Self Discovery Journey in Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Self Discovery Journey in Literature - Essay Example The discourse of self initiation should be looked at through the eye glass of the self; the characters created by the two authors display this side of every human being and, the almost desperate search that they start is common for all humans, thus I believe that the personal endeavor and voracious desire for knowledge do not shadow, but rather illuminate my very own understanding of the two books. The confession like statement of this paper that unravels the past fears and discoveries of my self concludes that life and the journey dedicated to spiritual evolution is present in every individual and that such novels as "The Alchemist" and "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" are not only very appealing to the readers, but also manage to bring back into focus the stages of becoming by unweaving and weaving back one's path. The analysis of the given literary corpus proved to reach a difficult point when I compared the styles of the two novels and the two different tones that speak about the becoming of the individual. Coelho's language is easier to apprehend and thus it proved to carry a more explicit message that immediately assures the revelations of the readers in front of a promised destiny. This author's description of the theme 'life as a journey' brings a world of magic and yet simple happiness that seems to be there at the end of the path. Unlike Coelho, Richard Bach imposes upon his readers a metaphor that shadows the plot and the message of the novel. As similar as they may seems, the language of the two novels has two tones: a calm and eventful one in "The Alchemist" and an extortionately dry one in "Jonathan Livingston Seagull". It is difficult and it takes an in-depth analysis in order to be able to set and discuss the intimate coordinates of the two souls that are incorporated in this unf olding. The main idea that this paper managed to discuss and that represents its strong point is the fact that the comparison between the two novels conveys a good understanding of the main characters: the shepherd and the seagull and their dynamics. Leaving aside the plot and focusing on the changes they go through, this paper brings in front of the readers a good understanding of the restless seagull and of the thriving young boy. The paper discussed only a part of the aspects present in the two novels and it did not cover the metaphysical and deeply symbolical dimension of the language. As simple as it may seem, the language used by both Coelho and Bach hides a symbolism that should be discussed in connection with the author's philosophy and not with my own personal believes; the literary analysis of the abstract ideas that come along with the story line is sure to bring a better understanding of the novels. However, this paper does trigger important questions which should be part of a future and detailed study of the transcendental dimensions of the self discovery journey as it appears in "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho and Richard Bach's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull". What's not a part of your paper that you think might help a reader understand or appreciate

Gangs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gangs - Assignment Example Membership to a gang is based upon many criteria, the most important being, socio-economic status, religion, race and culture. Gangs tend to cluster in high-crime, socially disadvantaged neighborhoods (Thornberry et al., 2003) In the sub-urban and rural areas there has been a spurt in gang membership. Gangs began to take root as many immigrants could not cope up with the culture of their adopted homeland and thereby could not assimilate themselves within the new society. These immigrants formed gangs to forge an identity for themselves and took up the role of alternative family providing support to the members. Such gangs also provided its male and female members protection. One of the very distinctive characteristics of gang members are that most of them come from the male minority groups such as Hispanic, African and Asian countries. Other distinctive characteristics are that such members come from poverty stricken areas, those who depend on welfare or those coming from single pare nt backgrounds. Qs. 2. Specific groups of youth and gangs Gang memberships are not a product of several specific risk factors, but the result of the accumulation of many varied kinds of risk factors (Krohn and Thornberry, 2008). One of the specific groups is the youth that are delinquent, are most likely to join gangs. Various environmental and personal factors lead to the joining of gangs. Initially delinquent youth join â€Å"starter gangs† and at a later point in time they graduate to joining serious gangs. Youth experiencing racism, find themselves being denied of resources and privileges. The absence of purchasing power and inability to fulfill basic needs leads to feelings of hopelessness and diminished self worth. Adolescents belonging to this category often form their own establishments. Exposure to anti-social influences and poor performance in school increases the risk of a person joining a gang. Socially maladjusted youths tend to join gangs. Qs. 3 Membership in re lation to age Most of the gang members are very young children between the ages of 10 to 18 years. They are at an impressionable age and thus peer pressure makes them gravitate towards gang membership. Gender is not an issue in relation to age. Both male and female gang members fell mostly within this age group and were expected to carry out their activities as required. Every gang has two or three leaders who head the gang and give out orders to assault, harass or steal from people. However, in Chinese gangs the ages range between 13 to 37 years. (New York City Police Department, 1983) Though some of the youth join voluntarily, others are forced by threatening and other crude methods. Qs. 4 Benefits and dangers of Gang membership Gangs provide psychological support to youth which most of the members do not get from traditional support system like family, religion and school. They are a closely -knit    cohesive structure which provide the members with a sense of belonging, more e specially in the case of immigrants. Lure of easy money entices many to join drug gangs. Gang members are benefited in more ways than one. For example, they are provided with an apartment and food in addition to ammunition to carry out their nefarious work. However, they face the danger of losing their lives in case an operation fails or when conflicts arise among the members themselves. Most of them do not have freedom to do as they want and they live in fear because they have to