Civil Disobedience

Prompt:

How does Thoreau justify the moral need for civil disobedience? What principle does he rely on this justification?

Answer:

     In this selection of David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, the writer preaches the justifications of acts civil rebellion. Thoreau begins his essay by claiming that "That government is best which governs least." His approval of such governments is because he believes that powerful, governing governments tend to pervert before the civilians make use of it. He then provides the Mexican War as an example, a war that extended the slavery in America. Had the commoners known the true intentions of the war, no one would've approved. Thoreau later transitions to his next point; a citizen indirectly supports his/her government's injustice by joining an army or paying taxes. He later confesses that he had not paid taxes for almost six years, and has later imprisoned for a day. 

The experience widened his eyes to the fact the the government is only physically powerful, with no intellectual, ethical, or moral power what so ever. 

     In conclusion, David Thoreau implies that civil disobedience is justified when the acts and actions of a government oppose the person's conscience. He also argues that majority is only physically powerful, and that, as long as they're truly following their conscience, minority is morally powerful. He believes that if only one honest man stood up against the injustices of a government, he can actually achieve a difference.

The Winds of Change

As a kid, one word used to give me the creeps; change. Maybe it was the fact that change has always been just around the corner; it seemed so foreign yet so inevitable. In my seventeen years of life, I’ve moved into eight houses, lived in four different cities, and transferred to eight schools. I’ve met more people and learned more about life than an old man on his deathbed. Ironically enough, change was routine to me.

When I was younger, I’d strive to fit in. Whenever I moved to a new neighborhood, i’d master the cool kid’s favorite sport. Whenever I transferred into a new school, i’d mimic the cool girls’ every move. I thought being one of them would make things better on me, and it did. Until one day it started backlashing. I realized that my every move, mood swing, and even outfit were for someone else. It felt like i was stealing other people’s personalities and putting them on to the extent that i lost my own. I was very confused. I did not know what to do. It happened that at the same time, I had moved into an ever do difficult school environment. Everyone preached conformity when i had just learned its disadvantages. Nothing was working out for me; I slowly started slipping into a suffocating phase of depression.

I was at this new school, all alone when everyone around me was coupled up. I’d sit by myself during recess, watching all the other girls stare and hearing their nasty whispers. I was too emotionally numb to care to stare back at their poisonous eyes. The world to me seemed too cold and harsh to be worth fighting for. Panic attacks became the norm, and eating disorders took over my lifestyle. My depression began to leak into my outer appearance; my eyes were surrounded by dark circles from all the sleepless nights, and my figure stood tall, frail and hunched. Concerned questions showered me from worried teachers, and my parents apprehensive thoughts became nervous whispers.

During one of my school breaks, I wandered aimlessly through a bookstore; looking for a title that would grab my attention. Then I saw it, resting there on a bookshelf, abandoned and somewhat dusty, The Little Prince stood tall and proud, his cape flapping in the wind. I cannot find the right words to describe the experience of reading that novel. Maybe it isn’t as good, but it was my wake up call. Just like that prince, I had wandered about in this world and seen what a grown man twice my age still haven’t. The only difference was that the prince knew exactly what the effect of mimicking the characters would have on him, and instead he decided to learn and observe. The prince taught me that change was good; change helps us improve and better the people we are now.

In the end, I realized that playing the victim is always the easy way out. It didn’t matter to me anymore the reason behind that depression; I was simply certain it had to stop. I took the deliberate decision to transfer schools one more time and move into a better, healthier, and more accepting environment. But before that, I had to find my own personal healthy environment; I had to show more love and acceptance towards myself. After exactly one year, I am proud to announce myself free again; free of the chains and whips of the world. Not because I’ve tuned it out, but because I’ve learned to look at life from the mere eye of an observer- passerby. And now, in my head, I am that proud Little Princess, standing at the top of my planet, owning my own life, with my cape flapping in the direction of change. Change that I’m open heartedly ready to accept anytime.

Personal Narrative

A Summer With The Abdulhadi's

Life is a series of choices, true. Still, something’s in life are just given to us without us having a say on whether or not to accept them. Family is one of those things. No man’s family is perfect, none the less, I’m certain that min is perfectly imperfect.

Last summer was the exact opposite of what we planned for. We all had our bags packed for the ultimate summer in Canada when my father got a surprise call from his brother. After he hung up, my dad rushed to get his laptop, cancelled our airline tickets, and booked new ones to Jordan. He later explained that my cousin’s wedding got proponed. In about a week, our bags were repacked and barely shut from the overflowing dresses squeezed in them, and we were on our plane to Amman, Jordan.

On our flight, my sister and I had a small conversation about how this might be one of the worst vacations we’ve ever been through. We dreaded the idea of staying in the family house, a big building where my uncle and his family, my aunt and her family, and my grandparents lived at. Then we started recounting all the times we played with our cousins when we were young, and pitied the people they must’ve become now that they’ve grown up.

                The moment our plane landed, my father got a call from his big brother saying that he, along with his wife, mother, father, sister and her daughter, and my other uncle were all waiting for us outside. When we came out of the airport, my eyes glistened in the sun as their silhouettes emerged from three cars. We were greeted by warm hugs and welcomes. When we reached the house, we went upstairs to pack only to see a yet bigger crowd of Abdulhadis waiting. We had a big fulfilling Iftar meal and stayed up until Fajr. Before we went to sleep, my sister and I shared a look; the summer seemed promising.

