Globalization And Nation State Essay

Globalization And Nation State Essay Since the beginning of the 1990s, globalization has become a high frequency word in our daily life. Actually, globalization is not a strange word since the sixteen-century and Europe as the original source of globalization. It has some simple international trade at that time. People realize the importance of multinational communication and trade; therefore make globalization become the main trend in todays world. In 21st century, globalization has become more and more common in the whole world, no matter people, organizations, or government, both can see the changes which globalization brings them. Globalization has deeply influence peoples life and working style, globalization make world integrity closely and makes peoples life become more and more convenient, it brings many benefits to people. Not only have deeply impact on peoples life, but also influence the nation-state more or less. It influences the nation-states sovereignty integrity, impact on their economic development and their national culture. Although it changes the nation-state original condition, it still brings them some positive influence. It helps nation-state develop better and better. Therefore, globalization both give them chances and challenges, restructuring politics, economic penetration and communication between multinational culture and national culture. In this essay, the purpose is to explain the relationship between the globalization and nation-state. Firstly, it will explain the academic definition of globalization and nation-state, and state the process of globalization and the characters of nation-state. Then, it will put forward the academic debate about the relationship between globalization and nation-state and explain it briefly. Thirdly, it will discuss the globalization influences the nation-state through political, economic and cultural aspects. Media globalization also brings benefits to nation-state because media is the key linking bridge which connects the nation-state with other countries. Lastly, it will make a conclusion and provide the opinion for this essay. Globalization and nation-state Globalization has become a major feature of contemporary social life. Globalization is penetration into different aspects like business, politics, economics, cultural identity, law, the environment and music. It almost exists in every corner of peoples life. Robertson gives the academic definition of globalization as follows: Globalization as a concept refers both to the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a wholeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦both concrete global interdependence and consciousness of the global whole (1992:8). This definition refers to the increasing of interdependence in different countries, it means the world is unified and standardization, there is close relationship in each country through politics, economics and cultural areas. The more important of this definition is the intensification of global consciousness, it means globalization infuse people the conscious of integrity and unified in their mind, make people think there is one world, and the world is unified. Also this is the common idea that the world is becoming more and more uniform and standardization through the cultural and technological development from the West. After World War II, the high speed development of communications technology and transportation make people come into the new world. More and more people can travel anywhere they want, and make migrate to other countries more easily. Satellite broadcasts make people become globally audience; they can hear different kinds of information through different countries. The world is becoming a single place, people sharing the common understanding of living together in one place (Lechner, F.J.& Boli, J, 2000). Moreover, in some critical view of globalization, Pieterse, J.N.(1995) state that the globalization as a process of hybridization, and the globalization in the plural. Globalization can be described from four aspects, political, economical, international relations and cultural. In political, social arrangements for the application of power which control the territories, populations and others. In economics, globalization refers to internationalization of economic, and expands of the market. The appearance of some international institutions intended to supervise the process of globalization, these international institutions includes International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (wzeu.ask.com). It keeps the balance in the international trade. In international relations, the importance is the inc reasing consistency of the relations between nations and their global politics. In cultural aspect, it is focus on global communications and cultural homogenization, like the spread of the American culture and McDonalds culture, those culture both the symbol of the cultural globalization. As for nation-state, it can be defined as a certain form of state that derives its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit (en.wikipedia.org) The nations is refers a cultural and ethnic entity, and the state is for political and geopolitical entity. The nation-state combine those two characters then composing the nation-state. Also there are different numbers of ways of understanding the nation-state. One is to focus on the issue of sovereignty. In this perspective, it can be date back to 17th century Europe, to the emergence of concentrated monarchical power and to the development of a system of nation-states sovereign in relation to eac h other (Holton,R.J.) Also the nation-state has own characteristics, differ from pre-national states. Nation-state has strong idea that about their territory, they think the territory cannot be destroyed and non-transferable, it cannot easily exchange to other nations. The crucial character of nation-state is they use ethic entity as the nation policy through the economics, cultural and social life activities. Nation-state promote the economic unity, they abolish the doll and internal customs. They focus on infrastructure the transportation and they also concentrate on construct the motorway network, both of these policies is for better trade and travelling between nations. Compared with non-national predecessors, the most obvious impact of nation-state is the creation of uniform of a nation cultural through nations policy. The model of nation-state is that the residents is constitutes a nation, integrity together by common descent, a common language and many shard cultures. If the nation loses this unity, it tends to create it. It promotes the national language unity through the language policy (baike.baidu.com). Therefore, nation-state has their particular characters which others cannot easily destroy. Debate between nation-state and globalization With the world become globally, the relationship between nation-state and globalization has raised the many scholars attention. It may use other way to explain this issue which does globalization destroyed the nation-state? Many scholars provide their opinion towards this hot issue. According to Ohmae,K.(2000) opinion, he think the globalization has deeply weaken the nation-state through political, economic and international trade aspects. Ohmae,K.