Two reactions are a constant from readers on reading John Grisham’s A Time to Kill

One idealistic, self-confident and liberal white lawyer, Jake Brigance, the protagonist is enough to influence the racial prejudice of the Mississippi citizens and bring about a judicial change. The second reaction is one of awe when the reader’s realize that it is Grisham’s first work of fiction.Quantifying Jake’s idealism is difficult. On the one hand he is opportunistic enough to take up an offer that does not seem to be very promising just for the fact that it is closest to his home town (Grisham, 1989, page no.30). But he is a man of extremely disciplined habits as described in Chapter 3. But what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong in the opinion of Brigance. His idealism is distinguished for two very pragmatic qualities attached to it.He is aware that a high profile case can make him very popular and by inference very rich if he succeeds (or may be, even if he is not). But he is also aware that he might be let off if HE as a white had dispensed vi gilante justice if HIS daughter had been brutalized and in that possibility his client Hailey, was being denied natural justice.He was incapable of watching it from the sidelines and he ends up taking the plunge. In the face of several surreal obstacles that crop up, he is in a situation where he seems to be left with nothing in his own words â€Å"I’ll have no wife, no daughter, no house, no practice, no clients, no money, nothing† (Grisham, 1989, page no.464). Still he labors on towards what he believes is justice.Towards the end of the story, his friend and mentor Lucien offers to bribe a juror (sisco) to hang the jury. With so much hanging in the balance for him, his professional and personal life and for his client, Jake rejects his offer. That is the kind of idealism Jake brings to the narrative but makes it so believable by the several instances of drinking binges he allows himself in moments of despair. Idealism is the only fuel that has brought about most inst ances of human greatness, but Grisham ably depicts that it must be very hard, almost breakingly so, for its practitioners.They are sure to be plagued, as was Jake, that a compromise seems safer and so much better, through out the journey towards your goal. It makes the reader ask him/herself sheepishly in their own private recesses, how many they have taken the easy way out. This firm belief in an ideal and the compassion to pursue it no matte what, affects the jurors, the community which they come from and ultimately the entire Mississippi to take cognizance of the silent racism and do something about it.A prerequisite to follow one’s heart when the entire world seems to preach that the journey is not worth it is a self belief, Self-confidence. Jake possesses this quality in ample measure though not of the aggressive variety hung for exhibition around professional boxers or say ball players. When one of the rapist’s mother comes to seek him out as her son’s cou nsel and tells his secretary that he heard he is the best criminal lawyer in the county he replies â€Å"Tell her that’s true. But I’m not interested† (Grisham,   1989, page no.34)He is quietly confident that he has the fire to pursue a case so controversial and also hopes that he would be able to succeed. He has the confidence required to continue with his efforts in the face of increasing and scathing criticism of his stand, his foolhardiness and their possible consequences.The most invisible characteristic of any crusade (this case for Jake was no lesser than a crusade) is not the belief of its proponent in the theory but his belief in his fitness to carry forward such a task. It is a rare single general, scientist or leader who is not plagued by self doubt and the sensibility of his cause, pursuit or research. Any pretensions to such all pervading belief would be arrogance and that is not the measure of any idealistic pursuit.The one factor that keeps winn ing over all the small demons in several rounds of small battles within the confines of the mind and continues to show the way when all the flickers of hope are extinguished is SELF-CONFIDENCE. When a theory or appoint is made with such conviction and self-confidence many in the audience are forced to acknowledge the leanings towards such honesty.The compassion and the confidence in his being right which becomes clear in Jake’s summation helps the Juror Wanda to come up with the honesty to face the truth about their prejudice and help other jurors to face theirs with the ingenious way of closing their eyes and simulating her auto suggestions in their mind9Grisham, 1989, pages 504 &513) It is small wonder that Jake’s client was acquitted with unanimity.The vision that Jake had of a white man being acquitted if he happened to enforce vigilante justice just passed on to the jurors through the sheer force of his belief and confidence in his own self. Being right is general ly very transparent. Only prejudice requires masks and veils

