Language is one of the distinguishing peculiarities of any country, any region, and any society. It is perceived as an additional cultural, national, or social attribute, and it is inseparable from all components needed to be known when visiting or living in some country. This issue concerns both the native-born speakers and the immigrants, newcomers.
It bears the symbolic meaning of assimilation and acculturation at a new place, and the correct or wrong speaking and writing will show the true identity of a person at once. Some native speakers are initially illiterate, but the traditional stereotype that has been forming for centuries is that immigrants will always speak worse than any native speaker. In her essay Mother Tongue, Amy Tan raises these issues of linguistic dominance.
Being a Chinese American, she explores the history of her family and the assessment given to her and her mother by others judging from the level of proficiency in English they had.
The writer shows a couple of examples of how different the attitude of people was when she talked to them by phone on behalf of her mother, using correct and sophisticated phrases, and how detached and unserious was the treatment when her mother spoke personally, using the broken and limited language (Tan 1-2).
It is this broken and limited language that symbolizes the limited opportunities for immigrants. People who hear the limited language feel free to show disrespect and neglect as they perceive people with poor linguistic possibilities as limited not only linguistically but socially, culturally, mentally, and even physically. The attitude is, in general, not serious, as Americans listen to only those who can talk like they do, becoming seemingly equal to them.
In the summary of Mother Tongue by Amy Tan it is clearly seen that in case the language is not pure, is broken or limited, the feeling of dominance comes to Americans only on a linguistic basis. One can see the many proofs for this fact in the treatment Tans mother received from a stockbroker, the medical staff in a hospital, etc. When Tan started to speak correctly, the attitude changed at once, which spoke quite eloquently about the direct connection between linguistic skills and respect.
The language of a family indeed leaves a trace on the further possibilities of a child in America. Tan has also felt this in her studies as she was much more proficient in precise sciences, and English was a vague, multifaceted, and multivariate subject. The authors observation that the IQ tests, the achievement tests, etc. also depended seriously on the level of knowing English is correct.
It is true that one cannot complete a test on any topic if he or she does not completely understand the task given in it. Hence, the achievement level becomes severely reduced, even in case the internal knowledge is incomparably higher, the immigrants will be unable to show it because of their crippled linguistic expression skills.
This is the main problem Tan claims in her essay in this citation, showing how different the inner world and the one expressed through language are: I wanted to capture what language ability tests can never reveal: her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts (Tan 3-4).
It is clear from Amy Tans essay that the human inner world is much broader and richer than one can sometimes show, and it is the disadvantage of using a language not native to the speaker. Which type of essay is Amy Tans Mother Tongue ? The essay is persuasive, and its main maint is that it is only through the mother tongue that one can reveal everything he or she has in the soul or the mind; this is the main root for under-estimation of skills of Chinese, African Americans, Mexicans, and other immigrants coming to the USA for better employment and living conditions.
Thus, it is necessary to provide better educational facilities to give immigrants a chance to realize themselves better and to be understood. However, the first step of high importance is undoubtedly the refusal from stereotypes, and the wish to listen to them, and to hear them.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, there emerged a group of middle class women whose ideology and perception of things was unorthodox to the societal outlook on issues.
These women championed the emancipation of other women in the society, they craved for an equal society and struggled to attain and secure the womans place in the society. They worked to have the rights of the women upheld and respected in regards to the norms that governed their society at the time.
In the struggle, these women ended up being called rebellious, rude, misguided and sometimes even confused. On the contrary, their struggle won them the liberty to partake higher education, the freedom to take part in manufacturing, own property, to have a say in the democratic society that theirs was through voting and to be employed as professionals.
The changes they had advocated for were by far much more progressive compared to what the women in the other centuries had to bear or go through, and could have been a stepping stone towards social equity among the genders (Feinstein, 81). The celebration to this achievement was however short lived as there were disruptions in the social structure that were caused by the Second World War.
This struggle was given a fresh impetus by the various feminists who never relented in their quest to have their freedoms granted. They pointed out the fact that though women had the traditional roles in the home, they were grounded by the stereotypes that had enslaved the society by placing women far much below their potentials.
One of these feminists happened to be Betty Friedan (Bloom,166). She was vocal with her thoughts on midwifery, how in as much as it was considered a job for women, it limited their potentials to mere house work. She urged that in totality, house work could be done in an hours time, leaving them idle for the rest of the day. Friedan claimed that this created boredom among these women.
The boredom led to a problem among the American women which, according to her book is the unhappiness that came to be as a result of the boredom. She castigated the women who were comfortable with being house wives claiming that they were afraid of what life could offer beyond housewifery.
She claimed they were sitting on their potentials and that whatever other women could do in the other professions, they could also do. They only had to change their mindsets about themselves and stop looking down upon themselves as servants to their households.
Through her work, she refers to this state of dissatisfaction that leads to the unhappiness in the womens life as the problem that has no name. She claims that the main causative agent for this dilemma among women is the fact that society has natured some ideology about the ideal feminist, this is what she calls the feminine mystique.
Friedan goes ahead to stress the fact that society has created this perception about housewives that has confined them in their narrow cocoons as house wives and mothers to their children. In the process they negate any plans they may have about further schooling, their career objectives are put on hold. In the long run, the women end up without the knowledge of their full potentials as they are not able to follow up on their personal development. This can spell doom for them and their families.
