictional Southern county which was based on counties which actually existed. Realist writers desired to create fiction that felt and read as close to real life as possible in order to allow readers to â€Å"see† and experience aspects of life which would otherwise have remained unknowable to them. With this bit of critical history in mind, one further aspect remains quite important relative to Twain and that is the fact that â€Å"realism as a guiding principle of criticism† (Smith 5) has been rigidly and thoroughly applied to Twain's work with the resulting conclusion that â€Å"shortcomings [†¦] have led to its gradual abandonment during the last quarter of a century on both sides of the Atlantic. † (Smith 5). What are these shortcomings, specifically? The answer to that question is complex and lies in the seemingly comprehensive nature of Twain's realism. The fact that Twain's realism is distinct from naturalism or purely journalistic writing is his sophisticated employment of realism as a device, rather than as a guiding principle of theme or overall technical approach.In other words, because â€Å"Mark Twain's realism does not stop at externals† (Smith 29) that same realism must by necessity engage emotional, psychological, and â€Å"spiritual† (or mythic) concepts and identities which are by definition elusive of any â€Å"realistic† depiction. By delving deeper than â€Å"externals† Twain must, by necessity, abandon verisimilitude as a guiding aesthetic principle and instead accept it as a device, like a single color on a painter's pallette.In order to illustrate this somewhat elusive point, it must be emphasized that Twain's external realism is devastatingly powerful adn accurate, almost â€Å"photo-realistically† so. Twain is obviously quite capable of conveying â€Å"the special atmosphere of each characteristic environment† (Smith 29) and from this mastery of description of the external world, the reader is led to â €Å"trust† that Twain's excursions into the â€Å"inner† world will be just as faithfully rendered and just as obviously based on â€Å"reality.† However, a clear, if subtle, distinction separates Twain from â€Å"photorealistic† artists. A key aspect to Twain's particular use of realism is that â€Å"His purpose is not to say everything, nor even to present everything in an objective way† (Smith 30) but render the impression that what is described, whether it be a river, or a young boy's stream-of-consciousness inner-monologue, is a faithful representation of the actual world.By rendering the impression of realism rather than a rote â€Å"copy† of nature, â€Å"Twain allows himself to pursue his inquiries into reality with varying intensity, to support his observations with a wider or a narrower range of evidence† (Smith 30) and, by doing so, achieves an acumen which is capable of â€Å"misleading† he reader into mistaking wha t is actually a mythic or romantic impression as a realistic observation.To demonstrate this concretely, a single mythic aspect of Tom Sawyer can be isolated and compared with Twain's realistic prose-style to indicate the duality of his narrative idiom, where realism generally indicates, if at an oblique angel, a mythic undertone. For example, the â€Å"treasure-hunt' sub-plot of Tom Sawyer conveys the uniquely American myth of â€Å"striking it rich† through pure luck adn adventure.This is in fact a very durable American myth, the myth that anyone despite his or her stature in life can â€Å"hit pay-dirt quickly, blindly, almost accidentally† (Coulombe 16) and like Huck and Tom become â€Å"rich entirely by good luck† (Coulombe 16). Such a myth was used by Twain not only in Tom Sawyer and in his other of his fictional works, but also as an attribute of his own author-persona.Twain cultivated a deliberate distortion of his biography by attempting to further the notion that his accomplishments were â€Å"effortless and intuitive—a rustic genius rising naturally to the top† (Coulombe 16). In this case, literary biography plays a contributing role to thematic explication because Twain's true experience belied the myth he inserted into Tom Sawyer regarding wealth adn the pursuit of adventure. In reality, Twain was a careerist â€Å"who worked diligently, even desperately, to earn success and money† (Coulombe 17).The aforementioned biographical detail is mentioned merely to illustrate that Twain,had he been truly interested in being a literary realist and depicting the authentic world he had experienced would have obviously dismissed any mythical ‘treasure hunt† ending in blind, wild fortune as being over-the-top romantic, and perhaps even foolish. At this point, it is useful to examine the manner by which Twain attempts to insert verisimilitude into what is essentially a mythic fantasy.he does so retrospective ly by describing what appears to be a very convincing description of the rection of the little town of St. Petersburg to the boys' discovery of treasure: THE reader may rest satisfied that Tom's and Huck's windfall made a mighty stir in the poor little village of St. Petersburg. So vast a sum, all in actual cash, seemed next to incredible. It was talked about, gloated over, glorified, until the reason of many of the citizens tottered