Comparing the Past in The Ice Palace and The Great Gatsby :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Nature of the Past in The Ice Palace and The Great Gatsby      Ã‚  Ã‚   In "The Ice Palace" and The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the nature of the past. He shows us that we can neither return to nor escape from the past. In "The Ice Palace" he writes about the pasts of two different societies, the North and the South. In The Great Gatsby he writes about Daisy's relationships with two men, Tom and Gatsby. â€Å"In both of these stories some characters want to escape from the past and others want to return to the past†(Pendelton, 37). These characters find that neither of these is possible, that the past and the present have become intertwined.    The first society Fitzgerald deals with in "The Ice Palace" is the North. Here people try to ignore the past. We see this when Harry Bellamy tells us that "Everybody has a father, and about half of us have grandfathers. Back of that we don't go"(Fitzgerald, "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" and Other Stories, 72). They have no interest in what has gone before. Even their buildings are new. An example of this is the library of the Bellamy house. Many of the books haven't been read and the items in it "all looked about fifteen years old"(71). The epitome of Northern buildings is the ice palace, which stands for a winter and then melts away. It is an attempt at a building without a past, built fresh each time. In the Southern graveyard, when Sally Carrol is talking about Margery Lee, Harry Bellamy looks at the grave and says "There's nothing here"(68). To him headstones have no reality beyond the immediate physical one. In the North the snow hides the gravestones, making each "a light sh adow against light shadows"(80). The hiding of the headstones demonstrates the entire Northern attitude toward the past. They feel that it isn't important and should be ignored.    Despite all of these efforts the North is unable to escape the past. The gravestones may be covered with snow, but they are still there. Eventually the snow will melt and everyone will be able to see them. Even the ice palace, the attempt at a building with no past, falls victim to it. The last time an ice palace was built was in 1885, but it is still "peopled by those shades of the eighties"(80).

Criminal Justice Theories Essay

A brilliant philosopher once remarked that man is by nature good. Evil, according to him is the result of ignorance or the lack of knowledge. When crime is committed it is because of the limitation and imperfection of his present knowledge. Though it may be true that no man is morally corrupt by nature, Socrates’ explanation of the presence of crime and evil in our society does not suffice to answer the question why people offend and commit crime. Why is it that even the highest ranking CEOs of multinational companies manage to steal money from their investors and stockholders? It does not explain why even educated people become criminal offenders and violators of the law. This could only mean that there is more to crime than just the goodness or badness of the individual. It is because of this reason that Sociologists have turned to other causes or factors that may influence human behavior into committing crimes. This has resulted in several theories attempting to explain crime and deviance. These theories are Social Control Theory and Labeling Theory which will be discussed in this essay. Social Control Theory proceeds from the assumption that man is by nature delinquent and is capable of committing crimes. Instinct drives human behavior to commit crime. Travis Hirschi, the proponent of Social Control Theory, asserts that despite man’s inclinations to commit crime, it can be controlled and his behavior can be regulated so as to make man conform to certain social rules or laws. He says that this could be done by strengthening man’s social bonds with the people around him. These social bonds include attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. The stronger these social bonds are, the more committed a person is to conventional activities and the greater his attachments to his parents and friends, the less likely it is that he will engage in delinquent behavior. Conversely, once this social bond is weakened then it is likely that individuals will engaged in delinquent behavior. (Reginald J. Alston, 1995, p. 3) Thus, according to E. A. Ross the most effective means for controlling and regulating behavior is not the enactment of laws and the threats of punishment but the belief and value systems that helps man obey with the rules. Labeling Theory Labeling Theory did not give much attention to crimes but to the labels that people attach to certain individuals or to certain acts. For example all people have at one time violated rules. But not all persons are labeled as criminals. Only those people who are actually caught or whose deviant acts are disclosed to the public that are considered criminals. A person who is labeled as a criminal begins to think of himself as a criminal and begins to associate with other deviants thus reinforcing the stigma that society attaches to deviants. According to the results of a study conducted by Mike S. Adams (2003) perceived negative labels were related to increased involvement in self-reported delinquent behavior. The study also showed that teachers and peer groups are important sources of negative labels which can lead to the adoption of a deviant self-concept. (p. 4) Labeling Theory states that the labels we apply to certain individuals have a significant influence his behavior. It is natural to classify or categorize things the problem with this is that the people do not realize the negative unintended effects of these labels. There are times when this labeling could scare a person and help him or her conform to the norms of the society. But most of the time labeling has the effect of pushing the person farther away from the society. The effect of this is that the person loses interest in conforming to the laws. He then places himself in the shoes, so to speak, of the label that society has imposed and he acts in such a way that is consistent with his label. Comparison and Contrast The first point of comparison between these two theories is that they both acknowledge the society’s influence on human behavior. In the case of Social Control Theory, socialization and interaction with other members of the society helps in regulating human behavior so as to make man conform to and obey social rules. It reduces man’s propensity to engage in deviant behavior. On the other hand, Labeling Theory affirms the society’s influence on the way a person sees himself and the way he thinks and behaves. Negative perception of the society leads to negative behavior on his part. The second point of comparison is that both these theories see the individual as the result of his interaction with the community. In the case of Social Control Theory, man is defined by his relationships with other, his commitments, values, norms and beliefs. If he has a strong bond with the society it is likely that he will conform to existing rules or laws but if this bond is weak then he becomes more vulnerable to committing deviances and crimes. On the other hand, in Labeling Theory, the individual’s construction of self-identity is seen as a result of his interaction with the members of his community and the way others perceive him. (Craig Calhoun p. 1) If he is judged and labeled by the society as a criminal then it is likely that he will think of himself as a criminal and act like one. . These two theories can be distinguished in the sense that Social Control Theory focuses on the reason why some people adhere and conform to existing rules. It is not actually a theory that explains why people commit crime but it explains the reasons why some people obey the laws. (Paul Delfabbro, 2004, p. 4) On the other hand, Labeling Theory focuses on why people commit crimes. It does not explain why some people obey laws but it does explain why some of us commit crimes. Another distinction is that Labeling Theory is a political rather than a sociological attempt to explain deviant behavior since political relations within the society have so much to do with the giving of labels. It does not deal with the morality of human action but rather it deals with the effects of the attitudes and perceptions of people and defines criminals not as evil persons who engage in wrong acts but as individuals who had a criminal status placed upon them by both the criminal justice system and the community at large. (â€Å"Overview of Labeling Theories†) Conclusion The theory which best explains the reason why people engage in delinquent behavior is the Social Control Theory. Not only that it explains why crime does happen in the society but it also provides for the solution to this problem. This theory supports the proposition that a punitive model of our justice system is not an effective solution to crime. Due attention must be given to alternative forms of response to crime such as giving more focus on rehabilitation and social integration. It would be better if the state instead of allocating millions of dollars for our penal system to allocate some of this money to educating parents and strengthening of communities by means of various sports and recreational program for the youth.

