Essay on Emily Dickinsons Works - 2525 Words

Emily Dickinsons Works There is a life in Emily Dickinson’s poems, readers have found. Although one may not completely understand her as a legend, a writer, or as a part of literature books, she is considered one of America’s greatest poets. While unknown answers may not be revealed about her, secrets may not be told, nor any new discoveries made, evidence from books and articles showing Emily Dickinson’s experiences and hardships exists. Critic Paul J. Ferlazzo describes her writings: â€Å"Many students and casual readers of her poetry have enjoyed hearing tales about her which remind them of storybook heroines locked in castles, of beautiful maidens cruelty relegated to a life of drudgery and obscurity, of genius so great that all†¦show more content†¦She wanted to create her own poetic craft that demonstrated her independence, and this extraordinary individuality characterizes her work and career. Ferlazzo gives some prime examples of her poetry dealing with her religi ous experience: â€Å"Most of her poems and letters are given a biographical reading. For instance, â€Å"Going to Heaven!† and â€Å"Some Keep the Sabbath going to church† are meant to summarize her religious opinions.† 3 Going to Heaven! Some keep the Sabbath going. I don’t know when-to church: Pray not ask me how!I keep it staying at home,Indeed I’m too astonished With a bobolink for a to think of answering you! chorister, Going to Heaven! And an orchard for a dome. How dim it sounds! Some keep the Sabbath in and yet it will be done surplice; As sure as the flocks go home at night I just wear my wings; Into the Shepherd’s arm and instead of tolling the bell for church. I’m glad I don’t believe it our little sexton sings for it would stop my breath-And I’d like to look a little more God preaches-a noted At such a curious Earth! clergyman- I’m glad they did believe it. And the sermon is never. Whom I have never found long; Since the mighty Autumn afternoon So instead of getting to I left them in the ground. heaven atShow MoreRelatedEmily Dickinson: An American Poet1793 Words   |  7 PagesEmily Dickinson is one of the most influential American authors, whose works transformed the way people view poetry and female authors. Her exceedingly complex life has proved a tremendous influence on her instrumental poetry, creating its originality and distinguishing her from other great poets of the nineteenth century. As well, her use of symbolism and imagery has continued to make her work celebrated. Although Emily Dickinson lived a private and reclusive life, full of death among many closeRead MoreThe Works of Emily Dickinson726 Words   |  3 Pages Emily Dickinson’s writing reflects the Realistic period through personal themes: death, isolation, God, marriage, women in society, and love. Dickinson’s writing is affected by numerous factors. Among these are her family, the Realism period, and her life experiences. Emily Dickinson herself was a sort of mystery. Emily Dickinson’s background had a profound effect on her writing. Family always plays an important role in the upbringing of an individual. Her grandfather had a prominent position inRead MoreSolitude Of A Poet By Emily Dickinson1545 Words   |  7 Pagesmost recognized and widely studied poet today. Born in December 10, 1886 in Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson was one of three children to Edward Dickinson and his wife, Emily Dickinson. According to Pettinger, Dickinson’s roots trace back to her Puritan ancestors from England in the 17th century, who later immigrated to America to freely exercise their religion (Pettinger, The Biography of Emily Dickinson). Dickinson was a quiet, intelligent individual, excelling in Amherst Academy, a schoolRead MoreTheology Leads to Interpretation1336 Words   |  6 PagesEmily Dickinson’s extensive collection of poems on the subject of death can be better understood individually once time has been taken to view her wo rks as whole. By viewing the works as a whole, it is possible to conclude a likely theological view point of the author and then apply this theology to the individual works in order to improve interpretation. Emily Dickinson’s poem â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death† is one such poem that when viewed individually is open to a wide scope of readingsRead MoreEssay On Why I Could Not Stop For Death By Emily Dickinson1339 Words   |  6 PagesWriting nearly 1800 poems, Emily Dickinson is known as one of the most distinguished poets of the 19th century. She was born on December 10th in the year of 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts to a very well-known and influential family. Naturally, Emily had the reputation of being a recluse since she was the second born of three children, making her the middle child. Having never been married, she died in the house where she was born on May 15th, 1886. Seemingly her most understood ballad, Because IRead MoreEssay on Emily Dickinson : Life and Literature1068 Words   |  5 Pages The life led by Emily Dickinson was one secluded from the outside world, but full of color and light within. During her time she was not well known, but as time progressed after her death more and more people took her works into consideration and many of them were published. Dickinson’s life was interesting in its self, but the life her poems held, changed American Literature. Emily Dickinson led a unique life that emotionally attached her to her writing and the people who would read them long afterRead More Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop For Death Essay894 Words   |  4 PagesEmily Dickinson’s â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death† is a remarkable masterpiece that exercises thought between the known and the unknown. Critics call Emily Dickinson’s poem a masterpiece with strange â€Å"haunting power.† In Dickinson’s poem, â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death,† there is much impression in the tone, in symbols, and in the use of imagery that exudes creativity. One might undoubtedly agree to an eerie, haunting, if not frightening, tone in Dickinson’s poem. Dickinson uses controllingRead MoreEmily Dickinson s `` Because I Could Not Stop For Death `` Essay1355 Words   |  6 PagesModernism for Emily Dickinson has to do with the uncertainty. Emily Dickinson was a somber thinker who doesn’t try to enlighten anyone of anything. Her poems were uniquely written and she wrote about the uncertainty, which makes her poetry easy to empathize with in the 21st century. The 21st century, is a period of science which is used as a tool to make sense of the uncertainty. Emily Dickinson uses her poetry as a means to question and observe the trauma of human existence. For instance, she doesn’tRead More Emily Dickinsons Living Death Essay1539 Words   |  7 Pa gesEmily Dickinson was born December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts to a governing father and an almost non-existent mother. Her father was a lawyer, a legislator and a rigorous Calvinist. Although her father had strong faith in God, Dickinson declined to pronounce herself as a believing Christian in her late teens. In her younger years Dickinson considered herself different because she was shy and sensitive (Emily Dickinson’s Life and Work). Dickinson and her younger sister Lavinia started theirRead MoreEmily Dickinson Poetry Analysis1154 Words   |  5 Pageslonging, and passionate are all feelings that a reader will recognize when he reads one of Emily Dickinson’s poems. When talking about nature, Dickinson uses emotional and exceptional diction to describe what she feels. In her poems, she uses the theme of nature to give her poems a certain feeling that makes the reader never forget about it. Although some critics think that her work expresses her fears, ac tually Emily Dickinson expresses her unique love for nature that gives her poems an uplifting, longing

