Elie Wiesels book Night is a poignant account of how the author survived the Holocaust as a Jewish boy. This work describes the horrors that befell the Jewish people in these difficult times and is the authors intensely personal emotional view of what is happening. The book serves as a reminder to the modern generation why it is essential not to forget the atrocities committed by mankind and never let them be repeated.
Main body
First, reading the book Night is crucial because it reveals an accurate picture of the Holocaust. The author describes the cruel treatment of Jews by the Nazis, including various stories about the conditions of the concentration camps, starvation, and forced labor. With his detailed and vivid descriptions, Wiesel conveys the feelings of fear and despair he and other people felt during his stay in the camp.
Second, the work serves as a reminder of historical events and the importance of remembering them. The author gives a detailed account of his experience of surviving the Holocaust and ensures that this terrible page in history is not forgotten. It also highlights the fact that people need to express their views and stand up for justice, despite the possible adversities that they face them.
Finally, the book serves as a warning against the dangers of discrimination and its possible consequences for humanity. Intolerance of each other can have deadly consequences, and every individual must remain vigilant in this regard. Maintaining tolerance for everyone in the world ensures that atrocities like the Holocaust will never happen again. People must fight for their freedom and continue the process of humanizing society, and this is the task of modern generations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Elie Wiesels book Night is an essential object of analysis for present and future generations. First and foremost, it is the memory of the horrors of the Holocaust the nightmares man has made with his own hands. Everyone must remember history to not forget the lessons of the past and remain vigilant against those forces that wish to repeat what was done.
The Family Instructions of Mr. Yan is an ancient Chinese book that talks about early family life. The author of The Family Instructions is Yan Zhitui a Chinese scholar who lived between 531 and 591 AD. The author of the book divided it into twenty sections that covered specific topics about family life. Zhituis book is a valuable asset of Chinese philosophy that outlines how the Northern and Southern Dynasties handled family life in historical China. This paper is a response to Yan Zhituis The Family Instructions of Mr. Yan .
The main significance of Zhituis book is that it acts as a source of wisdom for various Chinese dynasties. The author uses this book to analyze various aspects of family life including personality nurturing, learning, self-cultivation, and family management. The book also contains valuable wisdom concerning scholars and parents. However, most scholars argue that Zhituis book originally targeted the elite. One scholar notes that Zhituis book was designed to pass information that would enable his descendants to maintain a similar status in their own times (Dien 495).
The Family Instructions is one of the most significant works on ancient Chinese culture. The book has provided countless generations with a rich source of literature concerning family ethics and moral cultivation. Another significant aspect of this book is that it draws parallels between the cultural practices of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Consequently, scholars are able to consider the variations of the two dynasties in respect to their customs, art choices, modes of learning, and prevailing customs. To date, The Family Instructions is one of the most prolific research pieces on the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It is also important to note that Zhituis work was published during volatile political periods but the author was able to navigate through this problem without degrading the value of the book (Dien 496).
Works Cited
Dien, Albert. The Family Instructions of Mr. Yan . Custom and Society, Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 2014. 494-510. Print.
Of all culture-related concerns, language issues seem to be the most complicated ones. When two or more languages clash, there are no winners no matter which one become the superior, both cultures will suffer, since the superior language will become stale, isolated from the effect of another one; and the inferior language will finally disintegrate into nothing, ripping its bearers of their self-identity.
Because of the dominance of the traditional Chinese in most Chinese cities, the dialect known as Cantonese is gradually dissolving in the latter, which puts the self0identity of the Cantonese people in peril.
Since, over the last few decades, the impact of the Cantonese language in China has increased, sinking the significance of the traditional Chinese, or Putonghua, the Chinese government decided to reestablish the Putonghua language as the official language of the state by means of reducing the significance of the Cantonese dialect.
While the above-mentioned solution seems wrong and unfair to all the people who have been speaking Cantonese for all their lives, it is also going to be rather time-consuming, since most of the Hong Kong education materials, including books and journals, is written in Cantonese. As Lee & Leung explain, Cantonese is basically involved in the aspects of listening and speaking.
This is not surprising because the content design of the textbooks of the Chinese language is principally based on the HKCEE grading criteria (Lee & Leung, 2012, 22).
Nevertheless, it is the primary goal of the Chinese government to reestablish the status of the Putonghua language as official because of the economical changes which Hong Kong: the implementation of English and Putonghua is crucial to keeping Hong Kong going in this ever changing and highly globalized world, and the key to avoiding Hong Kong from being left behind (Lee & Leung, 2012).
Diving into the history of the Cantonese language, one must mention that the given dialect has been known for quite long as a privileged one. Therefore, the concern of the Chinese government for the traditional Chinese language is quite understood. Not only does the given dialect sound quite much like the traditional Chinese, but has also been established as the language or the privileged people, which makes a great cause for its use all over the country. Speaking Cantonese, anyone can gain a solid reputation among the Chinese public.
That is why, it is quite logical that the traditional Putonghua is likely to become less significant: the instrumental evaluation of Putonghua was also much lower than that of English and Cantonese (Tsui & Tollefson, 2007, 131).
Still, while the tactics of the government is quite understood, it can be expected that the consequences of the Putonghua dialect reinforcement can be much more drastic than the Chinese government expects them to be. Hence, the dilemma between the cultural values and the political well-being arises.
Assessing the endeavors of the Chinese government towards the Cantonese language, one must admit that the attempt to increase the impact of the traditional Chinese with the help of preventing people to use the Cantonese language in their daily life is fraught with serious consequences.
To embrace the scale of changes which the Chinese officials are going to implement when wiping out the Cantonese language from the fields of education, social life and political activities, one has to mention the fact that Cantonese has always been the lingua franca in Hong Kong (Wang & Kirkpatrick, 2012). Making Cantonese obsolete, the government will create complexities for the communication within a considerable part of China.
