Macbeth and Free

Macbeth and Free Will Essay In Desiderius Erasmus’s Defense of Free Will, he refutes Martin Luther’s creed that God predestines everyone’s lives and instead asserts that man alone possesses the power to choose his own path to either salvation or damnation. The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, raises similar questions – did the protagonist, Macbeth, willingly choose to commit such atrocities as killing the king and his court to feed his own ambition, or did he merely play the role of a pawn, performing that which fate bade him do? Amid much controversy over this issue, evidence both in Erasmus’s critical essay and in the play itself affirms that Macbeth cognitively decides to act as he does in the play, confirming Erasmus’s perspective and suggesting that people have the ability to dictate their own fate through their thoughts, decisions, and actions. Through his interpretation of the Old and New Testaments in the Bible, Erasmus writes in favor of free will over predestination, a concept that, when applied to the character Macbeth, raises questions about the motives behind his detestable actions. In his essay, Erasmus explores the â€Å"power of the human† (46) to â€Å"turn away from what leads to eternal salvation† (46). According to this opinion, Macbeth makes a conscious choice to pursue a life of crime and sin, instead of simply following his fate. Macbeth’s plea that the â€Å"stars hide [their] fires† (1. 4. 57) so that â€Å"light [would not] see [his] black and deep desires† (1. 4. 58) indicates that Macbeth remains aware that his â€Å"wicked, rebellious will† (Erasmus, 48) lies within himself, and he fears the consequences of his sinful deeds. This very fear of punishment reflects the existence of free will in Macbeth as Erasmus inquires, â€Å"why [should God] curse me, when I sinned through necessity? † (47). Macbeth’s clear understanding of the evil that he plans to commit and his fear of divine punishment suggest that characters in Macbeth choose their actions as opposed to following their destiny. Macbeth’s evil actions, however, are not completely driven by an inherent evil nature; although he does have free will in the play, he becomes a slave to his ruthless ambition because of his own moral weakness. As Erasmus writes, â€Å"there are certain seeds of goodness planted in men’s minds† (50), although â€Å"the will is perhaps more inclined to evil than to good† (50). In other words, everyone possesses both good and bad within them, and it is up to the individual person to â€Å"[turn themselves] towards, or away from, faith† (48-9). Macbeth’s apparently latent moral code surfaces occasionally throughout the first act in his moments of wavering in his violent resolve; he tells Lady Macbeth that they â€Å"will proceed no further in this business† (1.7. 34) in one of the scenes preceding the murder. However, the manipulative Lady Macbeth must only mention that which Macbeth desires and question his masculinity to crush Macbeth’s good side and force it to submit to his evil ambition. The ease with which Lady Macbeth extinguishes Macbeth’s doubt of the evil plan highlights Macbeth’s weakness for his ambition. Macbeth becomes a slave not to the devil, but instead to the very evil that resides within himself. Neither heaven nor hell predetermines Macbeth’s actions in the play; it is in fact his inability to compromise his ruthless ambition that ultimately forces him into crime. He chooses to sin of his own accord, and therefore faces his final punishment that sets the world back in order at the end of the tragedy. Through their individual works, Shakespeare and Erasmus imply that humans have free will to determine their own actions, and only the strongest of heart will succeed in accomplishing the work of God.

