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Many different factors influence whether or not a particular student will vote in a student government association election. By analyzing several different demographic categories of the participating voters and how they relate to the same proportional demographics for the entire student community, some specific variables can be used as significant indicators for how likely a particular person would be to vote in a future student government election. Demographic variables that indicate a higher level of participation on campus are the best ways to gauge a person or groups’ potential participation rate or suggest a pattern of voting among a specific segment of the overall campus population. Given this information, various institutions of student government, student life and campus involvement can do some self-analysis of how effectively they are reaching the student body as a whole.
This research focuses on the role that Southern honor played in the actions of Preston Brooks in the Brooks-Sumner Affair. In May 1856, Brooks caned Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate in response to Sumner’s “Crime Against Kansas” speech. Northern and Southern reaction differed widely, with Northern public opinion condemning Brooks’s actions. Yet, from Southerners, Brooks received many letters in support of his actions. This event was one of the primary factors contributing to the increasing sense of sectionalism, which led ultimately to the Civil War. The methodology for this project was to base the conclusions heavily on the primary sources located in the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. These sources include letters written to Brooks in the aftermath of the affair, Brooks’s diary, contemporary newspaper accounts, Congressional records and speeches, and the Brooks Family Scrapbook. Secondary literature (bibliography attached) provides the framework for discussion of the culture that was prevalent among elite white Southerners in the mid-nineteenth century. The ideal of honor and the violence often associated with that ideal are used as a backdrop for the individual actions of Preston Brooks. These sources, both primary and secondary, support the conclusion that Southerners accepted defense of honor as a justification for Brooks’s actions. Further, this cultural divide helps to explain the widening gap between North and South in the 1850s.
While royal mistresses have always been commonplace in kingdoms, few stand out as much as Madame de Pompadour, mistress to Louis XV of France in the eighteenth century. Rising above hateful propaganda and gossip, she became one of Louis’ most trusted advisers and has been often called the engineer behind Versailles in the dying light of Louis XIV’s court. This paper argues the importance of Pompadour as mistress, confidante, and the leader force behind politics of the day. She encouraged the Enlightenment by holding salons and leading others to do the same. Sources describe her as a protector of thinkers such as Voltaire, Locke, and Rousseau, and these allies advanced her position.
She was a pioneer in the fine arts, commissioning countless portraits and establishing the Théâtre des Petits Caabinets; she also established Napoleon’s future school, the Ecole Militaire. She remained close to the king even after their sexual relationship ended, proving her competence and political strength. The Seven Years’ War, financial issues, and riots served as catalysts for illness, and Pompadour died at age forty-two; still, her legacy survived, and Pompadour serves as the first real feminist character of pre-Revolution France through her dissemination of Enlightenment culture and ideals.
This research focuses on the role that Southern honor played in the actions of Preston Brooks in the Brooks-Sumner Affair. In May 1856, Brooks caned Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate in response to Sumner’s “Crime Against Kansas” speech. Northern and Southern reaction differed widely, with Northern public opinion condemning Brooks’s actions. Yet, from Southerners, Brooks received many letters in support of his actions. This event was one of the primary factors contributing to the increasing sense of sectionalism, which led ultimately to the Civil War. The methodology for this project was to base the conclusions heavily on the primary sources located in the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. These sources include letters written to Brooks in the aftermath of the affair, Brooks’s diary, contemporary newspaper accounts, Congressional records and speeches, and the Brooks Family Scrapbook. Secondary literature (bibliography attached) provides the framework for discussion of the culture that was prevalent among elite white Southerners in the mid-nineteenth century. The ideal of honor and the violence often associated with that ideal are used as a backdrop for the individual actions of Preston Brooks. These sources, both primary and secondary, support the conclusion that Southerners accepted defense of honor as a justification for Brooks’s actions. Further, this cultural divide helps to explain the widening gap between North and South in the 1850s.
Rayber, a character from Flannery O’Connor’s second novel, The Violent Bear It Away, is misunderstood by critics and perhaps even by the author herself. While most critics categorize him as a damned secular soul, I believe that his character is significantly more complex. I believe that Rayber is actually a regenerated member of God’s elect family because he consistently expresses resistance to God’s pull; he has significant parallels to the prodigal son; and he does not follow the pattern of the novel's examples of depraved characters. From a young age, Rayber has been in constant spiritual battle with God. Rayber’s rare tender interactions with his young mentally handicapped son cause a violent torrent of emotion within Rayber that is directed against God for creating the imperfect child. Rayber is a stubborn prodigal son who has yet to return home to his father and safety, but the novel holds open that possibility. Within The Violent Bear It Away there are completely depraved characters and they act as foils for Rayber. Society is notorious for disregarding as unredeemable people who do not fit accepted traditional Christian roles. This novel serves as a reminder that we do not know who God has chosen.
The similarities between Herman Melville’s Captain Ahab and William Shakespeare’s King Lear illustrate the creative influence of King Lear upon the formation of Moby-Dick. Melville models Ahab into a near exact replica of Lear, both in character development and in plot: each has great power, which, when unchecked, leads to hubris; both share a common companion, the fool; and both are tested and transformed by a storm. Despite the clear influences evident, Melville does not have Ahab follow the king’s path to redemption. Through analysis of Ahab’s maintained power of the Pequod through various interpretive methods, the role of Pip, and the storm’s transformational powers on the captain, it is evident that Melville intended Ahab to become the mirror image of Lear. In aspects such as the importance of price over value, madness, and the recognition and seizing of redemption, Ahab chooses the reverse of Lear, revealing himself to be more conscientious of the evils that work in the world. Melville makes his captain a darker character by having him battle against supernatural forces, instead of natural forces (people) like his model. The differences between Lear and Ahab’s actions make Ahab the more tragic character because, while he sees the path of redemption taken by Lear, he refuses to follow, and thus, condemns himself.
Judicial activism in the United States judicial branch is the activity of judges who use their constitutional adjudication to propose political preferences or even pursue particular policy ideals that may go beyond mere interpretation of the Constitution. A careful analysis of the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist Papers, a brief history of judicial activism, and consideration of two prominent Supreme Court cases suggest that the Founding Fathers would likely have disapproved of the kind of activist court sometimes seen today. Judicial activism may be undertaken by either “liberal” or “conservative” justices, and is not confined to one ideological position or set of political preferences. Unfortunately, neither of the recent candidates from the 2008 Presidential Election gave their assurance that they would appoint justices to the Court so as to curtail future judicial activism, despite the United States president's sworn duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.