under the strain of the unhealthy excitement.Every â€Å"haunted† house in St. Petersburg and the neighboring villages was dissected, plank by plank, and its foundations dug up and ransacked for hidden treasure–and not by boys, but men–pretty grave, unromantic men, too, some of them. (Twain 285) This attempt to balance a romantic myth with a deliberately anti-romantic description of the aftermath of the discovery is thorough right down to Twain's choice of diction.The word â€Å"unromantic† is specifically clever and powerful in forwarding a sense that Twain's treasure hunt is grounded in reality and not in a boyish, culturally incited fantasy. Every detail seems to have been accounted for right down to the observation that â€Å"The village paper published biographical sketches of the boys† (Twain 285) which made them celebrities. Here it is interesting to note that Twain's romantic urge and his urge to restrain his story in verisimilitude are operating at equal strength and simultaneously.If Twain is capable of obscuring what are essentially romantic myths beneath a veneer of realism as was demonstrated by the preceding description of his expression of the â€Å"rags to riches† myth of America, what other myths might be discovered under the narrative surface of Tom Sawyer? Obviously, because Twain embraces the presence of violence in American as a part of his role as a realist writer, depictions of violence and of death in Twain deserve special attention in regard to the myths they may o r may not express beneath the highly detailed and unusually accurate level of narrative description employed by Twain.While it is true that — for Twain â€Å"The sight of a pistol blazing or knife flashing, followed by the red blood gushing from a death wound, was actuality † (Long 99) it is also conspicuously true that Twain's depiction of violence in Tom Sawyer is â€Å"not prevailing, and as in the realism of Howells,† and that in Twain â€Å"happiness, not sorrow, was the general rule† (Long 99) despite the actuality of violence and death in human experience.One might rightly ask: how is such a proposition: that violence and death do not preclude human happiness based in realism? Plainly, one does not require an observational adn descriptive acumen that is equal to Twain's to readily perceive that violence and death in the real world often do preclude human happiness. Clearly, Twain's depiction of violence, like his depiction of material ambition and the attainment of wealth, partakes of a mythic rather then realistic expression.This mythic appraisal of violence and human mortality allows Twain to establish the entire framework of Tom Sawyer on the mythic scaffolding of death and rebirth. In fact, † The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is constructed on a loose framework whose major elements include games of death and games of resurrection† (Aspiz) and these â€Å"games† are purely mythic rather than realistic both in conception and execution.Because it is mythic violence and mythic death that Tom interacts with in the novel, he and the other characters depicted in the novel seem to â€Å"exist on the manic edge beyond which lurks the menace of destruction and the unknown† (Aspiz) but the teetering over and falling â€Å"over the edge† which is repeatedly depicted by Twain in Tom Sawyer results in â€Å"the illusion that all experience is ultimately reducible to entertainment† (Aspiz).Imagination is stronger than the mere presence of death and its associated pains in Twain's fictional world, which is propelled in part by startlingly realistic descriptions and observational details. The result is paradoxical: Murder, grave-robbing, the withholding of life-saving evidence, impulses to suicide, simulated disasters, numerous close brushes with death, the violation of sanguinary oaths, wrenching fear and guilt, and numberless suppressions of the truth and miscarriages of justice are all transformed, through masterful orchestration and narrative control, into entertainment.(Aspiz, 108) Of course it is the power and depth of Twain's â€Å"masterful orchestration and narrative control† which drives the perception on the reader's behalf that Twain's mythic expressions of pain, death, and sorrow are as meticulously accurate as his objective descriptions of rivers, school-houses, and grave-yards. The paradox is born out of the divergence of the mythic and realist strains of Twai n's own consciousness and his narrative expression. The character of Tom Sawyer is, himself, an expression of this paradox and duality.Tom is ultimately portrayed as heroic, but also realistically, so that his flaws can be easily spotted and used to increase the ironic impact of the novel. In fact, careful study of Tom's behavior throughout the novel reveals that â€Å"Tom was neither noble nor pure. Rather, he was often vindictive, violent, and obscure—much like the natural world to which he was linked† (Coulombe 129) and — ironically — it is within this construction of nature, as a character, that Twain achieves a more dour and realistic expression.Twain's impulse to romanticize even human bigotry is evident in his depiction of Injun Joe and Muff Potter, during the trial-scene when Muff