Personal Narrative- Staying Young Forever :: Personal Narrative Essays

Personal Narrative- Staying Young Forever It all begins with the famous phrase, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" As children, we think the words "growing up" mean becoming like mom and dad. It means having a job, being able to cook dinner, and knowing how to pay bills. We are too young to understand the real concept behind those two dreadful words. If only someone had told me the truth, I could have prepared for the shock. I hate growing up, and getting older really stinks! The phases of growing up are like a date gone wrong. They start off real nice and eventually smack you in the face. I remember back in kindergarten when there used to be nap time. Oh how I took it for granted! I'm not even sure if I know what the word "sleep" means now. And if school couldn't get more difficult over the years, someone came along and decided we needed to learn languages other than English. As if my English wasn't bad enough, now I have to learn how to speak in gibberish. Growing up causes the "unthinkable" to happen. When I was little, I really should have taken advantage of pure skin, no wrinkles, and the phrase "eat your vegetables." Now, I have to use Clearasil, undereye cream, and drink Slim-Fast! What could possibly be good about becoming old, fat, ugly, and bald? I used to have energy, but now I have to drink caffeine to wake myself up. It used to be that when I went to get my hair cut, my stylist would say, "Look how shiny and thick your hair is." Now I hear, "Okay, what should we try today to give your hair some volume?" Not to mention that we women have the privilege of losing our figures, becoming less attractive, and receiving lumps of cellulite in our backside. That's when we must say, "Goodbye bikinis!" Growing up brings more responsibilities. It used to be that my mom would come in my room every morning and say, "Time to get up!" Now I wake up to the annoying sound of my alarm clock going "beep, beep," and my mom in the next room sawing logs. Just when I thought this was bad, it never occurred to me that at the age of twelve I would eventually have to get something called a "job".

The Public Needs to Know

The Acquisition Process Competition Requirements Choconda Martin BUS 319 November 5, 2012 Professor Calvin D. Fogle Almost all DOD systems are competed at some stage in the acquisition system (we would guess that less than 10% of acquisition programs do not go through a competitive process at least once in their acquisition cycle). Generally, the sequence is: †¢ Define the requirement (determine the mismatch between operational capability–more about this below); †¢ Advertise the need for a product that can satisfy the requirement; †¢ Accept bids from potential suppliers; †¢ Review proposals and select one or more suppliers, Order the product; †¢ Monitor progress; †¢ Accept the finished product; †¢ Review project documentation and pay for the product. This cycle repeats itself one or more times during system development and one or more times during procurement (purchase of a major end item previously developed or available commercially). For l arge systems, procurement follows a highly demanding DOD-funded development process and the prime manufacturer, almost by necessity, is the developer. In such cases, the competitive steps for a given phase of the acquisition process (listed above) would not be repeated during the procurement phase.Some things that I would change would be the misconception of communication within the industry during acquisition processing. The Federal Government has an obligation to conduct procurements in the most effective, responsible and efficient manner possible. Current market information is very vital as they define the requirements, so that the contracting officers can develop the acquisition strategies, seek opportunities for small businesses, and negotiate contract terms. Industry partners are the best source for this information, so productive interactions is very important and should be encouraged.The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) authorizes a broad range opportunites for vendor co mmunication, but agencies most time do not take advantage of these existing flexibilities. Some agencies may be reluctant due to fear of protests or fear binding the agency in unauthorized commitments. If we increase the awareness by training the agencies with the help of DAU (Defense Acquisition University) and agency training practitioners to conduct an awareness campaign we might be able to eliminate unnecessary barriers to engagement.Agencies should provide clear, consistent direction to their workforce and industry partners about how to engage with industry prior to award of contracts and task and delivery orders under the Federal Supply Schedule, government-wide acquisition contracts, and other indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts. While agencies do not have the resources, and are not required, to meet with every vendor at every step of the acquisition process, information gathered from industry sources plays an invaluable role in the acquisition process.For this reason, agencies must develop practices that will ensure early, frequent, and constructive communication during key phases of the process. The federal government’s ability to achieve successful program outcomes, effectively and efficiently, depends upon agencies establishing effective strategies for industry engagement and supporting those strategies with senior-level commitment.References Co-Workers/Supervisor/FAR The Public Needs to Know The Acquisition Process Competition Requirements Choconda Martin BUS 319 November 5, 2012 Professor Calvin D. Fogle Almost all DOD systems are competed at some stage in the acquisition system (we would guess that less than 10% of acquisition programs do not go through a competitive process at least once in their acquisition cycle). Generally, the sequence is: †¢ Define the requirement (determine the mismatch between operational capability–more about this below); †¢ Advertise the need for a product that can satisfy the requirement; †¢ Accept bids from potential suppliers; †¢ Review proposals and select one or more suppliers, Order the product; †¢ Monitor progress; †¢ Accept the finished product; †¢ Review project documentation and pay for the product. This cycle repeats itself one or more times during system development and one or more times during procurement (purchase of a major end item previously developed or available commercially). For l arge systems, procurement follows a highly demanding DOD-funded development process and the prime manufacturer, almost by necessity, is the developer. In such cases, the competitive steps for a given phase of the acquisition process (listed above) would not be repeated during the procurement phase.Some things that I would change would be the misconception of communication within the industry during acquisition processing. The Federal Government has an obligation to conduct procurements in the most effective, responsible and efficient manner possible. Current market information is very vital as they define the requirements, so that the contracting officers can develop the acquisition strategies, seek opportunities for small businesses, and negotiate contract terms. Industry partners are the best source for this information, so productive interactions is very important and should be encouraged.The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) authorizes a broad range opportunites for vendor co mmunication, but agencies most time do not take advantage of these existing flexibilities. Some agencies may be reluctant due to fear of protests or fear binding the agency in unauthorized commitments. If we increase the awareness by training the agencies with the help of DAU (Defense Acquisition University) and agency training practitioners to conduct an awareness campaign we might be able to eliminate unnecessary barriers to engagement.Agencies should provide clear, consistent direction to their workforce and industry partners about how to engage with industry prior to award of contracts and task and delivery orders under the Federal Supply Schedule, government-wide acquisition contracts, and other indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts. While agencies do not have the resources, and are not required, to meet with every vendor at every step of the acquisition process, information gathered from industry sources plays an invaluable role in the acquisition process.For this reason, agencies must develop practices that will ensure early, frequent, and constructive communication during key phases of the process. The federal government’s ability to achieve successful program outcomes, effectively and efficiently, depends upon agencies establishing effective strategies for industry engagement and supporting those strategies with senior-level commitment.References Co-Workers/Supervisor/FAR

