Seminal Document Analysis

Words: 809
Pages: 4
Open Document
Seminal Document Have you ever read something that made interesting points, and later shaped the way you thought? What was it that made you think differently? Texts like these are called seminal documents (A defining and historical document, that establishes or defines principles that shape the way others think or act). The “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” written by the UN Commission on Human Rights, and the “Texas v. Johnson Majority Opinion” by William J. Brennan are both examples of seminal documents. However, the “American Flag Stands for Tolerance” by Ronald J. Allen is not an example of a seminal document, instead it’s an editorial. You’re probably wondering what makes them seminal, and the other editorial. Well, the “Universal …show more content…
Johnson Majority Opinion.” Right at the start of this document formal language is used. “We decline, therefore, to create for the flag an exception to the joust of principles protected by the First Amendment…” (lines 1-2) Notice the academic vocabulary such as therefore, exception, joust, and principles. Most seminal documents are written using formal tone. The formal language in this document creates that formal tone. On the other hand, “American Flag Stands for Tolerance” does not use formal tone. For example, line 10 of the document uses the word “our”, and line 14 uses the word “we”. Formal documents rarely use first person, while informal do, so this contributes to the informal tone. The “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” uses lots of high-level vocabulary setting a formal tone. The first line in this document uses words such as “recognition”, “inherent”, and “inalienable”. Since, seminal documents use a lot of formal tone, we can assume that “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, and “Texas v. Johnson Majority Opinion”, are seminal …show more content…
“Texas v. Johnson Majority Opinion” wants you to change your opinion on punishing people who burn the American flag as a way of expressing themselves. Lines 15-17 say that “forbidding criminal punishment for conduct such as Johnson’s will not endanger the special role played by our flag or the feelings it inspires.” This statement will make people think that just because one person burns a flag as a sign of revolt, doesn’t mean the whole world will revolt, and the flag will lose its special purpose. The “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” also has the same purpose of changing a person’s perspective on a subject. For example, the document says that equal and inalienable rights “is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.” (Lines2-3) A person would think well if I want to gain freedom, justice, and peace then I should fight for human rights not just for me, but for everyone. Since a seminal documents purpose is to shape a country and its people, then these two documents can be considered seminal
Show More

Related Documents: Seminal Document Analysis

Analytic Literature Review Final Paper

ago. This author was surprised at how over the centuries the female image and worth has been shaped by man, society, and the world around them. This literature review will include a discussion on the seminal works pertaining to the subject, a critique of the current literature, a comparison of the seminal works with the more recent literature, the limitations involved with the reviewed works, the implications for the literature reviewed, recommendations, and personal reflections and insights.…

Words 4890 - Pages 20

Common Core Essay

Advantage." Academic Questions. 26.1 (2013). Print. Common Core is designed to give students more in depth ideas and analysis of subjects such as literature. It incorporates a wider range of literary subjects such as “‘The standards mandate certain critical types of content for allstudents, including classic myths and stories from around the world,foundational U.S. documents, seminal works of American literature, and the writings of Shakespeare.’” Common core is also responsible for designing tests…

Words 360 - Pages 2

Thomas Jefferson's Ideas In The Declaration Of Independence

Analysis of Jefferson’s assertions in the draft of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, played a vital role in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This seminal document declared the thirteen British colonies independent, forming a new nation, the United States of America. In his initial draft of the Declaration, Jefferson proclaimed, "All men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights". He further…

Words 1102 - Pages 5

Managing Out: the Public Sector in the Community Essay examples

| | Proofread a hard copy? | | Included the Assessment Response and Marking Criteria sheets at the front of your assignment (a single document in word | |2003)? | Participants, please complete |PARTICIPANT DECLARATION…

Words 2680 - Pages 11

Independent Learning Project

rated mastery­level understanding of each of the objectives they designated in their proposals. READING: INFORMATIONAL TEXT Key Ideas and Details ∙ CCSS.ELA­Literacy.RI.9­10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. ∙ CCSS.ELA­Literacy.RI.9­10.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the…

Words 2771 - Pages 12

Evaluation Of DEA

ARTICLE IN PRESS Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 42 (2008) 151–157 www.elsevier.com/locate/seps Evaluation of research in efficiency and productivity: A survey and analysis of the first 30 years of scholarly literature in DEA Ali Emrouznejada,Ã, Barnett R. Parkerb, Gabriel Tavaresc a Operations &Information Management, Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK b Graduate School of Business, Pfeiffer University, Charlotte, NC 28209, USA c RUTCOR, Rutgers Centre…

Words 2745 - Pages 11

Jamie Turner at Mli, Inc. Harvard Business Brief Case Essay

both learning environments. Individual Assignments: Week 1 – Contact email Week 2 – Peregrine Pretest exam Week 3 – Log on and registration at MyTMC Thomas More College’s Learning Management System Week 4 –Team weighting document for first team Week 7 –Team weighting document for second team Study Team Assignments Your First team Week 2 The story of K2 and the brotherhood of the rope Week 3 Unilever's mission for vitality Week 4 Nordstrom: Dissension in the ranks Your Second Team Week 5 Jamie Turner…

Words 6396 - Pages 26

Essay about Myths and Narratives: The Origin of the Humanities HU300Unit 2 Assignment

HU300: Art and Humanities: 20th Century and Beyond Prof. Richard Elder Kaplan University November 24, 2014 By, Heather Leigh Bradley “Ring Around The Rosie” “Ring Around The Rosie” is popular nursery rhyme that first appeared in an English version in Greenaway’s Mother Goose: The Old Nursery Rhymes in 1881 (Greenaway, 2001). The 1881 “Ring Around The Roses” was recited as “Ring-a-ring-a-roses, A pocket fill of posies, Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush! We’re all tumbled down” (Greenaway,…

Words 2508 - Pages 11

Rabbit Proof Fence Essay

Representations of Along the Rabbit-Proof Fence; Truth, reality and a tale of the Colonial Pied Piper. Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering, Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering, And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering, Out came the children running.1 While the law may not concern itself with trifles, it does however, concern itself greatly with the past. The legal system operates on the principle of stare decisis and in so doing, attempts…

Words 2145 - Pages 9

human resource Essay

Comprehensive Approach Xavier Sales1* and Jordi Carenys1 1 EADA Business School, Arago 204, 08011-Barcelona, Spain. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration by both authors, working together on all aspects of the research, analysis and manuscript writing. th Received 19 December 2012 th Accepted 24 February 2013 th Published 19 March 2013 Research Article ABSTRACT Aims: The aim of this article is twofold; analyze a performance management system (PMS) in a…

Words 6419 - Pages 26