to build a fire Essay -- essays research papers

Interpretation â€Å"To Build a Fire† In the story "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, a man is travelling through the klondike in Alaska to find his friends, "the boys". Because the man is only quick and alert to the things of life and not the significance, he finds himself in some very bad circumstances. The man experiences several instances of bad luck such as getting wet up to his knees, the spruce tree dumping snow on his fire, and matches falling through his numb fingers and going out in the snow. I think that the central idea of "To Build a Fire" is to listen to your instincts and the â€Å"significances of life,† because they will help you when you find yourself in troublesome circumstances. The man in this story is so focussed on reaching "the boys" that he overlooks numerous consequences because he is focussed on the individual actions. The man did not respect mother nature's power, in his arrogance he didn't listen to the "significances of life" nor h is instincts so he ended up paying for it with his life. The man "was without imagination" and only understood the facts. He was a newcomer without much experience and thought that he could conquer mother nature. In fact, he thought that any real man could overcome the odds. To him everything was just facts. For example, the temperature was seventy five below zero, which didn't mean anything to him except a number. He did not think of his "frailty as a creature of temperature." He laughed at the "old-timer at Sulphur Creek" when he warned him not to travel alone when it was so cold. The old man was experienced in life he was very wise, but the newcomer just called him "womanish". Even at the end of the story when the man knew he was going to die, he still was thinking that "freezing was not so bad as people thought" and "when he got back to the states he could tell folks what real cold was." This shows that the man wasn't taking his situation very seriously. He wanted to die with dignity instead of thinking of family or people who cared about him, he foolishly thought about how stupid he looked "running like a chicken with it's head off." He was stupid and responsible for his own death because he did not l... ...an the man in many ways. When the man wants to kill him and bury his hands in his carcass to warm them the dog knows. Without thinking, the dog knows the cold is dangerous and that the spring is risky. He also knows that "to permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet." The dog doesn’t know why, but it just obeys "the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being." While the dog may not have the intellectual capacity to create fire or food for itself, it instinctively knows where to go to find "the other food providers and fire providers". The dog shows extreme loyalty to the man and only when he "caught the scent of death" did he leave the man. Because the man does not pay attention to the "significances of life" and doesn't respect the power of the cold and mother nature he does not survive. The dog was able to survive because he listened and followed its instincts. Since the man didn't listen to the advice of experienced people, he was ignorant and never expected to be defeated by the cold. If the man had prepared himself for the worst, his death would not have been inevitable.

Gangs

Gangs Inclusive Community Practices- CJS304 Written Reflection Assignment Submitted by: Vanessa B. Smithers Submitted to: Professor Treisha Hylton Date Submitted: Friday, November 30, 2012 Inclusive Community Practices- CJS304 Written Reflection Assignment Vanessa B. Smithers Gangs/Youth GangsThe Service de  police  de la Ville de  Montreal (Montreal Police) have defined a youth gang as â€Å"An organized group of adolescents and/or young adults who rely on group intimidation and violence, and commit criminal acts in order to gain power and recognition and/or control certain areas of unlawful activity† (Public Safety Canada- National Crime Prevention Centre, 2007).Youth gangs have become an urban phenomenon and since the mid 1980’s youth gang violence has increased in amplitude and severity, although the crime rate amongst twelve to seventeen year olds has been decreasing. The Canadian Police Survey on Youth Gangs states that youth gangs are a present and growing concern within Canadian communities, but we have not yet reached the magnitude of severity that is present in the United States of America.According to various Canadian studies, it has been demonstrated that: youth becoming involved in gang related activity are getting younger in age; the level of violence within these groups is rising; that more female youth are joining gangs; school boards are reporting more gang violence within their institutions; school yard bullies are being replaced with groups of youth who perform acts of â€Å"swarming†; and that extortion and drug dealing are becoming daily routines in some Canadian communities.I chose the topic of Gangs/Youth Gangs because it peaks a very high interest for me in regards to my current