(2000) think the nation-state sovereignty is deeply threatened by globalization, nation-state begun to lose their dominance. Also author think the nation-state is lose their control in economics because of the penetration of globalization. The nations cannot protect their currency and capital market, it become more and more vulnerable. Also from the daily goods and services now produced in todays world, Ohame, K. think the nation-state has already lose their national label. Other scholars also indicate the challenges towards the nation-stat e when facing the globalization. Mann,M(1997) put forward their opinion towards this issue, he analyst four threats to nation-state which is global capitalism, the dangerous of environment change, post-nuclear geopolitics and identity politics. All four factors influence the nation-state in different regions. Capitalist transformation is mildly weakening the north of the nation-state, with the development of industrialization, environment pollution also threat the whole world, the problems of environment is hard to solve by nation-state alone; post-nuclearism weakening state sovereignty. For this argument, some other people state opposite opinion, Thus, Mann(1993a, 1997) indicate that the rise of the nation-state does not influence by globalization; Hirst and Thompson (1996) state that the nation-state still remain the strong status. Different people have divergent opinion toward this question. As for personal view, I agree the moderate view, it can combine different scholars opinio ns because everything both has positive and negative sides. It is no doubt that the globalization plays the dominant role in nation-state, it brings them huge change, but it can act these change as both chance and challenges. Globalization has impact on nation-state in political, economical and socio-cultural areas in positive and negative sides. The impact of the globalization on nation-state Globalization is changing the world step by step, it also has profound influence on nation-state, it changing and threatening the nation-state through three aspects like political, economical and socio-cultural. It is both chances and challenges to nation-state. In nation-state, their main thing is to protect the sovereignty and territory integrity. It cannot be easily destroyed. However, the world in nowadays is the Economic Globalizaiton (Holton,R.J.), the economic integrity connect todays world, it also threaten the nation-states sovereignty, supranational institutions deeply influence the national political activities, like the appearance of United Nations, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and WTO (Held,D,1991), both of these economic regulatory bodies control and monitor the nation-state political structure. The strengthen power of the international institutions make nation-state sovereignty more and more vulnerable. Multinational companies not only manipulate the pro cess of economic globalization, but also influence the internal polity in nation-state. The flow of global capital and the multinational companies activities need to burst the territory and sovereigntys restriction in order to better develop themselves. Moreover, the nation-state traditional function is threaten and restricted by globalization. Due to the development of global market, nation-state has to cooperate with transnational organizations because they have no other ways to protest the economic globalization. Some national taxes issues, the regulation of financial rules and the investment strategy cannot decide by nation-state alone. All of these issues make nation-state more and more weakening and threatened by globalization. In economics, the global economy is characterized by massive flows of money and capital across political boundaries. Integrated global finance markets shift billions of dollars around the world daily in a manner (Holton,R.J.). These changes have profoun d effect on nation-states foreign exchange, tax revenues, interest rate, the stability of currency, the employment level and the stock markets. Also the multinational companies improved by developed information technology and communications. These huge changes is undoubtedly challenge the nation-state develop. As I discussed above, those international institutions not only influence the nation-state sovereignty, but also control the national economic activities more or less. These international institutions like WTO, World Bank regulate the nation-state economy and then it will make their national foreign exchange and interest rate fluctuated; due to the increasingly multinational companies, they come into the national market and doing the international trade between other countries, the flow of capital and money impair their internal economy in some degrees. In addition, globalization makes people can migrant to other countries, this change influence the nation-state local labor ma rket, it may increase their unemployment rate because the flow of the labor market make the local market cannot keep balance. In market, when people look closely at the products and services, they can find most of them are not made by themselves. Thats the result of economic globalization, international trade makes nation-state lose their market share and influence their government income and GDP. In socio-cultural area, there are different views about the relationship between global culture and national culture. Global culture is the main part of globalization, like globalization, with the evolution of information technology and communication, predict the developing trend of global culture. Herbert Schiller(1976) advance that the global culture is a kind of cultural homogenization, also seen the global culture as the Americanization cultural imperialism. However, cultural globalization does not mean the Americanization or absolute homogenization (studa.net). In the process of cultu ral globally, there is connection between homogenization and heterogenization, like different nation-state have different consciousness towards the ecological culture and environment culture. Therefore, this kind of consciousness is the cultural heterogenization. For instance, you can buy KFC fast food in Beijing, you can listen the Madonna tape, but it does not mean you will give up the traditional culture of the nation-state. Americanization is a kind of diversification in cultural homogenization, America culture is the combination of different countries culture factors because America culture is a kind of immigrant culture (studa.net). Therefore, people cannot say that global culture is Americanization homogenization. In nation-state, there is a clash between the foreign culture and national culture. With expand of internet technology and communications, it creates the clash to nation-state, also bring the challenges. Firstly, it will generate the cultural war, this war is betwee n the English language country and non-English language country, in internet, people always can see lot of English language articles appearing in the national website. Therefore, some nations think it is necessary to protect their language culture. Then, the internet communication technologies originally come from USA, lot of multinational media companies dig other countries cultural resources and then act these as the commodity to