The Scarlet Letter essay: Why was Dimmesdale’s Suffering Worse Than Hester’s?

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Mr. Dimmesdale’s greatest secret is his sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. Mr. Dimmesdale feared that his soul could not bear the shame of such a disclosure because of his status as an important moral figure in society. As a result, he keeps his identity a secret as Hester is publicly ridiculed for their act of adultery. Despite his choice of guilt over shame, Mr.Dimmesdale’s private self-inflicted inner turmoil that is exacerbated by the tortures of Roger Chillingworth, ate away at his physical being and mental state, causing much greater suffering than Hester’s public shame of the scarlet letter. Much of the suffering, physical and mental, that Arthur Dimmesdale endures is self-inflicted due to the immense weight of his guilty conscience. Fearing that he would not be able to bear the punishment from the public, he chose to remain anonymous in his sins. In doing so, he underestimated the amount of psychologica l torture and suffering he would endure by his own hand.By only confessing to himself, he does not fulfill the requirements of repentance, for there is no one to forgive him but himself. He does not allow his conscience to be cleansed, and therefore must live with his sins. His emotional pain leads him to inflict pain with a â€Å"bloody scourge†, which he had often â€Å"plied on his own shoulders†(99). He inflicts great physical pain in addition to his mental torture. In the early Christian church, self-flagellation was imposed as a means of penance and purification for disobedient clergy and laity.In the bible, Proverbs relates that blows â€Å"cleanse away evil† and stripes wash the heart (Prov 20:30). He is trying to redeem and cleanse himself without confession, but this is impossible. Through this self-mutilation, he attempts to relieve his mental pain by inflicting self pain; he find this unsatisfying because he still neglects to partake in the most impo rtant aspect of redemption, confession. He also rigorously fasts, as another attempt to cleanse his soul. Hawthorne writes, â€Å"it was his custom, too, as it has been that of many other pious Puritans, to fast, – not, however, like them†¦Ã‚  but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance†(99).Religiously, fasting is commonly used as a form of purification and focus on spirituality. Once again, he uses bodily pain as an attempt to relieve his mental suffering. By participating in this unsuccessful cleansing, he only subjects himself to greater psychological torture; what he studied and knew to be a cure of guilt and sin only amplifies his own. The situation becomes hopeless when his ways fail him, and this eats away at his religious beliefs, which are the basis of his entire life.He faces an entire identity crisis, and this is something Hester never had to endure. Yes, she withstood her own share of loneliness and suffering, but ne ver to the extreme where she turned to self-mutilation to relieve herself. He attempts to redeem his tarnished soul through various acts of contrition, but all is in vain because it is all done without a confession. His torture is all within himself; he is his own shunning, gossiping townspeople and his own rock-flinging children. There is nowhere for him to hide.He is fully absorbed by his sins and they eat away at him. Hester, who’s publicly tortured by others while in town, though it might be equally as hurtful at that time, is still lesser than Dimmesdale’s suufering. Hester has an escape route. She has the refuge of her home outside of town, where she can get away from the gossip and scorn. She also publicly embraces her accountability in the affair, which allows her to accept the punishment, move on, and make something good out of it. Hester becomes a maternal figure for the community as a result of her experiences.She cares for the poor and brings them food and clothing. By the end of the novel, the shame of the scarlet letter is long gone. She doesn’t owe anything to the townspeople anymore. Some even forget what the scarlet A stands for. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, as a well-respected minister, stands at the center of his community, being the advocate of religious and moral standards of that Puritan society. He must remain in town, outwardly preaching to others about piety and remaining sinless, and internally feeling like an imposter.Dimmesdale realizes his fault in hiding his sin, but his desire to repent is repeatedly overcome by his craving for public approval. He is their moral compass, yet he himself is lost. This drives Dimmesdale to further internalize his guilt and self-punishment and leads to still more deterioration in his physical and spiritual condition. Because of Dimmesdale’s decision to remain anonymous, he unconsciously creates a duality in personality within himself that results in the deterioration of his mental well-being.Dimmesdale, as the revered town minister, must keep up this dichotomy in personality; he is constantly praised for his goodness and asked for moral and spiritual advice, while he is tumultuous inside. Hester is free to be whom she pleases. The