The Truman Show Essay

The Truman Show Utopia – A perfect world. Truman's world was an utopia. Everything, including the weather, was controlled in a huge Hollywood dome. Truman grew up having no idea he was being watched every hour of the day, and that every step he took was being viewed by millions all over the globe. As the show progressed, it became clear how much media influenced Truman's life, and also how Christof played a huge role in Truman's well-being. First, the influence of media affects our lives in many ways. As The Truman Show ran 24/7, there were no commercials. Therefore, the show had to generate an income by advertising products to the viewers. For example, when Truman's wife showed off her recent purchase, a Chef Pal, she listed many unique characteristics about the product, hoping some of the millions of viewers would purchase it. This shows how much commercials and advertising can persuade us to purchase a product. Without even realizing it, TV viewing can influence people's purchases. Second, a form of media displayed in the show can be described as broadcast media. The Truman Show was broadcasted all over the world and millions of people were watching it. You could see this because during the movie people were shown watching the show in various places. For example, there was a man watching TV while in his bathtub and two security guards enjoyed the show while on patrol. This shows how TV can be addictive, and possibly interfere with our ability to complete everyday tasks. Finally, Truman was basically living in an artificial world. Everything was planned, and the actors were well educated to make Truman believe everything about his life existed in Seahaven. This shows how people can be influenced to believe that something is real or true but in reality it is not. He had a wife who did not love him, a teacher who did not support what he was trying to go after, and a friend who did not actually mean what he said. Truman was influenced by the world and people around him, making him believe everything was normal and not planned out. The world Truman was born into would not have been the way it was without the help of Christof, the show's producer. Everything in Seahaven was operated by machines and computers. These computers were basically controlled my Christof's orders. Early in his life, Truman was traumatized by his father's death at sea. He grew up thinking it was his fault. Because of Christof's planning of the death, Truman was always scared of water. The only way off of Seahaven was by boat, therefore Christof knew he would be able to keep Truman under his control. Christof also did a good job of increasing his audience numbers. When viewers saw the heart-felt moment of Truman reuniting with his father years later, the number of viewers increased. Christof made the scene stand out by changing camera angles and playing background music. In addition, since Truman wanted to make his way to Fiji, Christof strategically planned different events in order to slow Truman down so he wouldn't leave the island. An example of this is when Truman went to purchase a plane ticket, but the flights were all sold out for over a month. Also, when the bus he was going to ride broke down. This proves that Christof manipulated Truman for his own purpose. Christof controlled everything in Truman's life from the weather to who Truman was going to spend his life with. All these points prove how Truman was being used for Christof's benefit; to increase the show's ratings and to gain an income. The storyline of The Truman Show shows us how media affects our lives in many different ways. From something as simple as watching a reality TV show like Survivor to using 5000 cameras to produce a movie. Truman grows up with his world, friends, and even family all being a lie. Christof is the one who did this to Truman. When publicity and fortune become more important than what is right, some people may not realize that what they are doing to others may be harming them. When an opportunity arises, it is sometimes all about what will benefit them. With Truman going through this experience, his eyes most likely opened up to what the real world could be like, and how the world is not always as it seems. The Truman Show Essay The Truman Show Utopia – A perfect world. Truman's world was an utopia. Everything, including the weather, was controlled in a huge Hollywood dome. Truman grew up having no idea he was being watched every hour of the day, and that every step he took was being viewed by millions all over the globe. As the show progressed, it became clear how much media influenced Truman's life, and also how Christof played a huge role in Truman's well-being. First, the influence of media affects our lives in many ways. As The Truman Show ran 24/7, there were no commercials. Therefore, the show had to generate an income by advertising products to the viewers. For example, when Truman's wife showed off her recent purchase, a Chef Pal, she listed many unique characteristics about the product, hoping some of the millions of viewers would purchase it. This shows how much commercials and advertising can persuade us to purchase a product. Without even realizing it, TV viewing can influence people's purchases. Second, a form of media displayed in the show can be described as broadcast media. The Truman Show was broadcasted all over the world and millions of people were watching it. You could see this because during the movie people were shown watching the show in various places. For example, there was a man watching TV while in his bathtub and two security guards enjoyed the show while on patrol. This shows how TV can be addictive, and possibly interfere with our ability to complete everyday tasks. Finally, Truman was basically living in an artificial world. Everything was planned, and the actors were well educated to make Truman believe everything about his life existed in Seahaven. This shows how people can be influenced to believe that something is real or true but in reality it is not. He had a wife who did not love him, a teacher who did not support what he was trying to go after, and a friend who did not actually mean what he said. Truman was influenced by the world and people around him, making him believe everything was normal and not planned out. The world Truman was born into would not have been the way it was without the help of Christof, the show's producer. Everything in Seahaven was operated by machines and computers. These computers were basically controlled my Christof's orders. Early in his life, Truman was traumatized by his father's death at sea. He grew up thinking it was his fault. Because of Christof's planning of the death, Truman was always scared of water. The only way off of Seahaven was by boat, therefore Christof knew he would be able to keep Truman under his control. Christof also did a good job of increasing his audience numbers. When viewers saw the heart-felt moment of Truman reuniting with his father years later, the number of viewers increased. Christof made the scene stand out by changing camera angles and playing background music. In addition, since Truman wanted to make his way to Fiji, Christof strategically planned different events in order to slow Truman down so he wouldn't leave the island. An example of this is when Truman went to purchase a plane ticket, but the flights were all sold out for over a month. Also, when the bus he was going to ride broke down. This proves that Christof manipulated Truman for his own purpose. Christof controlled everything in Truman's life from the weather to who Truman was going to spend his life with. All these points prove how Truman was being used for Christof's benefit; to increase the show's ratings and to gain an income. The storyline of The Truman Show shows us how media affects our lives in many different ways. From something as simple as watching a reality TV show like Survivor to using 5000 cameras to produce a movie. Truman grows up with his world, friends, and even family all being a lie. Christof is the one who did this to Truman. When publicity and fortune become more important than what is right, some people may not realize that what they are doing to others may be harming them. When an opportunity arises, it is sometimes all about what will benefit them. With Truman going through this experience, his eyes most likely opened up to what the real world could be like, and how the world is not always as it seems.