                The week before the wedding was eventful; we were the bride’s first cousins, so you can only imagine all the things we had to finalize. My cousins and I spent hours every day watching hair and makeup tutorials until we mastered our styles. One day before the wedding, Abdullah, Abdurrahman, and Ahmed, the bride’s brothers, decided they wanted to go out and vent – after all, their sister was going to get married the next morning. My sister and I decided we wanted to tag along, and together we went to the cinema. On our ride there, we talked about everything we could possibly talk about. When we arrived, we took the movie tickets and bought all the snacks we could lay our hands on.

                The wedding arrived. I woke up to a house of floating, restless human beings. The whole place seemed like it was spinning, unfortunately. I had caught a horrid case of food poisoning from the other night and my stomach wasn’t able to sustain even water. I was so sick I had to go to the wedding in my pajamas and sneakers, and I was huddled in my sweater the whole time. A whole week had passed, although I was sick and pinned to the bed, it was surprisingly the best week of my vacation. My  grandmother took care of me, feeding me herbs, my uncles took me to the hospital on regular basis, and my cousins got me all I can possibly want.

                The rest of the trip was a blur of memories that are too precious to share. Everyone was in tears when we had to leave. We had a big family breakfast where we argued and laughed more than we did during the whole vacation. I felt happy, with every true and genuine meaning the word can hold. When I look back at the trip, I don’t remember the arguments my dad had with his brothers, or the tension that was present sometimes between my mom and her mother-in-law. When I look back at the trip, I remember the magnificent power that held the family together despite these things. A family is truly where life begins, and love never ends.

Aya Adel

2014 Booklist

Ugghhhh if only I can get myself to read those:

The ones with the yellow tiles i've read.

My Sister’s Keeper

David Copperfield

The Help

A thousand Splendid Suns

And the Mountains Echoed

Wuthering Heights

Les Miserables

Pride and Prejudice

Romeo and Juliet

Struck By Lightning

The Great Gatsby

Does My Head Look Big in This

To Kill a Mockingjay

My Name is Asher Lev

Veronika Decides to Die

The Book Thief

The Kite Runner

Tom Sawyer

Oliver Twist

Grimm Brothers Fairy Tale Collections

The Hunchback of Notre De Dame

Malcom X Autobiography

Mandela Autobiography

Miss Peregrines home for peculiar children

Divergent

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Rings

Game of Thrones

The Mortal Instruments

The Catcher in the Rye

Looking for Alaska

The Fault in our Stars

Let It Snow

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Paper Towns

Angels and Demons

The Abundance of Kathriens

Safe House

Gone Girl

The Life of Pi

The Firm

The Land of Stories

The Hunger Games

Harry Potter Marathon

Self Reliance

A self-reliant person praises individualism and supports nonconformity. Although such qualities are rather dissed in real life, they are often lauded in social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The term "viral video", for example, is used to describe a clip that people found peculiar and unique enough that its views have topped a million! Status updates, tweets, and daily vlogs (video blogs) have permitted an infinite stage to display opinions that move and change as fast as time itself. While a self-reliant person would commend such qualities, their are other aspects that he might condemn. Because popular pages, YouTube channels, and blogs offer fresh and original material, their crowds start expecting too much of them. Hence, applying too much pressure on those people, and they start to want mainstream acceptance. 

Social Media

Social Media 

     Social media has grown to connect people's thoughts and ideas through different and modern means of communication. Just like anything else, though, it has its pros and cons.     Despite apparent perception, social media IS controlled and monitored by governments and agencies. This might seem beneficial, but it's more harmful; people believe that they are exposed to "the real deal" when they are actually just being hypnotized by a different, slightly more creative political weapon.     Another swindle in the modern media is the way people abuse the power of expression. Because people are able to hide under anonymous labels, they presume that they have the right to say whatever they want; little people realize that this is just an act of cowardice. The rates of suicide and depression have increased because cyber bullying.     It would simply be plain foolish if i condemn social media ON a social media site, and I am not. Social media is very powerful; it's our duty to learn how to safely use it.

Technology

Last Prompt, Last 6..





Modern day technology provides us with practical, more effective means of communication. With the help of up-to-date technology, business partners can easily follow up, separated families can keep up, and and distanced friends can catch up. Countless stories of flourishing business and dreams coming true thanks to such new methods stand as candid examples for such an argument.

      Faris Al Turkey was a simple Saudi boy of humble origins, yet his dreams and aspirations were too big to tame. Faris was always passionate about cuisine, especially breakfast meals. He took advantage of Twitter, a website where people can share thoughts in the form of short sentences or pictures, and uploaded pictures of his chows. Slowly, his account began to gain popularity. Upon people’s suggestions and support, Faris opened his very own twenty-four by seven breakfast restaurant. Twitter served as a virtual platform for Al Turkey to explore his true talent and make use of it.

Another example is Michelle Phan; an American Vietnamese whose early life could not have been worse. Abandoned by her dad, Michelle, along with her mother and brother, lived a very underprivileged life. Her mother had to take two jobs and very tough shifts, barely seeing her children. Growing up, Michelle learned to express her feelings in sketches of simple makeup, what she considers optimum art. Later, Phan learned about YouTube, a website where users could upload videos that would be accessible to the world. Michelle uploaded a low quality short clip of her applying makeup, and it was all up the hill from there. Her video went viral, meaning it peaked into a million views in a day. Thanks to YouTube, Michelle is now an internationally acclaimed makeup artist with her very own premium quality makeup line; Em Cosmetics. Michelle Phan is also active in a few child 
abuse and hunger relief associations.

      Jenna Marbles, Tyler Oakley, Justin Bieber, and many others’ various talents were discovered on the virtual platforms offered by the modern day communicating technologies. Although the twenty-first century communication, just like everything else, has its defaults, its pros most certainly outweigh its cons. 


Aya Adel