townspeople do not believe Dimmesdale’s protestations of sinfulness. Given his background and his fondness for rhetorical speech, Dimmesdale’s congregation generally interprets his sermons metaphorically rather than as expressions of any personal guilt.He plays the literal meaning of his words off against the context in which he speaks them. Dimmesdale's tone of voice, his position as minister, his reputation as a saintly man, and the genre of the sermon allow him to say, â€Å"I am the greatest sinner among you,† but be understood to be humble, pious, and godly. His inner self is desperately trying to confess, but his self concerned with public appearance only allows him to do it in a way that he won t be taken literally. He is essentially at war with himself.By remaining secret, Dimmesdale doomed himself to much greater suffering than if he were to be publicly condemned with Hester because he subjected himself to years of self-torture and an unyielding quest for unobtainable repentance. The role of Roger Chillingsworth in Dimmesdale’s torture amplifies the pain of the sin, causing much greater suffering than Hester who only interacted with the doctor on sparse occasions. As his name suggests, Roger Chillingworth is a man deficient of human warmth. His twisted, stooped, deformed shoulders mirror his distorted soul.Under the guise of a new doctor in town with wholesome intentions towards the young minister and his health, Chillingsworth gains his trust and they move in together forming very peculiar codependent relationship. Chillingworth needs Dimmesdale to nourish his intellect and to be the object of his obsessive desire that he can control and ultimately destroy; Dimme sdale needs Chillingworth to keep his guilt alive, the constant provoking from the doctor for Dimmesdale to reveal his inner sin forces Dimmesdale to be constantly reminded of his transgressions. Chillingworth is like a leech. He sucks Mr.Dimmesdale’s life force out of sick need for reparation for Dimmesdale’s actions against him. Dimmesdale is subconsciously aware of his dependence of Chillingworth, for he cannot and does not break away. Their relationship is described in this quote, â€Å"Nevertheless, time went on; a kind of intimacy, as we have said, grew up between these two cultivated minds, which had as wide a field as the whole sphere of human thought and study to meet upon; they discussed every topic of ethics and religion, of public affairs, and private character; they talked much, on both sides, of matters that seemed personal to themselves..â€Å"(P#). Chillingworth lived and thrived off the pain and guilt he constantly inflicted on Dimmesdale, and in a t wisted way Dimmesdale relied on this psychological torture to further his self-inflicted search for forgiveness. The role of Roger Chillingsworth in Dimmesdale’s torture intensifies Dimmesdale’s suffering, causing Dimmesdale to endure vastly more than Hester who was able to avoid the evil doctor. Some argue that it was Hester who suffered the most throughout the novel. They say that because of her crime Hester became secluded from the other people in her society.They exemplify this with the quote, â€Å"Who had been familiarly acquainted with Hester Prynne, were now impress as if they beheld her for the first time was the Scarlet Letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself. â€Å"(61). She became lonely, and the scarlet letter was a burden that Hester had to carry everyday of her life, and the symbol, which secluded her from any other human being.It caused Hester to be ostracized, but Dimmesdale's cowardice in not confessing lead ultimately, to his death. Hester had a horrible punishment: she had to wear a scarlet letter for the rest of her life. But Dimmesdale's internal struggle with his own cowardice and guilt was far worse than a scarlet letter. He suffered the most as he constantly punished himself for his sin. Although Hester suffered the public punishment she dealt with it well and took it in stride, ultimately creating a positive role for herself in the community and transforming the meaning of the scarlet letter.She was able to make amends and in time through good deeds, change the meaning of the scarlet letter from â€Å"adulteress† to â€Å"able†. Dimmesdale on the other hand, has to always bear their sin inside of him never allowing it to become public. He was never given the opportunity to make peace with himself. Instead of taking his penance publicly he does it private ly. He was forced to continue to bear his private shame, while Hester was able to make peace with herself because she was strong enough to take her punishment, and grow despite of it.Suffering is commonly seen as an unconscious effort to ease painful feelings of guilt. Arthur Dimmesdale's choice of guilt over shame led him to experience a great deal of physical and emotional suffering. Hester admitted to her sin and had a clear conscience, which allowed her to move on with her life and grow as a person. Mr. Dimmesdale’s choice of anonymity in not confessing his wrongdoing to the public, led to his suffering through the guilt of his sin, a pain that was only aggravated by the tortures of Roger Chillingworth, and ultimately resulted in his painful and tragic death. The Scarlet Letter essay: Why was Dimmesdale’s Suffering Worse Than Hester’s? In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Mr. Dimmesdale’s greatest secret is his sin of adultery with Hester Prynne. Mr. Dimmesdale feared that his soul could not bear the shame of such a disclosure because of his status as an important moral figure in society. As a result, he keeps his identity a secret as Hester is publicly ridiculed for their act of adultery.Despite his choice of guilt over shame, Mr.  