Abortion is one of those topics that can stir up a whole group of people who otherwise would get along quite well. No one answer that deals with this topic is ‘black and white’ to say the least. If an opinion on this topic is to be taken seriously then one needs to have some sort of backing up to their view. Before discussing any further my entailed view on abortion I believe it is important to say that it is by no means influenced by religion. Though religion may play a key element in the decisions of many people I myself feel that my opinion does not religious backing only facts. Through facts my opinion can not only be understood but it can also make perfect sense.

After reading some material it was quite surprising to find that my thoughts are associated with arguments for both and against abortion. Pro-life and pro-choice argument do have a ground in which they can agree upon. Both sides can agree with the following:

“That an ovum, spermatozoa, a hair follicle, skin cell, etc. are all forms of human life because: they are all alive, and they all contain human DNA. An ovum and spermatozoa are not a human person. A newborn baby is a human person, and is deserving of protection. Somewhere between the ovum and spermatozoa stage and the newborn baby, a new human person comes into existence. Once a new human person exists, then its life must be protected (The Right Alternative)”.

The point in which these two sides differ is when deciding at what point life is actually formed. Pro-life supporters “…believe that this happens at conception or shortly later, when a unique DNA is created” (The Right Alternative). Mostly all pro-choice supporters believe “…that this happens later in pregnancy” (The Right Alternative).

I myself being a young woman having to maybe one day face this dilemma I would personally prefer having the abortion option open. Though I am by no means saying that I myself would actually get an abortion; like many things in life it depends on the situation. A woman cannot be held accountable for every detail in her life; there are some things out of ones control. For example if a woman is raped or if incest occurs, how can a woman be expected to bear a child of such unforeseeable and painful events. In cases such as this where the quality of the babies’ life will be severely damaged from the moment it is born it would be best to stop the pain before it begins. Meaning the choice to be able to have an abortion should not only be passed by law but should be accepted by all those in society.

However society as a whole openly accepting abortion is not only improbable but also highly unlikely. The reason for this being that like every thing else in the world people are abusing the option to have an abortion. Personally speaking I know a young woman who by the age of eighteen had already gone for numerous abortions. This to me is not only morally and ethically wrong but it is just plain idiotic. Having multiple abortions does not only mean killing so many unborn babies it also means that you’re slowly killing yourself.

Abortion in my eyes is a means to correct a mistake before it becomes permanent. Everyone deserves a second chance no matter what the circumstances. There are many reasons why women get abortions yet this does not mean it is okay to get a dozen abortions either. Some of the reasons that women have given are as follows;

“On average, women give four reasons for choosing abortion. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner” (Facts).

These reasons seem logical enough and can be clearly understood. However if a person’s reason for having an abortion is an easy escape because they forgot to use protection then they seem to have lost their right to choose. The main point of abortion, in my opinion, is to learn from your mistakes. As such any other mistake in life you are expected not to repeat it and so I think abortion shouldn’t be an exception to that.

Works Citied

• “Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States.” May 2006. Guttmacher Institute. 8 May 2007 <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html>.
• “The Right Alternative.” Religious Tolerance. 10 May 2007 <http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_right.htm>.

Phyllis Wheatly and Harriet Jacobs were both slaves in the same time era yet were able to become completely different woman. Unfortunately, Harriet has to grow up in a much harsher environment whereas Phyllis was encouraged to be educated. Obviously, it is a shame what both women had to go through, but they still somehow managed to free themselves in their writing. Due to the fact that both women had different living environments their writing become a mirror the of the life they were leading.

Phyllis Wheatly had, what was considered, an easier life than most slaves. Her slave owners were more nicer than the vast majority. The household in which she lived, she was encouraged to become educated where as other slaves would have been punished for doing so. Phyllis choose to express her experiences and emotions through poetry. Her poetry expressed her life events and it carried her feelings on the way she was brought up. Phyllis was very fortunate to have owners who gave her permission to learn and because of that she was able to express herself. So in a way she was free through her writing. Sure her life as a slave was also very difficult but she had happier moments to look back on when her owners passed away. In essence, her writing gave off a much more pleasant aurora compared to that of Harriet.

