Dehumanisation, Death, Destruction - Literature Essay Samples

Remarque’s account of the horrors of the Western Front in World War I, from the common German soldier’s perspective, is a poignant reminder of the horrors of war. Dehumanisation, death and destruction are the key themes are relayed through the eyes of Paul Baumer, a soldier in the Great War of 1914-1918 and the narrator of All Quiet on the Western Front.Dehumanisation is a key central theme in the novel, as the characters are transformed from young men into old men, from idealistic, patriotic youth into a coarse, violent group of state murderers who kill others mercilessly for their own survival, and, ultimately, from men with hopes and dreams to men with nothing to look forward to. Indeed, the balmy and gentle influences from parents, teachers and â€Å"the whole course of civilisation from Plato to Goethe† (16) are brushed away and hardcore, militaristic values of â€Å"saluting, eyes front†¦ bloody-mindedness† (16) are instilled into the young men, who are sent off to confront the stark realities of war after their short training. There is therefore a disjuncture between how the soldiers view the war and how those who do not participate in it view it. Kantorek, the schoolteacher, loudly extols the virtue of patriotism but does not see firsthand – as his students do – the consequences of that patriotism in war. The teacher is craven in blithely sending the students to their deaths while extolling empty virtues that are not reflected in the frontlines. The civilians at the home front are also unaware of what the front is like, yet call for the brave lads to win the war and bring back good news from Paris. They have absolutely no idea of what war is. Baumer’s response to civilian ignorance is to realize that the civilians and soldiers actually live in two separate worlds. â€Å"We have turned into human animals,† (40) he states, suggesting not only that he and his fellow soldiers are no longer fully h uman but also that war turns all its participants into beasts. Later, Baumer and his comrade Detering witness horses become severely wounded during an attack. Detering, who deeply values horses, comments that â€Å"It is the most despicable thing of all to drag animals into a war† (45) because they are innocent of crimes and must suffer for human causes. If soldiers become like animals, as Baumer had stated, it is just as wrong to drag them into war as to bring horses into it.Death is ever present in the novel, and there is massive physical and psychological destruction throughout the trenches. Soldiers die every day during prolonged shelling made especially lethal by poisonous gases. Death permeates all the novel’s scenes, including that in the hospital, whose occupants will not leave alive. The artillery attack on a graveyard, where the lives of the soldiers depend upon the coffins holding dead people, represents total destruction of respect and normalcy. Corpses the re figuratively died more than once.Destruction extends to the characters’ individual lives. The older men had jobs and occupations before the war, but the younger soldiers did not have anything to attach themselves to then. They have nothing to look forward to except torn and destroyed dreams, with no hope of progress or a future. They have no more â€Å"desire to conquer the world† and are â€Å"refugees†¦ fleeing from ourselves† (63). Many of them, like the famous war veteran â€Å"Kat,† who survives everything only to die finally from an unnoticed shrapnel wound, do not make it out alive. Death and destruction do not spare even Paul Baumer himself. Baumer dies as the dispatch declares â€Å"All quiet on the western front,† which calls to mind the desolation and sense of futility that accompany Baumer’s death. The destruction that Baumer and his comrades witnessed deprived them of life and hope. Thus Remarque’s novel, through its depiction of dehumanization, death and destruction, is a poignant lesson about the horror of war and its impact on generations. Remarque, Erich Maria (2005). All Quiet on the Western Front. London: Vintage.

Financial aid what international students need to know

If you’re an international student interested in applying to American universities, you probably already know that studying in the U.S. isn’t cheap – and sticker prices just keep rising. With tuition and fees at some schools now topping $70,000 a year, the cost of higher education in the U.S., even at public institutions, easily costs tens of thousands more than it does in most other countries. The good news is that schools do offer some kind of financial assistance for international students – in some cases, very significant amounts of aid. The bad news, however, is that navigating the American system requires a fair amount of savvy. For example, consider the following list of the 10 universities offering international students the most financial aid, courtesy US News and World Report: For full list, see https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2017-09-21/10-universities-that-offer-international-students-the-most-financial-aid While technically accurate, this list nevertheless provides a somewhat skewed picture of the financial aid landscape for international students. It does not, for example, distinguish between institutions that are â€Å"need-blind† for international students (ones that do not take financial need into consideration when making admissions decisions) and those that are â€Å"need-aware; or between institutions that commit to meeting all admitted students’ full need and those that may only be able to meet partial need or even none at all. If you look carefully, you can also notice that it provides the total number of international undergraduates receiving financial aid rather than the number of freshman, leaving giving the impression that more large scholarships are available per entering class than is actually the case. If you are applying as an international applicant, it is important to understand that policies governing financial aid for non-U.S. citizens differ from those governing financial aid for U.S. citizens. International applicants, for example, are not eligible for federal loans and must rely on grants provided by universities themselves. In addition, most schools have financial aid budgets that are far more restricted for international students than for American ones. Factor in international airfare, living costs, and possibly summer housing, and the costs can really add up. While policies vary significantly from institution to institution, schools can be grouped into four major categories. 1) Schools that are NOT need-blind for both American and international applicants In comparison to schools that admit without regard to financial need, non-need-blind colleges tend to have lower endowments and/or smaller applicant pools. That said, there is still a range of considerations: some schools may admit (or claim to admit) the vast majority of American students without regard for aid and only take financial need into consideration for a small percentage of applicants. Since the vast majority of universities already take need into account when considering international applicants, this type of policy doesn’t make an enormous amount of difference for them. On the whole, however, it’s probably reasonable to assume that these schools have less aid to offer for international students as well. They may still offer full or near-full scholarships to a select number of internationals, but the number is likely to be extremely restricted. 2) Schools that are need blind-for American applicants but not international applicants These schools do factor financial need into their admissions decisions for international students; however, they typically meet full financial need for the students they accept. Note that many top colleges and universities fall into this category, including Ivy League members Brown, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania and, on the liberal arts side, Swarthmore, Williams, and Wellesley. Because these schools only admit international students whom they can afford to fund, admissions rates for international students requiring aid are significantly lower than they are for domestic ones: a school whose overall acceptance rate is around 15-20% may, for example, accept only 5% of international applicants applying for aid. 3) Schools that are need-blind for both American and international applicants but that do not necessarily meet full need for international students   Although these schools  do not factor financial considerations into their admissions decisions, they also do not commit to meeting full need. As a result, students may be admitted but offered far less money than they need, putting the school out of reach. Tread carefully with these schools, some of which may effectively use international students as cash cows. There’s no point in getting admitted if you can’t afford to attend – especially if you can get a good education inexpensively in your home country. 4) Schools that are need-blind for both American and international applicants and meet full need This is by far the smallest group. In fact, out of thousands of schools in the United States, only four universities and one liberal arts college fall into this category: Stanford Princeton Harvard MIT Amherst Not surprisingly, these are five of the most selective schools in the United States, with acceptance rates ranging from a low of just over 5% (Harvard and Stanford) to 14% (Amherst). So does this mean that college in the United States is financially out of reach? Not necessarily – it just means you need to go into the process with your eyes open, and spend some time getting acquainted with how the system works. Many schools do offer significant merit-based scholarships for international students. You might have to look beyond the handful of name-brand universities that regularly get featured in popular media, but if you’re a competitive applicant who is willing to do some research, you might discover options you never knew were available.