Cathedral written by Raymond Carver Essay Example for Free

Cathedral written by Raymond Carver Essay In the story Cathedral written by Raymond Carver, it seems that stereotypes of the blind form barriers between the blind and the sighted. The man in the story has always had misconceptions of the blind which came from the movies (Carver 1). The title, Cathedral, is significant because it helps the man envision the life of Robert. As Robert, the blind man, entered his life, it was hard for the man to form any bond with Robert due to his visual impairment. The man even created a picture in his mind of what Robert would look like, and how he would act. This is because the man has never had any interaction with a blind person, making him have preconceived ideas about Robert. Having Robert stay at the mans house left the man feeling quite uneasy. Not only was Robert a threat to his wife, he also thought that Robert may be a hassle to deal with. The man stated, I wasnt enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me (Carver 1). Because the man had such strong images in his mind about Robert, the first time he saw Robert caught him by surprise. Roberts appearance was not unordinary, and did not look like a blind person. He wore brown slacks, brown shoes, a light brown shirt, a tie, a sports coat. Spiffy (Carver 32). At this point, the mans ideas about the blind peoples appearance had been contradicted. When the man realized that his assumptions about Robert were false, and that they actually shared some things in common, he began to feel more comfortable with Robert, even being, glad for the company (Carver 84). This is the first time the man was being polite and friendly to Robert. Soon after, a bond between Robert and the man had begun after a program about cathedrals came on the television. The man becomes aware that, There were times when the Englishman who was telling the thing would shut up, would simply let the camera move around over the cathedrals (Carver 92). The silence in the room became awkward for him because he realized that Robert did not know what was happening when the narrator stopped speaking. Since the mans stereotypes were beginning to shed during the cathedral conversation, the man came more open with Robert, and realized that Robert is not much different from the rest of society. The two of them began to  compare how well each of them envisioned the cathedrals. Robert gave facts that were heard tight off the television, demonstrating his limited knowledge. The man also attempted to describe this cathedrals, theyre really big,(Carver 100) he explains, theyre massive(Carver 100). At this point, he understood just how little he actually knew about the cathedrals, even with a picture right in front of him. Now the man is awakened to his newly, humbled, equal position along side Robert, with the help of the cathedral. With the mans stereotypes diminishing, he became to trust Robert and is giving him a chance to build a relationship. When Robert brought up the idea for the man to draw the cathedral out as Robert follows, the man was able to appreciate what blind people go through. When he finished the drawing, Robert said, Well are you looking?(Carver 125) The man replied, Its really something(Carver 126). The man had allowed himself to experience, even if for just a few minutes, what Robert experiences every second of his life. This was the same man, who only a few hours ago did not want Robert to be in his house. Overcoming prejudices, fears, and misconceptions are only possible when you allow yourself to get close to a person who these feelings are directed towards. By the man becoming close with Robert, he was capable to see what was necessary to gain an understanding of what life is like for a blind man, with the help of the vision of the cathedral. The man began to draw the cathedral to try and help Robert visualize what one looked like. What he did not realize is that Robert was actually helping him visualize what blindness felt like.

Adolescent Case Study Essay -- essays research papers

Adolescent Case Study I. Identification A. Kathy Johnson is a 14 year old female, a freshman at Parkway High School, and resides at 789 Parkview Way, Bossier City, LA 70000. II. History of Family A. The subject lives with her biological mother and stepfather. The child's biological father resides in Bossier City as well, but he has not maintained a relationship with the child since he divorced her mother in 1981. The child also has a brother who lives out of state and has no relationship or contact with him either. B. The subject comes from an upper middle class family. Her stepfather is a high school graduate and owns his own construction business. Her mother is a homemaker and quit school during her sophomore year. C. The subject and her family live in Southern Gardens, a small subdivision in Bossier City. The family, for the most part, keeps to themselves and does not have any close, personal associations. The few associates they have are business colleagues and people from their church groups. D. The stepfather is a relatively healthy male, approximately 6'1" tall, dark brown hair, brown eyes, weighs around 200 pounds and has no known physical illness. The mother is 5'4" tall, blonde hair, brown eyes and has noticeable symptoms of depression and a significant drinking problem. Presently she is in good overall physical health. E. Most of the family's interest revolves around the subject's athletic activities such as baseball and church related activities such as Sunday services and youth centered groups. F. The family attends a full gospel, nondenominational church on a regular basis. Their political views are primarily democratic. G. The family is of Italian descent and somewhat antisocial. They rarely see anyone on a personal basis and have no close personal friends. III. History of the Case A. The subject is approximately 5'5" tal... ...ubject is suffering from physical and emotional neglect from her parents resulting in depression, low self esteem, aggressive tendencies, and bouts of hypochondria. V. Recommendations My recommendations would be to remove the subject from the abusive situation by placing her in a temporary foster home and to require her parents to undergo a full psychiatric evaluation. She should remain in the foster home until her mother undergoes and successfully completes an alcohol rehabilitation program and receives counseling for the physical and emotional abuse which she has endured. The stepfather should be required to stay away from the subject and her mother until he undergoes counseling and no longer exhibits signs of aggressive and abusive behavior. Other recommendations for the subject would be to prescribe antidepressants combined with group support with other adolescents suffering similar situations and problems. Her aggressive tendencies and low self esteem need to be addressed by placing her in a loving and emotionally stable and supportive household where she would be allowed to experience some freedom from the emotional burden of having to run a household virtually by herself.