Harriet Jacob was also a slave in about the same lifestyle as Phyllis. Harriet, however, was not as fortunate to have supportive owners to her education. Her living environment was much harder and abusive to say the least. In her living arrangements, her master would abuse her sexually and even went as far as to say he considered her his “favorite”. Harriet’s literature is more direct in that she chose to write a story about her life as an abused slave. Her writing reflected everything about her slave life, even the abusive parts, which I believe made her writing much more powerful. She was mistreated by her owners, which was much more common upon salves but she was able to write about it. Harriet was given the chance to tell her story and share with people her misfortune which now people can learn from,

Both women’s writings are beautiful in their own way despite their hard upbringings. In their writings you can clearly get an insight on how slavery was like from different perceptions. Though their lives were different, both women had a chance to write and that is important. I also think that thought it is sad that they had to live as slaves, their writing wouldn’t be what it is without those life experiences. It is because of their hardships that their writing is even being talked about today. At the very least the generations since then have learned how it felt to be in situation such as theirs. In conclusion, the only thing that these writers had in common in their writing was their focus on themes of virtue and Christianity. So in their end, despite their different struggles, both women shared the one common thing and that is faith.

The ethical actions behind the gore and the blood of the movie 28 Weeks Later, which is the sequel to the original 28 Days Later, is actually very applicable. One man’s actions can an ever lasting affect for those around him as shown in this movie. The beginning of the movie starts off with this couple Donald and Alice along with several other survivors staying this cabin basically to wait it out until help arrives. During dinner they hear a boy knocking on the door and screaming so that they can let him in. Alice insists they open the door and let him in. The boy was indeed not one of the infected and was let in. But because they let the boy in the infected now attack the house. Breaking into the house the infected proceed to basically kill everyone in sight. Alice runs upstairs along with the little boy while Donald tries to hold off the infected downstairs but realizes it’s pointless and that there is just too many.

Running upstairs Donald is looking for Alice and finds her trying to save the boy who is apparently stuck in a closet. At that moment one of the infected breaks into the room and Donald grabs Alice telling her to leave the boy. Alice refuses and tells Donald to help her but instead Donald leaves her running into another room leaving Alice to fend for herself against the infected. At the moment that Donald turns his back on his wife he breaks the virtues of loyalty, fidelity, and trustworthiness. In the movie Donald breaks all these virtues the moment he turns his back on his wife. He betrays her in the most profound and hurt way. The other alternative, which he could have done, is stayed behind and helped his wife. If he would have stayed behind the chances of him getting away wouldn’t have been as great but it still would have been the moral thing to do in the situation.

In a sense the movie seems to flat out play the consequences of one man’s actions. If Donald would have never just left his wife for dead and instead would have gone back to try to save her then I believe the movie wouldn’t have played out the way it did. It is like karma in a way that if you do something negative or bad then you will get it back ten folds. It is because of Donald leaving his wife for dead that the children then feel the need to go back to their old house and get a picture of her. If the children wouldn’t have felt the need to go back then they would not have found her and so she would have died along with the virus she is carrying.

Later Donald uses his id card to get into the room where they have his wife without considering the consequences of his actions. Because of Donald selfishness he needs to ask his wife for forgiveness and ends up kissing up her. He does not stop to think that if they still have her locked then maybe something is wrong with her; he just follows his own emotions. So again because of his selfishness he then gets the virus from his wife who he ends up killing anyway and it is all because of him that the virus once again resurfaces. The movie plays out the consequences quite fantastically – if he had no left his wife then she wouldn’t have gotten infected then she wouldn’t have passed it on to him then he wouldn’t have spread the virus to the remaining survivors including his own son.

One is supposed to stick to one’s loved ones no matter what the circumstances. When Donald married Alice I’m sure he had to say the marriage vows – in sickness and in health until death do us part. Sure the vows don’t say even if a zombie is trying to eat us but I think that is pretty much a given. Alice full heartily trusted the man and he just turned around to run away leaving her to fend for herself – even in a way serving as a distraction for him to escape. If that would have been me in that situation In all honesty I have to say that I would have stayed behind to help my spouse. Even if my spouse really does tell me to just save myself I wouldn’t be able to. I can’t imagine living a life knowing that I could have maybe done something to help my spouse live. Who I am as a person just forbids me from betraying someone in such a distasteful manner – it is like sacrificing someone else life for your own. You just can’t leave someone for being dead because as the movie shows it could come back to haunt you.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights leader in the twentieth century. He through-heartily believed that non-violence was the solution for fixing any type of problem. Since Martin King was raised with a lot of religious influence he developed a nonviolent philosophy for social change. However, he did not start off with a nonviolence belief. Martin King gradually changed his beliefs due to some experiences that occurred to him. These events made him realize that violence could not possibly get rid of violence.

