A Trilogy's Lessons What is the most memorable book - good or bad - you have ever read and why? The Lord of the Rings

Knowledge is a variable issue that many factors and elements affect its development. Some things learned by us can live forever with us and others fade with time. I have read many books so far and one of the most memorable is The Lord of The Rings written by J.R.R Tolkien. This is a trilogy that bears many lessons as the story is about nine companions form one group and set out for the destruction of a ring that can destroy the world in case it is in the ownership of the dark lord Sauron. This tale is about how different world races can connect to each other for the future of the Earth in an attempt to stay the evil hand. The books contain the ordinary stories of good versus evil and that love can conquer all stories but Tolkien made a deep jump into friendship and how it can affect ends of tales and stories. This can be clearly seen in the last journey of Sam and Frodo when they slowly crawl towards Mount Doom in order to destroy the One Ring. The author here is trying to focus on loyalty which makes the book a trademark in fantasy writing through generations. The most important in the trilogy is the lessons it gives such as sacrifices. An example is that when Frodo says at the moment before leaving Middle-earth forever that: "It must often be so, when things are in danger: someone has to give." Another Lesson is wisdom as the wise wizard Gandalf an unexpected comfort in the wake of horror. This made the movie of Peter Jackson based on the trilogy a successful one. The imaginary world of the Lord of the Rings gives the readers the opportunity to recognize characters and amazing situations and places that are almost real through the careful description that can scratch the sub-creation of Tolkien's world. The most apparent lesson that can be learnt from the trilogy is that true friends can do crazy things for their dear friends and they can also be there when you need them and that although there may be ups and downs in their relationships, this doesn't mean that they are not real friends as all people have defects and this applies to all life relationships such as those within one family and then life goes on in spite of all these problems. Another lesson is that anyone can do anything whatever small he is and this can be learned from the life of the Hobbits who can make unexpectedly great things. 

To Socrates (Plato), knowledge is more valuable than true opinion.

 

The value of knowledge and true opinion is discussed by Socrates (Plato) through understanding how human-beings can regard beliefs, opinions and knowledge.

In Plato's Meno, there is a raised question by Socrates which is why knowledge is more valuable than mere true belief and opinion. This problem can be explained as a person may lose confidence and that opinion is part of the knowledge which makes it more valuable. Humans can be motivated by two major concerns which is one for not to be duped and one for not to lose important things or miss them and the first one relates to if truth can represent a unique thing on its own behalf over the imperial adequacy and this means that a human-being can find the way to truth valuable even if it is difficult that mere knowledge. The second one means that when a person thinks that he misses something important raises an inquiry of the value of truth and if there are valuable and not valuable truths which means that there are some truths that may not be important. The truth's intrinsic value yet shouldn't be undermined until the truth is related to goals, needs and interests and this interaction can decide the value of truth from a cognitive opinion. The truth's value is also related to the question if knowledge's value is rather more important than that of the truth. There are many cases that knowledge has real value that is bigger than its parts such as belief and opinion even if they are true and related to truth as knowledge value is gained from the value of its parts and it is intrinsically valuable when the parts are collected together, they all form the value of knowledge. From a cognitive point of view, knowledge is valued when we need to be correct but not by depending on beliefs only so valuing knowledge is totally different from valuing true opinions and there are features that can identify the knowledge value such as justification. Some authors and critics have suggested that even false opinions can be justified so justification of knowledge should be based on claims and evidences. The value of knowledge is supposed to be found through the examination of other elements of knowledge and their values; in many cases justification and evidence are needed at standard conception which makes it hard to defending knowledge value. Simple claim is not enough at some cases and a theory is needed to support the justification and explain why knowledge is higher in value than true opinions.  

In conclusion, knowledge needs justification and evidence to have its value over its elements such as true opinions and beliefs and the stronger the justification is, the more value knowledge has.   

 

Poetry offers prime examples of how tradition and dissent coexist.

Poetry can present traditional images and dissent can also coexist at the same time as in the three poems about flies of Donne, Blake and Holub.

The speaker in "The Flea" by John Donne (1572-1631), is trying to seduce and surprise his mistress at the same time as the same flea has bitten both of them which tells that both of their bloods are mixed in the body of the flea and its blood joins both their bloods. This tells that such metaphor can give a hint of offering prime example for tradition of mixing the souls of two lovers but at the same time this bears dissent that coexists in the poem's silliness by giving an example of Holy Trinity inside a flea's body. The poem can also be regarded as being both vulgar and elegant and it is displaying both erudition and wit in a way for a mistress's seduction which may not be accepted through such metaphor. The Fly” by William Blake (1757-1827) is another example of how poetry offers examples of how dissent and tradition can coexist as Blake in this poem is presenting an image of a toddler and a nurse among the trees' branches and the girl who has the racket is going to hit the shuttlecock that exists in the background and the nurse as suffering of the fly from the perplexed environment it lives in reflects on the narrator's life who is suffering too. This simile may be seen logical as the narrator could find thoughts that can help in meeting a conclusion but at the same time the poet can be regarded as only describing the animal lives versus human lives in a simple way that may not lead to real thoughts. The poet also repeats words in a figurative language that can make the poem very simple to the extent that its idea becomes not accepted. The Fly” by Miroslav Holub (192-1998) lacks specific traditional English rhyme scheme and the lengths of the lines are even different and his poem seems to be very scientific and going far in describing how flies live and the battles they go into. The free verse the poem has made it modern although the age it was written in is traditional and dissent can be regarded clearly in its content as war glory is not focused on but the poet has focused on the differences between the lives of animals and that of human-beings.