Reinforcing the Putonghua dialect can wipe out the Cantonese language and, therefore, Cantonese culture. The above-mentioned process of the Cantonese language and culture disintegration will definitely be a catastrophe for the Chinese culture, since the Cantonese one makes the basis for the latter: Both spoken and written Cantonese have become an integral part of Hong Kong identity (Tsui & Tollefson, 2007, 130).
Moreover, not only a huge chunk of the Chinese culture will disappear once the Cantonese dialect vanishes, but also an important link between the Chinese and the western cultures. According to Tsui & Tollefson (2007), Cantonese comprises the elements of both the Chinese culture and the western world (Reeves, 2005).
Judging by the above-mentioned, once Cantonese disappears, China will not be able to relate to the western countries just as easily as it does now, which means political complexities along with cultural ones. Hence, the attempt of the Chinese government to boost the use of the traditional Chinese by stifling the Cantonese dialect seems not quite an adequate solution.
However, the situation with Cantonese can and must be solved. As Hu (2008) explains, the problem can be handled if the one country, two systems principle (Hu, 2008, 89) should be adopted. In the given situation, multicultural language policy is the most adequate decision (Wang & Phillion, 2009).
It seems that, unless the impact of the traditional Chinese becomes lesser, the existence of the Cantonese dialect will be questioned. Though one might argue that languages are much more prone to the outside factors than one might give them credit for, the domination of the traditional Chinese and the effects which the latter has had on the Cantonese language still gives much food for thoughts. Without the proper reinforcement of the Cantonese culture, the national identity of the Cantonese people might slowly fade away.
Reference List
Hu, L. (2008). Language policy, practice and diglossia in colonial and post-colonial Hong Kong. Web.
Lee, K. S., & Leung, W. M. (2012). The status of Cantonese in the education policy of Hong Kong. Multilingual Education, 2(2), 1-22.
Reeves, K. (2005). Tracking the dragon down under: Chinese cultural connections in gold rush Australia and Aotearoa, New Zealand Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, 3(1), 49-66.
Tsui, A. J., & Tollefson, J. W. (2007). Language policy, culture, and identity in Asian contexts. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Wang, D. & Kirkpatrick, A. (2012). Code choice in the Chinese as a foreign language classroom. Multilingual Education, 2(3), 1-18.
Wang, Y., & Phillion, J. (2009). Minority language policy and practice in China: The need for multicultural education. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 11(1), 1-14.
For over two decades, What a Writer Needs by Ralph Fletcher has been a bestseller in teacher preparation programs throughout the US. The book has been trusted in classrooms and even in district in-services. The second edition of the book is even more powerful for students to sharpen their writing skills and for teachers. Anecdotal and personal, it comprises affluence of samples of lively writing derived from professionals and student writers. Reading the book leaves one with an experience of Ralphs careful attention to students and their work, his incredible experience on the essentials of excellent writing, and instructional insight. In the book, Ralph offers a crash course on writing elements, touching on various issues and aspects such as having a compelling voice, coming up with vivid details, believable characters, and a sense of tension. Readers are left with more profound writing knowledge. In the latest edition, Ralph has gone to the extent of adding two completely new chapters, with also a fully updated list of suggested mentors which he has handpicked
Chapter twelve commences with a nostalgic mood, the author reminisces his senior high school days. He had a strong bond with his baby sister, and it was tough for him to leave her while going to college. Their love for each other is seen even in their social life. While the brother had home chores to attend to, he still played with her younger sister, and when it was inevitable to attend to home chores, he would plead with his sister to allow him they play at some other time. The chapter then proceeds to dissect how writers master their prowess. Particularly it is noted that writers have particular mentors who act as role models. They read the works of these role models and master from their prowess. Some of the role model writers named by Ralph include Virginia Woof, Thomas Mann, Anton Chekhov, William Maxwell, and James agree. The reader can know how they too can master writing by following the insights the author offers. For example, from the assertion, I keep an eye out for killer sentences like that or like the lovely one, I found on Atticus a novel by Ron Hansen. (Fletcher, 1992, p. 145) Readers can discern that reading novels can sharpen their writing skills. The author quotes new questions and says that without them, he wouldnt have known how to place the words any better. This exemplifies the authors recommendation to the reader to read more books.
The chapter also speaks regarding boys body language and how their body language tends to be riskier than that of girls. Teachers are beseeched to accept the language. The reader can discern fletcher offering some novel suggestions that classrooms should adopt. He recommends the acceptance of pop language in student writing. Search for students that put down other students work and warn them against such action and negative comments about writers. He offers a two-step strategy of conferencing as a way to communicate with students successfully openly. Teachers should boost student writing by complimenting aspects of student writing, irrespective of how small, and then giving suggestions that will help improve the craft of writing in a piece.
In conclusion, fletcher dives deep into how to be a successful writer and the importance of quality mentors. I found the chapter informative, and I have much to apply to improve my writing skills. Generally, fletcher is pushing teachers and students alike to sharpen their writing skills without considering the teacher superior to the student but views both as needing to broaden their writing skills.
Reference
Fletcher, R. (1992). What a Writer Needs by. Heinemann Educational Books.
In this chapter, the author aimed to describe the features of an excellent writer. She notes that the skill is a natural talent, and an individual requires creativity and knowledge to nurture it. With innovativeness, Phillips (n. d.) notes that content flows without any limitations. She illustrates this point using her brother, who was a naturalist. Philips (n. d.) uses Jims experience with snakes in the woods to describe a writers natural abilities. One observes the environment and puts it in a different point of view, aiming to persuade the audience in the way they think. Additionally, Phillips (n. d.) brings the characteristics of fictional authors. They do not plan a topic, but they utilize the natural flow of thoughts in writing. Phillips (n. d.) states that A writer goes out in the world and returns with both fists clutching a mass of ideas, words, characters, places, stories, arguments, insights, possibly poisonous, hopefully not, and brandishes them alive and squirming before the startled reader (p. 177). The author believes that natural writing talent keeps people confident over new experiences. Such encounters increase their level of imagination when presenting self-directed ideas.