In the book Feminine Mystique, Friedan explores the different lifestyles the women had before marriage and compares it to their present lifestyles in the marriage. The collective report she gives out from the sample of women she interviewed was that the women had issues in their marriage.
She goes ahead to explain that the women in their marriages had problems; not real tangible cases that could be solved easily, but issues that tugged them wherever they were. They varied in their expressions of the plight, and this variance is what created the problem without a name.
Other women tried to explain it as a loss of something, an emptiness they feel inside and the yearning for something but they do not know what it really is. This happens in the backdrop of a successful marriage, a happy family, and a supportive husband. From a distance, these couples look perfect, like they really enjoy their lives together, but more often than not the woman has some unfulfilled desire for something she doesnt even know. This sets them on a rollercoaster of thoughts and they even dont paying attention to their children.
This reaction of mixed feelings created emotional instability among other problems, but most of all was the resultant despondency, a state of unhappiness that only she could feel, but hardly explain. She goes further to investigate the possible solutions to this problem from a set of women groups.
The result was indeed as varying as the problem itself. College tutors recommended that the housewife attends more discussion and focus groups to help the women in their anticipation to marriage life. Other newspaper articles and psychiatric journals that sought to offer solutions to the problem mainly suggested sex as the remedy to the problem. A clique of individuals put forward the proposition that women should be totally exempted from the four years of university or college education.
They claimed that they knowledge they attained in the college or university was irrelevant to her as a housewife, and that this same knowledge was very much needed by boys to advance their progress in the minuscule world. Others dismissed the problem by suggesting the possible solutions to the problem that could not be met, like compulsorily recruiting them to work as nurses aides in the hospitals or nursing homes, others attributed love to be the answer.
Some people approached the issue by jeering the woman, telling her how lucky she is and reminding her about her achievements. They also counted to her the benefits of being the house wife; she runs her own affairs herself, theres nobody around to act as her boss, she has no time to beat, she doesnt worry about being demoted or promoted or being fired at any time.
They claimed that for this reasons she should be happy. They shrugged her off by telling her to enjoy what she has and not focus her energies to attain the untenable solutions to her problems. Finally, there was a group of people who dismissed this through the assertion that there is no solution to the problem. They claimed that the American womans biggest problem is being discontented with herself and her roles in the household.
Snapshots of a daughter in-law
Snapshots of a daughter in-law is a poem written by one Mrs. Adrienne Rich. She was born of Dr. Arnold Rich and Mrs. Helen Jones. They both stayed at Maryland with Adriennes two siblings. Professionally, her father happened to be a professor of medicine at John Hopkins University whiles her mother who aside from being a teacher and a domestic mother was a qualified pianist.
Her father, though his profession was typically science oriented, had vast knowledge and passion about arts and he modeled Adriennes interest towards artistic things especially poems that had to do John Keats and Lord Tennyson (Marriner, 131). This poem is one among her many poetic works.
The main idea about the whole poem as expressed by Rich is Feminism. She explains the many facets of the womans life and tries to bring out the same issues through the perspectives of the different women in the story.
In this poem though, she has dwelt upon the nature of the relationship between a mother in-law and her daughter in-law. Rich brings to focus the filth that surrounds the woman causing her sadness and the possibility of her son exploiting the daughter in-law. The heading to the poem also tries to paint us disorganized pictures of a relationship whose connection is the son, this is the relationship between the mother and the daughter in-law.
In the poem, both the mother and the daughter in law come under scrutiny. She flashes back to the mothers younger years to remind her of her beauty then. She highlights the features that made her stand out in her beauty; she compares the texture and color of her hair as equivalent to henna, the tenderness and softness of her skin was akin to that of pitch bud. She then contrasts the beauty that she was then to the woman she has become through time.
According to the persona, the mother in-law has gone through a lot, but age is washing it all away. Her mind, according to her is holding so much that its being choked, it is full of experience that is totally useless, and in comparison to what she was then, it is loaded with loads of what life can offer-rumor and fantasy. On the other hand, the persona describes the daughter in law as reckless.
She supports this by describing how she handles her affairs in the kitchen. She handles the plates roughly and bangs them against each other and other surfaces like the sink. She is accommodative. She is able to listen to the antagonistic views and the misleading pieces of advice she is given.
She is being advised to be insatiable and save only herself because she could not save everybody (Julian, 2004). The people advising her want to nurture a state of being egocentric in her. In that before she thinks of doing any good for anybody in the household, she takes care of her own needs first.
The author has also portrayed the daughter in-law as one who harbors her own fantasies where she listens to angels and looks out the beautiful horizon that exists only in her world. It is clear that the daughter in-law is kind hearted, loving, caring and one who selfless. This conclusion is supported by the fact that all her friends are advising her against these norms.
The poetry expresses the consciousness of this problem by highlighting the many incidents in life where a woman gets to be given the wrong advice.
She denounces the act of going against each other and stabbing each other in the back by using ones weakness of the other to bring her down. Instead she recommends that they swallow their pride to work together to bring the best out of their gifts, and not let the gifts be the thorns in the friendship. She redefines womanhood by the degree to which a lady uses what she has to get where she is (Casey, 49).
She uses an example of a lady singing, she asserts that neither the lyrics in the song nor the music belong to her, but the hair that dances to the wind truly belongs to her. She suggests brevity and unity among the women. The unity would soften the stance on people who look down upon the women, even though it comes with struggle. They will be abused and called names, but as long as they remain steadfast, they will attain their deepest desires.
