Category: Assignment 2 (ESSAY) (Page 1 of 6)

The delusion of freedom

What is freedom? Are there any set amount of rules that define it? But won’t having definite rules be against the very essence of “freedom”? These questions stormed through mind the last few days, as I set out on a quest to write a unique paper on a topic that is not so unique.

What I came to terms with is that freedom is subjective. There should not be any fixed rules to define it. Your freedom is customized to your liking and whatever sets your free .

I would argue that we do not live in a free society. According to dictionary.com, “Freedom is the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without any hinderance or restraint”. That means, to be a truly free world, there can be no rules or laws. Do I have your attention yet? Yes, I mean exactly what I say. In a free society there can be no restrictions that prohibits certain actions. If society had true freedom, people would not be judged or prosecuted.

We are groomed from a very early age. Our parents, the society and government all want us to act in certain ways. The government even goes as far as regulating our body. In this physical world we have no choice but to follow societal rules, if we want to live in society. That to me is anything but “freedom”. I’m not against rules and laws,some laws are crucial for societies to function. But regardless of detrimental or beneficial rules/laws, freedom ends where restriction begins.

If physical freedom is a lie and impractical then maybe true freedom lies in the mind? After all, the mind is where you are away from the vulturous eyes of society. Here you can dream without being laughed at. Here you can live the life that you always wanted. I feel free and at peace when I give my mind the access to the unknown. I get to live many lives by reading books. I get to walk in many people’s shoes and experience what they experienced. When I read books, I feel like transcending both space and time. Sometimes I find myself walking beside Hamlet as he mourns for his dead father or standing in the crowd watching a passionate Martin Luther king as he delivered his famous “I have a dream speech”.

And The beauty of learning is that there are infinite things to know about. You could live your life several times over and still not learn a fraction of the vast amount of things that resides within the universe, or multiverse!  The world at times does seem like a prison when I think about it this way. An ever-growing living prison that expands as we progress. My mind which is like an endless pit- a voracious blackhole- keeps asking for more and more. My restless mind wants to know about everything that it finds interesting. But I’m a human being after all. Just like the barrier of light speed is absolute and can’t be surpassed, knowledge is infinite and humans can’t learn about everything that’s out there.

NADIA DOUGLAS

ENG 1121 SECTION E106

PROFESSOR: SCHMERLER

5/20/2019

AVENUES TO FREEDOM

According to the Internet, Freedom is “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one feels without hindrance or restraint.” Also, state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.

Coming from one type of life to another, life can be phased in different ways.  Life itself is filled with varying situations. One can face these situations at any given point in their life which would require them to make decisions.  Decision is conclusion or resolution someone makes after considering a situation.

We all have to make decisions in our lives that might be tough or easy.  Some people make decisions that can make them or break them.  In other words, it can either cause a person to become important in life, or it can cost a person his or her life.  As I look at the word freedom and studied its meaning, these words; self-determination, independence, self-government, liberty, and emancipated, gave me a clearer understanding of why some of our activists that made history.

Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. fought for one thing that was common, and that is “Freedom”. They believed in equal human rights among races in America.  Malcom X had his own way of fighting for that freedom.  He challenged the mainstream civil-rights movement, which sparked hate between him and others which developed into a violence.  On the other hand, Martin Luther King used the strategy of non-violence and boycotts in order to get equality among races.

Going back even further in our history, Frederick Douglass had one thing in common with Malcom- X which was educating himself through reading and writing.  Motivation is the reason one has the desire for acting or behaving in a particular way.  Also, the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.  Both, Malcom X and Frederick Douglas had a rough start in the early part of their lives.  They did not let that prevent them from achieving their goals in life.

Confinement can be both mental and physical because it deals with the present state a person is in. This state could be mental or physical.  As I read the article on Malcom X, I understood that he was in a state of confinement mentally and physically.   He was imprisoned, so at is a state of confinement.  No freedom to do as he might have wanted to, no freedom to go where he might have liked to go and no freedom to maybe speak the way he wanted to speak.

On the other hand, Malcom X found strength and freedom in reading books.  In books, he found a new life because he learned so much that a brand new world began to open up before his eyes.  While being confined to a jail cell for most hours daily, Malcom X, became fascinated with learning all he could.  He kept reading and educating himself.