Furthermore, the author notes that real writers are adventurous, which is exciting and unusual but it could be hazardous to them. The inherent confidence in such authors helps them to cope with the risky experiences that come with adventure. This argument encourages potential writers to be adaptable to changing priorities because they cannot always write about the same topics. They should be flexible and ready to face new challenges to satisfy the audiences needs.
After reading the chapter on UN-Final Thoughts, various key takeaways were noted. Phillips (n. d.) asserts that writers should think small, be courageous, and listen to people. Thinking small implies that they should focus on the goals that are easy to achieve, as opposed to setting lofty and difficult ones. The author writes, The best things to write about are often the tiniest things& (Phillips, n. d., p. 178). Being courageous helps writers to follow their dreams, overcome criticism, and tackle deep subjects. For instance, they would face negativity from friends and family, which makes them feel that their work was not a worthwhile pursuit. Disgruntled reviewers could also discourage writers, and therefore Philips (n. d.) notes that audacity is inherent to overcome such challenges and insecurities. She encourages authors to listen because other people could have insights, knowledge, and experiences that they are not aware of. Such perspectives are inspirational to writers, and they should find the best approach to incorporate them to make their work interesting.
Lastly, ideas on the rise of digital writing were worth noting in the book. The internet has eased authorship, apart from increasing flexibility and the number of audience and collaboration among writers. Editors and agents are more accessible on social media, and writers can self-publish their books. Flexibility has enabled children to create electronic portfolios, including video, music, and photographs (Phillips, n. d.). Online collaboration occurs through interactive platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, where writers share ideas from different locations and tools. Phillips also presented various thoughts on writing, and they are worth noting. An authors idea should be standardized, unique, and concise to please readers. Additionally, it should be comprehensive and perplexing, depending on the setting it was presented. Writers should keep reading because the environment changes over time, necessitating radical styles and thoughts.
Reference
Phillips, J. A. (n. d.). UN-final thoughts. In What a Writer Needs. Scribner.
What is real love anyway? Does anyone really know? How can its story be told? Eudora Welty has the answers as she tells the story of Phoenix Jackson and the long walk she takes for love in the short story A Worn Path. According to Welty, love is the continued determination to struggle, as an individual and a race, for the welfare of the children.
Phoenix as a human
The action of the story is completely centered on this old black womans long walk through the country finally arriving at a small town decorated for Christmas in the end. Phoenixs character and many of the physical things she passes along the way are symbolic of the journey shes taken through life and the journey her race has taken during the history of America. Not until the end does Welty finally reveal the purpose of Phoenixs trip and thus the answer to the questions above.
Phoenix begins the story already deep into an evergreen forest. It was delightful to me to see the comparison Welty makes between Phoenixs youth and the soft, yellow pine trees. The innocence suggested in this bright little forest can also be considered the innocence of the African people in their bright yellow country before the white people came.
Pine trees as youth
I think it was brilliant of Welty to remind her readers about the softness of pine wood by suggesting Phoenix still needs to defend herself. The scene when she hears something rustling in the thicket is funny as you envision the small black woman standing up against the great wilderness, Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals! & Under her small black-freckled hand her cane, limber as a buggy whip, would switch at the brush as if to rouse up any hiding things (143).
Thorns and barbed wire as oppression after emancipation
As the story progresses, the old woman makes her way through a landscape that continues to symbolize the old womans progression through life as well as the progression of her race into freedom, continued oppression and continued struggle to gain their human rights. As the story comes to a close, the purpose of her trip is revealed and the depth of love of the self, of the individual and of the race hits you like a warm wave.
Conclusion
Through Weltys beautiful descriptions, this frail old woman becomes a symbol of the struggle of her entire people for the basic elements of survival. On a deep level, this journey is not just the story of a physical walk through the country, but also Phoenixs life journey and the journey her race is still taking now. Her strength, determination and resilient inner nature demonstrate how the black movement for survival and equality will continue and has found some success. Through characters such as Phoenix, the hopes and dreams of the black race will continue to rise.
Works Cited
Welty, Eudora. The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. New York: Harcourt Brace, pp. 142 149.
Love is one of the eternal and universal values that constitute an integral part of human life. In classical literature, the protection of pure love is amongst the important themes which demonstrate societys high moral standards and unity. Fuenteovejuna , a play by the Spanish author Lope de Vega, was written in the beginning of the 17th century and to great extent reflects the views of the contemporary society on strong emotional bonds, mainly between a man and a woman. The present paper argues that the theme of love is depicted in close relation with honour and the play positions love as a common maxim, due to its triumph over the brutality of the official authority.
The debate on love in Fuenteovejuna seems at first quite formal. As Meisel writes, Mengo, who belongs to the ubiquitous line of comic figures, usually venal, called the gracioso, propounds the notion that there is no such thing as love, but only self-love and its gratifications. As the argument develops, loves evolves into a universal principal of harmony or concord; while self-love similarly takes on grander colours (Meisel, p.196). Laurencia, the object of the Commanders desire further makes clear to Mengo that in her understanding love is inseparable from honour and thus involves the lovers commitment to their own and their beaus reputation as well as to the sincerity and honesty in the relationships.
