Ishmael Beah’s Experience in A long way Gone

The book A long way gone is a literary work that narrates the ordeals of a child-soldier in the hands of fate. The writer, Isheal Beah became a soldier at thirteen. As the enthralling story enfolds, he recounts his experience during and after the war. At twelve he had fled for the attacking rebels in his country, Sierra Leone into the streets turned insane by the violence of war. A year later he was converted to a soldier by the government’s army. This is where the heart-wrenching tale, a first class experience of a transformation from a young boy, with a tender heart to a killer boy begins. He was exposed to all the undiluted vices of war. From drugs that they were given to strengthen them and the ammunitions they were given to kill themselves with. He was given an AK-47 much heavier then his hands could carry. One moment an innocent boy, the next moment a â€Å"killerboy†, capable of intense violence and terrible acts. Ishmeal tells his story with an unparallel truth bearing in mind other people’s feelings. Now twenty-six he looks back, down the memory lane at all he had been through, how he survived the war and how he survived his rehabilitation after the war. For three years he fought in the war until he was removed by UNICEF. With the help of the organization, he received rehabilitation, a re-transitional process to his former self before the war. Haunted by the war’s experience, the war was over truly, but the war within Ishmeal’ heart continues. The rehabilitation experience was a story of self-war in itself, involving a self-forgiving process and a requisition of humanity long lost till eventually the final healing began to come. Ishmeal’s experience reminds us of all the wars across the globe and how children have become the easy choice for these wars. With more than fifty wars going on, over 300,000 children have been converted to soldiers. All going through the trauma and hell that Ishmeal went through. The story fits into the trend of history in the twentieth century that was so full of African genocide, Gulf war and other wars around the world. The story also reminds us of the consequences of war, the unchecked genocide perpetrated by human to fellow humans and the effects of all these on several thousands of children and others, whose lives have been altered miserably by war. Ishmeal’s story does this an alarming genuity and explicit emotional force. His experience is quite unique because he was not only a witness but also a victim. He saw and conquered. The story was written like a memoir which has not only added colour to the story but made it more unique, for he narrates them in first person that made it more gripping. His honesty is exacting, and a proof to the ability of children to outlive their sorrows and suffering, if given a chance. From his recounts of the burning villages and total destruction to all, the story raises the question in all rationale minds†¦ what do human gain from war? â€Å"My high school friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life. † â€Å"Why did you leave Sierra Leone? † â€Å"Because there is a war. † â€Å"Did you witness some of the fighting? † â€Å"Everyone in the country did. † â€Å"You mean you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other? † â€Å"You should tell us about it sometime. † â€Å"Yes, sometime. †

Gun ownership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gun ownership - Essay Example All these cases show how easy it is for people to own guns, irrespective of how their mental condition is. It essentially needs to be understood here that people who are often involved in such situations are victims of depression which further advocates the fact that prior allowing a person to own a gun, a proper medical and history check needs to be carried out of the concerned applicant. Such cases have led to mass scale antigovernment movements, in a bid to convince the government to take measures limit gun ownership. On the contrary, gun owners and gun ownership associations have defended their positions and lobbied in the parliament to make sure no such measures are taken which would restrict gun ownership (Legault 2008). The best solution to this problem would be to carry out through history and medical checks before issuing gun ownership permissions to applicants. Moreover, licenses should be issued for specific purpose rather than being all-purpose, thereby making sure inappropriate usage of guns is cut