In conclusion, the poets in the three poems are trying to make something that is not traditional through presenting different ideas and some of them presented this traditionally while others couldn't but they all made their poems to be dissent in the existence of some tradition which something that poetry can really offer. 

The National Archive of the USA

 

The National Archives of America was established in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt while it relates to 1775 as its main holdings. The country depends on its archive for capturing past sweep as NARA keeps the different Federal records that are revised and judged for having value and including most interesting topics. There are about 10 billion pages on the site including textual records; 12 million maps, charts, and architectural and engineering drawings; 25 million still photographs and graphics; 24 million aerial photographs; 300,000 reels of motion picture film; 400,000 video and sound recordings; and 133 terabytes of electronic data. The rich stores of material that make up the National Archives of the United States are available to all at the site of the National Archive.

The National Archive has a site where people can log into, sign up and join its newsletter. The National Archive site includes many different channels where you can surf and find the data you need. The site has a searching engine that can be used to look into the site and find the information needed. There are federal records kept there where citizens can check and understand how the American history went on. The archive is responsible for preserving the historical records of the country and the documentation of the American government. It is also responsible for increasing and adding the ability to public access to such documents. NARA is also responsible for the publication of the authorities copies that are legally authentic and related to the acts of the Congress, federal regulations and presidential directives. NARA is also responsible for votes transmission of Electoral College to Congress. The Archive has a Charters of Freedom that is publically exhibited, it includes the United States Bill of Rights, US Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and other important documents that can be military or civil and all are important to the history of America. The main building of the National Archive lies in Washington.     

Agatha Christie writing analysis and criticism

Agatha Christie is the greatest detective author for all ages in all cultures as she is a trademark for detective works all over the world. She was born in15 September 1890 and died in 12 January 1976. She is the leader of bringing detective stories to maturity as since its beginning it was not at that level of excellence. Before her, the classical hero of horror and detective work was Edgar Allan Poe who was the classical writer in that genre. He was independent writer and she was fiercely independent in that field. She wrote many novels that were amusing and human at the same time. She tried to present detective works from literary area with innovative characteristics she added to the classical ones of the age such as making figures such as Poirot and Miss Marble who were her famous tools for discovering crimes and solving problems. She used main rules for crafting the character of Hercule Poirot with his mysterious affairs and styles representing the detective with words and features of classical detection. She made a ground for the characters in her novels to work on with many dimensions and dramatic revelation of truth. She made high emphasis on questions such as how, why and who to interest readers in the plot. Her usage of dialogue was heavy and her description for people and actions was quick and lightening to focus on what the characters want to reveal only. Christie created many interesting caricatures of people we may meet daily and feel them through the story or perhaps have met before as she allows each character to be possible with limiting the degree of exploring them psychologically. Some critics have explained her caricatures to being affected by Charles Dickens who was also indulged in caricatures. She was excellent in portraying places such as restaurants and stations, homes and landscapes. Some critics caught fragment in the conversation of her characters and this helped her make the plot and character clear as the characters fascinated her endlessly. Among her famous novels was Death Comes in the End as in this novel, she could be able to manage judgment of characters and make accurate forays in the processing of some characters. The Mysterious Affairs at Styles was criticized by many critics as being overwritten and full of explanations as the author sheds light on signs of quality and description of the country house that is typical. Although she used to put many murders within the novel, she also used to make many characters that many readers could find it hard to remember their names and roles within the story, this helped her hide the motives of killers and surprise readers with the killer at last when they feel puzzled and doubt everyone in the story. Many authors have come after her in that field and the field of fantacy such as Steven King and J.K. Rolling who are still mastering and leading the field of mystery and secrets in modern literature but this doesn't make Agatha stories and novels be less interesting for worldwide readers.     

Sherlock Holmes of Arthur Conan Doyle, The Character and the Inspirer

 

Many authors have written about and analyzed the character of Sherlock Holmes since 1887 when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle presented the character for the first time in the first story called: "A Study in Scarlet" that was first published in “Beeton’s Christmas Annual”.  Sherlock Holmes the character was presented by Doyle in four novels and 56 short stories with specific character traits the author has put into Holmes with inspiration from Dr. Joseph Bell who was one of the teachers at the medical school of Edinburgh University. Arthur Doyle met Dr. Joseph Bell when Arthur was seventeen years old and the doctor was thirty nine and his character left an indelible impression on Doyle the student at that time. He liked that thin wiry man with dark attitudes, a high-nosed acute face, penetrating grey eyes, and angular shoulders.” Dr. Bell “would sit in his receiving room with a like a Red Indian face, and diagnose the people as they came in, before they even opened their mouths. He would tell them everything of their past life; and hardly would he ever make a mistake”.

Doyle presented the stories of Sherlock Holmes to his teacher who supported him with his words saying that: " “You are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it,” Holmes was made to have deductive powers and abilities to understand the people from their outer appearance, feelings, attitudes and ways of talking and reacting. He could have abilities to realize motives and actions and attitudes of people with accurate observation and this helped him reveal the veil from many criminals. 

He wrote many stories groups and the last of them was In His Last Bow, set in 1914, Holmes was 60 and this tells that he was born in 1854. He lived in London at 221B Baker Street and shared rooms with Dr. Watson was his friend and helper in solving many problems and crimes and his marriage was in 1887 and then again after his wife’s death. Nothing known of Holmes’ parents through the stories as he does explain this but it is said that his ancestors were “country squires”. He claims that his grandfather was the artist Horace Vernet and we know that he has a brother Mycroft, a civil servant, who is seven years older than he is. Holmes worked as a detective for 23 years and retired in the Sussex Downs shortly before 1904. People loved the character and the stories all over the world and the stories were translated to many worldwide languages.