Dimmesdale’s private self-inflicted inner turmoil that is exacerbated by the tortures of Roger Chillingworth, ate away at his physical being and mental state, causing much greater suffering than Hester’s public shame of the scarlet letter. Much of the suffering, physical and mental, that Arthur Dimmesdale endures is self-inflicted due to the immense weight of his guilty conscience. Fearing that he would not be able to bear the punishment from the public, he chose to remain anonymous in his sins. In doing so, he underestimated the amount of psycholog ical torture and suffering he would endure by his own hand.By only confessing to himself, he does not fulfill the requirements of repentance, for there is no one to forgive him but himself. He does not allow his conscience to be cleansed, and therefore must live with his sins. His emotional pain leads him to inflict pain with a â€Å"bloody scourge†, which he had often â€Å"plied on his own shoulders†(99). He inflicts great physical pain in addition to his mental torture. In the early Christian church, self-flagellation was imposed as a means of penance and purification for disobedient clergy and laity.In the bible, Proverbs relates that blows â€Å"cleanse away evil† and stripes wash the heart (Prov 20:30). He is trying to redeem and cleanse himself without confession, but this is impossible. Through this self-mutilation, he attempts to relieve his mental pain by inflicting self pain; he find this unsatisfying because he still neglects to partake in the most i mportant aspect of redemption, confession. He also rigorously fasts, as another attempt to cleanse his soul. Hawthorne writes, â€Å"it was his custom, too, as it has been that of many other pious Puritans, to fast, – not, however, like them†¦But rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance†(99). Religiously, fasting is commonly used as a form of purification and focus on spirituality. Once again, he uses bodily pain as an attempt to relieve his mental suffering. By participating in this unsuccessful cleansing, he only subjects himself to greater psychological torture; what he studied and knew to be a cure of guilt and sin only amplifies his own. The situation becomes hopeless when his ways fail him, and this eats away at his religious beliefs, which are the basis of his entire life.He faces an entire identity crisis, and this is something Hester never had to endure. Yes, she withstood her own share of loneliness and suffering, but ne ver to the extreme where she turned to self-mutilation to relieve herself. He attempts to redeem his tarnished soul through various acts of contrition, but all is in vain because it is all done without a confession. His torture is all within himself; he is his own shunning, gossiping townspeople and his own rock-flinging children. There is nowhere for him to hide.He is fully absorbed by his sins and they eat away at him. Hester, who’s publicly tortured by others while in town, though it might be equally as hurtful at that time, is still lesser than Dimmesdale’s suufering. Hester has an escape route. She has the refuge of her home outside of town, where she can get away from the gossip and scorn. She also publicly embraces her accountability in the affair, which allows her to accept the punishment, move on, and make something good out of it. Hester becomes a maternal figure for the community as a result of her experiences.She cares for the poor and brings them food and clothing. By the end of the novel, the shame of the scarlet letter is long gone. She doesn’t owe anything to the townspeople anymore. Some even forget what the scarlet A stands for. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, as a well-respected minister, stands at the center of his community, being the advocate of religious and moral standards of that Puritan society. He must remain in town, outwardly preaching to others about piety and remaining sinless, and internally feeling like an imposter.Dimmesdale realizes his fault in hiding his sin, but his desire to repent is repeatedly overcome by his craving for public approval. He is their moral compass, yet he himself is lost. This drives Dimmesdale to further internalize his guilt and self-punishment and leads to still more deterioration in his physical and spiritual condition. Because of Dimmesdale’s decision to remain anonymous, he unconsciously creates a duality in personality within himself that results in the deterioration of his mental well-being.Dimmesdale, as the revered town minister, must keep up this dichotomy in personality; he is constantly praised for his goodness and asked for moral and spiritual advice, while he is tumultuous inside. Hester is free to be whom she pleases. The townspeople