Steve Job's commencement speech: an analysis

This speech was given at the graduation ceremony of students from Stanford University.The purpose of this speech is to share with the audience about Steve Job's experiences in his life, the lessons he learnt from them and his advice to the audience. The audience is the graduates of Stanford University attending the commencement ceremony. The context of the speech is at a commencement ceremony and the tone of the tone of the speech is formal and sincere.

The structure of the speech is rather basic but clear. When giving his personal anecdotes, Steve Jobs uses phrases like "The first story is about connecting the dots.","My second story is about love and loss.", "My third story is about death." to give a preview of the content he is going to cover, hence giving them a clearer outline of his speech.

In his speech, Steve Jobs adopted the "rule of three". He emphasised things through anaphora and repeated it three times. For example, in "learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great", the word "about" was repeated thrice and in " all external expectations, all pride, all fear", the word "all" was repeated thrice to emphasise that everything dissipates else dissipates when one knows that he is going to die.

Steve Jobs also uses antithesis in his speech. For example "If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in", where "dropped out" and "dropped in" are opposing ideas and in "again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.", "looking foward" and "looking backwards" are juxtaposing phrases

Should Osama be given a trial?

Osama should not have been given a trial. In 2004, Osama had claimed responsibility for the “September 11” attack on the New York World Trade Centre (WTC) and the Pentagon, where 4 planes were sent crashed into these buildings. Severe damage and many casualties resulted. Both towers of the WTC twin tower collapsed within 2 hours after 2 planes crashed into them, and around half of the Pentagon, a gigantic building that houses the US military, was destroyed. The death toll for this attack was 2753. Even if Osama was given a trial, could he have denied the charge of terrorism and murder?
A trial for Osama could potentially cause more anger among supporters of Osama, as the line along which Osama would argue to defend himself would be from the point of view of the believes of the terrorists. The court that is convicting Osama, which will most likely be the US or UN court, will not listen to his points of view due to the different in their believes. This would result in outrage by the terrorists as this would cause them to feel that the US do not care about their feelings and totally disregard them. More violence might result in revenge.

Rupert Murdoch issue

Rupert Murdoch has been in the spotlight this time not for the right reasons. The famous and influential millionaire who owns the News Corp and has a stake in many big companies has been slammed for his involvement in the phone-hacking scandal of the tabloid that he owns, News of the World. The recent spate of phone-hacking incidents targeted civilians. They either got sensational news from the information received from the hacked phones, or twisted the stories to spruce them up. For example, in the case of Milly Dowler, reports said that she was missing and her case still remains a mystery, while the fact is that she is already dead and some staff from News of the World, including a private investigator, had already been in the know of this. The private investigator, who was the one who found out about the news, deleted the messages that were related to the death of Milly Dowler so as to destroy evidence of what truly had happened. The story that the tabloid had spun up attracted their attention created suspense among readers. This is an example of the many sensational reports by the News of the World which they came up with through hacking phones of civilians.

This incident has sparked the outrage of the British public. Although phone-hacking incidents were not rare throughout British history, it is only in this incident where there is such large-scale upset. This is due to the fact that the scandal this time round targeted civilians, unlike the previous incidents which aimed to get information from royals, politicians and celebrities. This resulted in the public feeling that their privacy is being compromised, and that they could be made used of and be the subject of the news anytime.

Besides public upset, the phone hacking scandal has also revealed ugly side of the British public. During the previous phone hacking incidents, the public was nonchalant just because they did not involve them. To exacerbate the situation, they continued to purchase the tabloid, despite knowing that these information were received through phone hacking and that phone hacking is against the ethics of journalism. This allows these companies to earn more money through receiving sensational news through hacking phones of people and hence encourages the news media to continue such acts. Since they knew that the some companies in the news media use such indecent means to get their news, the public should have stopped buying tabloids from these companies so that their profits will decease and they will find phone hacking not a lucrative business to do. This will put a stop to the hacking of phones to get sensational news. All these actions of the British public show that they are hypocritical, as they do not want their privacy to be compromised but yet either did not care or encouraged the news media to reveal events in the private life of royals, celebrities and politicians.
The incident also showed that politicians were insincere opportunists. When Rupert Murdoch was in power, they tried to get into his good books and did not dare to offend him as he was such a influential figure that he could sway the way the public votes in election. After the collapse of the News of the World, many of these politicians started turning against Rupert Murdoch and some even openly criticized him. This shows that they were “double-faced” people, who curry favour the person in power.

Comment on arranged marriages

There are pros and cons for arranged marriages. There are arranged marriages due to several reasons. For example, in the olden days in China, the culture was such that the father is the person who decides who the child should marry and children had to no autonomy to decide who they want to choose as their life partner. A more recent example would be in India, where the caste system only allows people to marry within their “class” and restricts people from choosing who they truly love. Parents in some parts of India are afraid that their children would fall in love with a person from another class if they were to be allowed to freely select their partners. Many troubles would arise if their children falling in love with people from other “classes” as it would put the child in a dilemma whether to marry this person or to stick to the custom and break up. It would also make the parents worry because if the child eventually decides to continue with the relationship, the child would be considered as a “criminal” in the society. Parents, who would naturally not want that to happen, have to find all means to break their relationship, and this could result in devastating effects such as the souring of parent-child relationship due to the child blaming the parents, or the child not being able to get over the separation. Hence decide their spouse for them to avoid the potential problems that could arise from their children freely choosing their spouse. We can also conclude that arranged marriages are done partly due to the parents’ love for the child as they want to save their child from the problems that could potentially be faced in the process of a “free marriage”, and need not necessarily be a bad thing.

However, arranged marriages could result in an unstable relationship. The two parties of the marriage might not love each other as the marriage was not the choice of the bride and the groom but that of the parents. Parents would usually pick the spouse for their children based on social status and family background rather than how much they love each other and how compatible they are. If the two parties happen not to love each other, their relationship will be very shaky and might not last for long.

In summary, arranged marriages is not the best way to decide the life partner of a person. Although there are advantages to arranged marriages, the disadvantages make it difficult to implement in today’s society. Parents should guide their children along the way when their children are finding a life partner, teach them how to make an informed decision, but give the final say to their children .

North Korea

North Korea is a secluded communist country, which did not have much interaction with the outside world ever since its founding. The Korean War, which ended in 1953, saw the split of Korea into two countries - North Korea and South Korea. Ever since, the Communist North has isolated itself and cutting away foreign interactions. The exceptions are when the leaders of the North attend talks and meetings with other countries.
North Korea is a place where propaganda spreads. Having shut its doors from the world till the present day, North Korea is one of the countries who can successfully propagandize its citizens. North Koreans do not have phone lines, need less to say access to the internet. The only media and source of information that they are exposed to is the state media, in which propaganda is rampant. For example, the North Korean media speaks well of Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea, and Kim Jung-Il, his son and the current leader of North Korea and condemns countries like South Korea, its arch enemy. As a result of not having an alternative source of information, North Koreans belief what is said by the media and hence get brainwashed. They have a positive impression of the North Korean leaders and belief that they are great leaders, and that North Korea is a great country to live in. To others, the impression of a backward state(whose leader has extra-marital affairs) where people get no freedom is formed when the words “North Korea” are said. This is the reality. North Koreans, on the other hand, do not have the faintest idea of how the outside world is like, and the state of their country as compared to others. They are living under constant deception, under a veil of ignorance. These explain why there have been no protests in North Korea despite the hardship citizens are facing. It is also the reason why North Korea can still remain as a Communist state until today, with no plans for revolution.
The way out of their predicament, to flee the country, need not ensure them a steady future ahead. Many of the defectors cross the border separating North Korea and China, a place where there are loopholes in security and those with the intention of slipping away can do so if the necessary measures are taken. However, in most cases, the defectors face more problems after crossing the border. The Chinese police has worked with North Korea, agreeing to send back the arrested defectors from North Korea. These defectors would then have to face punishments such as years of hard labour back home. Besides the need to constantly be on the lookout for the Chinese authorities to evade arrest, these refugees also face the problem of finding a job. Often, the owners of indecent businesses would take advantage of these people and once they enter the industry, it is difficult for them to get out of it.
In some cases, these defectors do manage to escape to South Korea or America, places that are considered their “sanctuary”, with the help of some volunteer organisations. The journey that they will have to undergo is both physically and mentally demanding. Not only would they have to evade detection as they cross borders to Thailand, where they could be given a permit to travel to these countries, they also have to bear with the cramp and dirty conditions of the detention room in which they will be placed in while they await getting the permit and for their flight.
Even after managing to clear these procedures and travelling to their “sanctuary”, not all is easy-going. Most of these defectors face the problem of cultural shock. The gap between the development of North Korea and these countries is huge and they could possibly encounter difficulties adapting to the pace and style of life in their new homeland. Moreover, the society might not accept them. Citizens from these countries might look upon these defectors as their competitors for jobs. Moreover, since the defectors come from North Korea, a country enemy to many others (including South Korea and US), the people there might have difficulty accepting the North Koreans. This creates the problem of difficulty integrating into the new society for North Korean defectors.

Is Shylock a villain or a victim?

In Merchant of Venice, Shylock is both a victim and a villain. Shylock is a victim he is the subject of discrimination and bully by the citizens of Venice. For example, Antonio often insults him by calling him names like "cut-throat dog" and "misbeliever". Another incident when Shylock is being bullied is when the beggars on the street mock at him when his daughter, Jessica, fled with Lorenzo and even took away with her Shylock's hard-earned ducats and his gems. A large portion of Shylock's business of usury has also been snatched away by Antonio. Antonio, like most of the Venetians, disapprove of the usury, the business of lending money and getting it back with an interest. To show disapproval of Shylock, Antonio lends money to others gratis (without interest), a sign of open competition to Shylock's business. This would make people who want to borrow money to go to Antonio instead of Shylock as it is a more lucrative and money-saving option, and therefore Shylock's business is being stolen by Antonio (note that Shylock did not be an moneylender because he wanted to be one, but because he cannot find other jobs in Venice as he is a Jew and no one wants to employ him).

However, Shylock is not a an innocent victim. He, too, is guilty of offending others and doing heinous acts. For example, the entire plot to get the pound of Antonio's flesh (with the intention of taking away is life as well) was planned by Shylock under the facade of justice. Shylock makes use of Antonio's willingness to help Bassanio and his confidence that he have much more than enough money at hand than the amount he has to pay by the time the bond is due to make him sign the bond which states that Antonio will have to forfeit a pound of flesh if he fails to pays Shylock the stated amount in the bond when the bond expires. To make Antonio unsuspecting of his intentions, Shylock says that "in a merry spot", Antonio would have to forfeit a pound of flesh if he fails to repay Shylock the sum of money on time. When Antonio eventually could not pay Shylock the money as his money was put in his ships and his ships did not return on time, Shylock mocked at Antonio and promised that he would have his bond. Moreover, when Antonio and his friends try to convince Shylock to give Antonio more time and not be so cruel, Shylock insisted that he would have the pound of Antonio's flesh and justified his action by the fact that Antonio has bullied and humiliated him previously, and now he would have the right do it back on Antonio. In this case, Shylock's argument shows that he is a hypocritical person as he expects others to show kindness to him and not to insult him, while he does not have the same expectation for himself. These show that Shylock is exacting revenge by attempting to take away the life of his enemy under the facade of justice.

Should US have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan?

The US should have dropped on the atomic bomb on Japan. Since the start of World War 2, Japan has been invaded many Asian countries, some of which were much bigger than itself. This caused the Allied forces to see Japan as a major threat, for fears that the war would spread to their countries. The US had taken steps to stop the war. They include the extensive bombing of major Japanese cities, which destroyed more than 40 percent of these places on avcerage. Despite the severe loss, Japan stubbornly refused to surrender. Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, had also come under attack by the Allied forces but they surrenderred by the end of April 1945. In an effort to force Japan to surrender, the US gave Japan the Potsdam Ultimatum, which stated that if Japan did not not surrender, it would result in "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland". Despite the previous bombings and the ultimatum, Japan still decided to carry on with the war. This proved the conventional bombing that the US had carried out ineffective as it did not bring Japan anywhere near surrenderring despite the great amount of damages done to major cities. Hence, the US decided to drop the atomic bomb, the bomb that could wipe out an entire city.