Police Patrol Essay

Section 1 – Introduction Indeed, the safety and prosperity of local communities is dependent upon, in large part, a prevention of criminal activity.   It is in safe communities that businesses grow and prosper, people bring their families to live, and others like to visit.   With this in mind, the classic way to ensure that communities are free of crime is through the use of police patrol.   It is the police presence that has typically kept crime in check (Sklansky).   However, the financial cost of police patrol often makes such protection quite difficult to put into action.   In this research, the cost of police patrol will be examined through the discussion of the following article: Farrell, Graham, Erin Lane, Ken Clark, and Andromachi Tseloni. â€Å"What Does the World Spend on Policing? [*].† International Journal of Comparative Sociology (2001): 59. Conversely, alternative methods of crime prevention, aside from the use of the conventional police patrol will be examined through the discussion of this article: Rubin, Herbert J. â€Å"Economic Partnering with the Poor: Why Local Governments Should Work with Community-Based Development Organizations to Promote Economic Development.† International Journal of Public Administration 23.9 (2000): 1679. Additional sources will be cited where necessary to ultimately make the point that while police patrol is important, it is costly, and there are other methods/resources that can be tapped into to complement the effectiveness of police patrols without exceeding budgets or overextending the ability of small police forces to accomplish what they need to accomplish. Section 2 — The Main Points of the Two Articles Farrell, Graham, Erin Lane, Ken Clark, and Andromachi Tseloni. â€Å"What Does the World Spend on Policing? [*].† International Journal of Comparative Sociology (2001): 59. The main point of this article are that internationally, in small and large nations alike, the total amount of money spent on policing and crime prevention totals in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and with that, the question of whether or not that money is well spent.   Additionally, the article discusses the role of civilians in the process of preventing crime, which reduces the burden on the conventional police patrol. Rubin, Herbert J. â€Å"Economic Partnering with the Poor: Why Local Governments Should Work with Community-Based Development Organizations to Promote Economic Development.† International Journal of Public Administration 23.9 (2000): 1679. In close relation to the first article, this article makes the point that among other governmental organizations, local police agencies should work with community-based, civilian organizations to achieve the goal of fighting crime, which is one of the main reasons for the existence of police patrols themselves. Section 3 – Comparison and Contrast of the Two Articles The two articles chosen for this research do in fact possess similarities and differences which, ironically, all contribute to making the point that police patrols are effective and necessary, but would not be effective, and indeed cannot be effective, if they are overburdened by too much work for too few officers, or if the police organizations are unduly restrained by a lack of economic resources. First, the Farrell article weighs the cost of police patrol against the results that are obtained for the money that is spent.   Far from saying that police patrols are ineffective, the article says that overburdened police patrols are ineffective, and therefore, in lieu of money that does not exist, police patrols should be aided by community/civilian resources whenever possible. Following on the heels of the first article, the Rubin article makes the very important point that local police agencies, if faced with a lack of funds, should work more closely with community organizations in order to achieve effective crime prevention and apprehension of criminal offenders after the fact. In a roundabout way, both articles do in fact make the same point; if police patrols are to be effective in the future as they have been in the past, they will need some help.   The answer is not to overextend patrols or to cut them due to underfunding, but rather to collaborate more closely with the community for the mutual benefit of both.   The modern police force faces challenges that those of the past did not; increasing need for diversity in police forces, additional personnel because of the increases in crime, and population increases make the scope of the traditional police patrol much more complicated and expensive than ever before (Sklansky).   Also significant is the huge cost of the processing of criminal cases in courts of law due to the increasing complexity of criminal law (Frodsham) Section 4 – Conclusion Based on the analysis of these articles and accompanying additional resources, the conclusion has been reached that police patrols are very effective, if and only if they are either properly funded or if they are assisted by civilians and community organizations in the absence of adequate funding.   Therefore, in conclusion, police patrols should be continued, and should be supported by communities if they are to continue to properly function.

The Civil War Of The United States - 1082 Words

One of the most difficult times in the history of the United States was the Civil War. The Civil War is often remembered as the war to end slavery. While that did play a part of the Civil War the larger issue at hand was the annihilation of the United States of America. The Confederate States of America wanted to break away from the United States and form their own country. The Confederate States of America, or more commonly known as the Confederacy, was formed by seven slave states located in the southern region of the United States. The economy in the southern half of the United States was heavily dependent on agriculture. Running a farm takes a lot of manpower which is why the slave industry was such big business in the lower half of†¦show more content†¦The states splintered during spring time of 1865. A major consensus among white Southerners was they were more â€Å"southern† than they were Americans. Dating back to the early days of the formation of the United States a popular thought was that citizens had more pride in their respective states than the newly formed federal government. Another issue was that the states would not have as much power in light of a new federal government. For the next hundred years those issues would not perish in the South. Southern pride ran strong and Lincoln’s aim to end slavery was like an attack on their livelihood. The southern states saw themselves as an entity all their own and decided to secede from the Union, what the northern states came to be known as that represented the United States of America. That sense of regionalism in the South affectionately came to be known as the â€Å"Cause† among Southerners. Southerners saw Lincoln’s attempt to end slave labor as an attack on their lifestyle. Seceding from the United States was something that was unheard of. The Confederates rationale was that there was no wording in the United States Constitution had no specific clause that forbade states from breaking apart from the country. They argued that it was a pact among the states instead of binding contract. Under the South’s new government their constitution, called the Articles of Confederation, outlined