Cahills How The Irish Saved Civilization Essay - 737 Words

Cahills How the Irish Saved Civilization Thomas Cahill opens his story describing Romes fall, â€Å"For as the Roman Empire fell, as all through Europe matted, unwashed barbarians descended on the Roman cities, looting artifacts and burning books, the Irish who were just learning to read and write, took up the just labor of copying all of western literature - everything they could get their hands on. These scribes then served as conduits through which Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian cultures were transmitted to the tribes of Europe, newly settled amid the rubble and ruined vineyards of the civilization they had overwhelmed.† (Cahill, p.3) The theme of this book is that the scribes did something unique, they saved civilization, not the†¦show more content†¦(Cahill, pp. 171- 184) Growth continues as Columbanus establishes the first Italo-Irish monastery where monks continue to pray and copy. Between these two men Irish monasteries were established in England, Scotland, Italy, France and beyond. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Historically the Irish are not credited with a major role in this time period and Cahill attempts to prove the society/culture of this time has its roots in Ireland. He states, â€Å"Ireland, at peace and copying, stood in the position to become Europes publisher.† The Saxons had blocked routes to the English mainland. A new, illiterate Europe was rising from Roman ruins... Ireland would reconnect Europe with its own past by way of Irelands scribal hands. (Cahill, 183) These monasteries become centers for learning, presumable the predecessor of modern universities. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;I have two favorite parts to this book, first, the contrast Cahill makes between Augustine and Patrick. I am catholic, from birth, and I never really thought of Augustine in the manner Cahill portrays him, the dark versus bright side of Chrisitanity. Augustine becomes self-conscious, â€Å"the man who cried I...† (Cahill, p/ 39) He wanted truth. We see the classical world through him. Patrick on the otherhand is a Christian convert, an escaped slave, who returns to Ireland to save it. He brings the Roman alphabet and Roman literature with him. He alsoShow MoreRelated Cahill Essay705 Words   |  3 Pageswould be no civil rights movement, democracy or even history. Thats the central, sweeping premise of The Gifts of the Jews, the latest book by Roman Catholic scholar and best-selling author Thomas Cahill. The Jews gave us the Outside and the Inside -- our outlook and our inner life, writes Cahill, who will be at Temple Judea in Coral Gables tonight to talk about the book. We can hardly get up in the morning or cross the street without being Jewish. We dream Jewish dreams and hope JewishRead MoreRule of St. Benedict1160 Words   |  5 Pagesconstitution and rule of law for most monasteries, policies could be seen as harsh by some but the overall message is built around a positive spirit of reconciliation. The Rule of St. Benedict most significant role for the development of European civilization was education. The beginning of Christian monasticism can be divided into two main types, the eremitical or solitary and the coenobitical or family type. St. Anthony may be called the founder of the purely eremitical system or hermit life styleRead More Editorial: Ireland’s Past? Essay2614 Words   |  11 Pagesby a variety of perspectives. Emigration has made such a huge impact on Irish history that the Irish diaspora and its descendants far outnumbered the inhabitants of the Ireland of Ireland itself, and many of those outside Ireland who claim Irish descent remain emotionally attached to a conception of the â€Å"old country,† whose image in their minds is strongly associated with the distant experiences of their ancestors. The Irish tourist industry, conscious of the lucrative market linked to such conceptions

