Literary Analysis How Meursault Is Indifferent in the...

Literary analysis: How Meursault is indifferent in The Stranger, by Albert Camus Although Meursault is the title character and narrator of Albert Camus’ short novel The Stranger, he is also a somewhat flat character. His apparent indifferent demeanor may be a convenience to Camus, who mainly wanted to display his ideas of absurdism. And as a flat character, Meursault is not fully delineated: he lacks deep thought and significant change. His purpose is that of a first-person narrator whose actions embody the absurd, even before he has any awareness of the fact. Since Meursault is embodied absurdism, it is not necessary that he be hyperaware of his thoughts and intentions. His truth has already been built into his character by the†¦show more content†¦In addition, Meursault’s sensory experience of life, his physical pleasures and in-the-now perspective, is a demonstration of living life to the fullest. The absurdist must live life passionately, putting all of one’s weight into existence by not wasting time or energy on the ethereal or ephemeral. The fact that Meursault does not want to think about religion, even as he awaits execution, shows how the ideal absurdist would live life: loyal to one’s own being until the end – not to a father in the sky, or to an abstract hope. Meaning of one’s life must come from one’s own creative efforts. Meursault’s indifference to spiritual matters – and even sensory matters that are in the distant past and are therefore unimportant to him – is used to emphasize the passion for the present that Camus decided the absurd hero should have. So it is not so much that Meursault is totally indifferent, he is just indifferent to things outside of the now. Not only embodying absurdism but speaking it by the end of the novel, Meursault parrots the same conclusion Camus reached in The Myth of Sisyphus, in which Sisyphus is charged with the meaningless task of pushing a rock up a mountain for eternity, each time watching it role back down to the bottom. He understands why his mother took a fiancà © as she was approaching death, as if she were starting her life over: she would haveShow MoreRelatedLiterary Analysis Of The Stranger 2900 Words   |  12 Pages Curtis Poindexter Professor Slattum English M01B 11 December 2014 Literary Analysis: The Stranger The novel The Stranger is a first-person account of the life of M. Meursault from the time of his mother s death up to a time evidently just before his execution for the murder of an Arab. It was written by Albert Camus in 1942. Meursault however, is not your typical hero of a story; rather an antihero. He is neither good nor bad, and harbors no emotion. He goes through his life with a preconceived

Lottery And Rose For Emily Essay Example For Students

Lottery And Rose For Emily Essay Evil and charm are considered by many people to be very different things. It isnot often that it is thought that evil and charm coexist together. Evil isdefined to be; morally bad, or wicked, while charms definition is; a trait thatfascinates, allures or delights. According to British author Brian Mastersevil is something you recognize immediately you see it: it works throughcharm. Masters argument can be backed up through two pieces of literature,Shirley Jacksons The Lottery and William Faulkners A Rose ForEmily. Both stories display evil and charm coexisting together in a societythrough setting, characters attitudes and symbolism. The Lottery is asomewhat sick, twisted story that sets the reader up with the right and thenpops them one with the left. To begin, the setting makes the reader feel allwarm and good inside, and gives the reader the feeling that the story is goingto be a cheerful one. The morning of June 27 was clear and sunny, with thefresh warmth of a full summer day; th e flowers were blossoming profusely and thegrass was richly green. (Jackson 229) Here, the author shows that summer isjust beginning, and that with summer, life is just beginning. The flowers areblossoming, the grass is a rich shade of green, and the towns people aregathering in the square between the post office and the bank. The descriptionsof the town are very misleading to the reader in terms of what is taking place. The charm of the town delights the reader at the start and gives the reader acomforting feeling about what is going to happen. The evil of the town is hiddenbehind a mask of charm. The characters in The Lottery are very misleadingto the reader in terms of character traits. The characters attitudes towards thelottery are very upbeat and display that the characters have no problem with thefact that they are attending a lottery. The fact that a lottery is taking placeleads many to believe that there is a chance to win money for free. Where inthis case it is the chance to kill someone by stoning him or her to death. Throughout the whole story the towns peoples attitudes are lackadaisical;they dont care about the lottery, and seem to only want it over with. Thewhole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten oclock inthe morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home fornoon diner. (Jackson 229) Here it is seen that the lottery somethinginsignificant and meaningless to the towns people. Evil