The Satirical Writing of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Essay -- Biography Biograph

The Satirical Writing of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Considered to be one of America's imaginative, original, and talented contemporary writers, Kurt Vonnegut has treated readers to such wonderful works of literature as Slaughterhouse-five and Breakfast of Champions. Most of his many novels, short stories, and plays criticize various wrongs of society. Vonnegut's work is often humorous and light-hearted, mixing settings of fantasy with everyday situations of life. Deeper themes concerning the welfare of society are clearly evident in his satire. Throughout this long career Vonnegut has used his unique style to effectively portray his outlook of the world. Edith Vonnegut gave girth to her second son, Kurt, Jr.., on November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis, Indiana. She and her husband Kurt had been married nine years at the time os junior's birth. The couple's eldest child Bernard was born in 1914, and a daughter Alice followed three years later. Kurt, Sr. had built a reputation as a qualified architect and was able to support his family fairly well. Kurt, Jr.'s early education came at Orchard Public School NO. 43 in Indianapolis from 1928 to 1936. After grade school he moved on Shortridge High, where he served as a staff member for the Shortridge daily Echo, the school's newspaper. Here we see his early like for writing. Finding himself interested in biochemistry, Vonnegut, Jr. attended Cornell Daily Sun. A year later in 1943 the young Hoosier transferred to the Carnegie Institute of Technology. Studies there were cut short by his enlistment into the army to fight in World War II. Vonnegut fought in the battle of the Bulge as a scout for the 106th US Infantry Division, after which he was taken prisoner by the Germans. H... ...gan reading Slaughterhouse-five I knew I was going to enjoy it. I couldn't put the book down. Its unusual structure and organization made it more intriguing for me. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is clearly an accomplished writer. After I read the book, I could see that I would most likely enjoy more of his writing. Through my conducted research I understand how he is influenced by the world around him and what he says in his works. Works Cited http://copper.usc.indiana.edu/~briscott/vonnegut.html "Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr." Discovering Authors, Gale Research, 1993. Harris, Charles B. "Time, Uncertainty, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: A reading of Slaughterhouse- five'," in The Centennial review, Vol. XX, No. 3, 1976. "Harrison Bergeron." Literature and Language, MCDOUGALL LITTELL, CO., 1992. "Adam." Responding to Literature (yellow), MCDOUGALL LITTELL, CO., 1992.

