Letters From The Samantha :: essays research papers

An interesting short story is "Letters from The Samantha" by Mark Helpin. This story tells the fascinating tale, in the form of never sent letters, of an ape brought aboard an iron-hulled sailing ship in 1909 by Samson Low, the ship’s captain. Although the author makes a point to tell the reader, through Samson Low, that the animal does not symbolize anything or mean anything, in fact, "He stands for nothing" (280), several arguments can be made to contradict this. One could argue that the ape symbolized the untamed and rarely used wild side of Samson Low through a comparison of their personalities, appearances, and the way they are treated by others. Samson Low was a captain of a ship owned by the Green Star Line. He is a stickler for rules and the proper code of conduct. When writing to his company, he reminds them of "the complete absence of disciplinary action against me" (271). This serves to highlight that he has never been in trouble or bro ken the rules. He is comfortable and comforted by his pattern of obedience and thinks others must be as well: "Though my subordinates sometimes complain, they are grateful no doubt, for my firm rule and tidiness" (271). His ship is always on time or even ahead of schedule. The picture painted is of a steady, reliable, conservative man who always does the appropriate thing in a situation. However, a typhoon the ship sails through reveals a different, less predictable side. When describing the typhoon, Samson thinks, "I confess that I have wished to be completely taken up by such a thing, to be lifted into the clouds†¦" (272). This is hardly the thought of a truly buttoned-down man. He also imagines surrendering to the seas, "But I have not, and will not." (272). While he seems content with his life, Samson Low’s secret yearnings sometimes show through. It is because of this Samson seems jealous of the ape and the things it has experienced. Sa mson has only dreamed while the ape has actually lived. The ape, when first aboard, climbs the rigging to the highest point from there he has a total view of the ship below and all that goes on much like a "pharaonic" captain would do. While in the rigging the ape shrieks and hollers frightening the crew until the captain climbs up to it.