is definitely displayedhere, as the event that is being organized and will take place is considered tobe morally bad. The charm of the people involved shines through brightly incharacter traits that are displayed. It is displayed that the persons involvedin the event are excited to be there and delightful towards the fact that theyare about to kill a person. Another example of The Lottery displaying eviland charm coexisting together is the symbolism that is used in the story. Theblack box is the central idea or theme in the story. It symbolizes at first sometype of mys tery, but reading further into the story it is realized that it issynonymous with doom. The box is symbolic of the towns peoples fear ofchange, it is old and splintered showing that the people of the town wouldrather cling to what is familiar rather than change, symbolizing the traditionsof the community. No one in the town questions the box, but accept it as a partof their lives. The box considered by the towns people to be charming, but has adirect link to the evil in the town as it determines who will be sacrificed inorder for the people to be happy. Another story in which evil and charm coexistis A Rose For Emily written by William Faulkner. A Rose for Emily istold by a nameless narrator describing the life of a pathetic woman, Emily. Thesetting of the story is seen through the view of the narrator, which seems to bethe voice of the town. Emilys house is the main focus throughout the story,as the narrator constantly talks about what may be going on inside the house. .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de , .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de .postImageUrl , .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de , .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de:hover , .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de:visited , .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de:active { border:0!important; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de:active , .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9d096550841bee7d83fcaa41907c61de:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The SisterHood of the Traveling Pants EssayThe house seems to fascinate the town, the numerous remarks that arisethroughout the story lead the reader to believe that the whole town knows aboutEmilys house. Only Miss Emilys house was left, lifting its stubborn andcoquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumpsand eyesoreamong eyesores. (Faulkner 27) Emilys house is the evil part of the town asseen by the people in the town because it has become and eyesore in thecommunity and but yet they are all drawn to the house, always wondering what isgoing on inside and what Emily is up to. The attitude of the narrator displaysto the reader that the town is drawn to th e life of Emily. The whole town has anidea on what type of life Emily led, but their image of Emily is created throughgossip and assumptions that were made as a result of the lack of time Emilyspent out in the public. The town assumes that Emily has a problem withmaintaining a clean house and assume that the stench coming from here house canjust be covered up, so that is what they do. They broke open the cellar doorand sprinkled lime there, and in all the out buildingsthey crept quietlyacross the lawn and into the shadow of the locust that lined the street. After aweek or two the smell went away. (Faulkner 28) The attitude of the towndisplayed her demonstrates that the people of the town feel that Emily has aevil aura to here as they are to afraid to knock on her front door and ask herwhat the smell is coming from her house. Instead the town decides to cover upthe smell most likely because they are to fascinated with Emily to actually talkto her. This characteristic of the town resu lts in the town being somewhat evilin terms that the people of the town cannot even speak to someone that delightsthem. As a result the town would rather make up stories about Emily than findout the truth. Symbolism is another method that shows how evil and charm coexistin A Rose for Emily. The people of the town believed that Emily was aflower lover and that she loved to have them around. Especially roses. But theroses that Emily adored were just a symbol to confuse the town of her desire. The symbol of the rose is used to represent the preservation of roses. Whenpreserving them they must be dried out. Emily has done exactly this, but notwith roses, with her love, Homer. For a long while we just stood there,looking down at the profound and fleshless grin. The body had apparently oncelain in the attitude of and embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love,that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckold him. (Faulkner 33) Emilyhad preserved Homer much like one does a dried out rose. The towns people areshocked at this as they realize that Emilys charm was a disguise for the evilthat she possessed. In both Shirley Jacksons The Lottery and WilliamFaulkners A Rose for Emily evil occurs but is masked by charm. Setting,characters, and symbols help to display this and reinforce that Brian Masterswas correct in arguing that evil is something you recognize immediately yousee it; it works through charm.