fallaciously confesses to murdering the Doctor. Historical reality dictates that it was white men who cam and tricked the native American tribes out of their lands and d estroyed their culture, a fact readily available to anyone, even in Twain';s time, who cared to exert minimal energy doing research.However, rather than seizing on this massive historical reality, Twain opts to facilitate the extant prejudice against racial types that existed in his time, and continue to exist, by positing a mythic â€Å"half-breed,† Injun Joe, who is more cunning and diabolical than the white society he despises. During the trial scene, Muff Potter is confronted with his knife which was used by Injun Joe to slay the Doctor in the cemetery.Potter's reaction is pitiful â€Å"Potter lifted his face and looked around him with a pathetic hopelessness in his eyes. He saw Injun Joe, and exclaimed: â€Å"Oh, Injun Joe, you promised me you'd never– † (Twain 100) and then, slowly, Potter realizes that he must confess to his crime. The reversal of historical reality is chilling. In reality, Native Americans were often controlled and victimized with liquo r and in Twain's depiction, the half-breed, Injun Joe, has turned these realities on their head.It is the Indian who is dastardly and manipulative; and it is the white man, Muff Potter, who is drunkenly victimized and falsely sentenced to death. Such reversals under the fluent realism of Twain's technique can only be considered, rightly, as propaganda. By no stretch of the imagination can propaganda ever be regarded as realistic or objective, so it is obvious that on at least three major themes: materialism, mortality, and racial prejudice, Twain embraces a mythic, rather than realistic, mode of expression in Tom Sawyer.Again, as in the treasure-hunt scenario, Twain attempts to balance his mythically driven conceptualization of race with what appears to be a cogent adn realistic description of the court-room itself and the boys' reaction to Potter's confession: â€Å"Then Huckleberry and Tom stood dumb and staring, and heard the stony-hearted liar reel off his serene statement, the y expecting every moment that the clear sky would deliver God's lightnings upon his head,† (Twain 100).This passage, in fact, only strengthens the essentially culturally chauvinistic impulse of the courtroom scene by positing the half-breed no only as a notorious murderer but as an enemy of the white man's God. Twain's romanticism may be rightly regarded as determinant in the thematic expression of Tom Sawyer. In every case, it is mythic impulse rather than natural or historical realism that drives both the conceptualization and execution of the scenes in Tom Sawyer and the associated themes which these scenes express.Rather than solidifying the aesthetic ideas of literary realism, Twain's use of the idiom in Tom Sawyer is sublimated to his interest in forwarding culturally resonant, American myths which would ostensibly engage and entertain his audience. It is quite possible that Twain's own material ambitions, as previously mentioned, drove, at least in part, his decision to make a literary concession throughout Tom Sawyer to romantic myths, a concession which completely eradicated any claim that might be made on Twain's behalf that the novel embodied literary realism.Works Cited Aspiz, Harold. â€Å"Tom Sawyer's Games of Death. † Studies in the Novel 27. 2 (1995): 141+. Barrish, Phillip. American Literary Realism, Critical Theory, and Intellectual Prestige, 1880- 1995. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Borus, Daniel H. Writing Realism: Howells, James, and Norris in the Mass Market. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1989.Coulombe, Joseph L. Mark Twain and the American West. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2003. Long, E. Hudson. Mark Twain Handbook. New York: Hendricks House, 1957. Smith, Henry Nash, ed. Mark Twain: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York: P. F. Collier & Sons, 1920. American Literature If I was teaching a course in American Literature since 1865, the texts that I would choose to teach would be â€Å"Tulips† by Sylvia Plath, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Sula by Toni Morrison, Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Daisy Miller by Henry James, and Drown by Junot Diaz.I feel that it is important to chronologically span the 150 or so years of literature in this time period, to choose a diversity of authors in terms of gender, race and sexuality, to represent the nation regionally as well as possible, to include texts that focus on important issues in the nation including immigration, gender equality and race relations, and to focus on texts that are relatively accessible and reflect the time period in which they are written. With these texts, I feel that this is accompl ished.Chronologically, this list is relatively complete – there are texts that represent the period of reconstruction (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) and that are from around ten years ago (Drown). Indeed, different aspects of this list speak to the Industrial Revolution and ever-changing face of America through technological