The Tell-Tale Heart The Greatness of Insanity - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 739 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/08/12 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: The Tell-Tale Heart Essay Did you like this example? Edgar Allan Poe, a worldwide renowned author, lived a short, yet otherworldly life, and made a prosperous living writing his iconic themes of horror, murder, and mystery, all recognized throughout his famous short story, The Tell-Tale Heart. In Poes, The Tell-Tale Heart, he does not specifically characterize the narrators gender, contradicting the motive to kill and murder the old man. The reader assumes that the narrator is a male due to the violent tendencies displayed throughout the text, such as dragging him to the floor, and pulling the heavy bed over him, to the dismembering of the corpse by cutting off the head and the arms and the legs (Poe, 195, 196). The narrator acts upon their instincts and reveals that he has the desire to be dominant. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Tell-Tale Heart: The Greatness of Insanity" essay for you Create order If the reader were to place this story from a feminist perspective, in this particular time frame, women were perceived and mistaken to be weak and unintelligent, in which the superiority of men has taken over them. In the story, the narrator loved the old man, which could resemble a womans gentle care and hospitality for him, but because of this pale blue eye, and these violent tendencies, she would be thought of to be plagued by this, and that madmen have absolutely nothing against the willpower of a womans insight to kill (Poe, 193). The whole plot took a total of eight nights for the narrator to finally decide to murder this old man, which if it was in a feminist point of view, a woman would thoroughly consider her decisions and make use of her time. Although Poe leaves the narrators gender unidentified, the perspective could be a combination of both the feminist and masculine point of view. The storyteller portrays both feminine and masculine qualities, seen in a quote from the story, I knew what the old man felt, which is the feminine side, although I chuckled at heart, which is the masculine side (Poe, 194). In The Tell-Tale Heart, the protagonists fear of the old mans eye is the main reason as to what drove him to dismember him and put him underneath the floorboard (Poe, 196). The psychoanalytical perspective of the narrator reveals that he, or she, was not angry and had nothing to fear, which means that they were in rejection over the crime and had lost a sense of their unconscious mind. The storys narrator had no valid reason to kill the old man except that he had the eye of a vulture a pale blue eye, with a film over it and after he was dead, they soon realized that it was a mistake because they were not thinking clearly (Poe, 193). This explains the beating of the heart that grew louder and louder, showing his pure insanity and guilt of the crime that was committed. Two literary elements found in The Tell-Tale Heart, is imagery and symbolism. Imagery is seen in the story because as the reader reads the text, he or she can visualize the multiple scenes of the narrator gently observing the old man every night and his pale blue eye, causing them to kill the old man because of his maniacal condition. This image of the eye helps the reader begin to understand what it is that really terrifies the narrator and what prompts him to get rid of it. Symbolism is also found in the story because of the eye depicting that it sees everything, which causes the narrator to be disturbed and tormented, explaining his insanity, and the heart, which represents the narrators guilt when they killed the old man. Both aspects are effective in the story because it gives the reader a narrower understanding of why the narrator planned to kill the old man. Poe, growing up as a child, did not really understand the concept of life and death, which could have contributed to the narrators thinking that even if he had killed the old man, he would still come back to life. He thought that the eye was still alive and so was his heartbeat, which could have meant that the old man was still lingering around, even after he was brutally murdered. The narrator of the story was out of his mind and unreliable. Rather than being concerned with the murder or the consequences of their actions, the narrator is obsessed with proving their sanity, and obsession with this eye, leading to the death of the old man.

