Essays on Biographies

... in Tampico. Terry performed a delivery that took such a toll on Nelle Wilson Reagan that he advised her not to have any more children. So Ronald whose brother wouldn't look at him because he was a boy, became the second and last of the Reagan's children. John Edward Reagan, who was of Irish-American ancestry, earned his living as a shoe salesman. Alcoholism cursed the life of Jack Reagan. His older son Neil said bluntly that it prevented him form becoming a business success. However, Ronald blames the twin curse of drink and the Depression. Both boys escaped much of the bitterness which can afflict the children of alcoholics because their mother consoled them ...

... The most vital sign being fire. The fire is much like the main character in the story, Abner. Both Abner and the fire are uncontrollable and destroy anything in its way, having respect for nothing. Sarty, Abner’s son, dislikes what his father does out of acts of hate and tries to stop it (Faulkner "Barn" 23). He attempts to put out the "fire" inside his father. He is sick of his family’s way of life and is ready for a change no matter what it takes, even if it means going against his own blood. No matter what is done, they can not stop Abner from lashing out and burning buildings. Through his sheer enjoyment of the negative sides of his ...

... the absolute power not on grounds of divine right, but on its usefulness. The only people retained only the right to protect their own lives John Locke, another English philosopher, adopted many of Hobbes work. His most important political work also appeared in 1690, the Two Treatises of Government; there he argues that the function of the state is to protect the natural rights of its citizens, primarily to protect the right to property. Though he challenged Thomas Hobbes on the nature of primitive society --for Hobbes it was "nasty, brutish, and short," while for Locke it was more rational, tolerant, and cooperative he agreed with him on the origin of the ...

... their career by playing in Duke’s orchestra, and eventully gain historic jazz notoriety from their times with Duke (Holmes). Such players as Jimmy Blanton, the “doomed young virtouoso of the stringed bass”, and Ben Webster, adding to the sax section that already housed Jonny Hodges, Harry Carney, and Barney Bigard (Holmes). The trumpet section during this time in Duke’s orchestra comprised such legends as Rex Stewart and Cootie Williams. Joe Nanton, Juan Tizol, and Lawrence Brown comprised the monster trombone section, and Sonny Greer rounded out the orchestra on drums (Holmes). And of course, there the “piano player, as Duke ...

... catch a boat for South America because he was eager to observe the plants of southern lands. This was known as the thousand-mile walk. During his journey, he would stop to collect plant samples and write about his observations in his journal. John was weak from the trip and thought that he would need much more energy to travel to South America. He decided to visit Yosemite Valley, where he would regain his strength. He took up the job as a herder there and began to explore the area. Then he got a job as guide to the Yosemite. Muir quickly became an expert on Yosemite. John believed that glaciers had helped in the formation of the valley. People began to pa ...

... was born in Sauk Center, Minnesota, on February 7, 1885, and was educated at Yale University. From 1907 to 1916 he was a newspaper reporter and a literary editor. In Main Street (1920) Lewis first developed the theme that was to run through his most important work: the monotony, emotional frustration, and lack of spiritual and intellectual values in American middle-class life. His novel Babbitt (1922) mercilessly characterizes the small-town American businessman who conforms blindly to the materialistic social and ethical standards of his environment; the word "Babbitt," designating a man of this type, has become part of the language. In Arrowsmith (1925) Lewis ...

... 30 years.”These days, L.A. is recognized as a center for the production of contemporary art. But in the 1950s, the scene was slim -- few galleries and fewer museums. Despite the obscurity, a handful of solitary and determined artists broke ground here, stretching the inflexible definitions of what constitutes painting, sculpture and other media. Among these avant-gardists was Peter Voulkos.” In 1954, Voulkos was hired as chairman of the fledgling ceramics department at the L.A. County Art Institute, now Otis College of Art and Design, and during the five years that followed, he led what came to be known as the "Clay Revolution." Students like John Mason, Paul So ...

... Rafael Calderon allied himself with the Costa Rican communist party, Vanguardia Popular as well as the Nicaraguan dictator Somoza. Figueres would then give a radio speech disdaining Calderon and his actions which would lead to Figueres’ exile to Mexico in 1942. (Cockcroft, 232) Figueres returned in 1944, and an alleged fixing of the 1948 Costa Rican election was the window that he had been waiting for. Supported by the governments of Guatemala, Cuba, and the U.S., Figueres and his Army of National Liberation would force the surrender of President Picado, a puppet of Calderon, and the Vanguardia forces, Figueres would seize control of Costa Rica as the h ...

... as a boarder. Diana Had a talent for music as an accomplished pianist, dancing and domestic science. She left West Heath in 1977 and went to finishing school at the Institut Alpin Videmanette in Rougemont, Switzerland. She left finishing school after the Easter term of 1978. She then moved to Coleherne Court, London. For a while she looked after the child of an American couple and worked as a kindergarten teacher at the Young England School in Pimlico. On February 24, 1981, it was officially announced that Diana was to marry the Prince of Wales. They were married at St. Paul's Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981. The ceremony drew a global television and ...

... Camus was diagnosed with the first stages of tuberculosis. This disease plagued him for the rest of his life. At age seventeen, Albert moved in with his uncle by marriage, Gustave Acault, who provided Albert with a better environment as well as an actual father figure. After enduring the hardships of his childhood, Camus began writing at age seventeen. Camus wrote many influential works and gained much success, starting at age seventeen, when he decided to strive to become a writer. Albert's first "literary experience" was gained as a member of the "North African Literary Group." By 1932, he was writing articles for the magazine entitled Sud. Albert ...