English 205 8A/English 325 8A
Personally I reconcile it with two points about history. The first of which is putting the U.S. in perspective with the rest of the world and the time period leading
to the realization that, while slavery did exist, no society is perfect and the U.S. was a trailblazer in rights of the individual and general beliefs on liberty. It’s
not a coincidence that the Constitution became the basis for the constitutions of a multitude of other countries around the world. The second point is that the country
and her people have gone to great lengths to rectify the issue. Namely these include waging the bloodiest war in U.S. history, repeatedly altering and reforming the
public education system for black students,and instituting policies such as affirmative action and diversity quotas that legalize making an applicant’s skin color a
factor in the hiring and school admission processes among other issues.
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Deadline：Aug. 10th 23:59PM
English 325 8A
Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Wall may have been the most interesting piece that I have read all term so far. The emotions and thoughts that ran through Pablo’s head as he
knew he would be shot the next day unless he gave up Ramon’s position were so vivid. I believe the wall aspect was meant as the barrier between those that are living
and those that are about to die. Pablo describes how he found it difficult to come to grips with this life with the moment of his death soon approaching. Even after
all of these challenges, such as excessively sweating, he still lies to the enemy about Ramon’s location. Tom also seemed to take this penalty harshly as he couldn’t
even control his bladder.
After analyzing the different type of men Beauvoir’s essay, I believe Pablo can be identified as a nihilist. Pablo seems to give up all hope of his
former life and feels the lack which is now present in his heart. He begins to deny the world in a way and sort of gives up hope that he will ever be able to get out
of this situation alive. The one interesting aspect that is worthy of note, is even with all these negative thoughts surrounding him, Pablo still never gives away
Ramon’s original hiding position. Unfortunately for Pablo, Ramon had switched his hiding position at the last moment. He explains that, “Everything began to spin and
I found myself sitting on the ground: I laughed so hard I cried…” After all the turmoil that he suffered while waiting to decide his fate, it was pure chance that
his lie would end up killing Ramon.
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