A Horror Of The Atomic Bomb - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1546 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/08/08 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: Atomic Bomb Essay Did you like this example? How could a bomb wipe out five-square miles of buildings and kill tens of thousands of people? The Atomic Bomb or nuclear bombs are powerful weapons that use nuclear reactions as their source of explosive energy. Atomic bombs have been used only twice†both times by the United States against Japan at the end of World War II. The Atomic Bomb to date is the deadliest weapon to be discovered so far. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "A Horror Of The Atomic Bomb" essay for you Create order When the Japanese Combined Fleet bombed Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into World War II, the United States then took approximately four years to create the atomic bomb and disintegrate two of Japans major cities near the end of World War II. When Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and his combined fleet bombed Pearl Harbor; it had dealt great amounts of damage to the harbor and killed a couple thousands of citizens. Of course, the most important consequence of the attack on Pearl Harbor was the American declaration of war against Japan. While this was expected, Japan thought the US would be entering the war with a crippled and broken navy. Despite the efforts of the bombing runs on December 7th, the United States Navy wasnt nearly as hindered as it was meant to be.   (The Consequences). After the bombing on Pearl Harbor, the United States began experimenting with numerous weapons to fire back at Japan. The United States then found a weapon that could wipe out a city or a population. Japans attack on pearl harbor led us to make the deadliest weapon on earth, the Atomic Bomb.   By drawing the United States into World War II† Awaking the Sleeping Giant,†the Japanese engaged a formidable foe that eventually led to their total defeat in 1945. (The Consequences). After the Japanese Fleet bombed Pearl Harbor; President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the official declaration war on Japan. The United States had then tested with numerous elements in secrecy of the public in Alamogordo, New Mexico; the U.S. finally set off the very first test of the Atomic Bomb. The question now became†on whom was the bomb to be dropped? Germany was the original target, but the Germans had already surrendered. The only belligerent remaining was Japan. (History.com Editors ). The United States was ready to show Japan what the U.S. as really made of. The next target was the two major cities of Japan. The Atomic Bomb is the harshest weapon known to man that could eliminate a city full of buildings and citizens. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. finally entered the war with the strongest navy fleet and weapons that any country has ever seen. Finally, on the morning of July 16, in the New Mexico desert120 miles south of Santa Fe, the first atomic bomb was detonated. The scientists and a few dignitaries had removed themselves 10,000 yards away to observe as the first mushroom cloud of searing light stretched 40,000 feet into the air and generated the destructive power of 15,000 to 20,000 tons of TNT. The tower on which the bomb sat when detonated was vaporized (History.com Editors). The Atomic Bomb weighed at least 9,000-10,000 pounds since the weapon made smoke arise 40,000 feet into the air and had to pack a punch that felt like 15,000-20,000 tons of dynamite. The Atomic Bomb had to be made from a fissile element, which is material capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction. such as Uranium or Plutonium. The tower it was on, had to be made from numerous pieces of steel to support the weight of the bomb, but it was vanished into thin air after the nuke was detonated. In the battles, in which they used the Atomic Bombs, they dropped them using colossal size parachutes. The U.S. then knew that instead of the United States citizens being afraid of Japan; that Japan should now be afraid of the U.S. They harness the forces that hold the nucleus of an atom together by using the energy released when the particles of the nucleus (neutrons and protons) are either split or merged. (How do nuclear weapons work?).   An Atomic Bomb takes the purest energy there is, which is the theory of splitting an atom, and the bomb holds all the pressure inside its shell until it hits the ground and causes a mushroom shaped cloud to appear. When the nu ke detonates; there is a great deal off heat that rapidly gets hotter and less dense because of the surrounding air. When the smoke, debris, and heat reach at a certain distance in the air; a vacuum type reaction happens and all the air that is surrounding the fireball of intimate death then goes inside the fireball and pushes out the debris and heat causing a mushroom cloud. On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the worlds first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure. Three days later, a second B-29 dropped another A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 40,000 people. Japans Emperor Hirohito announced his countrys unconditional surrender in World War II in a radio address on August 15, citing the devastating power of a new and most cruel bomb.. (History.com Editors). Hiroshima is a city that is 130 square miles large, and just a bomb wiped out 90% of just that one major city. The Japanese Emperor did not know that the U.S. had another bomb that could eliminate that much of a city. The bombs killed over 100,000 people in less than a week, and more then 30,000 more over the course of the next few years because of radiation exposure. the more than 9, 000-pound uranium-235 bomb was loaded aboard a modified B-29 bomberThe plane dropped the bombâ€Å"known as Little Boy . it exploded 2,000 feet above Hiroshima in a blast