Laurencia demonstrates this idea through her inimitable courage, ostensibly unusual for women. When the Commander first tries to seize her and her friend Pascuala, Laurencia tries to explain that she is not a property, but a human being and has her own attitude towards the situation. However, when Commander orders that the girls be taken to the castle forcefully, Laurencia becomes aggressive and compels his servants to let her leave (de Vega, Act One, p. 20). As one can understand, Laurencias love for Frondoso as well as for herself drives her to protect her honour and she is surely capable of physical violence, as one understands from her indignation. Interestingly, in this situation, Ortuno and Flores, the servants of the Commander, also believe Laurencias anger and aggression are rightful, as they are not assertive when asking her to follow them to the castle. Obviously, her honour is endangered, and the servants seek to avoid any conflicts with Laurencia. Therefore, Laurencia represents the public opinion concerning love and honour which entitles a woman to act in a masculine way and use violence.
Laurencia also demonstrates that personal dignity is an aspect of love, when she meets Frondoso and tells him that rumors about the two of them spread behind her back are not acceptable, as people can go too far and invent the details which might endanger her reputation: You are too bold, Frondoso, yet well/ You know how people love to talk/ She fancies him, He fancies her,/ All over town, their eyes on stalks [&] (de Vega, Act I, p.23). In addition, she explains that as long as they cannot marry, it would be counterproductive to see one another too often. Frondoso, in turn, seems affected by love-madness as he reveals that the thoughts about Laurencia literally haunt him and he is not able to eat or sleep as a result. When the Commandor enters, Laurencia has an option to surrender in order to protect Frondoso, hidden in the bushes, but the girl is still firm in her unwillingness to go through dishonour. In this scene, the righteous self-love, described earlier by Mengo, is actually manifested: despite the bonds uniting Frondoso and Laurencia, the young lady accepts no compromise with her conscience and prefers to put Frondosos life at risk instead of allowing herself to be spoiled by the towns leader.
This means, it is not possible for her to sacrifice her dignity for love, since in case of her capitulation under the influence of the Commanders advancements, she will not be the same any longer and will have no respect from Frondoso and other villagers. This means, honour is not actually higher than love, it rather should be viewed as a determinant of strong feelings and a foundation of stable family; moreover, self-preservation as a manifestation of self-love is apparently welcomed. Frondoso seems to share this view and thus boldly points the crossbow at the Commander, showing that he has nothing to lose, when it is necessary to protect his love-lady. Therefore, the madness displayed before the leaders arrival disappears, replaced with determination and courage.
Thus, Frondoso is not merely an impetuous lover, consumed by his emotions, but also a caring and protective man, committed to the defense of Laurencias dignity (Thacker, p.44). Frondoso also expresses the value of the pure and absolute, unconditional love: So you can kill me? Have you forgotten love/ Is deaf? Where it rules it doesnt listen (de Vega, Act I, p.26). Further, similarly to Laurencia, Frondoso demonstrates self-love in the context of self-defense: I dont/ Intend to kill you. I know my place./ But since I need to stay alive,/ Ill keep the crossbow (de Vega, Act I, p.26). As one can assume, the young mans intention to preserve himself is unselfish, as he believes he needs to survive in order to stay with his beau, as long as she requires his attention and care (Meisel, p.198; Thacker, p.45).
The idea that love cannot exist without honour is also expressed by Esteban, Laurencias father, as well as his companions. For instance, implicitly reproaching the Commander for driving Fuenteovejunas women to adultery, Alderman states: There are doubtless some who wear the Cross/You place upon their breasts whose blood/ Is far less pure that ours [&] Bad deeds have never been cleansed, my lord./ They merely stain (de Vega, Act II, p.31). Further, Esteban insists that the villagers are insulted by the Commanders consumerist attitude towards the local women and his affairs with them, as such relationships deform the personality, making him or her incapable of pure and giving love. Further, even Flores, who organizes Commanders amours with peasant women, observes that womans virtuousness and high moral standards make her more desirable and lovable: A womans coolness makes/ For better satisfaction (de Vega, Act II, p.34).
Furthermore, even Mengo, the most comic of the characters, demonstrates strength of mind and willpower protecting Jacinta, a village girl, from the Commanders advantages: Im asking you to leave her be. Shes a relative. Its my duty to/Protect her (de Vega, Act II, p.38). Even though the situation is hopeless and the Commanders gang exceeds Mengos in number, the young villager even uses weapon after noticing these cut-throats cannot be convinced by his appeals to the universal values only to be cruelly beaten and dragged to the jail (Meisel, p.196). Jacinta, in turn, states she will never surrender to the abuse of her honour, as she is married to a noble man and a daughter of a blameless father, who will be literally killed by the news about her relationships with the Commander, so out of love for them she will resist until the end of her life.
The perfect pastoral picture of harmonious love between Laurencia and Frondoso that shows him proposing to her and their wedding actually reflects the idea that the true love should be transformed into family bonds: I kiss your feet for such a favour./ I promise you it gives my life/ New meaning (de Vega, Act II, p.41). As one can assume, love fills human life with a new meaning, in particular, with the sense of responsibility and family values, shown as the logical continuation of love. Towards the end of Act Two, this picture is destroyed by the arrival of the Commander, imprisonment of Frondoso and abduction of Laurencia. The girl quickly returns bruised, beaten, but unbroken and firm in her striving for avenging the Commander and liberating her beau. She easily persudes the predominantly male council of Fuenteovejuna that the revolt is a necessary step against the outrage of the authorities and manages to organize the local womens crusade to assert the value of honour and courtly love. According to Meisel, In the revolt, all courtesy in and between ranks has been dissolved in disorder; but out of it comes an unprecedented form of concord, in the indiscriminate unity of voice and action.
As Frondoso reminded the Commander when the latter freed him for use as an emissary, it is love that has moved them love, and violated courtesy, and outraged honour (Meisel, p.196). Thus, the villagers act as a single organism , united by the resentment with the offense of the sacred value of courtly love. Driven by their righteous anger, they dare penetrate the city council and murder the Commander, as the 15th century laws implied that death was a regular punishment for rapists. When three hundred of villagers including children and seniors are subjected to tortures, none of them gives out the name of the true slaughterer, stating that Fuenteovejuna took the Commanders life. This loyalty proves that by rebelling against the corrupt order, the villagers seek to protect their own families and love mates from the potential insults, not merely the sacred bonds between Laurencia and Frondoso. Due to the fact that the author chooses to give a happy ending to his play, i.e. the inhabitants of Fuenteovejuna are finally released and Laurencia and Frondoso, the central couple of the literary work, reunite, one can assume that Fuenteovejuna proclaims the triumph of courtly love over the outrage of government.