All the two articles by both Adrienne Rich and Betty Friedan are from their own point of view, an effort to liberate the women from a bondage they create themselves. They confine themselves within this prison curtailing the ability of the mind to think outside the box, they tame it within the confines of the traditions that govern their lives.
They sought to redefine the woman in the society through empowering them, educating them and employing them to the same roles as their male counterparts. The result is that these women end up producing the same quality of job as their male counterparts; this kills boredom and explores their full potential as women.
Works Cited
Bloom, Howard. Contemporary American English; Poetry and dramatists. NY: New York Cambridge University press (2001).
Casey, Daniel. Poetry review guide for teachers and students. NY: New York. Oxford University press. (2003).
Feinstein, Steven. Poetic evolution from the 1920s to date. London: Yale University press. (2006).
Julian, D., Mason, J., Wheatley P. Poetic review and analysis for scholars. London: Maxmillan publishers limited. (2004).
Marriner, Catherine. Literature for senior students. NJ: New Jersey. Insight publications Ltd. (2006).
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad is political novel which was set in London and published in the early twentieth century. Although the novel has got other themes, terrorism is among the most outstanding issues that have been discussed through out the whole story.
The main character in the novel is Mr. Verloc who is a secret agent. He is a shop owner and trades in pornographic materials. Other characters that are important include the wife of Mr. Verloc, his mother in law as well as his brother in law who suffers from a mental condition. The novel majors in explaining the work life of Verloc as well as his family life.
It has a tragic ending since the brother in law dies and Verloc is stabbed by his wife to death who goes missing after trying to run away. The story has been presented in various ways to capture the attention of the audience and to make it interesting. Situational irony has been greatly and this essay shall discuss the use of the same.
Conrad has used irony to such a great extent as it has been noted by most people who have read the story. Situational irony which has been used occurs when there is a difference between the events that take place and the expected events. For instance, in the German / Australian Embassy in the introductory part, things turn out opposite of what was initially expected.
The councilor states that We are not very satisfied with the attitude of the police here (Conrad pp. 12). Councilor Wurmt starts by doubting the vigilance of the policemen from England but latter came to the realization that they were by far more vigilant than his initial expectations.
More often than not, presence of a mother in law in the house causes not only conflicts but may also lead to a family breakup. It was expected that the presence of Winnies mother in Mr. Verlocs home would annoy him and cause him to hate his brother in law who was mentally disabled.
Instead, Mr. Verloc appreciated Stevie even more. Nevertheless, the actions of the Winnies mother had far many severe consequences because due to Mr. Verloc taking more notice of Stevie, he used him to deposit the bomb which later caused not only his death but also the death of the husband and wife. It was unexpected that the action of the mother in law would lead to the death of his son, his son in law and eventually his daughter.
The author majors in using the situation irony especially in relation to the death of Stevie. It was unexpected that the death of Stevie will end up being so consequential. After the death, Mr. Verloc makes an attempt to pacify his wife but instead, Mrs. Verloc becomes agitated and stabs his husband to death. Worse still, after committing the murder, Mrs. Verloc resolves to escape from her own village which she succeeds. However, she goes missing towards the end of the book and it is believed that she had committed suicide through drowning.
Use of Stevie to deposit Verlocs bomb has lead to a lot of unexpected outcome. It does not only lead to the breakdown of the family but also to the death of some of the main characters: Mr. Verloc and his wife. It is quite ironic how Conrad uses situational irony not only to maintain the tone of the story but also to make it interesting.
In addition, irony helps to create more suspense and therefore, helps to capture the attention of the audience. Through out the whole story, is it is clear that trivial actions are causing unexpected results. For instance, were it not for the fact that Winnie had sewn the address of the house on the collar of Stevie; he would not have been identified after the explosion.
Coincidentally, while Winnie was escaping from her home place, she managed to meet Ossipona, a man who falls in love with her. The man believes that it is out of good luck he has managed to meet Winnie and decides to move on with her. However, after discovering that Winnie had killed her husband, Ossipona not only plans to break up with her, but also to stop relating with women and opts to become a drunkard. It is ironic that just by meeting one woman who had killed her husband; Ossipona is put off completely (Conrad pp. 194).
As highlighted in the introductory part, Conrad has succeeded in the use of situational irony. Most of the events in the story led to the occurrence of the unexpected results. For instance, a trivial event may become more consequential or a very important event may lead to trivial consequences.
For example, in their aim to make Stevie more presentable to Verloc, Winnie and her mother ended up making him not only to be loyal but also docile. As a result, it was easy for him to be manipulated by Verloc and be made to carry the bomb which led to his death. Therefore, it cannot be an understatement to conclude that Conrad has succeeded in using situational irony to contribute to the comic effect thorough out the whole story.
Environmental issues are burning ones in modernity; however, they are not new for the 20th and 21st centuries, since they were raised much earlier, at the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution. It is also true that the environmental problems have been frequently raised in poetry the works of Wordsworth, Bishop, and Yeats may serve as evidence for this fact. All these authors have repeatedly raised the issues connected with the pace of progress and its impact on the surrounding nature, and have devoted some lyrics to these questions.
One of the remarkable pieces of poetry dedicated to the impact of man on nature is Sonnet; the poet voices his regrets about the Industrial Revolution and its effect on the connection between people and nature. He stresses the fact that with the emergence of machines people have lost their unity with nature they used to have before: Little we see in Nature that is ours (Wordsworth 3).
