The Forgotten West

The Forgotten West ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Take-Home Midterm Essay! ! ! !Courtney Maness! ! ! !History 365Professor BrunoFebruary 20, 2014The American West has long held the imaginations and fascinations of Americans. Asksomeone what they think when they hear the term "the West", and they would likely saycowboys and Indians, ranches, the open prairie, and covered wagons. Sure these things are partof Western history and culture, but have you ever thought about it on a deeper level? Who werethe first groups of people to live in what is now America? Were Americans in the right to justmove west of the Mississippi River without any thought as to the fact that there might already bepeople settled on the land? Is the way we remember events in the history of the west correct, ordo we have a flawed or even biased view of what really happened? We never give much thoughtto these questions, we simply take the common view of events such as the battle at the Alamo,and the Indian wars, and accept that as being the final say in what happened. It is my intention topeel back the layers of three major pieces of the history of the American West, Cahokia, nowforgotten but at one time the largest city in ancient North America, and its fall from greatness;the battle at the Alamo and why it is so romanticized; and the Dakota Wars, in which Dakotatribes challenged Americans' idea of manifest destiny. How are some of these events nevermentioned in modern history lessons, while some have become larger than life?Beginning with some of the earliest days of civilization within the Mississippi Riverregion, we first arrive upon the...Monk's Mound a Pre-Columbian Mississippian culture...

Ethnic Cleansing in Sophie essays

Ethnic Cleansing in Sophie essays Sophies Choice is a story about a young writer, Stingo, who moves to New York into a boarding house. One night he hears yelling outside of his room, and when he opens his door he finds an enraged man, Nathan, screaming at a woman, Sophie, who was crying. Sophie defended Nathan when talking with Stingo. Sophie was from Poland and Nathan was Jewish. The three adults became friends and inseparable. Throughout the film, anything could set Nathan off to verbally abuse Sophie, but Stingo just could not understand why she loved Nathan if he treated her this way. Nathan and Sophie had an argument one night and the next morning packed up and left with all of their stuff. Stingo went crazy trying to look for them. While at the boarding house, Stingo got a call from Nathan, which was when Sophie walked in. Sophie told Stingo that Nathan had a gun and thought he would use it. Nathan called and threatened them and shot the gun in the phone for them to hear. Sophie and Stingo left to get away. Stingo told Sophie that he loved her, and wanted to marry her and move down south with him to southern Virginia. Sophie said she was not sure, and told him something she had never told anyone before. She said that one the day she and her two children went to Auschwitz, they were standing in line and told an officer that she and her children were Catholics from Poland and were not communist. The officer said she could choose one child since she was Polish. She chose her daughter who she was holding. That choice had been haunting her for all of those years. So when Stingo asked her to marry him and have his babies, she said she was not a fit mother for making that decision. She could never forgive herself. When Stingo woke up the next morning, Sophie left a note for him to read on her pillow. She said that she must be with Nathan for whatever that means. Stingo returned back to the boarding house to find that Nathan ...

What does it mean to be literate in this day and age Essay

What does it mean to be literate in this day and age - Essay Example To be literate is indeed a wise undertaking in the world of today and it holds more ground than it used to in the times of our forefathers. There is so much to seek, learn and understand that the man seems to go missing in the quagmire. However if he is literate he makes his own way through the zig-zag pathways and thus reaches his destination on all counts. It is a matter of fact that being literate in the current times facilitates one self in estimating what life is bringing for a person. It opens up his range of options and presents to him ideas out of the box as well. What this does is to make him do the analysis in a straight forward manner. No analysis is possible without getting to know the facts first of all. If a person is literate and understands the norms that are taking place within his life or generally, he will get to know what the strengths of the same undertakings are and how it would affect his own live as well as the ones whom he loves and takes care of. He gets to inquire the weaknesses present with the knowledge that he has obtained over a period of time and thus weighs them in light of the strong points that were previously ascertained by him in due course of time. In the world of present times, being literate means that a person is talked of in a high and esteemed manner. He is given respect by one and all since he can understand the difference between the good, the bad and the ugly. He has sense problems where the illiterates could think merry. He can make out for the troubles that lie ahead in different situations through his sheer ability of forecasting and visualization. He can look at the missing links better than an average man. He can understand his own psyche, individual basis and the manner under which he exists within the tenets of the society. He knows who he is and what is expected of him. He can create links with