After reading this article about Malcom X, I felt encouraged and motivated by it. I was really motivated by this article.  A few years ago, I read a short story about Malcom X, this article covered one of the main parts of his life.  I asked myself,’ have I ever self-taught myself anything in my life?’  The answer to this question is “Yes”.  Learning to play the Steel Pan. The steel pan is a National instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. This instrument can be easy for some and difficult for others.

I was taught the basics, I played with some small musical steel-bands, and even had some private lessons; but little did I know, that one day I would be arranging songs all by myself, and play them at small functions.   Also, remember that someone was having a function and wanted the steel pan music to be a part of this function.  They asked me to listen to two songs from a CD and arrange the music for these two particular song, to play at this function as a tribute to the person that was being honored.

I listened and listened to the music, over and over and practiced the sounds over and over, until I got the final product of what I was working on.  In addition, give the give music notes to another friend that helped back me up for this event.  This made me proud.  I felt a sense of achievement.  Looking back, I did not know that I could have actually accomplished what I did all by myself.  I felt free. This feeling of happiness is freedom.

There are some things in life that seem simple for others while on the other hand these same things appear difficult might be difficult for others.  As for me, even if I accomplished playing the steel pan, there are still many who are greater in arranging music and distributing music to different sections of a steel band.  A full steel band can have about seven sections. The names of these sections are: Tenors, Double Tenors, Double Seconds, Guitar, Cello, Tenor Bass, and Bass.  I played the Tenor pan.  Playing some of these pans for some sections can be difficult.

For me, playing a Tenor pan is not difficult, but can become difficult according to the amount of music that must be learned in a short space of time.  Also, for competitions like Panorama, the steel bands usually play at a certain speed, and tempo to get the sound the arranger wants to hear.  This is when it becomes a difficult thing to do. Trying out different things is something I enjoy doing.  Challenging myself by trying, out things even if a task seems difficult is worth the effort.

Jackson Zhang

Section/E106 – Course/English 1121

Professor: S. Schmerler

Date: 3/1/19

Revision date: 5/19/19

Freedom through laws

Freedom today can almost be anything from, the freedom of being able to live, to the freedom being able to follow laws. We are born into a world today where we must obey laws, or else there would be consequences. Law is one of the most important factors in society today. Freedom to me is the result, and inspiration where one can do what they please without having to live in the shadows. Often, over the years, people have been incarcerated, and have died because society’s laws are advancing and we are caught up in the middle of it. Victims are sometimes forced to act violent in order to make changes in society. Laws can sometime be out of control, or abused. An example of an outrageous law is when China had placed a limit of having one offspring only. I was always that person that would wonder why some of the most unnecessary laws existed, and what would life be if they were never there.

As I got older, I began thinking about life more. There is a saying, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”, by Confucius. This quote applies to me every time I think about life. Laws are the most appealing to me in society. When I heard about someone becoming incarcerated I wonder if it was the criminal’s fault, or the law maker. I came to a conclusion that it was both party’s fault. My reasoning is because, when you create more laws it would mean more crimes. At the same time, it’s also the criminal’s decision for knowing there are laws, and decide to take matters violently instead of a peaceful way. I am not saying all laws should be free. Majority of them that people fight over today, and is to come in the near future would just make life easy if they were just gone.

There are many reasons why there would be laws. Laws, overtime can encourage people to form habits. What I mean by “encourage people to form habits” is the fact that back then laws/rules were formed to strengthen, and bring unity to people. People felt that it was the best option, and that these laws should keep on forming in order to preserve their peace. Therefore laws began to form continuously to the point where a country like North Korea, and China became communist countries. Some Laws can be beneficial, but some not so much.

Can there be a world where no laws exist ? That’s a very important question to a lot of people who cares, and don’t. I believe that having laws and certain laws is true freedom. Having a world where no laws exist would mean chaos. A great analogy of a world with no laws would be the movie called “The Purge”. Having laws is like freedom because, people are given chances. The ones that abuse the law are brainwashed into thinking it’s alright to keep disobeying, and that they’re gaining freedom, but in reality they are fighting a war.

Throughout life many people have been incarcerated for doing crimes, however when they are in prison they are restricted to the outside world activity. The incarceration of inmates and restricting them to connect with the outside world is like taking the right of someone’s life. Someone like Malcolm X who was a prisoner for 10 years was unable to do no more than read books only in prison as time passes. It is when we hit our lowest point that we are open to the greatest change, but sometimes we don’t get to fully embrace our possibilities, instead we are restricted by the rules that are put on our shoulders. Majority of the people in the U.S could likely be wrongly, and over incarcerated. The world’s incarceration number is steadily rising, as laws are formed so are crimes.

