The Tuwalakuwla Islands Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Tuwalakuwla Islands - Essay Example I, Andrew, was a patient with disease different from the rest, called the SOS. It disrupted my physical activities if I over exerted. My mother was a scientist and she was not afraid of experimenting on her only son, ten years of age. I was excited as well. The leader of the crew James was taking rounds to make sure everyone was in their cabin assigned for each family. There were around fifty families on board the shuttle. Everyone seemed scared and tensed because it was something man was experimenting for the very first time. The shuttle doors automatically started to slowly slide shut as each cabin door closed. My mother, Anne has assigned a tutor for me who was a retired scientist with extra sensory perception. He was going to teach me about earth while we were away and read stories from the holy book. We had a super market cabin for shopping and a cafe cabin for leisure. I often heard serious conversation coming from the conference cabin where all the senior staff members were de signing strategies to keep the fifty families in comfort. Doctors were seen examining patients before the take-off. With the final announcement, everybody went to their assigned cabin and we heard a loud roaring sound of the engine before it took off in space. There was complete silence for some time. Then I don’t remember anything after that. We all had probably died. The next thing I remember was being in bed with mom sitting next to me talking to my tutor-cum-god father about my health. I asked mom what time it was and she announced slowly that according to the earth it was twelve in noon but the this time was showing in everybody’s watch for the past twenty years! My heart stopped for a split second and then before I could question this ambiguous fact uttered by mom, the tutor, John, told me that we were all injected a special drug that was designed to wake us when we reached near an island. â€Å"Come I’ll show from the windowpane,† he said and lifte d me from the bed and placed me in the wheel chair. â€Å"But why were we injected that drug? Wouldn’t growing up on the shuttle have been fun?† I began to argue and just when my mother tried to change the topic John said to her, â€Å"I’ll handle from here.† I knew that John and I would be best friends. He told me that the drugged saved a lot of resources that we would have exhausted in twenty years. He slyly added â€Å"Plus, aren’t you glad we all look the same even after so many years? Bet you know how a thirty year old feels like?† He laughed as the expressions on my face changed into that of recently discovering something new! We returned to the cabin where he placed me back in the bed and told me to wait for him. No sooner than he left there was a loud crashing sound heard from the outer walls of the shuttle. I heard everyone screaming and shouting for help. John and Anne returned to the cabin in a state of frenzy. An urgent announcem ent was heard beckoning people to return to their cabins and clear the corridors. The shuttle was shaking very badly. It was like death approaching us in slow motion. I thought this time it would be real. We all will die and the News strip back on earth would run the breaking new â€Å"The experimental shuttle crashed in space, thousands die.† While I cynically thought of our end, we heard another

Victor Davis Hanson's The Civic Education America Needs Essay

Victor Davis Hanson's The Civic Education America Needs - Essay Example He further argues that among the factors, which hinder civic education, is the presence of scholar uncertainty where they have no national pride, thus making them lose the element of social cohesion (Forment 451). The scholars in turn join college without self-assurance, hence vulnerable to all fallacies about the American practice. Victor also has his argument on the catastrophic changes in the privileged society, especially from the universities, which have trickled down to the schools. He puts that civic education in this schools has declined over the last thirty years. He says that the ideas from the elites of these universities are characterized as being anti-moral to civic education. He further asserts that the ideas of multiculturalism, dictatorial, intellectual, and ethical relativism disseminated from the top universities through the fourth estate and politicians, greatly undermine the civic education program. Victor further argues that multiculturalism, allowed to the etiqu ette of the underclass, changed the conduct of the youthful people (Forment 452). He believes that to counteract this elite culture from undermining the process of civic education, there is need to cultivate and re-visit the common values and national story of America. Furthermore, Victor Davies argues that the conceit of the Enlightenment, which threatens to eliminate the available, shared pathologies, is a cause of concern in promoting the civic education in America. The segregation and undermining of women plays a key role in disheartenment of efforts to foster the civic education in America. He puts forward that civility, which to many is merely convection, has to become a tool for liberation of the people (Nelles 264). He observes that civility was an oppressive phenomenon of the 1950s, an era punctuated by subdued sexual issues like inhumane treatment of women, minorities and the young people. These were to remind the women that they were the weaker sex and they had no place i n the society. The treatment, according to Victor also wanted to show the youth that they were tacit. It comes evident when the learners of age 20 claim that they owe nothing in terms of morals to the older generation. They further claim that the old generation need to get astute thoughts from them, which to Victor undermines the role of civic education (Forment 454). Victor argues that gone are the days when a person took concern of the greater humanity, other than the individualistic nature. He advocates for a kind of†citizenship†education where one is guided by the values and not obligated by attachments. Victor further proposes that the American system of education should embrace the idea of â€Å"citizenship,† which will cultivate an individual guided by rights and the broader humanity. This, to Victor can bring up students who are responsible and guided by morals (Nelles 265). Through this, teachers will be able to correct students who mess up and also enabl e students to learn the values, which will promote civic education in the primary schools. On the other end, this will not be fruitful in implementing, especially when the teachers and parents fail to lead as examples to the kids. in addition, teachers may lack the moral and intellectual authority and end up behaving like their learners in their behavior (Nelles 266). The idea of the â€Å"citizenship,† also promotes teamwork especially in sports. This teamwork enhances