Women and Environment Free Essays

string(53) " were less likely to be employed in the labor force\." That the relationship between people and the environment is not gender-neutral became clear in the mid-1980s. Some organizations, focusing on the day-to-day lives of communities, argued that the position and concerns of women were invisible in environmental debates and programmers. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE based in New Delhi, India, in their The State of India’s Environment Report – or the Second Citizens Report of 1984-1985 argued that: Probably no other group is more affected by environmental destruction than poor village women. We will write a custom essay sample on Women and Environment or any similar topic only for you Order Now Every dawn brings with it a long march in search of fuel, fodderand water. It does not matter if the women are old, young or pregnant: crucial household needs have to be met day after weary day. As ecological conditions worsen, the long march becomes even longer and more tiresome. Caught between poverty and environmental destruction, poor rural women in India could well be reaching the limits of physical endurance. (CSE 1985) In that same year of 1985, the second UN Decade for Women Conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya.The Environment Liaison Centre (presently the Environment Liaison Centre International or ELCI) organized a series of workshops on women, environment and development at the NGO Forum. These workshops were aimed at developing a better understanding of the relationship between women and the physical environment. More than 25 women leaders from all parts of the world – with an audience of women and men many times more – presented their local and regional case studies on women and the global environmental crisis, as well as on women and forests, energy, agriculture, and water management at local level.One of the main conclusions from the workshops was that women bear the highest costs of the environmental crisis because of their roles in providing water, food and energy at family and community levels. On the other hand, it was shown that women could potentially also make a large contribution to the solution of the crisis, precisely due to their role in the management of those primary resources. The increase in women’s power and the sustainability of development are ecologically tied.It is therefore imperative that women are enabled to participate and be involved at all levels of development planning throughout the industrialized and developing worlds, according to the ELC statement to the UN Women’s Conference in 1985. Female Participation in the Labor Force over the last century, the issue of women in the workplace has been a tumultuous one. Early in the 20th century, few women participated in the labor force. A woman’s place was at home, taking care of the family and managing the domestic world.It was seen as unfit for women to be in certain professions, and most women did not work, other than going about their daily chores around the house. The Great Depression magnified this fact, as unemployment reached its highest levels in history but women, more than ever, stayed home to look after their husbands who now found themselves without work. World War II brought a complete reversal to this trend. Productivity boomed and the men left their homes, some to work, most to join the war effort.Women, in large masses for the first time, also hit the labor market. Dubbed â€Å"Rosie the Riveter†, these women worked at manufacturing plants and at other technological industries that had previously seen only male employees. With the men off at war, these companies needed women to fill their shoes, and women streamed into the business. Since then, they have not looked back, as women employment in the labor force grew steadily in the four decades after World War II. It was not until very recently that female employment growth rates have leveled out.I hope to explain why this has happened, as well as examining different sectors of the economy and comparing women employment and men employment. Just after World War II the civilian labor force participation for women was a paltry 32%. Today, however, some six decades later that rate has climbed in excess of 70%. For four solid decades after the war, this rate increased at an astounding rate. Early in the 1990s, however, this rate leveled off. This brought about much speculation as to whether or not women were thus starting to leave the labor force and, if so, what the causes of that might be.In order to look at this hypothesis more closely, we first need to break down the women in the labor force by age: 16-24 year olds, 25-34 year olds, 35-44 year olds, 45-54 year olds, and 55+ years. In the mid 1940’s, 35-44 year olds were engaged in the labor force more than any other age group. In the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, this was still the case. Over the last 25 years, however, the younger age groups have exploded onto the work scene, drastically shooting up from a percentage (of women that age in the labor force) of 40 percent in 1970 to nearly 75 percent in the early 1990s. Until the 1970’s, a graph of female participation rates in the labor force would look like an â€Å"M†, with a large dip coming between the early 20’s until the later-child bearing years, the mid 30’s. However, with all age groups now actively participating in the labor force, that graph now looks like an upside down â€Å"U†. In the early 1990s participation rates of women abruptly flattened out. Initially much thought was given to the fact that more mothers were exiting the labor force temporarily in order to look after their children or become homemakers.Thus analysts turned to specific age groups. They found that there was a significant drop off in labor force participation rates of women ages 16-24. Historically, rates of this age group did follow business cycles, so why the sudden change? The explanation was that more females that age were enrolling in schools. School enrollment between 1987 and 1993 increased nearly 28 percent, and women in school were less likely to be employed in the labor force. You read "Women and Environment" in category "Papers" Other age groups continued their slightly upward trend, with the only exception being the 16-24 year olds.One explanation as to why these women decided to attend school rather than remain in the labor force is the recession of the early 1990s. There was a recessionary job market, so the younger, less stable women chose to go back to school rather than seek alternate employment. Since the early 1990s, however, the growth of women entering the labor force has resumed. The makeup of the group of women in the labor force has been influenced more recently than ever before on family structure. In the last ten years, mothers have accounted for most of the rise in women’s overall labor force rate. For mothers with children between the ages of 6 and 17, an astonishing 77 percent are in the labor force. With children under 6, this percentage understandably dips to 62 points, but both largely higher than a decade ago. For mothers with infants less than a year old, the percentage entering the labor force has grown nearly 20 percent over the last decade. This trend is a strong reflection of today’s societal norms: working for pay is an integral part of many women’s lives, as opposed to early in the 20th century when housework was the norm.The 1996 Welfare Reform Bill passed by Congress had an effect on poor and single mothers in the workplace. By trying to move women from welfare to work, the bill encouraged these women to find jobs, thus entering the labor force. Additionally, the real wages of met earning lower incomes has remained stagnant or even slightly fallen in recent years. The cost of a wife sitting around the house and taking care of the children has risen, so the wives have much more incentive, and need, now to go out and earn on their own. This, in turn, also puts pressure on single mothers to go out and work as well.These women do not necessarily work full-time year-round, but their entrance into the marketplace is a positive for not only them but the women’s movement in general. It has gotten to the point, however, that marriage and children (except a pre-school aged child, where mothers tend to stay at home or work minimal hours) now have little effect on whether a not a woman works, and for how long she works. This is the societal norm, although access to other income (e. g. husband’s earnings, single vs. married woman) still has a large effect on a woman’s employment options.Women now spend a couple of hours more in the workplace per day than they do caring for their children as opposed to 20 years ago, yet many mothers are still not committed to full-time year-round employment. Throughout the entire 20th century, women’s wages have constantly lagged behind men’s wages. If a woman and mad were both hired to do the same task, the man would be paid more than the women. That has been and continues to be the trend in the American capitalist state. One explanation has always been that the men are not only more qualified at the jobs but more efficient.Thus, the argument goes, they should be paid at a higher premium. Today, however, the wage gap is still existent, and very few would find that argument valid. So why do women still earn less than men, and why are women often discriminated against in the workplace? When a child enters a family, it is the woman who, much more often than not, stays at home and cares for the new baby. When the women exits the labor force, she does not gain the seniority that she would have otherwise gotten had there been no child.When women return to the labor force, they are less likely to receive on the job training, and thus less like to increase their productivity and thus level of pay. The absence from the work force, even if only for several months to take care of a newborn child, can depreciate the job skills of women, so when they return back to work they are not as sharp and take some time to regain pre-birth efficiency in the office. Knowing this, employers are less likely to hire women who are in their prime years for giving birth. This also stands for wome n applying for new jobs; if they left the labor force nce before for a child, chances are good that they might do it again. An employer will see this and thus shy away from hiring the woman, instead perhaps deferring to a man who would remain at work. Employers may even view those who do not take time away from work as more dedicated than women who do, regardless of the reason, and this could be reflected in reduced promotion possibilities, different job assignments, and other actions that could have salary implications. This is certainly not fair to women: it is not their fault that they are biologically the ones who give birth and must frequently look after the children.Regardless, the trend is that those women who do take time off from work often are overlooked for more competitive jobs and receive less pay. I have just established that women are now in the labor force more than ever before. But now that they are working, what kinds of jobs are they doing? In private industry, the breakdown of women compared to men is interesting. In 2000 there were 44 million workers in private industry in the United States, 23. 5 million of which were male, 20. 5 million female. A more specific breakdown, however, shows some astounding differences.There were twice as many male officials and managers than there were females (3 million as opposed to 1. 5 million). Officials and managers are described as â€Å"occupations requiring administrative and managerial personnel who set broad policies, exercise overall responsibility for execution of these policies, etc. † Yet the number of workers defined as ‘professionals’ gives females the numeric advantage, 3. 6 million to 3. 4 million. Professionals are described as â€Å"occupations requiring either college graduation or experience of such kind. Thus even though the women labor force tends to be slightly more educated than the male labor force, it is the males who, by a 2:1 ratio, are in managerial and authoritative positions! In other generic fields, there is also a stark contrast between males and females. Women outnumber men by roughly a 3:2 ratio in sales, and for office and clerical workers in private industry in the United States in 2000, there were over 5 million females and only slightly over 1 million males. This is no doubt a stereotype, the female secretary or clerical workers, but according to these statistics this stereotype seems to hold true.What reasons are there that so many more females are attracted to, or rather hold, secretarial jobs? There are many. On the flip side, however, there were six times as many male craft workers (skilled labor) than there were female craft workers in 2000. Perhaps females are not attracted to the demanding physical labor of such jobs, much the way males do not like clerical tasks. Historically, males have been overwhelmingly dominant in the field of physical labor. When some women were forced to work in factories for personal financial reasons, they were often despised and treated unequally.This, I am sure, led many females to be extremely not attracted to such professions. Likewise, females have always dominant as office secretaries and the like. Back when women first entered the labor force, these were often the only types of jobs available so they took them. Today, women still flock to these clerical jobs. Looking at more specific job fields, these same general observations seem to hold true. In the field of engineering and management services, male office officials and managers greatly outweigh female managers.There are more than twice as many male technicians as female technicians, and over 12 times as many male skilled laborers than female skilled laborers. However, the number of female clerical workers is more than four times that of male clerical workers. Even male operatives (semiskilled workers) outnumber by three times the number of female operatives. These numbers show overwhelmingly that the technical aspect of engineering is enjoyed more by males, while the women are still confined to the office. In the field of legal services, females outnumber males by a 1. 7:1 ration.Nearly two thirds of all females in this profession, however, are in fact office and clerical workers. Male professionals outnumber female professionals by a wide margin, and the trend shown in the general population holds true here, too. In the field of computers and office equipment, twice as many males as females hold jobs in this area. As usual, the number of female clerical workers greatly outweighs the number of male clerical workers. It comes as no surprise that, in the field of computers, male professionals, technicians, and skilled laborers greatly outweighs the number of female workers in these areas. The same trends can be seen in other areas such as communications. One profession bucking this trend, however, can be found in hospitals. Women hospital employees outnumber male hospital employees by more than a 3:1 margin. Additionally, the number of female officials and managers, professionals, and technicians outweigh the numbers for the males, not just in raw numbers but also in terms of percentages. Males, however, still comprise the vast majority of skilled laborers in this area. It is nice to see, however, an area that goes against the general trend.Even though women seem to be dominant in a few fields of work and very scattered throughout many others, this is a change from a couple generations ago when most women were not even in the labor force. For women, this fact is definitely a step in the positive direction. Most women now hold jobs in the workplace, and are sustaining them for longer amounts of time than ever before. The next step is for women to immerse themselves in all fields of the labor force, rather than just concentrating on a selective few.This brings responsibility to males, too, to allow for women to reach the upper echelons of the labor force. In a labor force that has been historically dominated by males, this proves to be an intriguing situation over the next decade as more and more women aspire to the officials and managers that they are not today. Women’s education from past till now Social Relevance Education has been the stumbling block keeping women from attaining equal status in society, separating them from their male counterparts. It has also been the door to this elusive dream of equality. Before women gained the right and privilege of higher education they were believed to be lower-class citizens, not worthy of voting or owning property, or any number of other â€Å"inalienable rights†. It was not only men who believed that women should hold a lower position than they. Queen Victoria said: † I am most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of ‘Women’s Rights’, with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feelings and propriety. Feminists ought to get a good whipping.Were woman to ‘unsex’ themselves by claiming equality with men, they would become the most hateful, heathen and disgusting of beings and would surely perish without male protection. â€Å"(Victorian Station)  Without education to empower them, many women believed that they should not hold the power to influence politics or even make decisions abou t their own property. Women were stripped of their dignity and privileges by men of the community and even by their own husbands. However, they were finally able to break free from these social constraints through education. It is telling that most of he early feminists were set apart from their complacent sisters by education. They were educated, and through this knowledge gained a sense of self-worth and the power to change history. Higher education is the foundation of the empowered women of today. The struggle for women’s education has been an uphill battle that has not yet reached its citadel. This journey took root in the Victorian period and branched even to modern times. During the mid-eighteen hundreds women were expected to live up to a feminine ideal. This ideology required women to be â€Å"pure, pious, domestic and submissive† (Eisenmann Apendix).None of these ideals would be achieved through education. In fact, receiving an education in the Victorian Period was considered an â€Å"act of nonconformity†(Solomon xviii). A woman could not fill her preordained place in society if she wasting her time gaining knowledge. Education was thought to make women discontented with their current status, and possibly even irritated with men (McClelland 12). Education for women was thought to disrupt the social balance of the time. On the contrary, the earliest push for Victorian women to become educated was because they were mothers of men and eventually teachers of men (Solomon xviii). It was not until the twentieth century that women began to desire knowledge for themselves as individuals. History of Women in Education In order to understand the women’s education movement, it is important to have a brief background of its history. During the time of the ideal subservient woman a few bold women and events stand out as milestones in history. The first is in 1833; Oberlin College was founded. It was the nations first university to accept women and black students. The next important event was the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. This convention added fuel to the flame of education and suffrage. The Seneca Falls Declaration has been called â€Å"the single most important document of the nineteenth-century American woman’s movement†. At the convention a declaration concerning women’s rights was adopted modeling the Declaration of Independence. Appearing in addition to issues of suffrage were issues of education and employment. The Declaration of Sentiments states: He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration. He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction, which he considers ost honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known. He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education – all colleges being closed against her. (Schneir 77) This event is of utmost importance to the women’s rights movement. It laid the foundation for future achievements even though suffrage was not achieved until 1920. After the Seneca Falls Convention women continued to achieve milestones in education. In 1877, Helen Magill became the first woman in the United States to earn her Ph. D.By 1880, women comprised eighty percent of all elementary school educators, and by 1910 women made up 39 percent of all collegiate undergraduate students and even 20 percent of all college faculty. Finally, in 1920 women’s suffrage was achieved, giving women a secure foothold in society. In 1945, the first woman was accepted to Harvard Medical School, and by 1972 Title XI was passed to help end the discrimination based on sex for any educational program that received federal funding. In 1980 women equaled men in numbers enrolled in colleges with 51 percent.Finally, in 1996 Virginia Military Institute was forced by the Supreme Court to become coeducational (Eisenmann appendix). There are many other events along the path to education that helped women achieve the status they enjoy today. This brief chronology merely traces a few of the hundreds of thousands of victories women had to win in order to become educated. Reasons for Oppression One of the main values that necessitated all of this arduous labor in order to simply become educated was that, people feared that the social system would break down if women were allowed to be educated.They worried that women would cease to fulfill their traditional roles if they received a higher education. It was even thought that a woman risked brain fever or sterility if she became educated (Delamont 109). These Victorian ideas seem ridiculous from a twentieth century perspective, but educated women today still have to deal with a certain measure of social stigma. It is often overlooked, however, because it has been adapted to fit the social constraints of today. They are forced at times to choose to live up to the dreams of their education or to live up to the societal implications of being a mother and wife (Solomon xix).This is only one of many reasons that the fight for adequate woman’s education is far from over. University of Texas Compared to Cambridge The fact that the need for reform in women’s education is not over is illustrated in two parallel cases. During the early feminist movement and the beginnings of the reform of women’s education, the best case to study is Cambridge in England. At the time this university had established authority in academia there was not a comparable university in the United States.Therefore, it is necessary to compare universities across the boundaries of nations. Women first gained notoriety at Cambridge when in the 1860’s Emily Davies was successful in her campaign to allow women to attend Cambridge University. However, they did not have the same status as the male students there (Acker 51). Even though Cambridge was one of the first universities to encourage women to study they did not award women the same degrees as men upon completion of the same tests (Vicinus 117). This is a testament to the slow but steady progress of women in education.These women were dedicated and willing to study despite sub-par compensation upon completion of school. It was not until 1947 that women were admitted to Cambridge as equal members (Acker 51). While it was a promising start for women in the Victorian period to even be allowed to study, it is necessary to evaluate the staggering length of time this progress took to occur. It took almost a century for women to gain the same recognition as men. In light of these facts, it is dangerous to assume that women today have equal educational opportunity.As little as fifty-five years ago women were celebrating the fact that they could finally earn a degree at Cambridge University. That is not a very distant past. When asked if women at The University of Texas still face issues of educational bias, the answer is an unequivocal yes. Women make up almost half of the undergraduate student population at forty-nine percent. Sadly, these women are outnumbered in fields that have traditionally been male-dominated such as architecture and medicine. However, the average grade point average of women is higher than men in every field of study(Office of Inst. . This makes it clear that it is not a discrepancy of ability that keeps women from pursuing these vocations.There must be some sort of lingering Victorian attitudes that keep women from living up to their potential. Women today aspire to more diverse areas of study and vocation. However, they are realistic about what the world has in store for them and therefore gravitate towards more typically female professions (Kramarae 489). Another important fact is that the percentage of women faculty is a meager 33 percent (Office of Inst. Research has found that students tend to seek out classrooms and vocations in which they will feel comfortable and successful. Some students report avoiding courses that are overwhelmingly male because of the unwelcome feeling they experience in the classroom. How can women feel comfortable pursuing any field of study when male mentors and educators surround them and when the only contributions taught are those of males (Kramarae 498)? The battle for women’s education will not be won until women feel free and comfortable to pursue any academic field. How to cite Women and Environment, Papers