This is the reason for which the author disapproves of the progress and longs back to the time when no pollution, plants, manufacture, and industry existed, and wants to become a wild pagan on the untouched Earth: Id rather be/A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn (Wordsworth 9-10).
The topic of regretting the progress and missing the genuine nature are also visible in the work of Yeats called The Lake Isle of Innisfree written at the end of the 19th century. The beginning of the poem takes the reader to the beautiful, untouched world of charming nature. All the author wants to have is a hut of clay and wattles made (Yeats 2), and a hive for the honeybee (Yeats 3). The dream of the poet is to live alone in the bee-loud glade (Yeats 4).
The pictures that the poet draws with the following lines of the verse are romantic, attractive, and naturally charming for all people who know what natural, simple beauty is. However, the author then shows the setting of his dreams, thus juxtaposing his dream and the surrounding reality: I hear the water lapping with low sounds by the shore/ While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray (Yeats 10-11)
The motives of nature are also present in the verse titled The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop, and the authors intent is to show both the dominance of people over the nature, and the respect they should have towards it. First of all, she shows that the way fish live is much better because of the pollution people have created his gills were breathing in/the terrible oxygen (Bishop 22-23).
By these words the author shows that her habitat is worse than the fishs is, but still she is the winner in the race as she has caught the fish that is in her power. Only seeing that the fish is an old fighter, and he has got into her hands only because he is tired of fighting, she provides an artistic comparison of the fish to people. She compares the hooks in the fishs lip with the medals of an old soldier, and gives a metaphor of an old, wise man with a beard:
Like medals with their ribbons frayed and wavering, a five-haired beard of wisdom trailing from his aching jaw (Bishop 61-64)
Thus, as one can see from the present works, there is much on the issue of environment and nature in poetry; the poets have been not only worshipping the beauty of nature in their verses, but have managed to show how tragic the disconnection of people with nature is, and how drastic the role of industrial development is in this process. Poets show themselves as tied to the modernity, but longing back to the untouched, virgin nature that is lost forever for contemporary material and technologically advanced people.
Their nostalgia about the foregone times of unity with nature serves as a good guide for people forgetting about the nature, its place in human lives, and its truly dominant position compared to mechanics and human impact. Therefore, such readings and analysis may deepen the human understanding of what environment is, and what it should be for us not only the subject of preservation, but of admiration, attention, and appeal in its genuine simplicity and charm.
Nature does in fact provide access to truth and vision even when this occurs coincidentally. However, sometimes this can be interpreted as haphazardness when the concerned author fails to bring together all his complex ideas.
How nature is truthful in three of his works
In one of his well known pieces- Kubla Khan the author asserts that creativity in art or poetry is quite similar to the activities that go on in nature.
singing of mount Abora, could I revive within me her symphony and song, to such a deep delight twould win me. (Caleridge, 43).
In this expert, the author is saying that the poetic imagination is quite powerful. It is the means with which one can share any kind of vision and just like nature; it allows him to gain mythical status through such a perspective.
Only those individuals who have managed to master creative powers will be in a situation to experience the mystic much like it is in nature. In this regard, Coleridge has managed to explain to the non artistic the mystic and the complexity of truth as defined by the creative genius so to this extent, nature is very useful in understanding the power of vision.
The poem Work without hope echoes similar sentiments. In other words, it causes one to understand why man never really perceives truth because of his attitude.
He asserts that And I the sole, the unbudy thing, nor honey make..nor sing (Coleridge, 12). Here, man thinks of himself as peculiar to nature because the slugs are busy and so are the bees but he is unique from them. This is a concept that occurs during the winter and can possess certain beautiful elements but just like nature, mans truth is defined by the things he chooses to prioritize on.
Winter can be ugly if one chooses to see that ugliness or it can also be beautiful if one chooses to see that beauty. Man was able to miss out on the beauty of that season by focusing on the negative aspects. In other words, this is something that leads man to be hindered from real truth and knowledge.
Since he has blocked his mind from truly looking at what is going on then he has placed himself at a disadvantage because now it is extremely difficult for him to place these matters in context. He has become hopeless just like drawing nectar through a sieve. This would be a fruitless effort because all the nectar would slip through the sieve and thus make it impossible for one to capture anything.
This description if nature is very useful in making the audience understand the truth behind mans thinking because to live life without hope is simply a way of defying nature by drawing nectar through a sieve. In much the same way that winter is cold and lonely, man will never really know the truth unless he makes the conscious choice to see it.
Nature has been insightful in this poem because it provides a lens against which to analyze mans limitations and also shows that there are certain challenges that will cause a thorough increase in the manner in which these options are being exhausted. Nature therefore allows the audience to fully understand the emotions that actually drive the man in life and it is therefore a gateway into truth.
Sometimes nature also leads to confusion and conflict over what really matters or what does not. In this regard, it is always imperative for those concerned to interpret their won reality through nature and thus create their own truth. The poem Christabel provides a good example of how this can come to be.
Here, the author explains that Christabel became powerless because Brad Bracy had a dream but because it could not be correlated to the relationship between Geraldine and Christabel, then it becomes highly difficult to understand the spell that she has and this implies that it is also difficult to make amends. On the other hand, this poem also assists in fully understanding human issues because through nature, it is possible to see how sometimes what is being understood may change from person to person.
