Lillies Of The Field Essays - Films, Lilies Of The Field

Lillies Of The Field Vocabulary From ?The Lilies of the Field? Amiable- to be friendly and noble. ?A sculptor would have interpreted the features in terms of character, but Homer Smith's mother had once said of him that he was two parts amiable and one part plain devil.? Antagonism- to be angry; hostile. ?Homer felt antagonism stir in him, but it was a fine day and he was carrying the day in his spirit.? Pantomime- a routine ?She went through the pantomime of shaking hands with one of the nuns and he told her what she was doing, pointing out the ?you? and the ?her. Segregated- to be set separated from others. If you learn English from me,? he said apologetically, ?you're sure enough going to get yourselves segregated some places. Dilemma- a problem that has multiple solutions but all having a downfall. ?She did not have the authority to except gifts, but she lacked the vocabulary necessary to refuse acceptance or to explain her dilemma.? Debris- Left over wreckage. ?The warmth of the day touched his skin and he was looking toward the debis in the foundation. Alternative- another way or idea. ?He created a refuse pile that would have to be leveled off some day but he had no alternative and it did not worry him.? Ultimately- above all else ?She wants a place ultimately for poor boys from the city; Spanish-speaking boys who get in trouble.? Exultation- rejoice ?Loneliness had long since dropped away from him and he felt exultation.? Elude- escaped ?He wanted to mingle his voice with these others but the words eluded him so long as he regarded them as words; when he thought of them merely as sounds, they made a pattern in his mind.? Reverence- purity. ? When he walked to the station wagon, he was empty of thought but was filled with the throbbing sound, a happy feeling of reverence.? Dismay- to be afraid. ? The expenditure dismayed him but he assured himself that he would pay the money back to his fund out of his pay on Friday.? Voracious- hungry He turned to his right on a rutted road and the nuns were in the field, working on their variegated crop, fighting for their growing stuff against weeds and voracious insects and the parched dryness of the soil.? Reluctant- unwilling. ?He did not know whether he would still have a job with Livingston Construction Company and he was reluctant to leave his own job unguarded.? Intangible- uncontrollable ?Some intangible thing, some joyful spirit, had gone out of his life and he tried to call it back. Chapter 1 A legend is someone that is renown throughout the lands as a figure who has done something extraordinary and has left a mark on the world, for better or for worse. In ?The Lilies of the Field,? Homer Smith was the legend. You can tell in the first chapter that he is destined to become a legend by how he lives. He travels from place to place and never settles down. Surely he would stop somewhere with his station wagon and guitar and find his destiny. Fate brought him to the German nuns and that same fate will lead him to become a legend. Homer Smith seems like he would make a good friend because he is friendly to everyone. Even when he met Mother Maria Marthe who spoke sternly to him in her native tongue he kept a ?cool head? and tried to find the goodness in her and her surroundings (p. 13). You can also tell that he treats everyone he sees the same and never judges by the color of their skin. Chapter 2 The two main characters in ?The Lilies of the Field? are Homer Smith and Mother Maria. Mother Maria and Homer are two people who are completely different. From the time they first meet you can tell they are similar to the ?Odd Couple.? Homer likes to sleep in and eat a hearty breakfast. Mother Maria likes to get up at the crack of dawn and have a light breakfast consisting of a small portion of egg. When Mother Maria shows ?Schmidt? the chapel he feels it is impossible to build it alone but Mother Maria thinks otherwise by saying that even her and the sisters could build it. Because of so many disagreements and Mother Maria's occasional bitterness, it seems unlikely

Perrines Literature Structure, Sound, Sense 11th Ed. (Short Stories) Essays

Perrines Literature Structure, Sound, Sense 11th Ed. (Short Stories) Essays Perrines Literature Structure, Sound, Sense 11th Ed. (Short Stories) Paper Perrines Literature Structure, Sound, Sense 11th Ed. (Short Stories) Paper Essay Topic: Literature Commercial Fiction Fiction intended solely to entertain. Literary Fiction Written with serious artistic intentions with hopes to broaden, deepen, and sharpen the readers awareness of life. Plot Sequence of incidents or events through which an author constructs a story. Conflict A clash of actions, ideas, desires, or wills. Protagonist The central character in a conflict. Antagonist Any force arranged against the protagonist. Suspense The quality in a story that makes readers ask Whats going to happen next? or How will this turn out? Mystery An unusual set of circumstances for which the reader craves an explanation. Dilema A position in which the protagonist must choose between two courses of action, both undesirable. Surprise Ending An ending that features a sudden, unexpected turn or twist. Happy Ending A happy ending. Unhappy Ending An unhappy Ending. Indeterminate Ending An ending in which no definitive conclusion is reached. Artistic Unity Everything is relevant and contributes to the meaning. Plot Manipulation A plot that is unjustified by the situation or characters. Relies too heavily on chance. Also known as Deux Ex Machina. Deux Ex Machina Latin for god from machine. See: Plot Manipulation. Chance The occurrence of an event that has no apparent cause in previous events or in predisposition of character. Coincidence Is the chance occurrence of two events that may have a peculiar correspondence. Characterization For literary fiction writers, the most important element of their art. Direct Presentation Characters are described straight out by exposition or analysis or by another character. Indirect Presentation The characters are described through their actions. Motivation Where characters words and actions spring from Flat Character Usually have one or two predominant traits; they can be summed up in a sentence or two. Round Character Complex and many sided; they have the three-dimensional quality of real people. Stock Character Stereotyped figures who have recurred so often in fiction that we recognize them at once. Static Character Remains essentially the same person from the beginning to the end of the story. Developing Character There is distinct change of character, personality, or outlook. Epiphany A moment of spiritual insight into life or into the characters own circumstances. Theme Is the controlling idea or its central insight. The unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story. Point of View Who tells the story. Omniscient Point of View The story is told in the third person by a narrator whose knowledge and prerogatives are unlimited. Third Person Limited Point of View The story is told in the third person, but from the viewpoint of one character in the story. First Person Point of View The author disappears into one of the characters, who tells the story in the first person. Objective Point of View The narrator disappears into a kind of roving sound camera. Literary Symbol Something that means more than what it suggests on the surface. Allegory A story that has a second meaning beneath the surface, endowing a cluster of characters, objects, or events with added significance; often the pattern relates each literal item to a corresponding abstract idea or moral principle. Fantasy Transcends the bounds of known reality. Sarcasm Is simply language one person uses to belittle or ridicule another. Verbal Irony Is a figure of speech in which the speaker says the opposite of what he or she intends to say. Dramatic Irony The contrast between what a character says or thinks and what the reader knows to be true. Irony of Situation Usually the most important kind for the fiction writer, the discrepancy is between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment, or between what is and what would seem appropriate. Sentimentality Stories that try to elicit easy or unearned emotional responses. Editorialize Comment on the story and, in a manner, instruct us how to feel. Poeticize Use an immoderately heightened and distended language to accomplish their effects.