Death of a Salesman American Beauty free essay sample

Directorâ€Å"In order to achieve personal fulfilment sacrifices have to be made. † How have the contexts of the composers of â€Å"Death of a Salesman† and â€Å"American Beauty† shaped their representations of sacrifice? Personal fulfilment must be achieved through sacrifices, however sacrifices do not always promise the achievement of a dream. Personal fulfilment is a desire, often thought of a better life, and these cannot be achieved unless certain things are given up. These sacrifices are compared to what you have, and what you will get. Representations of different sacrifices morally or physically have been shaped to the context they are given. In â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller and â€Å"American Beauty† by Sam Mendes both composers shape their understanding of sacrifice according to the context they have written in. Differing sacrifices are made to achieve personal fulfilment in the contexts they are given. â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller was set in the Depression of the 1930’s where America had no money and salesmen were the economic growth of American life. We will write a custom essay sample on Death of a Salesman American Beauty or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The American Dream was heavily desired, to have wealth and academic achievement thus creating reputation and respect was every man’s dream and Willy Loman was no exception. To be successful salesman and to achieve this dream, Willy sacrifices his dignity and pride for a job. He repeatedly lowers his standards to just be successful and have money to support his family. â€Å"Sixty-five dollars a week†, â€Å"all I need†¦ is fifty dollars a week† and finally â€Å"If I had forty dollars a week – that’s all I need. † is spoken to Willy’s employer Howard Wagner. Howard is however, more interested in a new â€Å"toy† that he has, the recording machine which frightens Willy, portraying the old man being left behind as society moves ahead. In â€Å"American Beauty† directed by Sam Mendes, Lester Burnham also aspires to achieve the American Dream. The film was set in the 1990’s and at that time America was in a much better economic state than the 1930’s. Many American families are already wealthy but are looking for new forms of pursuits. Lester already has the physical part of the American Dream that Willy has failed to achieve, a home and materialistic goods. The part of the American Dream that Lester desires is youth and freedom. He is desperate to be free of his responsibilities for the role of a good father and husband. He wants to explore youth again as his sexual desires arise when he meets Angela. He sacrifices his job and reputation to free him of responsibilities he does not want. The dialogue Im looking for the least possible amount of responsibility suggests that he wants to be free from supporting the family, taking care of Jane or any kind of responsibility that his family has trapped him. He looks for youth and again, sacrifices any kind of approval from his family, and gives in to the craving of Angela’s youthful body. In the context of time, different representations of sacrifice and personal fulfilment are explored. Sacrifices must be made to achieve the American Dream, but are the sacrifices really worth what they give in return, if any? In â€Å"Death of a Salesman† Willy desires to give his future to his son by sacrificing his life for the insurance money. He dreams of the â€Å"death of a salesman† where fellow salesmen will come and cry at his grave. However, no one comes. What he has dreamed of will never come true and the sacrifice has not given him any type of respect, but sadness from his family. Sometimes the wrong sacrifices are made or wrong dreams are pursued. Willy did not have to make the sacrifice of taking his life, for the future of his son. He has not accomplished anything and instead received the statement â€Å"He had the wrong dreams all, all wrong†¦ he never knew who he was† from Biff at his grave. In â€Å"American Beauty† Lester did not achieve his dream either. His story also ends with death. The scene where Lester is seen dead from the perspective of Ricky is elevated in hues of red, blue and white, the colours of the American flag. The symbolism behind the colours suggest that this is what happens when you try to achieve the American Dream, that you will never get it and sacrifices are wasted. The American Dream was designed to set a trap in American lives. It was designed to never be achieved but to be dreamt of achieving so that the people of the country work willingly but always within an arm’s length away. Dreams must be achieved through sacrifice, but sacrifices do not always give a dream in return. Sacrifices are also shaped in the context they are given in and each a different representation. These ideas can be found in â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller and â€Å"American Beauty† by Sam Mendes. Both composers represented sacrifice in the context they were given and showed their audience what may result in the sacrifices that are chosen.

Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is Essay Example For Students

Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is Essay Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story that is thick with allegory. Young Goodman Brown is a moral story which is told through the perversion of a religious leader. In Young Goodman Brown, Goodman Brown is a Puritan minister who lets his excessive pride in himself interfere with his relations with the community after he meets with the devil, and causes him to live the life of an exile in his own community. Young Goodman Brown begins when Faith, Browns wife, asks him not to go on an errand. Goodman Brown says to his love and (my) Faith that this one night I must tarry away from thee. When he says his love and his Faith, he is talking to his wife, but he is also talking to his faith to God. He is venturing into the woods to meet with the Devil, and by doing so, he leaves his unquestionable faith in God with his wife. He resolves that he will cling to her skirts and follow her to Heaven. This is an example of the excessive pride because he feels that he can sin and meet with the Devil because of this promise that he made to himself. There is a tremendous irony to this promise because when Goodman Brown comes back at dawn; he can no longer look at his wife with the same faith he had before. When Goodman Brown finally meets with the Devil, he declares that the reason he was late was because Faith kept me back awhile.This statement has a double meaning because his wife physically prevented him from being on time for his meeting with the devil, but his faith to God psychologically delayed his meeting with the devil. The Devil had with him a staff that bore the likeness of a great black snake. The staff which looked like a snake is a reference to the snake in the story of Adam and Eve. The snake led Adam and Eve to their destruction by leading them to the Tree of Knowledge. The Adam and Eve story is similar to Goodman Brown in that they are both seeking unfathomable amounts of knowledge. Once Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge they were expell ed from their paradise. The Devils staff eventually leads Goodman Brown to the Devils ceremony which destroys Goodman Browns faith in his fellow man, therefore expelling him from his utopia. Goodman Brown almost immediately declares that he kept his meeting with the Devil and no longer wishes to continue on his errand with the Devil. He says that he comes from a race of honest men and good Christians and that his father had never gone on this errand and nor will he. The Devil is quick to point out however that he was with his father and grandfather when they were flogging a woman or burning an Indian village, respectively. These acts are ironic in that they were bad deeds done in the name of good, and it shows that he does not come from good Christians.When Goodman Browns first excuse not to carry on with the errand proves to be unconvincing, he says he cant go because of his wife, Faith. And because of her, he can not carry out the errand any further. At this point the Devil agrees with him and tells him to turn back to prevent that Faith should come to any harm like the old woman in front of them on the path. Ironically, Goodman Browns faith is harmed because the woman on the path is the woman who taught him his catechism in youth, and was still his moral and spiritual adviser. The Devil and the woman talk and afterward, Brown continues to walk on with the Devil in the disbelief of what he had just witnessed. Ironically, he blames the woman for consorting with the Devil but his own pride stops him from realizing that his faults are the same as the womans. Brown again decides that he will no longer to continue on his errand and rationalizes that just because his teacher was not going to heaven, why should he quit my dear Faith, and go after her. At this, the Devil tosses Goodman Brown his staff (which will lead him out of his Eden) and leaves him.Goodman Brown begins to think to himself about his situation and his pride in himself begins to build. He applauds himself greatly, and thinking with how clear a conscience he should meet his ministerAnd what calm sleep would be hisin the arms of Faith! This is ironic because at the end of the story, he can not even look Faith in the eye, let alone sleep in her arms. As Goodman Brown is feeling good about his strength in resisting the Devil, he hears the voices of the minister and Deacon Gookin. He overhears their conversation and hears them discuss a goodly young woman to be taken in to communion that evening at that nights meeting and fears that it may be his Faith. When Goodman Brown hears this he becomes weak and falls to the ground. He begins to doubt whether there really was a Heaven above him and this is a key point when Goodman Browns faith begins to wain. Goodman Brown in panic declares that With Heaven above, and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against the devil! Again, Brown makes a promise to keep his faith unto God. Then a black mass of cloud goes in between Brown and the sky as if to block his prayer from heaven. Brown then hears what he believed to be voices that he has before in the community. Once Goodman Brown begins to doubt whether this is really what he had heard or not, the sound comes to him again and this time it is followed by one voice, of a young woman. Goodman believes this is Faith and he yells out her name only to be mimicked by the echoes of the forest, as if his calls to Faith were falling on deaf ears. A pink ribbon flies through the air and Goodman grabs it. At this moment, he has lost all faith in the world and declares that there is no good on earth. Young Goodman Brown in this scene is easily manipulated simply by the power of suggestion. The suggestion that the woman in question is his Faith, and because of this, he easily loses his faith. Goodman Brown then loses all of his inhibitions and begins to laugh insanely. He takes hold of the staff which causes him to seem to fly along the forest-path. This image alludes to that of Adam and Eve being led out of the Garden of Eden as is Goodman Brown being led out of his utopia by the Devils snakelike staff. Hawthorne at this point remarks about the instinct that guides mortal man to evil. This is a direct statement from the author that he believes that mans natural inclination is to lean to evil than good. Goodman Brown had at this point lost his faith in God, therefore there was nothing restraining his instincts from moving towards evil because he had been lead out from his utopian image of society. At this point, Goodman Brown goes mad and challenges evil. He feels that he will be the downfall of evil and that he is strong enough to overcome it all. This is another demonstration of Browns excessive pride and arrogance. He believes that he is better than everyone else in that he alone can destroy evil. Brown then comes upon the ceremony which is setup like a perverted Puritan temple. The altar was a rock in the middle of the congregation and there were four trees surrounding the congregation with their tops ablaze, like candles. A red light rose and fell over the congregation which cast a veil of evil over the congregation over the devil worshippers.Brown starts to take notice of the faces that he sees in the service and he recognizes them all, but he then realizes that he does not see Faith and hope came into his heart. This is the first time that the word hope ever comes into the story and it is because this is the true turning point for Goodman Brown. If Faith was not there, as he had hoped, he would not have to live alone in his community of heathens, which he does not realize that he is already apart of. Another way that the hope could be looked at is that it is all one of the Christian triptych. (Capps 25) The third part of the triptych which is never mentioned throughout the story is charity. If Brown had had charity it would have been the antidote that would have allowed him to survive without despair the informed state in which he r eturned to Salem. (Camps 25) The ceremony then begins with a a cry to Bring forth the converts! Surprisingly Goodman Brown steps forward. He had no power to retreat one step, nor to resist, even in thought. Goodman Brown at this point seems to be in a trance and he loses control of his body as he is unconsciously entering this service of converts to the devil. The leader of the service than addresses the crowd of converts in a disturbing manner. He informs them that all the members of the congregation are the righteous, honest, and incorruptible of the community. The sermon leader then informs the crowd of their leaders evil deeds such as attempted murder of the spouse and wife, adultery, and obvious blasphemy. After his sermon, the leader informs them to look upon each other and Goodman Brown finds himself face to face with Faith. The leader begins up again declaring that Evil is the nature of mankind and he welcomes the converts to communion of your race. (The communion of your ra ce statement reflects to the irony of Browns earlier statement that he comes from a race of honest men and good Christians.) The leader than dips his hand in the rock to draw a liquid from it and to lay the mark of baptism upon their foreheads. Brown than snaps out from his trance and yells Faith! Faith! Look up to Heaven and resist the wicked one! At this, the ceremony ends and Brown finds himself alone. He does not know whether Faith, his wife, had kept her faith, but he finds himself alone which leads him to believe that he is also alone in his faith. Throughout the story, Brown lacks emotion as a normal person would have had. The closest Brown comes to showing an emotion is when a hanging twig, that had been all on fire, besprinkled his cheek with the coldest dew. The dew on his cheek represents a tear that Brown is unable to produce because of his lack of emotion. Hawthorne shows that Brown has no compassion for the weaknesses he sees in others, no remorse for his own sin, and no sorrow for his loss of faith. (Easterly 339) His lack of remorse and compassion condemns him to an anguished life that is spiritually and emotionally dissociated. (Easterly 341) This scene is an example of how Goodman Brown chose to follow his head rather than his heart. Had Brown followed his heart, he may have still lived a good life. If he followed with his heart, he would have been able to sympathize with the communitys weaknesses, but instead, he listened to his head and excommunicated himself from the community because he only thought of them as heathens. Young Goodman Brown ends with Brown returning to Salem at early dawn and looking around like a bewildered man. He cannot believe that he is in the same place that he just the night before; because to him, Salem was no longer home. He felt like an outsider in a world of Devil worshippers and because his basic means of order, his religious system, is absent, the society he was familiar with becomes nightmarish. (Shear 545) H e comes back to the town projecting his guilt onto those around him. (Tritt 114) Brown expresses his discomfort with his new surroundings and his excessive pride when he takes a child away from a blessing given by Goody Cloyse, his former Catechism teacher, as if he were taking the child from the grasp of the fiend himself. His anger towards the community is exemplified when he sees Faith who is overwhelmed with excitement to see him and he looks sternly and sadly into her face, and passed on without a greeting. Brown cannot even stand to look at his wife with whom he was at the convert service with. He feels that even though he was at the Devils service, he is still better than everyone else because of his excessive pride. Brown feels he can push his own faults on to others and look down at them rather than look at himself and resolve his own faults with himself. Goodman Brown was devastated by the discovery that the potential for evil resides in everybody. The rest of his life is destroyed because of his inability to face this truth and live with it. The story, which may have been a dream, and not a real life event, planted the seed of doubt in Browns mind which consequently cut him off from his fellow man and leaves him alone and depressed. His life ends alone and miserable because he was never able to look at himself and realize that what he believed were everyone elses faults were his as well. His excessive pride in himself led to his isolation from the community. Brown was buried with no hopeful verse upon his tombstone; for his dying hour was gloom. Works Cited Capps, Jack L. Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown, Explicator, Washington D.C., 1982 Spring, 40:3, 25.Easterly, Joan Elizabeth. Lachrymal Imagery in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown, Studies in Short Fiction, Newberry, S.C., 1991 Summer, 28:3, 339-43. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodmam Brown, The Story and Its Writer, 4th ed. Ed. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martins Press, 1995, 595-604. Shear, Walter. Cultural Fate and Social Freedom in Three American Short Stories, Studies in Short Fiction, Newberry, S.C., 1992 Fall, 29:4, 543-549. Tritt, Michael. Young Goodman Brown and the Psychology of Projection, Studies in Short Fiction, Newberry, S.C., 1986 Winter, 23:1, 113-117. .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .postImageUrl , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:hover , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:visited , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:active { border:0!important; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:active , .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u21ecbe794baeebf2533c6281965ce57d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Competitive Advantage Essay We will write a custom essay on Young Goodman Brown, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now