In the poem, the author says that that the damsel&.dressed in a silken robe of white (Trilling & Bloom, 58). Here, he is simply showing how contradictory people can be. Sometimes they may appear as innocent and pure in much the same way that this individual did but in white.
However, the poem cautions that nothing is what it seems because Geraldine was nothing like her appearance. Therefore nature in this case shows how nothing is really what it seems. What may appear at face value as harmless may actually be quite dangerous and should be treated cautiously.
This poem also allows one to know the truth about human evil and how it permeates the human mind. One will become evil often through the use of innocence as a trait. When Geraldine is first introduced into the poem, she appears to be this innocent soul and even a victim. She has been involved in a kidnapping and one is tempted to think that she is the perfect description of innocence.
She looks like this damsel but she really is not. As one reads on, one finds out how manipulative Geraldine is. She only selects certain convenient times to be tired and claims that she will not be assisted by Christabel only at such times. Christabel goes out of her way to pass her through the gate and this requires a lot of sacrifice on her part (Trilling and Bloom, 119).
Limitations of using nature as the method of connecting with certain kinds of
Because of the continuous opium use, it was clear that sometime perceptions of reality for this author were sometimes questionable. In fact, this explains why his work initially drew a lot of criticism. Therefore, since his perceptions were distorted through his continued intoxication, such description of vision and truth can definitely be put into question.
This is an aspect that he touches on a lot in the poem Kubla Khan. He explains that the poet always has a capacity to draw inspiration from nature but often falls short when trying to inform the public about these truths.
In fact, it is always a huge challenge to understand this writers poems because he can seem to be caught up in detail. For instance Kubla Khan, he seemed to have so much to say but there was never a conclusion made to the poem. In the end, the literary piece appeared disjointed to a series of critics.
However, this fact still does not override the beauty and the initiative made by such an individual when dealing with it. Furthermore, it leads to a scenario where the circumstances for writing the poem were heavily criticized as these may sometimes be viewed as a dream like scenario.
There are plenty of supernatural elements in Christabel . This is largely because one must possess a full understanding of what evil is and that can never really be ascertained.
In this poem, Geraldine has been described as a witch or even a vampire but as one looks at these assertion critically, one realizes that it may not be accurate, witches are known for making evil spells while vampires require invitation before entry. To this regard, it is difficult to ascertain whether Geraldine falls in this category or not because she has some of these traits but lacks others. To some extent, nature has its limitations because it does not facilitate the understanding of gothic elements.
Also, this regard, it may be necessary to note that the latter poem was never completed, so it is quite difficult to ascertain whether the author was implying that Geraldine was overtaken by evil elements but was not really evil or whether the author was saying that she was inherently evil. The poet did not offer an explanation for the goings on in the poem. In this regard, the poem was incomplete so one can never really ascertain the greatness of the supernatural powers.
However, one must also realize that there are certain circumstances that cause individuals to be as they are. Since these are not specified in the poem, readers are left to guess at them. it can therefore be said that supernatural or gothic elements are difficult to comprehend because this author has a tendency of leaving his poem unfinished thus making it difficult to make through conclusions on the work.
Whether the opium addiction blended the boundaries of nature and truthfulness or whether it made them clearer.
When writing the poem Kubla Khan it is reported that the poet may have been under the influence of opium and a dream. This poem is characterized by highly haphazard actions which are often similar to the opium users mind set. It is therefore feasible to say that the opium made the boundaries between truth and nature blurred.
Even the fact that the poem was written as a result of a dream is testimony to this fact. The dream altered his mood and caused him to become extremely disoriented or depressed. It may be possible that he attempted to minimize the depression with opium but its overall effect was that it contributed towards the ideas in Kubla Khan which were characterized by a merger of nature and vision rather than their clear distinction.
Indeed it is true as one reads through the biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge that this author had a stroke of genius in him but he always had a tendency of starting things and then leaving them half way.
Even in his university days, Coleridge would start a number of projects and abandon them. He started a number of publications including his first called The Watchman . However, he was only able to run this paper for a period of three months. Many of his other indulges were also erratic like that. It is not clear whether this was directly related to his opium use and his highly depressive state although it is very clear that this it is highly possible.
Kubla Khan was written at a time when he had an opium induced dream and this was some sort of reverie. It is therefore possible to understand why the poem was never completed. Therefore such beautiful works of literature fell short because the poet was not in a position to follow through on what he had started.
This gave his critics some to talk about and also messed up his chances of really growing and developing the issues that were reflected well by other types of challenges. It has also been noted that this poet was not confident about his poetic abilities especially since he knew that other people knew about his addiction to the addictive drug (Bate, 56).
On a personal level, it is clear that Coleridge was well aware of his insights and the understandings of others. He was in fact very critical about the tastes within his societies. According to him, literate people had questionable tastes and this was going to compromise the uniqueness and ability of literature to reach its potential. In other words, he knew that he was engaging in an uphill task by trying to interpret truth through his understands.
Conclusion
Coleridge did extra ordinary work and is no doubt one of the poetic geniuses of his time. His ability to convey seemingly complex matters have been made easier through the use and application of nature. However, this approach has its limitations because it is one sided. Furthermore, the poets opium addiction often blurred truth or reality and his understandings of nature.