Gender-Inclusive Language for English Learners

Gender-Inclusive Language for English Learners Gender refers to either being a man or a woman. Gender-inclusive language can be defined as language  that doesn’t prefer one gender over another. Here are a few examples of gender-biased language  common in the English language used in the past. A doctor can treat you for a wide variety of diseases. It’s important that he understands your health history. Successful businessmen understand how to negotiate good deals. In the first sentence, the writer speaks in general about doctors, but assumes that a doctor is a man. In the second example, the term businessmen ignores the fact that many successful business people arewomen. Terminology Gender the sex of a person - male or female  Gender-inclusive including all gendersGender-biased showing a preference for or against a genderGender-neutral showing no preference for or against a gender As an English student, it’s possible that you’ve learned some English that has gender-biased language. Gender-biased can be understood as language which uses stereotypes to describe men and women.   This article will help you recognize gender-biased English language statements and provide suggestions on how you can use more gender-inclusive language. English is already difficult enough, so you might not think this is  important. However, there is a strong push towards the use of more gender-neutral language in day to  day usage, especially at work. Over the past few decades, writers and instructors have become more aware of common terminology and writing styles that tend to favor men and assumptions about behavior that no longer reflect the modern world. To change this, English speakers have adopted new terminology that reflects a more gender-neutral style. Common Changes in Professions The easiest change you can make is with professions that end in ‘-man’ such as ‘businessman’ or‘postman’. Often we substitute ‘person’ for ‘-man’, in other cases the name of the profession maychange. Another word that changes is ‘master’ which indicates a man. Here are some of the most common changes. Common Changes to Gender-Inclusive English actress - actorstewardess - flight attendantanchorman/anchorwoman - anchorbusinessman/businesswoman - businesspersonchairman/chairwoman - chair person / chaircongressman - member of congress / congress personcraftsman - artisandeliveryman – courierdoorman -  door attendentstatesman - statespersonfireman -  firefighterfreshman - first year studenthandyman - maintenance personheadmaster - principalheroine -  herohousewife - homemakerFrenchman -  French personmaid - house cleanermailman - mail carriermankind - humanitymaster - expertmasterpiece – great work of artMiss / Mrs. - Ms.mother tongue - native language/first languagespokesman/spokeswoman - spokespersonwaitress/waiter - wait personpoliceman - police officer/officer Shaun Fawcett has a great page if youre interested in an extensive list of gender-neutral equivalent words. Mr. and Ms. In English, Mr. is used for all men. However, in the past, women were either ‘Mrs.’ or ‘Miss’ dependingon whether they were married. Now, ‘Ms.’ is used for all women. ‘Ms.’ reflects that it is not important toknow whether a woman is married or not.   Gender-Neutral Pronouns Pronouns can be very tricky. In the past, when speaking in general, the pronoun ‘he’ was often used. A person who lives in the country has many advantages. He can enjoy daily walks and enjoy fresh air. He can live a healthy life and meet with his friends. However, this shows a bias towards men in general. Of course, there are healthy women who live in the country! Here are a few suggestions on how to stay away from this common mistake. They She/He Using they/them to indicate a single, gender neutral person  is now commonly accepted.   You can be sure someone understands by how they react to your statement.Does anybody know the answer to the question? They can email the director with the answer. He/She Before they/them entered the common vernacular, writers often used he/she – him/her (or she/he – her/him) to show both are possible when speaking in general. When someone gets ready to find a new job, he/she needs to be aware that there are many challenges in this difficult market. It’s up to her/him to research any job opening carefully. Alternating Pronouns Another approach is to change pronoun forms throughout your writing. This can be confusing to the reader. Someone who goes shopping will have too many choices. He might have more than twenty clothing stores to choose from. Or, she might just go to a department store. In any case, he might spend more time trying to find just the right item.   Plural Forms   Another way to be gender-neutral in your writing is to speak in general and use plural forms when possible rather than the singular. Consider this example: A student has to be on time and take careful notes. He/She also needs to do homework every night.Students have to be on time and take careful notes. They also need to do homework every night.   In the second example, the plural pronoun they replaces students as the rules are meant for everybody.

Iraq and afghan veterans Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Iraq and afghan veterans - Research Paper Example The emotions and images of war may remain in the souls and minds of returning soldiers for decades or even lifetimes after the wars. This is usually due to a fundamental reshaping of important human characteristics, especially those related to the soul. The characteristics include â€Å"how we perceive; how our minds are organized and function; how we love and relate; what we believe, expect, and value; what we feel and refuse to feel; and what we judge as good or evil, right or wrong† (1). As a way to deal with the emotions and images of war that still linger in the souls and minds of returning soldiers, most of them suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) and engage in substance abuse. This paper is a discussion on the effects of war on returning soldiers, with a particular focus on Iraq and Afghan veterans. The use and abuse of substances such as alcohol and narcotics for most soldiers usually begins with the beginning of military life. Ruiz and Strain point out that â€Å"the armed services have experienced problems with alcohol abuse from the earliest days of military service, in part because heavy drinking has been an accepted custom and tradition that continues today† (926).To this day, military outlets sell alcohol beverages at reduced prices. On top of this, alcohol is part of the work culture in the military as it is used to encourage camaraderie and unit solidarity, ease interpersonal pressures and reward hard work. Just like alcohol, illegal drugs or narcotics and nonmedical prescription drugs have been used by soldiers to help cope with panic or boredom, increase alertness and reduce fatigue, as well as to reduce pain from wounds. The use and abuse of these substances have over time been discouraged in the military and policies have been developed to help eliminate the problem. According to Ruiz and Strain, â€Å"urine tests, which are conducted randomly or when an individual is suspected of

Program Enhancement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Program Enhancement - Essay Example Under this program, young teenagers who have pleaded guilty of minor crimes are taken to a court that is run by teenagers who act as judges, attorneys, and bailiffs. The Teen Court then sets the punishment for the offenders, which include community service, touring a jail, writing apology letters or essay on assigned topics, or attending school regularly (Boys Scout of America, 2010). The Teen Court is effective since it is teenagers who offer judgment and punishment to the offenders. In addition, giving the fact that defendants must also serve in the court as judges, there is less likelihood that they will take part in crime again since they would also have participated in punishing a crime (Boys Scout of America, 2010). In order to enhance the effectiveness of the program, repeat crime either minor or major should warrant for formal prosecution at the juvenile justice system. Secondly, the program should ensure that teenagers who participate in the court proceedings are sourced from other regions so that they remain unknown to the court offenders and hence give an opportunity for fair