equal to 12-15,000 tons of TNT, (History.com Editors). The bomb had to be carried by a specially created airplane that could do two things, which was to make sure the bomb stays still throughout the flight from start to finish and could handle the amount of weight that was put into the airplane. If the plane was not modified; then the pilot would have probably died when the plane fell from the sky because the bomb weighed a ton. Or the airplane would have hit slight turbulence and make the bomb hit the side of the plane, and then the bomb goes off in the cargo area. This bomb was made with a very rare element, which would later cause mass destruction to one of Japans manufacturing center with approximately 300,000 people in the city. The bomb was very heavy because it was full of uranium, so that the chain reaction would not only stop at one of the element particles but keep on reacting with other fissile particles in the atomic bomb. Hiroshimas devastation failed to elicit immediate Japanese surrender, drove Sweeney to a secondary target, Nagasaki, where the plutonium bomb Fat Man.More powerful than the one used at Hiroshima, the bomb weighed nearly 10,000 pounds and was built to produce a 22-kiloton blast. Nagasaki, which was nestled in narrow valleys between mountains, reduced the bombs effect, limiting the destruction to 2.6 square miles. (History.com Editors). The bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki was a much wider and heavier bomb than the one dropped on Hiroshima. The reason being is because the U.S. wanted to show the Emperor that the Jap anese imperial army needed to surrender, or the United States would keep dropping the new and most cruel bomb. The Atomic Bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki was made from plutonium, and one particle of plutonium is a little bit heavier but does a lot more damage to a target. When the new and improved plutonium Atomic Bomb hit the Nagasaki area the U.S. had thought it would throw debris in all direction, but since the bomb hit between two mountains the debris had just imbedded itself into the side of the mountain. The Atomic Bomb had done great damage to both cities in Japan, and with the newly and updated research on the Atomic Bomb; we now have approximately 4,000 nuclear warheads ready to be deployed on any opposing forces that threaten the U.S.   the United states also has the second biggest stockpile of nuclear warheads in 2018. The Atomic Bomb are weapons of mass destruction that if a country had enough it could wipe out an entire country in just a few hours. The Bombs have a special element inside the shell called a Fissile element, which uses nuclear reactions as their source of explosive energy. These bombs have only been used twice, and both were used three days apart by the United States against Japan. They used these bombs as a consequence of the Japanese Combined Fleet Bombing Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Atomic Bomb was the deadliest weapon to use and certainly the most expensive in World War II. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the U.S. then took four years to create the deadliest weapon to man also known as the Atomic Bomb.   Which country would be next to feel Americas wrath?

The Baroque Era Of Music Essay - 2374 Words

The Baroque chamber orchestra, a type of ensemble today that can vary greatly from group to group, is involved in a type of performance many musicians remain confused about. For a modern musician, the confusion surrounding the Baroque style stems from a notion that spending time learning a style of instrument that is no longer commonplace is something that is not worthwhile or is even detrimental to a modern instrumental career. Much of this stems from the idea that the romantic era of music is the most valid and academic form of music studied and performed. This has to do with the intense exposure that classically trained musicians are given in the field of romantic and modern era music. Today it is very common for violinists to insist on playing the music of Bach, like the 6 sonatas and partitas, romantically without consideration of the performance practices in the time the music was written. The avoidance of authentic baroque performance being included in the modern interpretation stems from the natural aversion modern players have to the â€Å"baroque sound.† What many people consider to be a baroque sound is one that sounds unpolished and underdeveloped, most likely due to the lack of vibrato and varying bow and articulation techniques from today’s playing. When looking at baroque music that is commonly played on modern instruments, there is no better example than the music of J.S. Bach. In the case of the 6 Sonatas and Partitas, today and especially in the middle to lateShow MoreRelatedBaroque Music And The Baroque Era1366 Words   |  6 PagesBaroque music began in Italy and it spread to all other parts of Europe. The musical characters in the b aroque era pursued interests in subjectivity of the observers and created a deep human feeling while composing their music (Harbison 22). This character of the baroque artists is depicted in several works done by Michelangelo. One of the pieces of art was campidoglio on the hill capitalino. The picture above takes the structure of a sculpture and it is placed in a three dimension space havingRead MoreThe Baroque Era of Music Essay515 Words   |  3 PagesThe Baroque period of music lasted from approximately 1600 – 1750 AD. It falls into the Common Practice period and was the most predominant style of writing after the Renaissance period and before the Classical period (the Classical period uses many elements from the Baroque period). The word Baroque means highly decorated and essentially gives us an insight into what the music of the time was like. Many pieces in the Baroque style have three or four different parts which work together to produceRead MoreMusic During The Ba roque Era2164 Words   |  9 PagesMusic during the Baroque era was regarded as a powerful form of communication that could invoke emotions in the listeners. This philosophical belief was derived from a revival of the ideas of the Greco-Roman culture, and as a result, composers believed that they could also affect their listeners through the power of melody, harmony, rhythm, and stylistic details. The emphasis on communication was reflected in the major styles and components that were used throughout Baroque compositions. BaroqueRead MoreModern Music During The Baroque Era1798 Words   |  8 PagesThe term Baroque has been widely acknowledged as a period in Western European Art Music lasting for 150 years from early 17th to mid-18th century. The word itself is originated from barroco in Portuguese meaning â€Å"oddly shaped pearl†, which best describes the visual and details of the buildings existed during that period. Its flamboyant and ornate details of the building is wh at causes ornamentations and harpsichords to become an essential element of Baroque music. Bach, ornamentation, and harpsichordRead MoreBaroque Era Music Compared to Modern Rock983 Words   |  4 PagesWhen comparing Baroque era music to any modern day rock band, one most listen to the music with open ears. It is hard to identify the similarities of Baroque music and that of modern day rock. Although, the advances made in music during the Baroque era (1600-1750) are still noticeable in modern day rock. A perfect example of the noticeability of modern rock influenced by Baroque music can be heard in the Baroque music of Johann Sebastian Bach’s, â€Å"Brandenburg Concerto No 4 G major BWV 1049†(ClassicalRead MoreEssay about Fine Quality Baroque Music in the Era of Renaissance902 Words   |  4 PagesBaroque music is the western music art style that was composed in the era of Renaissance, that is, between 1600 and 1750. Music at any given period reflects tendencies, imp ulses and influences that are found in art of other kinds of the same period. Therefore the name baroque also applied to the architecture, literature and art in the same period. Baroque has in the past and to some degree in the present had the implications of abnormality, grotesqueness and absurdity. But in its applications toRead MoreThe Evolution of Music and Musical Instruments from the Baroque Era to the Romantic Era588 Words   |  2 PagesDr. Howard Meltzer explains how music formed an important role in the daily lives of people. It also explains how music improved and new instruments were invented throughout different eras such as: the Boroque Era, The Classical Era and the Romantic Era. Dr. Meltzer breaks down the history of music and almost tells it as if it were a story, the love, the hate, the lust and disappointments that composers went through but those events inspired them to compose music. Composers like Ludwig Van BeethovenRead MoreHow Attitudes Towards Music Change d Between The Baroque And Romantic Eras2057 Words   |  9 PagesDiscuss how people’s attitudes towards music changed between the Baroque and romantic eras. Refer to examples from aesthetics, literature and music to support your argument. Since music first started being recorded in neumes long before the start of the Baroque period, it has been evolving with the social and economic developments of the human race. The aesthetics (the principles and the way people approach and appreciate the music) have changed dramatically. This is partly due to the changing world-Read MoreEssay on The Baroque Era904 Words   |  4 PagesThe Baroque Era â€Æ' Baroque music a style of western art music and was composed from approximately 1600s to 1750s. This era took place after the Renaissance era and before the Classical era. The word â€Å"baroque† is derived from the Portuguese barroco, or â€Å"oddly shaped pearl† (â€Å"About†). The term has been used a lot throughout the nineteenth century to describe the period. Some known music familiarities from the era are Pachelbel’s Canon and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. This era not only connectedRead MoreThe Classical Era Of Music1153 Words   |  5 PagesMusic throughout the eras have differed and changed since the beginning of time. Each era has something special about it that is different from the last era, which makes each era something unique from the last. Just as in fashion you see trends change sometimes over night, but in the eyes of a decade, these changes are eras of fashion, just as the eras of music. Composers took the knowledge from previ ous composers and put their own ideas to use and sometimes created ground breaking movements. The

Analysis Of J Alfred Prufrock And Preludes - 1183 Words

Elliot is seen as one of the most influential modernistic poet of all time. Elliot’s poems evidently highlight the real face of modern man and modern existence by exploring the social realms that society is placed under in a desolately described, modernistic world. TS Elliot describes the industrialised world in both J Alfred Prufrock and Preludes as a disjointed, dehumanised world where mundane activities are ever-present in people’s lives. Elliot focuses on using the character’s viewpoint through the stream of consciousness as a means of highlighting the major concerns of modernism. His poems J Alfred prufrock and Preludes disclose the major concerns of modernism associated with the backdrop of the bleak, industrialised world, that is†¦show more content†¦This notion is encapsulated in Elliot’s repeated use of rhetorical question as Prufrock regularly asks, how should I presume. Elliot highlights the rapidly changing world that encapsulates a ma jor concern of modernism, through describing the bleak and industrialised world that surrounds prufrock as he observes, ‘the smoke that rises through the pipes.’ Prufrock’s utterances throughout the poem promote his social entrapment and his alienation from the modern world as each consciousness is a cloudy domain on which Prufrock has no hope of being understood by others, ‘that’s not what I meant at all.’ The use of fragmentation further develops this notion as he can only describe parts of people, ‘I have known the arms already’ in turn dehumanising their features and emphasising how he is detached from society as he only changes for the sake of changing, ‘to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet.’ As Prufrock describes the women in the poem, the vague description and Synedoche, ‘arms that are braceleted..’ suggests that his is socially incapable of making a personal connection with anyone hi ghlighting his social awkwardness in a modern world. Furthermore, Elliot portrays the rapid social change for the people of the nineteenth century by exploiting the mundane tasksShow MoreRelatedThe Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot5394 Words   |  22 PagesThe Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock A Descriptive Paper Presented to the Faculty of College of Arts and Sciences University of the Cordilleras In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Course English 2 Writing in the Discipline 10:20 – 11:45 MWF By Juan Carlos P. Canilao April 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 RESEARCH OUTLINE 3 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 5 CHAPTER II: DISCUSSION 6 Thomas Stearns Eliot amp; Why He Writes Poetry

Evaluate the ways free essay sample

Stalin feeling that it was an insult that he was never informed f such a weapon by his allies was not impressed and also became more suspicious of the U. S. And the fact that he was also denied the islands in the far east since he had nothing to do with the defeating of Japan also irritated him more. Traumas attempts did not work instead Stalin sought a production of his very own atomic bomb, and laugh it was initially predicted the Soviet Union would get the bomb within 10 years, mysteriously the bomb was in the hands of the Soviets a lot sooner than that, they had it within 4 years.So Truman had nothing against Stalin now. This was one of the unsuccessful means of containing communism because it rather increased the already existing tensions between both countries during the cold war. And because it was a suspicious thing that the U. We will write a custom essay sample on Evaluate the ways or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page S. S. R. Got the bomb so soon and the U. S. Neglected to mention the weapon to the U. S. S. R. Suspicion between both countries increased and the gulf between the countries expanded further. Another way in which the U. S. Tried to contain communism was through propaganda. The methods through which communism was extending its influence throughout eastern Europe was blatantly unprofessional. The teeth was given the name salami tactics where by countries in eastern Europe fell one by one into the influence of communism. For example, Czechoslovakia was the last democratic country in eastern Europe until 1948. The elections were coming up in May but because the communist were blamed for the country not receiving the Marshall aid the communist party was expected to do badly.However, before the election there was a coup detat where the police force took over and removed every non-communist personnel from office. In February, representatives of opposing parties were moved and Jan Mascara the foreign minister who opposed communism personally mysteriously fell out of the window during the coup. The Czech communists took over with little blood shed and with no help from the Soviet Union. These was how the communist parties took over in other countries, by dissolving opposing parties and killing their leaders.This was the method that was used in east European countries such as Poland in 1 947,Algeria also in 1947, in Romania and Albania, 8 countries in total were taken over using the salami tactics-and the only response the U. S. Old give to this was verbal abuse. They simply, verbally condemned the acts which were committed and were hoping that the U. S. S. R would perhaps feel guilty and digress but unfortunately that did not work at all. This method of containment was perhaps the weakest of all methods because the U. AS. In no way showed any opposition to the methods used.This could be assumed as slacking in the part of the U. S. To containing communism. The most successful was the combination Of policies, that is, Marshall plan and the iron fist policy. The iron fist was a result of the long telegram of February 1946 by George Keenan,deputy chief of mission in the U. S. Embassy in Moscow. The telegram though it was lengthy simply said the Soviet Union was neurotic. He saw them as aggressive and insecure and concluded that there should be no compromise with the Soviet Union. Another factor that added to the development of the iron fist approach was that the U. S. Were not prepared to make the same mistake that was made by the British. The Britains had a policy of appeasement with Nazi-Germany. They had negotiations with Hitler and gave him whatever he requested for as long as it as seen as reasonable but the appeasement only encouraged Hitler to ask for more and soon there was an outbreak of war in 1939. Truman and other politicians agreed that they did not want the same thing to happen with the U. S. S. R. So therefore the iron fist approach was justified where by Truman refused totally to negotiate with the U.S. S. R. The Marshall plan also was another technique used. George Marshall was the new IS. S. Secretary of state and he had traveled through western Europe and was disheartened by the devastation he saw and was shocked by the economic crisis of the region. When he came back, he suggested that America invest in the economy of Europe, he argued that as America was a marketing economy Europe would have been a good consumer base but if there was no way for Europe to be able to afford their goods then no profit would be made and the economy of the U.S. Would