A town Torn apart by Nestlé

The Nestle Waters North Americas plans of building a bottled water plant in McCloud, California was faced by a number of conflicts both internally and externally. Despite Nestle’ company being in the fore front of creating jobs to the residents of McCloud region they were to pose several threats to the lives of people in the long run by depleting water resources.The residences of McCloud are against the Nestle’ waters plant, they argue that the plant will have a negative impact on the local hydrology. This made the residence to seek back-ups from wealth groups and reception of politicians all in the move of bringing to a stop the operations of Nestle Waters. Nestle Waters had to ignore the residence opposition and continue with their activities so as to prevail in McCloud so that it may improve the sale of bottled water in the U.S.The environmentalists claimed that the plant have a say in global warming given that it takes oil in the process of manufacturing bottles to be used to pack water. In addition, transportation of water from the plants to supermarkets utilizes much oil thus contributing to global warming. They have therefore united with the environmentalist in ensuring that the environment is protected against depletion (Conlin , 2008,1).Additionally, there was the organizational politics where some board members in McCloud were against the operation of the plant. This called for a voting to be done in order to find the winner. People had to compromise with the authenticity of Nestlà © plant, given that in the past it promoted infant formula over breast milk. Furthermore, the large size of the company will make it to suck out of the mountain in large quantities thus threatening the hydrology of the area.Competition has been the major conflict to the Nestle in their operation. Other competitors consider this company as a threat given that it has many resources which can make it fund larger activities. Even though the competitors also use w ater in there activities like the soda and beer industries. Apart from competition, the quality of water was another concern in view of the fact that it kept on declining due to toxic brew of pesticides, sewage and industrial run-off.This led to campaign for tap water instead of bottle water on the ground that it is not safe. Moreover, the plant produced large quantities of water per minute leading to drop offs in the flow level and this result to drought. In collaboration with the court, Nestle continued with its operation despite it’s effect of depleting the wetlands on claims that it assured generation of resources to the economy and this is what counts.There was also an organizational conflict where the members of board used to attack each other to the extent that the tires of one of the members were slashed (Conlin, 2008, 4).Reasons for divisionsThe conflict has divided the town into two due to the fact as some view the operation of Nestle’ having many shortcoming s like the competitors. It has provided employment opportunities to the jobless who had nearly lost hope. In addition, half of the residences are against the plant operation claiming that it results to depletion of resources and that Nestle’ requires more water for its company.For those who support the plant is because it has led to employment given that the region is more valuable and they were expectant of such a move. Some are against the plant on the basis that they were not consulted during negotiations and they opted to look for support from other sources especially politicians and wealthy men so that their view may be attended to.The deal was done with few board members giving no room for opposition who claims that water is for life and not for profit and yet Nestle company was after profits given that they sold there water 1000 times the tap water. Furthermore, they regard the plant to be more costly in respect to the benefits derived from its operation.The supporters believe that it help in generation of resources by creating more jobs that will boost the economy, the opposition feel that it is impossible to people to conserve water and later give room for a water plant. This led to lawsuits from those against the plant, thus the biggest challenge is of winning the support of the locals and Nestle’ Waters used to consider this in its plan.Upset residentsThe McCloud residents were upset during and after the September 29th Nestle meeting simply because they were not involved in coming up with the deal. They were eager to indulge in discussion and ask question so that a consensus may be reached after an interactive bargaining but that was not the case.In addition, they were not told the proposal but instead they were dumbfounded as the deal was signed without them knowing what was in it. They consider the move will lead to more droughts in the region given that the country was facing dwindling supply of water (Conlin, 2008, 3).