Powers of the Constitution essays

Powers of the Constitution essays By the late 1780s many Americans had grown dissatisfied with the Confederation. It was unable to deal effectively with economic problems and weak in the face of Shays Rebellion. A decade earlier, Americans had deliberately avoided creating a strong national government. Now they reconsidered. In 1787, the nation produced a new constitution and a new, much more powerful government with three independent branches. The government the Constitution produced has survived far more than two centuries as one of the most stable and most successful in the world. The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution resembled each other in some cases and differed from each other greatly in other aspects. The Articles of Confederation were a foundation for the Constitution. Sometimes even called the Pre-Constitution. It was really the first step to a strong federal government. However, the Confederation, which existed from 1781 until 1789, was not a big success. It lacked power to deal with interstate issues, to enforce its will on states, and had little stature in the eyes of the world. It was time for a revision, a new perspective, and a radical change in our government system. This begins the formation of the Constitution. The main goal of this document was to create a strong, effective central government. Since this was not the goal of the founding fathers, in some ways they had to start from scratch. Many changes were made from the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution laid the foundation for a nation and not a loose association of states. Under the Articles, Congress was not authorized to raise money by taxation. Contrary, the Constitution allowed collection and levy taxes (the power of the purse). The Constitution differed by demanded a strong national executive. This executive was elected by an electoral college, based upon population and number of representatives selected by state legisla...

Taking the ACT in 7th Grade Should You Do It

Taking the ACT in 7th Grade Should You Do It SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It’s just a short while before school ends for the day. You settle in to enjoy a discussion about sea monkeys in your 7th grade Science class when all of a sudden, one of your classmates starts complaining about having to take the ACT. What is she talking about? Who would want to take the ACT in middle school, and who even cares about 7th grade ACT scores? If you’re a parent, you may have heard or read about programs designed for early-achieving students. But it can be hard to figure out if those programs are for students who do well on the ACT, or if the students get to take the ACT if they do well in school. Fear not- I’ll clear up the confusion in this article as I go over the pros and cons of taking the ACT in 7th grade and the programs you can get into with high 7th grade ACT scores. feature image credit: Thinking by Jonathan Evans, used under CC BY-NC 2.0/Cropped from original. Is Taking The ACT This Early Useful? There's no one easy answer to the question "Should I take the ACT in 7th grade?" Taking the ACT Early Is Not Useful If... You're planning on using your ACT scores to apply to college, and only for that. Unless you're planning on applying to college within a few years (around age 15 or thereabouts), colleges are going to care much more about your current abilities and much less about what you were like when you were 12. While technically ACT scores don't expire, unless you get a 32+ score at age 12 you're probably going to want to take the test again once you've taken high school classes like precalc and biology. Even for the most ardent and ambitious students, 9th grade is plenty of time to start studying for the ACT. This doesn't mean that you can’t start prepping earlier than that, but it’s generally more helpful to spend that time in middle school focusing on your studies in school so that you have a good base for ACT prep later on. Taking the ACT Early Is Useful If... You want to become accustomed to the test. For some students, anxiety over the ACT can make it seem like an insurmountable hurdle that you must clear to make it out of high school and into college. Taking the ACT in 7th grade is especially handy if you live in a state where it’s mandatory and you know you’ll have to take it to graduate from high school anyway. Paying to take the test is not a financial hardship and you're curious about it. It's unlikely you’ll be able to get a fee waiver if you’re taking the ACT for personal enrichment, but if that's not a problem and you want to see what taking the ACT is like, go for it. You're interested in participating in certain programs for early achievers. For talent searches and other programs aimed at academically-gifted younger students, the SAT or ACT is often required either as a prerequisite or as part of the program. While the ACT isn't necessarily the only test you can take to qualify for these programs (they often accept other standardized measures like IQ tests and state-mandated standardized tests), it is a test you can study for, and there are plenty of high-quality prep materials available. What Programs Require Taking the ACT Early? There are many different programs that provide advanced academic opportunities, mentoring, and recognition for high 7th grade ACT scores. It's important to keep in mind, however, that the programs aren't going to judge your score the same way colleges would. Since you're so much younger than the average ACT test-taker, the talent searches and other programs aren't looking for perfect scores; instead, you'll be compared to other students your age. We have more on what a good ACT score for a 7th grader is in this article. Here's a couple of the most well-known programs that involve taking the ACT in 7th grade: Duke TIP By participating in Duke's 7th Grade Talent Search, you can qualify for a number of different summer programs (and awards ceremonies, if your ACT scores are high enough). If you're eligible for the Talent Search (based on your score on any one of a number of qualifying tests), you'll take the ACT. You can also take the ACT to qualify for the 7th Grade Talent Search in the first place. Read more about the ACT requirements for various Duke TIP programs here. CTY at Johns Hopkins Taking the ACT can also qualify you for certain programs at Johns Hopkins' Center for Talented Youth, including summer and online courses. It's also possible to take the ACT through the CTY talent search, which then gives you preference for enrolling in any of the CTY programs. We have more information about the ACT scores required for different CTY programs in this article. Other Programs In addition to the two programs I mentioned above, there are also several other programs for gifted youth that provide summer courses and general resources. We've already written in detail on our blog about Stanford EPGY, Summer Institute for the Gifted, and NUMATS, but there are several other programs worth looking into for gifted and talented adolescents: Belin-Blank Student Talent Search at the University of Iowa Joseph Baldwin Academy (JBA) at Truman State University Western Academic Talent Search (formerly the Rocky Mountain Talent Search) VAMPY at Western Kentucky University Vanderbilt Programs for Talented Youth Talented and Gifted Program at Southern Methodist University Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars at the University of Washington talent by George, used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Why Do These Programs Use the ACT? You might be curious about why students have to bother taking the ACT (a test designed for college entry) for programs intended for young, non-high school students, On the surface, it seems like it would make more sense to have program applicants take a test that is specifically designed for younger students. In actuality, there are three reasons that these programs for early achievers care about 7th grade ACT scores. #1: It's Easy to Find Somewhere to Take the ACT Unlike an IQ, which often requires setting up a special (and expensive) session with a counselor, the ACT is a widely offered and available standardized test. This is especially true in states where ACT is required for high school graduation. There are still some special arrangements necessary (for example, students under age 13 must register for the ACT by mail), but on the whole, it's much easier for students to take the ACT than it is any other national or international standardized test. #2: There's a Lot of Data About the ACT Programs for high-achieving middle-schoolers have been using the ACT as a standard for many years, so they can see how your score compares to those of other students of a similar age (rather than against the graduating senior data the College Board provides on their site). #3: The ACT Measures Valuable Skills While it bills itself as a "curriculum-based achievement test," the ACT also measures critical thinking and general mathematical abilities to some extent. This means that even if you haven't taken all the courses necessary to understand every single question, your 7th grade ACT score can still provide valuable information about your ability to think well under pressure. Because the ACT has four different subscores, you can perform unevenly well across the different sections and still place into a summer program. For example, even if you don’t do well on the ACT English and Reading sections, you might still be able to participate in certain summer program courses with relatively high ACT Math and Science scores. ACT Prep for 7th Graders: What's Different? The key principle of 7th grade ACT prep is knowing that you should expect to get a (relatively) low score, compared to if you were taking the ACT to apply to college. In general, you won't have learned everything you need to score highly on the ACT by the time you're in middle school, just by sheer dint of not having been alive and talking as long as a high schooler. Your vocabulary will be smaller, your reading level will be lower, and you won't have learned all the math or science in school yet. Summer programs know that 7th grade ACT scores will be lower, which is why even upper-tier summer programs have a much lower bar for entry than upper-tier colleges. To settle on a realistic ACT score to aim for as a 7th grader, you should fill out our score target worksheet with information for the programs you want to get into. Another way in which ACT prep for 7th graders differs from what it is for high schoolers is that there are lower stakes attached to scoring well on the ACT, so the pressure should be lower. The summer programs I mentioned earlier do offer challenging, advanced, and diverse courses that can enrich your education, but they certainly aren’t as essential to your future as college is. Scoring well or poorly on the ACT in 7th grade won't prevent you from attending college or from graduating high school, and summer programs for early achievers compare the scores of students to other 7th graders, rather than high schoolers; perfect scores are not expected. One final, minor aspect of preparing to take the ACT in 7th grade is knowing that you won't be able to register for it online. Because of Internet privacy laws, ACT, Inc requires all students under the age of 13 to register for the test by paper. The main effect this has on your ACT prep is that you have to decide further in advance if and when you're taking the ACT to make sure your registration materials get there on time- you can't just decide a month before the test "oh hey, I guess I do want to take the ACT after all." Sorry, lightbulb. You should've decided to take the test at least six weeks before the test date. Now your registration materials won't get there in time. ACT for 7th Graders: Yes or No? You should take the ACT in 7th grade if you want to get acquainted with the test and lower your anxiety or if you want to qualify for special academic programs. You shouldn’t take it in 7th grade if you’re just using it to apply to colleges, since most schools won’t want or care to see your 7th grade ACT score. What’s Next? After reading this article, you might decide to go ahead and take the ACT in 7th grade, but what's a good score? Find out more about what makes a good or bad 7th grade ACT score here. On the other hand, you might decide that you don't really need to take the ACT just yet. But should you start to study then anyway? Read more about preparing for the ACT as a 7th grader in this article. Got your score, but not sure if you qualify for summer programs? Compare your 7th grade ACT score to the score requirements for Duke TIP and CTY at Johns Hopkins! Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Long Serving Members, Party Leadership and Committees in U.S Congress Essay

