Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes free essay sample

I was six years old and free as a bird, spinning beneath the hot Maryland sun. Arms stretched out, palms turned to the sky as if they could catch the light and hold it forever. Eyes closed, cheeks flushed pink, hair glinting with highlights of red and gold from the bright sun. Round and round and round, the sky spun like a kaleidoscope above me. I collapsed to the ground and watched the sky continue to spin, jerky and slowing, as if it were a toy I had broken. The grass was baked gold and prickly against the bare skin of my arms. I was never a hothouse flower; my petals werent easily torn. Switching my roots into new soil was no problem, and sicknesses were fleeting. I ran bare-footed through red soil and green grass and let the sun slowly change the color of my skin. I caught frogs and butterflies in my hands but ran from the praying mantis that folded its bishop-robe arms on my grandmothers porch. We will write a custom essay sample on Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I ran in a cotton sundress through the heat of the summer day, laughing, and tasted the soft, sweet nectar of honeysuckle that remains my definition of summertime. You couldnt ruffle me, then, with anything. I was sturdy and sure and confident, a hardy little wildflower growing among thorns she could not see. There was a roof over my head and food and love, and nothing could change what I had. Is it funny, then, that I seemed to grow more frail as the years passed? That I lost some part of that wildflower child in the upsetting act of growing up? That when I was 17 and stood in that exact same spot, I couldnt spin but only stand, stronger in some ways, weaker in others, and constantly afflicted with the menace of wars and politics that only vaguely concern me. On that day I realized with a flash of pain that I was no longer six. Melting crayons and tangled hair had needed to be changed, replaced. The cross around my neck might symbolize my faith, but it hurt to know that it would never be so simple, so innocent, so unquestioning again. It took me so long on that cool October day, beneath the Maryland sun to begin (so slowly) to spin. Kaleidoscope sunset skies melted with the emerald green of treetops until all I could hear was the Beatles playing in my head, crooning on and on about pools of sorrow and waves of joy. Each spin seemed to take an hour, a day, a year to complete. The sky above whirled slowly, and the ground beneath dipped and rose again with each step, comforting and familiar and as much a part of me as the soles of my feet, this land I had walked so many times. Coming back seemed, in that moment, to be the only answer I needed to the questions Id been asking myself all year. Except for the niggling fact that they answered nothing, that there was no knowledge I gained from spinning in the same place, in the same way, as I had when I was six. I know as little about myself now as I did then. Maybe less. But as I collapsed to the ground, my dogs face looming above me in a silent, curious question of â€Å"Why, exactly, are you on the ground?† I realized that there was nothing about myself I really needed to memorize. Not yet. Not at seventeen.

Equality for All

Equality for All Free Online Research Papers The United States of America was founded on the principle that all of her citizens would have equality under the law. Thomas Jefferson affirmed that principle when he drafted these words for the Declaration of Independence, â€Å"we hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.† Those powerful words set the groundwork for the foundation that would define what it means to be an American. As an American citizen, a person should be viewed as an equal under the law. Equality means that there should be no superior or inferior treatment given to any specific citizen or group. Being a member of a minority or majority group should not have an impact on what rights are afforded to one person verses another; all should have the same opportunity and protection under the law. When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, he was ahead of his own time. Even though he was a slave owner, he pictured a country that would be tolerant of those that are different from the majority. Others also saw his vision and could foresee the problems that our country would face when it came to the rights of minorities. One such person was James Madison. After the U.S. Constitution was drafted, Madison wrote many essays for publication in New York community newspapers to raise support in ratifying the Constitution. In one of those essays, The Federalist, No. 51, Madison argues that, â€Å"it is of great importance in a republic not only to guard society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizen. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of minority will be insecure.† At the time, Madison may not have meant those words for different ethnic races or sexual preferences in society, but they could not ring more true today in the complicated society we now live in. Madison also stated that if a majority oppresses the weaker members of society, then our system of liberty would collapse. Madison clearly saw a need for laws to protect minorities, so they could have the same rights as the majority; without certain laws for protection, America would fail. America is presently in an unstable world. This instability caused a panic that needed to be comforted by action. In 2002, in response to the 911 attacks, Congress and President Bush put into law the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act is a law that is supposed to protect all Americans, but in reality it may just do the opposite for American minorities. The Patriot Act gave law enforcement officials the ability to profile people for the sake of national security. The law also gave law enforcement officials the ability to violate Americans’ civil liberties through illegal wiretaps. It is clear that the only people that will be targeted as suspects are Muslim Americans and anyone who is thought to be associated with terrorist groups. There is a very slim chance that any of these suspects would be classified as a part of an American majority group. The Patriot Act is a law that was passed with good intention, but it is, in fact, doing what Madison had feared the most. Throughout American history, the U.S. government has added amendments to the Constitution and passed laws with the intent to protect the rights of both majority and minority citizens. There have been laws passed to give equality to women, ethnic groups, homosexuals, and special interest groups. Laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 have brought our country a long way. However, laws such as the Patriot Act set our country back. The point of the great American experiment is to progress through history by improving the quality of human life for all. The intent of the 911 hijackers was to cripple our system of freedom. In response, the government passed the Patriot Act to strengthen America, but all it did was make us weaker. In a sense, the hijackers have succeeded. Research Papers on Equality for All19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraQuebec and CanadaThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeCapital PunishmentPETSTEL analysis of IndiaComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoHip-Hop is ArtWhere Wild and West Meet