do not believe Dimmesdale’s protestations of sinfulness. Given his background and his fondness for rhetorical speech, Dimmesdale’s congregation generally interprets his sermons metaphorically rather than as expressions of any personal guilt.He plays the literal meaning of his words off against the context in which he speaks them. Dimmesdale's tone of voice, his position as minister, his reputation as a saintly man, and the genre of the sermon allow him to say, â€Å"I am the greatest sinner among you,† but be understood to be humble, pious, and godly. His inner self is desperately trying to confess, but his self concerned with public appearance only allows him to do it in a way that he won t be taken literally. He is essentially at war with himself.By remaining secret, Dimmesdale doomed himself to much greater suffering than if he were to be publicly condemned with Hester because he subjected himself to years of self-torture and an unyielding quest for unobtainable repentance. The role of Roger Chillingsworth in Dimmesdale’s torture amplifies the pain of the sin, causing much greater suffering than Hester who only interacted with the doctor on sparse occasions. As his name suggests, Roger Chillingworth is a man deficient of human warmth. His twisted, stooped, deformed shoulders mirror his distorted soul.Under the guise of a new doctor in town with wholesome intentions towards the young minister and his health, Chillingsworth gains his trust and they move in together forming very peculiar codependent relationship. Chillingworth needs Dimmesdale to nourish his intellect and to be the object of his obsessive desire that he can control and ultimately destroy; Dimme sdale needs Chillingworth to keep his guilt alive, the constant provoking from the doctor for Dimmesdale to reveal his inner sin forces Dimmesdale to be constantly reminded of his transgressions. Chillingworth is like a leech. He sucks Mr.Dimmesdale’s life force out of sick need for reparation for Dimmesdale’s actions against him. Dimmesdale is subconsciously aware of his dependence of Chillingworth, for he cannot and does not break away. Their relationship is described in this quote, â€Å"Nevertheless, time went on; a kind of intimacy, as we have said, grew up between these two cultivated minds, which had as wide a field as the whole sphere of human thought and study to meet upon; they discussed every topic of ethics and religion, of public affairs, and private character; they talked much, on both sides, of matters that seemed personal to themselves..†(P#).Chillingworth lived and thrived off the pain and guilt he constantly inflicted on Dimmesdale, and in a tw isted way Dimmesdale relied on this psychological torture to further his self-inflicted search for forgiveness. The role of Roger Chillingsworth in Dimmesdale’s torture intensifies Dimmesdale’s suffering, causing Dimmesdale to endure vastly more than Hester who was able to avoid the evil doctor. Some argue that it was Hester who suffered the most throughout the novel. They say that because of her crime Hester became secluded from the other people in her society.They exemplify this with the quote, â€Å"Who had been familiarly acquainted with Hester Prynne, were now impress as if they beheld her for the first time was the Scarlet Letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself. â€Å"(61). She became lonely, and the scarlet letter was a burden that Hester had to carry everyday of her life, and the symbol, which secluded her from any other human being.It caused Hester to be ostracized, but Dimmesdale's cowardice in not confessing lead ultimately, to his death. Hester had a horrible punishment: she had to wear a scarlet letter for the rest of her life. But Dimmesdale's internal struggle with his own cowardice and guilt was far worse than a scarlet letter. He suffered the most as he constantly punished himself for his sin. Although Hester suffered the public punishment she dealt with it well and took it in stride, ultimately creating a positive role for herself in the community and transforming the meaning of the scarlet letter.She was able to make amends and in time through good deeds, change the meaning of the scarlet letter from â€Å"adulteress† to â€Å"able†. Dimmesdale on the other hand, has to always bear their sin inside of him never allowing it to become public. He was never given the opportunity to make peace with himself. Instead of taking his penance publicly he does it privatel y. He was forced to continue to bear his private shame, while Hester was able to make peace with herself because she was strong enough to take her punishment, and grow despite of it.Suffering is commonly seen as an unconscious effort to ease painful feelings of guilt. Arthur Dimmesdale's choice of guilt over shame led him to experience a great deal of physical and emotional suffering. Hester admitted to her sin and had a clear conscience, which allowed her to move on with her life and grow as a person. Mr. Dimmesdale’s choice of anonymity in not confessing his wrongdoing to the public, led to his suffering through the guilt of his sin, a pain that was only aggravated by the tortures of Roger Chillingworth, and ultimately resulted in his painful and tragic death.