Computer Web Services (SOA, restful services) Essay

Computer Web Services (SOA, restful services) - Essay Example This essay focuses on the discussing of web services and web applications in business. The researcher states that popularity of web services and SOA has offered a great potential for drastic reductions in cost for integrating business applications with much higher flexibility and reusability. A key to the success of SOA is the distinct separation of the service interface from its implementation. The clients which consume these services have no idea how these services execute their requests. Web services are the next big thing in the evolution of the Web as they have a lot to offer the world in terms of infrastructure and automation tools for promoting inter-business relationships over the Internet. REST has also caught everyone’s attention in a big way and has given rise to a novel way to design web services that restricts any kind of dependency on proprietary middleware and application software. REST is slowly replacing the SOAP and WSDL-based design and using RESTful APIs to expose a system’s resources has proved to be a very flexible approach to provide different applications with standard formatted data. These new technologies, that were discussed in the essay have not only enabled organizations to think in a big way, but also brave the challenges thrown ahead of them in terms of new, evolving technologies that are present and rapidly changing architectural trends. It has empowered them to adapt to the ever changing face of IT and confidently address their business goals and objectives.

Argument about genre to class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Argument about genre to class - Essay Example The consequences of such distance are irresponsible assessments. Although it is challenging to classify in language and learning, the author of the article, Dr. Miller insists that it is paramount (Miller, 1). For the term genre to be meaningful in light of rhetorical theory, it has to have a classifying concept that is stable and of sound rhetorical meaning (Miller, 1). In a bid academically classify rhetorical genre, Dr. Miller expounds on the approach utilized by Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall Jamieson. In classifying discourse, an understanding of the way it works results to the classification being rhetorically sound (Miller. 5). Limiting the term genre to a certain kind of discourse classification that is sound in rhetoric, open and pragmatic defines as desired (Miller, 5). Regardless of the rear-mentioned approach, the blur relationship between rhetorical and its situational context and lack of understanding about genre fusion of situation with features that are formal and substantive are still definitive problems of the term genre in rhetorical theory (Miller,

Social Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Construction - Essay Example On the other hand, contemporary post structuralist perspective even goes to the extent to deny the very possibility of such an agency or authorship as it was clearly asserted in the famous assertion by Rolland Barthes that 'The Author is Dead'. Rather than posing the arguments on the agency of the social construction of reality by contesting schools against each other, the paper intends to examine the postulate of each school based on its own 'internal validity'. Here, it is important to note that social constructionism as an academic school is much diverse in itself. In other words, considering the internal stratifications within the social constructionist 'movement', it is particularly impossible to delineate a single essential position of social constructionism. Berger and Luckmann (1967) are of the view that consciousness of human beings is always intentional. They argue that it is nothing but intentionality makes the human consciousness so distinct. Therefore, in their analysis, a well-construed notion of intentionality remains central. Here, consciousness is not necessarily considered as being part of either "an external physical world or an inward subjective reality" (Berger and Luckmann, 1967, p.26). Reality is diverse in itself. What is deemed as reality involves different spheres. The different spheres of reality are constituted by different objects. The existence of multiple realities is the defining characteristic of the conscious of the world. To exemplify, the reality of people in dreams and the reality of people in the factories are equally realities. It is believed to be normal and self-evident. The reality of everyday life is the only reality that is of par excellence. The tensions at the level of consciousness are fully expre ssed only at this level of reality. The reality of everyday life is ordered in specific ways. The style of ordering of a particular reality would determine its essence. Reality is nothing but objectification events in day to day life in a structured manner. In the social construction of reality, Berger and Luckmann (1967) see the important role of language as the supreme co-ordinates of life. Common sense too is a constituent factor of reality as based on it people generally interact with each other in everyday life situations. In other words, everyday life has normal and self-evident routines which are shared by people from the standpoint of commonsense knowledge. The reality of everyday life is not only constituted but also constructed by social interactions. Face-to-face is the most real form of the construct of social interactions. One's subjectivity is particular to oneself. Social relations are highly flexible. The better knowledge of multiple social realities could be achieve d through reflection. Therefore, Berger and Luckmann (1967) refer at the social construction of reality as a process through which individuals produce and reproduce the world through social interactions.The very existence of human beings, for Berger and Luckmann, is essentially linked to language. They forcefully argue that the social world and its complexities cannot be understood

