Cats Cradle Reflection

Society makes something up and pretends it’s something it’s not. For instance, religion says it has all the answer, but when it is examined closer, nothing is really there. † Throughout Vonnegut’s book â€Å"Cat’s Cradle,† Jonah exposes many examples of why he does not believe in Christianity or any other religion besides the one religion he established, Bokononism. I personally see where Jonah is coming from, the fact that there are statements in the old testament that we do not follow even though they may be stated more that once. Although, there are a couple of things that I agree on with Jonah and Bokononism; I concur with Liana Price’s Essay on â€Å"Understanding Religion Through Cat’s Cradle. † As stated in Cat’s Cradle earlier in the book; the old testament states expectations for Christians that are not even being considered and people are living around these â€Å"rules. † Vonnegut himself is a Humanist; he is not sure of God’s existence but values life above all else. Even though he does state in his latest novel Timequake that people need religion as something to turn on for comfort and support. I agree on this statement, I believe that humans need someone to think about, talk to, and to unconsciously ask favors too. Atheists are people who do not believe in the existence of any divine beings. Even though this is supposed to be their actual belief they still swear to God. Which to me personally sounds like they need someone to blame for. There are many reasons why people don’t â€Å"believe† in any divine beings but unconsciously they somehow do. Newt’s father and brother serve as an example in this novel of the scientific views of religion. Which is surprising being that technically Newt’s father did invent the atomic bomb that killed thousands of people and he is referred as â€Å" so innocent he was practically a Jesus. † How in the world is a man who killed thousands referred to as Jesus when in reality Jesus was killed to save thousands? This is oxymoronic; which is one of the reasons on why I disagree with Cat’s Cradle. Julian who calls himself a Bokononist because he agrees that all religions are lies which is what Bokononism is. He fits as a Bokononist because he recognizes that the need for religion is necessary to make someone feel better whether it is scientific, truthful or not. Ice Nine is a method of being able to freeze all bodies of water which are oceans , lakes, rivers, etc. Ice Nine was invented by Felix Hoenikker and his invention also has effect on humans. As soon as it touches human skin or has contact with the inside of the body all blood turns into ice and the person dies instantaneously. Bokonon gets trapped by the people of San Lorenzo and they tell him what God has done and ask what they should do. Bokonon wanting the easy way out, tells the people that God was surely trying to kill them. Bokonon wanted to give them a simple way out so he told them to touch the Ice Nine and their blood froze and they instantaneously died. Although, Bokonon being a genius himself did not take his own advice, because he knew it was worthless. Overall, Vonnegut is a great writer and can express himself in a very unique way that I admire. Although I do disagree with his book Cat’s Cradle. Bokononism is the religion of the belief that all religions are based on lies and people don’t need God. The people of San Lorenzo were targeted to become Bokononists and practice Bokonon’s beliefs. They ended up losing their lives because they believed that God was trying to kill them. I agree with most of the reflection of Liana Price about Bokononism.

French commentators often see in 'republican values' a universal path Essay

French commentators often see in 'republican values' a universal path towards modernity. Define these values in the french context and comment - Essay Example Although it was often called into question, it finally established itself under the Third Republic6. It was written into the 1958 Constitution7 and is part nowadays of the French national heritage. Linked by Fà ©nelon8 at the end of the 17th century, the notions of liberty, equality and fraternity became more widespread during the Age of Enlightenment. At the time of the French Revolution, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" was one of the many mottoes in use. In December 1790, Robespierre9 advocated in a speech on the organization of the National Guards10 that the words "The French People" and "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" be written on uniforms and flags, but his proposal was rejected. From 1793 onwards, Parisians, soon to be imitated by the inhabitants of other cities, painted the following words on the faà §ades of their houses: "Unity, indivisibility of the Republic; liberty, equality or death". But they were soon asked to erase the phrases final part as it was too closely associated with the Terror... 11 This motto fell into disuse under the Empire, like many revolutionary symbols. It reappeared during the Revolution of 184812 marked with a religious dimension: priests celebrated the "Christ-Fraternità ©" and blessed the trees of liberty that were planted at the time. When the Constitution of 1848 was drafted, the motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" was defined as a "principle" of the Republic. Discarded under the Second Empire13, this motto finally established itself under the Third Republic, although some people still objected to it, including partisans of the Republic: solidarity was sometimes preferred to equality which implies a levelling of society, and the Christian connotation of fraternity was not accepted by everyone. This motto was inscribed again on the pediments of public buildings on the occasion of the celebration of 14 July 1880. It

Grignard arylation Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Grignard arylation - Lab Report Example In this reaction, the C=O bond the ketones is attacked by the Grignard reagent to yield an alkoxide ion. The alkoxide ion formed is then protonated by H+ to form alcohol and MgBrOH (McMurry): A 50-mL round-bottomed flask containing 20 mmol of magnesium turnings and a stirbar was flame dried. A rubber stopper was affixed to the flask after it had cooled and then assembled with an addition funnel from the oven before it had cooled. Grease was applied to the glass-to-glass joints to prevent them from freezing as the parts cooled. The addition funnel was charged with a solution of phenyl bromide (20 mmol) in anhydrous ether (15 mL). 1 mL of the solution formed was then added into the flask and stirred until the reaction started. Once the reaction had begun, the rest of the phenyl bromide solution was dripped in over several minutes, at a rate that maintained a gentle reflux. Following the addition, the reaction was allowed to proceed for 20 minutes. During this period, heat was added to maintain the reflux. The Grignard reagent was allowed to cool. A solution of cyclopentanone (13 mmol) in anhydrous ether (10 mL) was added through the addition funnel while stirring. The reaction mixture was worked-up as follows: a sufficient amount of 3M HCl was added to acidify the reaction mixture. The aqueous layer that formed was extracted with CH2Cl2. While swirling, the combined organic layers were washed with 10 mL of 10% aqueous sodium bisulfite and 10 mL of brine. The organic layer was dried and the solvent obtained evaporated over a steambath. The residue obtained was stored in a shell-vial with a well-fitting cap. The workup was repeated by my partner; however, he used 20 mL of 10% aqueous NH4Cl in place of 3M HCl. In the second week of the laboratory session, the evaporation residue was transferred into a flask, after which it was vacuum distilled into a tarred flask. The product obtained was then characterized by