To Kill a Mocking Bird (A BookCaps Study Guide)
BookCaps - 2011
The perfect companion to Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," this study guide contains a chapter by chapter analysis of the book, a summary of the plot, and a guide to major characters and themes.BookCap Study Guides do not contain text from the actual book, and are not meant to be purchased as alternatives to reading the book.
The Devil's Deceptions: Is There Life After Death?
Ginger Baum - 2019
In a world that is overflowing with man's traditions, that often put a dark cloud over God's truth, you will be astonished by the answers that now await you concerning the mysteries of death.
Second Space: New Poems
Czesław Miłosz - 2002
Few poets have inhabited the land of old age as long or energetically as Milosz, for whom this territory holds both openings and closings, affirmations as well as losses. "Not soon, as late as the approach of my ninetieth year, / I felt a door opening in me and I entered / the clarity of early morning," he writes in "Late Ripeness." Elsewhere he laments the loss of his voracious vision -- "My wondrously quick eyes, you saw many things, / Lands and cities, islands and oceans" -- only to discover a new light that defies the limits of physical sight: "Without eyes, my gaze is fixed on one bright point, / That grows large and takes me in."Second Space is typically capacious in the range of voices, forms, and subjects it embraces. It moves seamlessly from dramatic monologues to theological treatises, from philosophy and history to epigrams, elegies, and metaphysical meditations. It is unified by Milosz's ongoing quest to find the bond linking the things of this world with the order of a "second space," shaped not by necessity, but grace. Second Space invites us to accompany a self-proclaimed "apprentice" on this extraordinary quest. In "Treatise on Theology," Milosz calls himself "a one day's master." He is, of course, far more than this. Second Space reveals an artist peerless both in his capacity to confront the world's suffering and in his eagerness to embrace its joys: "Sun. And sky. And in the sky white clouds. / Only now everything cried to him: Eurydice! / How will I live without you, my consoling one! / But there was a fragrant scent of herbs, the low humming of bees, / And he fell asleep with his cheek on the sun-warmed earth."
A Letter to America
David L. Boren - 2008
A powerful wake-up call to Americans, A Letter to America, forces us to take a bold, objective look at ourselves.In A Letter to America, Boren explains with unsparing clarity why the country is at a crossroads and why decisive action is urgently needed and offers us an ambitious, hopeful plan.What the country needs, Boren asserts, are major reforms to restore the ability of our political system to act responsibly. By relying on our shared values, we can replace cynicism with hope and strengthen our determination to build a better future. We must fashion a post–Cold War foreign policy that fits twenty-first-century realities—including multiple contending superpowers. We must adopt campaign finance reform that curbs the influence of special interests and restores political power to the voters. Universal health care coverage, budget deficit reduction, affordable higher education, and a more progressive tax structure will strengthen the middle class.Boren also describes how we can renew our emphasis on quality primary and secondary education, revitalize our spirit of community, and promote volunteerism. He urges the teaching of more American history and government, for without educated citizens our system cannot function and our rights will not be preserved. Unless we understand how we became great, we will not remain great.The plan Boren puts forward is optimistic and challenges Americans to look into the future, decide what we want to be and where we want to go, and then implement the policies and actions we need to take us there.
The Ant and the Ferrari
Kerry Spackman - 2012
this is one of those rare books that will change your beliefs - and in doing so will change your life. tHE ANt AND tHE FERRARI offers readers a clear, navigable path through the big questions that confront us all today. What is the meaning of life? Can we be ethical beings in today's world? Can we know if there is life after death? Is there such a thing as Absolute truth? What caused the Big Bang and why should you care?
Radical Compassion: Finding Christ in the Heart of the Poor
Gary N. Smith - 2002
The only thing that makes sense to me is to use them in the service of the poor. It is at their feet that I find myself.”For almost ten years, Gary Smith, S.J., lived and worked among the poor of Portland, Oregon. With this memoir, he invites us to walk with him and meet some of the abandoned, over-looked, and forgotten members of our society with whom he has shared his life. Just as Smith found a deeper, truer understanding of himself and of the heart of God through his work, these people and their stories stand to transform us. “Although its subject matter is bleak, the book is not. Smith has found love amid the despair. His book is touching, at times hopeful, and the kind of book that is hard to put down, that fascinates, horrifies, and rivets one’s attention.”—Booklist “Smith takes us where we would rather not go, the heart of the poor, the lonely, and the abandoned. In true Ignatian fashion, he finds God there. An unforgettable experience for those who have the courage to walk with him.”—Michael L. Cook, S.J. Professor of theology Gonzaga University “Smith performs modern-day miracles of compassion, and his book sets a new standard for writing about the rich faith of those who are materially poor. His stirring prose and utter honesty will change the hearts and minds of many readers.”—Gerald T. Cobb, S.J. Chair, department of English Seattle University
Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity
David Campbell - 1992
In this new edition of a groundbreaking work -- one of the first to bring critical theory into dialogue with more traditional approaches to international relations -- David Campbell provides a fundamental reappraisal of American foreign policy, with a new epilogue to address current world affairs and the burgeoning focus on culture and identity in the study of international relations.Extending recent debates in international relations, Campbell shows how perceptions of danger and difference work to establish the identity of the United States. He demonstrates how foreign policy, far from being an expression of a given society, constitutes state identity through the interpretation of danger posed by others.