Common Latin Abbreviations Used in English

In this list of common Latin abbreviations youll find what they stand for and how theyre used. The first list is alphabetical, but the definitions that follow are linked thematically. For instance, p.m. follows a.m.   A.D. A.D. stands for Anno Domini in the year of our Lord and refers to events after the birth of Christ. It is used as part of a pair with B.C. Here is an example: The standard date given for the fall of Rome is A.D. 476. The start date of Rome is, traditionally, 753 B.C. More politically correct are the terms C.E. for the current era and B.C.E. for the other. A.D. traditionally precedes the date, but this is changing. A.M. A.M. stands for ante meridiem and is sometimes abbreviated a.m. or am. A.M. means before noon and refers to morning. It starts just after midnight. P.M. P.M. stands for post meridiem and is sometimes abbreviated p.m. or pm. P.M. refers to afternoon and evening. P.M. starts just after noon. Etc. The very familiar Latin abbreviation etc. stands for et cetera and the rest or and so forth. In English, we use the word etcetera or et cetera without necessarily being aware it is actually Latin. E.G. If you want to say for example, you would use e.g. Here is an example: Some of the Julio-Claudian emperors, e.g., Caligula, were said to be insane. I.E. If you want to say that is, you would use i.e. Here is an example: The last of the Julio-Claudians, i.e., Nero.... In Citations Ibid Ibid., from ibidem means the same or in the same place. You would use ibid. to refer to the same author and work (e.g., book, html page, or journal article) as the one immediately preceding. Op. Cit. Op. cit. comes from the Latin opus citatum or opere citato work cited. Op. cit. is used when ibid. is inappropriate because the immediately preceding work is not the same. You would only use op. cit. if you have already cited the work in question. Et Seq. To refer to a certain page or passage and those that follow it, you may find the abbreviation et seq. This abbreviation ends in a period.   Sc. The abbreviation sc. or scil. means namely. Wikipedia says it is in the process of being replaced by i.e. Latin Abbreviations of Comparison q.v. and c.f. You would use q.v. if you wanted to make reference to something elsewhere in your paper; whilec.f. would be more appropriate for a comparison with an outside work.