Native Son By Right Essays (2504 words) - Native Son, Richard Wright

Native Son By Right Richard Wright marked the beginning of a new era in black fiction. He was one of the first American writers of his time to confront his readers with the effects of racism. Wright had a way of telling his reader about his own life through his writing. He is best known for his novel, Native Son, which is deeply rooted in his personal life and the times in which he lived. This paper will discuss this outstanding American writer, his highly acclaimed novel, Native Son, and how his life influenced his writing. Richard Nathaniel Wright, was born on September 4, 1908 in Roxie, Mississippi. His father was a sharecropper and his mother a schoolteacher. In search for better employment his father moved the family to Memphis, Tennessee. While in Memphis, his father worked as a night porter in a hotel and his mother worked as a cook for a Caucasian family. Shortly after their move to Memphis, Wright's father deserted his family. His mother then tried to find any work she could find to support her family. Then, at the age of seven his mother became ill and was unable to financially support her family. As a result, the family had to move to Jackson, Mississippi to live with relatives. Wright remained in Jackson until 1925 (Walker, 13). In 1925, Wright left Jackson and headed as far as his money could take him, and that was Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis was the exact same city in which his father had taken his family to find a better life and where he abandoned them. Wright's first trip to Memphis ended in disappointment, desertion, and deprivation. While there Wright found work as a messenger for an optical company. He lived in Memphis for approximately two years. During that time, he witnessed the deep and violent South which eventually would permanently scar him for life. Margaret Walker wrote: I am convinced that the best of Richard Wright's fiction grew out of the first nineteen years of his life. All he ever wrote of great strength and terrifying beauty must be understood in this light. His subjects and themes, his folk references and history, his characters and places come from the South of his childhood and adolescence. His morbid interest in violence-lynching, rape, and murder-goes back to the murky twilight of a southern past. Out of this racial nightmare marked with racial suffering, poverty, religious fanaticism and sexual confusion emerge the five long stories in Uncle Tom's Children. (Walker 43) The violent impression of Southern racism marked Wright's personality and literature. As a result, he would spend his entire life struggling to express the importance for men to reject the stereotypic notions of race, class, creed, or any other prejudice and to accept human value that honor the human spirit and release intelligence. It was Wright's first nineteen years in the South that opened up his most powerful and passionate writing (Walker 43). In 1927, at the age of nineteen Wright migrated to Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, Wright found a job a as Post Office Clerk and at the same time he continued to self-educate himself by reading books, magazines, and newspapers. While in Chicago he became interested in Communism Issues. The interest came as a result of his concern with the social roots of racial oppression. In 1932, Wright joined the Communist party. He was a party activist in Chicago and New York. Wright's involvement with the Communist party became the subject of most of his fiction writings. After he broke away from the party his writings were centered around it. Wright's years in Chicago are often considered his maturation years, which were years of growing maturity and preparing for an illustrious future (Metzger 608). Wright's career as a writer basically began in the 1930's. In 1930, he wrote his first novel, Lawd Today. His novel, Lawd Today, however was not published until after his death. His first published work was, Uncle Tom's Children: Five Long Stories, which consists of stories that attack the racial discrimination and bigotry that Wright encountered as a youth. Throughout Wright's career he published many outstanding works. Among his works included: five novels, two autobiographies, two books of short stories, four nonfiction books and one collection of essays. Wright's major influence began when he published, Native Son , in 1940. Richard Wright's most notable and highly acclaimed novel is Native Son. Richard Wright contemplated for a while before he decided to write a novel in which a Negro, Bigger Thomas, would become a symbolic figure

Energy From Wavelength Example Problem

Energy From Wavelength Example Problem This example problem demonstrates how to find the energy of a photon from its wavelength. Key Takeaways: Find Photon Energy From Wavelength The energy of a photo is related to its frequency and its wavelength. It is directly proportional to frequency and inversely proportional to wavelength.To find energy from wavelength, use the wave equation to get the frequency and then plug it into Plancks equation to solve for energy.This type of problem, while simple, is a good way to practice rearranging and combining equations (an essential skill in physics and chemistry).Its also important to report final values using the correct number of significant digits. Energy from Wavelength Problem - Laser Beam Energy The red light from a helium-neon laser has a wavelength of 633 nm. What is the energy of one photon? You need to use two equations to solve this problem: The first is Plancks equation, which was proposed by Max Planck to describe how energy is transferred in quanta or packets. Plancks equation makes it possible to understand blackbody radiation and the photoelectric effect. The