Walden
Michael T. Dolan - 2006
Dolan, WALDEN deconstructs higher education, the struggle for individualism, and the parade of conformity in one fell swoop of a very sharp pen. In the tradition of the great angry young men novels, WALDEN presents a humorous, shocking and thoroughly modern take on a young man's struggle for self. Tucked into one day, you ll find the grand themes of love and death, revolution and freedom, hope and enlightenment. And you ll find the Who and the Stones, back before they were doing Hummer commercials, CSI theme songs, and Microsoft jingles. Pick up a copy today, and join the revolution that is WALDEN. Says author Iain Levison, author of A Working Stiff's Manifesto: WALDEN is a story about the seamier side of campus life, a life far removed from the smiling faces on the college brochures. Mike Dolan has crafted a powerful and evocative story, full of anger, frustration and misdirected emotion, about a young man caught up in the anonymous and soul-crushing world of the educational system. Should be required reading for all college freshmen.
Collateral Damage: Social Inequalities in a Global Age
Zygmunt Bauman - 2011
But collateral damage is not unique to the world of armed intervention - it is also one of the most salient and striking dimensions of contemporary social inequality. The inflammable mixture of growing social inequality and the rising volume of human suffering marginalized as 'collateral' is becoming one of the most cataclysmic problems of our time. For the political class, poverty is commonly seen as a problem of law and order - a matter of how to deal with individuals, such as unemployed youths, who fall foul of the law. But treating poverty as a criminal problem obscures the social roots of inequality, which lie in the combination of a consumerist life philosophy propagated and instilled by a consumer-oriented economy, on the one hand, and the rapid shrinking of life chances available to the poor, on the other. In our contemporary, liquid-modern world, the poor are the collateral damage of a profit-driven, consumer-oriented society - 'aliens inside' who are deprived of the rights enjoyed by other members of the social order.In this new book Zygmunt Bauman - one of the most original and influential social thinkers of our time - examines the selective affinity between the growth of social inequality and the rise in the volume of 'collateral damage' and considers its implications and its costs.
The Cowards
Josef Škvorecký - 1958
The Cowards is the story of an uncomplicated, talented youth caught up in momentous historic events who refuses either to be bored to death by politics - or to lie down and die without a fight.
The Year That Changed The World: The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Michael R. Meyer - 2009
Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" President Ronald Reagan's famous exhortation when visiting Berlin in 1987 has long been widely cited as the clarion call that brought the Cold War to an end. The United States won, so this version of history goes, because Ronald Reagan stood firm against the USSR; American resoluteness brought the evil empire to its knees.Michael Meyer, who was there at the time as a Newsweek bureau chief, begs to differ.In this extraordinarily compelling account of the revolutions that roiled Eastern Europe in 1989, he shows that American intransigence was only one of many factors that provoked world-shaking change. Meyer draws together breathtakingly vivid, on-the-ground accounts of the rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the stealth opening of the Hungarian border, the Velvet Revolution in Prague and the collapse of the infamous wall in Berlin. But the most important events, Meyer contends, occurred secretly, in the heroic stands taken by individuals in the thick of the struggle, leaders such as poet and playwright Vaclav Havel in Prague; the Baltic shipwright Lech Walesa; the quietly determined reform prime minister in Budapest, Miklos Nemeth; and the man who privately realized that his empire was already lost, and decided -- with courage and intelligence -- to let it go in peace,Soviet general secretary of the communist party, Mikhail Gorbachev.Reporting for Newsweek from the frontlines in Eastern Europe, Meyer spoke to these players and countless others. Alongside their deliberate interventions were also the happenstance and human error of history that are always present when events accelerate to breakneck speed. Meyer captures these heady days in all of their rich drama and unpredictability. In doing so he provides not just a thrilling chronicle of the most important year of the twentieth century but also a crucial refutation of American political mythology and a triumphal misunderstanding of history that seduced the United States into many of the intractable conflicts it faces today. The Year That Changed the World will change not only how we see the past, but also our understanding of America's future.
Eight Pillars of Greek Wisdom: What You Can Learn from Classical Myth and History
Stephen Bertman - 2003
They lived life to the fullest, loved unashamedly, listened to their heart’s desires, and created one of the most advanced, culturally sophisticated societies ever known. Is all that now dead and buried? Or only for the professors to mull over?One classics scholar, Dr. Stephen Bertman, answers this resoundingly in The Eight Pillars of Greek Wisdom. He shows how to bring passion and excellence to the center of your daily life, as the ancient Greeks intended them to be. The lessons they learned—that life is brief and fragile and time is too precious to waste; that we do not know who we are until we discover who we can be; that we cannot undertake our voyage through life alone; that there will be obstacles along the way, but the greatest obstacle is within—led them to develop what Bertman describes as eight guiding principles of wisdom:
Humanism
The Pursuit of Excellence
The Practice of Moderation
Self-Knowledge
Rationalism
Restless Curiosity
The Love of Freedom
Individualism
These eight pillars are explored in the book. Each is illuminated through vivid examples drawn from the rich heritage of classical history and mythology, including tales of gods and goddess, heroes and heroines, adventure and exploration, and self-discovery and personal triumph.
The Faithful River
Stefan Żeromski - 1912
A wounded soldier appears outside the house and is cared for by Salomea, the young ward of the absent owners, who has been left in the manor with an aged servant. As the two strive to conceal the soldier's presence during brutal and invasive visits by the Russians, Salomea finds herself falling in love with her patient.
The Arsonist
Egon Hostovský - 1935
But the town is in the world, and the world is in the throes of radical change. The influence of expressionism of Hostovsky's early work is evident, with a mix of mysticism, irony, and wit. Exiled to America during World War II, when his Jewish family perished in the concentration camps, Hostovsky saw many of his later works published in the US, Britain and throughout Europe.
Introducing Theologies of Religions
Paul F. Knitter - 2002
Avoiding tired labels of past debates (Exclusivism, Pluralism, and Inclusivism), Knitter suggests four different models (Replacement, Fulfillment, Mutuality, and Acceptance) that more adequately link together thirteen ways of approaching and understanding the variety of the world's religious expressions.