A Christmas Memory Essay examples -- essays research papers

It is curious that as children, humans have the ability to observe and remember details of specific situations and instances yet lack the ability to describe them. Truman Capote, as a grown man, took advantage of his vivid memories and composed the short work, "A Christmas Memory." The story begins in late November, a month symbolic of all the years gone by that Capote could remember beginning preparations for Christmas fruitcakes. The year he has chosen, though, is that of the last Christmas three friends spend together. A boy of seven, Capote has but two friends: his "sixty-something" year old distant cousin and a loyal, happy pooch named Buddy. Although the age difference between the cousins is great, it is clear that the two are almost on the same level of intelligence. His old cousin is not ignorant or innocent by choice, rather, because of her frail condition she has been brushed off by adults and has never outgrown her childish ways. As the narrator, Capote recounts memories of good times; the times before his family members decided that home was not where he belonged. Overall, the story is bittersweet because there is joy to be found in the simplicity of the three friends’ happiness. However, after this specific Christmas, Capote is forced to move out of his house and to leave his innocence behind. The story is not purely self-serving because Capote uses this piece not only to revisit his memories of happier times, but to also evoke the memories of the read...

Christian religion Essay

Many aspects of our Christian religion today have developed because of these early religious beliefs and culture of the Romans. At the beginning, the Roman Empire was able to develop more than any other country because of its acceptance of some areas of culture and religion of its conquered enemies and allowing them to keep their religion and culture, blending the old ways with the new. How little was known, that the paganism belief system of the Roman Empire would eventually lead the way to the new Christianity religion of the world. Paganism, with its gods and goddesses, answered humanity’s problems and provided answers at the whim of these supernatural beings. In the early stages of Greek and Roman culture, mythology answered all questions regarding the origin of the world and of man. (Case, 1929, p. 12) In the early days of Greece and Rome, everything under the sun was explained by the gods and goddesses — humanity was at their whim along depending on their whims, just as today everything we do is explained through the Christian belief of God and Jesus, instead of the Roman gods and goddesses. In Rome, mythology answered all questions while today Christianity answers all of ours in regard to the world and mankind’s problems, all being subject to superhuman beings who have a lot to do with the affairs of mankind. Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire under the Emperor Constantine in AD 324 (the Emperor Julian, known to Christians as the Apostate, failed to bring about a pagan revival a few years later), and pagan forms of worship were finally made illegal in 390 by Theodosius. The myths of the pagan gods were particularly vulnerable to Christian attack, as can be seen in Lactantius’ Divine Institutes I 9-22 and Augustine’s City of God. (Rivers, 1994, p. 22) According to Barry Banning’s article entitled, â€Å"The Irony of Faith†, which is part of the research done for his book The Unspoken Power of Rome, he refers to the fact most world religions expect people to believe in something that cannot be detected, seen, felt, heard, tasted, or smelled. Researching the fact that Rome had a serious influence on early Christian’s beginning and formation, he also says that people are expected to believe in something that doesn’t exist physically and can’t be proved in normal human experiences. In most of the world religions, people are asked to believe in something that can not be detected, seen, felt, heard, tasted, or smelled. They are asked to believe in something that doesn’t exist physically and can’t be proven in normal human experience. And when confronted with numerous, obvious discrepancies, the normal response is â€Å"faith†. Faith is the key to understanding. Faith is the key to believing in concepts that cannot be explained. (Banning, 2001, 1) Over the last several years, most Christians have accepted blindly this philosophy of faith, not realizing how much influence that Rome had on Christianity and how we perceive it today, in its early beginnings. Very little credit was ever historically given to Rome for having any influence on Christianity and how we look at it presently – many Christians refusing to believe that many aspects of Christianity had its origins in the pagan arena of Rome, and in the development of our present social orders. However, most of this credit was because of the way Christians hid inside the Roman Empire, to avoid persecution or death by the Romans. The hardest thing possible was to believe in one God instead of many gods