Children and War Essay Example for Free

Children and War Essay How do children experience war and what coping assistance do they need from adults? What can we do to raise children in war torn times. According to a report by the London based International Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, an estimated 300,000 children in more than 80 countries are participating in armed conflict. I personally feel that children experience war because adults bring them into this conflict. Professor Henninger mentioned in his post, â€Å"Culture plays a big part,† in how children around the world experience war. Children are seen as innocent and many times are used as undetectable threats in war zones because who would suspect that a child is carrying a bomb or other various weapon devices such as hand-grenades and high powered guns. According to my research on this topic, children are used to having a safe haven and during war safety cannot be a permanent item, which is what children will need. The class text mentions that children’s memory is affected by not so pleasant images of being around a war zone, children can become desensitized to violence which could cause children to display violent behavior; reasoning on moral issues are affected, plus numerous other issues such as anxiety and depression are items children experience during war. It is unfortunate during war time in various areas, young girls can become victims of rape and often young girls are used as â€Å"Soldiers wives† in various foreign countries (Garbarino, Kostelny Dubrow 1998), where they are made to live in slavery and care for the soldiers every need, which includes intimate needs. This is why some of these young girls become pregnant and are then often time abandoned while the solider finds a new young female victim. Research has shown that once these young girls have babies, they seen as outcast and cannot return back to their regular family unit, due to most family members have been killed due to war zones. Young female and male children both experience major disruption to their family unit. I have seen on new reports where children became instant orphans and most likely saw their parent or parents murdered during war and then the child is left to care for themselves or many times they may have to care for other siblings. Young males may lose their fathers permanently due to war and this loss may place this young man as the â€Å"Head of household†, where their maturity level is not consistent (Weisenmiller) with taking over such as important role for the family. Coping Assistance for Children of War How children will experience war is also based on how the adults around them handle the situation. For example, if the parent is able to be with the child by offering comfort during such a climatic time and by being upfront with the child or children of what is happening, this will help ease the anxiety caused by war. The United Nations in the past held special sessions on how to deter the affects of war on children who live in war zones on a worldwide level. Special curriculums have been set-up in many war torn countries to allow children to either discuss, draw, or play act events that occurred to them during war, so they share their story and not hold things in, which could cause more stress in their young life. Assistant for children involved financial backing, which many times under developed countries do not have the mean, so international help organizations cans step in and provide the children with the physical and psychological help they would need to recover. Children need coping assistance that will help provide their basic everyday needs such as food, shelter, reassurance of safety and assistance with social development. Social programs such a UNICEF, Salvation Army, Red Cross, along with family, friends and the community will help children cope during times of war. When a child is raised in war torn times, they need to feel valued and make them become part of the community again by assisting in keeping them in school, healthy, have food and water available. Children need truthful information provided to them during war times because it is very important that they have an understanding of what is happening around them. Overall, support from parents, the community, friendly nations is important in helping to raise children during war time, and also help the child keep a sense of childhood when war issues arise. References: Berk, Laura E. (2009), Child Development Eight Edition. Pearson Education Clements, Paul T, Jr., PhD,R.N., C.S. (2001). Terrorism in America: How do we tell the children? Journal of Psychosocial Nursing Mental Health Services, 39(11), 8-10. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/225547648?accountid=828 Garbarino, J., Kostelny, K., Dubrow, N. (1998). No place to be a child: Growing up in a war zone. Jossey-Bass Weisenmiller, M. (2007, May 11). Health: Trauma haunts children in war zones. Global Information Network. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/457557903?accountid=8289

Disabled Clients Are Fellow Citizens? Essay -- essays research papers

Disabled clients are fellow citizens? Developments in the Disabled Peoples Movement have brought disability to the fore as a civil rights issue in Britain. Growing numbers of politically active disabled people have generated an awareness of how their rights as citizens are denied by discrimination and oppression. Out of this has emerged the concept of `independent living'. A philosophy encompassing the full range of human and civil rights necessary for disabled people to be equal members of society. Underpinning this are four key beliefs: that all human life is of value; that anyone, whatever their impairment, is capable of exerting choices; that people who are disabled by society's reaction to physical, intellectual and sensory impairment and to emotional distress have the right to exert control over their lives; that disabled people have the right to participate fully in society (Morris, 1993:21) The focus of this essay is the potential conflict between this philosophy and the policies and practices of social work. In particular, contrasting interpretations of the client/social work relationship will be examined with regard to their capacity to foster these ideals. There is ample evidence that disabled people are poorly housed, less well educated and generally receive less in the way of life-enhancing opportunities when compared to their non-impaired peers (Finklestein (1991). For example, they are four times as likely as non-impaired people to be unemployed, while those who do work receive wages on average 20% lower (RADAR, 1994). Most disabled people, therefore, rely on benefits. Furthermore, those benefits fail to allow for the extra expenses incurred as a result of disability (Cohen, 1996; Thompson, 1996). Thus it is poverty and poor quality of life resulting from discrimination which creates the need for social work intervention. Becoming a client, Davies (1981) suggests, is seen as a `sign of having given up' and as `a mark not only of failure but of shame' (p. 35). This not only further marginalises disabled people from mainstream society, i.e. separates those who are "clients" from those who are not. It also, according to Barton (1993), maintains a.. Cul... ...nd peach, H (eds) (1989):"Disablement in The Community"; Oxford University, Oxford. Payne, M (1991):"Modern Social Work Theory: A Critical Introduction"; Macmillan, London. Smalley, R (1970):"The Functional Approach To Casework Practice"; in Roberts, R., and Nee, R (eds) (1970):"Theories of Social Casework"; University of Chicago Press, London. Thompson, N (1993):"Anti-Discriminatory Practice"; Macmillan, London. Journals. Barton, L (1993):"The Struggle For Citizenship:The Case of Disabled People"; in Disability, Handicap and Society, Vol. 8(3), p 235-248. Cohen, R (1996):"The Poverty Trap"; in Community Care, p 26-27, 1-7 August. George, M (1996):"Figure it Out"; in Community Care, pullout feature, August 1-7. Morris, J (1996):"Where to Now?"; in Community Care, p 25, Sept 26-Oct 2. Oliver, M (1989a) Book Review of Hunter (1988) in Disability, Handicap and Society, Vol. 4(1). Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (1994):"Unemployment" in Donellan, C (ed) (1994). Thompson, A (1996):"The Fight For Rights"; in Community Care, P 14-15, 18-24 July.