Although Fuenteovejuna was written almost four hundred years ago, its theme of love , close-knit with personal dignity, is still understabdable and relevant in the present day. Lope de Vega handles and develops this theme through showing that honour and self-love are the means to an end and appear to serve the social bonds of love and create stable and supportive relationships.
Works cited
De Vega, L. Fuenteovejuna. Oxford University Press, 1999.
Meisel, M. How plays work: reading and performance. Oxford University Press, 2007.
Thacker, J. A companion to golden age theatre. Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2007.
In the first four centuries after the inception of writing, it happened that paper writing stood out as the major component of communication, in that it transcended through space and time. It bore much acclaim in terms of the consequences it be held.
As such, many believed it to shape popular opinion, belief systems, broadened understanding, and embodied a sense of belonging, the sensitive issues, the remembrance and ultimately the characteristics that defined the norms and taboos. In a nutshell, its overall effect was the shaping up of a peoples mindset therefore guiding a nation towards the realization of set goals and objectives (Kelly 17).
In the process, societal behavior change was for a time attributed to this, but then again these kept on changing. A peoples attitude and perceptions towards specific things in their lives kept changing or revolving, yet the writing in the books remained constant. This was a quagmire to the thinkers and philosophers of the romantic period, and it remained among the readers, writers and philosophers alike on how these kept shifting.
In the romantic period, fiction writing attracted a big chunk of the populace, and such it proved a way in which the ideas of the writers and authors alike filtered into the minds of the people- majorly the middle working class. These enticed them a big deal because it provided a mirror with which to see oneself through, as such to a big extent shaped their dreams and aspirations.
The relationship between the working class in the society and the romantic era was that the working class lived a liberal life, rapidly changing though retaining much of their culture carried over time through means such as folk song and others. As then, a persons access to education was motivated by factors either within the person or external such as parents, society or relative and the rest.
The middle class people were handled or spoken to suspiciously by their age mates, as such, chauvinism aside all authors proved that readers, both men and women alike read what they could come across, as such they were heavily reliant on what they wrote; fiction or non-fiction (Kelly 19).
Book reviews
Both stories embrace mother-daughter relationships, and bring out the heroines in them are survivors and examples that need to be emulated as they have stood out in the midst of the tyranny matted upon them by the men in their lives, be they fathers, husbands and sometimes even brothers.
These men treat the women as mere property which can simply be traded upon to meet their needs; others view them as servants in the home, in this regard easily coerced or seduced into doing something.
The story in the books have met criticism time and time again, the major ones being that General Tinleys position in Northanger had been exaggerated, and Eleanors objection to be part of the make-up of a fictitious tale. Moreover, in modern times, the events at Northanger are too archaic to have a place in the minds of the common folk since much has changed and the woman has been to a great and by a bigger margin emancipated.
Northanger Abbey
In this Gothic tale, we are narrated for the story of a woman who is really loved and appreciated, yet lost and silent. Mrs. Eleanor Tinley, as she is called in the book is the pillar with which the book is embedded upon. In the story, the General sends an invitation to a lady; Catherine.
He intends that she comes to stay at his abbey; this is against the backdrop of his determination to convince her to give up her intended inheritance to his young son. On the other hand, Eleanor also wishes to have Catherine around as the General states of this: I know how much your heart is in it (Austen 139).
In the narrative, Catherine has a loving, kind and open heart that is full of affection, and this takes up Mrs. Tinleys. Following the demise of her mother, Tinley had been secluded totally by society, as such with Catherines arrival and the kindness within compounded the trust that forged forth real friendship (Spacks 157).
The narrator posses to reiterate that the chronic suffering she is undergoing is as a result of the demons that dwell within such a home as Northanger.
In due course, time would unveil a totally different character in the Generals attitude and demeanor. The nice and tamed General would turn out to create scenes that at the very least irritated and more often demanding. This upsets Eleanor to the core, as a result she ends up revealing how she was used in place to lie that the General together with her were absent from home (Baker 94).
The other opinion on this change of attitude from the General is that this abrupt unforeseeable change in behavior from apparent display of kindness, care and love to cold hearted hostility is pretty much a sign of the wrong characters in men.
The tempers and tantrums thereabout is a foreground to how men behave in marriage, and such they hit a crescendo to which they do not listen to the women even when the least of manners and common sense on their part dictates so. The hostility wears Eleanor down to the point that she breaks the news to Catherine that she has been expelled and is expected to leave home the following day.
The one aspect in the narration that highlights the experience of the woman in Northanger Abbey is that of one character, Isabella Thorpe. In the specific instance Henry forgives his brother towards Isabella, he says of her, She had a heart to lose&she would have met with a very different treatment (Austen 98). Catherines reaction to Henrys judgment points out the impunity therein, and his bias to the feminine characters.
A critical focus on the novel reveals how Austen hones her writing prowess by the use of orphan in a manner contrary to what is often advocated for by Gothic novelists. Furthermore, the terms inclusion exhibits an affectionate nod portrayed by the novels entertainment value.
In her context, Austen portrays Catherine as a voracious reader hence she will have probably read entirely all the Gothic narratives from Thorpes list as at the time of her departure from Bath. As such, with the Gothic-like reception expected at Henry Tilneys home- a clue from Tilney, Catherines imaginations become ecstatic to the adventure.