Works Cited
Coleridge, Samuel. Kubla Khan. Church quarterly review, 37
Bate, Jackson. Coleridge. London: Mcmillan, 1968
Trilling, Lionel & Bloom, Harold. Oxford anthology of English literature. NY: OUP, 1973
The present paper is aimed at discussing and evaluating the book The Way of Duty written by Joy Day Buel and Richard Buel Jr. This book is really worth reading though it contains a great number of historical information and facts that can be considered boring for those people who are not interested in history. In this respect, it is necessary to assess the book in terms of its readability with regard to the themes covered and the way of presentation.
The themes covered in the book include the ideas about the role of women and the American Revolution that greatly contributes to the overall image of a woman created in the book. As the book contains rather reputable information on the issue of the revolutionary America, it can be more interesting for people who specialize in history while it is not crammed with historic facts as all other history books.
Thesis of the book
The book focuses on the life of women and their families in the revolutionary America when the backup was provided by the keepers of the family hearth while all men were fighting for their interests, beliefs, and values claimed to be the key factors in successful progress of the country.
The thesis of this book can be described in the following expression that was aimed at describing the life of the main character: Her life taught that a woman, no less than a man, could withstand adversity and even grow stronger by it (Buel and Buel, p. 20).
The Way of Duty and Its Core Aspects
Authors supporting their arguments
Every argument finds it support in the book The Way of Duty by Joy Day Buel and Richard Buel Jr. though the authors managed to make the writing absolutely coherent and understandable for different audience.
For instance, the authors use a direct quote while introducing the main character of the story to the readers, instructive and entertaining to my dear children, when the hand that writes can move no more (Buel and Buel, p. 3); they apply this technique to inform the readers from the very beginning that the source is well-grounded and should be treated as this.
In other words, the book is of great value due to the effective combination of a great writing style and historical evidence used to support the authors arguments such as the great awakening, the American Revolution, and the role of women in contemporary America.
Sources used in the book
The sources used in the book are either used to support the arguments and provide some historical background for the information presented or to introduce direct quotes that are sometimes simplified in terms of grammar so that readers could easily understand the meaning of utterances dating from the eighteenth century.
The book became a good source of evidence and properly referenced information for other authors who managed to make their works more grounded and well-thought with the help of this book. For instance, Megan Hatfield used the book written by Buel and Buel as a supportive source of information while talking about the role of women and the characters described in The Way of Duty (pp. 21-33).
The fact that the book is well-grounded made it a widely used sources for reference and support for arguments used by authors of other history books about the revolutionary America and peculiar features of the life of women, health care, economy, and other issues.
This book was also actively used by Joan R. Gundersen who traced the role of women in America of revolutionary period and their support provided in different areas as well as traditions that were prevailing regardless of the political situation (Gundersen, p. 13). In this respect, the sources used by Buel and Buel in the process of writing were positively valued by other authors that write historic essays and books due to the number of times The Way of Duty was cited or used for referencing by other authors.
Evaluation of The Way of Duty
Argument. The argument used by the authors focuses on the role of women in the period of revolutionary America combined with other social and family identities.
Organization. The organization of the text is coherent due to the chronological approach used to tell the readers about the life of the main character, Mary Fish and events she saw in her life through the perspective of her position.
Writing Style. The writing style is marvelous as it allows the readers of different specialization read this book without paying much attention to the historical facts as this information contributes positively to the overall image of the book.
Conclusion
Summary of discussion
The overall value of the book is really great because most books on history are dull while most readings about the role of women in society are feminist-oriented. This book enables the readers to learn more about the history of revolutionary America being, at the same time, a vivid story of a womans life with its hardships and joyous events. Though the book is more appropriate for the audience with some experience in reading historical texts, it appeared to be very interesting even for those who are of little knowledge in history.
Recommendations
The book is interesting and worth being read. It provokes thoughts about the role of women and their ability to have many identities without complaining of their destiny. While reading this book many things become apparent such as why women were treated as keepers of the home hearth and were actively involved in other areas.
Works Cited
Buel, Joy Day, and Richard Buel Jr. The Way of Duty: A Woman and Her Family in Revolutionary America. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1984.
Gundersen, Joan R. To Be Useful to the World: Women in Revolutionary America, 1740-1790. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press Books, 2006
Hatfield, Megan. What Have We Women to Do with These Matters?: Women and Femininity in Pre-Revolutionary America, 1763-1775 . Aegis (2008): 21-33. Print.
American author Jonathan Harr was catapulted into literary fame because of his compelling non-fiction work, A Civil Action. Chronicling the deliberate/negligent toxic contamination of the Woburn, Massachusetts water system during the 1970s and 80s, A Civil Action was a 1996 number one best seller as well as a recipient of the National Book Critics Award. Harr invested seven and a half years of intense research/writing and he strictly relied on official court records and personal interviews to reconstruct events.
The fruit of his labors resulted in a searing depiction of a true and tragic event of which the Cleveland Plain Dealer described as the legal thriller of the decade (front cover). Spanning 501 pages, the book contains fourteen chapters (with a concluding Sources and Acknowledgments section. The book went on to become an acclaimed 1998 film directed by Steven Zaillian and staring John Travolta along with Robert Duvall (Academy Award Nomination/Best Supporting Actor).
Discovering Woburn children, inclusive of her own child, have been diagnosed with leukemia, resident Ann Anderson and other affected families hire personal injury/toxic tort lawyer Jan Schlichtmann to investigate and file a class action lawsuit. Their allegations were further substantiated and fueled by a five year mortality study conducted by two University of Massachusetts professors chronicling cancer deaths in Woburn which had increased by 17% (Ryan, 1979).