Analysis Of Mike Bunn s Writing - 1771 Words

Understanding The Different Rhetorics Bunn, M. (2011). How to read like a writer: Readings on writing. Writing spaces (Vol. 2, pp.71-85). WAC Clearinghouse. http://wac.colostate.edu/books Summary: In the textbook chapter of Mike Bunn’s How To Read Like a Writer, he addresses college graduate students and theatre students. Narrative and descriptive are use to describe Bunn’s form of writing. As he stated in his thesis, â€Å"In 1997, I was a recent college graduate student living in London for six months and working at the Palace Theatre owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber.† (71) According to Bunn’s text, he describes his experiences by working at the theatre and being a college graduate student by using rhetoric in his writing. One of the main†¦show more content†¦The author’s ethical approach was on the beginning of the first paragraph where he explains his job in a Palace Theatre owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Reid, E. S. (2011) Ten ways to think about writing: Metaphoric musings for college writing student. Writing spaces: Readings on writing. (Vol. 2, pp. 3-22). WAC Clearinghouse.. http://wac.colostate.edu/books Summary: This chapter of the textbook by E. Shelley Reid’s Ten Ways To Think About Writing: Metaphoric Musings for College Writing addresses writing students. Reid uses expository and descriptive types of writing in her text. She describes and explains about the ten different important things when it comes to writing. One example in her chapter is where she explains how to write by the rules, describes the steps on how to be a successful writer and why some people struggle with writing essays or paragraphs sometimes. The writer quoted, â€Å"Write about what you know about so that you can show not just tell in order to adapt to your audience’s needs and accomplish your goals. Unless you do a good job showing what you mean, your audience will not understand your message.† (4) She also stated in one of her steps that sometimes the audience or readers of an essay or writing cannot exactly understand what the writer is trying to tell them. She tells her audience to