Free Essays - The Merchant of Venice is Far from Perfect :: Free Merchant of Venice Essays

Auden's Dystopia The Merchant of Venice is Far from Perfect In a perfect world, hatred would be without justice; love would be totally innocent. However, utopias like that are nonexistent; thus, one can easily look around, like Auden, and exclaim, "No hatred is totally without justification, no love is totally innocent." In The Merchant of Venice, there is an imperfect world, as well as a perfect world. The flawed world is the materialistic and bustling city of Venice. The impeccable world is the fairy-tale city of Belmont. Despite Belmont's perfection, a bit of justified hatred from Venice would ruin its innocence. (Paradise lost.) Alas, as Auden suggests, there are no utopias. In Venice, time is of the essence. If one were to momentarily forget the real world, one would be trampled down by its massive stampede of events, bonds, et cetera constantly being made, ubiquitously in its domain. Shylock and Antonio are just one pair of culprits adding to the ultimate imperfection of Venice. However, the bond made between Shylock and Antonio sets them completely apart from the normal villainy dealings, "If you repay me not on such a day... let the forfeit / Be nominated for an equal pound / Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken..." [Act 1, Scene 3]. A shrewd merchant, Antonio does not immediately agree to this. He first reasons it out: "Within these two months--that's a month before / This bond expires--I do expect return / Of thrice three times the value of this bond." [Act 1, Scene 3] If all goes well, our merchant of Venice would have no difficulties in paying Shylock back. However, not all goes well; a while after this bond, rumors on the Rialto suggest that Antonio has lost his fortunes at sea. With not enough wealth to compensate for his due payment, Antonio is now in danger of losing a pound of his flesh, which in those days meant almost certain death. In Belmont's high peak, secluded from the merchants of Venice, time is a silhouette of the real world. Portia sits there weary and bored, waiting for the brave suitor who would agree to risk all for her. She is the perfect woman, wrought of both intelligence and beauty; she is like a doll trapped in Wonderland. In addition to those materialistic qualities, she is also a faithful daughter. She dutifully holds true to her father's dying wish and allows her suitors to be chosen by a lottery system.