equation is:E hÃŽ ½ whereE energyh Plancks constant 6.626 x 10-34 J ·sÃŽ ½ frequency The second equation is the wave equation, which describes the speed of light in terms of wavelength and frequency. You use this equation to solve for frequency to plug into the first equation. The wave equation is:c ÃŽ »ÃŽ ½ wherec speed of light 3 x 108 m/secÃŽ » wavelengthÃŽ ½ frequency Rearrange the equation to solve for frequency:ÃŽ ½ c/ÃŽ » Next, replace frequency in the first equation with c/ÃŽ » to get a formula you can use:E hÃŽ ½E hc/ÃŽ » In other words, the energy of a photo is directly proportional to its frequency and inversely proportional to its wavelength. All that remains is to plug in the values and get the answer:E 6.626 x 10-34 J ·s x 3 x 108 m/sec/ (633 nm x 10-9 m/1 nm)E 1.988 x 10-25 J ·m/6.33 x 10-7 m E 3.14 x -19 JAnswer:The energy of a single photon of red light from a helium-neon laser is 3.14 x -19 J. Energy of One Mole of Photons While the first example showed how to find the energy of a single photon, the same method may be used to find the energy of a mole of photons. Basically, what you do is find the energy of one photon and multiply it by Avogadros number. A light source emits radiation with a wavelength of 500.0 nm. Find the energy of one mole of photons of this radiation. Express the answer in units of kJ. Its typical to need to perform a unit conversion on the wavelength value in order to get it to work in the equation. First, convert nm to m. Nano- is 10-9, so all you need to do is move the decimal place over 9 spots or divide by 109. 500.0 nm 500.0 x 10-9 m 5.000 x 10-7 m The last value is the wavelength expressed using scientific notation and the correct number of significant figures. Remember how Plancks equation and the wave equation were combined to give: E hc/ÃŽ » E (6.626 x 10-34 J ·s)(3.000 x 108 m/s) / (5.000 x 10-17 m)E 3.9756 x 10-19 J However, this is the energy of a single photon. Multiply the value by Avogadros number for the energy of a mole of photons: energy of a mole of photons (energy of a single photon) x (Avogadros number) energy of a mole of photons (3.9756 x 10-19 J)(6.022 x 1023 mol-1) [hint: multiply the decimal numbers and then subtract the denominator exponent from the numerator exponent to get the power of 10) energy 2.394 x 105 J/mol for one mole, the energy is 2.394 x 105 J Note how the value retains the correct number of significant figures. It still needs to be converted from J to kJ for the final answer: energy (2.394 x 105 J)(1 kJ / 1000 J)energy 2.394 x 102 kJ or 239.4 kJ Remember, if you need to do additional unit conversions, watch your significant digits. Sources French, A.P., Taylor, E.F. (1978). An Introduction to Quantum Physics. Van Nostrand Reinhold. London. ISBN 0-442-30770-5.Griffiths, D.J. (1995). Introduction to Quantum Mechanics. Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River NJ. ISBN 0-13-124405-1.Landsberg, P.T. (1978). Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics. Oxford University Press. Oxford UK. ISBN 0-19-851142-6.

Writing assingment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Writing assingment - Assignment Example Richard went to a great extend just to impress her (cleanliness). Within his school, no one seemed to understand him. Some thought he was just a fool who did not know anything. However, he was a normal kid faced with many challenges. For instance, poor housing, hunger, among many more. A few days before the Negro payday, students were supposed to pledge on behalf of their parents. Because of his love for Helene, Dick had a plan of topping up to her pledge. Unfortunately, his name was not read, and when he rose up to inquire, the teacher put him to shame. He was told that the contribution was not meant for him and those of his kind. Further, she said he did not have a father (Lunsford, 2013). Each person need to be treated equally regardless of race and background. In the short story, Gregory has been subjected to some racial discrimination. He was differentiated in a particular manner that made it seem like all minorities had to undergo. His teacher specifically did this during his early years of schooling. It is because he was from the poverty-stricken class. Consequently, this demoralized him; to the extent that he did not attend his classes as he used to. Moreover, it went ahead to affect his social life. This is because the teacher’s comments had a negative impact towards his self-esteem. As a result, he became sensitive to the slightest matter regarding him. This could evidently be seen in his change of attitude towards relief clothes and food. It was unfair for Gregory to be treated differently, yet he was a normal human being. If only the teacher could mind the aftermath of his sentiments, Gregory could be a better person today (Lunsford, 2013). Initially, the responsibility of cleaning the blackboard had been left for Gregory alone. To him this was an impression that he was important to the teacher. Foregoing the act of cleaning on a Friday usually made him feel incomplete the following school day. Cleaning the blackboard was less important

Anthropological Finding in North Texas Term Paper

