American Dream Essays - Acorn, Ornaments, Quercus, Ornamental Trees

American Dream Essays - Acorn, Ornaments, Quercus, Ornamental Trees American Dream America, our great country, is strong, powerful, and influential. Americans exemplify positive values, selflessness, hospitality, and the American way of life. The mighty oak tree that stands taller, bigger, and older than all others best represents this grand country. Each part of the tree illustrates a facet of our nation. Shapely emerald leaves covering the tree symbolize the values many Americans hold concerning themselves, others, and their nation. Leaves help the tree grow and flourish just as our value of caring for our neighbors help us to unite and become more successful as a whole. The beautiful shade and distinct shape of these leaves make the tree more attractive and unique. Our values often differ from values of other countries due to cultural contrasts such as with religious, racial, and education issues. We give much more freedom than many other countries do to those of different races and religions. Also, he hold education in a much higher regard than other countries. It is these differences which sometimes make our country seem more appealing to those of foreign lands. Without leaves in the spring, the mighty oak would have no means of nourishment and would die. Our common American values bind us together as one unit just as all the leaves work together to benefit the oak. Without them w e would be millions of separate bodies aimlessly wondering about a common ground, and our country would fall to pieces. Thus, there would be no country as there would be no tree. The lonely oak's long, gnarled limbs seem to reach out as far as they can just to touch another tree. One limb reaches far to the east until it finds a maple. Our brave troops fought in the east to fend off the Czechoslovakians and Serbians from nearly defenseless Bosnia. Another limb bends down and softly touches the fresh buds of a young sapling. Many Americans give years of their lives in South Africa to the Peace Corps to touch the lives and hearts of many villagers. Yet another limb seems to branch out in all directions with its twigs reaching both up and down and side to side. Every year, many Americans donate money to the Christian Children's Fund where it is then used to heal, feed, and educate poverty-stricken children all over the world. Just as our branches stretch out, so do our American arms to help those less fortunate. There is a small, yet inviting hole in the front of the oak tree. It gives protection to the squirrels and birds from the harsh elements. Our country is one that encourages religious freedom without persecution for all ethnicities alike. Also, the cavity provides the animals a space to be free to live a life they choose. In America, once a person becomes a citizen he/she is free to be who he/she is and do what he/she will within lawful reason, creating a higher quality of life. The hole provides a starting point for the animals from which they will grow and move on. When foreigners emigrate to our land, they start off small, but are given the same chances to grow and be successful members of society. For the animals, the hole is like their ticket to a more prosperous and thus more enjoyable life just as our country serves as a land of opportunity for so many less fortunate. Small acorns that are produced by the tree and those that lie on the ground portray the lives of America's youth. The mighty oak births many acorns with hopes that they will spring forth into new trees. Every few minutes another child is born with the opportunity to become a functional part of our society. However, like the acorns, some do not make it. They simply die too early to be something great. The ones that do make it will become our leaders of tomorrow. Once the acorns reach a certain age, they fall to the ground detached from their life line. A simple fact of American life, like all other life, is that everyone that is born must die at one time or another. Birth inevitably brings death. From the fallen acorns come new trees as if

Freuds psychodynamic theory essays

Freud's psychodynamic theory essays Sigmund Freud believed that people have three levels of awareness, which are the conscious, preconscious, and the unconscious. Freud developed a detailed theory on how our own thoughts and feelings affect our actions. It is known as Freuds Psychodynamic Theory. The words psyche or mind and dynamo meaning power are derived from the Greek language. He believed that we can infer the existence of the unconscious through slips of the tongue and dreams. Years later this theory is still prevalent in todays psychology. Today, many therapists use psychodynamic psychotherapy, which tries to get the patient to bring to the surface their true feelings, so that they can experience them and understand them. Psychodynamic Psychotherapy uses the basic assumption that everyone has an unconscious mind, and that feelings held in the unconscious mind are often too painful to be faced. So people come up with defenses to protect themselves from knowing about these painful feelings. An example of one of these defenses is called denial. Psychodynamic therapy assumes that these defenses have gone wrong and are causing more harm than good that is why the person needed to seek help. It tries to unravel them, as once again, it is assumed that once you are aware of what is really going on in your mind the feelings will not be as painful. Psychodynamic theories are attempts to explain a portion of the human condition. Psychodynamic concepts-including the concepts of transference, countertransference, and splitting-rest in the belief that present behavior is influenced by past behavior which may or may not be in the awareness of the participant. All interactions are affected to a lesser or greater degree by past behaviors. (Bonniver, 1992) Freud also had developed the idea of psychoanalysis. It is very similar to psychodynamic therapy. In Psychoanalysis, the therapist attempts to get access t...

Arab Israeli Relations and the Middle East Conflict Essay

Arab Israeli Relations and the Middle East Conflict - Essay Example However, the Muslims are the majority while Christians are the minority in Palestine (Smith, 2006). The war has been fought since then with no signs of it ending any time soon despite efforts being put by the two warring factions to strike a cease-fire to end the war. In fact, the war has led to the death of many people in the region something, which is so alarming. As such, the United Nations and the U.S. have been at the forefront in trying to bring the two warring factions to the negotiating table so as to end the war. Nevertheless, it is surprising that even after making an agreement, it seldom take too long before the wear regenerates again. This war has led to much research being conducted to establish its real cause as regards the views held by the two warring factions. In this regard, historians have established that the conflict has mainly been attributed to the struggle over land. This is because the war of 1948 was fought purely on the land question that later led to the d ivision of Palestine into three parts namely the West Bank, the Israel State and the Gaza Strip. Palestine, as it is known internationally is a small area of about 10,000 square miles. The war over this land degenerated over the fight for its political control (Smith, 2006). The Jews claim that the land was given to them in according to the torah where God promised Abraham and his descendants the land. In fact, they argue that the land has been a historical site for the Jews people of Israel, which had been illegally occupied by the Roman Empire. Therefore, the Jewish are of the opinion that the land rightfully belongs to them and nothing whatsoever can deter them from occupying this land. Palestine Arab’s, on the other hand, claims that the land rightfully belongs to them based on the fact that they have lived on this land for several years. They also claim that, demographically, they represent the majority on this land, which signifies their legitimate ownership of the land . Therefore, they refute the argument put forwards by the Biblical-era kingdom that claims that the land belong to the minority Jewish. In fact, Palestine Arabs argue that based on the fact that Ishmael, the son of Abraham is an Arab’s ancestor, then the promise of God to the Abraham’s descendants also include the Arabs as well. Therefore, they object any attempt aimed at snatching them the land, which they believe rightfully belongs to them (Lesch and Tschirgi, 1998). It is noted in the 19th century, preceded by the trend that began in Europe, many people across the globe began to identify themselves as sovereign nations that culminated to the demand for independence. As a result, the Palestine and Jews started developing national consciousness aimed at achieving their national agenda. However, since the Jews were spread all over the world, there came a need to identify a place where the Jews could call home thereby leading to the formation of the Zionist movement. Th e Jews later found Palestine to the right place since it represented the place of Jews origin. As a result, in 1882, the Zionist movement initiated mass immigration of the Europeans into Palestine. However, what is noted is that, at this time, Palestine formed part of the Ottoman Empire. The Jewish settled mainly in four major cities in Palestine particularly those with religious significance such as Jerusalem, Safad, Hebron, and Tiberas (Mahler and Mahler, 2010). As the Jews continued to