Heavy Metal Music

Imagine, if you will, being surrounded by millions of people, waiting in anticipation for the band to come on. You can't breathe because the people are being squeezed into you by their neighbors. You are sweating, trying to catch every bit of oxygen you can from the air, while others are jumping up and down, hitting you as they wait for the band. Finally, the band comes on stage and you are excited, and they start with: (play music here). This, is what heavy metal music is all about. I have been listening to heavy metal music since I was an infant. My first CD was Metallica's Master of Puppets CD that my dad let me have. I have researched many heavy metal bands as the years have gone by. I know what you are thinking, what does heavy metal music have to do with me? Well, metal music is all around you. You can walk down the street and hear someone's radio playing it. You can hear it in some rap songs, like; â€Å"Bring the Noize† by Public Enemy with Anthrax, and â€Å"Let's Go† by Trick Daddy who took the intro of â€Å"Crazy Train† by Ozzy Osbourne, and put a beat over it. You can even hear it in country music from Cross Canadian Ragweed as they took a solo by heavy metal guitarist Dimebag Darrell and put it in their song, â€Å"Dimebag.† Heavy metal music is one of the most copied genres of music out there. Today I am going to tell you about what heavy metal really is, the beginning of heavy metal, and the impact that heavy metal has had on today's society. First, what is heavy metal music? Dee Snider, the spokesman of all that is heavy metal, defines metal as, â€Å"Drum-pounding-, bass-booming-, guitar-distorted-, and singer-belting-music.† That is the worldwide definition of heavy metal. Heavy metal brings together three genres of music, blues, psychedelic rock, and classical music. Early bands included keyboards, or organs, into their music, but recent bands have gone away from using the keyboard. Heavy metal usually, but not always, contains a single formula. A drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a singer, who may or may not play some kind of instrument. With this formula, it is obvious that their music is purely based on the instruments. A heavy metal drummer uses a larger drum setup than most other rock genres. The singer of the heavy metal band is very important, equally important as the guitarists. The singers can have a large vocal range, like that of Ronnie James Dio of the band Rainbow, or they can be mellow like that of James Hetfield of Metallica. The guitarists' high distortion is the key to metal music. This gives it the heavy metal â€Å"sound.† Also, unlike many other genres of rock, the bassist is important to the band. It is not uncommon to hear a bassist throw in his/her own solo into the song. As a whole, the band uses very high volume. The louder the music, the better. Now that you know what heavy metal is, I will tell you about the beginning of it. The start of metal can be very confusing. For instance, Deena Weinstein, in her book, Heavy Metal: The Music and Its Culture, credited Black Sabbath with the start of heavy metal, but this is not entirely true. Carlos M. Pozo, in his book Caucasion Power Blues, wrote, â€Å"Blue Cheer's cover of â€Å"Summertime Blues† by Eddie Cochrane, is the first heavy metal song.† â€Å"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida† by Iron Butterfly is another one of the earliest heavy metal songs. Then, in 1969, came Black Sabbath. At about the same time as Sabbath, another big metal band emerged. This band went by the name of Led Zeppelin. Even though these two bands did not start heavy metal, they brought it to the public. Sabbath and Zeppelin are two of the most popular rock, let alone heavy metal, bands of all time. They faced much criticism at first, but as more people hated them, others started loving them. These people were the â€Å"rebels†, the ones that did not want to listen to their parents because it was their lives, not their parents'. Because of these â€Å"rebels,† heavy metal's popularity has grown drastically over the years. Regardless of what their parents said, they continued buying heavy metal albums, sometimes they even bought more than usual, in spite of their parents. This sparked rise of heavy metal in later years. That is how heavy metal began, now it is time to learn about the impact it has had on society. Heavy metal has had a drastic impact on society today. According to Encyclopedia Metallica, which is an online website that displays news about Metallica, â€Å"All Metallica albums are banned in Jordan because newspapers called them â€Å"satanists† and â€Å"devil-worshipers.† People were listening to Metallica and destroying things around town, so they had to ban Metallica. During the '80s, parents disliked the heavy metal music so much, they decided to try to get some kind of warning on the albums. This resulted in the Parental Advisory sticker on every explicit CD you see today. This is not the only impact that heavy metal music has had. In 1990, heavy metal band, Judas Priest, were sued because the parents of James Vance, and Ray Belknap believed that Priest's music contained subliminal messages that forced these two men to commit suicide. It was found that these two men were highly suicidal before finding Judas Priest, therefore, Priest were found innocent. This is, yet, another situation where the parents dislike heavy metal so much, that they blame the bands for the death of their children. Sadly, this is a recurring action taken by the parents that will not stop until the hate of heavy metal music is gone, which will not happen any time soon. This is the impact that heavy metal has had on society. Heavy metal music has been alive since the '60s. Even though Black Sabbath are credited with being the first worldwide popular heavy metal band, they did not start it. Heavy metal has become quite popular since it began, and has changed society from day one. So, today you learned what heavy metal music is, about the beginning of heavy metal, and it's impact on society. So, I leave you with a quote from AC/DC, â€Å"For those about to rock, we salute you!†

