The Fathers Rights in Child Custody Issues Essay -- essays research p

The Father's Rights in Child Custody Issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the United States today more than one-half of all marriages end in divorce. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reason why women have typically received custody of the children far more often than the fathers. In order to better understand child custody one must first examine how fathers have often times been left out of the picture, and conversely why mothers have had such hard times raising children on their own. This paper will first examine the perspective of a father who has lost custody of his children. A Fathers Perspective   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to many the custody of a child should be determined with the best interest of the child in mind. However, it is not easy for a judge to make such an important decision in such a short amount of time with limited information. Smith (2004) stated that, the simple fact of being a mother does not indicate a willingness or capacity to render a quality of care different than that which a father can provide. Some might argue that what Reynolds (2004) calls deadbeat dads, or in other words fathers who refuse to pay their child support, are often times confused with Turnips, who are ex-spouses who can not afford to pay child support. One example of a turnip is a father who is in prison; he is obviously not making money while he is on the inside. Now an example of a deadbeat dad is when the father is enjoying all the finer things in life and he cannot reach far enough into his...

An Analysis of Jack London’s Revolution Essay

â€Å"The time should be past for the mental attitude: â€Å"Revolution is atrocious. Sir, there is no revolution. † Likewise should the time be past for that other familiar attitude: â€Å"Socialism is slavery. Sir, it will never be. † It is no longer a question of dialectics, theories, and dreams. There is no question about it. The revolution is a fact. It is here now. Seven million revolutionists, organized, working day and night, are preaching the revolution–that passionate gospel, the Brotherhood of Man. Not only is it a cold-blooded economic propaganda, but it is in essence a religious propaganda with a fervour in it of Paul and Christ. The capitalist class has been indicted. It has failed in its management and its management is to be taken away from it. Seven million men of the working-class say that they are going to get the rest of the working-class to join with them and take the management away. The revolution is here, now. Stop it who can. † Final paragraph of Jack London’s ‘Revolution’, (1905). This extract from Jack London`s essay ‘Revolution’ was written during the 1905 Russian Revolution, which would culminate (and subsequently fail) later in the year. The purpose of the essay is to persuade the reader that revolution is not only a necessary and positive occurrence, but also an inevitable one, ‘The revolution is a fact. ‘ The extract develops in conviction throughout, opening with an almost passive recommendation to the reader, ‘The time should be past for the mental attitude,’ and closing on the only imperative sentence used throughout, ‘Stop it who can. ‘ I do not believe that the two quotes within the extract are from any specific person, but that they represent the former opinion of the working class as a whole, ‘Sir, there is no revolution. ‘ This is due to London describing this as a ‘familiar attitude’, and also the use of Sir suggests a person of lower status. Alliteration and sibilance are used to make particular phrases more memorable to the reader, ‘Socialism is slavery†¦ capitalist class. ‘ This may be subtle form of manipulation in itself, as phonetically the repetition of the ‘s’ provides a more pleasant sound than the harsh ‘c’, and communicates to the reader a more positive association for socialism than capitalism. This negative association for the capitalist class is then reinforced through the use of legal jargon, ‘capitalist class had been indicted. ‘ An indictment is a formal written accusation of a criminal offence (this would have been handed up by a grand jury in 1905), which implies that London believes the Russian leader’s failure is so great it amounts to an offence against the state. It is also somewhat symbolic, as in essence ‘Revolution’ is an indictment, with the essay serving as the written accusation and the London and his audience the grand jury. London uses many rhetorical devices throughout the extract, such as ethos, logos and pathos. Ethos relies on the reputation of the author or speaker, and London was one of the most successful writers of his time. I believe he was reasonably well known in 1905 (particularly as The Call of the Wild was published in 1903) and this would have given him the required credibility to successfully convey his opinion based on his name alone. He was also associated with socialism, having run (unsuccessfully) for mayor of Socialist Labour Party in his hometown. Pathos is an emotive tool and the essay title ‘Revolution’ could be considered as such as it is a concept that has strong emotional connotation. Pathos is also employed somewhat through the analogy made between revolution and religion, ‘it is in essence a religious propaganda. ‘ London may have chosen the comparison as religion (if it can be considered movement) is very successful. The comparison is also of note as London himself was an atheist and fond of deriving the Christian religion, which may explain why he chose the post modifier ‘propaganda’ as it has negative connotations. His lack of respect for religion is shown when the religious comparison is developed further, and the revolution becomes, ‘passionate gospel,’ with the ‘Brotherhood of Man’ revolutionaries becoming its followers. Logos is the logical element of rhetoric, and London presents a coherent argument as to why the revolutionaries would succeed. This begins with ‘Seven million revolutionists’ and ends with ‘with a fervor in it of Paul and Christ’. It is built of clauses and sentences that carry equal influence, arranged in a particular order that starts with fact and escalates into blasphemous hyperbole. London uses inductive reasoning as this allows him to use particular facts to form a theory that explains the relationship between them, therefore allowing predictions of future knowledge as claimed at the end. Many specific types of rhetorical features are also present, all of which communicate London`s ideas and persuade the reader to agree with him. Chiasmus is used, ‘It has failed in its management and its management is to be taken from it,’ to encapsulates two important ideas into one sentence, connecting them and highlighting their significance. London also uses a sentential adverb to interrupt the syntax, ‘The revolution is here, now,’ and this ensures the words ‘here’ and ‘now’ are stressed, as lexis either side of an apostrophe is emphasised. Antithesis is used to highlight a contrasting relationship between two ideas, ‘There is no question about it. The revolution is fact. ‘ By juxtaposing the simple declarative sentences in parallel form it appears obvious that something cannot be both a question and a fact, and placing ‘now’ at the end of the sentence provides it with the most emphasis and makes it more memorable. There is also an example of tripling, ‘a question of dialectics, theories, dreams. ‘ This provides contrast, both semantically and structurally, to, ‘revolution is a fact,’ and the hypothetical nature of the former increases the strength of the latter. In conclusion I believe Jack London successfully communicates his beliefs in the extract, and the rhetorical devices used allow him to make the piece confluent and consequently persuasive.