Martin King was and forever will be a very important man to know and understand. He is the ideal model for fighting for one’s beliefs and rights with political “love”. That is exactly what his nonviolence approach was, a political love. Martin King was the one who made the stepping-stone for social change. It is not only important to know whom he was but also what he preached. He wanted people to understand that he was not telling people to run away, but to not commit harm to those harming them. Everyone is human and as humans we should live in harmony instead of hate. Martin King’s approach was not just talk; we must understand that his approach did win “battles” and that it is possible for nonviolence to stop violence.

Despite Martin King’s winning battles there was one person who effectively critiqued him; he was Malcolm X. People who that were not convinced that Martin King’s nonviolence approach would get them anywhere turned to Malcolm X. Malcolm X philosophy was the exact opposite of Martin Kings. He argued with King that Black Power was more effective then the nonviolent approach that King proposed. When Malcolm talked he would not sugarcoat anything instead he would bluntly critic white Americans ideals.

Through some hard life experiences Malcolm developed his way of thinking; get them before they get you. While King would thank the white Americans for their support, Malcolm would actually called them hypocrites. His methods were brutal; Malcolm would constantly degrade whites. However it is important to understand that what Malcolm was doing was not promoting violence, but self-defense. There is a big and important difference between the two. Malcolm did want blacks to sit back and take violence from whites. He wanted blacks to stand up for themselves; in other words an eye for an eye.

If I had to pick a model that could be used to today, then I would pick Martin King’s nonviolence approach. Why? The approach just seems much more logically – especially in today’s world. How can we stop people from hating and killing each other if we’re not making the first step to stop. We can never just make our differences go away, but we can make them co-exist like Martin King preached. Degrading each other’s beliefs won’t do anything, but create more hate. I honestly believe that sitting down and talking out our problems would put a stop to the amount of violence we have. It is not an overnight approach and it will probably take years for it to be fully in effect, but in the long run it would work.

What makes a traditional classroom so ideal for learning? Learning online can prove to be just as interactive as learning in a classroom. For some people is can actually prove to be a better experience. However, there are people who need to be in a classroom instead of behind a computer. Teaching online and teaching in a classroom can prove to be a challenge for professors. Besides the challenge of getting the information across, the professor has no idea what their students look like

Online teaching may seem to be easier in a lot of people’s eyes but it is actually not. It is not something that can be put together in an blink of an eye. The professor of an online course needs to make the work as clear as possible. As Peggy Minnis noted, “Each lecture required about eight hours of typing and illustrating to make it clear for online students” (Minnis). Basically when dealing with an online course the professor has to think of an “easy” way to get the information across. All the material covered in an online session needs to be thought up off before the lecture. The professor of an online course needs to available for the students at all times. For example online students may ask questions day or night and the professor has to be there to answer them.

In a classroom the professor may dress up, act differently, and do all sorts of physical things to get the information across. Some professors may actually put up a lesson plan five minutes before the class is about to begin. In a traditional classroom setting the professor can sometimes come up with new material “out the blue”. The students can easily go along with the subject change as opposed if it were to happen in an online classroom. When learning in a classroom if the student has a question then it is answered then and there. The professor is only available for the student during the classroom time.

When taking an online course the professor has no idea what the students look like. This can actually be a relatively good thing. The students in an online class can only be judged by their work as it always should be. The professor will have an ideal perspective of the student based on “…their punctuality, their eagerness for the subject, their test scores and their interactions with other students” (Minnis).

From the moment a student walks into the classroom the professor has an opinion about them. It tends to be very difficult to shake the first impression off and it can sometimes affect the entire course. The professor of a classroom usually judges their students on appearances unlike in an online class. A student can feel and work much better if they know their not being judged every second.

Learning in a classroom and learning online can have both advantages and disadvantages. The fact is that “online courses provide too much flexibility for some” (Minnis). Teaching a “faceless” class can be better just for the fact that physical appearances won’t interfere with the work. Traditional classroom learning can be spontaneous and perhaps more exciting. However learning online can mean the availability of the professor at the student’s disposal.

Work Citied

• Minnis, Peggy. “Teacher’s Journal; Teaching in Your Pajamas: Lessons of Online Classes.” (2003). <http://ethemes.pearsoncmg.com>.

