Thursday, January 30, 2020
A Comparison of Four Literary Works Essay Example for Free
A Comparison of Four Literary Works Essay Great writing does not necessarily make a great work of literature. More often than not, there has to be something special about a writer’s work of art. This could be also considered their trademarks, signatures that had set them on canonical status. Shakespeare has his soliloquies, Hawthorne attacks the Puritans, Hemmingway uses symbols, Borges possesses fondness for infinity, and the list goes on. However, there could be some similarities between these literary signatures of writers. It is important to take note that having similarities does not render a writer less special than others. What is remarkable about the works sharing similarities in their trademarks is that they all express a common concernâ€â€concerns that could be considered as major issues in the society. The selected works had all talked about women and social status.            The literary works that this paper would feature are Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Birthmark†, Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Goodman Is Hard To Find†, William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose For Emily†, and James Joyce’s â€Å"The Dead.†           Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Birthmark†had shown us how the male-dominated society perceives women. In the narrative, there was a beautiful woman named Georgiana. She was almost perfect, however, her most visible flaw was her hand-shaped birthmark on her cheekâ€â€thus the title. She was married to a scientist named Aylmer who is not pleased with Georgiana’s birthmark. Since he was a scientist, Aylmer conducted a procedure to supposedly fix his wife’s face. As a consequence of the Aylmer’s discontent, Georgiana died while under operation.            Hawthorne story tells us that women are commonly judged according to their physical appearance and not according to the beauty of their intellect and character. Moreover, the story suggested to us that the pride of the male specie is on of the main reason for the oppression of women in the society. It is very likely that Aylmer had treated his beautiful wife as a mere accessory to display to the public. As we could observe in the history of societies, husbands are judged according to their wives, and vice-versa.            In William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose For Emily†, women are presented in a rather disturbing manner. The story is basically about a former aristocrat woman who had kept the corpse of her beloved in her bedroom. That is not to mention that she is the one who killed her beloved and she had slept with the dead corpseâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬Å"slept†, with all the connotations of the word.            Faulkner has this talent to disturb people with seemingly harmless countryside scenarios. But what is remarkable about this particular work is the depiction of how a woman could love a man. A woman’s version of love is a topic that is rarely touched throughout the long history of literature. â€Å"A Rose For Emily†tells us that a woman could love unconditionally even if their love is unrequited. Moreover, â€Å"A Rose For Emily†touches the topic of social status. In the story, Emily came from a family of aristocrat status. The object of her affection, Homer Barron, came from a common family. The difference in their social status had somehow prevented them from getting married. In addition to that, it is Emily’s social status that had made the townspeople treat her differently. On a different tone, Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Goodman Is Hard To Find†had depicted women and social status on a less favorable stance. The protagonist of the story was an annoying grandmother. The family in the story wanted to go to Florida, but the grandmother insisted that they go to Tennessee. The grandmother cited the news that there was a roaming criminal along the way to Florida just to scare off the family. On their way to Florida, the grandmother’s words became true that she and the family had actually encountered the criminal. As a ploy to save herself, the grandmother constantly tells the criminal sarcastic remarks like â€Å"you are a nice person.†With regards to social status, the criminal was aware that the grandmother was just pretending to treat him as a nice person. The criminal already knows what to expect from the society with regards to place of criminals within the social thread. The criminal knows that people like him would always be discriminated by people.            It is almost the same case for James Joyce’s â€Å"The Dead.†The author had reiterated the notion that women are good at telling lies. The disturbing ending of the narrative tells the readers that Gretta, the wife of the protagonist (Gabriel), was deeply in love with someone who already died. The conflict was she was already married with an insecure man. The ending of the story shows us how Gretta’s action of not telling her husband her past had such a tragic impact on his insecurities. On the note of social status, Gabriel’s insecurities were highlighted during the gathering, where most of the plot had developed. His insecurities were most rooted from his social status. When he was interacting with people of higher social status, he would be insecure of his intellect, language, and physical appearance. There is a subtle hint in the story that social status has some effects on a person’s confidence.            All in all, the recurring themes of women and social status could be roughly considered as clichà ©s. However, it is important to take into consideration that these issues should not be forgotten. It is just remarkable for these great writers to reiterate these issues that the society is seemingly eluding. Moreover, the recurrence of these themes tells us that the issues of women and social status are still unresolved by the society. Perhaps if people would read these stories, the society could come up with solutions to the problems at hand.            