Anthropological Finding in North Texas - Term Paper Example All we have now is an immense collection of anthropological evidence of the lives that existed thousands of years ago in the form of human skeletons, mummies, broken bones and ancient campfires. Consequently, such kinds of material evidence are significantly important for anthropologists during the reconstruction of anthropological analysis of the particular area as well as in determination of the length of time they have been in existent. The arrival of the Spanish explorers into the greater Texas region during the 1500s however brought a new historical era characterized by written materials, drawings, pictures and other more accurate sources that are significant to historians and anthropologists. Generally, the previous forensic anthropological analysis of material evidence in the greater Texas region has revealed a mixture fascinating historical accounts as well as some painful recount of wars the Native Indians and the Europeans during the arrival of the European immigrants. For example after the arrival of the Spaniards in the area around Texas in the 16th century, a number of brutal cultural conflicts were witnessed between the Natives and the Spanish immigrants some of which resulted in near decimation of the Native populations in the region. Forensic anthropology seeks to identify and interpret the human skeletons as well as the accompanying artifacts using various anthropological techniques. This paper discusses the anthropological analysis and identification of three partial human skeletons as well as three artifacts that were found along with them in Spanish Fort, Montague County, Texas. The analysis of the three artifacts One of the artifacts that were found togeth er with human remains at the site was a long but thin Bird point arrowhead, which was approximately 2 inches long. We deduced that native Indians who used to inhabit the Northern Texas region probably used these kinds of artifacts to hunt wild animals. This is because some of the Bird point artifacts discovered at the site were found in the decayed carcasses of bison and deer. Bird point artifacts were not only used by the Native Indians for hunting but were also occasionally used as weapons during the frequent wars and conflicts. This was particularly before the invention of bows and arrows. The Native Indians probably placed the bird points to their spears to make them effective tools for both warfare and hunting. Another important artifact that was discovered was an Asphaultum hafting. This artifact was identified by the characteristic black color of its residues. It is speculated that during the prehistoric times, the Native inhabitants of Northern Texas to mould some form of pr ojectile weapons and hunting tools as well as to make a waterproof inner coat for their clay pots used Ashphaultum. Finally, the depression also contained an artifact known as Waco sinker. Although it is difficult to pinpoint the specific use of this prehistoric artifact, it is widely believed that the native Indians as bola stones or sinker weights used Waco sinkers during hunting. For example, the Waco sinkers may have been used by hurling them at the hunted animals and the two stones would then wrap around the animal and pull it to the ground. The close proximity of the artifacts with the discovered graves suggested that they may have been intentionally buried along with the bodies as votive offerings, grave goods or as hoards (Inca rebellion Video, 2007).The artifacts are therefore valuable hints at the culture of the dead individuals, their occupation as well their

Gambling on College Sports Essay Example for Free

Gambling on College Sports Essay Gambling on College Sports BY jawz03 Segment 3 Essay November 7, 2012 What Are the Effects of Legal vs. Illegal Gambling on College Sports? IVe been a sports fanatic since the day I was born. It didnt matter if I was playing or watching or cheering, I Just loved being around the game. I have always been very knowledgeable about it too, as I was well known and titled by extended family as the stat man. This of course referred to the often times erroneous and useless facts rattling around in my brain that I couldnt help but show off. Needless to say, this topic means a lot to me, especially being a college football player myself. I couldnt pass up this opportunity to dig deeper into a topic that has lingered in our country for years. The issues that pertain to gambling on college athletics have a vast range of opinions that stem from the questions; should gambling on college athletics be legal? What are the effects it has on the college athletes? Some argue that it will be detrimental to the game and some argue it has little to no effect, however most land somewhere in the middle. A common Justification against gambling brings up the numerous scandals of players taking illegal benefits or point shaving and in extreme ases these events leading to Jail or death. This side also argues that it allows players to get mixed up with the wrong crowd and put themselves in danger. Arguments for gambling site the economic reach it has in our country and the illegality will shrink the economy as well as not protect the players any more. Many people on this side think it will not be stopped so if gambling on college sports is illegalized, then every form of it will be illegal causing more trouble. My goal is to reveal those opinions and create a more complex understanding from various viewpoints, and hopefully bring a mall degree of clarification to others and myself. In the article, Even at Columbia, Gambling And College Athletics Collide found in the New York Times, Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson enlighten the readers about the gambling infractions that occurred in a Columbia University fraternity house. The authors begin by describing the situation and basic details of the gambling process. (They) would accept bets on sporting events from dozens of other students and then phone in the wagers typically from $40 to $200 each to a gambling ring based in Queens and operated by people with links to organized crime (Curry and Gershenson). They go on to unravel the situation further by stating that there were not only college athletes betting on the games, but even current and former players living in the house that was tirelessly on the phone collecting wagers. Curry and Gershens on then