The Fourteen Points of Woodrow Wilson

The Fourteen Points were a set of diplomatic principles developed by the administration of President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. These were intended as a statement of American war aims as well as to provide a path to peace. Highly progressive, the Fourteen Points were generally well received when announced in January 1918 but some doubt existed as to whether they could be implemented in a practical sense. That November, Germany approached the Allies for a peace based on Wilsons ideas and an armistice was granted. In the Paris Peace Conference that followed, many of the points were set aside as the need for reparations, imperial competition, and a desire for revenge on Germany took precedence. Background In April 1917, the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allies. Previously angered by the sinking of Lusitania, President Woodrow Wilson led the nation to war after learning of the Zimmermann Telegram and Germanys resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare. Though possessing a massive pool of manpower and resources, the United States required time to mobilize its forces for war. As a result, Britain and France continued to bear the brunt of the fighting in 1917 as their forces took part in the failed Nivelle Offensive as well as the bloody battles at Arras and Passchendaele. With American forces preparing for combat, Wilson formed a study group in September 1917 to develop the nations formal war aims. The Inquiry Known as the Inquiry, this group was headed by Colonel Edward M. House, a close advisor to Wilson, and guided by philosopher Sidney Mezes. Possessing a wide variety of expertise, the group also sought to research topics that could be key issues at a postwar peace conference. Guided by the tenets of progressivism which had steered American domestic policy during the previous decade, the group worked to apply these principles to the international stage. The result was a core list of points which stressed self-determination of peoples, free trade, and open diplomacy. Reviewing the Inquirys work, Wilson believed that it could serve as the basis for a peace agreement. President Woodrow Wilson addresses Congress on January 8, 1918. Public Domain Wilsons Speech Going before a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918, Wilson outlined American intentions and presented the Inquirys work as the Fourteen Points. Largely drafted by Mezes, Walter Lippmann, Isaiah Bowman, and David Hunter Miller, the points stressed the elimination of secret treaties, the freedom of the seas, limitations on armaments, and the resolution of imperial claims with the goal of self-determination for colonial subjects. Additional points called for the German withdrawal from occupied parts of France, Belgium, and Russia as well as encouragement for the latter, then under Bolshevik rule, to remain in the war. Wilson believed that international acceptance of the points would lead to a just and lasting peace. The Fourteen Points as set forth by Wilson were: The Fourteen Points I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view. II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants. III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined. VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy. VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired. VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all. IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development. XI. Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into. XII. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of an autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees. XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant. XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. Reaction Though Wilsons Fourteen Points were well received by the public at home and abroad, foreign leaders were skeptical as to whether they could be effectively applied to the real world. Leery of Wilsons idealism, leaders such as David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and Vittorio Orlando were hesitant to accept the points as formal war aims. In an effort to gain support from the Allied leaders, Wilson tasked House with lobbying their behalf. Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Library of Congress On October 16, Wilson met with British intelligence chief, Sir William Wiseman, in an effort to secure Londons approval. While Lloyd Georges government was largely supportive, it refused to honor the point regarding freedom of the seas and also desired to see a point added regarding war reparations. Continuing to work through diplomatic channels, the Wilson Administration secured support for the Fourteen Points from France and Italy on November 1. This internal diplomatic campaign among the Allies paralleled a discourse that Wilson was having with German officials which began on October 5. With the military situation deteriorating, the Germans finally approached the Allies regarding an armistice based on the terms of the Fourteen Points. This was concluded on November 11 at Compià ¨gne and brought an end to the fighting. Paris Peace Conference As the Paris Peace Conference began in January 1919, Wilson quickly found that actual support for the Fourteen Points was lacking on the part of his allies. This was largely due to the need for reparations, imperial competition, and a desire to inflict a harsh peace on Germany. As the talks progressed, Wilson was increasingly unable to garner acceptance of his Fourteen Points. Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau. Library of Congress In an effort to appease the American leader, Lloyd George and Clemenceau consented to the formation of the League of Nations. With several of the participants goals conflicting, the talks moved slowly and ultimately produced a treaty which failed to please any of the nations involved. The final terms of the treaty, which included little of Wilsons Fourteen Points on which German had agreed to the armistice, were harsh and ultimately played a key role in setting the stage for World War II.