James Baldwins Story Sonnys Blues Essay -- James Baldwin Sonnys Blu

James Baldwin's Story Sonny's Blues James Baldwin?s story ?Sonny?s Blues? is a deep and reflexive composition. Baldwin uses the life of two brothers to establish parallelism of personal struggle with society, and at the same time implies a psychological process of one brother leaving his socially ingrained prejudices to understand and accept the other's flaws. The story is narrated by Sonny?s older brother whom remained unnamed the entire story. Sonny's brother is a pragmatic person, a teacher, husband, and father. He is a typical middle class Joe whose life?s purpose is to conform to society?s rules. He is a conservative person who seldom takes risks, and accepts the majority?s judgment over his. Sonny?s brother has assimilated into white society (mainstream) as much as possible, but still angers at institutional discrimination and the limits placed upon his opportunities. Contrastingly, Sonny has never tried to assimilate any model. He is looking to vent the deep pain and suffering that his status as permanent outsider confers upon him. Both brothers grew up in Harlem (this story elapses from the early 50?s to late 60?s), surrounded by parents carrying psychological scars of discrimination and struggle. Is here at the family?s nest where the brother?s personalities started to split: though the narrator and his parents are physically there for most of Sonny?s childhood, they never really hear him or listen to him, so Sonny drew himself inwards, with disdain for social rules. Sonny?s older brother saw himself as the one bound to take the helm at the light of his father drunkenness. After their parent?s death, Sonny is propelled by his older brother to stay with Isabel?s family (Sonny?s brother?s wife), an effort of Sonny?s brother to rail him into social conformity. Sonny is desperately trying to express himself, first, by telling his brother his wishes to become a Jazz musician, second, through music, restlessly practicing piano lessons at Isabel?s house. Neither Sonny?s brother nor Isabel?s family understand him. So he seeks more of his kind. He runs out the house, joins the navy, travels for a while, and comes back to New York as a Jazz pianist. Sonny?s brother, following a conservative path, uses denial as mechanism of defense. He refuses to accept Sonny for what he is: ?I didn?t like the way he carried himself, loose and dreamlike ... ...r has, as a ?real musician.? In the nightclub?s environment he is the unfit. When music starts to be played, he begins to understand the language of Jazz; the way in which it helps artists express their torment and their fear. While Sonny was performing, he feels how Sonny?s pain and suffering was exiting his body through his finger tips to the piano?s ivory, to the wooden hammers, to the piano wires, and finally airborne in music notes engulfing everybody as communion between the performer and the audience. Sonny internalizes and then expresses all the anguish and joy of the audience. When the music stops, older brother was in tears, because Sonny?s music also made him go deep inside himself and find the pain of his daughter?s death; the pain of broken promises, and the pain of denying his own kind. The end is a triumph for both: Sonny showed his brother his world, his purpose, his bitter-sweet happiness, even with the always present lure of addiction. Older brother found respect and acceptance for Sonny, and such acceptance transformed his view of everything around him. Works Cited: Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues" in Vintage Baldwin. New York: Vintage, 2004.

How important is this cycle to Earth? Essay

The hydrologic cycle or the water cycle is basically the incessant and continuous flow and movement of water, beneath, above, and on the Earth’s surface (Encyclopedia of Earth, 2007). It involves a number of processes such as the changing of water into its different states, namely, vapor, ice, and liquid, as it goes through the different stages of the cycle (Encyclopedia of the Earth, 2007). In addition, since it is a cycle, it does not have a beginning or an end. Basically, in broader terms, the water cycle is a conceptual model of the movement and the storage of water between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere (Encyclopedia of the Earth, 2007). Water is stored in the earth’s major reservoirs such as oceans, rivers, lakes, glaciers, soils, snowfields, groundwater and even the atmosphere (Encyclopedia of the Earth, 2007). As mentioned above, water goes through different processes. These processes can be generally divided into 5 parts: condensation, evaporation, precipitation, infiltration, and runoff (Encyclopedia of the Earth, 2007). The first process is condensation which occurs when the water vapor transforms into water droplets in the air thereby producing clouds. As these clouds condense further, they hold more moisture. When it can no longer contain the moisture, they release through precipitation, which can be in the form of rain, snow, hail, sleet, and fog drip (Encyclopedia of the Earth, 2007). The water that drops back down to the earth then seeps into the ground through a process called infiltration. On the other hand, if precipitation occurs much faster than it can infiltrate the ground, it then becomes a process called runoff. Basically, runoff water remains on the surface and then subsequently flows to large bodies of water such as oceans, rivers, lakes, and seas among others (Encyclopedia of the Earth, 2007). Finally as infiltration and runoff occur simultaneously, evaporation, which is a process driven by the sun, also occurs. Evaporation is the transformation of liquid water into water vapor. This process is largely aided by sunlight as it increases the temperature in lakes, oceans, and seas (Encyclopedia of the Earth, 2007). As the water in these bodies of water heats, its molecules are released and are turned into gas. This warm air then rises into the atmosphere and then becomes the water vapor involved in the condensation process, which repeats the hydrologic cycle (Encyclopedia of the Earth, 2007). However, other processes also occur within these five processes. One example is sublimation which is the direct transformation of solid water, such as ice and snow, into water vapor without passing through the liquid state (Encyclopedia of the Earth, 2007). Basically, the hydrologic cycle is highly important to the Earth as it provides life to its inhabitants. The cycle basically moves the water through a continuous and constant flow and keeps it fresh for different uses. For example, if water that evaporates does not fall back to the earth through precipitation in the form of rain, then the world’s crops and vegetation would die out and ultimately result in shortages in food. In addition, the oceans and the seas would dry out and kill all marine life. There will also be shortages in water supply as people highly depend on the water that comes from oceans, seas, and lakes. The water shortage would then result in massive thirst and dehydration, which would ultimately kill all human life. On the other hand, if the water does not rise to the air through evaporation after a typhoon, cyclone, or a massive storm, then most parts of the Earth would remain flooded and eventually, all the lands would be submerged underwater. In short, the hydrologic cycle generally keeps the flow and storage of water in a natural state of balance. If this cycle ceases function properly, then all life on Earth would eventually be wiped out due to thirst, hunger, and drought. References Encyclopedia of the Earth. (2007). Hydrologic Cycle. Retrieved July 9, 2008 from http://www. eoearth. org/article/Hydrologic_cycle.

The Cuban Missile Crisis - Secret Meetings Involving...

The Cuban Missile Crisis Secret meetings involving malpractices and miscommunication will lead to global destruction. Senior Enlisted Leaders will understand the importance of acquiring proper intelligence through the right channels before making decisions that will impact mankind around the world. This essay will discuss the history, evolution, and the effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis. History On October of 1962 there was a big misunderstanding between the dictator of the Union Soviet and the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. People all around the world was terrified as it could’ve turn into a nuclear war, this event was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. It all began after the outcome during the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 which resulted in a total failure of the United States trying to take over the Cuban dictator (history.state.gov). At this point the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, was concerned about another attack from the United States and decided to make a pact with the Union Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev. They held a secret meeting where Fidel Castro offered Nikita Khrushchev locations inside his territory, allowing the Russian leader to build launching facilities and place nuclear missiles inside Cuban soil. Nikita Khrushchev accepted this proposition, he believed that President Kennedy wasn’t capable of making the right decision judging him by the outcomes of the already mention event, the Bay of Pigs, as well as the Mongoose Covert