sell. It means culture is becoming a kind of consumer goods, not the culture itself; it will create negative influence towards the nation-state traditional culture. Moreover, entertainment culture is the main feature of contemporary globalization (Hafez,K. 2007). Due to the media globalization and the evolution of communication technologies, entertainment culture has become the common and popular circumstances in this world. Film and Programme imports are the crucial part in every country. In nation-state, in their TV programme, it has lots of internation al programmes, people can get the information and learn the different countrys culture, however, if there are too many foreign programmes, it will influence the local peoples mind especially for younger people. It will make younger people ignore their national culture. Therefore, media globalization is also the key feature of the cultural globalization. Due to the evolution of communication technologies and the media globalization, it can spread the culture through these platforms to other countries. It make the culture become globally and increase the communications between different countries. Overall, globalization has profound influence on nation-state in political, economical and cultural fields. These three aspects both threatened the nation-state, it weaken their sovereignty and make their economic activities unstable and easy to undermine their national culture due to the cultural globalization. Nevertheless, not only economic globalization brings the challenges to nation-st ate, but also have some positive changes in nation-state through these influential factors. Globalization bring more chances to nation-state, nation-state still play the crucial role in todays world, it cannot easily destroyed or undermine by economic globalization. Positive effect on nation-state in globalization world Nation-state still has profound functions in todays global world, territory still the symbol of distinguishing nations, globalization creates many new political groups, but the nation-state still the most important political group in todays world. Globalization does not destroy the territory and sovereignty totally, only influence it. Although many international institutions existing in nation-state, the nation identity still play the dominant role in nation-state and they are decide the national rules and policies (news.xinhuanet.com). Economic globalization brings many chances to nation-state although it threatens in some ways. In national market, multinational companies give nation-state more benefits due to the international trade, it also enhance their national companys competitive advantages. It can bring more chance to trade with other international organizations. Then, more and more multinational companies, it can reduce their unemployment rate though it has many foreign labo rs. It can create more job vacancies to the nation-state labor market. Cultural unified is the main part as for nation-state, however, cultural globalization cannot guarantee the nation-state cultural unity. In one hand, cultural globalization threaten the national culture development, on the other hand, national cultural also integrate into the global culture. National still keep own cultural characters even better developed. Cultural communication is important to nation-state because they also need to improve their cultural weakness, nation-state can learn and absorb multinational culture to enhance their culture. Also other countries people can absorb and learn the nation-states cultural through cultural communication. It is a good way to promote their nations culture advantages, make more and more people know their nations. Overall, the evolution of globalization not only threatens the nation-state in some ways, there are more benefits which they can gain through globalization. Chances are more than challenges, nation-state has their policy to protect their country, it cannot easily be destroyed. Nation-state just needs to adapt to this economic globalization world in order to better develop their nations because globalization is the whole world phenomena it cannot reverse it. Conclusion In conclusion, from what I discussed above, economic globalization is the main trend in todays world, the world is become unity and closely. It has a long history since the appearance of early globalization, therefore, globalization is not a strange word in nowadays. The world is changing rapidly since the globalization become more and more dominant; it can be feel through the economical, political and socio-cultural aspects. These changes make people feel the world is a united world, people living in a common planet. Also as for nation-state, they have own nation characters and own living habits, culture habit and economic activities, nation-state is focus on their sovereignty, they try their best to protect their territory and sovereignty. However, the economic globalization cannot make nation-state feel safety forever. There is a drastic debate about the relationship between globalization and nation-state, some scholars indicate the globalization is demise the nation-state and thr eatened their sovereignty, the nation-state will be disappear after several decades. It still have other people state the globalization have profound influence on nation-state but not destroy it. As far as I know, I prefer the latter view, globalization plays the dominant role in todays world, however, it does not undermine the nation-state. It is the fact that the economic globalization brings both challenges and chances to nation-state, not only threat the nation-state, it still create some benefits for nation-state. It can be seen from political, economical and cultural areas. Although the appearance of international institutions like World Bank, IMF etc make nation-state feel the challenges towards their sovereignty and territory, it still have positive effect on nation-state. Due to the existing of these institutions and many multinational companies come into nation-state, it makes national economic activities become confusion, in some degrees, nation-state loses their power an d threats their local industry. Nevertheless, it also give nation-state more chance to develop them, multinational companies enhance and improve the international trade, make nation-state have more opportunities to develop their economics, also decrease their unemployment rate. In cultural aspects, nation-state also takes lot effort to maintain their cultural unity, however, cultural globalization make cultural integrate and spread to all over the world, it also shock the nation-state national culture. Moreover, due to the development of media technologies and internet widespread, every nations can see more and more TV programmes in television or through different broadcasting. Nation-state have more chances to widen their eyesight to absorb other countries culture and then it can improve their culture weakness. Overall, not only globalization threats the nation-state in some ways, but also give them more opportunities to develop and improve. It can be seen as opportunities more tha n challenges. Therefore, nation-state cannot undermine by globalization, it just change it in some areas. There is a close relationship between nation-state and globalization, they depend on each other.

