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At my school, all juniors are required to write a research paper in their English class. For my paper, I researched the differences between the Christian God and Allah. You'd be suprised at all the differences between the two, especially since, in the days following September 11, we've been told that Christians and Musilms worship the same god.

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Pakistan, 1986. Zahid was a Muslim priest who had been brought up to hate and kill those with conflicting beliefs, especially Christians. He often persecuted Christians in town, feeling that by doing so, he would please Allah (the Muslim god). One day when Zahid was persecuting Christians, someone dropped a Bible. Rather than disposing of it, as he normally would have, Zahid hung onto it because he felt compelled to read it and expose its errors. In short, Zahid converted to Christianity and shared the Bible’s teachings with everyone. As a result, he was considered a traitor. Zahid began…

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Named after Audio Adrenaline's 1993 song, "Can't Take God Away," this essay analyzes the ways in which the song talks shows aspects of American life. Also included are explanations of how the beliefs shown in the song agree with mine.

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Music has always been a big part of our culture. People sing and listen to songs for entertainment and for encouragement. Explore folk songs or Negro spirituals for instance. Many slaves sang spirituals for encouragement and hope to carry them through the rough times they experienced. Even today, most people enjoy listening to music because they can relate to the things about which the artists sing. Often artists sing about things that either upset or please them. These days, much of American music exposes problems in our society. In a song entitled, Can’t Take God Away…

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For my AP English 3 final, I was required to write about four books we had read during the semester and relate them back to Emerson's and Thoreau's ideas on the individual.

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In the society-centered world that has existed for thousands of years, Emerson's and Thoreau's recommendation of living as a self-reliant individual can be a difficult task to accomplish. Society puts pressure on its members to conform to its standards. Nonconformists are shunned by society and as a result have difficulty retaining their nonconformist position. According to Emerson's Self-Reliance, though, this nonconformist, independent stance is the only thing that can bring a person peace. Emerson believes a truly great man lives in the world, but at the same time trusts himself, believes in himself, and is, in a…

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After studying African American Civil Rights in American History class, we each completed a project on another group that has sought civil rights. I was assigned women's rights. This paper takes an interesting turn, seeing as we were supposed to explain why we should stand up for women's rights. Because many of the "rights" they fight for today aren't really rights, I wrote about the opposite.

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It seems these days that everyone is concerned with their rights. People feel that there are certain rights that they should have regardless of their race, religion, sex, and so forth. And rightfully so – everyone is entitled to basic human rights. Many belonging to specific groups – such as women, and homosexuals - feel that these basic rights aren't enough and that they need more. They feel that their group should be granted special "rights," which aren't really rights at all.

The early advocates of women's rights started out with good intentions – they were fighting for the abolition…

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Sometime in the course of my American History class, we discussed the topic of Affirmative Action. This is a position essay I was required to write on the topic.

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Although much of the reasoning behind Affirmative Action is good, it goes wrong in a few major ways. Affirmative action is meant to bring an end to discrimination. In trying to do so, though, it elevates the so-called disadvantaged minorities above other groups. In addition, the members of the particular minority groups are stereotyped according to the group they are in rather than being looked at as an individual. Affirmative action also makes the assumption that minority groups are, in fact, disadvantaged. Another result is that the tables are turned and whites are discriminated against. Lastly, and most importantly…

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An essay comparing and contrasting Herbert Hoover, FDR, and Ronald Reagan that I wrote for American History class.

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Because of their positions in the government and their resulting influential abilities, presidents are either praised for advancing the nation, criticized for not doing anything to help the country, or even making the country’s situation worse. Their success as president is dependent on the success of the country. People don’t take into consideration the attempts presidents make, but only those things that help or hurt the country. This leaves room for there to be a good president who may not accomplish much and a bad president who may accomplish a lot.

President Herbert Hoover took…

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For this essay, I took on the position of Military Advisor to President Truman. I was required to advise in favor of or in opposition to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

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Mr. President, a quick analysis of all the facts of the war with Japan shows that Japan can clearly not be beaten unless we drop the atomic bomb on them. Naval blockades and invading Japan will get more Americans killed. Asking the Soviet Union for assistance will just give us more problems. Demonstrating the potential of the atomic bomb will make us look like fools. No other options are left, except to drop the bomb on Japan.

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After reading Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter in AP English first semester, we were requried to write three essays as part of our exam. This is the first of the three essays and discusses how Hester changes over the course of the novel.

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In the course of most stories, at least one of the main characters changes in one way or another. In The Scarlet Letter, one of the main characters we see a change in is Hester. Through the course of the novel, it appears that Hester changes from an arrogant, unremorseful woman to a much kinder and helpful, repentant woman. Although it appears that Hester has learned a lesson from her sin and consequential punishment, has she really changed her sinful ways? If she has, why, then, is she going to leave for Europe with Arthur Dimmesdale…

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After reading Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter in AP English first semester, we were requried to write three essays as part of our exam. This is the second of the three essays and discusses symbolism in the novel.

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Throughout the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a few key symbols to represent major themes in the book. The most obvious and well known, as it is in the title, is the scarlet letter Hester is forced to wear. Three other symbols are the scaffold, the sun, and the forest.

To begin with, the most important and influential symbol in the entire book is the infamous scarlet letter, hence the title, The Scarlet Letter. In the second chapter, Hester walks out of the prison, wearing the infamous scarlet letter…‘

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After reading Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter in AP English first semester, we were requried to write three essays as part of our exam. This is the third essay and discusses the mystery of Pearl.

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Among many nuances present in the novel, The Scarlet Letter, is the mystery of Pearl. This mystery is never actually in the real person of Pearl, but in the child she appears to be. At times, the townspeople and even Pearl’s mother, herself, call Pearl the demon-child, a fiend, and a torturer. Hester feels Pearl’s purpose on earth is to torture her but at the same time to be her joy. In reality, Pearl is a normal child, except for the fact that she is somewhat sealed off from the rest of the world…

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For the months of September, October, and November, in AP English 3, we were required to select a novel written by specific group of American authors and write 15 1-page journal entries on it. I selected Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer for September.

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Mark Twain, uses a very light-hearted tone and style of writing. After reading a few chapters of The Scarlet Letter earlier this evening, this selection was much more light-hearted, laid-back, and easier to read. The whole idea of a boy going about his regular, mischievous, everyday life in the middle 1800s is relaxing.

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For the months of September, October, and November, in AP English 3, we were required to select a novel written by specific group of American authors and write 15 1-page journal entries on it. For October, I selected Frederick Douglass' 400+ page My Bondage and My Freedom.

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My Bondage and My Freedom is Frederick Douglass' rendition of his life story. Douglass was born into slavery around the year 1817. (Records weren't kept among most slaves, so this is Douglass' estimate of his birth year.) Douglass lived the first few years of his life with his grandparents a few miles away from his owner's plantation. The slave children lived with their grandparents until the age of seven or so, when they went to work for the master. Douglass' master, Col. Edward Lloyd, owned approximately 1000 slaves. It was impossible for one man to manage each and every one of his slaves, so Lloyd had overseers, each of which had control of a portion of the slaves. Since Douglass was only a boy, and a young one at that, he worked in the house, rather than in the fields.

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For the months of September, October, and November, in AP English 3, we were required to select a novel written by specific group of American authors and write 15 1-page journal entries on it. For November, I selected Hiroshima by John Hersey.

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As the title of the book implies, the entire story was based around the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima, to end World War II. John Hersey wrote a very detailed description of the events six Japanese people went through as a result of the bombing. Hersey began introducing the six characters – Miss Toshiko Sasaki, a clerk in the personnel department of the East Asia Tin Works; Dr. Masakazu Fujii, a wealthy and quite successful doctor; Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura – a woman whose husband had gone to fight in the war and eventually left her widowed; Father Wilhem Kleinsorge, a German priest in the Society of Jesus; Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, a doctor at a Red Cross hospital (not related to Miss Toshiko Sasaki); and Reverend Mr. Kryoshi Tanimoto – a pastor in the Japanese Methodist Church, who often was persecuted for his Christian beliefs.

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In American History class, we had a mock trial in which we tried President Andrew Jackson for three things - committing crimes against the indians, breaking treaties and laws, and creating a climate hostile to the indians. I wrote this verdict paper after the trial, explaning what I thought the verdict should be.

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In this trial, Andrew Jackson has been charged with three things - committing crimes against the indians, breaking treaties and laws, and creating a climate hostile to the indians. I find Andrew Jackson not guilty of all three charges. He committed no crimes against the indians; rather, he was working to keep them safe from the crimes the white settlers committed against them. By going into detail, looking at each law and Supreme court ruling, we see that Jackson broke no previous treaties or laws by signing any of the treaties he signed. Jackson did not create a climate…

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In American History class, we discussed what is required for an event to be a revolution and then had to write whether the American Revolution was a true revolution. I wrote this essay explaning that it was a true revolution.

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All of us alive today have grown up learning about the American Revolution. Although it contains the word “revolution” in its name, there are many who don’t consider the American Revolution a real revolution. After considering the definition of a revolution – a radical change of an entire system, usually by war, resulting in a change of the way of life of the people involved – and the American society before and after the American Revolution, it is obvious that those who don’t consider the American Revolution a revolution are mistaken. Among the many aspects of colonial…