discuss the further investigations done by Columbia and the NCAA and the possible disciplinary action that the offenders can face. The authors then write about the numerous amounts of sports gambling incidents in the last decade and also how students and athletes looked upon the Columbia gambling scandal with lesser importance because of the lack of athletic excellence. The presence of a ambling operation with connections to organized crime at a school whose football team is best known tor a 44-game losing streak in the 1980s seemed incongruous (Curry and Gershenson). An athlete was also quoted saying, Its not like this is Arkansas or something. This is Columbia. Curry and Gershenson conclude their article by including a nationwide 1996 survey of college Division one athletes that reveals 25 percent gambled on other college sports and four percent admitted to gambling on games they had played in. I believe this is an article with good overall quality, even though it was written about 14 years ago in 1998. The time period constraint may lead to questions of relevance to readers in 2012. However, I think if you t ake all the dates and years out of the article, the purpose is still fulfilled and relays the same messages. The intent of the article was to inform about the events of the Columbia gambling ring, the reaction around campus, and the nationwide relevance. The authors Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson, are fairly unknown writers as far as I am concerned but that doesnt take away from the quality of the article because it was included in The New York Times, which only adds credibility. For this reason, there would be a nationwide udience because of the shear number of readers. Specifically, the audience would probably be more of the businessman or woman, who are the stereotypical readers of The New York Times. The exigence of this piece was the arrest of gambling ring participants at Columbia but also the fact that these types of gambling scandals had been becoming more and more common in that time period. This was a very eye-opening article for me to read and by far the longest and most in depth. Since it was written 14 years ago, it is a story that I was previously unaware of. It made me even more aware then I already was, of how long this problem has ingered in college sports. It mentioned, more then once, that there are bookies on every campus in America. This really made me think about how unbelievable the number of illegal bets being placed by college students and athletes must be. However, even though this article is depicting the illegal gambling as a bad thing, I think it unintentionally makes arguments for both sides of the issue. If gambling on college sports were acceptable, this would have been a legal act. Hypothetically if it were legal, it would cut down on crime like this, which is usually linked to people with other criminal activity going on. Disconnecting the link to other criminal activity would make it all around safer for bookies and bet placers and athletes, because frankly, I think that people will never stop gambling on sporting events. I had always just assumed that gambling on college sports should be illegal, but this article made me reconsider whether that would really be the smartest and safest resolution. In the article NCAA threatens to move events out of New Jersey from Sportslllustrated. com, the unnamed author introduces the proposed plan to legalize sports gambling in New Jersey as well as reaction from sports organizations ationwide. The writer kicks off the article by stating background information about New Jerseys push to legalize sports wagering. The article then goes on to describe the reaction from sports organizations, and goes in depth on the quotes from NCAA officials as well as their threats to move all playoff games out of New Jersey. It is also mentioned that The NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB have collectively sued to block New Jerseys sports betting law from taking effect. However, there is also information and quotes from parties that are for the sports betting law. Quotes from State senator Raymond Lesniak and rnor Chris Christie demonstrate their support tor the new law. The article is concluded with talk of several new gambling options New Jersey is seeking to offer (NCAA Threatens). The author writes that these other options include in-state Internet gambling and the use of hand-held mobile gambling devices at the casinos as well as at horse tracks. I thought this article was fairly credible and factual as well. It did not have an author to add to credibility but being a Sports Illustrated article maintained its effectiveness. I believe this piece was intended to inform the audience of residents of New Jersey as well as pretty involved sports fans. People who would read Sports Illustrated would obviously Just be in it for the sports because that is the only information it obtains. This also acts as a constraint. The article cannot reach as much of the population because not everyone is a sports fan. The event that triggered this response was the attempt to make sports gambling legal in the state of New Jersey. My understanding of gambling in college sports was drastically upgraded by reading this article. It was an informative piece, so there was very little, if any, bias in the writing. The inclusion of statistics and legality of the topic really helped me understand why the sports organizations are hoping that the law will not pass. The shear amounts of money changing hands can lead to a lot of trouble, however for the same reason, legalizing that money could really boost economic growth. These types of pros and cons exist on both sides, making it an even tougher issue to sort out. My next source comes from a script from the testimony