Psalm 1, 23, 32

Psalm 1, 23, 32 Psalm 1, 23 and 32 is from the bible and these Psalms praise to the God by people. It is also the worship to God and shows that another way for pursuit of happiness is singing the Psalms or praising the God because people who believe in God think that they can be protect from troubles and forgiven their sins by God. By trusting that the God, they believe that they will be safe and not need to worry about their starvation or survival. They believe that God will provide them with all needs and even protects from their enemies.Psalm 1 describes about the three characteristics of a blessed man, and how he mediated with the law of the lord. The blessed man compared the God with a tree panted by the rivers of water, which yields its fruit I season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prosper. † The blessed man also compared the ungodly in the fourth sentence. He also mentions that the ungodly will not stand in the judgment and the sinners will not stand in the congregation of the righteous.He mentions that only the God know the way of the righteous. Psalm 23 is about the God is our shepherd, and describes about where the God lead us (2,3). It also describes about how the God restore the blessed man’s souls and guides him in the way of righteousness. In the fourth sentence, the blessed man describes about how people do not have fear when they walk through the valley of death and the fifth sentence describes that God has always prepare for us.The last sentence describes about how goodness and love follows us all the days of our life by God. Psalm 32 is about who is blessed (1,2) by God and describes about the result when one does not confess his sins (3,4). It also talks about the psalmist deal with his sins (5) and how the God would guide him (8). Finally, the ninth sentence mentions about what we are not to like as horse or mule (9).

Measure Power- International Relations

Answer to Question 1 Power in international relations is measured first by the economic standing of the states involved, that is, by the state’s current economic status. Immanuel Wallerstein proposed that economic power may well be the key to understanding power relations between countries belonging from the First and Third World; the latter as source of raw materials and skilled manpower and the former the producer of finished product Those countries which have a large military have the high probability of compelling other countries (which have relatively weaker armed force) to obey its political will. — A state can be powerful in three different senses: economic, geographical, and militarily. A large country may have a considerable bargaining power in international relations as in the case of China; a military state like the Soviet Union and an economic power like Germany. Answer to Question 2 During ancient times, power is roughly measured by the geographical size of a state. The terms â€Å"empire, kingdom, vassal state, and satraps (vassal kingdoms)† prove that saliency of state size as a factor of power. During the middle ages, the same can be applied but with much modification. Those kingdoms and duchies close to the Roman See were given special favors (such as blessings to be crowned the next king or duke), hence they become powerful. In modern times, technology and high economic output (GNP) is the measurement of power; as reasons stated earlier (only the predominant measurement of power is recognized). Answer to Question 3 Both countries have large armed forces, with a large arsenal of nuclear weapons. The United States is an economic power, while the Soviet Union has faced serious economic turndowns. US is the â€Å"leader† of NATO and USSR of the Warsaw Pact countries – the former is more solid and militarily efficient, and the latter of loose military federation of countries. Nevertheless, in world history, both countries were deemed as superpowers for their ability to compel other nations to obey its political agenda. References: Wallerstein, Immanuel. 1974. The Modern World System. 2nd volume. New York Academic Press. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_power      