Long Serving Members, Party Leadership and Committees in U.S Congress - Essay Example An institution should never work for a particular segment of people alone. It should work for the wellbeing of all the people. This paper analyses American Congress as an institution with its long-serving members, party leadership and committees. First, and foremost, Congress is sometimes called the "People's Branch," because it is so close to the electoral process and, hence, the voters. Whereas the entire Executive Branch has two elected officials, president and vice president (and they run together as a team), the population of Congress results from 535 separate elections. Members can rarely rest from fund raising or campaigning. Every two years, about 470 of those seats are up for reelection--all of the House and 1/3 of the Senate (Weingarten). Before analysing Congress as an institution, it is necessary to know what an institution is. Institution is often become a controversial word. It has no standardized definition. Different people define the term institution in different way s. According to James Pedlar (2011), â€Å"An institution is a changeable, but permanent, product of purposive social role behaviour which subjects the individual to obligations, gives him formal authority and possesses legal sanctions† (Pedlar). If this definition is true, one can safely say that American Congress is definitely an institution at least in principle. It should be noted that none of the Congress members are permanent and each of them are elected for a specific period only. At the same time, one should not be forgotten that American congress is a permanent entity even though its members are changing periodically. All the congressmen have some kind of obligations towards the country and also towards the people the constituencies they represent. Moreover, each congressman has some kind of power given to them by the American constitution. In short, American Congress satisfies all the requirements of an institution. At the same time, it should be noted that some of the members of American congress have already crossed 50 years service as Congressman. For example, Robert Byrd, who died at the age of 92 recently, had served American Congress for around 52 years. Same way more than 25 members of the current Congress have crossed more than 35 years of service in Congress. These statistics clearly suggest that even though a prescribed term was there for the Congressmen, many of them were able to continue in Congress for very long periods. This is because of the fact that American constitution allows a person to compete elections to Congress as many times he likes. Even though presidential term is fixed to two terms maximum, such restrictions are not there for the congressmen. That is why many people argue that American Congress is not at all an institution since many of its members remain the same for a longer period. As everybody knows, conservatives and Democrats are two of the major political parties in American Congress. The leadership of these parties in the Congress will be elected by the party conferences. One of the will be the majority party leader whereas the other would be the minority party leader. At present, Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky are working as the floor leaders in

Franklin roosevelt was NOT a good president Essay

Franklin roosevelt was NOT a good president - Essay Example y through the tough times, and probably set the USA on the path of global prominence and almost predominance in foreign affairs, through guiding it to defeat the fascist Germany, Japan and Italy as he main dominant powers of the early 20th century (Miller Center, n.p.). Nevertheless, Franklin Roosevelt was not a president without his own faults, and for this reason, he has been regarded as one of the failing presidents in the history of the USA presidents. Despite his popularity and fame as a president, Franklin Roosevelt did not do any good in respecting the constitution or democracy, but sought to weaken the opposition by the Republicans through trying to strengthen the Democratic Party by all means, so it could remain the permanent majority party in the USA (Garraty, 907). In addition, his policies for the Great Depression are still questionable as to whether they helped end it or they in fact prolonged it unnecessarily. Thus, regardless of his ability to give hope to a very depre ssed and demoralized nation when he took over as the president in 1932, Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency was not a good. First, President Franklin Roosevelt could circumvent the constitution in order to suit his interests, regardless of the costs such actions could bring to the nation. Thus, after the Bureau of the Budget was established in 1921 to constitutionally control the budget of all government departments, President Franklin Roosevelt found it a useful tool that he would use to cultivate his interests in order to achieve his New Deal program (Powell, 72). Consequently, despite the fact that the bureau had been established under treasury, he took the liberty offered in law to appoint 6 more staff to the bureau, so that he could have a controlling power in its budgeting functions (Billington, 42). Thus, through the support of his appointees to the bureau, Franklin Roosevelt was able to reduce funding to other departments of the governments that he found necessary, so that he

Writers’ Feminist Views Essay Example for Free

Writers’ Feminist Views Essay The themes in Jane Eyre and Arcadia vary, but one theme that unites them both is feminism. It could be argued that in Jane Eyre the main theme is Marxism, but as the main character is female there is a feminist element as well. As the story progresses the Marxist theme is diluted because Jane is more empowered, and the feminist theme is more central. In Arcadia there are many themes but they all revolve around the main theme of feminism. Whereas Jane Eyre is a typical Victorian narrator who we trust, Thomasina is a character that we are drawn to. Throughout Jane Eyre it is hard to grasp how far Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s views are feminist. She reveals a lot of her own opinions through Jane, and there are moments when Jane expresses feelings of injustice when women are treated as though they are inferior to men, but Jane is also portrayed as a woman who knows her place, and does not feel equal to men or even women of a higher class to her. In Arcadia, Tom Stoppard conveys Thomasina as a very intelligent young woman with great wealth and a certain degree of power over Septimus. Stoppard doesn’t fail to show the attitude towards women of the Victorian era, but at the same time he shows his own view towards women. By making Thomasina’s character very intelligent (especially for her age) he instantly empowers her. A typical Victorian author would not write their female characters as intelligent, or as women with op inions different to those of their male superiors (like Thomasina). One of the last lines in Jane Eyre – â€Å"Reader I married him† is a great portrayal of feminist views. This direct address coming from a female narrator was completely unheard of during the Victorian period; it gives Jane authority. This line implies that the marriage was Jane’s decision, or that she consented it (again empowering her) as opposed to Rochester. This is echoed by Rochester’s eventual physical condition (poor, injured and impaired) where he is humbled and Jane’s status is raised, as she no longer depends on him, he depends on her. Jane was given a considerable sum of money, and she could have chosen not to spend the rest of her life with Rochester but she still did. Furthermore, the way in which Rochester used to speak to Jane (whilst still pleasant) sounded as though she were a little girl, but at the end (as a result of her sudden gain of power) he changed the way he spoke to her and spoke to her more as an equal. In some ways, Jane did grow up by the end of the book, more in certain frames of mind than physically. Whereas the ending of Jane Eyre empowers women, the ending of Arcadia portrays the inevitability of a woman’s life. The fire in both stories is symbolic, in Jane Eyre it brings Rochester and Jane together (he’s physically dependent, she still chooses him) and in Arcadia the fire is a release as well as a tragedy, but it releases Thomasina from the inevitability of womanhood. The fire brings together but sets free. In both stories the fire was a pivotal point. Jane is left empowered at the end of Jane Eyre but Thomasina is left susceptible to death, life is fragile and she’s not in control. That is of course if she didn’t deliberately cause a fire in order to end her own life, because if she did then she is as empowered as Jane, taking life in her hands and ‘playing God’. However, the very fact that the audience would consider the idea that Thomasina took her own life shows that we recognize how bleak her future seemed. The ending of Jane Eyre is considered happy, and the Ending of Arcadia tragic, but these statements could be questioned. Jane Eyre represents independent, free-thinking women during the Victorian period; she is gradually empowered with money, friendship, an independent job and newly discovered family, yet in spite of these things she still chooses to settle with Rochester, care for him, and tend to him as a loving wife. Jane succumbed to the stereotypical expectations of Victorian women, belittling her efforts and strong mindedness, and possibly leaving her unhappy or unsatisfied. Similarly, Arcadia’s ending with Thomasina’s death (although initially appearing to be tragic) could be interpreted as a happy ending. A typical Brontà « convention is the idea of death being a release, and the fire (whether it were a fault of Thomasina’s or not) could be seen as her escape from her dismal future prospects that were already set in stone. Furthermore, if the fire was of Thomasina’s doing then it amplifies even more so that it was an escape and that she felt the need to run away from what her life was becoming. Both arguments are a question of whether or not what the reader contracts from each text, is what the author intended. Thomasina’s death is one of the best dramatic ironies since Romeo and Juliet. Thomasina had a great yearning to waltz with Septimus before her 17th birthday, to have one moment where she felt the love of the man she loved who did not love her in return, but loved her mother. The play ends with a blackout, and just a candle left on stage. The candle is symbolic: it could show the last glimpse of light left in her life, that moment dancing that she’d remember forever, or it could repeat the theme of inevitability (she was sharing such an important, special and unlikely moment with somebody she loved, and all that time, the cause of her death was lighting her last happy memory). Jane Eyre initially appears to be a novel based around Marxism, but it could be argued that this is not the main theme of the novel. There are feminist elements to the novel and as the author was a Victorian woman and the main character is female, it could be said that Brontà «Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s intention was to create a feminist novel. Arcadia’s themes are much more complex as there are so many more themes of science, progress, intellect, adultery, nature, the arts and literature. The idea is played on that our planet is gradually going cold and fading to nothing. Thomasina intelligently explores these ideas; she has many intuitive opinions that she has formed about life and the universe. The criticism of art and literature is a less central theme. Despite all of these themes, the central theme is the subject of Thomasina’s wealth and intelligence through feminism and all the other themes spin around feminism because of Thomasina. This said, Lady Croome is a powerful authoritative character and in some ways takes the role of the father; she somewhat has the male role of the novel which reflects the feminist view that women are equally capable of a male role. In spite of all that Thomasina is capable of, her fate is no different to that of any other upper class Victorian girl. To conclude, Jane Eyre is a novel in which the ending is significant but doesn’t wholly focus on feminism, whereas Arcadia has more of an unjust feeling at the end, which is generated from the strong feminist views throughout (and particularly towards the end).