Failure of the Mercantilism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Failure of the Mercantilism - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that  the mercantilists believed that the presence of more gold and silver bullions in a country translated to a better economy than any country with minimal gold and silver reserves. The theorists believed and encouraged countries not to use their gold deposits for trade even when the people desperately needed these products. The mercantilists had the idea that any successful trade meant the gain of one party and the loss of the other party. They never viewed the trade between two countries as being mutually beneficial. They encouraged their countries to influence the international trade and ensure that the citizens did not compromise their gold and silver deposits.This essay stresses that  the mercantilists developed ideas that were meant to promote the interests of the merchants since they were believed to be a significant source of a country’s gold and silver reserves. The government placed the role of attracting more gold and silver to the country to the merchants and also entrusted them with implementing relevant measures that would seek to regulate the economy. Malynes, for example, states that the merchants more specifically the bankers would develop appropriate measures that would see the increase in the supply of specie into the country. Malynes rejected any effects of the exchange rate in influencing external trade and trusted the â€Å"tricks of the bankers† to solve the economic problem experienced in the country.

Khatami Presidency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Khatami Presidency - Essay Example Practical wisdom can be observed in every activities of Mohammad Khatami as Iranian President. He was responsible for laying foundations for economic reforms and liberalizations in Iran. While Ahmadinejad tried to make Iran as a military power, Khatami was keen in the economic development of Iran. He has contested two elections and won both. In fact, he has secured more than 70% of the total votes poled in his first election. During his president ship, Khatami tried to respect all types of human rights such as freedom of expression and tolerance to other religions. Moreover, he worked hard to strengthen Iran’s diplomatic relations with other states including United States, Asia and European Union. He did everything possible to enhance the free market concept and also for the enhancement of foreign direct investments in Iran. In short, Khatami’s president ship helped Iran immensely in political, economic and cultural circles. This paper critically analyses Khatamiâ€℠¢s political life in general and his economic reformation policies in particular. How Khatami came to power? Iran was a constitutional monarchy (Afkhami 171), until the 1979 revolution. Until 1979, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was in power. Even though Shah allowed parliamentary democracy in Iran, he was not ready to leave the legal and executive powers. Even though Shah initially enjoyed a ceremonial position, he had slowly increased his executive power and started to implement autocracy in Iran. But, Iranian people under the Supreme Leadership of Ruhollah Khomeini captured power in 1979. Since then, parliamentary democracy was implemented in Iran. Even though democracy was established in Iran in 1979, religious leaders started to control Iranian politics since 1979. They were keen in promoting their factional interests than trying to make room for all groups and perspectives (Mirsepassi 99). As a result of that Iranian people started to lose faith in the abilities of religious leade rs. They were keen in avoiding religious fundamentalism from politics. In Mohammad Khatami, Iranian people started to see a leader they were looking for. Until the 1997 parliament elections, Khatami assumed many critical ministerial posts in Iran. While working as a minister of Iran, Khatami revealed his liberal attitudes many times. It should be noted that Khatami has resigned in 1997 from the post of Minister of Islamic guidance in support for freedom of press and freedom of art and culture (Mirsepassi 120). Even though majority of the Iranian politicians worked for the betterment of the community which they belong, Khatami was different. He worked hard to protect the interests of all Iranians rather than the community he represents. Khatami’s base of support cut across regional and class lines with its core consisting of the modern middle class, college students, women and urban workers. His campaign was based in theory on the rule of law, democracy and the inclusion of al l Iranian in the political decision making process (Mirsepassi 113). In Mohammad Khatami, Iranian people found a true democratic leader. Khatami began as a Khomeinist (Keddie 267). However, later he shaped his own visions about the future of Iran. He advocated greater freedom to women, Sunnis and other minorities and emphasized the importance of civil society during his tenure as the president of Iran. His call for greater freedom, civil rights, rule of law and