and goddesses, remaining anonymous, while still living as Christians in brutal Rome. Early Christians, facing scorn at best and persecution at worst, depending on Emperor and the era, were forced to blend in with their Pagan counterparts. In order to celebrate the ‘holidays’ of their religion, the Christians used pre-existing holidays and festivals to blend in. Christmas, for example, was originally part of the great festival of the Winter Solstice, or the Saturnalia. By adopting this grand event as the celebration of Christ’s birth, Christian revelry was allowed to take place, largely unnoticed. The Church too manipulated customs and traditions of the Pagan Empire to make their faith more adaptable. (Kousoulas, 2006,1) Christianity had been the official religion of Rome since 392, before Rome’s official fall in 476 when its last ruler, Romulus Augustus, fell under Alaric and the Visigoths in 410 and later destroyed by the Vandals in 455. According to Professor Richard Baldwin at the Gulf Coast Community College in Florida, this fall of Rome would later influence the Middle Ages and its civilizations in classical Greek and Roman cultures, Christianity, and the Germanic culture. With modern science and intellectual knowledge today slowly replacing the word of God and Christian beliefs, public and society religious dedication has become a thing of the past — unwelcome in schools and sports, government buildings, and bringing down the morals of society. We need to look at Rome’s influence on the world accompanied with many other civilizations that were also influential on the world that led to Christianity. The development of human societies was not continuous. It was started several times anew–in India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Scandinavia, and in Western Europe, beginning each time with the primitive tribe and then the village community. But if we consider each of these lines separately, we certainly find in each of them, and especially in the development of Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire, a continual widening of the conception of mutual support and mutual protection, from the clan to the tribe, the nation, and finally to the international union of nations. (Kropotkin, 1934, p. 17) Christianity today is going through another revival such as in Rome, with many Christians now looking deeply inside – philosophizing and asking inner questions concerning what they have always been told – such as, is Christianity a pure religion in itself, or is it a combination of other religions. As Barry Banning said, previous Christian philosophies and hierarchical leaders told us to never question anything about our churches or what we have been taught. Christians are individuals who have unique mindsets, they are going to grow and change in their perception of the world around them, and this is a time when humanity is asking questions, seeking to find out truths. We are beginning to observe what Christianity is really about, not blindly accepting what we have been told by our superiors. The Roman imprints left from the early Christian development have simply extended an age-old religious philosophy that has long been past due for a change and maybe a needed updated version. Over the centuries, Christianity has not only changed in an intellectual theory but also with the philosophy regarding its impact by Rome. People change and learn in different ways, with continuously changing perceptions that cross many barriers – age, education, beliefs, or culture. Nevertheless, the bottom line is, without Rome we would never have had Christianity. Moreover, today Christianity as a single religion is ranked as the world’s largest religion, with sub-groups being included in this statistic. For the purpose of statistics, Christians refer to varying degrees of religious activity within Christianity – including Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Latter-day Saints, African Indigenous Churches, and others. All of this is very different from the early days of Rome, with terrified Christians being persecuted for speaking and attempting to practice their religion. Yet, no matter where we look regarding Christianity, we find ourself looking also at the Roman Empire and its early heritage and culture, still breathing today inside our churches and religious cultures. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS: Banning, B. (2001). The Unspoken Power of Rome. 1st Edition. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Wellspring Books. Case, S. C. (1929). Experience with the Supernatural in Early Christian Times. New York: The Century Company. Laistner, M. L. (1951). Christianity and Pagan Culture in the Later Roman Empire. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Kropotkin, P. P. A. (1934). The Present Need of Determining the Bases of Morality. New York: Dial Press. Potter, D. S. (2004). The Roman Empire at Bay: AD 180-395. New York: Routledge. Rivers, I. (1994). Classical and Christian Ideas in English Renaissance Poetry: A Student’s Guide. New York: Routledge.