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 29

Marketing - Essay Example Chinese culture is an apt example of a high-context culture. Business meetings in China revolve around group choices and the agreed upon decisions are mostly finalized in advance, courtesy the instinctive and listener responsible approach of group members (Browaeys & Price, 2008). The low-context cultures tend to be direct with the meaning inherent in any communication (Mead, 2004). They cherish individualism and are not very proficient in the non-verbal exchange of meaning and information (Mead, 2004). Low-context individuals predominantly rely on logic then on emotion to convey ideas (Mead, 2004). The communication patterns in low-context cultures are very structured with a preference for strategies that are rich in details (Mead, 2004). Low-context cultures value linear logic (Mead, 2004). US is a low-context culture where communications are direct and individualistic that are more targeted at specific situations and outcomes, rather than intending to communicate with the entire group (Browaeys & Price, 2008). Factor Analysis: Factor analysis tends to statistically determine variability amongst the observed variables, in relation to a small number of unobserved variables (Lehmann, Gupta & Steckel, 1997). Factor analysis can be suitably used in a situation when the data to be analyzed is quiet large (Lehmann, Gupta & Steckel, 1997). Cluster Analysis: Cluster analysis is ideally suitable for analyzing data having some natural groupings (Lehmann, Gupta & Steckel, 1997). It helps group raw data into clusters. This type of analysis helps determine similarities and variations between local and regional markets. Multidimensional Scaling: Multidimensional scaling is a statistical technique, which facilitates information visualization, thereby allowing for the sifting of similar and dissimilar patterns in a data (Grover & Vriens, 2006). This technique could be exploited, when a marketer is required to select between varied alternatives.

Please respond to t he 2 students' assignment highlighted in yellow

Please respond to t he 2 students' highlighted in yellow and red. the responses must be each 1 page with at least 4 references - Assignment Example To this end, power became the highest priority for a city state’s survival (Cunha et al., 2013; Harris, 2010). It was very right that Patti looked into the effects of such a situation on the people involved in power such as the prince and other people around. Clearly, the end was very disastrous and met with much destruction instead of construction (quote). In today’s generation however, much of a leader’s actions cannot be based on his will and thoughts about life alone. Today’s world is more of social unit where the actions of one leader at one end of the world greatly affects all people across the globe. I therefore disagree with Patti for heeding to Machiavelli’s advice that even in the 21st century leaders can apply force in some instances to get their principles warranted. As the world becomes a global village, there are bodies that check acts of violence and crime that happen in other parts of the world and try to stop leaders from being dictators (Becker, 2007). The best resolutions leaders should endeavor to use should thus be those that are based on the principles of peace and dialogue. Wittner gave a very vivid background to leadership between the two times in question, namely the Machiavelli era and the 21st century era. In the background, we realize that in the Machiavelli era, Princes, and for that matter leaders were law-makers and possessed sovereign power (Galie & Bopst, 2006). However in today’s world, the real power is given to the ruled rather than the ruler (Hub Pages, 2013). This is so because of the widespread of democracy in most parts of the world, where leadership is vested in the will of the people. To this end, I would perfectly agree with Wittner that the opinion held by Machiavelli that the end justified the means for a leader can no longer prevail in today’s generation of leadership. Indeed as the world becomes one through regional and global bodies such as the United

Eating Disorders Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eating Disorders - Research Paper Example Eating disorder may affect both male and female (NIMH, 2011). The research, therefore, is about the factors influencing the eating disorders in both men and women in the society. Types of Disorders Eating disorders are common and treatable illnesses. They always go hand in hand with substance abuse, depression, or disorders of anxiety. If these symptoms of the eating disorders are not properly treated, they can pose a threat to life and, therefore, people with eating disorders need to seek medical attention or they are likely to die earlier than other individuals of the same age. There are different types such disorders: bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and anorexia nervosa. When people have anorexia nervosa, they think they are overweight when in truth they are clearly underweight. Weight control and eating food will always be an obsession. People with anorexia are always seen weighing themselves frequently, measuring food carefully, and eating extremely small portions of foo d. People with this illness always engage in excessive exercising, inducing vomiting, and misuses of laxatives or enemas. People with anorexia nervosa are characterized by extreme thinness, intense fear of weight gain, distorted body image, low self-esteem, irregular menstruations (or lack of them) in young girls, and eating according to an extremely restricted diet. Anorexic individuals recover when treated properly. However, there are some who will always have relapses and some who have a chronic illness, so their health deteriorates overtime (NIMH, 2011). Bulimia nervosa is another example of eating disorder. An ill person regularly eats large quantities of food and is not able to control these episodes. The illness is often accompanied by such behaviors as self-induced vomiting, overeating, an excessive use of laxatives, fasting, extreme exercises, or a combination of these behaviors. Bulimic individuals are usually healthy and have normal weight, but they desperately want to lo se weight and are extremely unhappy about their body size and shape. They always perform these behaviors secretly, because they are shameful acts accompanied by feelings of disgust. The binge-eating has the following characteristics: sore throat that is inflamed, salivary glands that are swollen in the jaw area and neck, sensitive teeth that are decaying due to exposure to stomach acid, gastrointestinal problems, severe dehydration due to purging fluids, and electrolyte imbalance that may lead to a heart attack. The binge eating always occurs from several times a day to many times a week (NIMH, 2011). The final example of an eating disorder is the binge-eating disorder. An ill person is not able to control his or her eating habits. A person with the binge-eating disorder is often overweight or obese. Such a person is at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular problems and high blood pressure problems. This may result to a heart attack. These people always feel guilt, shame, and s tress about their habits, which results in more binge-eating (NIMH, 2011). Causes of Eating Disorders Eating disorders are termed as illnesses, because they destroy processes in an individual and display characteristic symptoms. Eating disorders are a result of a combination of psychological, genetic, and sociological factors. As for genetic factors, many researchers believe that, for a person to