advancement, and others discuss the ways that race and gender exist in the time period in which they are written (â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and Sula, for example).Further, not only do these texts represent a breadth of time periods, but they also show different regions of the United States, including the South (Wise Blood) and the West (Housekeeping), with the typical representation of the Northeast and many texts that are not necessarily central to any specific region.Through providing a diversity of chronological and regional representation, I feel that students, especially in a nation that is not as familiar with the United States as we are, would be able to get a better feel of how the United States changed over the past 150 years and how the different regions of the United States face different challenges. Just as it’s important to represent different literal aspects of the United States, it’s just as important to represent the diversity of people that make the nation up.By providing works from authors like Toni Morrison and Junot Diaz, students would get a perspective on the African American and immigrant experience in the United States, respectively. Indeed, America exists differently for the immigrant characters in this collection of Diaz short stories than it does for the characters seeking the American Dream in The Great Gatsby, and it’s important for students to explore these differences among communities in the U. S.Indeed, this collection of texts also reflects issues that are of the utmost importance in the United States – â€Å"Tulips† and â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaperâ €  discuss what it means to be a woman and how motherhood or marriage can trap women, for example. Wise Blood explores the intricacies of religion, and more specifically Christianity, in the South, and Sula thoroughly discusses how black Americans live in the â€Å"Bottom† while whites live at the top long after the conclusion of the Civil War.Students reading my list of texts would be exposed to a breadth of issues, while also reading canonical literature that explores natures such as Leaves of Grass and the work of Henry James and his take on relationships and people. All of the works that are included in this list cover so many different aspects of American Literature, and together they paint a picture that represents the time period and nation as well as any ten-piece collection can.Regionally, canonically and chronologically, the list covers all of the essential points present in American literature, and it also touches on multiple issues of diversity within the texts as well as issues central to American culture in these different time periods. These poems, short stories, novellas and novels are an excellent window into American Literature as well as the ever-ubiquitous American culture, and I would be excited to teach these texts to any classroom. 2nd Essay: Southern Literature is fraught with guilt, struggle and a resistance to dominant American cultural norms.Three of the most important authors in Southern Lit, Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor, are all incredibly attentive to issues important to all Southern people, but they each discuss Southern life in a different form. While all three deal with the integral issues of race relations in the South, the constant struggle with the separation of the North from the South, and what exactly it means to have a Southern identity, each of these authors does this in a very different manner.Hurston focuses on African American dialect and unique experiences within those communities, Faulkner traditionally discusses close-knit small town communities in a stream of consciousness and highly narrative manner, and O’Connor takes a highly moralistic tone, with a focus on religion and community in the South. Hurston’s â€Å"Sweat† is similar to her most famous Their Eyes Were Watching God in that gender struggles and dialect within African American communities are showcased. Indeed, one of the central conflicts in â€Å"Sweat† is the struggle for dominance within the relationship between Delia and Sykes Jones.Even though aspects of Southern femininity and masculinity are inherent to this struggle, femininity is the focus as this is typical of Hurston and the protagonist, and thereby where the reader’s sympathies more dominantly lie, is with Delia Jones. The work focuses on how African American communities exist, with a focus on Delia’s humming and the music that’s present, thereby demonstrating a focus on a n oral tradition that doesn’t necessarily exist within Faulkner and O’Connor’s work.Further, the end of the short story demonstrates how women are able to obtain dominance in relationships, if they ever are able to do so, through Sykes’ horrifying death. Indeed, this story demonstrates many of Hurston’s focuses, and it shows typical struggles within Southern African American communities in terms of gender relations and oral traditions versus dominant narratives. Faulkner’s â€Å"Barn Burning† is different from this in that its focus is on a father and son, and also on the town in which the characters live.Indeed, the story begins in â€Å"The store in which