suffer. Therefore investment in the European economy was the solution. Though he asked for 1 7 million dollars, he was granted 13 million and so this money was distributed through out Western Europe. Focuses the U. S. S. R. Reacted negatively to this and also formed the common which organized economic assistance to the countries of eastern Europe. But unfortunately this was no match for the Marshall plan. Added to this, in Germany, the Yalta and Potsdam agreements had stipulated that Germany be divided into two buffer zones. The western zone was to be under the supervision of the western powers while the eastern zone was under the U. S. S. R. However, in the eastern region, the U. S. S. R. Continued taking reparations from Germany because of the damages of world war 2 where as, The U. S. Kept putting money into the western zone. Soon it became obvious hat the western zone was flourishing compared to the eastern zone. This caused the Berlin blockade of 1948-49. The U. S. S. R. s attempt to divide the eastern zone from the western zone.But this was where the Marshall plan and the iron fist came into play. Truman through the approach of the iron fist refused to give into these maneuvers of the U. S. S. R. And with the money from the Marshall plan, the west were able to supply aid to Berliners, they flew food and supplies to them through the Berlin airlift and they were able to provide to over 2 million Berliners. The result of this was that Stalin had to give in and brought down the Berlin blockade by May 1949.A successful combination of the iron fist approach and Marshall plan, the West Were able to gain an initiative giving the situation that happened in Czechoslovakia and other east European countries. Another successful means of containing communism was the Truman doctrine. Len February 1947, the British warned the U. S. That they could not keep their troops in Greece any longer which they had been in since 1944. But after the second world war, the British government began to feel the effect in heir economy as they owed 3000 million pounds.This scared Truman because he believed communism was taking over and so by March 1 947 he issued the Truman doctrine that specified that any country that had a democratically elected government and was fighting off communism would be given militarily support. And so with this, support from America was given to Greece and the communists were defeated. Stalin, however saw this as U. S. Imperialism although he had no retaliation for this because in the first place, he had kept an agreement with Churchill that Greece was an area of British influence.

Half Half - Behind the Label free essay sample

â€Å"You mixed?† a girl boldly asked me at my friend’s prom. Our eyes met knowingly, and I could tell she already knew the answer. When I meet a biracial person, I am ecstatic, and we often share our experiences, including the dilemma of having to â€Å"choose.† Sometimes I find that I can relate to a biracial stranger better than to my own parents. Although I feel an almost poignant vibe when interacting with other biracial individuals, I am also aware that my ethnicity allows me to make greater connections with those from diverse backgrounds. The product of an African-American father and an Irish-English American mother, one could argue that I’ve been surrounded by diversity my whole life. Among my brothers and I, there is a blonde, a brunette (me) and a redhead, which never ceases to fascinate friends and family. When my mother’s sister inspired my younger brother to pursue a version of the Irish step from â€Å"Riverdance,† I was â€Å"stepping† in an annual Black History Month show. We will write a custom essay sample on Half Half Behind the Label or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Our family diversity is frequently manifested in foods such as collard greens with Irish soda bread. My background, however, goes beyond food; we sing â€Å"The Black National Anthem† in February and whip out shamrocks in March. Growing up, the frequent requirement of â€Å"checking one box† caused me to feel, literally, boxed in, a sentiment I continue to feel when filling out college applications. Being biracial, however, has given me a unique understanding and appreciation of different cultures. During my involvement in Operation Understanding D.C. (OUDC), I quickly embraced both the black and Jewish members of the group, attending a friend’s seder and bringing her to her first Palm Sunday Mass. When all 23 of us marched across Edmund Petus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, retracing the footsteps civil rights marchers took on Bloody Sunday, I fully understood the importance of bridging cultures, and the implications of my existence. When two worlds collide, however, there are always obstacles. During this tour with OUDC, a guide singled me out saying, â€Å"In order to own a store in the black section of Atlanta during this period, one would have to be oh, her complexion.† As I glanced up from the museum pamphlet, I noted 22 pairs of eyes fixed on my â€Å"commendable† light skin tone. Unsure of how to respond, I remained silent, and observed 11 curious faces and 11 assessing glances. Was I supposed to be infuriated that I made the cut for a malicious system of oppression? Should I have explained the history of light skin tone in the black community? Or should I have falsely denied that I, during those days, would have had more opportunities? I decided to accept the past as past, and to condemn a system that had divided the black community. I frequently find myself in situations where people question my blackness or whiteness, but I’ve learned that being me, and not a label, will always be a challenge. Mixed, biracial, half-and-half or creamed coffee, however people classify me, I feel an obligation to bridge cultures and promote tolerance and understanding. I hope I may continue to do that at Brown.* *It worked! Michelle is now a freshman at Brown University.