Genteel People and Honest Hearts in Jane Austens Emma Essay -- Austen

Emma:   Genteel People and Honest Hearts  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Emma, Jane Austen gives us ‘only the surface of the lives of genteel people’?   Though not necessarily a commonly used term today, the meaning of ‘genteel people’ is easily assumed. Good birth and breeding are not necessarily the only ‘qualities’ of genteel people: simple generosity, courtesy and elegance can also apply, as well as marriage into the class. The majority of the characters in Emma to some extent expand this definition to provide exceptions to the rule or abuses of the title. In this way the characters provide an interesting answer to the question of whether or not Austen actually deals with genteel people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mrs and Miss Bates are genteel people and of genteel birth. They are well educated and well spoken and readily invited into the Woodhouse circle. This high class is illustrated at Boxhill during Mr Knightley’s vehement reprimand of Emma’s cutting remark: ‘she has seen you grow up from a period when her notice of you was an honour.’ Of course, they have since slipped in monetary value, but retain their social position nonetheless. Mrs. Elton has the money, but not the connections or character to be considered genteel. Her marriage to a vicar as Mr Elton has raised her a class, but she has clearly not had the breeding to be comfortable in such high society, as she shows by continually dropping Maple Grove into conversations, and justifying her talents: ‘well, my friends say†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Harriet Smith obviously is not genteel by birth, being the ‘natural daughter of somebody’ but Emma invents he r parentage for the sake of the love games. The original modesty and humility that Harriet enjoys are accentuated and extended under the careful care of Emma. Th... ...ane Austen. Harlow: Longman Literature Guides [series], 1988. Craik, W. A. The Development of Jane Austen's comic art: Emma: Jane Austen's mature comic art. London: Audio Learning, 1978. Sound recording; 1 cassette; 2-track. mono. Gard, Roger, [1936- ]. Jane Austen, Emma and Persuasion. Harmondsworth : Penguin, Penguin masterstudies [series], 1985. Jefferson, D. W. (Douglas William), [1912- ]. Jane Austen's Emma: a landmark in English fiction. London: Chatto and Windus for Sussex University Press, Text and context [series], 1977. Lauritzen, Monica. Jane Austen's Emma on television: a study of a BBC classic serial. Goteborg, Sweden: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Gothenburg studies in English, 48 [series], 1981.    Sabiston, Elizabeth Jean, [1937- ]. The Prison of Womanhood: four provincial heroines in nineteenth-century fiction. London : Macmillan, 1987.   

Acid-Base Titration Lab

Acid-Base Titration Objectives: 1. To titrate a hydrochloric acid solution of unknown concentration with standardized 0. 10M sodium hydroxide. 2. To utilize the titration data to calculate the molarity of the hydrochloric acid. Materials: See handout for more info. Procedure: See handout for more info. Data and Calculations: Table 1: Volume of NaOH Required to Neutralize 10. 00mL of Unknown HCl Molarity of NaOh | Trial 1| Trial 2| Trial 3| Trial 4| Initial Volume of NaOH(mL)| 0. 0| 11. 00| 20. 85| 30. 45| Final Volume of NaOH(mL)| 11. 00| 20. 85| 30. 45| 39. 98| Volume of NaOH used(mL)| 11. 00 (Cancel out)| 9. 85| 9. 60| 9. 53| Average Volume of NaOH = (9. 85+9. 60+9. 53)/3 = 9. 66mL Sample Calculations: (9. 85+9. 60+9. 53)/3 = 9. 66mL The average volume of NaOH used. Calculations: 1. Moles NaOH = M x V = (0. 1M) (0. 00966L) = 0. 000966 moles 2. Moles HCl = moles NaOH 0. 000966 moles -> 9. 66Ãâ€"10-4 3. NaOH + HCl = NaCl + H2O Moles NaOH = M x V = (0. M)(0. 00966L) = 0. 000966 moles Moles HCl = moles NaOH [HCl] = moles/volumes = (0. 000966)/ (0. 0096L) [HCl] = 0. 1M Follow-up Questions: 1. It will have no effect because the phenolphthalein only changes color depending on the pH level. Adding substances that will not change the pH level will have no effect. 2. We rinsed out the buret with NaOH, it is to neutralize any leftover acids that may have existed from previous experiments that the buret may have been used in. 4.When we added the NaOH, it instantly neutralized the HCl but because of HCl having more moles inside the beaker, the excess HCl instantly reverting the system back into a base. 5. [HCl] = 0. 1M pH = -log[HCl] pH = -log(0. 1M) pH = 1 Conclusion: By using the titration data, we found out that the molarity of HCl is equal to the concentration of NaOH. This happens because the system is in a one-to-one relationship between the two compounds. If we use the same amount of volume of HCl and NaOH, and mix the two, it will reach to a neutral pH value.

