The Life and Writings of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe’s life seemed to be cursed almost from the day he was born. Abandoned by his father and losing his mother to pneumonia both happened before Edgar turned three years old. His wife died only ten years after marriage. Two important people in Poe’s life died and one abandoned him. So Poe was a lonely person. Poe’s loneliness was shown in his writings of short stories and poems. Poe’s father left him when he was...

In the 21st Century, we can view Mary Shelly's Frankenstein as a modern myth. The term œmodern myth however, when relating to the novel, can be interpreted in two different ways. The first way being how might Frankenstein be viewed as a myth in modern times (being 2008), and the other interpretation being How is Frankenstein viewed by people in the 21st Century, as a modern myth to people existing at the time of Mary Shelly. This essay will explore the first option after coming to the...

Attitudes Towards Love in "A Birthday and "The Story of an Hour" Christina Rossetti’s poem "A Birthday" and Kate Chopin’s short story "The Story of an Hour" present conflicting attitudes toward love. In particular the speaker in Rossetti’s poem is anticipating and overjoyed by the arrival of her new found love, whereas the character in Chopin’s story, after the initial shock of her new found freedom , was overjoyed by the loss of her love. In the poem and short story...

Politics of Plato and Aristotle To compare the political theories of two great philosophers of politics is to first examine each theory in depth. Many experts regard Plato as the first writer of political philosophy, and Aristotle is recognized as the first political scientist. These two men were great thinkers. They each had ideas of how to improve existing societies during their individual lifetimes. It is necessary to look at several areas of each theory to seek the difference in each. The...

Critical Analysis of David Boaz's Essays From David Boaz’s essay What Rights Do We Have? it seems that the First Amendment and the Declaration of Independence is getting more and more publicity. Since the 1990s politicians and people jumped on the train of “I have the right to…” which blitz across the nation like a tornado. Boaz tried to draw out the significance of America’s most important document on the issue of rights—the Declaration of Independence. According to...

Berkeley's Theory of Immaterialism As man progressed through the various stages of evolution, it is assumed that at a certain point he began to ponder the world around him. Of course, these first attempts fell short of being scholarly, probably consisting of a few grunts and snorts at best. As time passed on, though, these ideas persisted and were eventually tackled by the more intellectual, so-called philosophers. Thus, excavation of "the external world" began. As the authoritarinism of the...

Imaginative journeys Imaginative journeys can be taken through the imagination or psyche of an individual as they explore, reflect and fuse together the seemingly intangible with reality. Imaginative journeys may draw on previous experiences and understandings but move beyond these limited perceptions into more speculative or fantastical realms. Another way of viewing an imaginative journey is its capacity to draw responders into a fictional, speculative setting. Imaginative journeys which will...

IB, Theory of Knowledge, 2002 [i:e5dc60c6df]How do beliefs about the world, and beliefs about what is valuable, influence the pursuit of knowledge?[/i:e5dc60c6df] A pursuit, by definition, requires a goal or answer to a question that the pursuer is attempting to reach. This end, towards which effort is directed, is based upon previous knowledge that says that it will be fruitful in some way. Any knowledge that is pursued is, logically, pursued for a reason. This reason must be that the...

“OUR KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEFS ARE LIKE A ROAD MAP WHICH HELPS US AVOID WRONG TURNS, BUT WHICH NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED WHENEVER IT IS CONTRADICTED BY OUR EXPERIENCE OF THE WORLD” Discuss this simile from the point of view of three of the fields you have examined during your TOK course, and of your experience of the TOK course itself. ---------------------------------------------------- Since the dawn of mankind, Man has striven first to understand, and later to control, the World that...

Why I Believe People Should Go To Church And Believe In God Where are you on a typical Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m.? In the bed, on the lake, at the golf course? Maybe just sitting at home? Or are you in God's house? I was born on May 12th 1984 and I have been to church every Sunday since then. I go to church because I wish to go. Church is the best place to go. People think church is a waste of time, but personally I believe that if it wasn't for God some of us wouldn't still be here. Like...