.... maintained that knowledge comes purely from deduction, and that this knowledge is processed by certain innate schema in the mind. Those that belonged to the empiricist school of thought developed quite separate and distinct ideas concerning the nature of the substratum of sensible objects. John Locke and David Hume upheld the belief that sensible things were composed of material substance, the basic framework for the materialist position. The main figure who believed that material substance did not exist is George Berkeley. In truth, it is the immaterialist position that seems the most logical when placed under close scrutiny. The initial groundwork for Berkeley's p ....

.... "But certainly I should exist, if I were to persuade my self of something." And so, I should conclude that our existence is a truth, and may be the only truth, that we should find its certainty. From the "natural" experiences of our being, we hold beliefs that we find are our personal truths. From these experiences, we have learned to understand life with reason and logic; we have established our idea of reality; and we believe that true perceptions are what we sense and see. But it is our sense of reason and logic, our idea of reality, and our perceptions, that may likely to be very wrong. Subjectiveness, or personal belief, is almost always, liable for self-contr ....

.... successful, he continues to strive for a distant dream; to regain his relationship with Daisy. Gatsby's one fatal flaw is his strive for unrealistic dreams. "He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way . . .and distinguished nothing except a simple green light"(Fitzgerald 26). This shows how Gatsby was striving for his goal, trying to accomplish it, but not finding it to be within realistic reach. Gatsby is a noble man whose vision is fouled by his dream because he remains in a wonder at Daisy's presence throughout the novel. The morality of Dan Cody, Gatsby's role model, and the superficial people who flock to Gatsby's parties contribute to Gatsby's ....

.... woman. The story tells of her past as though Alice Walker was telling a slightly altered version of her own life up to that point. Maggie was burned in a fire that was, though never proven, thought to be set by an older sibling. After the fire, Maggie walked “chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle”, ashamed of her looks (Perrine 91). In relation, Alice’s older sibling shot her in the eye. This blinded her and made her feel like she was unpleasant to look at. She secluded herself and felt ashamed. These events led to the other, non-social activities. Alice Walker, after being blinded by the BB gun, turns to reading stories and writing poet ....

.... loss of Cordelia and Kent. It is his arrogance in the first scene of the play that causes him to make bad decisions. He expects his favorite, youngest daughter to be the most worthy of his love. His pride makes him expect that Cordelia’s speech to be the one filled with the most love. Unfortunately for King Lear’s pride, Cordelia replies to his inquisition by saying, “I love your majesty/According to my bond and nothing less”(1.1.100-101). Out of pride and anger, Lear banishes Cordelia and splits the kingdom in half to the two evil sisters, Goneril and Regan. This tragic flaw prevents King Lear from seeing the truth because his arrogance overrid ....

.... Clarke's space odyssey trilogy. 2061 is easy to read and moves alone at a constant pace. Its simple plot line doesn't confuse a person when the story line jumps around during the beginning. Clarke revisits the famous future he has created in his first two space odyssey books. A future so futuristic, so creative, that it can be imagined in all space-dreaming people. A third expedition starts underway continuing from the last to excursion of human's curiosity and exploring the laws of physics. Heywood Floyd returns again for another mission into space. Floyd starts off on a mission he was dreaming about since he was a little kid. A new spaceship, the Universe, which ....

.... the materials for his fiction (Tedlock 3). John Steinbeck's agricultural upbringing in the California area vibrantly shines through in the settings and story lines of the majority of his works. John Ernst Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, on February 27, 1902. His father's family, originally called Grossteinbeck, had come from Wuppertal, about twenty miles east of the German city of Düsseldorf. During summers he worked as a hired hand on nearby ranches, "nourishing" his impression of the California countryside and its people (Lisca 32). He made occasional exciting trips to San Francisco with his family and more frequent trips to the Monterey peninsula (Fo ....

.... (the hunters ) in Lord of the Flies (Dick 121). E. The Brilliance of Lord of the Flies can scarcely be exaggerated, and horrific as it is, it cannot be dismissed merely as a horror-comic of high literary merit, as a ‘sick’ comment of R.M. Ballentyne’s nineteenth century views of the nature of British boyhood (Allen 120). III. Authors Life: A. He [Golding] entered the Royal Navy at the age of twenty-nine in December, 1940, and after a period of service on mine sweepers, destroyers, and cruisers, he became a lieutenant in command of his own rocketship (Baker xiii). B He [Golding] has constantly stressed his Hellenic parentage, claiming Homer, Herodotus, Aeschylu ....