David Hume- Aesthetics

David Hume is one of the most significant thinkers among the Enlightenment. He is motivated by the question what is beauty, and how certain responses to artwork reflect objectivity. Hume’s essay of 1757,â€Å"Of the Standard of Taste† elegantly describes examples of the tradition of aesthetic judgment The growth of scientific knowledge influenced a sense of general optimism among Enlightenment thinkers. This sense of optimism in result called for a more critical use of human intellect. By overturning long established dogmas, people scrutinized the very prerogatives of reason in relation to political and religious institutions.During this same time, theorists were trying to take account of all the various creative activities that were occurring such as poetry, music, dance, architecture, and sculpture etc. They generalized them into one category of â€Å"fine arts† or â€Å"beaux arts† assuming all activities were unified by the common function and purpose; pleasure. Hume devotes his aesthetic philosophy to describe and analyze art and taste within the field of criticism. clea Humes essay â€Å"Standard of Taste† is divided into four major parts. First part compares the two views of artistic values. He supports the idea of common sense what it comes to judging artwork.It seems from this philosophy that no response to artwork can be wrong because personal taste varies throughout people and therefore cannot be dismissed. Hume rejects the conclusion that beauty simply equates with the sentiment of pleasure received by the object or thing. This is because he says sentiment â€Å"exists merely in the mind† which makes no individual response more superior than another. The Second stage of Humes argument The third stage that Hume discusses in his essay (17 through 27) outlines what he believes constitutes a true judge of art and what may be required to improve ones own standard for judging art. Strong sense, united to delicate sentiment, improved by practice, perfected by comparison, and cleared of all prejudice. † These specific factors in his mind would result in an individual worthy of a true judgment of at least a certain kind of artwork. In the fourth and concluding stage Hume stems from the third in the concept of who is the true standard. While seeking this specific critic of beauty one has to also take into account peculiar circumstances that may effect the experience and overall judgment of works.Circumstances can arise from unavoidable prejudices, which even the best critics cant avoid. Factors of natural differences such as age can result in generational differences, as well as cultural biases. A critics moral outlook constitutes as another circumstance that may complicate the judgment of certain kinds of works. Moderate moralism, Hume advocates as the best position to view works in because it confine circumstances where a work will be blemished by improper moral attitudes. David Hume was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on May 7, 1711. He was a philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist.He is regarded as one of the most important thinkers of Western philosophy and the Enlightenment. He is known especially for his philosophical empiricism or sense derived knowledge and skepticism and also for his influence on another important thinker during the Enlightenment, Emanuel Kant. Hume constantly tried to describe how the mind works in regards to knowledge and how the mind works. Experience meant a lot to Hume because he thought it served as the basis of his theory of knowledge. Hume attended the University of Edinburgh at the extraordinarily young age of 10 or 12.At first his family and him thought that a career in law was what his future may entail due to a family tradition on both sides. Yet, later he had become inspired by the different pursuits of philosophy. After a nervous breakdown and a few years to recover in 1729, he tried a job in a merchants office in 1734. He then came to a turning point in his life where he retired to France to spend the majority of his time studying and writing. During this time spent Hume produced a writing which was separated into three books called A Treatise of Human Nature.These books was the first of Hume’s attempts at a full fledged philosophical endeavor. It was certainly his most thoroughly written product of his thoughts mostly explaining his theories about mans process of thought and knowledge. During his younger years, Hume was earning enough money to gain leisure for his philosophical studies. In this time he wrote, rewrote, and added to the book, Treatise. It was in this set of three books that Hume developed his mature thought about the nature of reasoning in regards to fact and experience.The growth of scientific knowledge influenced a sense of general optimism among Enlightenment thinkers. This sense of optimism in result called for a more critical use of human intellect. By overturning long es tablished dogmas, people scrutinized the very prerogatives of reason in relation to political and religious institutions. Hume was the first philosopher of the post medieval world to reformulate the skepticism of the ancients. (Cranston) His conclusion that man is more a creature of senses and practical sentiment or taste than that of reason guided many prominent philosophers to follow.Hume’s general analysis of measuring the aesthetic experience of an object or thing is generated from a personal taste. He believes that there is no wrong evaluative response to a work of art. No reaction or opinion can be dismissed simply because it maybe disfavored by the majority. If something is beautiful to someone then this fact cannot be argued or judged upon by another. Of course, this philosophy comes with certain limitations and specifications determining who is worthy of true judgment of works according to David Hume.In Hume’s essay he outlines what people can do to improve on e’s taste and what kind of qualities must be instilled to qualify as a true judge of at least some kinds of works of art. Five qualities, Hume says, would qualify for this job. â€Å"Strong sense, united to delicate sentiment, improved by practice, perfected by comparison, and cleared of all prejudice†. These conditions he believes need to be evident in order to achieve a more qualified personal taste towards a specific kind of work. Even with the best critics there can be certain complicating circumstances that can interfere with judgment.Hume believes these kinds of unavoidable prejudices come from a matter of moral outlook. Bias that comes from individual morality varies greatly and Hume thinks that this can be a huge flaw when it comes to a persons judgment of work. Hume advocates a position of moderate moralism when it comes to â€Å"the natural boundaries of vice and virtue†. This way the works being exposed to the individual judge will not be blemished by overt premonitions. When interpreting Hume’s essay about taste it is hard not to consider the possibility of contradiction because he recommends two very different standards.Hume seeks to find the true rule regarding how to measure sentiments of beauty in regards to personal taste. In doing so, the reader receives two sources of ideas from this search. The question now is whether a good critic defines good art, or good art in terms of good critics. Another aspect regarding Hume’s essay is the very idealistic vision of the most qualified judge of beauty. I find that this ideal critic couldn’t possibly exist because it is only natural for our different background of culture, morals, and religion to effect our opinions.Tastes in Hume’s context are the pleasures or displeasures that a person can take in the beauties of poems, paintings, and other artistic compositions. For Hume, taste is the capacity for one to react and conceive responses based on external stimuli. This ability to correspond external stimuli with an initial response or reaction is what we would call an â€Å"aesthetic experience†. When looking at works of art one can either accept it as pleasurable and attractive or disregard it as ugly or unpleasant. Both of these separate reactions require such experience to occur.In addition, the value judgments that occur in result indefinitely effect our value of taste. The position Hume holds in the essay is that some people who qualify as the â€Å"true† judges determine the good works of art. Hume discuss’ the receptive side of art criticism rather than the creative side that actually conceives and creates the art itself. The position Hume holds in the essay is that some people who qualify as the â€Å"true† judges determine the good works of art. For Hume, taste is the capacity for one to react and conceive responses based on external stimuli.This ability to correspond external stimuli with an init ial response or reaction is what we would call an â€Å"aesthetic experience†. When looking at works of art one can either accept it as pleasurable and attractive or disregard it as ugly or unpleasant. Both of these separate reactions require such experience to occur. In addition, the value judgments that occur in result indefinitely effect our value of taste. Hume contends that differences in aesthetic taste are too obvious and great to deny.It is the extent of these differences that indicate whether the reality of universal approval or disapproval effects an individuals taste. In almost every culture there will be a consensus or general analysis when evaluating certain works. Hume does not see a big difference between artistic and moral values. He corresponds the two as related and both a factor in the judgment of arts. Tastes are â€Å"sentiments† and opinions or â€Å"judgments†. While all sentiments coming from any individual could be considered right, only few judgments or opinions remain right.Taste is considered a sentiment and therefore subjective by all means. In relation things that exist such as beauty and deformity are also extremely subjective qualities. The sentiment therefore exist merely in the mind of the individual who contemplates them. Yet, this existence does not constitute a valid opinion or judgment based on what existing in the mind. Taste is irredeemably subjective, individual in scope, culturally and historically conditioned, therefore relativistic. It seems as if Hume is stuck between two different conclusions, relativism and objectivism. He mostly settles between the two

The Accidental Tourist essays

The Accidental Tourist essays Macon Leary grows up in a family where he is sheltered from the ways of the world. They live their lives through patterns and systems that they cannot escape. Macon reveals this lifestyle through his travel guide books, The Accidental Tourist. However, in the novel, The Accidental Tourist , Macon starts to experience the outside world and slowly starts to leave behind the Leary way of life. It is in the contents of Macons travel guides that we best witness his psychological development as a character. Macons tour guides, The Accidental Tourist are extended metaphors for Macons shifting perceptions of himself and the world around him. In the early additions of the tour guides, Macon reveals his dislike for travel, which in his case, is linked to his inability to accept change in his life. Macon grew up with a mother who was always changing, nothing was ever familiar in his life. Macon along with his siblings, finally settled into their own life and, out of fear of change, developed a comfortable lifestyle with systems and methods and no uncertainties. Fear of the unknown causes the Leary family to avoid venturing out into the world. They greatly fear travel, and will avoid it at all costs. Avoiding travel, however, is not an option for Macon. As the author of pocket sized guidebooks for people who are forced to travel on business, Macon is forced to travel. As much as he hated travel, he loved the writing [p12]. Macon enjoys writing because he is able to take the countries he has been to and organize them into a system that he has created and that he can control. Macon hates travel because it does not have the comfort and systems of home. He does not enjoy leaving the life he has created, to go to a new country and feel disorganized and experience foreign things. When traveling, Macon avoids foreign ideas and attempts to keep everything as familiar as possible. ...

A Beginners Guide to Using Nominalizations in Business Writing

A Beginner's Guide to Using Nominalizations in Business Writing As businesses become more international, so must our writing. Most of the time, good business writing skills transfer very well to global audiences, but there is some confusing vocabulary that global business writers should try to avoid. Avoiding nominalizations Nominalizations are nouns that refer to a process. As a quick reminder, a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns are often found as the subject of the sentence: Efficiency is important. But they can also be found as: the object of a verb: This is my or the object of a preposition: Let’s go in the office. Nominalization itself is an example of a nominalization, but more common examples are words like evaporation, condensation, mechanization, and optimization. As you have probably noticed, they often end in –ation/-tion/-ition. These are the types of words often used in science or in highly specialized fields, and they make it easier for us to talk about our fields of expertise. However, they are often difficult to understand for native speakers outside of that field, never mind non-native speakers! So how can we avoid them? Since nominalizations are nouns that refer to a process, there is always a verb hidden inside each one. For example: evaporation – evaporate condensation – condense mechanization – mechanize optimization – optimize hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(41482, '39de76fa-b005-4d0a-9136-a9a423513681', {}); The easiest way to avoid using nominalizations is to rewrite the sentence using the verb of the same meaning. Here is an example: Heating water to the boiling point causes evaporation. vs. Heating water to the boiling point will cause it to evaporate. Even though the second sentence is longer, the use of â€Å"to evaporate† is much clearer for non-native and native speakers alike because the nominalization is less commonly used overall, and â€Å"to† usually alerts readers to a verb. Let’s look at another example, this time with a more involved rewrite: Optimization of our work force is a key goal of our company. vs. Our company wants to optimize our work force. In the first sentence, the actual agent (actor) is unclear – optimization is the subject of the sentence, but optimization doesn’t actually do anything. Our company will be doing the actual action. The revision in the second sentence is much clearer for two reasons: (1) the subject, our company, is the actual agent, and (2) the use of the verb, to optimize, is much easier to identify. As you can see, using nominalizations can lead to more complex writing and can be difficult to understand if the reader is outside the area of expertise. Using the verb hidden inside each nominalization will force you to write more clearly and be more direct. (In case you wondering what the verb hidden in nominalization is, it’s â€Å"nominalize† which means â€Å"to make into a noun.† Unfortunately, even this isn’t very clear, either!) Writing for a global audience is not so different from good business writing. Short, clear, direct sentences help your reader to respond in a timely manner. If you are looking to improve your writing, see our full list of business writing tips.Instructional Solutions offersNon-Native Business Writing WritingClassesfor participants for whom English is not a first language that willhelp youwrite better at work.