Filed May 14, 1982, Anderson vs. Cryovac (Anne Anderson et al. v. Cryovac Inc. W.R. Grace Inc., John J. Riley Company Inc., Beatrice Inc. C.A. No. 82-1672-S D. Mass) was milestone civil action suit. Initially Schlichtmann accepts for prestige and financial success purposes. Evidence surfaces, however, alleging Riley Tannery, a subsidiary of Beatrice Foods, W.R. Grace (a chemical company) and Unifirst deliberately contaminated the towns water supply with the industrial solvent/chlorinated hydrocarbon TCE (trichloroethylene).
TCE is a chemical compound, a chlorinated hydrocarbon. A sweet smelling clear liquid, TCE is non-flammable. It is used in organic/edible materials such as vegetable oils, etc. and for industrial purposes (dry cleaning solvents, metal parts degreaser, rocket cleaner, etc.).
Excessive consumption is carcinogenic in animals and humans resulting in central nervous systems depression as well as high proclivity to leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The discovery of this heinous evidence marks a turning point for Schlictmann personally as well as the case. Sparring against Beatrice Foods condescending defense attorney Jerome Facher, sensitizes Schlichtmann.
Committed to helping the families with a successful win, Schlichtmann invests everything he has to the point of putting his firm at financial risk. He assembles a team of expert lawyers to assist thereby exhausting his resources and expenses. Finally succumbing to such financial detriment to his firm, Schlichtmann is forced to accept an $ 8 million settlement from W.R. Grace with the case being dropped against Beatrice due to less plausibility.
The settlement is divided among the families, excluding attorney fees and expenditures. Schlicht-mann goes as far as to pay more fees to families who felt he had overcharged them. He eventually files for bankruptcy having lost his home, car with his office becoming his temporary home.
A Civil Action exemplifies the colossal nature and success of civil action suits in terms of counteracting heinous corporate greed, gross negligence and capriciousness. The book illustrates the detriments of such behavior in the corporate sector and issues concerning civil trials (people vs. business/ institutions), procedures, etc.
Diminishing the notion that the victims are rendered powerless, such landmark cases illustrate where there is a will there is a way. Most importantly, it asserts the difference one person can make when committed to doing right and seeking justice. For this reason alone, A Civil Action will leave its indelible mark.
Bibliography
Harr, Jonathan. A Civil Action. Vintage Books, 1996.
Ryan, Charles C. Deaths from Cancer Increase in Woburn. The Daily Times Woburn Edition. December 10, 1979. Web.
The book, The Secret Sharer was written by Joseph Conrad and was first published in 1911. The secret sharer captures the life of a young sailor, who in his young age became the captain of his ship. With lack of experience and non-conformity with the seas, the young captain, who is the main character and narrator of the story, is at an awkward position.
This situation further reveals the naivety of the narrator as he later is unable to come into terms with one of the riskiest episodes of his leadership on the ship. This story depicts a captain who is alienated from his crew, but at the same time acts with conscious and for the benefit of others. This story further reveals the narrators encounter with a fugitive who is accused of murder in another ship.
The narrator, who is now to lead a strange crew that had been together for almost eighteen months finds himself in a rather difficult position because he has to show courage and gain confidence of his crew. For example, the narrator assumes the competency of his crews and their duties in order to build up his reputation &the ideal conception of won personality&set in secrecy (Conrad 21).
Indeed, this leaves his crew members astonished by his behavior which had left him with sleepless nights. However, considering the narrators lack of expertise in high seas, it was probably the most ideal thing to do, that is, build up his reputation in an unnoticeable manner. At the same time, the narrators character cannot be discredited of mistakes.
It is not a captains duty to take control of duties that arent his; this will only show his lack of authority and trust over his crew. Another mistake that makes the narrator assumes, is that all ships were alike and men were similar in character, skills and the sea environment had no rules. Surprisingly, the narrator is even suspicious of his egocentric behavior, a behavior that is bended to elevate him into a comfort zone.
This comfort zone later leads to negligence of duties by his crew as their daily routine is interfered with by the captain (Conrad 24). Amid the narrators misinformation about captainship, he shows a considerable ounce of humanity by kindly helping a run away murder; Leggatt, from dying in the seas.
Considering the hostility in the seas, not every person can let a stranger abound a ship in the middle of the sea. The narrator seems to get angry at many instances when he deems his crews are becoming more aloof from him. For instance, when the narrator is told to close the door in his cab since there was a cleaning going on upstairs, he gets angry for nothing (Conrad 36).
Although the narrator assumes a conspiracy against him while on the cabin, he is getting afraid and his fear of losing the control of the ship is gripping on him. The narrator incompetence in handling sea activities, are well exhibited when the captain of Sephora; Captain Archbold, sense a bit of strange politeness and lack of interest in what is happening in the sea (Conrad 42).
It is the narrators behavior and resemblance with Leggatt that made the captain of Sephora more dissatisfied with the narrators answers. But in an ironical twist, the narrator boldness comes into perspective, when he shows the disgruntled captain around the ship eluding all the doubts that the runway murderer is aboard the ship.
In conclusion, the secret sharer above all is crowned by the narrators action of taking in a murderer and not selling a soul about it. To be precise, the narrators role as the captain of his ship is at jeopardy due to his overprotective nature of his life, his decks and above all his newly met friend; Leggatt.