of Danny Sheridan before the Senate Commerce Committee on April 26, 2001. The testimony was for a hearing for the Amateur Sports Integrity Act (S. 18), which would determine the legality of gambling on college athletics. The first part of the testimony consists of Sheridan validating why his testimony should be considered by sharing his credibility and involvement in athletics. My name is Danny Sheridan, and I have been involved with sports and the sportsopromotion business for more than 25 years. I have published college and pro footballomagazines, written about sports in a variety of national publications, and have been theohost of a number of sports TV and radio shows Sheridan proclaims. Sheridan goes on to explain how he is also a friend of many high rofile athletes and he knows first hand the dangers that athletic gambling has on athletes. Sheridan also includes many statistics in his argument. An estimated 40 million Americans currently wager $6 billion illegally every weekend during the entire 20-week college and pro football season alone (Sheridan). The testimony is concluded by Sheridan stating that he appreciates the good intentions of trying to legalize gambling, but it would instead, result in negative effects. The rhetor, Danny Sheridan, is a very well known sports industrial component, which gives his testimony (and therefore my source) credibility. He presented this to the Senate Commerce Committee in hopes to persuade them to vote against legalization of gambling on sports. The fact that this is a testimony, instead of a highly publicized article restricts the extent his message. I found the script on his website, however it isnt an often visited site by the common Internet user, so the audience is a big constraint for this text. I found this testimony to be a great source for this project. It was interesting to read a text that wasnt Just a traditional article. My understanding tor the anti gambling side grew significantly, because it was so biased. The speaker does a great ob making his argument come full circle. For that reason, I came away from reading it with a slight lean towards supporting keeping gambling on sports illegal. Another interesting aspect is that this testimony was given in 2001. My previous source, about the gambling law in New Jersey, is a current issue, and the arguments made by Sheridan could simply be restated now with the same effects. It is astounding to see how such little progress has been made through the years. In the article Study Provides New Data on the Extent of Gambling by College Athletes, from netfiles. edu, Welch Suggs dissects a study done to determine the facts bout college athletes that gamble on sports. Suggs begins by introducing the parameters of the University of Michigan study that was released by the athletic department. The study, based on a survey of 758 football and basketball players, found that 72 percent of college football and basketball players had bet money at least once since entering college (Suggs). The author goes on to give further statistics that the survey revealed. Welch Suggs concludes the article with opposing viewpoint quotes from NCAA employee William Saum, and former NFL player Lynn Swann. Suggs last statement included next shifting attention to basketball referees o gain information about their gambling experiences. This was a questionable source to say the least. It had some solid content but the article opened as a PDF and my research failed to try and find the original homepage of the website. Likewise, the author was a mystery man as well. This text was very brief, but I believe the purpose was to inform about the findings of the survey revealed by the University of Michigan athletic department. However, the audience is hard to determine because of the unknown author and questionable website. If I were to pick an audience though, I would say it was intended for the adult college ports athlete because of the language and the inclusion of quotes from Lynn Swann. This text also has massive constraints, mainly for the same reasons as stated before. The website is random and in an odd format, therefore finding Suggs piece would be difficult to come across. The audience is extremely limited because of this, and the credibility suffers as well. Also, it did not include dates it the article, so the exigence of the piece suffers because the provoking event of the writing cannot be identified. The facts that are stated in this article hold strong relevance for this topic. It is more of an anti gambling article based on the information it presents, but it also gives a quote of the opposite viewpoint. Numbers dont lie, and the numbers from the study are very eye opening and convincing. It makes me think about how much gambling affects the games we love, without us even knowing. Since all the surveys were anonymous, nothing will develop in terms of punishment or solutions to the problem. In this sense, the article does a great Job persuading the reader. However, nowhere in the article did it give a date of the information or of when the article was ritten, so it is hard to put it in context and determine the importance. This, along with the briefness of the article, made it more difficult to shape my thinking about the topic. After analyzing the four sources included in this essay, I have yet to come to a concrete conclusion. I began researching the topic with the idea that gambling on college sports should be illegal and that all the ettects ot illegal gambling are bad. However, my research has muddied my view a little bit, which is actually a good thing because now I am informed more then I even have been. Being informed in such a ay makes me understand how this predicament has been able to linger around in our society and in our legal system for so long.