Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
Concept of freedom essay
Concept of freedom essay
Oppression essays
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Concept of freedom essay
Concept of freedom essay
Oppression essays
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the year of 1776, when the founding fathers confirmed their commitment to the inalienable rights of life and liberty, they opted to ignore the question of how slavery would piece into those newfangled ideals. Eventually, however, it became impossible to ignore the blatant violations of humanity in a country that was founded upon the principles of freedom. Tensions between the oppressive South and the opposing North rose to a point that the nation had become one that was divided against itself and threatened to break apart. The response to this national crisis was a revolutionary new type of literature with the objective of overthrowing slavery. The authors of these anti-slavery texts used logical, ethical and emotional rhetoric to confront their audiences with the cruelty and destructiveness of
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion, “by Albert Camus. Throughout the texts in the collection they deal with a struggle for freedom that is demanded and not given. In the texts “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Junior, “Cairo: My City Our Revolution” by Ahdaf Soueif and “Reading Lolita in Tehran” by Azar Nafisi the texts deal with demanding freedom instead of freedom being given. Freedom should be demanded because legal documents do not ensure freedom, it requires an effort by all people, and oppressive governments erase individuality.
Freedom should be demanded because changes seldom occur without acts of defiance from the oppressed and freedom has often failed to be fully given to some as promised. To begin, the speech “ Eulogy for Dr. Martin King Jr.” by Robert F. Kennedy supports the idea of freedom being demanded because changes seldom occur without acts of defiance from the oppressed. For example Kennedy states, “ Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.” (Kennedy CR26). In other words, Kennedy is trying to tell his audience that changes will only occur if they take action in the correct direction like King did.
Moving on is the speech, “A Eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” by Robert F. Kennedy, which dedicates the words and repeating the ideas of Martin Luther King Jr regarding the freedom movement. Taking a look at all of the events that has occurred in history regarding the obtainment of freedom, it appears that the best method of receiving freedom is to simply demand it. Being passive and continuing to hope that it will be given to you is not the way to go. Demanding is an absolute must, without it, freedom cannot be attained.
Alyssa Kim Mrs. Sooter English 10 HP 28 February, 2023 The Meaning of Freedom Throughout all of history, freedom has been fought for endlessly, yet what is freedom? The definition is vague, yet there is a trend present in both reality and fiction, as authoritarian governments in The Censors and The Book Thief support a certain definition of freedom. The selection of text gives a message that freedom is the ability to do whatever you please, yet it’s only achievable through power and authority, and having true freedom restricts the freedom of the weak.
The Devil’s Highway written by Luis Alberto Urrea and Persepolis written by Marjane Satrapi both independently advance and develop the notion of borders in their works. Although the generalized idea of borders is evident in the palpable content of their books; the types of borders themselves, as well as the purpose in writing it, is where their works begin to separate. In the Devil’s Highway, Urrea introduces the idea of an economic border between the United States and Mexico in attempts to draw awareness of the state of being in Mexico, and hopes that through these ideas individuals realize that the mass immigration into the United States is due to those existing economic issues; while Satrapi discusses the idea of cultural borders between
In these three writings, Harry Macarthy's “The Bonnie Blue Flag,” George F. Root’s “Battle Cry of Freedom,” and “The John Brown Song.” Display their views on how society fought for their freedoms. Men were told they had to fight, causing many to die because of fear. All of these writings express the value of freedom and how all people should have rights. In the American Reader by Diane Ravitch, almost all of the readings are similar in the sense that everyone wanted equal rights, Natural Rights, and a strong but not too powerful government.
In our society, freedom has been a largely sought after phenomenon. Freedom of women, freedom of the Black race, freedom of homosexuals, and the list goes on. The concept of the fight for freedom has never been one unfamiliar to our world. This fight has begun many years ago and continues today. Though we may all fight for a different kind of freedom, or even fight in different ways, in reality, we are all fighting the same battle.
As this nation grows and develops these beliefs don’t seem to be as valuable as they used to be. A Report from the PEN Center states, “76% think that increased government surveillance is especially harmful to writers because it impinges upon the privacy they need to create freely.” Presently, seventy to eighty percent of the books banned in the United States are never reported. America is a free country, but do you really have the freedom to say and do anything you want? Why then does the government watch your every move and regulates what works of literature you 're allowed and not allowed to access.
When talking about an individual’s civil right to freedom, King explains that it is not voluntarily given but has to be demanded by those in which it affects as it is a constitutional and God given right. The laws that impede a man his basic right to freedom are unjust and they have a right as well as the responsibility to break those unjust laws. King describes unjust laws as unmoral and a “human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law… Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” (King 6).
All throughout history, occurrences of oppression and invasion have happened all around the world. The rights and freedom of innocent lives have been taken. The people with power have abused it and become tyrannical and self-centered. The innocent begin to rise against the malicious leaders trying to control their lives. Even through times of downfall and nonsuccess, humanity continues to fight back.
“I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.” Voltaire is famously quoted with these words, having spent most of his career writing on the evils of censorship. His writing impacted many movements, including the French Revolution, the American Revolution, and the writing of the Constitution and our Bill of Rights. As American citizens, the freedom to say, write, and live as we wish is so important, people will give up their life in another country to come to America for that freedom. When we are censored, this right is stolen from us, because just as you have a right to speak as you wish, you have a right to hear what people are saying.
The categorization of Persepolis should be under autobiography. The book tells the story of the author growing up as a child during these historical events. The author informs the readers of what she grew up with and how her childish personality thought about during the time she dealt with. Persepolis tries to persuade the reader that Muslims aren’t that all bad. This book is a comic, yet it tells more of a story with its words rather than the pictures thus classifying it as autobiography.
The graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is an animated ‘identity crisis’ showing how she has trouble reconciling the Eastern and Western values that she has been influenced by. By ‘identity crisis’ I mean Marjane is uncertain about who she is and where she belongs to. The Eastern values would include hierarchy, restraint, collectivism and deference, whereas the Western values would include equality, freedom of expression, individualism and self-assertion. A graphic novel can be defined as a book containing a long story told mostly in pictures but with some writing. I intend to investigate why Satrapi has chosen to use the graphic novel instead of using other styles to present Marjane attempts to reconcile the different values and find
SHUBH MITTAL IBDP XII B D-BLOCK Paper 2 Essay Context: Historical, Political, Economic, Cultural, or Social can have an influence on the way literary works are written or received. Discuss with reference to two literary works that you have studied. Writer’s use of context acts as a driving force enabling and shaping literature.