Take America Back

The Christian Right and Major Players' Influence in the Values of Middle and Working Class America† Introduction! It's February 2011. Barack Obama is the president of the United States. Despite sagging poll numbers, a slowly recovering economy is supporting the push of health care reform. The Democratic Party controls the Senate. The Republicans, led by midterm-elected John Bonder, control the House. Progress is tedious, but moving. Disdain for the President, spurred on by mass media and the murmurings of the Tea Party, is gripping hold of what seems to be a substantive chunk of voting Americans.Wing for the Republican nomination, looking to feed off these energies, Georgia businessman Herman Cain stands in front of a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Cain is good at the rhetoric. He takes the underpinnings of conservative media and turns them on the crowd. † â€Å"Stupid people are ruining America,† he says to applause. â€Å"It's sad†¦ I'm talking about the liberals. They don't have tactics. They don't have a strategy. They have an objective. The objective of the liberals is to destroy this country.The objective of the liberals is to make America mediocre Just like everybody else who aspires to be like America. † Cain takes in the applause and pauses for the audience to sit down. â€Å"They are trying to destroy this country at all costs! â€Å"† Fast forward to March 2014. Americans have seen the failings of the roll of Beam's Affordable Care Act. Hobby Lobby has refused to offer birth control to its 2 employees under the plan, citing their religious beliefs. Arizona governor Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse service to LIGHT people.Seizing the opportunity, former congresswoman Michele Buchanan gets on the radio with a conservative talk show host. † l think the thing that is getting a little tiresome, the gay community, they have so bullied the American people, and they've so intimidated politicians. † She goes on to insinuate that the â€Å"liberals† have initiated an attack on religious Americans: â€Å"Just like we need to observe tolerance for the gay and lesbian community, we need to have tolerance for the community of people who hold sincerely held religious beliefs. † † This type of speech from right-wing populists isn't anything new. In fact, it's been surfacing for some time, since the mid-twentieth century, a stand against the moving regressive of women's rights, civil rights, challenges to the traditional patriarchy, and fear of communism. Pushed for some time beginning with post-World War II and beyond, today, rabid defense of religious liberty and unapologetic perpetuation of deregulated capitalism as a divine force infiltrates the very fiber of American political, public, and religious discourse. This project will examine several angles, arguments, and accounts of the power of right wing popu lism, religiously motivated or otherwise, in the mainstay underbelly of middle and working class white America. Presupposing that this regiment of withdrawing American â€Å"conservatives† is modernly strong and the consideration of it is worthwhile, I will offer research and commentary. To accomplish this, I will consider several academic and media sources, authored by political scientists, religious studies scholars, sociologists, philosophers, and ethnographers. 3 The main concepts necessary for context on this project are two. First, I will take into account William E. Connelly â€Å"Christian-capitalist resonance machine,† an idea articulated in his 2008 book Capitalism and Christianity, American Style. Second, a good deal of this study will focus on analysis of Thomas Franks 2004 book What's the Matter with Kansas? : How Conservatives Won the Heart of America and his notion of a â€Å"backlash culture. â€Å"† These two trends, as they may be called, are powerful and are ingrained into American political culture, embedded in a power structure of the Right Wing, both Christian and secular.Now, the backlash drives the Right Wing, and the Wing itself is a volleying voice in the Christian-capitalist resonance machine. Importantly, however, these trends did not always exist and emerged over some time. † † So my thesis argument is this: the unconditional accepting of the Christian- capitalist resonance machine has been growing in the national discourse of government over time, beginning with anti-communist movements after the Second World War and a wave of Southern evangelicalism establishing an effective empire on the tails of earlier labor movements.This coincidentally intersected with the changing face of populism to resent the progressivism of the second half of the Twentieth Century, namely desegregation, increased legality for abortion, and increased teaching of evolutionary science in public schools. This occurred as th e Right learned from its failings during the Goldwater campaign and transformed itself into a force ready for alliance with the Christian Right, which itself had become more powerful on account of television and radio.Now, nostalgic sentiments of a supposedly better America in the past permeate the psyche of a white middle and working class that dollies the Christian-capitalist 4 resonance machine and unleashes blame of what it perceives to be moral flaws at the feet of the â€Å"liberals,† effectively promulgating a backlash culture. † † I will supplement the study of those two trends with theoretical methods of interpretation, analysis, and study, heavily relying on Sarah Diamond's 1995 book Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States.With Diamond as a starting point to understand the comprehensive formation of power to create a culture of backlash and Connelly Christian-capitalist resonance machine, pushed by an unlikely all iance of libertarians, evangelicals, conservatives, and moderates, I will add to her analysis with other scholars, most notably Michael Akin, Darrel Docks, and Lisa McGuire. † Thomas Frank, Joe Pageant and the Backlash Culture! Patriotism has woven itself deeply into this generation's personality.The attacks on September 1 1, 2001 solidified a culture of burgeoning nationalism. The United States became an identity for many young people in a new, vibrant way. To disgrace the flag is to disgrace the people who were victims in terrorist attacks and to undermine the military, whose interest, after all, is rooted not in violence but in protection. The PATRIOT Act of 2001 called into question the importance of personal privacy in an era with the nation's enemies are technologically as'. N. And that foe is n insurgency with no national ties, but who seemingly target the red, white, and blue hostilely. For a time, resulting from disgust for the French for seemingly not supporting the Just cause of the 5 United States, French fries were Jokingly renamed â€Å"freedom fries† and the French kiss dubbed the â€Å"All-American lip lock. â€Å"† Even discarding trivial pop culture phenomena like these, it is clear that the government denial that bubbled toward the end and in the aftermath of the War in Vietnam became questionable at best for the public in the early new millennium.President Bush, to many, represented a strong, moral, religiously devout leader hose intentions in super sizing the United States military were only a vehicle through which to enact democratic change on behalf of oppressed people in the Middle East, specifically in Afghanistan and Iraq. For a time, intervention in the Middle East was patriotic and an offshoot of the De facto mission of the nation: that all people should be free and entitled to certain rights of privacy and prosperity in a venue of individualism and free exchange of ideas.This obsession with capitalism with shad es of manifest destiny eventually wavered when it was clear that there old be no â€Å"winning† the War on Terror, at least for the time being. It wasn't until President Barack Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of Seal Team Six in 2011 that it looked like the insurgent al-Qaeda was on the run at A growing disparity of wealth in the United States resulting partially from offshore labor and the continuing success of Internet companies coupled with an unwavering patriotism in the new millennium.What used to be a substantially sized white middle class in the United States was either being absorbed into the upper class or pushed downward into the working class. Combine this with a recession at the hands of the housing market collapse and you have an environment rich for what political scientist 6 Thomas Frank calls â€Å"backlash culture† Just at the time that Barack Obama took the oath in January 2009. † In What's the Matter with Kansas? How C onservatives Won the Heart of America, Frank discusses how a progressive hub like Kansas gradually turned into a prototypical example of the effects of the New Right on the middle of America and became symbolic of what he calls the â€Å"backlash culture. â€Å"† † Backlash, by definition, is reaction to social change among a mass group of people toward what they feel is an outside, intervening power. For our purposes, the backlash of the second half of the twentieth century can be boiled down to a distrust of both big government and Wall Street powers, both of which are run by the elite and neglect the average, pious American.However, according to Frank, an opportunist group of conservatives hijacked the distrust and malaise toward elite east-coast and west-coasters and morphed it into a political machine. We will examine this shift more, but it safe to say that Kansas was an exemplary microcosm of such radical change. † Frank alleges that the backlash is a work ing-class movement hat has done incalculable, historic harm to working-class people and that confident liberals who led America in a previous wave of populism are a dying species.Carefully cultivated derangement in places like Kansas have stirred these movements. The narrative has been perpetuated to paint liberals as out of touch and move Middle America from liberal to staunchly conservative. † Frank is a Kansas insider, having grown up outside Kansas City on the KS side. 7 One of Franks big themes is the idea of â€Å"Two Americas. Fox News, Heartland, and others have espoused two entirely separate Americas where red-starters are down to earth and reverent and blue-starters are lazy and elitist.Kansas used to be extremely progressive, but the red-states dynamic combined with huge telecommunications industries have pushed taxes low and labor cheaper. The huge industries play towns off against each other; it's economic growth that makes an area less wealthy and less healthy a s its population increases. Farm towns are in decay. Deregulated capitalism has allowed Walter to crash local businesses. Huge food reparations have used legislation to get richer while disenfranchising farmers. † Kansas has found its most aggressively