Importance of Grades in School Free Essays

Lauren Klein Mrs. Imani Stephen ENG 1101 23 October 2012 The Importance of Grades in School Alfie Kohn explains in his article, From Degrading to De-grading, that traditional letter/number grades are a waste of time. Kohn believes teachers wrongly relish the moments they get to assign a student a grade. We will write a custom essay sample on Importance of Grades in School or any similar topic only for you Order Now His opinion of the best teacher is the one that despises the grade book and wonders about the thought of giving grades at all. Alfie Kohn provides many reasons supporting his beliefs. For example, grades reduce the student’s interest to learn the material and reduce their preference for a challenge. When grades are in the picture, the student’s quality of thinking is diminished. It is also argued that grades are unreliable, not valid, and have the ability to distort the curriculum. He believes grades waste time that could be spent on learning more material and concepts. Students are also more susceptible to cheating if they feel the pressure to have good grades. Lastly, the student’s relationship with the teacher and other students could be negatively affected by the stress of grades (Kohn). However, traditional grading is essential to track the student’s progress, give them a sense of competition, and be accepted into colleges. Kohn goes on to point out common objections to the no-grades system. Schools are afraid of the major changes that would be required to implement the unheard of policy (Kohn). The article points out that grades could encourage cheating. Students feel pressure to get good grades and in return cheat on homework and tests to uphold that expectation. Also, the amount of time that teachers spend on grading and the time that students spend on stressing about grades, could be spent on learning more information. Kohn mentions the problem of laziness and the attitude of doing just enough to get an â€Å"A. He blames this problem on the presence of grades, but laziness is actually based on the individual and his own work ethic, as well as the schooling system itself, not the system by which performance is measured. A change in evaluation can’t necessarily change an individual’s personal outlook. It’s the individual schools and teachers that are responsible for setting a so lid grading system. It isn’t the grading system that is at fault here. He also ridicules the grading system for being a â€Å"subjective rating masquerading as an objective evaluation† (Kohn). However, subjectivity is a natural trait in the education system. Every individual teacher has a different way of thinking and different standards. The grading system can at least provide a more universal way to evaluate individual students. Grades also present parents a means of accountability with their student. The author says that bad grades bring about â€Å"unpleasant conversations† between parents and students (Kohn). Still, the same would result with any other system, because parents will always have to be informed if their child is performing poorly. I believe traditional grading is still necessary in schools. Without the letter/number grading, there would be no way to track the student’s progress. Even though a bad grade could be daunting, the plain numbers help students in the long run by encouraging hard work and progression. When students achieve a good grade, they have the experience of feeling accomplished. This feeling gives them the objective to do well in school. Good grades give the student a sense of accomplishment contributing to their self-esteem. Higher grades become important and the student becomes motivated. If the incentive of grades is taken away, the student could lose that motivation and even the aspiration to advance (Farzaneh). Grades provide a sense of competitiveness. Healthy competition between peers is necessary to excel in life. The natural feeling of pride over good grades contributes to having competition with classmates or coworkers. Schools with grades allow students to develop their competitive ways early, so they can succeed in the workplace (Adams). Many students depend on their grades to assess themselves and see where they can improve. Grades evaluate their success and help them enhance their performance skills (Farzaneh). Grades are a necessary part of applying to college. Not having grades makes it harder to have colleges consider you, let alone accept you. The admissions faculty has a lot to consider with each student. Generally they only look at GPAs and SAT scores (Adams). Only a select few schools are open to this new no grading idea. This makes it very difficult to get into certain colleges if there are no numbers for them to glance at. Detailed accounts of each student are not a practical way for college admissions to determine if they are the best fit for the student. Furthermore, without the clearly defined standard, colleges could overflow with under qualified students making a college degree less valuable. A traditional grading system benefits the students by helping them be more successful in school and future careers. It offers a worldwide rubric to determine and compare the student’s progress with ease. Receiving good grades in return for hard work provides the student with intellectual knowledge on how to improve and teaches them how to deal with competition and overcome it. Grades affect a student emotionally in many ways, including giving them a sense of self-worth. Also, the absence of grades makes it more difficult to be noticed and accepted by colleges. Traditional grading is necessary as it influences students and motivates them to not only succeed, but to excel in life. Works Cited Adams, Carol. â€Å"The Disadvantages of School Without Academic Grades. †Ã‚  EHow. Demand Media, 14 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. . Farzaneh, Arash. â€Å"The Disadvantages of School Without Grades. †Ã‚  EHow. Demand Media, 02 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. . Kohn, Alfie. â€Å"From Degrading to De-Grading. †Ã‚  From Degrading to De-Grading. Alfie Kohn, Mar. 1999. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. . How to cite Importance of Grades in School, Essay examples

Space Exploration Essay Example For Students

Space Exploration Essay Space Exploration Essay: FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE Ever since the beginning of time, mankind has been fascinated with wonders of space. Before the mid-1900s, all mankind could do was gaze at the stars from Earth and wonder what it would be like to go into space. Man would look through telescopes and make theories on how the universe worked. During the mid-1900s, mankind finally was able to send a man into space and explore the wonders of space first hand. So why do humans explore space? Well, it is our fascination with the unknown. At first, all mankind did was look up and wonder how things became what they are now. We started to think that all celestial bodies revolved around the Earth, and the Earth was the center of the entire universe. Galileo Galelie later disproved this theory. Even with growing knowledge in the field, it was not until 1957 when the first Earth orbiter, the Soviets Sputnik 1, was sent into space and placed in orbit at an altitude of 1,370 miles and weighed 184 pounds. Later in that year, the Soviets sent Sputnik 2 into space with a dog named Laika. Laika was the first animal to venture into space. Then in 1985, the United States successfully sent their very own satellite into space. In 1960, the Soviets launched to dogs into space and successfully returned them to Earth. From this point started the space race. The space race was a challenge between the USSR and the United States to see who could land a man on the moon first. In 1961, the first man in space was cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who was in space for 60 minutes before returning to Earth in Vostok 1 and was sent by the USSR. Astronaut Shepard flew the first manned sub-orbital space-flight by the Americans. The first true American orbital flight was by John Glen and he stayed in space for five hours in Mercury 6 in 1962. Then in 1963, the USSR sent the first woman into space; her name was Valentina Tereshkova-Nikaleva. They also had the first person to take a space-walk in 1965. In 1968, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA tested the first Saturn 5 rocket, which would be used for the Apollo missions. The first manned Apollo missions and the first flight around the moon took place in 1968. Finally, on July 21, 1969, the United States placed the first man on the moon winning the space race. The challenge for mankind at present is placing a human on Mars. We have already sent probes on to Mars and roamed some of its terrain with the rover known as Sojourner. Sojourner was taken to Mars on NASAs Mars Pathfinder and was the first wheeled vehicle to operate on another planetary surface. The Mars pathfinder sent photographs, atmospheric measurements, and a few other important data that will contribute to taking a man to Mars. While pathfinder sent data, Sojourner examined rocks and soil samples with a camera and Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer, providing useful data on chemical compositions and radiation bounced back from rocks and dust. The mission finally ended when the Pathfinder stopped responding to commands from NASA. NASA has sent two other probes to Mars, but both malfunctioned and were destroyed on impact on the Martian surface. The US and a few other countries have joined together and are constructing the International Space Station or the ISS. The ISS is scheduled to be completed in 2004 and will be continuously occupied by up to seven crewmembers. The space station is envisioned to be a world-class research facility in which scientist can study Earth and space, as well as explore the medical effects of long durations of weightlessness in space and the behavior of materials in a weightlessness environment, and the practicality of space manufacturing techniques. Now, the future of space exploration depends on many factors. Some of these factors are as followed: how much technology advances, how political forces change rivalries as well as partnerships with other nations, and how important space exploration is to the general public. Costa Del Sol (2342 words) Essay NASA is working on a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle, but .