the justice of the Peace's court was sitting† and continues to focus on the actual location and Southern-ness of the setting. Like Hurston, the dialogue of â€Å"Barn Burning† is uniquely Southern, with the characters saying the word â€Å"it† as â€Å"hit,â⠂¬  thereby demonstrating Southern dialect and accents in a way that separates it from any Northern dialogue. Also like Hurston’s work, the story discusses race relations in the South, though necessarily from a white perspective instead of a black perspective.Because of this, the community at the center of the story is a white community instead of a black community, and it thereby emphasizes race relations and oppressive institutions within Southern society instead of exploring the ways in which African American communities form themselves. While there are no explicit O’Connor works on the syllabus, it would be remiss to discuss Southern writing without using O’Connor as an example.In her â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find,† for example, the explicit focus of the narrative is on what it means to be a good person, and how a criminal is not necessarily a more evil and corrupt person than a grandmother without good intentions. While the criminal who murders t he family who are at the center of the story is clearly not a â€Å"good man,† neither is the matriarchal grandmother who is central to the story: indeed, she would have been good if â€Å"it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.† O’Connor discusses Southern society in terms of morality and religion throughout her novels and short stories, and within this discussion also exists issues of race relations, Southern society and dialect, and other things. Indeed, O’Connor, Faulkner and Hurston all recognize the differences between the South and other regions in the United States, the unique moral and community systems that exist there, and demonstrate these aspects differently. 3rd Essay: William Carlos Williams’ â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† and e.e. cumming’s [my sweet old etcetera] both rely on unconventional, modernist poetic form and use this form to convey separate messages. Williams’ poem uses its form t o put emphasis on a dependence on the smallest things – indeed, the form and subject of â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† hinge on the wheelbarrow itself, and demonstrate how form and subject are both integral to a poem’s ultimate message. Similarly, cummings’ unconventional form is different from almost any other poet and uses multiple definitions of etcetera.Both poems show how form is as essential to function as subject and literal messages are, and both use this form to reiterate the meaning of the poem. Williams’ â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† is from a time period in which poets were able to play with form and think more consciously about how a poem can be unconventional in form and still convey a message. Indeed, this poem more or less relies on form to convey that message. What is so interesting about this poem is that there is no terribly clear message in the poem; in fact, it initially seems to not say much of anything and instead to toy arou nd with words.However, the way the poem is structured, the seemingly insignificant nouns are placed at the forefront. As the poem reads, â€Å"so much depends / upon / a red wheel / barrow† (lines 1-4). Here, the poem does in fact depend on the â€Å"barrow† – every couplet in â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† hinges upon a second one-word line that consists of a relatively common and insignificant noun. The nouns continue to locate the poem. The red wheelbarrow is â€Å"glazed with rain / water / beside the white / chickens† (lines 5-8), showing that while each couplet is grounded by the final one-worded line, the entire poem is grounded by the wheelbarrow.Indeed, all of the lines refer back to it: it is the thing that is glazed with rainwater, and it is the thing that is beside the white chickens. The first couplet itself makes it increasingly clear that the wheelbarrow is at the center of this poem in multiple ways: everything in the poem depends on it literally, as is stated in the first two lines, but it is also structurally at the center of the poem. William Carlos Williams is able to use this unconventional form to make a statement about what is important – after all, how can so much depend on a wheelbarrow unless Williams demonstrates it in this unconventional way?Similarly, e. e. cummings poem [my sweet old etcetera] challenges ideas of what the â€Å"etcetera† of the poem is by introducing it in a form that allows multiple interpretations. Indeed, the poem begins with â€Å"my sweet old etcetera / aunt lucy† (lines 1-2), and also includes references to it as â€Å"not to / mention shirts fleaproof earwarmers / etcetera wristers etcetera† (lines 11-13), â€Å"my / mother hoped that / I would die etcetera† (lines 13-15), â€Å"my / self etcetera lay quietly† (lines 19-20), and â€Å"dreaming, / et / cetera, of / Your smile / eyes knees and of your Etcetera† (lines 23-27).All o f these uses of etcetera are different and challenge what exactly the word means: indeed, the