Rikers Island Essays

Stance: Rikers should be closed Rikers Island is the main prison complex in New York City. It was established in the 1930s and remains to be functional to this day, holding approximately 10,000 inmates at a time (Lippman, J., & Mark-viverito, M. (2017, March 31)). Rikers Island has been source of controversy, where many believe that it creates more problems than it solves. From Rikers Island stories of mental and physical abuse arise, such as the story of Kalief Browder, an adolescent who

Kalief Browder was only 16 when he was sent to Rikers Island, one of the cruelest juvenile prisons in the nation, for being accused of stealing a backpack but with no evidence to support. He spent around two years in solitary confinement which drove him to attempt suicide many times. He was abused every day by inmates and prison guards for no reason at all. In his three years he was waiting for a trial which should not have taken longer than six months to complete. His mother spoke out to the public

named Rikers Island for this petty crime, in which he was never charged with. He was sent to a federal juvenile correction center with a bunch of actual criminals that did more than just be accused of stealing a backpack. In Rickers, he was constantly beaten and was not “safe”, until the correction

Kalief Browder was an African American man who was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack. While waiting for his time to go to Trial, he was held on Rikers Island where he spent most of his time in solitary confinement. Also during his stay at Rikers Island he was constantly beaten and starved. Three years after he was released out of prison he committed suicide. In this case like most, being locked up and treated inhumane later on drove him to take away his own life. People who

O. Henry has a very unique writing style. Throughout his novels, he uses examples of situational irony and plot twists to make the reader more interested. The Ransom of Red Chief, After 20 Years, and The Gift of the Magi are only a few of the 14+ books in which he puts his creative thinking and writing skills to work and includes plot twists and situational irony. The Ransom of Red Chief is a story about 2 men who kidnap a little boy and ask for ransom money from the family in order to get him back

severe consequences of wrongful convictions and the urgent need for reform. At the age of 16, Browder was arrested in the Bronx, New York for allegedly stealing a backpack in 2010. Despite his consistent declarations of innocence, he was held at Rikers Island without trial for three years, spending nearly two of those years in solitary confinement. Eventually, the charges were dismissed, and he was released in 2013. The circumstances surrounding Browder’s wrongful

most beautiful places on earth to me is Hawaii. As the plane neared the island, My eyes felt like it didn’t know how to blink at that moment as I was awestruck by what my eyes witnessed. All i could see was the unending grains of golden sand, as if the whole island was made out of gold itself. Shimmering blue waters that sparkled in the presence of the sunlight encircled the island. Greenery spread out all around the island, with patches of different coloured flowers that grew In a distant. When

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley introduces us to a brave and frightening new world. In this futuristic world we see a society that is divided into unbreachable social classes that depends on science for everything. This society chooses to pursue comfort and happiness, no matter the sacrifice. In Huxley's novel, he shows a world that sacrificed everything that society should actually value for social stability. We can understand Huxley’s intentions and the meaning of his novel by observing his characters

William Shakespeare’s sonnet, Shall I compare thee to a summers day? (sonnet 18), puts forth a display of love and affection for a lover that he held dearly in his life. Shakespeare, a well-known poet who acquired fame in England during the rule of Queen Elizabeth, gathered many people’s attention through the writing of plays which where depicted in theaters around London. In one of Shakespeare’s well-known plays, Romeo and Juliet, strong affection and love is shown between the main characters. This

The story “Me And Earl And The Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The time setting is in the year 2011 nearing the end of the school year and main characters, Gregory Gaines, Earl Jackson, and Rachel Kushner are all in their senior year at Benson High School. The setting differentiates the character’s personality by separating them by social class. Author illustrates Rachel and Gregory living in a middle class home in a quiet neighborhood in the town area they live

Many were in a constant state of fear of nuclear annihilation. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, published in 1954, is believed to be a “political and historical allegory, even as a cautionary tale for the leaders of the world” (Henningfeld). The island is what the world would be like after nuclear annihilation, and the demise of the boys is what Golding is warning society about. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, published in 1953, is set in a society that has endured multiple atomic wars. Life is meaningless

Throughout the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera, the black bowler hat is a reappearing object. This object consists of various meanings and is representative of many themes that appear within the story. Three vastly different elements are represented by this one object and that is one of the reasons why this hat is so important, especially because each time it reappears it holds a different meaning. This one physical object is representative of Sabina’s secret desire for

“I do not believe that any writer has ever exposed this bovarysme, the human will to see things as they are not, more clearly than Shakespeare.” (T.S. Eliot, 1927) First things first, “bovarysme” is the literary movement for those who are fed up with the borders of the life and for those who wants to get beyond this borders. As T.S. Eliot states in his quote above, Shakespeare fits into this explanation very well because in his famous pieces, there are many samples which can support his arguments

The invasion of Mars by Earthlings in “The Martian Chronicles” by Ray Bradbury causes both Martians and Earthlings to suffer from several different consequences. There are many instances in “The Martian Chronicles” where these consequences are shown indirectly. Some fatal consequences formed by the invasion of Mars include innocent deaths, the spread of insanity, sorrow, loneliness, confusion, chaos, and the growth of an unwanted second Earth on Mars. Overall, since the 1st expedition of

Crusoe’s Imperialistic and Greedy Attitude Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is about a man who gets stranded an isolated island. In this novel violent and abusive nature of imperialism concealed under a discourse which is a white man’s saving a non-western man. Even though in the novel Robinson Crusoe’s attitude represented like an act of goodness critical discourse analysis of this novel makes one realize that Robinson Crusoe didn’t behave Friday properly. In contrast to that he acted Friday as if

The “Harrison Bergeron”: The limitations of excessive legislation The “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is a great work of satirical science fiction. It describes the equality has finally settled in the society by limiting people’s development, especially for someone who is intelligent. The story is worth people thinking about the phenomenon of extreme equality in the society today. In general, excessive legislation plays a huge important role to promote equality, notwithstanding it indirectly

Collectivism and Selfishness in Anthem Imagine living in a world where everybody's lives are completely mapped out by the government. Where every decision is made without the input of the citizens it affects. In the novella Anthem, Ayn Rand depicts a completely collectivist society, where every idea, action, and invention is purely for the benefit of society as a whole. Everything is done with the entire population in mind, and individuality is extremely frowned upon. However, when the story's protagonist

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World depicts a society where efficiency is the primary concern. The world leaders use horrifying repetitive conditioning to shape individuals into acquiescent, infantilized citizens, stupefied into an artificial sense of happiness. The majority of citizens willingly follow the tide that infinitely crashed over them with wave after wave of parties, casual sexual relations, and the perfectly engineered drug, soma. However, the readers may find themselves disturbed, and possibly

In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, there is a legal drug named soma. Soma is available to all of the citizens of World State. Soma is in tablet form, the citizens of World State take soma when they feel stressed, or if they need to relax, and if they need to feel happy. The Directors of World State like it when they their citizens take soma because it distracts them from what is going on in the outside world. Many characters’ relay on soma, for example, Lenina. Then, there are also characters

People living in the world today surrender themselves to the effects of drugs and alcohol. In Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, the drug soma is used to satirize people who allow stimulants to suppress their problems and create happiness, but true happiness can only be obtained through control over one’s own mind. With the drug soma, the citizens are able to provide their own superficial happiness and instability is prevented. It allows each part of society to work in perfect order. With the help