Lesson 16 - Analyzing Direct Costs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Lesson 16 - Analyzing Direct Costs - Essay Example Based on the above computation, Question 5, Dept A, generates a lower factory overhead cost because the factory overhead rate of Question 5, $8.79 is lower than the Question 1, $9.20 factory overhead rate. On the other hand, Question 5 Dept B, generates a higher factory overhead cost because the factory overhead rate of Question 5, $12.07 is higher than the Question 1, $12.00 factory overhead rate. Dept A reduces the profit of Job 123 by $0.41 per direct labor hour. The total profit of job 123 is reduced by $77.40. (4) The buyers would prefer the plant-wide rate. The plant-wide rate is lower than the department rate. Consequently, the buyers will pay a lower price for the manufactured products, when the plant-wide rate is chosen. The underabsorbed did not benefit the company or the customers (Schneider 128). With the actual amount higher than the applied amount, the company’s net profit will decline. Likewise, the customers have to pay a higher price for the product, if the company will increase its selling prices to recuperate the higher actual factory expenses. In the same manner, the underabsorbed amount did not benefit the company or the customers. With the actual amount higher than the applied amount, the company’s net profit will decline. Likewise, the customers have to pay a higher price for the product, if the company will increase its selling prices to recuperate the higher actual factory expenses. In the same manner, the underabsorbed amount did not benefit the company or the customers. With the actual amount higher than the applied amount, the company’s net profit will decline. Likewise, the customers have to pay a higher price for the product, if the company will increase its selling prices to recuperate the higher actual factory expenses. (3) In the Motley issue, the company is required to provide historical cost data of the $845,000 amount. The historical cost data is more reliable source

Fundraising Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fundraising Plan - Essay Example The fundraising extends a period of three weeks, a period within which the managers will develop and trade various products and services before culminating into a large fundraising dinner on 14/11/2014 at the University’s pavilion. The fundraising is a way for the university’s teams to involve the community in its development. The teams seek to enjoy financial independence by creating an effective management team that will oversee the utilization of all its resources for posterity of athletics in the society (Tullberg, 2006). Hill toppers has been the name of the university’s team since 1925. The teams take part in different sporting events thereby contributing to the extracurricular development of the students. Additionally, the sports offer the students with an effective platform to interact and develop their management skills. The teams have grown concurrently with the University (Blick, 2011). Since 2005, Hill toppers has achieved great success owing to the effective management of the teams. The teams have a history of raising funds to acquire resources and enhance the success of the teams. In 2007 for example, the teams raised two hundred thousand dollars for the development of both a soccer and football pitches within the university. The success of the fundraising event enhanced the performance of the two sports a feature that informs the current even which sees to raise adequate resources for refurbishing the entire university’s sport’s fraternity. The fundraising’s strengths include the diversity of the services and products. This implies that the fundraising will raise money from numerous sources. Additionally, the large duration coupled with the large number of interested stakeholders ensures that the project exhausts all its resources. Its weakness on the other hand is the huge sum it seeks

Power from the play Freakshow by Carson Kreitzer Essay

Power from the play Freakshow by Carson Kreitzer - Essay Example Flip, but lacking any ability to escape from their situation lacking other viable options in society. As Francine Russo of the Village Voice writes in her review of the play: â€Å"Playwright Carson Kreitzer gets Freakshow off to a ripping start. She plunges the audience immediately into the intrigues of a turn-of-the-century sideshow— tales of freaks born and made, of the genuine article and gaff, of the ‘shame of exhibition’ and the terrible need to be seen. She sketches the liaisons among Amalia; her muck-covered lover Matthew; the idiot Pinhead; Aquaboy, the human salamander; the Girl, a pert runaway; Judith, the dog-faced woman; and Mr. Flip, the operation's unctuous barker, promoter, and paterfamilias.† (Russo, 1999) Most symbolic of the enslavement of the circus slideshow performers is the way that Pinhead is kept in a cage on the stage. Whereas the mental capacity or genetic defect of Pinhead is deformed, it is important that this type of handicap w ould generally be better treated in a mental hospital or care facility. The symbol of the cage is ironic, in that the cage is equally present for the other members of the freakshow, only invisible. The key difference between the other freakshow members and Pinhead is their amazing wit, intelligence, and irony fuses to form a type of wisdom about life and society that only the truly excluded outsiders can possess. The intellect of Judith the Dog Faced Woman and Amalia the Amputee is also displayed as an aspect of sexuality that transgresses the barriers and boundaries of the disability and attracts the audience in a seductive manner. The humor of the characters creates a beauty born of understanding life from its worst positions of fate. On the contrary, the slavemaster mentality of Mr. Flip is merely a hyper-exaggerated example of typical modern management styles, and the circus itself a parody of capitalism in the extreme. Where the mainstream society operates on norms and stereoty pes of beauty in media advertising, the circus beauties are the hideous bottom of what would be considered opposite to that ideal popularly. Yet, in this extreme, the fascination and attraction of the public is nearly as great. The difference is that Mr. Flip is more likely to profit from the attraction of the public and their admission fees, while the freakshow cast is only given reprieve from having to exist without a role in society. As Damien Jaques writes: â€Å"Often using monologs, ‘Freakshow’ darkly speaks to the contradictions, anomalies and paradoxes that reside beneath the surface in all of our personalities. It reminds us to not make assumptions about people or situations, and it sheds light on the dependencies that often shape the lives of seemingly ordinary people. An undercurrent of primal sexuality insistently flows through the piece.† (Jaques, 2010) The Ringmaster is the most normal of the â€Å"Freakshow† cast in many ways, a simple salar y-man broken by time and the weight of futility like so many others in his situation in the mainstream industrial landscape. His love of the freakshow in many ways operates on the same pattern of the public, and is related to his own depravity as a human being. Just as in Dostoevsky’s novels the characters seem fated to walk a path of self-destruction, all the while knowing that

Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 24

Communication - Essay Example Professional communication skills, especially strategic, leadership and organizational communication help individuals to develop competence in communication in their areas of expertise (Birkinshaw, 10). Most individuals who take up Masters’ degree classes in Communication are professionals seeking to enhance their knowledge in communication beyond basic communication. Aside from training students on essential communication skills, the institution works to instill a passion for theoretical and intellectual discovery that goes beyond the expectations of the course and the career objectives of students. The UCCS encourages students to undertake their own research into communication as a discipline. This research is supplementary to the lessons learnt in class that are ascribed to communication such as essential skills of effective communication and the application of these skills to different relevant settings (McKay & Martha, 79). According to the program’s homepage, the expectation upon graduation is that every student will possess an advanced and broad-based understanding and knowledge of the processes of communication and the theories concerning organizational communication relevant to the student’s area of interest. This is important, considering the fact that in any career, communication is imperative to performing well (Birkinshaw, 18). Knowledge and understanding of organizational communication enables a professional to relate well with his or her colleagues at the workplace. Issues such as the effective delivery of instructions espouse satisfactory performance, which leads to effectiveness in undertaking duties (Worth, 40). The program also intends to equip every student with communication skills. Communication skills entail the analysis of contexts and critical thinking. With regard to critical thinking, students are taught to process

Who were the Essenes Summarize at least three ways in which Essene Essay

Who were the Essenes Summarize at least three ways in which Essene practice and belief may have influenced Christianity - Essay Example e Essenes were an important group because they flourished and shared some views with other groups of the same time such as early rabbinic Jews and Christians ». Therefore, this means that certain views and beliefs produced profound effect on Christianity on the early stages of its development. First of all, the core belief shared by the members of Essene brotherhood was the idea of messianism, i.e. upcoming arrival of the Messiah. According to the Dead Seas Scrolls, Essenes can be called the religious community, in which the idea of messianism flourished (Patella). This sect was against any weapons, though they would carry it only as a means of protection against robbers and were ready to use it only in struggle against the forces of evil, when the Messiah would come to rescue the God’s people. Impact of these beliefs can be traced in foundations of the New Testament Christianity, as the idea of Jesus Christ as a messiah who came to redeem all sins of people is in the core of Christian belief. Secondly, the form of organization practiced by the Essenes can be paralleled to that of the early Christian church. The community was ruled by the collegium consisting of 12 priests. Later, in the apostolic period, the church was headed by the twelve apostles. The structure of Essene sect incorporated bishops, priests, churches, gospels, disciples etc. – church hierarchy and organization probably inspired that of Christianity, along with the way of Holy Scriptures’ allegorical interpretation. This statements seems especially plausible, as Essenes existed long before the dawn of the New Testament Christianity. Thirdly, there is a considerable number of customs and traditions that seem to be borrowed by early Christianity from the Essenes. For example, the latter lived in communities, rejected money, served each other and mainly observed celibacy – these features can be easily traced in monastic rules of Christian church. The principles guiding their lifestyle must