Play, the Game, and the Generalized Other by George...

As animals with language, people are able to communicate not only with each other but themselves. This type of communication is thought. By communicating with one’s own self, people are able to analyze what makes them unique. This allows people to discover their own self. In George Herbert Mead’s â€Å"Play, the Game, and the Generalized Other,† Mead considers where the self originates from and what causes the self to feel fulfillment. Mead believes that the self is compromised of values, beliefs, accomplishments, the physical body, and memories. According to Mead, there is no distinction between the internal and external self. They are one. Because one’s values and memories interact with one’s physical body and accomplishments, the self is at the core of what motivates people. Mead believes it is vital for any being to understand what the self is in order to understand one’s interactions with others. In addition, a sufficient understanding o f the self allows people to how interactions with others ought to be. Understanding the self allows people to better comprehend human interaction and emotion. Mead then discusses his view of the self and the three steps in which to understand not only the self but also how different selves interact. Mead says the self is social, however that does not mean humans are not animals. He truly believes that animals are animals and that humans are not as special as other’s proclaim. This is where Mead introduces his first step in discovering theShow MoreRelatedGeorge Herbert Mead s Theory Of Id, Ego, And Superego1029 Words   |  5 PagesGeorge Herbert Mead was a philosopher known for his ideas on how children understand roles and themselves in those role. Through his work he found that the self comes from society interactions when we are young. Though Mead’s work seems almost like a rewording or rethinking of Jean Piaget’s theory of the four stage of cognitive develo pment or Sigmund Freud’s theory of Id, Ego, and Superego; Mead’s work is original and the similarities can be dismissed by what was going on at that time period. Mead’sRead MoreThe Process of Socialization Essay1300 Words   |  6 Pagesthe institution? Children are born into this world without any form of a sociological culture. They go through a sociological developmental process in, which parents, teachers, and other influences, transform them into socially proficient individuals. What is socialization? Socialization is how people teach others how to interact with their group. As an individual becomes socialized so they also create a socialized institution. Socialization is a process we learn and reflects upon our behaviorsRead MoreEssay on Comparison of George Herbert Mead and Sigmund Freud3378 Words   |  14 Pagessocial identity. Identity is shaped at a young age from interpreting concepts about one’s own self from others (Mead, 1934). The present study will compare Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality the (id, ego, and, superego) to George Herbert Mead’s social self-theory the (â€Å"I† and â€Å"me†). The study will give an overview of both theorist and discuss each approach in r elationship to each other, and defining the key concepts. According to Schultz and Schultz, (2008) the id is defined as the sourceRead MoreThe Theory Of Social Self970 Words   |  4 PagesSociologist, George Herbert Mead, is one of the leading sociologists of the American Tradition. Mead’s work relating to construct social reality and his Theory of Social Self, are just a few of his contributions to the American Tradition of Sociology. Mead is also one of four sociologists, who founded the social pragmatist theory. He helped bridge together the American Tradition of Sociology and the Pragmatist theory. Mead’s work has helped us better understand the relationship between society andRead MoreWhat I Have Learned From A Social Theory Class1240 Words   |  5 PagesMead Cooley In this sociology paper I will present what I have learned from this social theory class. We learned about many miraculous theorists such as Karl Marx, Auguste Comete, Herb Spencer, Emile Durkheim and many more theorists. I will present what I have learned by comparing and contrasting George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley. This paper will examine what both of these great theorists studied, some of their background info and theory. George Herbert Mead George Herbert MeadRead MoreSocialization6074 Words   |  25 PagesMichael Mangin SOC 1E BY NIJOLE BENOKRAITIS CHAPTER 4 - SOCIALIZATION Homework Questions MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS 1. _____ is the lifelong process of social interaction in which an individual acquires a social identify. a. The generalized other b. The looking-glass self c. Socialization d. Resocialization e. The sense of self Adrian, from the time he was born, began learning how to think and behave effectively in society. He learned language, norms, and values first from his parents and then fromRead MoreSymbolic Interaction Theory By George Herbert Mead1122 Words   |  5 Pagesto the same situation (Smith Hamon, 2012). Four principal scholars explored the symbolic interaction theory, George Herbert Mead, Charles Horton Cooley, William Isaac Thomas, and Herbert Blumer (Smith Hamon, 2012). George Herbert Mead proposed that through interaction with others, we learn about ourselves—this is done through three stages; play stage, game stage, and generalized other (Smith Hamon, 2012). He identifies the movement between â€Å"I† and â€Å"me.† â€Å"I† being the spontaneous, immediate reactionsRead MoreIndividual and society2009 Words   |  9 Pagesmaintained by the institutions we actively produce.† (Calhoun, C et al 2002) It is this explanation of micro-sociologists like Mead which give room to theories like his of the symbolic self which belong within the category of action theories; and more closely associated with Symbolic Interactionism. This essay will explore and analysis the theories put forward by both Marx and Mead in their approach to sociology and will more closely concentrate on their beliefs of how individuals form identities andRead MoreThe Importance Of Socialization1285 Words   |  6 Pages By the language or color or what they wear. It happens all the time. This is just a natural habit for most human beings. I have even walked into walmart before thinking to myself â€Å" I do not belong here. I do not speak the language that all these other people are speaking. I am only in Warwick right?† People are different everywhere and it all comes down to the key factors of our surroundings growing up. These key factors include family, peers, school, media, and religion. They differ from householdRead MoreEssay on Development of Self and Youth Sports2709 Words   |  11 Pagesorganized youth sport programs George Herbert Mead was a noted social psychologist who taught at the University of Chicago in the 1930s. He is famous for his theory of the self in which he used the game of baseball to illustrate the complexity of the relationship between the individual and the social environment. In his theory he explained that the social and conceptual abilities required to fully comprehend relationships between different positions in a complex game were similar to the abilities