career as well as my hopes for my future career endeavours. Currently I am a Youth Worker at a shelter for male youth in the downtown Toronto core. Each and every day I encounter a number of youth who have gang involvement or who have p reviously been involved with gangs, some leading to involvement in the Ontario Justice System. Also, for my current Humber College placement I chose to work at Carleton Village Junior and Senior Sports and Wellness Academy located at Weston Road and St.Clair Avenue West. Through engagement and interaction with a variety of multi-cultural youth and children, I have learned that there are a number of students within the school who are in contemplation about joining gangs, some whose siblings and parents are involved in gangs, and a number of children who are on a path to becoming involved in gangs in the future. I have always had a fascination and a keen interest in acquiring knowledge as to why people, more specifically, children and youth choose to become active gang members and what in their lives are catalysts and causes them to resort to gang activity.When I think of the topic of gangs, it brings sadness to me because I am aware that most gang members become involved in gangs dur ing their adolescent years, continuing into their adult years. Although this is a reality for some, through having an abundant amount of experience in working with children, as well as youth with a large amount of potential to be amazing, law abiding citizens, the topic of gangs is something that I feel very passionate about.The part about gangs that brings the most sadness to me is the fact that there are children who strive to be gang members, children who at the age of seven find the idea of gangs to be a phenomenon. They walk around with red bandanas to represent the â€Å"Bloods† and blue bandanas to represent the â€Å"Crips† without actually knowing what it is to be in a gang, until they reach an older age and recruit themselves into the gang life. Within the text book â€Å"Special Needs Offenders in the Community,† Jeff Rush and Rob Hanser state numerous important points which I will briefly touch on.The authors say that working with gangs is difficult because individuals deny that there is a gang problem, ignore the problem, and delay a response to the gang issue, also known as the â€Å"DID syndrome. The authors also state that the following characteristics are ones that are used in defining a gang: formal organization structure, identifiable leadership, identified within a territory, recurrent interaction and engaging in serious or violent behaviour. Within the text book it also states that prison gangs are referred to as â€Å"security threat groups. They mention that most prison gang members were street gang members at one point. The authors extenuate the fact that community collaboration (police and community members) is extremely important in tackling the issue gangs. Unfortunately the book states that gang involvement is usually life-long. The individuals have an abundant amount of forces pushing them to remain within the gang life, undermining most treatment regimens that are assigned to them once they are released from prison.Drawing from the presentation and the text book, I found most of the information presented important although, the most important ideas in relation to the Community Justice field I found were: the DID syndrome discussed earlier ( denying that there is a gang problem, ignoring the problem when it arises, and delaying a response to the problem), prison gangs, and the various stages of the comprehensive problem-solving model : the scanning stage ( looking for and identifying problems), the analysis stage ( to develop a further understanding of a problem), the response stage (developing response options that are consistent, and implementing the responses), and the assessment stage ( provides useful feedback on how well the response is working). I also felt as if studying the gang’s turf is an important factor for prevention and suppression programs in the city.Lastly, I felt as if the Gang Exit Program is a very important strategy where there is an assessment and intake, gang member intensive training and personal development and gang member case management. Within a Canadian context, all of the above points are very prevalent. In relation to the DID syndrome, there are many agencies within Canada, more specifically Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, that do not ignore or practice ignorance pertaining to gangs. There are ones that focus on identifying gang related issues and determining an appropriate response. Such agencies and programs consist of: Project Prevention & Intervention, Breaking the Cycle and Operation Springboard. All of these listed agencies try to implement comprehensive problem-solving models, prevention, interventions and gang-exiting strategies.In regards to prison gangs, correctional facilities take proactive moves towards preventing any prison gangs and they do this through: segregation of prison members who appear to be in the same ‘gang,’ keeping a close