word literally refers to a continuing list of things, but here sometimes it’s used in an apathetic sense, sometimes as a euphemism, and other times as its definition connotes. Like â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow,† this poem hinges on the definition of one word, and because of seemingly spontaneous line breaks and capitalization, that word carries entirely different meanings at different places in the text.Interestingly, in the last parenthetical notation, etcetera refers to both the never-ending list of actions of the speaker and also, presumably, the body of the woman who is being described, thereby showing the many definitions of the word. Both â€Å"The Red Wheelbarrow† and [my sweet old etcetera] use relatively unconventional form to challenge traditional notions of established words and concepts. By relying on a different method of poetry and description, both writers a re able to disrupt these ideas that are so closely tied to the words, and also to redefine both the words and the poetic form that they are using to describe them.4th Essay: If I could choose any two authors to explore more fully, I would pick Zora Neale Hurston and Henry James to look at further. Not only are these two authors very different in terms of their writing styles, but they also are from different time periods and different literary perspectives, with Hurston generally describing communities and concrete people more fully while James writes conceptually and canonically in a way that focuses on narrative and other literary forms.Both authors speak to different audiences, both of which I at least partially identify with, and I look forward to reading more by each author. In this course, we read â€Å"Sweat† by Hurston, which I wrote about for one of my other essays. I really enjoy this work not only because I enjoy Southern literature, but also because it focuses on a different aspect of identity than many of the authors that we’ve read in this course.Indeed, Hurston focused on African American oral narratives, and was actually often involved in sociological work and gathering African American folktales to preserve in writing instead of simply within an oral tradition. Because her life was not always spent in looking at writing through a strict literary lens, I think that she has a unique perspective in representing life as it truly exists within communities that are not typically discussed in popular fiction.She herself grew up in an African American town, and is particularly knowledgeable and gifted and representing these types of communities. I would love to read Their Eyes Were Watching God if only because it is similar to â€Å"Sweat† but, as a novel instead of a short story, allows more time to delve into a character’s mindset and to develop a sense of what it means to live within an African American community. Furthe r, I think that Hurston has a unique and powerful style that explores language in a way that many authors simply don’t.She is able to write using heavy symbolism and metaphors throughout her prose, but she’s also able to interesting, intelligently and authentically portray the language that exists within black southern communities, something that most authors would not even think about discussing. Indeed, because of her early life in a unique community that most canonical authors do not understand, her sociological work on oral narratives within black communities, her interesting view on language and style, and her emphasis on women’s issues and gender equality, I would love to look more closely at Zora Neale Hurston’s body of literature.Henry James is also an incredibly important figure in American Literature, but for very different reasons than Hurston. Indeed, James style is not as accessible or engaging as Hurston’s often is, and he is much mor e cerebral in the issues that he chooses to tackle. As Daisy Miller demonstrates, though, James has a terrific understanding of how to manipulate narrative to show multiple dimensions of characters, and his other work demonstrates this even further.The novel which I would most like to read by him is The Turn of the Screw, primarily because it is both a frame narrative (similar to the Canterbury Tales), which provides many unique and interesting insights into narrative, and also because it is a unique version of a ghost story that is much more literary in style than most of what gets represented in popular culture today. Because James is so able to take on narrative, I enjoyed Daisy Miller thoroughly: not only were the characters deep, complex, round and interesting, but the timeline was also challenging.I really enjoy reading Henry James because he is, in many ways, timeless – while his work is obviously dated in certain ways in terms of subject and the setting, the human con dition is so central to everything that he writes that it can be understood outside of this context. Because of his narrative abilities, interest in the human psyche and innate human struggles, challenging prose that pushes different ideas of symbolism and identity, and the innovative subjects that he chooses to write about, I would also very much enjoy looking at what else Henry James has written.