What makes Chris Gardner such a devoted father is the fact that he is trying to be a good father. In the beginning of the movie Chris describes his own childhood and how he didn’t get to met his own father until he was 28 years old. In a way that lack of having a father motivates him to be a good father to his own son. Chris mentions that the moment his son was born he made a promise to himself to be what his own father could not – a good father. Him being there with his son is a step up from his own childhood. Chris’s father left home when he was still a young child and he often thought it was him that drove his father away. Knowing how that felt, he did not want his own son to go through that pain. He has made the ‘silent’ promise to always be there with his son, and more importantly never leave his side.

An ironic notion of the situation is that Chris is probably in no better financial condition than his own father was when he left. Despite this, Chris is not going to leave his son. What he does instead is strive harder to be able to provide his family with a better life, which is what lead him to invest in those medical machines. Even though he cannot give his son half of the material things he wishes he could, there is only thing he can give his son in limitless quantities – love. It is the love for his son that makes him go through all the crazy lengths to be a stockbroker but also what makes him such a devoted father.

Chris Gardner’s life is nothing short of hard, sad and painful – what makes it worse it that he has a son to look after all on his own throughout all this hardship. For instance, the moment when his girlfriend left and with her went the only source of income. Chris wasn’t selling any of his medical machines and had little to no money in his wallet. This would have been a moment where Chris could have turned to a criminal lifestyle in order to provide money for his son.  In the textbook the classical criminology states that, “people have free will to choose criminal or conventional behavior; people choose to commit crime for reasons of personal need” (P-74). Another moment in time when Chris could have turned to crime is when he got kicked out of the motel with his son. He had literally no place to go, to sleep at, with his son and had no money to get another place to stay. It could have occurred to him to steal from someone but it didn’t. The textbook gives reasoning for that, “people living in even the most deteriorated urban areas can successfully resist inducements to crime if they have a positive self image [and] strong moral values” (P-158).

Throughout all his life ordeals, Chris Gardner put on a strong face and showed amazingly positive qualities under the circumstances. Like for example the moment he has to go for the job interview and he isn’t properly dressed and has paint on him. Instead of being flustered when the man asked him, ‘what would you say if I’d hire someone without a shirt on’ and he asked ‘he must have had on some really nice pants’. By turning the situation into a comedic one, he ended up impressing the interviewer. Another example is when he is kicked out of the hotel with his son and has no where to sleep. Instead of just breaking down in a complete mess in front his son, he put up a strong face. He made it into a game, that they were time traveling and that there were dinosaurs and such. This made his son feel better, which at the time was the most important thing to him – not having his son feel bad about himself or blame himself for anything.

The benefits of taking an online class that most interest me is the convenience and support. Both of these benefits I have trouble finding when taking classes in a classroom setting. However the benefit that completely convinced me to take an online class was the convenience of it all.

I happen to be a very ill person and sometimes need to be absent to go to the doctors. Most professors only allow 1-2 absences in their class before they start lowering your grade. I have even had some professors that won’t allow any absences in their classes. This is something that really upsets me because if I’m doing all the work, then it should not matter if I was not present in class a certain day. If I am absent from a class just twice in the whole quarter I don’t think it is fair that my grade is lowered. Especially because I am being absent for a health reason, not like other people who are absent for personal reasons.

Taking an online class saves me from having to worry about my absences. I can be online during the assigned work while I’m at home still in bed. Taking an online class is so convenient in the sense that I don’t have to worry about bad weather. During snow days or rainy days I find it so hard to get to school, but not if I’m taking online classes. It is such a convenience not to have to worry about making on time too. I could be online during the assigned work at three in the morning and it doesn’t matter. The convenience benefit also ties into the supportive benefit.

The other benefit of taking an online class that is important to me is the support I can get from it. I am able to work through it independently but I know if I get stuck on something I can get support a.s.a.p. I can get support by sending an email to my professor or just making a phone call. That is something that is very important to me because I want to know that I have someone to ask questions to. When taking classes on campus sometimes I find it harder to find support because there are so many other students with questions and there is a limited amount of time. In contrast to online learning if you have a question just sending a quick email or making a telephone call is all you have to do.

Hell for numerous people is hard work is general. When something is difficult to do or takes up too much time to do, then people just refer to it as “living hell” instead of just doing what they have to do. This really upsets me; especially since most of the time what they’re too lazy to do will just benefit them in the long run. The fact of the matter is people have to do whatever is placed in front of them if they want to continue to live. If everything in life was easy to have then it wouldn’t be worth having. Schoolwork for example can be hard work for a lot of people, but if people let themselves think it’s a “living hell” then it will become impossible to finish it. Life is full of hard work, sometimes it can feel like never ending work, but if you focus on the reason why you need to do it then it can be done.