Juvenile Justice System

The juvenile justice system and parents across America struggle on a day-to-day basis with their children and substance abuse. It is stated that four out of every five children arrested within the system are under the influence of a substance (alcohol or drugs) when committing the crimes that forced them to be detained and arrested (Alcoholism. about. com, 2010). It is reported within the textbook that seventy-three percent of high school seniors had used alcohol within the past year, which makes the possibility of teenagers entering the juvenile justice system even higher (Siegel & Welsh, 2009).It is also believed that we as a society, does not provide the adequate support to those youth that are using controlled substances; which could in turn result in a more positive outcome, versus a decline in their behavior from initial arrest (Alcholism. about. com, 2010). This is a very true statement because in 2009, the SAMSHA reported that 374,000 citizens were treated for substance abuse between the ages of eighteen to twenty-four; that does not include the amount of individuals who did not seek help and those that were even younger.It also does not tell the story about how many of those individuals started using controlled substances at an earlier age as a juvenile (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, n. d. ). According to Joseph Califano, Jr. , we are writing of the younger Americans by releasing them back into society without attending to their substance abuse needs (Alcholism. about. com, 2010). As an American, it is notable that social status plays a vital role in why juveniles embark into the realm of substance abuse.When children aren’t accepted by their peers, they tend to lash out and try things to make their peers accept them, or hide in a corner and not seek any help because they want to be left alone (Siegel & Welsh, 2009). Social disorganization plays another vital role in why juveniles resort to substance abuse. Because t he United States has so many different juvenile justices systems, it is hard to be held accountable for the different practices taking place, and the fact that non of the practices are helping one hundred percent of the time is unacceptable (Alcoholism. bout. com, 2010). Many juveniles fall into the system, and because there is limited help for them within their state/system, they become long time offenders and turn their adult careers into offending and spend the majority of their lives in adult prison institutions (Alcoholism. about. com, 2010). It is estimated that if provided the proper treatment, juvenile course could save a whopping $14 Billion per year (Alcoholism. about. om, 2010), but it is up to the state and local governments to put the time, efforts and resources into the system to help rehabilitate the youth while they are young, because at some point, the rehabilitation slows or stops completely. It is and always has been difficult to judge whether punishing juveniles was more acceptable than rehabilitating them, but numbers in the state of California has declined to show that rehabilitating is the most viable option to release the strain on our justice system and over crowding in prisons (Mellon, 2008).At times, the most viable option is not the best, but in this situation, it is believed that if you truly want to help youth and keep them on the path of becoming responsible citizens, it is very much necessary to rehabilitate them and coach them early in their childhoods. If we wait until after they commit a crime and become a reactive society, the numbers will blossom into a flower that does not glorify our country.Adults who commit violent crimes that are not first time offenders, they generally had a record as a juvenile that was never addressed and rehabilitated (Deitch, Barstow, Lukens, & Reyna, n. d. ). Although rehabilitation is not always the answer, it can definitely help solve the equation. Alcoholism. about. com. , (2010). Most Juvenil e Offenders use Drugs, Alcohol. Retrieved February 6, 2012, from http://alcoholism. about. com/od/teens/a/blcasa041007. htm Deitch, M. , Barstow, A. , Lukens, L. Reyna, R. , (n. d. ). From Time Out to Hard Time: Young Children in the Adult Criminal Justice System. Retrieved February 6, 2012 from http://www. utexas. edu/lbj/archive/news/images/file/From%20Time%20Out%20to%20Hard%20Time-revised%20final. pdf Mellen, G. , (2008). A Historic Struggle: Punishment or Rehabilitation. Retrieved February 6, 2012, from http://www. presstelegram. com/justice/ci_9327709 Siegel, L. J, & Welsh, B. C. , (2009). Juvenile Delinquency –Theory, Practice and Law. California.

2016 National Baseball Arbitration Competition - 1836 Words

2016 National Baseball Arbitration Competition J.D Martinez v. Detroit tigers Submission on Behalf of J.D Martinez Midpoint: $7.75 million Submission by: Mitchell Garrison Table of Contents I. Introduction and Request for Hearing Decision II. Quality of the Player’s Contribution During the Past Season III. Length and Consistency During the Past Season IV. Past Player Compensation V. Comparative Baseball Salaries VI. Existence of Physical or Mental Defects VII. Recent Performance of the Team VIII. Conclusion I. Introduction and Request for Hearing Decision This brief examines the assets and contributions of right fielder Julio Daniel â€Å"J.D† Martinez (â€Å"Mr. Martinez†) to be†¦show more content†¦The arbitration board should give specific attention, for comparative salary reasons, to the contracts of players of the MLB service not surpassing one yearly service group above the player’s yearly service group. Evidence of the following should not be allowed. (1) The monetary position of the player or the team; (2) journalism pieces or materials of that nature showing the performance of the player or the team, except that known yearly player honors for playing excellence should not be omitted; (3) offers made by the player or the team before arbitration started; (4) the charges to the parties of their agents; and (5) salaries in other sports or jobs. Mr. Martinez has reached 5 years of MLB service allowing him to file for arbitration. The results of his past accomplishments and for seen potential acces sible in this brief and in verbal argument shows that Mr. Martinez is due a salary above the $7.75 midpoint between his final offer and that of the Tigers. Mr. Martinez is politely requesting that the arbitration board finds that he is entitled to a 2016 salary arbitration award of $9.5 million. II. Quality of the Player’s Contribution During the Past Season In his platform season, Mr. Martinez continued to play as the right fielder for the Detroit Tigers outfield. He appeared in 158 games and led the team with 38 home runs which ranked 11th in the entire American League. In the 158 games played, which is a team high, Mr. Martinez also led the