Therefore she expects with solemn awe to afford a glimpse of its [Northanger Abbey] massy walls of gray stones, rising amidst a groove of ancient oaks, with the last beams of the sun playing in beautiful splendour on its high Gothic Windows (Austen 161). This could probably be a typical description about any kind of Gothic edifice.
For Catherine, she encounters a reality of how Northanger Abbey is like contrary to what her fantasy Gothic texts had conditioned her to anticipate. As such:
From the lodges of modern appearance to a smooth level road of fine gravel, without obstacle, alarm, or solemnity of any kind, and from her observations of the profusion and elegance of modern taste that existed in the modern furnishings to the windows which, though the form of them was a Gothic- they might be even casements- but every pane was so large, so clear, and so light! To an imagination which had hoped for&..painted glass, dirt and cobwebs (Austen 162).
Austen description depicts a thoroughly modernized picture of Tinleys residence contrary to the expected. As such, the context evokes disappointment from both Catherines and a readers point of view, the real Northanger Abbey was quite devoid of Gothic features (Austen 162).
Maria or the Wrongs of Woman
Around the year 1792, in London a proposition to the French assembly was made by then newly launched Talleyrands new education system. It simply agitated for the male members in the society or the boys to be educated.
This was the motivation behind Mary Wollstonecrafts writing, so that he could point to society that once again it was a wrong footing for the society to be vindictive of the woman in a matter which they were to play a key role. Her theory, simply put, stated that if woman be not prepared by education to become the companion of man, she will stop the progress of knowledge, for truth must be common to all (Wollstonecraft 28).
In her work, she injected the energy and zeal to like minded individuals throughout the sexual divide- both male and female. She implored her experience, intelligence and sentiments in her quest to exorcise the ghost that was segregation along sexual lines.
She found fault with what the religion and society dictated then about the female companion, as such brought to life the agitation that both philosophy and the applicability of the practice at hand, would transform a specific society with a big margin.
In Maria, Wollstonecraft underscores the then culture and feelings directed toward women specifically one portrayed as strong and, dwelling through misfortunes of her horrid husband. She hopes that a reader would echo her assertion towards the evils that bedevils a woman at the hands of these men. As such, she says:
The wrongs of woman, like the wrongs of the oppressed part of mankind, may be deemed necessary by their oppressors: but surely there are a few, who will dare to advance before the improvement of the age, and grant that my sketches are not the abortion of a distempered fancy, or the strong delineations of a wounded heart (Wollstonecraft 27).
The tone of the book is set upon Marias own experience, foregrounding at the end with her demise. These two coincide, though the book was published after she had passed away by her husband, it still brought out much of what the author had intended to pass across.
It begins with her imprisonment by the husband who goes ahead to get custody of their child. George Venables, the husband has her confined in a filthy asylum and befriends an attendant in there. In contrast, she is a low class lady, impoverished to say the least yet.
It comes to her knowledge that Maria is not of unsound mind, and therefore decides to bring her books to read. In the books, there are writings that are made by another inmate, and they start communicating, fall in love and finally meet (Sunstein 210).
As they spend time together, they get to share the tribulations in the lives they lead and thus forge a common bond. Darnford, for instance opens up that her life had been socially and morally wrong, and he happened to find himself locked up in the asylum after a binge.
The doctors had refused to set him free ever since. Jemima too opens up to them, explaining how much of a bastard she was when she had been born. Her mother passed when she was much of a toddler, worsening her grave situation and position in society even more. She ended up a laborer in her own fathers house and then vacated the place for another job.
Her master mistreated her, denied her food and forced her to have intercourse with him. The result- she was pregnant with her masters baby, the wife threw her out. She aborts the baby because she cannot even sustain a single soul that is her own self and instead opts to become a prostitute. After the demise of the man who had been keeping her, she ends up at the asylum, as the attendant that she was.
In subsequent chapters till the end, she reveals to her daughter via written narratives how her father and mother loved her eldest brother more than any of their children. She also goes ahead to explain to her how the brother in return dictated over them, harassed and beat them up.
In order that she saves her skin from her tattered life and hopeless future, she seeks refuge from a neighbor with whom she falls in love with the son, George Venables. His general profile was presentable, likeable and respectable by all around town, but his real character was a philanderer.
Marriage is portrayed as a prison; the women are the permanent inmates. As of this she says: Was not the world a vast prison, and women born slaves? (Wollstonecraft 27). It is after marriage and the lovers are fully settled that the horrors of the union start to haunt.
It is the woman on the receiving end as she is subject to the whims of her husband, and such they are not valued as complete human beings. They are not separate from slaves, the fact that Maria was almost valued at $ 5000 is proof enough that the woman would only serve in purpose that they service their men.
In the book, the narrator tells of disastrous marriages and the feminine gender- irrespective would be the one being abused, heckled, beaten up and abandoned (Wollstonecraft 20). According to the author, Men who are inferior to their fellow men, are always most anxious to establish their superiority over women (Wollstonecraft 95). This, she believes is a truth to eternity.
Social classification is also evident, and by far much defines the difference in the manner in which the different classes of people are treated by society. Maria belonged to the upper middle class; accordingly society respected her much, and handled her with much higher esteem.
Jemima, the asylum attendant belonged to the lowest ranked in their society as it then was, she was a low class, but then society rarely drew the line between these classes of people among the women as it was woven gist that was chauvinism. The result of this was that both women in the two very classes of people underwent the same ordeals (Taylor 59).
Conclusion
In reading the above texts, the major theme projected is the discovery of the female persona. The ability in women to practice feminism and to enjoy being women, to flag off any attempts to be easily swayed in decision making, rejecting bad advice and fending of bullying from their male counterparts.
The women personalities should know the limits to their responsibilities, and how much should be required of them when and how, aside of course from them drawing the line to what is, in their judgment- right or wrong basing on their evaluation and aspirations.