The Host Chapter 13: Sentenced

Are they here?† We choked out the words-they burst from us like the water in our lungs had, expelled. After water, this question was all that mattered. â€Å"Did they make it?† Uncle Jeb's face was impossible to read in the darkness. â€Å"Who?† he asked. â€Å"Jamie, Jared!† Our whisper burned like a shout. â€Å"Jared was with Jamie. Our brother! Are they here? Did they come? Did you find them, too?† There was barely a pause. â€Å"No.† His answer was forceful, and there was no pity in it, no feeling at all. â€Å"No,† we whispered. We were not echoing him, we were protesting against getting our life back. What was the point? We closed our eyes again and listened to the pain in our body. We let that drown out the pain in our mind. â€Å"Look,† Uncle Jeb said after a moment. â€Å"I, uh, have something to take care of. You rest for a bit, and I'll be back for you.† We didn't hear the meaning in his words, just the sounds. Our eyes stayed closed. His footsteps crunched quietly away from us. We couldn't tell which direction he went. We didn't care anyway. They were gone. There was no way to find them, no hope. Jared and Jamie had disappeared, something they knew well how to do, and we would never see them again. The water and the cooler night air were making us lucid, something we did not want. We rolled over, to bury our face against the sand again. We were so tired, past the point of exhaustion and into some deeper, more painful state. Surely we could sleep. All we had to do was not think. We could do that. We did. When we woke, it was still night, but dawn was threatening on the eastern horizon-the mountains were lined with dull red. Our mouth tasted of dust, and at first we were sure that we had dreamed Uncle Jeb's appearance. Of course we had. Our head was clearer this morning, and we noticed quickly the strange shape near our right cheek-something that was not a rock or a cactus. We touched it, and it was hard and smooth. We nudged it, and the delicious sound of sloshing water came from inside. Uncle Jeb was real, and he'd left us a canteen. We sat up carefully, surprised when we didn't break in two like a withered stick. Actually, we felt better. The water must have had time to work its way through some of our body. The pain was dull, and for the first time in a long while, we felt hungry again. Our fingers were stiff and clumsy as we twisted the cap from the top of the canteen. It wasn't all the way full, but there was enough water to stretch the walls of our belly again-it must have shrunk. We drank it all; we were done with rationing. We dropped the metal canteen to the sand, where it made a dull thud in the predawn silence. We felt wide awake now. We sighed, preferring unconsciousness, and let our head fall into our hands. What now? â€Å"Why did you give it water, Jeb?† an angry voice demanded, close behind our back. We whirled, twisting onto our knees. What we saw made our heart falter and our awareness splinter apart. There were eight humans half-circled around where I knelt under the tree. There was no question they were humans, all of them. I'd never seen faces contorted into such expressions-not on my kind. These lips twisted with hatred, pulled back over clenched teeth like wild animals. These brows pulled low over eyes that burned with fury. Six men and two women, some of them very big, most of them bigger than me. I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized why they held their hands so oddly-gripped tightly in front of them, each balancing an object. They held weapons. Some held blades-a few short ones like those I had kept in my kitchen, and some longer, one huge and menacing. This knife had no purpose in a kitchen. Melanie supplied the name: a machete. Others held long bars, some metal, some wooden. Clubs. I recognized Uncle Jeb in their midst. Held loosely in his hands was an object I'd never seen in person, only in Melanie's memories, like the big knife. It was a rifle. I saw horror, but Melanie saw all this with wonder, her mind boggling at their numbers. Eight human survivors. She'd thought Jeb was alone or, in the best case scenario, with only two others. To see so many of her kind alive filled her with joy. You're an idiot, I told her. Look at them. See them. I forced her to see it from my perspective: to see the threatening shapes inside the dirty jeans and light cotton shirts, brown with dust. They might have been human-as she thought of the word-once, but at this moment they were something else. They were barbarians, monsters. They hung over us, slavering for blood. There was a death sentence in every pair of eyes. Melanie saw all this and, though grudgingly, she had to admit that I was right. At this moment, her beloved humans were at their worst-like the newspaper stories we'd seen in the abandoned shack. We were looking at killers. We should have been wiser; we should have died yesterday. Why would Uncle Jeb keep us alive for this? A shiver passed through me at the thought. I'd skimmed through the histories of human atrocities. I'd had no stomach for them. Perhaps I should have concentrated better. I knew there were reasons why humans let their enemies live, for a little while. Things they wanted from their minds or their bodies†¦ Of course it sprang into my head immediately-the one secret they would want from me. The one I could never, never tell them. No matter what they did to me. I would have to kill myself first. I did not let Melanie see the secret I protected. I used her own defenses against her and threw up a wall in my head to hide behind while I thought of the information for the first time since implantation. There had been no reason to think of it before. Melanie was hardly even curious on the other side of the wall; she made no effort to break through it. There were much more immediate concerns than the fact that she had not been the only one keeping information in reserve. Did it matter that I protected my secret from her? I wasn't as strong as Melanie; I had no doubt she could endure torture. How much pain could I stand before I gave them anything they wanted? My stomach heaved. Suicide was a repugnant option-worse because it would be murder, too. Melanie would be part of either torture or death. I would wait for that until I had absolutely no other choice. No, they can't. Uncle Jeb would never let them hurt me. Uncle Jeb doesn't know you're here, I reminded her. Tell him! I focused on the old man's face. The thick white beard kept me from seeing the set of his mouth, but his eyes did not seem to burn like the others'. From the corner of my eye, I could see a few of the men shift their gaze from me to him. They were waiting for him to answer the question that had alerted me to their presence. Uncle Jeb stared at me, ignoring them. I can't tell him, Melanie. He won't believe me. And if they think I'm lying to them, they'll think I'm a Seeker. They must have experience enough to know that only a Seeker would come out here with a lie, a story designed for infiltration. Melanie recognized the truth of my thought at once. The very word Seeker made her recoil with hatred, and she knew these strangers would have the same reaction. It doesn't matter anyway. I'm a soul-that's enough for them. The one with the machete-the biggest man there, black-haired with oddly fair skin and vivid blue eyes-made a sound of disgust and spit on the ground. He took a step forward, slowly raising the long blade. Better fast than slow. Better that it was this brutal hand and not mine that killed us. Better that I didn't die a creature of violence, accountable for Melanie's blood as well as my own. â€Å"Hold it, Kyle.† Jeb's words were unhurried, almost casual, but the big man stopped. He grimaced and turned to face Melanie's uncle. â€Å"Why? You said you made sure. It's one of them.† I recognized the voice-he was the same one who'd asked Jeb why he'd given me water. â€Å"Well, yes, she surely is. But it's a little complicated.† â€Å"How?† A different man asked the question. He stood next to the big, dark-haired Kyle, and they looked so much alike that they had to be brothers. â€Å"See, this here is my niece, too.† â€Å"Not anymore she's not,† Kyle said flatly. He spit again and took another deliberate step in my direction, knife ready. I could see from the way his shoulders leaned into the action that words would not stop him again. I closed my eyes. There were two sharp metallic clicks, and someone gasped. My eyes flew open again. â€Å"I said hold it, Kyle.† Uncle Jeb's voice was still relaxed, but the long rifle was gripped tightly in his hands now, and the barrels were pointed at Kyle's back. Kyle was frozen just steps from me; his machete hung motionless in the air above his shoulder. â€Å"Jeb,† the brother said, horrified, â€Å"what are you doing?† â€Å"Step away from the girl, Kyle.† Kyle turned his back to us, whirling on Jeb in fury. â€Å"It's not a girl, Jeb!† Jeb shrugged; the gun stayed steady in his hands, pointed at Kyle. â€Å"There are things to be discussed.† â€Å"The doctor might be able to learn something from it,† a female voice offered gruffly. I cringed at the words, hearing in them my worst fears. When Jeb had called me his niece just now, I'd foolishly let a spark of hope flame to life-perhaps there would be pity. I'd been stupid to think that, even for a second. Death would be the only pity I could hope for from these creatures. I looked at the woman who'd spoken, surprised to see that she was as old as Jeb, maybe older. Her hair was dark gray rather than white, which is why I hadn't noticed her age before. Her face was a mass of wrinkles, all of them turning down into angry lines. But there was something familiar about the features behind the lines. Melanie made the connection between this ancient face and another, smoother face in her memory. â€Å"Aunt Maggie? You're here? How? Is Sharon -† The words were all Melanie, but they gushed from my mouth, and I was unable to stop them. Sharing for so long in the desert had made her stronger, or me weaker. Or maybe it was just that I was concentrating on which direction the deathblow was going to fall from. I was bracing for our murder, and she was having a family reunion. Melanie got only halfway through her surprised exclamation. The much-aged woman named Maggie lunged forward with a speed that belied her brittle exterior. She didn't raise the hand that held the black crowbar. That was the hand I was watching, so I didn't see her free hand swing out to slap me hard across the face. My head snapped back and then forward. She slapped me again. â€Å"You won't fool us, you parasite. We know how you work. We know how well you can mimic us.† I tasted blood inside my cheek. Don't do that again, I scolded Melanie. I told you what they'd think. Melanie was too shocked to answer. â€Å"Now, Maggie,† Jeb began in a soothing tone. â€Å"Don't you Now, Maggie' me, you old fool! She's probably led a legion of them down on us.† She backed away from me, her eyes measuring my stillness as if I were a coiled snake. She stopped beside her brother. â€Å"I don't see anyone,† Jeb retorted. â€Å"Hey!† he yelled, and I flinched in surprise. I wasn't the only one. Jeb waved his left hand over his head, the gun still clenched in the right. â€Å"Over here!† â€Å"Shut up,† Maggie growled, shoving his chest. Though I had good reason to know she was strong, Jeb didn't wobble. â€Å"She's alone, Mag. She was pretty much dead when I found her-she's not in such great shape now. The centipedes don't sacrifice their own that way. They would have come for her much sooner than I did. Whatever else she is, she's alone.† I saw the image of the long, many-legged insect in my head, but I didn't make the connection. He's talking about you, Melanie translated. She placed the picture of the ugly bug next to my memory of a bright silver soul. I didn't see a resemblance. I wonder how he knows what you look like, Melanie wondered absently. My memories of a soul's true appearance had been new to her in the beginning. I didn't have time to wonder with her. Jeb was walking toward me, and the others were close behind. Kyle's hand hovered at Jeb's shoulder, ready to restrain him or throw him out of the way, I couldn't tell. Jeb put his gun in his left hand and extended the right to me. I eyed it warily, waiting for it to hit me. â€Å"C'mon,† he urged gently. â€Å"If I could carry you that far, I woulda brought you home last night. You're gonna have to walk some more.† â€Å"No!† Kyle grunted. â€Å"I'm takin' her back,† Jeb said, and for the first time there was a harsher tone to his voice. Under his beard, his jaw flexed into a stubborn line. â€Å"Jeb!† Maggie protested. â€Å"‘S my place, Mag. I'll do what I want.† â€Å"Old fool!† she snapped again. Jeb reached down and grabbed my hand from where it lay curled into a fist against my thigh. He yanked me to my feet. It was not cruelty; it was merely as if he was in a hurry. Yet was it not the very worst form of cruelty to prolong my life for the reasons he had? I rocked unsteadily. I couldn't feel my legs very well-just prickles like needle points as the blood flowed down. There was a hiss of disapproval behind him. It came from more than one mouth. â€Å"Okay, whoever you are,† he said to me, his voice still kind. â€Å"Let's get out of here before it heats up.† The one who must have been Kyle's brother put his hand on Jeb's arm. â€Å"You can't just show it where we live, Jeb.† â€Å"I suppose it doesn't matter,† Maggie said harshly. â€Å"It won't get a chance to tell tales.† Jeb sighed and pulled a bandanna-all but hidden by his beard-from around his neck. â€Å"This is silly,† he muttered, but he rolled the dirty fabric, stiff with dry sweat, into a blindfold. I kept perfectly still as he tied it over my eyes, fighting the panic that increased when I couldn't see my enemies. I couldn't see, but I knew it was Jeb who put one hand on my back and guided me; none of the others would have been so gentle. We started forward, toward the north, I thought. No one spoke at first-there was just the sound of sand grinding under many feet. The ground was even, but I stumbled on my numb legs again and again. Jeb was patient; his guiding hand was almost chivalrous. I felt the sun rise as we walked. Some of the footsteps were faster than others. They moved ahead of us until they were hard to hear. It sounded like it was the minority that stayed with Jeb and me. I must not have looked like I needed many guards-I was faint with hunger, and I swayed with every step; my head felt dizzy and hollow. â€Å"You aren't planning to tell him, are you?† It was Maggie's voice; it came from a few feet behind me, and it sounded like an accusation. â€Å"He's got a right to know,† Jeb replied. The stubborn note was back in his voice. â€Å"It's an unkind thing you are doing, Jebediah.† â€Å"Life is unkind, Magnolia.† It was hard to decide who was the more terrifying of the two. Was it Jeb, who seemed so intent on keeping me alive? Or Maggie, who had first suggested the doctor-an appellation that filled me with instinctive, nauseated dread-but who seemed more worried about cruelty than her brother? We walked in silence again for a few hours. When my legs buckled, Jeb lowered me to the ground and held a canteen to my lips as he had in the night. â€Å"Let me know when you're ready,† Jeb told me. His voice sounded kind, though I knew that was a false interpretation. Someone sighed impatiently. â€Å"Why are you doing this, Jeb?† a man asked. I'd heard the voice before; it was one of the brothers. â€Å"For Doc? You could have just told Kyle that. You didn't have to pull a gun on him.† â€Å"Kyle needs a gun pulled on him more often,† Jeb muttered. â€Å"Please tell me this wasn't about sympathy,† the man continued. â€Å"After all you've seen†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"After all I've seen, if I hadn't learned compassion, I wouldn't be worth much. But no, it was not about sympathy. If I had enough sympathy for this poor creature, I would have let her die.† I shivered in the oven-hot air. â€Å"What, then?† Kyle's brother demanded. There was a long silence, and then Jeb's hand touched mine. I grasped it, needing the help to get back on my feet. His other hand pressed against my back, and I started forward again. â€Å"Curiosity,† Jeb said in a low voice. No one replied. As we walked, I considered a few sure facts. One, I was not the first soul they'd captured. There was already a set routine here. This â€Å"Doc† had tried to get his answer from others before me. Two, he had tried unsuccessfully. If any soul had forgone suicide only to crack under the humans' torture, they would not need me now. My death would have been mercifully swift. Oddly, I couldn't bring myself to hope for a quick end, though, or to try to effect that outcome. It would be easy to do, even without doing the deed myself. I would only have to tell them a lie-pretend to be a Seeker, tell them my colleagues were tracking me right now, bluster and threaten. Or tell them the truth-that Melanie lived on inside me, and that she had brought me here. They would see another lie, and one so richly irresistible-the idea that the human could live on after implantation-so tempting to believe from their perspective, so insidious, that they would believe I was a Seeker more surely than if I claimed it. They would assume a trap, get rid of me quickly, and find a new place to hide, far away from here. You're probably right, Melanie agreed. It's what I would do. But I wasn't in pain yet, and so either form of suicide was hard to embrace; my instinct for survival sealed my lips. The memory of my last session with my Comforter-a time so civilized it seemed to belong to a different planet-flashed through my head. Melanie challenging me to have her removed, a seemingly suicidal impulse, but only a bluff. I remembered thinking how hard it was to contemplate death from a comfortable chair. Last night Melanie and I had wished for death, but death had been only inches away at the time. It was different now that I was on my feet again. I don't want to die, either, Melanie whispered. But maybe you're wrong. Maybe that's not why they're keeping us alive. I don't understand why they would†¦ She didn't want to imagine the things they might do to us-I was sure she could come up with worse than I. What answer would they want from you that bad? I'll never tell. Not you, not any human. A bold declaration. But then, I wasn't in pain yet†¦ Another hour had passed-the sun was directly overhead, the heat of it like a crown of fire on my hair-when the sound changed. The grinding steps that I barely heard anymore turned to echoes ahead of me. Jeb's feet still crunched against the sand like mine, but someone in front of us had reached a new terrain. â€Å"Careful, now,† Jeb warned me. â€Å"Watch your head.† I hesitated, not sure what I was watching for, or how to watch with no eyes. His hand left my back and pressed down on my head, telling me to duck. I bent forward. My neck was stiff. He guided me forward again, and I heard our footsteps make the same echoing sound. The ground didn't give like sand, didn't feel loose like rock. It was flat and solid beneath my feet. The sun was gone-I could no longer feel it burn my skin or scorch my hair. I took another step, and a new air touched my face. It was not a breeze. This was stagnant-I moved into it. The dry desert wind was gone. This air was still and cooler. There was the faintest hint of moisture to it, a mustiness that I could both smell and taste. There were so many questions in my mind, and in Melanie's. She wanted to ask hers, but I kept silent. There was nothing either of us could say that would help us now. â€Å"Okay, you can straighten up,† Jeb told me. I raised my head slowly. Even with the blindfold, I could tell that there was no light. It was utterly black around the edges of the bandanna. I could hear the others behind me, shuffling their feet impatiently, waiting for us to move forward. â€Å"This way,† Jeb said, and he was guiding me again. Our footsteps echoed back from close by-the space we were in must have been quite small. I found myself ducking my head instinctively. We went a few steps farther, and then we rounded a sharp curve that seemed to turn us back the way we'd come. The ground started to slant downward. The angle got steeper with every step, and Jeb gave me his rough hand to keep me from falling. I don't know how long I slipped and skidded my way through the darkness. The hike probably felt longer than it was with each minute slowed by my terror. We took another turn, and then the floor started to climb upward. My legs were so numb and wooden that as the path got steeper, Jeb had to half drag me up the incline. The air got mustier and moister the farther we went, but the blackness didn't change. The only sounds were our footsteps and their nearby echoes. The pathway flattened out and began to turn and twist like a serpent. Finally, finally, there was a brightness around the top and bottom of my blindfold. I wished that it would slip, as I was too frightened to pull it off myself. It seemed to me that I wouldn't be so terrified if I could just see where I was and who was with me. With the light came noise. Strange noise, a low murmuring babble. It sounded almost like a waterfall. The babble got louder as we moved forward, and the closer it got, the less it sounded like water. It was too varied, low and high pitches mingling and echoing. If it had not been so discordant, it might have sounded like an uglier version of the constant music I'd heard and sung on the Singing World. The darkness of the blindfold suited that memory, the memory of blindness. Melanie understood the cacophony before I did. I'd never heard the sound because I'd never been with humans before. It's an argument, she realized. It sounds like so many people arguing. She was drawn by the sound. Were there more people here, then? That there were even eight had surprised us both. What was this place? Hands touched the back of my neck, and I shied away from them. â€Å"Easy now,† Jeb said. He pulled the blindfold off my eyes. I blinked slowly, and the shadows around me settled into shapes I could understand: rough, uneven walls; a pocked ceiling; a worn, dusty floor. We were underground somewhere in a natural cave formation. We couldn't be that deep. I thought we'd hiked upward longer than we'd slid downward. The rock walls and ceiling were a dark purpley brown, and they were riddled with shallow holes like Swiss cheese. The edges of the lower holes were worn down, but over my head the circles were more defined, and their rims looked sharp. The light came from a round hole ahead of us, its shape not unlike the holes that peppered the cavern, but larger. This was an entrance, a doorway to a brighter place. Melanie was eager, fascinated by the concept of more humans. I held back, suddenly worried that blindness might be better than sight. Jeb sighed. â€Å"Sorry,† he muttered, so low that I was certainly the only one to hear. I tried to swallow and could not. My head started to spin, but that might have been from hunger. My hands were trembling like leaves in a stiff breeze as Jeb prodded me through the big hole. The tunnel opened into a chamber so vast that at first I couldn't accept what my eyes told me. The ceiling was too bright and too high-it was like an artificial sky. I tried to see what brightened it, but it sent down sharp lances of light that hurt my eyes. I was expecting the babble to get louder, but it was abruptly dead quiet in the huge cavern. The floor was dim compared to the brilliant ceiling so far above. It took a moment for my eyes to make sense of all the shapes. A crowd. There was no other word for it-there was a crowd of humans standing stock-still and silent, all staring at me with the same burning, hate-filled expressions I'd seen at dawn. Melanie was too stunned to do anything more than count. Ten, fifteen, twenty†¦ twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven†¦ I didn't care how many there were. I tried to tell her how little it mattered. It wouldn't take twenty of them to kill me. To kill us. I tried to make her see how precarious our position was, but she was beyond my warnings at the moment, lost in this human world she'd never dreamed was here. One man stepped forward from the crowd, and my eyes darted first to his hands, looking for the weapon they would carry. His hands were clenched in fists but empty of any other threat. My eyes, adjusting to the dazzling light, made out the sun-gilded tint of his skin and then recognized it. Choking on the sudden hope that dizzied me, I lifted my eyes to the man's face.

Vital Pieces of Common App Essay Failure Samples

Vital Pieces of Common App Essay Failure Samples Answer the question within the designated word count, and you will not have to worry. Structurally, this issue can be traced to the previous two paragraphs. If you're not completely sure that you've chosen the best topic, you're not alone. In general, there's no single correct topic. Choosing Common App Essay Failure Samples The essay maximum length hasn't yet been released, but nevertheless, it will probably be about 650 words. In the end, the detail of true speech makes the scene pop. Somewhat longer papers may also be submitted, but in the majority of cases should not exceed 8-10 pages. Keep an eye on the essential word count. It's tricky to understand what schools would like you to say, and it's very challenging to represent yourself accurately in such a brief quantity of space. As you pay for homework, we provide those options free of charge. The Locker is an internet storage space that enables you to collect and or ganize your application materials. Thus, it's the ideal choice to purchase from the stores immediately. The Basic Facts of Common App Essay Failure Samples The term limit on the essay will stay at 650. Though there's no minimum word count, you need to create a coherent, substantial essay. As soon as it's true your essay is a chance to impress your readers, the story you write shouldn't be about what you believe the review committee would like to hear. Two new essay options are added, and a number of the previous questions are revised. The key is to consider your essays as complementing one another to create a multi-dimensional picture of you. Bridget's essay is quite strong, but there continue to be a couple little things that could be made better. If you're one of the almost 1000 students every month who look for Common App Essay examples, you're certainly doing the appropriate thing, as there's a lot that you're able to learn from essay examples bad essays in addition to good one. Even an everyday issue with significance to you can be turned into an outstanding essay. The Supreme Strategy for Common App Essay Failure Samples Try to remember, the most significant thing you are able to do to ease some of the frustration with the Common Application is to keep calm and be patient. Try to remember that the Common App offers you creative license. Allow it to sit for a couple days untouched. Be ready for the subsequent questions and prompts. If you're applying to one of the Coalition-exclusive schools or choos e to use the Coalition Application this year for some other reasons, make certain you allow enough moment. Identifying your pre-professional interest on the application will make it possible for your advisors to supply you with a large assortment of support to see your objectives. It's not essential to write about a few important event or achievement. Applications are reviewed inside the same on-line system. Up in Arms About Common App Essay Failure Samples? Shooting for four paragraphs is a fairly safe bet. It's very beneficial to take writing apart as a way to see just the way that it accomplishes its objectives. So How About Common App Essay Failure Samples? Some people today want to lower their essay in half. Various things to various individuals, since the situation demanded. If you think of yourself as a person who is particularly reflective or equipped to derive lessons from several life experiences, this is definitely a prompt you'd be useful at writing. Realize th e objective of the personal statement isn't to tell your life story, or to provide an exhaustive overview of all your accomplishments.

A Utopian Society By Russel Jacoby - 1129 Words

A utopian society is fictional society in which everything from social standards and political ideas are done in such a way that leads everyone to live in a harmonious state. Russel Jacoby, a historian, noted two forms of utopias; â€Å"blueprint utopianism,† which more along the lines of a model or outline of a utopia in which a government could follow, this is the one Thomas Mores book is more likely to fall under, the other type is â€Å"iconoclastic utopianism,† is the one that is much more idealized and is more open ended (Greene). Everyone has their own idea of what their utopia would include, Thomas More appeared to have had one himself even writing a book about his own ideas of how he believed the world could be improved. The main problem with utopias though is how easy it is for them to turn into a dystopia due to everyone’s varying personalities and ideals, and Mores version is no exception. From very early on it is clear More’s religious views play a large part in writing this perfect society being as the character from Utopia is referred to as Raphael, a name also given to one of the archangels in the bible, and while religious freedom is viewed as a positive in the text his live outside of the book proves he was very likely against this idea. It is best worded by Stanford Kessler in their article â€Å"Religious Freedom in Thomas More’s Utopia† It is not clear, however, that More ever considered anything like Utopian religious freedom desirable for Europe. As Lord ChancellorShow MoreRelated Invisibility Over Negation in Invisible Man Essay3861 Words   |  16 Pagesthe words he has heard on that very campus:   he is nobody; he doesnt exist (143).   Hence, Invisible Man is foremost a struggle for identity.   Ellison believes this is not only an American theme but the American theme; the nature of our society, he says, is such that we are prevented from knowing who we are (Graham 15).   Invisible Man, he claims, is not an attack on white America or communism but rather the story of innocence and human error (14).   Yet there are strong racial and political