pious individuals and elevated them to public officer.He gives an example: the leader of the Wyandotte County Republican Party reportedly once told a reporter, â€Å"Primarily my goal is to build the Kingdom of God† (69), a statement that any secularist might find alarming. Another prominent example of this trend is Sam Brownian, who as Kansas Secretary of Agriculture, may have been responsible for running the state's small farmers into the grips of large agriculture corporations (73). Ironically, even though he once denounced the presence of PACK money in politics, corporate telecommunications front groups soon funded him and he and eventually voted against McCain-Feinting (74). Some of Franks conclusions to the change o f culture in Kansas may be representative of much of middle America. The â€Å"rebels† (as they are called) of Kansas Imagine Georgia, Texas, or much of the Southeast and Midwest. Imagine ideally Massachusetts, New Hampshire, California, Washington, and Oregon. When you are looking for a change in dialogue, why not find the person who cares hyperbolically the most? Want to tear down federal farm programs and privative utilities because big business has told them to.Towns that are dependent on the government want the â€Å"liberals† to pack up and leave them alone because the Cat Institute and others have created this mindset, and corporations dangle money over their heads because they are mobile and cities are not. † The most consequential shift has been within the Republican Party, which has been pushed more and more to the right. Through the sass, the legislature was dominated by traditional moderate Republicans. This changed in 1991 when a pro- fife group push ed conservatives and rendered Democrats helpless.Strangely, this populist movement was at the heeding of a policy that is is difficult to defeat in legalized abortion. Even so, anti-abortion protesters who were looking to build a â€Å"kingdom of God†, worked harder than the moderates to achieve their success. † † Only the conservatives' complete opposition to taxes has any sort of tangible use anyway, but they stir the pot and push what would seem to be a class war, except that the war is from the top down, not the bottom up. The working class heroes are even more Republican than their bosses. This echoes Joe Pageant, whom I will mention in a moment. The conservative social critique always boils down to the message that liberals are rich and lazy, and Frank alleges all claims on the right advance from victimized. The backlash suspends material needs for grave social grievances. Frank writes that the backlash movement says that nothing can protect humble Americans from the alien forces of liberalism. For backlasher, business is natural and good, and the liberals want to destroy business. Frank alleges that Republicans have to lie about being the 9 party of the common man by concealing that huge business is actually their main interest.Then, the backlasher label universities as places of evil â€Å"liberal† elitism, attempting to articulate that the future for them is doomed as well. Thus, conservatives pretend to be â€Å"persecuted, powerless, and blind. â€Å"† The backlash is about individual identity, and those who perpetuate it have used gun control, abortion, and evolution to manipulate voters. Ann-intellectualism is one of their unifying themes. Backlasher blame intellectuals for calling the shots in the political sphere. This anti-intellectualism can be dated back to the sass against New Deal regulations.Then more came in the sass with McCarthy, as we have already seen. Republicans have hijacked several anti-intellectu al traditions including Protestant evangelicalism (194) and in every social issue Republicans perceive the same pattern of a conflict of the â€Å"authentic† with the liberal and arrogant. Anti- intellectualism makes pro-life movements central to contemporary conservatism (198). † † The idea that the liberals are calling â€Å"all the shots† in America in a time of a worsening economy and the perceived debilitation of traditional morals affects these average Americans directly.Social movements in LIGHT progress allegedly threaten heir families and religious freedom. The advancement of gun control legislation threatens their sacred constitutional rights. In all, I argue that the election of an Africanizing president contributes to a white fear that the average white American is somehow being made to pay for the inherent advantages in opportunity that they did not choose. † The resonance was that the liberal elite were meddling in the definition of huma n life with their cliquey liberalism.The backlash movement is becoming permanent in the 10 resonance machine, like the liberals against which they dissent (242). But what it has in common with mainstream culture is the refusal to think about capitalism critically. Because liberals have dropped the class language that distinguished them from Republicans, they have left themselves vulnerable to the cultural wedges. In short, the backlash works. † It is no secret that Frank is writing from a left-leaning perspective, lamenting the ways large businesses like Boeing have taken over legislative imperatives in his hometown.Even so, I think his argument is pessimistic and is one of more description than action, as we will see in Connelly. † In summary, the government backlash has been emerging over time, a product of the response to progressive social movements. Because those social movements were often pushed by those called â€Å"liberals,† the other side of the coin bl ames the liberals for irrevocable progressivism that has negatively changed the values of the nation. † † Franks commentary connects well with Joe Pageant's 2007 book Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War.In a return trip to his home town of rural Virginia, Pageant, a Journalist, condenses interviews and relationships into this book, articulating what he calls the â€Å"American hologram. This hologram is the belief that white people must be middle class, even if they are living paycheck to paycheck. Starkly, Pageant writes,† â€Å"If middle-class Americans do not feel threatened by the slow encroachment of the police state of the PATRIOT Act, it is because they live comfortably enough to exercise 11 their liberties very lightly, never testing the boundaries.You never know you are in prison unless you try the door† (263). † Though Pageant's people are less the backlasher than Franks people, they are a group of working class whit e people who have come to ascribe to the political levels of their bosses so as not to hurt their Job status. Pageant tells of a world where â€Å"liberals† are dubbed weak-willed people, and social questions aren't about complexity, but about good guys versus bad guys (67). A good example of the cause of the malaise that Pageant describes is the actions of Rubberier, who, at the time of publishing, employed a good many of people in his hometown. Walter, in an attempt to lower the prices that Rubberier cost them, began replacing Rubberier with other products. After seeing a sales drop, Rubberier caved, shutting down sixty-nine of its 400 facilities and firing 1 ,OHO workers (76), some of whom Pageant knew. † But for the people Pageant knows, this is the fault of the liberals, partially because they never reached these people with any message at away.As Republicans became uneasy in the sass with change, they trapped into the uneasiness among middle Americans by lamenting the â€Å"loss of community and values and attributing it to the ‘cultural left's feminism and Antarctica,† etc (82). Guns are American, and liberals are against them. Cultural freedom is American, and liberals are against it. He sums it all up â€Å"That's what they [the people he knows, whites living paycheck to check] voted for – an armed and moral republic. And that's what we get when we stand by and At least the Republicans had a message, even if it was only about values. 2 watch the humanity get hammered out of our fellow citizens, letting them be worked cheap and farmed like a human crop for profit† (91). † Finally, the Christian element about which Pageant writes cannot be neglected. He writes, â€Å"you don't need a degree in sociology to see that the most obvious class indicator in America is religious belief and that religious zeal is concentrated in lowercases and working-class whites† (182). † † Franks culture of back lash is a common one through the history of the United States. There has always been contempt for those in power on the part of a certain sect.In sum, after the Second World War, ideas of anti-communism turned any type of progressivism into a wary opponent to â€Å"true† Americanism. Social Justice between desegregation and increased women's rights, including eventual rulings on Roe v. Wade, added to a middle class restlessness about changing times, threatening the class' prosperity. That middle class fed on alleged threats of progressivism to promulgate a backlash culture against the amoral and progressive government, effectively ensuring a discourse of the â€Å"two Americas† in Franks book that were at war for the heart of a real America. Even though there have always been backlash movements, times changed in the twentieth century when mass media became available to the backlogging populists who used a rhetoric of fear to convince others to Join them. This backlash culture culminated at the right time with the Christian Right and the New Right to form a pervasive Christian-capitalist resonance machine. † William E. Connelly and the Christian-capitalist Resonance Machine† 13 In his book Capitalism and Christianity, American Style, William E.Connelly explores how an ethos of existential revenge permeates a culture, including those of â€Å"work, investment, church assemblies, educational practices, modes of consumption, avowing habits, electoral campaigns, and economic theory' (4). With an ethos a â€Å"shared spirituality,† this theme of revenge has been incorporated into an evangelical wing of Christianity and resonates with â€Å"exclusionary drives and claims to special entitlement running through the cowboy sector of American capitalism† (7). To me, it seems clear that the ethos of existential revenge is another facet of the backlash ultra introduced in the previous section. This ethos of existential revenge exist s in a vacuum of what Connelly calls the â€Å"Christian-capitalist resonance machine. † The confluence of backlash culture with the resonance machine creates a powerful motive for political activism in the Right. In his book, Connelly articulates this resonance machine and proposes a way to combat it. I will summarize his articulations and, at the end of the project, offer analysis and a new thesis of how to combat the resonance machine from the Left. † † Connelly posits as early as page 7 that he would like to explore what it would