In many an instance, sexual expedience has been used to define the thin societal membrane that has sieved women off their functionality in society. The books reiterate that male guarantors who base on the gullibility of their female counterparts are condemned.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. A companion to Jane Austen studies. West Port CT: Greenwood Press, 2000. Print.
Baker, William. Critical companion of Jane Austen. New York: Penguin, 1944. Print.
Kelly, Gary. English Fiction of the Romantic Period. London: Longman, 2008. Print.
Spacks, Meyer. The Female Imagination: A Lit-erary and Psychological Investigation of Womens Writ-ing. New York: Knopf, 1975. Print.
Sunstein, Emily. A Different Face. The Life of Mary Wollstonecraft. Denver: MacMurray, 2009. Print.
Taylor, Barbara. Mary Wollstonecraft and the Feminist Imagination. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. MARIA or the Wrongs of Woman. London: Verso, 2001. Print.
Home is not merely a place to live in; it is a multidimensional concept involving a house, a family, a sense of security, and a personal and cultural identity. One can better understand the multifaceted nature of home if one examines Palestinians experiences after their forcible eviction from their homeland in the 1948 national catastrophe called Nakba (Harker 322). At that time, about 750,000 Palestinians were forced to abandon their homes and seek shelter in neighboring countries or refugee camps (Albadawi 44). Najwan Darwish, a contemporary Arab poet, reflected these Palestinian experiences in his poem, Barely Breathing. This paper will use this poem to explore how literature helps get a better understanding of cities and urban homes in Palestine. It will be argued that literature shows that urban homes in Palestine are much more than physical buildings since they are part of Palestinians personal and national identity.
Darwishs poem conveys the authors bitterness about the desolated land and distorted Palestinians national identity. The poet frequently uses such words as abandoned homes, desolation, abandoned houses, and abandonment, indicating that the events of 1948 and subsequent years have been deeply engraved in Palestinians perception of their homes (Darwish 2, 6, 8, 17). After Israel declared its independence, thousands of Palestinians had to leave their homes. Many of their houses were destroyed to the point of complete obliteration or at least major destruction (Harker 322). Darwish reflects this physical dimension of Palestinian homes at the beginning of his poem: Sorrow pours from the rooms / while I, like a ghost, enter your abandoned homes (Darwish 1-2). Thus, the literature suggests that the physical aspect is the most evident but nonetheless important aspect of Palestinian homes.
Further, the poem demonstrates the complexity of the concept of home. The narrator says, They weigh on me these abandoned houses, / this desertion that fills your homes (Darwish 8-9). These lines show that a loss of home depresses Palestinians, demonstrating that there are other non-physical dimensions of the concept of home. As Blunt and Dowling state, home is a multi-scalar notion, incorporating such aspects as spatiality, familial relations, social relations, and national politics (30). For Palestinians in particular, home is associated with family and security (Harker 324). Hence, when these people have been deprived of their homes, they have lost a significant part of their self-identity. Darwish reflects it in the poem, saying that the abandoned houses have hollowed hearts (10). This phrase implies that the author views houses as living entities rather than inanimate physical structures. When their owners left, their hearts became hollow, and, perhaps, the same can be said about people who used to inhabit them. Thus, literature gives an insight into the non-physical dimensions of Palestinian cities and homes.
The poem also sheds light on how Palestinian homes are integrated into individuals national identities. The narrator refers to Arabs, Persians, and Byzantines, stating that they cannot feel him (Darwish 11). The next line says, Didnt I ever have a history? (Darwish 12). In this passage, the author may imply that Palestinians are no longer compared to other nations because, having lost their homes, they have been deprived of their history. Thus, this poem shows another dimension of Palestinian homes the one that constitutes Palestinians national identity.
Although not dealing with it explicitly, the poem suggests that the right of return is essential for Palestinians in the context of their homes. The right of return concept means that all Palestinian refugees and their descendants are entitled to return to the property where they used to live (Albadawi 44). According to a survey, this right is important for Palestinians; 51% of respondents were willing to return to their original homes, and 23% wanted to resettle in the Palestinian State (Albadawi 55). These findings suggest that Palestinians found their homeland important and viewed their return as the restoration of justice and their national identity. According to Blunt and Dowling, home is a fluid concept that can vary in space and time under the influence of wider power relations (27). It suggests that, although Palestinians may currently call refuge settlements their homes, they are willing to exercise their right of return to restore their original homes to which they are bound with childhood memories, familiar relations, and national identity.
In conclusion, literature can help one understand Palestinian urban homes because it shows their multiple non-physical dimensions. With the focus on the topic of homeland, contemporary Palestinian literature can bring attention to the symbolic meaning of home and the importance of Palestinian resistance. In particular, Darwishs poem demonstrates that the loss of homes is major distress for Palestinians, undermining their national identity and depriving them of their history. Palestinian homes are more than physical spaces; in peoples minds, they are closely connected to family and a sense of security. Therefore, it would be incorrect to view the destruction of their houses in merely statistical terms. Given the importance of homes for Palestinians, the right of return has a large significance, especially for those generations who witnessed or experienced the forcible eviction.
Works Cited
Albadawi, Sobhi. Is the Right of Return Still Desirable and Sacred Among Palestinian Refugees? The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, vol. 23, no. 1, 2021, pp. 4359.
Blunt, Alison, and Robyn Dowling. Home. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2022.
The progress of mankind can be traced through numerous different venues, not the least of which is humanitys identification with and understanding of what constitutes the supernatural. These ideas of the supernatural are reflected in the way in which the various characters of various works produced in different time periods interact with the world of the supernatural as it relates to the self.
This tendency to explore these issues seems to come out during periods of greater social questioning, such as during periods of enlightenment and exploration in other areas. This occurred during the age of the ancient Greeks as they ruled the Mediterranean and appeared again during the Elizabethan age of Shakespeare. Great societal shifts were taking place in England during the 16th and 17th century, a period particularly influenced by the revival of arts and thinking that had started in Italy nearly 200 years earlier known as the Renaissance and repeated some of the enlightened attitudes that were characterized as being a part of the ancient Greeks.