Fahrenheit 451 By William Bradbury - 958 Words

Fahrenheit 451 was a story that described fireman who started fires of houses that had books in them. People were not allowed to think for themselves or allowed to read books to avoid entering a thinking of anything different then what they were living in. At first Montag was okay with this lifestyle he even enjoyed it until Clarisse made him question his way of life. Montag behind spending more time with her and slowly began to change his actions. He began this by slowly collecting books that should have been burned in the fires and hiding them in his attic. When he tried to let his wife in on this and wanted them to reconnect by entering a world of books she was against the idea and scared to get in trouble. She agreed to give him a day or two to get it out of his system. However, in the end she ended up being the one to abandon his trust the most by being the person who turned him in and then got in a cab and drove off never thinking twice about it. This resulted in Montag cha nging and him burning his captain down to avoid getting arrested. He was able to escape and start a new life and ultimately began happy. Montag once liked his job and then he meets Clarisse and begins to question is career choice as well as his personal life because he does not feel complete or happy. Montag wants to change his life and tries to open up to Mildred about his feelings but Mildred is so caught up with her â€Å"T.V. Family† that she does not have time to discuss anything with Montag.Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Fahrenheit 451 By William Bradbury896 Words   |  4 Pagesmany forms. Beatty and Mildred, together are symbols of the authoritarian system, living vapid and meaningless lives that they are unable to escape. Initially, Montag is also trapped in the scheme, although his thoughts still yearn for knowledge (Bradbury). He is thoroughly fascinated by Clarisse, a sign of unconventionality and freethinking and a total dissimilarity to Mildred; she dares him to reflect on his life to give it some additional meaning. He rejects the natural life of conformity, indifferenceRead MoreFahrenheit 451 By William Bradbury Essay1179 Words   |  5 PagesThe book Fahrenheit 451 is set in a dystopian, authoritarian world. The main character, Guy Montag, joins a movement for books when he begins to go against his society’s and government’s regulations. It is a book about censorship, individualism, and mass media. Censorship takes away the intentions left by the creator. It becomes bland, and unoriginal. Words set the mood of the story and character’s behavior within a work. It is important for explicit material to remain raw and natural. It is meantRead MoreFahrenheit 451 By William Bradbury2026 Words   |  9 PagesThe novel Fahrenheit 451 is set in a futuristic American city. In the novel, firemen burn books of all sorts. Guy Montag, the main character of the story, is a fireman. However, Montag secretly loves books, which is an aspect that differentiates him from his coworkers. One night, Montag meets a young, bright girl named Clarisse McClellan. She is idealistic and espouses many beliefs that Montag finds unorthodox and strange. She says that firemen once put out fires started accidentally instead ofRead MoreThe Glass Menagerie By Tennessee Williams And Montag Fahrenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury1107 Words   |  5 Pagesstruggle in their present lives, while other let memories inspire them to make improvements in their current lives. Amanda and Laura from â€Å"The Glass Menagerie† by Tennessee Williams and Beatty and Montag Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, choose to allow memories to positively or negatively dictate their lives. Montag from Fahrenheit 451 is motivated to make improvements in his society and personal life when he recalls positive memories. When Montag is watching the destruction of what was once his home heRead MoreCold War in the Eyes of Ray Bradbury1689 Words   |  7 PagesRay Bradbury, from small town America (Waukegan, Illinois), wrote two very distinctly different novels in the early Cold War era. The first was The Martian Chronicles (1950) know for its â€Å"collection† of short stories that, by name, implies a broad historical rather than a primarily individual account and Fahrenheit 451 (1953), which centers on Guy Montag. The thematic similarities of Mars coupled with the state of the American mindset during the Cold War era entwine the two novels on the surfaceRead MoreAuthority Individual1437 Words   |  6 PagesIn Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, authority is viewed as ruthless and the individual is portrayed as innocent. This is also emphasised in two related texts, Whose Life Is It Anyway? By Brian Clark, and Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont. The themes of ruthlessness and innocence are exemplified throughout all three texts, through the concept of the authority and the individual. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, authority is depicted as ruthless. This is shown throughout theRead MoreTruth vs Happiness Fahrenheit 4511272 Words   |  6 PagesTruth vs. Happiness Essay (Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury) Submitted on Wednesday, March 27th Submitted By: William Would you rather be happy in your life and live in ignorance or would you rather live your life with more of a purpose? Even if that purpose means doing things that most people would frown upon. This is one of the conflicts the characters face in the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 is a book about a fireman named Guy Montag. In his society fireman start firesRead MoreAlliteration In Leda And The Swan By Ray Bradbury1852 Words   |  8 Pagesusually) (Literature: A Portable Anthology). Example: In Fahrenheit 451, Montag states, â€Å"It’s fine work. Monday burn Millay, Wednesday Whitman, Friday Faulkner, burn’em to ashes. That’s our official slogan.† The repetition sound of â€Å"M,† â€Å"W,† and â€Å"F,† show alliteration (Bradbury 6). Allusion: A reference to a well-known person, place, place, event, literary work, or work of art (Literary Devices). Example: On page fifty-seven of Fahrenheit 451, Beatty says, â€Å"Colored people don’t like Little Black SamboRead MoreEssay On 1984 And Fahrenheit 4511323 Words   |  6 PagesIn the books, 1984, by George Orwell, and Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, each show that man has a number of potential ways to destroy itself, like technology, war, and the usage of words. Technology Technology and technological advancements were very prevalent in the book Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, and many technological advancements are happening today, including the idea and advancements of artificial intelligences, AI. In the book Fahrenheit 451, there are many indications of a societyRead MoreFire Does More Than Burn1943 Words   |  8 PagesFire Does More Than Burn Raymond Douglas Ray Bradbury was an American fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery fiction author. Bradbury was a favorited 20th- and 21st-century American genre writer, most famously known for his novel Fahrenheit 451. Set in the 24th century, Fahrenheit 451 tells the story of Guy Montag. At first Montag loves his job as a fireman, burning illegally owned books and the homes of their owners. However, Montag soon begins to question the value of his profession and