eye on the inmates through direct observation and survei llance, acquiring knowledge regarding gangs locally, provincially and country wide, as well as having the skills to pick up on cues that may be identifying key factors of gang activity. During the class’s presentation on Gangs, amongst all the interesting points, there were two that I took a keen interest to. Firstly, it was stated that the last Canadian Police Survey on gangs was in 2002, and it reported that Canada has four hundred and thirty four youth gangs with Ontario ranking the highest and British Columbia next. Ontario has two hundred and sixteen youth gangs with a total of three thousand three hundred and twenty members, almost half (48%) of all youth gang members are under the age of  18 of which (39%) are between 16 and 18 years old. The second one was regarding the Labelling Theory.Due to stigmas created by media such as newspapers, magazines, movies, books, and music, people have conjured up a set of ideals and norms about races, ages, religions and genders an d use these ideals and norms to anticipate how that specific group is going to act. According to the book, ‘Issues and Perspectives on Young Offenders in Canada,’ Franklinn Tanenbaum developed the social-reaction/labelling theory where he states that â€Å"once a youth has been identified as having committed a delinquent act, the person becomes the thing he or she is described as being† (p. 38). In conclusion, the topic of gangs is something that sits close to my heart. It is my job as a future Community Justice Worker to not turn a blind eye to gang activity.In my opinion, it is the role of me, community members, families and caretakers to lay down and model the fundamental building blocks at a young age to ensure our children feel safe, creative, motivated, cared for, respected, heard, not labeled, not judged, powerful, intelligent and self-empowered. With this approach individuals will hopefully not resort to outside means in order to obtain these feelings art ificially within gangs. Bibliography (2003). Canadian Police Survey on Youth Gangs. Canada: Minister of Public Safety & Emergency Prepardness. Hanser, J. R. (2007). Gang Members as Special Needs Offenders. In R. D. Hanser, Special Needs Offenders in the Community (pp. 229-243).New Jersey, United States: Pearson Prentice Hall. (2005). Youth Gangs in Canada: A Preliminary Review of Programs & Services. Calgary, Alberta: Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family. Public Safety Canada- National Crime Prevention Centre. (2007). Youth Gangs in Canada- What do we Know? Canada: Government of Canada. Wynterdyk, J. A. (2005). Issues & Perspectives on Young Offenders in Canada. Canada: Thomson Canada Limited. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. (2003). Canadian Police Survey on Youth Gangs. Canada: Minister of Public Safety & Emergency Prepardness. [ 2 ]. Victims of Violence. (2011, February 28 ). Gang & Group Violence.

Prohibition Of The United States - 1912 Words

Alex Klintworth Prohibition in the United States â€Å"Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man s appetite by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not crimes.† Even though Abraham Lincoln lived about a half-century before Prohibition took effect in the 1920s, he described it quite well. The legislation essentially took alcohol, which had been a part of people’s lives since history of cultures were reported and made it illegal overnight. While Prohibition did see some positive effects like a lower consumption rate, other major issues arose that could have definitely been avoided. Legislators failed to take into account the fact that taking something away from the public will not stop them from finding loopholes and creative ways to conceal ways to consume alcohol. While the 18th Amendment may have seemed like a good idea on paper, its many underlying changes eventually led to a repeal and became known as a reflection of the United States during the 1920s. When the United States entered World War I in April of 1917, President Woodrow Wilson implemented a temporary alcoholic ban during wartime in the hope of saving grain. This ban, however, lasted much longer than anticipated. Groups like the Anti-Saloon League and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union dramatized the evils of alcohol claiming that it can ruin lives. Because recent legislation had been passed like women’s suffrage, these groups received widespread publicityShow MoreRelatedProhibition in the United States909 Words   |  4 Pagesday at work, you like to relax with a glass of wine, or maybe even bourbon. Without the ratification of the 21st Amendment, the people of the United States wouldn’t be able to enjoy any alcoholic beverages. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1919, outlawing the sale of alcoholic beverages and brining in the period known as Prohibition. At the time, the top Prohibitionist in Congress stated: â€Å"There is as much chance as repealing the Eighteenth Amendment as there is for a hummingbirdRead MoreProhibition in the United States764 Words   |  3 PagesProhibition in the United States was a built up reaction to alcohol and illicit drugs from the Temperance and other religious organizations beginning in the 1840s and intensifying during the Reconstruction Period. By using increasing pressure on legislators, lobbying through Churches and, of course, embarrassing public officials into a stance, these organizations forced the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in January 1919. This law prohibited the manufacture, sale, orRead MoreProhibition Of The United States777 Words   |  4 PagesResponse Prohibition in the United States occurred as a result of the Eighteenth Amendment, which was passed on January 17th, 1920. Prohibitions lasted approximately 13 years and ended with the ratifications of the Twenty-First Amendment which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 5th, 1933. Prohibitions did not yield any benefits for the average American, in fact I believe it hindered both men and women in economic, political and social ways. The main proponents of Prohibition were womenRead MoreEssay on Prohibition in the United States1500 Words   |  6 PagesProhibition created more crime because it was leading to corruption and the â€Å"cure† was worse than the original problem (Sifakis 725). The number of crimes increased during the Prohibition which caused organized crime to be very â€Å"popular†. Many criminal groups had a regular income of money through illegal actions such as drinking and selling alcohol (Organized Crime and Prohibition 1). Alcohol increased the organized crimes during Prohibition through loopholes in the 18th Amendment, speakeasiesRead MoreProhibition And Its Effects On The United States1661 Words   |  7 PagesWhen personal choice is withdrawn from individuals and prohibition is implemented to control natural human behavior, the hypocrisy that many preach the United States as being a free society and a nation of tolerance seems to deteriorate when politicians see any opp ortunity to capitalize on the masses without regard. Yet even after alcohol prohibition and fighting an endless war on drugs, history still repeats itself over and over again while the taxpayer is left with the bill. Responsible and recreationalRead MoreEffects Of Prohibition On The United States1272 Words   |  6 PagesThe United States has been actively engaged in a ‘war’ for nearly 25 years. At the heart of this struggle is the fundamental question: Is this a battle the United States can win? Many sources, such as whitehouse.gov, make the claim that drug laws are working Instead, it has created a military police force, reinforced a violent black market, discouraged safe drug usage, and done little to actually reduce drug use. In order to reduce these problems as much as possible, the United States hasRead MoreThe Prohibition Of Marijuana And The United States1559 Words   |  7 Pagesacross the U.S. during the 1900’s and has remained illegal ever si nce, until recent years when states began legalizing it (huffpost.com). Although many people believe that the reason behind the prohibition of cannabis was based on genuine concern for the possible consequences it may have on the well-being of people if it remained accessible to all, the truth is that the drive behind the U.S.’s prohibition of cannabis was founded on racism. During the early 1900’s cannabis was considered an â€Å"ethnicRead MoreThe Drug Prohibition Of The United States Of America1629 Words   |  7 PagesThe cohorts of drug prohibition argue that the benefits of the prohibition are self-evident and undeniable. The basis of this assumption argument is that without prohibition the consumption of drug would skyrocket, and therefore, lead to disastrous outcomes. However, there is no evidence on the commonly held belief. The empirical evidence that exists does not support the notion of souring drug consumption. For instance, in the Netherland and Switzer land, where marijuana is legalized, the consumptionRead MoreWhy The Prohibition Is The Era Of The United States852 Words   |  4 PagesOn January 17, 1920, the 18th Amendment to the constitution of the United States of America took effect. The 18th Amendment had been ratified a year earlier, banning â€Å"the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors†(Okrent, 1) within the United States and its territories. This new decade is called the Prohibition. The prohibition is the era of bizarre and engaging images of speakeasies, intoxicated flappers dancing the Charleston, bootleggers, and mobsters protecting illegal tradesRead MoreEssay about Prohibition in the United States1865 Words   |  8 PagesProhibition in the United States There was once a time when an individual could not sit down and have a beer or mixed alcoholic drink legally after a long days work. At this time our American Government felt we needed to reduce drinking by eliminating the businesses that manufactured, distributed, imported, exported and sold intoxicating liquor. This was called Prohibition. By the 1820s people in the United States were drinking an average of 27 liters (7 gallons) of