The closure of my freedom is the perspective of a lower magnitude of laws. My freedom has been restricted, laws are made where my comfort is steadily lowering. I believe laws are both important, and too much. My freedom isn’t backing down, and it’s not only affecting me, but also a lot others, some are more impacted than I am. I will always consider freedom as an act of being able to desire something, and executing that goal that we want. Therefore it’s nice to not have certain laws, but not too many, and not the unnecessary ones that makes our life harder.

Sometimes too much freedom is not a good thing. This essay on “Freedom” I don’t know where should I start. Freedom has many different mean to different people. Today for me, freedom is the choice to live our life, doing what our wants, live where our wants, eat by own choice and learn what our heart desires. This means that freedom can apply to different aspects of life and freedom is not an absolute term.

Muaz Alkabass
English 1121, section E115

Professor: Sarah Schmerler
March 4th 2019                         
                     Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia
Freedom is the power and ability to express who you are and who you want to be. Freedom is a form of power that many Americans possess. It is unfortunate that  many Americans take the power for granted. Here in America, we have many privileges that many people in other countries do not have. In America, we have the freedom of speech and many rights such as the right for women to vote. In other countries, women are not allowed to vote and are forbidden to ever speak in public. For example, most of the people in Saudi Arabia is governed by sharia law, which is quite strict with regard to sexuality. Many people are held back due to religious reasons or the law. In America, you can marry the person you truly love , even if you are the same gender or the same sex. In most countries same- sex marriage is forbidden, unlawful, and could even get you killed. Women have the ability to be more than just your average housewife. In a country such as Saudi Arabia, women still do not have the right to vote. Until recently women in Saudi Arabia did not  have the freedom to drive. Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to go out out of the house without their husbands to take them anywhere.

Many women in Saudi Arabia are oppressed because they are not allowed to wear what they want to wear. They wear a veil and long black dress, which is called burqa. This is to be worn by all women. Women are not allowed to wear anything that may show their figure or reveal their hair. It is not a old religious, some say, man-made, law that restricts women’s clothing in public. Laws have been changing the past couple of years. Women and young girls are allowed to play sports in school, whereas in past years, women were banned from all sports.

Here in America women can go to any sporting event, but until recently in Saudi Arabia, women were not allowed to attend any sporting event. The government just gave freedom for women to attend any sporting  event. The King of Saudi Arabia, before 2018, banned women from attending any sporting event such as soccer, which is significant in Saudi Arabia. Only males were allowed to view soccer games in public.

In Saudi Arabia, women were not allowed to join the military because their families were against it. Now with this new law, the government  just gave the right for Saudi Arabian women to able to serve in the military, but they get to earn a high school diploma, and they get to mentally and physically compete. Also, in Saudi Arabia, any woman that would come forward in regards to sexual harassment would be frowned upon, and the judge would always rule in the males’ favor.  Before 2018, women were banned from driving. Women were fined and arrested in Saudi Arabia because they were seen driving in public.

Many women faced many challenges due to not being able to drive and relying on poor public transportation or a male guardian to take them to work. In Saudi Arabia, education for women is a new thing because many women had struggled to get their education, that is, they had to through many trials and ask for guardians. Saudis started to educate their housewives instead of having them stay at home

The oppression has been lifted in Saudi Arabia because Saudis want their wives to be educated so the wives could help their husbands with raising their kids and teaching them, so the kids are better. Saudi Arabia’s new generation is coming up, which will start to give more rights to women to educate themselves. More women in future generations will be educated and will change the society view on females being educated.

Women back in Saudi Arabia have to go through many obstacles so they can finish their education. For example, I talked to my aunt. She want though so many trials so she could finish her education. My family was against it, and wanted her to get married after she finished high school. However my aunt did not want to get married and she refused to get married and wanted to to finish education, so she did not listen to my grandma and my grandpa, and she went to college. She finished college, and she became a teacher, which was very complicated for her but she still did it.

In conclusion, many of us take freedom for granted. Freedom to me is the ability to educate yourself freely, to have equal rights, to live in a way that both men and women can speak freely. It means to me the right to speak or say something you want to say without you worrying about what going to happen to you. Our future for women in Saudi Arabia will empower all women from all over the world. Women will have the power and mental freedom to conquer the world, which some still see the world as a man’s world. Generations are changing to the better, and slowly people are adapting to the culture where all men and women are equal.

Jason Morales                                                                                                                                                   Morales 1

CUNY of Technology

English 1121-Section E106

Prof. Schmerler

4/12/2019

LET FREEDOM RING (Revised)

Freedom for me is a natural and exclusive right which people have enjoyed since the day they were born. Freedom is not something that can be touched, seen, felt or reached. All this gives a vague idea about freedom. Can we define freedom? And do we really have it?

People all round the world with many backgrounds and/or cultures have different opinions, definitions and thoughts about the idea of freedom and what it means to them. Some people think freedom in political sense, others think about social freedom, and others talk about personal independence and religious freedom. But with all the different topics and opinions, one thing stands for sure, that everyone wants to be free in.

Freedom for many of us is the choice to live one’s life to do what one wants, live where one wants, to eat what you want and learn what one’s heart desires. Freedom is to pick and choose what religion to practice or who to marry or what college to go to. Clearly, freedom can apply to different aspects of life and is not an absolute term.

We have freedom to ensure honesty, self-awareness and respect and not just live free but for all societies define and practice freedom in their own respect. Different cultures around the world see their form freedom in their own light, and thus people living in different cultures around the world can enjoy freedom in ways that are appropriate and humanly correct.

Jason Morales                                                                                                                                                   Morales 2

CUNY of Technology

English 1121-Section E106

Prof. Schmerler

4/12/2019

Enjoying and practicing our freedom does not mean that we disregard the rights of others and live solely the way we feel right. We have to consider the rights and the feelings of people around us when living our freedom simple by respecting their rights. Similarly a free person does not have to fear or suffer discrimination when expressing their opinion, we all need to ensure that everyone feels safe and their feelings are not hurt. Societies which encourage freedom of opinion, thoughts, beliefs, expression, choice etc. are the ones where creative minds flourish and people are safe to express themselves.

Does freedom come with independence? I believe both freedom and independence is the same word because it’s toward the same cause. I believe freedom gives us the right to appreciate the enchanted beauty of nature around us. A person who is worried and anxious cannot be free at mind and hence cannot enjoy the scenic beauty all around us, the magnificent beauties of the nature, the incredible smells when walking thru a market place, or even enjoying the different types of music played around the world. Freedom is a state of your mind that implies that your mind and body is under no fear or compulsion of safety in life. I believe education or preaching does not make us free, yet it’s a stepping stone to commencing to freedom, to achieve following an idea of a person or an example of a master is not a sign of freedom either. I believe freedom is the absence of any pressure from the social, political and religious environment that we live in and to able to do what we think is correct.

Jason Morales                                                                                                                                                   Morales 3

CUNY of Technology

English 1121-Section E106

Prof. Schmerler

4/12/2019

I feel that freedom has certainly no particular definition or absolute meaning, because for everyone it would mean something different and unique. I believe that freedom, if not properly viewed or have some constraints, can be very harmful as well. For a prisoner, being out of the prison means freedom, but for non-prisoners, freedom is something that a person is free to do while abiding by social customs and law of the country. No societies or countries can guarantee absolute freedom to everyone. I believe the reason being that it will be a complete chaos if we try understanding what everyone in other countries or societies believe what freedom means to them. Freedom itself is not an absolute right, and it too has some constraints. A freedom that poses threat to the society and the nation we live in is not freedom in real sense. We cannot kill people, violate laws, smuggle drugs or doing anything illegal to the society and call it freedom. But then if crime is not freedom are we really constricting people to live a certain way?

I believe that freedom should be part of our basic rights as people. Some freedom is specific to the age group that we fall into. A child shall be free to play, to be loved by parents and family. This nurturing and bonding may be the idea of freedom to a child. Similarly to a teenager, freedom may be about hanging out with friends, enjoying group activities. The adults may enjoy social life, marriage and raising their children as part of their freedom. The elderly people may seek security of health and life, spend good time with grandchildren, involve in religious and social activities and believe that to be their freedom.

Jason Morales                                                                                                                                                   Morales 4

CUNY of Technology

English 1121-Section E106

Prof. Schmerler

4/12/2019

I truly believe freedom is far more than a concept. Deprivation of freedom itself can be harmful and toxic to people. So whatever freedom you have, try to make the most of it and enjoy that freedom. You never know when that freedom that you treasure and truly believe in might end or be changed and/or altered.