If I were made to choose a favorite among the feature stories, I would have to choose Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose For Emily.†Aside from its innovative use of point of view through the townspeople, the story touches themes that are both close to heart, like love, and socially relevant like social status. Works Cited Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. An Introduction to Literature. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Longman, 2001 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"The Birthmark†. Demas, C. Various, Mjf. Great American Short Stories: From Hawthorne to Hemingway. Spark Educational Publishing: USA, 2004 Joyce, James. Dubliners. Penguin Books: England, 1993 OConnor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. NJ:  Rutgers University Press, 1993
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
A Midsummer Nights Dream - A Feminist Perspective Essay example -- Fe
A Feminist Perspective of A Midsummer Night's Dream     At age fifteen, my hormones went wild and I threw myself at every boy in the neighborhood. Although I didn’t go all the way, I offered as much flesh as I dared. If the suburbs can create such sexual angst, imagine the lust stirred by moonlight, fairies, and a warm midsummer night. In Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena represents the frenzy of young love when fueled by rejection and driven to masochistic extremes.  As the lovers sink deeper into the fantasy world of starlit woods, the Greek virtue of moderation disappears. Emotions intensify to a melodramatic pitch. Helena, in particular, plunges to a primitive and desperate level of passion. She pleads for attention from the "hardhearted adamant" Demetrius (II. i. 195). Teenage vulnerability, virginal desire, and an adolescent crush combine with the romance of an unobtainable object. Demetrius' hostility only strengthens Helena's willingness to degrade herself.  Shakespeare chooses language of pain and humiliation to express Hele... A Midsummer Night's Dream - A Feminist Perspective Essay example -- Fe A Feminist Perspective of A Midsummer Night's Dream     At age fifteen, my hormones went wild and I threw myself at every boy in the neighborhood. Although I didn’t go all the way, I offered as much flesh as I dared. If the suburbs can create such sexual angst, imagine the lust stirred by moonlight, fairies, and a warm midsummer night. In Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena represents the frenzy of young love when fueled by rejection and driven to masochistic extremes.  As the lovers sink deeper into the fantasy world of starlit woods, the Greek virtue of moderation disappears. Emotions intensify to a melodramatic pitch. Helena, in particular, plunges to a primitive and desperate level of passion. She pleads for attention from the "hardhearted adamant" Demetrius (II. i. 195). Teenage vulnerability, virginal desire, and an adolescent crush combine with the romance of an unobtainable object. Demetrius' hostility only strengthens Helena's willingness to degrade herself.  Shakespeare chooses language of pain and humiliation to express Hele...
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Importance of Learning English
TASK 1A Letter to my teacher I would like to read something that increases my interest of the world society. A literary work that will have an effect on how I see things and what I decide to do later in life. I would like to read a text that contains of a world conflict, politics, human rights or enslavement. I have read â€Å"A Thousand Splendid Suns†by Khaled Hosseini and I would like to read a factual text that has the same effect on me. I got as involved as a 15 year old from Norway could, learned more about it and took part of discussions online.The book changed my life in many ways as got a newfound respect and understanding towards developing countries. I also learned a lot about myself as a person. I learned that I want to make a difference and work as a lawyer in the UN. If I were to pick up a book today, it would have been a book about conflicts in Africa. I would like to learn more about it and try to figure out what that could have been done, and what must be done to prevent future conflicts.I believe discussing in a group session about casualty and our own opinions is going to make students, and myself, more comfortable with expressing our own ideas and how we see things later in a professional life. Having debates and discussions in class leaves the students no other options than to actually study the text and get involved. I expect that the reading project enriches my inner world, improves my grammar and my spelling. Reading gives us access to knowledge and power and can provide a lifetime of enjoyment.I also want to get a better understanding of why our world society has come to what it is today and why there are so many differences crosswise of our cultures. Especially when we are so connected in other areas like import and export, technology, the entertainment industry and communication via Internet. I want to learn how to envision our society decades ahead so that I can do my duty as a citizen and take part of the community. I underst and I may not get all of my expectations fulfilled in just one literary work, but it certainly is a start. TASK 2A The great power that comes with the English languageEnglish surrounds us every single day, whether it is through a novel, texting, chatting online, articles, slang or music. It is a widespread language that most of the non- English speaking countries use as a communication tool with other non- English and English speaking populations. Not only is it because of the United