In fact, the narrator is ready to force the ship to go to the nearest off-shore to make it easy for the murderer to escape (Conrad 52). The narrators behavior can be generalized as that of a young, unknowledgeable captain who is naive about his leadership position.
Considering his responsibility to the crew and the ship, the narrators actions are out of order and only exhibit a leader who is not qualified by merit to lead a team of sailors who have been together for more than eighteen months. Such behaviors can only be termed as those of a leader who is driven by self recognition and interests. On the other hand, the narrators behavior in trying to rescue a murderer escape can be founded on self preservation from critics and reality.
The narrator, only views Legggatt as his double amid his shortcomings. Instead of letting justice prevail, he would rather see it fail. However, the narrators actions of saving Leggatt are profound and uncommon among many high sea sailors. To help the poor lad, the narrator shows a high degree of human kindness for the defenseless and for the unfortunate.
Work Cited
Conrad, Joseph. The Secret Sharer. Charlottesville, Va: EnglishfictionProse, 1911.
Written by Gary Shteyngart, Super, Sad, True Love Story is a dystopian scientific fiction with Lenny Abramov as the main character in the story. He works in a future New York City with a company that deals with increasing longevity through artificial and dietary means. Lennys boss is a 70-year old man but looks younger while Lenny is getting older and desperate.
Lenny falls in love with a beautiful much younger, 24-year old woman, Eunice Park who loves to communicate with her friends and family on her Global Teens account, an all-encompassing social network with slang filled messages while Lenny prefers to make daily diary entries and has the habit of reading physical copies of books. He opens his diary with the declaration of his love for Eunice who is a well-educated woman with a major in Images and a minor in Assertiveness.
However, both of them have trouble writing and Lenny has to re-train himself to write. Lenny has great love for his country; America, even as it collapses around him. His age allows him to develop friendships with male friends despite the rest of the world turning to technology communication and friendships.
Many political world events takes place during this period until eventually America falls apart. The author criticizes the twittering society by introducing the APPARAT as the possible progression of the current technology. The APPARAT device gets for shopping, scanning, and pornographic information from people over the Global Teens Network.
This makes individual privacy impossible as the device allows sexual preferences, credit ratings, and cholesterol levels using this advanced technology. Satire is apparent in Lennys struggle to fit in a technology-filled world while still holding on to the old ways of doing things. However, later the disasters of these technologies become obvious.
Sarcasm and Satire
The book depicts sarcasm in the way technology has advanced. Everybody has embraces the technology creating a hyper-sexualized culture as a way of establishing friendship connections while at the same time adversely affecting the actual community and intimacy. The Blackberries have evolved into APPARAT that people employ for sharing pornographic information including their sexual preferences and the Fuckability ratings over the Global Teens network.
Sarcasm in this book comes through lack of literary values in the way Lenny is devoted to reading smelly old books in a technology-based culture. Lennys devotion to physical copies surprises Eunice and even comments on Global Teens network. Her friend reply implies the poor reading culture. The New York Lifestyle Times political analyses are sometimes dropped for stories of new products implying lack of importance attached to issues affecting the public.
Morals standards are so low that a naked muscled man presents the news while being sodomized. At one time, the entire New York loses APPARAT services and many people become depressed. During this time, Eunice ironically, resorts to writing letters to correspond with her friends and family. She has to rediscover her writing down her thoughts since she could not communicate through e-mail.
Despite the great technological advancements, healthcare, education, and transportation remain affected by the new technologies and policies. The currency value fluctuates and the credit markets become unstable affecting the lives of citizens. The poor and the old evacuation give room for exclusive Lifestyle Hubs showing the governments lack of concern for the welfare of its citizens, which is one of its primary roles.
Gary explores how ironically the society is becoming consumed by techno-lifestyles forgetting the basic principles of a healthy community. Sarcastically, after the APPARAT fails in New York, people start relearning the old ways of doing things. In other words, Gary is saying, stop this madness about technology for very soon it will plunge you into miry mud where you cannot pull yourself out after the systems fail!
Atlas Shrugged refers to a novel by Ayn Rand. In this novel Rand explores the United States where there is an outcry of renowned renovators against exploitation by the government. The government expresses its spirit of relentlessness in exploitation by maintaining control over the industry. As a result, the whole society collapses amid a mass exit by many citizens who were hitherto pillars of the economy.
The author focuses on the theme of the role of human brain in the being of humans. Rand also successfully brings out the philosophy of objectivism by using a number of themes, which are philosophical in nature. Objectivism simply means the existence of truths independent of the mind or perception.
Rand suggests that mans survival is dependent on how well he/she applies the rule of good deeds and bad deeds. She thus advocates virtues as honesty, integrity, independence, and confidence. Rand prefers realistic characters rather than symbolic ones and insists that they should rise above normal man.
Issuance of sanctions to victims is another theme that Rand clearly brings out. Victim sanctions imply the readiness of what is good to undergo suffering in presence of evil. As such, Rand asserts that evil can only exist if good condones it and that people should be rational in their discipline while pursuing personal interests.
In addition, the theme of property ownership and individualism brought out when Rands speaks against those interested in taking advantage of what belongs to others and labels them looters . In particular, she criticizes governments, which exploit their citizens.
In conclusion, through her novel, Rand seeks to educate individuals on matters concerning their rights as citizens, and their rights to own property without undue influence from the government. She also seeks to educate the societal leaders that in order to retain the pillars of their economies, they ought to respect their rights to ownership and give them the freedom to innovate freely.