The Legacy Of The Golden State - 1633 Words

The Golden State has been portrayed and imagined as a state that had the potential of becoming a beacon of modernity, originality and beauty. Boosters of the region sold California as a romantic destination that rivaled scenarios from the country it tried to emulate, Spain. This imagination brought forth growth, both economically and socially, to cities like Los Angeles but with danger and controversy in their way. In the process of building a defining image for California, these boosters embraced but erased the people and cultures that existed in California before the arrival of the Anglos. They essentially took away what these cultures had built upon in California and took them as their own while keeping these cultures out of the picture. This racial exclusion persisted throughout 20th century California. One city where this exclusion was persistent was Los Angeles which throughout much of its 20th century history, the habitants of Los Angeles practiced racial exclusion both explic itly and implicitly. Such arguments like the rise of suburbanization, natural disasters having a double standard in terms of social class and the exclusion of the races in California’s history warrant that the city and state alike had problems in dealing with racial tensions; so much so that the booster tried so seemingly to hide from everyone else. Regardless, everyone living in Southern California was put in danger by these boosters who kept information about the nature of the area from all itsShow MoreRelatedImpact Of Sports In The 1920s884 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The 1920s has been called the Golden Age of American Sports†(Sumner par 1). The roaring twenties had many sports icons and many sports upcomings. Some highlights of the Golden Age are from baseball, football, basketball, boxing, golf, and horse racing. All these sports were relevant and popular during the 20s. Sports has had an impact on society since the 1920s and still has an impact on society today through exciting sports and exciting players. In the 1920s sports started to change. The twentiesRead MoreHercules: A Greek Tale 1170 Words   |  5 Pagesplays as an important setting in many Greek myths, such as the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and many other important roles in Greek Mythology. The demigod, Hercules has an interesting origin, he is most famous for his 12 labors, and leaves a legacy in words and expressions. Hercules has an interesting origin. Hercules was conceived by Zeus of divine nature and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Zeus appeared to her one night disguised as her husband, Amphitryon. Her actual husband reappeared toRead MoreAristotles Balance of Eudaimonia880 Words   |  4 Pagesnorthern Greece. During his lifetime, he studied variety of subjects and brought knowledge to all aspects (Blackburn). He viewed that as a human, a subject who’s determined goal is to reach virtue and Arà ªte, is connected with nature and its balance (Golden Mean). Aristotle also viewed a good life as political questions. He analyzed that human’s basic shape of desire and aim is formed at the age of six (Hare). The good life, then, was defined by Aristotle as ‘the activity of the soul in accordance withRead MoreCase Study : Heineken s Beer Market1607 Words   |  7 Pages MGMT720 Project Team 4 Paper Topic: Heineken in Myanmar Assignment C: Personal trust building Matthew Luk Introduction: The Myanmar’s beer market that has long been dominated by Myanmar Brewery, a state-owned firm which is closely connected with the Myanmar military, with ~80 percent market share. Although Myanmar’s beer consumption is some of the lowest in Asia at just 3.2 liters per person, it is estimated to undergo rapid growth as the market is opening after the election of Aung SanRead MoreFast Food Is Responsible For The Biggest Legacy Of Food Industry997 Words   |  4 PagesGolden Arches Fast food is the term given to food that is prepared and served very quickly, first popularized in the 1950s in the United States. The â€Å"fast food† term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away. Once you take your first bite you only find yourself coming back for more. Fast food is responsible for the biggest legacy in food industry, plays the biggest role in our economyRead MoreTo What Extent Was There a ‘Post War Consensus’ in British Politics from 1951 to 1964?913 Words   |  4 Pageswasted’, whereas historian Robert Blake (a supporter of the Conservatives’, regards it as a ‘Golden age of growth’. The likes of Kevin Jeffrey’s even argue that consensus had even started before the war. Overall, the central issue was the idea of a mixed economy. If we were to argue that there was indeed a post war consensus in British politics from 1951 to 1964, it would be easy to turn straight away to the legacy of the feats in Clement Atlee’s government policies from July 1945 to October 1951. Atlee’sRead MoreMy Grandfather s Legacy Of Life978 Words   |  4 Pagesencountered in his life. My Grandfather’s legacy does not rest solely with the number of years he has been alive on earth. Instead the legacy of his life remains with the the individuals he has a made an impact on. His love rests in the soils of the earth as he has reaped the rewards of kindness and rewarded to every individual. I imagine that as my Grandfather passes the age the eighty five years old a golden cord is tied between him and my great grandmother. This golden cord is vital lifeline between theRead MoreExplain the Archaeological/Written Evidence of the Uniqueness of Tutankhamun’s Tomb in the Eighteenth Dynasty.1264 Words   |  6 PagesExplain the archaeological/written evidence of the uniqueness of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Eighteenth Dynasty. Tutankhamun was an Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh whose legacy extends to the present, and currently one of the best-known ancient Egyptians of all-time. The â€Å"Boy King† inherited the throne at the age of nine, his reign lasting only ten years before his sudden unexpected death. The traditional burial customs and funeral processions were carried out upon him, but the tomb he was laid to restRead MoreUnderstanding The New Kingdom Of Egypt1723 Words   |  7 Pagesagriculture, Nubian Pharaohs, religion, and war. Of particular interest is the manner in which this historical knowledge is repeatedly made relevant in today’s world. Culture Spanning approximately 1550 to 1070 BCE, the New Kingdom of Egypt represents a golden age, one which was almost the opposite of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt in terms of its accomplishments. Some of the most prestigious names of ancient Egypt come from this period, such as Hatsetshup, the female pharaoh, Thutmose III, Ramses II, theRead MoreThe Roman And Roman History1542 Words   |  7 PagesEmperor Augustus ruled over a period that is known as the Roman Peace (Pax Romana), from his reign in 27 B.C to his death in 14 A.D. In Virgil’s character Anchises (As seen above), Augustus is portrayed to have brought to fruition a golden age in Roman history. His ability to turn Rome from the ravages of civil war into a prosperous empire was accomplished through the harnessing of his exceptional administrative powers. Emphasis placed on religious reinvigoration and social reform helped forge a