Kingdom’s colonies that English is so widespread, but also because of the great power that came with it. To this date the United Kingdom and the United States of America have had a huge impact on the world because of their literature, business opportunities, ideas for a functional society and their entertainment industry.But why is it so important for us to learn English? Communication is a keyword when discussing the importance of reading English. On the World Wide Web English is the main langua ge and on most Internet pages it is crucial that one can understand English. For instance, most of the industrial world uses the internet to stay connected, therefore being able to understand English is more crucial than ever. From a social standpoint, people who do not know how to read or write English could have big difficulties on a daily basis. For example, they often have trouble travelling.Consequently, those who are English illiterate may not be able to explore new cultures and this could keep him or her from experiential learning. The media gives people the opportunity to learn new information about the world, people, events and places. In a working life, it is important to know what is going on in the world in order to be successful, and the medias main language is of course English. With good English skills, one can also expand their companies’ horizon with international partners, which is followed by even more success.The companies can take part of a bigger interna tional community and speak to a greater public. On a global perspective, the English language in working life can also help prevent some of the poverty problems the world is facing. In addition to helping poor populations out of troubled areas, the poor society can through English communicate with other industrial countries and get collaborations in order to help not only individuals, but a society as a whole. This also helps future generations. Another thing is that some of the African countries only have 13 % gender equality because the women are unqualified.With good English skills, they could have left the country to study abroad, then return to their homeland and work for the government. The president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson is the first female president in any African country, and she studied abroad. It is important to understand that most of the responsibility lies with the government of the developing countries, but that in order for them to get there; they need not only i nformation but also knowledge on how to introduce the English language to their population.To improve my English skills, I believe I should read for enjoyment. Reading more will speed up the development of general knowledge, vocabulary and verbal fluency. Clark and Rumbold (2006, p. 6) states that reading for our own enjoyment is ‘reading that we do of our own free will, anticipating the satisfaction that we will get from the act of reading. It also refers to reading that having begun at someone else’s request we continue because we are interested in it. ’ Reading for enjoyment gives a positive attitude to reading, and the more you read the better you get.Another important factor when improving my English skills is that I have to use the language orally. This will help expand my vocabulary and improve pronunciation. There are many reasons why people should learn English. Great writing skills are sure to earn respect. On the contrary, poor writing will be difficul t to understand, and will leave a bad impression about the character. On a global perspective, it is fascinating to see how English skills can affect not only an individual, but a whole population.In addition to this, learning English will enrich your character and make you more wanted in a business context. References http://alla-kondrat. suite101. com/importance-of-good-writing-and-reading-skills-a97681 Updated: Feb 21, 2009 http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-2122007/Illiterate-Britain-One-adults-struggling-read-write-t-use-chequebook. html Updated: 10:13 GMT, 29 March 2012 http://www. decd. sa. gov. au/literacy/files/links/Reading_for_Enjoyment_9_1_1. pdf Updated: Resource Paper: Consultative Draft November 2010 http://www. globalis. no/Land/Liberia/(show)/mdg Updated: unkown
Sunday, January 5, 2020
What Are Some Methodological Issues Scholars Encounter...
1. What are some methodological issues scholars encounter studying the Hebrew Bible and the histories of ancient Israel? There are so many different variations of the same text that the story cannot be aligned with assurance for some scholars. There are different perspectives regarding the same stories in history, therefore they have been separated into their own collections of literature; such as canonization and biblical text recognized by different sects. Not all of the Hebrew Bible was written in Hebrew, in fact, some of the scriptures were written in Aramaic. Scholars also run into the issue with sources by means of interpretation and preservation. Primary sources like the Dead Sea Scrolls are easier to extract information from rather than archeological artifacts that are likely to be open to interpretation. 2. What do multiple canons and collections of texts tell us about canonization? Why do scholars consider canonization a process, not a moment? What is the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls and what do they tell us about textual traditions during the Second Temple period? The canon books were prized text that was held in high regards to wisdom and history of the culture. The content of these books was from the laws of Moses to the birth and death of humanity and all that was in between, about a three-thousand-year timeframe. The preservation of these scriptures including additions to, removal of, or any alterations to the text was guarded by the authors, even
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