Non fiction Blog Post

The article "21st Century Slavery" in the Upfront Magazine by Alessandra Potenza is about slavery. Not just slavery in general, but slavery in the 21st century. According to Potenza, slavery is not "a thing in the past", like how many people think it is.

According to the article, the countries with the most modern-day slaves are: Russia, China, Bangladesh, India, Uzbekistan and Brazil. In Uzbekistan, the slavery is forced by the government, in contrast with other countries, in which they are "owners" and people are "owned".
Many slavery jobs include fishing, like "Min Min", mining, cocoa farming for chocolate, and sex trafficking. As many as 27 million people are in modern day slavery, according to the U.S. Department of State.
From the author's point of view, slavery is a horrible thing. No one should work for 18 hours and not get paid a single penny, like Ima Matul (she was a former slave in the US). And in general, the author too wants to inform the reader that slavery is not good; and something should be done.

Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare Essay

     Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare in the late 16th century, is about two inseparable  lovebirds. Romeo is the son of the Montagues, whereas Juliet is the daughter of the Capulets. The  Montagues and the Capulets have been feuding with one another for several generations. If either of Romeoor Juliet’s parents found out about their love for one another or their secret marriage, then the consequences would be deadly. Those two themes of consequences and death are developed throughout the play, and each consequence leads from one event to the other, until the end, in which both lovebirds die.

     

      In Act 3, scene 1, Tybalt, who is a Capulet, seeks revenge from Romeo because Tybalt saw him at the Capulet's party, in which he was not invited since he is a Montague. His revenge is to duel with Romeo, but instead in Line 84, Tybalt starts sword fighting with Mercutio. In lines 101-102, Mercutio claimed “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man”. To paraphrase, Mercutio knew that he would die, which connects to the theme of death. The result of Tybalt killing Mercutio was that Tybalt was to die, due to the Prince's orders of no fighting on the streets of Verona, which is another connection to death, as well as consequence. However, Romeo decides to sword fight with Tybalt, for killing his best friend Mercutio. Romeo succeeded in killing Tybalt, but due to his actions, he got banished from Verona (3.3).

      Romeo is banished from Verona, 3.3. 9 & 12, when Friar Lawrence states “I bring thee tidings of the Prince's doom .... No body’s death, but body’s banishment”. Romeo has to go to Mantua instead of being killed because he violated the Prince’s order of peacefulness on the streets of Verona. In other words, he made death happen when it unnecessary (Tybalt was going to die anyways). Going to Mantua was a big deal for Romeo because Juliet, the love of his life and secretly, his wife, would not be there. Romeo even says to Friar Lawrence when he tells him the consequences in 3.3. 13-15: "Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say "death," For exile hath more terror in his look, Much more than death. Do not say "banishment"".  This shows that Romeo would rather die then to be banished. On the other hand, Juliet then had to deal with the fact that her husband is not going to be there, and that she was going to marry Count Paris, who is a kinsman of the Prince, in a couple of days. In Act 4, Scene 1, Line 95-96, Friar Lawrence says to Juliet "Take thou this vial.... And this distillèd liquor drink thou off". He gives her a potion in which she will appear dead, when really, she will be in a deep sleep. The effect of Juliet taking the potion would be having the excuse of not marrying Paris, and intending to runaway with Romeo to Mantua.

       In Act 5, Scene 3, Romeo has returned back to Verona from Mantua to collect from Juliet "A precious ring, a ring that I [Romeo] must use". He sees that Juliet is dead, in 5.3.84 lying in a tomb next to her dead relatives.  He did not know that in fact Juliet was alive; that she was just in a deep sleep. He did not know this because he was in Mantua. Romeo loved Juliet so much, he killed himself for seeing “death” upon his very own eyes. In 5.3.119-120, Romeo’s last words were “Here’s to my love. O true apothecary, Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die". Soon after this being said, Juliet awakened from her deep sleep. She was heartbroken when she saw that her husband, Romeo, had drank the poison and was dead. Very upset by this, she took the dagger from Romeo, saying "let me die" before she stabbed herself to death. 

      In conclusion, all these events lead to one another as consequences, with death playing a big role: from Tybalt killing Mercutio; Romeo killing Tybalt; Romeo being banished from Verona; Juliet fake killing herself; Romeo committing suicide; finally to Juliet really dying. Shakespeare developed the story of these two unfortunate lovebirds through these two themes.