How Steinbeck Presents the Character of Curley’s Wife in of Mice and Men? Essay

In the John Steinbeckà ¢s novel à ¢of Mice and Menà ¢ he introduces us to the character of Curleyà ¢s wife. She could be interpreted as a mis-fitting character in the novel as no one relates to her. Steinbeck relates her to how women were powerless during 1930à ¢s and makes her seem desperately lonely and isolated from the others on the ranch. She has sexual power which she uses to get to the men on the ranch and she just needs someone to talk to. She dislikes her husband and had a desire to become a movie star. She is not seem as an individual and has no name. This shows how a woman belonged to their husband. This essay is going to examine in detail how Curleyà ¢s wife has been presented in this novel. Steinbeck presents her as a negative married woman. She has been presented first through the dialogue of ranch-hand Candy when he describes her to George. His opinion is very sexist towards Curleyà ¢s wife as he says à ¢Curley married†¦a tartà ¢. This shows Steinbeck presents her in a very crude manner. The word à ¢tartà ¢ shows the immediate impression and effect Curleyà ¢s wife has on the other men on the ranch. Steinbeck used this effect because he wants to show the reader the first impression the man have about Curleyà ¢s wife. This affects the reader to pre-judge Curleyà ¢s wife even before she entered. She has been portrayed as dangerous. When Curleyà ¢s wife first appears both George and Lennie notices à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway is cut offà ¢. This suggests that Curleyà ¢s wife is like darkness. She is also dangerous and brings only trouble to ranch hands because when she appears their à ¢sunshineà ¢ is cut off. Light represents hope in this novel. The fact that light/sunshine has been cut off links back to the idea that Curleyà ¢s wife will stand between their dream and future and may take away their happiness and dream just like darkness. Steinbeck presents her as being very flirty and in need for attention. She is described as à ¢she has full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes and heavily made up. Her hair was hung in little rolled clusters, like sausagesà ¢. This part about her hair could be taken as an insult and she has failed to make herself attractive.

Something is rotten in Denmark Essay Example

Something is rotten in Denmark Essay Example Something is rotten in Denmark Paper Something is rotten in Denmark Paper It is highly problematic to use the word tragedy when referring to Shakespeares works. Hamlet has long been considered the best example of what one would call a tragedy out of all Shakespeares plays, yet this generalisation, as it proves to be, is the most troublesome of all. Perhaps the reason for this lies in the unknown extent of Shakespeares familiarity with what one would call traditional tragedy, whose routes lie in the principles set down by the Greeks and Aristotle. Aristotle, in setting down the so-called rules of tragedy in his Poetics talks of an essential element; Hamartia, fundamental in the downfall of the prominent (usually this prominence is reflected in a high up hierarchical figure, perhaps of the nobility)tragic hero and which, furthermore the character must recognise. This fall from grace marks a reversal of the characters fortune, placing great emphasis on an element of fate; the strumpet fortune that Hamlet so frequently refers to. Aristotle, echoing the Greek view that tragedy is didactic also talks of a fundamental element, Catharsis, at the tragic heros downfall where the audiences emotions are purged and purified. Taking this into account, the links between Shakespeares dramatic works and Greek tragedy are nevertheless unproved and tenuous. It is likely, however, that elements of tragedy would have filtered through somehow, perhaps through Latin literature, in the form of works such as Horaces Ars Poetica. In an attempt to best balance such uncertainties, it seems that one must reject Aristotle as the only guide and furthermore, in attempting to incorporate Shakespearean tragedy, all one can do is make comparisons to his other plays, which are considered to be tragedies. Hamlet can be separated from other tragedies because of the further idea, which percolates through the play, of the revenge tradition. This provides the play, at least in terms of plot with a sense of additional inevitability that Hamlet, the revenger, will get his revenge. It also places Hamlet in a situation where, because Shakespeare essentially sticks to a fundamental revenge tragedy structure regardless of his flexible and perhaps dismissive attitude towards conventions, he must nevertheless follow an unavoidable course, which is in some ways contradictory to the tragic elements of the play. Shakespeare himself alerts us to the dangers of over-classification through the words of Polonius, who ironically hits the mark in an uncanny way, contrary perhaps to both his intentions and his character, when announcing the arrival of the actors;The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene individable, or poem unlimited. Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light Given all of these problems of definition I will explore what drives Hamlet in the play to see if this can be linked with anything else which is tragic. Hamlet, it seems, is a character caught between an old order and a new one. He finds himself adrift and unable to rely on the old certainties in a world where the stability of feudal chivalry is being replaced by one marked by trouble and uncertainty. The world Shakespeare creates is one which perhaps reflects some aspects of that which the author himself lived in and one can parallel the transformation of Hamlets surroundings with the historical movement from what many view to be the Elizabethan Golden Age, a time of order and stability, to one of rapid change. J. Donne reflects upon this phenomenon in The First Anniversary, writing; And new philosophy calls all in doubt the element of fire is quite put out. tis all in pieces, all coherence gone: all just supply and relation: Prince, subject, father, son, are things forgot Shakespeare depicts Denmark as unstable, with a new king coming to the throne and an external threat from Norway in the shape of young Fortinbras avenging his fathers loss of land. The same sense of uncertainty is noticeable within the court with the long-established hierarchical divisions threatened by the ordinary people that Claudius refers to as the distracted multitude. Hamlet himself states, Something is rotten in Denmark. Alongside this background Hamlets personal world has been greatly affected.