To understand how these concepts have changed over time, it is helpful to trace the relationship between the self and the supernatural as it is revealed in the great works of history, such as Sophocles Oedipus the King and Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream.
In Sophocles Oedipus the King for instance, the supernatural is seen as a widespread public issue as all direction is taken from the Oracles who can purportedly see mens fates. The Oracles prediction that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother sets him on his path to destruction. His natural parents first try to avoid fate by abandoning him. Then Oedipus runs away from his adoptive parents attempting to avoid his fate and not knowing his true parentage (Sophocles: 850-873).
He believes himself to have been successful, not only because he has not killed the man he considered his father (1110-1120), but because he had defeated the Sphinxs question to win Thebes as well (390-480). This information serves as the base for his complex conspiracy theory behind Teiresias accusations that Oedipus is the reason for the plague. It is interesting to note that so many people attempted to avoid fate in this story.
Although they considered themselves to have bested the gods, each of these characters becomes the victim of divine justice as a result of their own determined defiance. Laius, the old king, decides to kill his own son to avoid prophecy by leaving him as an infant exposed to the elements, but Oedipus survives to kill him being raised by another king and therefore not knowing he is related to the man he meets on the road (Sophocles: 970-980). This ignorance is necessary for the prophecy to be fulfilled.
Likewise, Jocasta is willing to abandon her son to the elements but ends up unknowingly bearing his children. Finally, Oedipus himself only fulfils his prophecy in response to his defiance of them. How this is so is the particular focus of the play as he defies the wisdom of Teiresais (300-380), the possessor of supernatural knowledge, and brings on his own doom. I may have just set myself under a dreadful curse without my knowledge! (893-894). This suggests that while the supernatural ultimately dictates the order of things, the self is responsible for his or her actions.
Widely recognized as a comedy of errors in which various couples become hopelessly entangled in the complications of magical spells and thoughts of love on the eve of a grand wedding, Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream has provided audiences with laughter for centuries while still managing to include an exploration into the effects of the supernatural upon everyday life.
The confusion of darkness as an element of the supernatural in complicating the lives of young lovers is proven to be the principle cause of problems for the characters in both plays the main play that Shakespeare wrote and the play within the play that is performed by the town players. In the mini-play, darkness prevents the two lovers from finding each other in enough time to enjoy their happily ever after.
Thisby is frightened from her meeting place with Pyramus by the lion that wouldnt be roaming if it werent dark outside. Pyramus finds Thisbys cloak torn and wet with blood and chooses not to search the darkness for her but instead immediately throws himself on his sword in order to join her in death. Thisby, thinking he is merely asleep when she returns to the crypt discovers he is dead instead and also chooses to end her life.
It is also the creatures of the night in the form of the fairies that cause problems and strife between the young couples roaming around in the woods in the dark. Oberons potion causes Lysander to change his mind about who he loves. The apparent purity of young love between Hermia and Lysander is brought into question with the application of Oberons pansy-juice. This causes Lysander to change his mind about who he loves and introduces a situation in which he behaves in much the same way as Demetrius himself. Because he doesnt forget his past love for Hermia, this calls into question the strength of even the purist love to resist the course of life events.
In Act II, scene 2, he says, I do repent / the tedious minutes I with her have spent. / Not Hermia but Helena I love. / Who will not change a raven for a dove? (111-114). This separates the couple almost as effectively as the death scene of the mini-play simply because the mini-play cannot be taken completely seriously and is thus seen as a temporary situation, much like that between Hermia and Lysander. What makes him worthy of Hermias love is that he does all of this under the spell of fairy magic and is finally able to come to his own senses in the end. Although the two young people finish the play by getting married, Shakespeare has demonstrated how even the most ardent, pure and innocent love can be quickly and easily damaged by a simple change in the wind.
However, being an element of the supernatural is no guarantee that the individual might manage to avoid the risks and uncertainties of the magical element. Shakespeares characters Titania and Oberon are fairies who have been married for long ages already before the play has even started. While the simple fact that they are still together should testify to the constancy of love, their bitter squabbling is echoed in the poor weather of the country and illustrates the absence of love in a relationship well-aged. Their squabbling is trivial: a dispute over Titanias changling boy whom Oberon desires &
The comparison between the two worlds is even more ironically exact when Oberon accuses Titania of an improper interest in Theseus; while she in turn accuses him of harboring base thought about Hippolyta (Taylor 263). This old love, then, is characterized by petty jealousies and insecurities that compare quite closely to those elements that serve to sever Hermia and Lysander for a while and have a direct effect upon the weather patterns and human emotions around them. To settle their dispute, Oberon resorts to tricking his wife into succumbing to his wishes before he will permit her to be restored to her normal exalted state.
Throughout both of these texts, there is an obvious need to offer some sort of indication of a world that exists beyond the one that we perceive in our waking life. Sophocles finds it in his Oracles ability to foresee the twisted path of Oedipus future while Shakespeare finds it in the idea of returning spirits. In addition, it becomes the supernatural that drives the characters to their tasks. The Oracles of Oedipus cause both his parents and himself to undertake the actions that will seal his doom. The magic of Shakespeares fairies creates the confusion that comprises almost the entire action of that midsummer nights activities.
However, the relationship between the supernatural and the self appears to be at least marginally voluntary, meaning that the self must participate in some action in order to make the relationship work. This consistent need to discover and/or explain an alternate world beyond our own that is somehow connected to us in a meaningful way suggests our shared ideologies havent changed all that much over the years.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Nights Dream. The Complete Pelican Shakespeare. New York: Penguin Classics, 1969.
Sophocles. Oedipus the King. The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin.