What Does The American Flag Mean To Me Essays - Vexillology

What Does the American Flag Mean to Me? Freedom. Justice. History. The flag of the United States has a different meaning to it for every person. Whether it's just standing up in class everyday at school and saying the Pledge of Allegiance or if we really have respect for our countries flag. When you say the Pledge of Allegiance, do you really mean what you say? Do you even think about the words that are coming out of your mouth? While I was thinking about what to write for this essay, these questions got me thinking. What does the flag really mean? What was the purpose of it being made? I've always wondered why they chose the colors red, white, and blue to use in the flag and why only thirteen red and white stripes? I learned that the stripes represent the original thirteen colonies. Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. There was an issue when two new states, Kentucky and Vermont, were added to the Union. They were debating whether to add two more stars and stripes to the flag or not. The result was that they did end up added the two new states onto the flag. Later, they noticed that for every new state that was made, they would have to add a new star and a stripe. Someone finally suggested that we change the stripes back to thirteen to represent the first thirteen states that the United States admitted in our country. They would only add a star or each new state admitted. That was successfully followed through. We now have thirteen stripes and fifty stars on the flag. I think that the history of the flag and what the symbols are really important to knowing what the flag represents. Many people may disagree with me and think that the history isn't the most important fact to know about the flag. Maybe you may think that it is all about who made the flag, if what the Pledge of Allegiance means, or what the flag was made for in the first place. Maybe you even think about what the Star- Spangled Banner really talks about when you sing it. These are all important things to think and know about. The flag is really valuable and should be respected by every citizen.

Free Essays on The Metamorphosis

THE METAMORPHOSIS In the opening lines of German author Franz Kafkas’ short story narrative â€Å"The Metamorphosis†, the protagonist Gregor Samsa a disgruntled traveling salesman who lives with and supports his parents and little sister, awakens from a night of unpleasant dreams to find that he has been metamorphosed into a cockroach he calls a â€Å"monstrous vermin† (Kafka, page 89). This particularly strange opening sets the stage for in my opinion, a very strange and very vague play. I say this because throughout the whole story we never find out much less are given any clue of how or why he managed to be metamorphosed into this insect. Not to mention what the moral of the story is or the fact that this whole book reads like one big nauseating, joke. As the story begins we basically from the get go are introduced to the daily gist of the book which is Gregor’s everyday struggle with his newly acquired body. This is evident when Gregor try’s to crawl out of bed but cannot because he is laid down on his back and as a cockroach does not have the means to get himself up and into a upright poistion. To make things worst when he awakens at half-past six o’clock and is immediately late for the five o’clock train he was destined to be on for his meeting with the porter. Gregor is now running the risk of being unemployed if he doesn’t make his appointed rounds as a traveling salesman. It is right before this point that we find out about Gregor’s utter contempt for not only his job and his boss but his special loan workout wage setup as well. You see Gregor’s parents are in debt to his boss who is only referred to as the â€Å"chief† (Kafka, page 90) of his firm. Gregor himself who is a returning veteran of our country yearns to be free his Indentured like servitude to his chief so that he can feel free to pursue other goals. This to me I find quit e peculiar because it is never stated what he plans on doing after he pays t... Free Essays on The Metamorphosis Free Essays on The Metamorphosis The Metamorphosis By: Franz Kafka Gregor Samsa has gone through a metamorphosis. This change has turned Gregor into a â€Å"monstrous vermin†. The anxieties, inner terrors, and cynicism, which fill Gregor’s life, are expressed by Kafka throughout the novel, metamorphosis. Franz Kafka uses these feelings as an element of Expressionism to convey Gregor’s attitudes towards his life and society. Examples depicting this element of Expressionism used in the novel are Gregor’s feelings towards his job, the effect his job has on his family, and the cruelty that his family displays. The novel opens with Gregor in his monstrous state, late for work. He infers that his job as a traveling salesman is very consequential, yet he is growing tired and frustrated, â€Å"The upset of doing business is much worse than the actual business in the home office, and, besides, I’ve got the torture of traveling, worrying about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours, constantly seeing new faces, no relationships that last or get more intimate. To the devil with it all!† (Kafka 12). Gregor has a great amount of fury towards his job, which eventually led to his anger towards society as a whole. The fact that his office manager showed up at Gregor’s house plays an immense role in creating trepidation and anxieties in Gregor’s mind. Gregor feels strangled by his job and is too weak to tolerate the pressure. In addition to the pressure created by his office manager and society, the Samsa’s, especially Gregor’s father, take advantage of him. Gregor earns the basic income to support his family. â€Å"But of course he actually could have paid off more of his father’s debt to the boss with this extra money, and the clay on which he could have gotten rid of his job would have been much closer, but now things were undoubtedly better, the way his father had arranged them.† (Kafka 76). The superficiality of the Samsa’s has put Gregor ... Free Essays on The Metamorphosis THE METAMORPHOSIS In the opening lines of German author Franz Kafkas’ short story narrative â€Å"The Metamorphosis†, the protagonist Gregor Samsa a disgruntled traveling salesman who lives with and supports his parents and little sister, awakens from a night of unpleasant dreams to find that he has been metamorphosed into a cockroach he calls a â€Å"monstrous vermin† (Kafka, page 89). This particularly strange opening sets the stage for in my opinion, a very strange and very vague play. I say this because throughout the whole story we never find out much less are given any clue of how or why he managed to be metamorphosed into this insect. Not to mention what the moral of the story is or the fact that this whole book reads like one big nauseating, joke. As the story begins we basically from the get go are introduced to the daily gist of the book which is Gregor’s everyday struggle with his newly acquired body. This is evident when Gregor try’s to crawl out of bed but cannot because he is laid down on his back and as a cockroach does not have the means to get himself up and into a upright poistion. To make things worst when he awakens at half-past six o’clock and is immediately late for the five o’clock train he was destined to be on for his meeting with the porter. Gregor is now running the risk of being unemployed if he doesn’t make his appointed rounds as a traveling salesman. It is right before this point that we find out about Gregor’s utter contempt for not only his job and his boss but his special loan workout wage setup as well. You see Gregor’s parents are in debt to his boss who is only referred to as the â€Å"chief† (Kafka, page 90) of his firm. Gregor himself who is a returning veteran of our country yearns to be free his Indentured like servitude to his chief so that he can feel free to pursue other goals. This to me I find quit e peculiar because it is never stated what he plans on doing after he pays t...