Themes from The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Author's Note: This is an analysis of a theme from The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

Blindly Following Tradition

A theme I noticed in The Lottery is the danger of blindly following tradition. They are completely blind toward the tradition because they have yet to realize the inhumanity and brutality of "the lottery". Warner, the oldest person in the town, claims that without the lottery there would be no order. That alone shows how little they actually know of what they're doing. You don't need an iron fist, or in this case a lottery, to keep people from getting "out of line".

I believe that The Lottery relates to Touching Spirit Bear and The Hunger Games. The short story relates to Touching Spirit Bear because Cole Mathews, the main character, blindly takes part in an old Alaskan Indian tradition called Circle Justice simply to avoid going to jail. The Lottery relates to The Hunger Games because they both blindly follow a tradition in which they draw pieces of paper and people are brutally murdered for no reason.

Stem Cells (Science Research Paper)

What is a stem cell? You are probably asking yourself this. It is ok, most people have never even heard of

stem cells. Whether you know about stem cells or not, I'm sure you'll agree. Stem cells are surprisingly

interesting.

Generally, stem cells are a fairly simple topic. Stem cells are cells that can divide indefinitely and have

the potential to develop into different types of cells (NOVA scienceNOW: Stem Cells). According to

theory, Stem cells can divide forever to replenish other cells as long as the organism is still alive (Stem

Cell Basics). This ability may make them important in treating diseases caused by the failure of a certain

kind of cell. There are two different kinds of stem cells.

The first kind of stem cells is adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are found among distinguished cells in a

tissue or organ that can regenerate and can differentiate to allow some or all of the major specialized

cell types of the tissue or organ (NOVA scienceNOW: Stem Cells). The primary roles of adult stem cells in

a living organism are to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found (Chavis). Adult stem cells

are only able to differentiate into cell types of their tissue of origin (Chavis).

The other kind of stem cells is embryonic stem cells. They are derived from human embryos (Chavis).

Embryonic stem cells are fertilized and grown in specialized laboratories (Chavis). They can become all

cell types of the body because they are pluripotent, or capable of giving rise to several different cell

types (Chavis).

Stem cells are pretty cool. Studies show, stem cells may be the answer to treating devastating diseases.

A few examples would include type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Arthritis  (Chavis). Do you think that we should continue to research stem cells?

Bibliography

Chavis, Jason. "eHow." Advantages of Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

NOVA scienceNOW: Stem Cells. 16 April 2012 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/viewing/3209_04_nsn.html>.

Stem Cell Basics. 13 February 2012. 16 April 2012 <http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics4.asp>.

Public Transportation (District Assesment)

Public transportation is an extremely valuable offer that the government gives to the citizens. Looking at the public transport systems around the world in attempt to find the ideal set is very interesting. It is almost impossible to find the system that will always be appreciated by employees of the system, government and, of course, users of the public transport.

Public transportation and the way it should develop and benefit population in the country is one of the topics that media gives special attention. First of all, public transport and its role in development of convenient and easy living for elderly people from low-income families as well as disabled individuals is always on top of the social responsibility discussions. Should public transportation be free for everyone? Should it provide particular population segments with discounts and subsidies for its usage? Or should it be based on commercial ground and become a revenue generating tool for the governmental authorities? These are the core issues that are debated on high levels in the government as well as among regular citizens of the country we live in.

From my perspective, the purpose of public transport is to help people be mobile in the cities. It is especially important for elderly people, children and those, who for various reasons cannot afford personal transport. On the other hand, this is an investment of governments in protection of the environment and reduction of the pressure on traffic and air pollution. With that in mind, I strongly believe that while public transportation should be a self-sustainable mechanism and should be able to bring income to the authorities, it should also take into account the primarily objective of any community and government initiative to satisfy basic transportation needs of population.

Having a public transportation system that is approved by everyone is quite a ways away.What do you think is the purpose of public transportation is?

Gregor The Overlander POV

The point of view in Gregor the Overlander is told from Gregor's perspective. I'm pretty sure it is 3rd person limited, because it shows only Gregor's thoughts but tells the story in 3rd person style (Gregor said, instead of I said). If the book was told from the rat's point of view the book would have been way different. However, they didn't make an appearance until after the first few chapters, when Gregor tried to run away down the river. The book would have started with Gregor pulling the boat onto the beach, the climax would probably be the death of Shed and Fangor (the first 2 rats) because they threw the bodies into the river, and hen the other rats found out, it started a war. Then it would go through all the battles, which wouldn't really be that different; and in the end Gorger will get overthrown (killed) just it would tell it from the rats perspective.