Analysis of the Old Love Tradition Illustrated In Poems by Chaucer

Analysis of the Old Love Tradition Illustrated In Poems by Chaucer Courtly Love in Chaucer’s poetry Chaucer’s literature was spread across many different spheres of interest throughout his life, often focussing on society and religion. An observer of his own social group, he wrote satirical interpretations of those surrounding him, subverting the traditional writing styles of Beowulf (900AD-1100AD), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (14th century) and even Petrarch (1304-1374), into something that was almost similar to social commentary. Chaucer’s relationship with the courtly love tradition is interesting to examine because of its fluctuating nature; his attitude to courtly love in his earlier writing is very different to the presentation of courtly love in The Canterbury Tales . The woman presented in A Complaint to his Lady is very different for instance to the woman of The Miller’s Tale (who arguably is not so much a heroine of courtly love) in that she is very distant, and rebuts his advances, whilst Alison in The Miller’s Tale is open to the men†™s proposals to gain her affections. Therefore one can assume Chaucer’s intentions in writing the poem are ambiguous at best; it is challenging to decide whether Chaucer uses a satirical presentation of courtly love, or whether he is genuinely adhering to the concept of both courtly love and the chivalric tradition. The tradition of courtly love is based around five elements, which define the relationship between the two participants. The love was primarily a relationship between aristocratic men and women, and was often adulterous. The relationship would be conducted in secret and would often involve the ritualistic exchange of gifts. The final defining element of the affair was the flouting of rigid courtly marriage, which was often only formed for political and financial reasons. Glorification of this kind of extramarital affair was found in songs of gallant knights and their fair ladies, and led to the spread of this kind of relationship in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The poem itself represents the prescribed courtly love heroine; however its adherence to the protocol of the tradition is variable. The portrait of the traditional courtly love heroine can be found in Prologue of The Canterbury Tales In the description of the prioress, we are told her ‘nose was elegant, her eyes glass-grey; Her mouth was very small, but soft and red, Her forehead, certainly, was fair of spread†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. This represents her noble features, and her eyes are a metaphor for her treatment of her lover; the courtly love heroine rarely acknowledged the advances of her lover and instead, gives only the merest hint that she shares his feelings. The ‘glassy’ nature of the heroine’s eyes shows a degree of superficiality in the relationship between the man and woman; perhaps even an emptiness of character, even a lack of personality where the heroine becomes a mechanism for the man to project his idealistic feelings upon. A Complaint to his Lady is a poem written from a man directly to a woman whom he clearly adores, detailing his struggle for her affections, and how she is causing him a considerable amount of torment. For example the line ‘so desepaired I am from alle bliss,’ shows an almost self-pitying lamentation that continues until the beginning of part III. The third part of the poem sees the narrator confessing that ‘I can but love hir best, my swete fo;’ which symbolises a sweetness previously absent, a sweetness connected to his love for her, which changes the tone of the poem. The poem takes the form of a monologue; whilst he appears to be talking to his lady, it becomes obvious that she is not there, or is at least unresponsive, and therefore one can presume he is alone. The main element of the poem is distance and suffering, created by this woman, regardless of his devotion to her. Chaucer here represents love as a kind of poison, shown by his statement ‘Th us am I slayn with Loves fyry dart!’, and subsequently leaving the protagonist unable to understand her treatment of him; ‘love hath taught me no more of his art’. The perspective of the protagonist changes as the poem progresses, beginning with establishing the circumstances in which he is in love with her, and then moving on to describe the manner in which she treats him. The quotation ‘The more I love, the more she doth me smerte’ represents the paradoxical effect of the courtly love; the woman will appear to grow more distant. At the beginning of part III, the protagonist describes his woman as ‘Faire Rewtheless’; this is revealing about her mannerisms and ‘Rewtheless’ represents a cold attitude, is very similar to the eyes of the prioress which are described as ‘eyes glass-grey’. The fourth section of the poem is the longest, and represents the efforts of the protagonist to glean some kind of response from his woman. He compares his own shortcomings with her ‘gentileness and debonairtee’, and almost sarcastically states that he is not worthy of her service. Chaucer states tha t ‘Thogh that I be unconnyng and unmete, to serve, as I coude best, ay your hynesse,’ says that even though he is uncouth and unkempt, he would serve the woman as best as he could. This over exaggerated display of emotion implies that the poem could be satirical; however because there is no comparative character, or change of theme, one cannot be sure of Chaucer’s intention regarding the poem. It is interesting that he refers to the lady as a queen, therefore of higher status than himself reinforcing the idea that she has become almost demigod-like, given it is likely that they would have belonged to the same social strata. Part of the attraction of courtly love was the extravagance and exaggeration of action; for women of this period, they would have been repressed for most of their lives, constantly adhering to rules enforced by the crown, or perhaps their own family, and this affair was a rebellion against normality for them, almost a liberating experience. Th e final stanza of the poem, the protagonist proposes an ultimatum of sorts; to grant him some kind of pity, (i.e. respond in some way to his advances), otherwise nothing, no bliss, nor hope will dwell in his troubled heart. From a modern day point of view, the poem becomes repetitive, and the concept appears false; however at the time of writing, this level of extravagance was not uncommon and therefore from a historical perspective, the poem is likely to be a good example of typical courtly love poetry, such as that of Petrarch and Boccaccio. The presentation of the heroine in this poem is comparable with other courtly love heroines in Chaucer’s tales, in particular Alison, from the Miller’s Tale, Pertelote, The Nun’s Priests Tale, The Prioress, The Prologue and Criseyde, Troilus and Criseyde. Criseyde is very similar to the Prioress in many ways; however is assertive in her role as a courtly love heroine, playing an active part in the poem, demonstrated by book III, verse 115. She states ‘Alas, I would have though, whoever told, such tales of me, my sweetheart would not hold, Me false so easily’, showing perhaps a more effective, realistic heroine than the woman in A Complaint to his Lady. In contrast, courtly heroes often use hyperbole to attempt to convey the depth of the affection they feel towards their women, for example when Chaucer’s protagonist says ‘But I, my lyf and deeth, to yow obeye’ (My life and death, to you obey). This essentially states that she has total control over his heart; a fairly typical declaration within courtly love poetry; Boccaccio used many similar assertions in his novel Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta . The courtly love hero is often of a noble disposition, as demonstrated by book I, verse 27 of Troilus and Criseyde. The knightly element of courtly love can be exemplified by earlier literature, such as the description of King Arthur in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written in the fourteenth century, around the same time as A Complaint to his Lady. The nobleness of the courtly gentleman is described in Lines 85-88 of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, when the author describes Arthur himself, as ‘Bot Arthure wolde not ete til al were served, He was so joly of his joyfness and sumquat childgered, His lif liked hym light, he lovied the lass’ (Line 85-88). Paraphrased, the above means â€Å"But Arthur would not eat until all were served. He was so youthfully gay and somewhat boyish, he liked an active life .† The general sense of courtly love therefore is a noble relationship outside convention, between a lady and gentleman; the woman is typically more distant while the man ritualistically tries to ‘woo’ her, using any means necessary, and in the case of A Complaint to his Lady, suffers immensely due to the depth of his love for her. Throughout A Complaint to his Lady, the protagonist changes his opinion concerning who is to be blamed for his affliction; in the first two stanzas, he blames himself for becoming so attached, but then unsatisfied with this, blames the emotion of love itself for his sadness. Eventually however he reaches the conclusion that it is her ruthlessness, described as ‘thogh ye never wil upon me rewe, I moste yow love and been ever as trewe’, that causes him so much pain. Chaucer here portrays a hero who will eagerly fall in ‘love’ with a woman, however will be unable to control his own emotions. This degree of instability coupled with obvious exaggeration of his feelings causes us to question whether he is a satirical figure, but also if the nature of this love is genuine as opposed to merely a whim. His status as a courtly love hero is also questionable, because he is portrayed as an ineffectual character as opposed to a gallant, noble member of the court. Assuming there are five main elements of courtly love, many of those should be found in the poem. The most prominent element of courtly love in the poem is the aspect of aristocracy, presented by the protagonist’s placement of himself in servitude to the woman. On numerous occasions he places himself below her, begging her not to ‘from your service dryve’. There is very little in the way of ritualism in the poem to suggest that the couple share gifts or even any kind of relationship at all; Chaucer uses language in such a way that it infers she barely is aware of his existence. This presents the reader with a quandary especially regarding the purpose of the poem. Secrecy of their affair is not alluded to at any point in the poem; this perhaps represents the ambiguity of what has thus far occurred between them, and perhaps therefore it does not follow the tradition in that the relationship (if it can be defined as such) is not adulterous, as far as we can tell. In order to establish this, it may be useful to examine Chaucer’s own life, and his personal situation at this point . In 1368, Chaucer was married to Philippa Roet, a lady in waiting to the Queen, and was an esquire to the house of Edward III. He had also had a son, named Thomas, born in 1367. This information is useful in terms of a biographical perspective on the poem. Chaucer was still a young man at the point of writing A Complaint to his Lady (aged 24) and it is conceivable that the poem was written on a personal basis, detailing some kind of affair he himself was having at the time. This knowledge is useful, because therefore if the poem is autobiographical, the lady he is speaking of is obviously not his wife, thus fulfilling the extramarital nature of a courtly love relationship as presented in the poem. Without any biographical knowledge however there is no mention of any other relationship, which causes the reader to question the very essence of ‘fine love’ in that we can find very little evidence for it from the poem alone. There are however some isolated elements of the trad ition found in the poem, however whether they culminate in a traditional courtly love ritual poem is dubious. The structure of the poem is revealing in terms of the intention behind its writing; the changing forms, and inconsistency present the reader with an almost unfinished poem, sufficiently unrefined to justify this assertion. There are three main changes of form; parts I and II are written in rhyme royal. Part II however does not strictly adhere to the concept of rhyme royal and contains elements of terza rima. Part III sees the complete transition from rhyme royal to terza rima; iambic tercets make the poem sound more rhythmic than it had been previously. After part III however the form of the poem turns into decasyllabic lines, with stanzas being largely ten lines long, with the exception of stanzas eight and nine, which are nine and eight lines long respectively. The final part of the poem is the least rigidly formatted, and has an irregular rhyme scheme. One of the main rhyme patterns of the final section is AABAABCDDC, however not all stanzas follows this pattern. This inconsisten cy therefore is important in ascertaining the writer’s literary capability, almost the level of sophistication his work had reached at the time he’d written the poem. If one were only to examine the structural cohesion of the poem, then one could conclude he was still very much a developing poet. The rhyme scheme of parts I-III is fairly regular because it adheres to two poetic forms, rhyme royal and terza rima . The use of rhyme royal was a fairly common pattern to use during this period, and often was used in less sophisticated rhyming poetry of the time. Chaucer’s use of terza rima however allows the reader insight into the influence of the courtly love tradition on the poem in that in order to use the form, Chaucer would have had to be exposed to it, in its original format by its patrons, at some point during his missions to Europe. In Italy at this point, Petrarch and Boccaccio especially were writing poetry that was very heavily focussed on the tradition of courtly love, experimenting with terza rima; exposure to this may have prompted Chaucer to write A Complaint to his Lady, and to view the poem as an experiment would add credibility to the idea that Chaucer was still developing as a poet, and therefore his ideas were still unrefined, thus explaining the poemâ €™s content. Why Chaucer did not choose to finish the poem in this manner is unknown. There was usually no prescribed rhyme scheme used in the courtly love tradition, except the obvious assumption that it should rhyme. From the composition of the poem one can assume that Chaucer’s influences were mixed; his travels to Italy influenced his work, as demonstrated by the use of terza rima and the protocols he follows when addressing his lady. Another influence of folklore becomes apparent through the emotions he claims to feel regarding her, and the influence of the knightly tales as demonstrated by the noble tone of ‘For neither pitee, mercy, neither grace’. The structure of this poem in comparison with later works shows more of an experimental motivation; for instance, in The Miller’s Tale the structure is simple; rhyming couplets and one long, extended stanza. This structure therefore adds far more focus to the plot as opposed to the intricacies of rhyme. The Canterbury Tales were also intended for an audience, to be performed verbally; wheth er A Complaint to his Lady was intended for public consumption may affect whether the tradition of courtly love actually forms the basis of the poem, because usually, poems written for personal courtship would not be shared with the wider public. The lack of aural consideration in the poem creates the impression that the poem was not supposed to be performed for the general public, even though the concept of ‘fine love’ was very popular in folklore of the time. The Canterbury Tales were however written to be performed verbally; several paintings of Chaucer performing his poetry exist, including â€Å"Chaucer at the Court of Edward III† . Graphological interpretation of the poem is difficult because by modern standards, it is fragmented and inconsistent; however, there are some features of the poem that define certain elements. For example, Chaucer frequently uses commas, which adds to the internal monologue effect he uses, causing the reader to feel as though we are entering conversation with him. This presents a paradox in terms of stylistic quality because the reader almost feels intrusive, whilst being ‘spoken’ to at the same time. ‘This hevy lif I lede, lo, For your sake’ for example is paradoxical because Chaucer is apparently addressing his lady, and yet appears to be addressing the reader in a simplistic sense because of the use of the second person, personal pronoun of ‘you’. There are also several questions used in the poem, which again engages the reader, making it more accessible to an audience. An example of this is ‘Allas, whan shal that harde wit amende?†™ which is a kind of ponderous question. It includes no specific address however invites the reader to respond in some way. In terms of language and lexical choices, the poem is far easier to comprehend than when considering grammar. Broadly, the poem uses three semantic fields; that evolving around the tradition of courtly love, beauty and other such finery, one of religion based ideas, and one of servitude and self deprecation. These are of course very broad spectrums. The field of courtly love is the central theme of the poem, as demonstrated the assertion of ‘gentilnesse and your debonairtee?’ The language used is obviously connected to the overriding theme of the poem. The use of religious imagery is perhaps more interesting; it represents a deep rooted relationship with the social values of the period and perhaps the element of Christianity that was undoubtedly present in the courtly love tradition. The demigod-like presentation of the woman only serves to enhance the enchanting aura that appears to surround the woman in Chaucer’s poem, and because of the depth of religious focus at the time, this was a very powerful feeling to manipulate within poetry itself. The comparison however with the godlike features of the woman, such as his idealisation of her, as in â€Å"Myn hertes lady and hool my lyves queen†, with the position of servitude he finds himself in is bizarre because from a historical point of view, a man is wholly authoritative over a woman. In modern literature, the woman is often seen rejecting the idealisation of the opposite sex due to love, and instead is becoming more internally directed by her own thoughts and emotions. The semantic field of servitude is one common across much of the courtly love poetry experienced; Petrarch, for example regularly wrote so that the role of the man and the woman were reversed; servitude moved from the role of the woman to that of the man, thus subverting tradition and therefore making the concept almost strange to read, if one is in the contextual mindset as the poem demands. The significance of connotation is surprisingly small in this poem because Chaucer was not a great user of metaphor, especially in his earlier poetry; the emergence of figurative language emerged during the age of prescriptivism, from around 1450, some years after his death. Chaucer does use figurative language in some of The Canterbury Tales, however in terms of The Nun’s Priests Tale, the idea of anthropomorphism is more prevalent than metaphor per se. Chaucer’s meaning is very much found at face value; there are wider implications of what he says, however there is little linguistic subtext, in comparison for example with William Shakespeare. There is however much more contextual connotation, in his exploration of the woman and her role in his life, and the religious connections this has. Overall, the poem follows many aspects of the tradition of courtly love, however investigations into form and Chaucer’s personal life may be more revealing about the motivations of the poem; whether the poem was intended for public consumption is unclear, however since the poem appears to be intensely personal, it seems unlikely. Contextually however, rambling tombs of poems dedicated to one’s ‘true love’ were not uncommon; exaggerated gestures of undying love were commonplace particularly in the aristocratic circles in which Chaucer placed himself, and therefore he may have been persuaded to write in this manner by a variety of ‘peer pressure’. The differences between the tradition of courtly love and the poem will be further explored in Part Two, as well as Chaucer’s personal life which may have influenced the degree to which the poem adheres to tradition, and how far it diverges in comparison with The Canterbury Tales.

Capacity Planning and Performance Modeling Essay

Capacity Planning and Performance Modeling - Essay Example I have experienced working with work planner 1.40. The software helps to plan a wide range of activities for instance trips, events, vacations, meetings or other daily works. It uses intuitive charts to represent data, and a planner can see the plan at a glance. Moreover, the planner can print a chart report or a list report depending on their need. Therefore, the software is easy to use, does not have limits on the planning numbers, and is time saving and fast. Mimosa is software that is widespread used for scheduling and course planning in a variety of school and university regardless of its size. Platform: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP. System requirements: 12 MB on disk. Language: English. Performance measurement software helps to test how the system performs under specific workload. It gives feedback, which is essential for managerial decisions. Moreover, measurement also enables users to improve the software process. It assists in monitoring planning and tracking the software project and evaluates the quality of the software thus created. I chose active strategy software and strategy scorecard. This is because of the availability of this software, coupled with the self-explanatory demos available online. This software enables the database to be placed on a network from which it can be accessed by many users. Security is enhanced by the operating system, and controls are enhanced on whom can run the program. In this exercise, I have learnt the crucial role played by modern technology particularly the advance in the software arena, in key management decision making. It is paramount for organizations to invest to conduct capacity planning despite the fact that servers are cheap and available. Moreover, I have learnt the core foundations and requirements of a successful capacity planning system and generally, the importance of capacity planning in an