What Am I Truly Afraid of and Why?

The most pressing fear I hold is one that comes in many forms, and from many places, which is a big reason why it burns so heavily into my mind. This pressing fear in generally referred to as 'evil'. However general a term it may be, there are specific reasons as to why it is such a great fear of mine. Evil is a quality that can only be had by humans, with free will comes the possibility of evil; evil thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Specific examples of evil are debatable, and opinions can vary for a number of reasons, particularly religion, so for the sake of readers I will make the effort to filter out opinions that may pertain only to certain people. Moving back to the topic, considering that evil exists in human beings means to say that it also exists within myself, the first part of this fear. I try to be a good person, but sometimes it only takes one thought to remind myself of the evil that I am capable of, and it frightens me greatly. This is aside from evil actions I have already done, which serve as constant sources of regret, even though I can make all the excuses in the world for some of them. The possible presence of evil in those around me also beings about a stirring fear in me; the thought of evil that family, friends, and associates are also capable of circulates the fear I hold inside. Finally, there is the evil I see in the world as a whole, in people I've never met that effects other people I don't even know. The suffering that natural disasters cause is a source of sorrow for me, but when the same level of suffering is caused by humans, it begins to scare me. Why anyone could do the things I have heard sickens me to my core, and the fact that I am also capable of the same draws fear from my mind. I hate it with all my being, and I long for the day where I will no longer have to be afraid of myself, or anyone in the world because of evil, as slim as that possibility may be. Nevertheless, life goes on, and all I can do to fight this fear is doing everything possible to eliminate evil, starting with that which is present in myself. This could take an eternity, but either way I don't plan on hiding in a corner from my fears, it's just not my style.

All Quiet on the Western Front Significant Quotes

In my novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, by E.M. Remarque, I have encountered three quotes that I believe hold significance to the main theme of the novel. The theme of the novel surrounds the view of young soldiers on war, and the feelings they have towards based on continous experiences. The first quote invovles a young German soldier providing a lightly taken but deeply thought alternative to war: "He proposes that a declaration of war should be kind of popular festival with entrance-tickets and bands, like a bull fight. Then in the arena the ministers and generals of the two countries, dressed in bathing-drawers and armed with clubs, can have it out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country winds. That would be a much simpler and more just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting." (p41) Here the young German soldier points out the reality of war, a dispute between a few people resulting in the fighting of men who would otherwise want nothing of it. The second quote from the novel expresses how the mindset of young men is durastically altered by war: "We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces. The first bomb, the first explosion, burst in our hearts. We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war." (p88) It is shown here the thought of another young German soldier looking back on his take on life before the war and how it has been distorted because of experiences in the war. The final quote deals with the words of a soldier when commiting the worst of his duties, taking the life of another"But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony--Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?" (p223) This segment of the story illustrates the feelings of a young German soldier with the deepest regret for what he was trained to do. All of the above quotes explain exactly how young lives are changed forever, just to solve a problem that was started by people they do not know. The book emphasizes on how the fact that these young men are still not fully shaped that early in their lives, and are sent to war, causes them to be permanently transformed because of experiences in war.

Txtzm, : ) or : ( ??

The fact that textism is having a greater influence on English language these days is not something to embrace, but not necessarily fear. It is fair to state that the English language is more than words in sentence structure, it represents human life, and therefore has taken a life on it's own, it has been this way for centuries. Textism is not something to consider as a degredation of our language, it's just different, but fails to hold the same meaning to us as the way we orginally learned to speak growing up, and the way we were taught until today. We are simply too established for this different version of language to permanently effect our language lifestyle, but it is a definite possiblilty that it could effect future generations. We are also in no position to refer to this change on language as 'degradation' because those before us could say the exact same thing about the way we speak and consider the 'right' way. All that can be derived from this information is that language is constantly changing, just like a person, it can have the same name it's whole life, but it won't always be the same person altogether.

Independent Novel Study Protagonist Analysis

   The novel I am reading for the indepent novel study is "All Quiet on the Western Front" by E.M. Remarque. In this novel, the protagonist is Paul Bäumer, a german soldier serving in World War I; Paul also acts as the narrator throughout the novel. Personality wise, Paul is a character torn between his sentive, more humane side, and his military side which demans him to abandon human emotion. While put in many life and death situations, Paul relies on his 'animal instinct' to survive. However, a prolonged exposure to harsh experiences eventually begins to take over Paul, and so begins a struggle between a young aspiring poet with a loving family, and a bloodied soldier with love for no one. Paul Bäumer is a very likeable character in the way he acts and his general personality as first depicted, but with his flaws he is more captivating to the reader because it presents a conflict that the reader hopes to be resolved by the protagonist. Based on the analysis of the protagonist, Paul Bäumer, it can be predicted that the above mentioned traits of this character will have a large effect on how the plot unfolds throughout the novel.