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Vincent Van Gogh his artwork and life - Essay Example â€Å"Vincent Van Gogh, for whom color was the chief symbol of expression, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland. The son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist, Van Gogh had had two unsuitable and unhappy romances.† His early life was less than ordinary. He worked as a clerk in a bookstore, as an art salesman, and a preacher. He was unsuccessful in all these ventures. The real start to his life as an artist was in 1886 when he went to Paris to join his brother Theo, the manager of Goupil’s gallery. His brother stood by him through thick and thin and offered valuable solutions to secular problems and gave financial support, when needed. â€Å"Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and i n the movement and vibration of form and line. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.† The works of this post-impressionist painter had a far-reaching influence on the 20th century art for its emotional impact and vivid colors. His mental illness reflected in his paintings. He was not known and his paintings were not appreciated during his lifetime. Today he is ranked as one of the greatest painter in the history of art, and an important contributor to the modern art. Today his paintings are in great demand and fetch astronomical prices.

IPHONE 5 AND IOS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

IPHONE 5 AND IOS - Essay Example Flaws in iPhone 5 Introduction Apple Computers Company has its headquarters in California America and is one of the successful and innovative companies across the world. Apple Computer Company has a big market name across the world, which is due to the high innovation and production of unique products. Steve Jobs was the actual founder of Apple Computers Company in 1976 and began to design and produce iPhones, iPods, iOS and iTunes. Apple also produces computes like the Macintosh, Power Mac and Apple Brands. Apple Computers Company under the headship of Steve Jobs was the first company to innovate and design iPod that was unique in the entire electronics markets. â€Å"iPhone† is a brand for mobile communication devices designed and manufactured by Apple Computers Company. iPhone exists in series ranging from iPhone iPhone2, iPhone 3, iPhone 4 and latest iPhone 5. Apple Computers Company released iPhone 5 in September 2012 and managed to sell neatly 5000000 units of the produc t. Such big sale attributed to the perceived unique features that iPhone 5 exhibited and that created serious anxiety and curiosity among the consumers who could not hesitate from buying the product. One of unique features that Apple Computers included in the iPhone 5 series was Siri, which is software that recognizes voice and can answer questions as well as help one accomplish phone setups and even browsing without necessarily touching the screen. Siri software has can help individual phone user update face book and twitter without having to touch the screen or dial any pad. The iPhone 5 also has an inbuilt eight-mega pixel camera that significantly attracts more consumers of the product. Long battery life of up to 225 hours on stand by mode and 8 hours talk time, and super lightweight are among other features that attract iPhone 5 much praise and consumers. Moreover, iPhone 5 is considerably unique innovation bearing its wireless charging capability. Flaws in the iPhone 5 Despite the excessively acclaimed beautiful and unique features, iPhone 5 has particular design flaws that have made customers regret over their decisions to buy the phone. The flaws are only unique to the iPhone 5 series and never occurred in the other previous series of iPhone. a) Breakable security locks and passwords b) Misleading maps c) Soft and easily scratched body d) Appearance of purple pigmentation on photos e) Produces rattling sound from inside f) Unresponsive and inefficient touch screen g) Inability to maintain correct time and date Scratching body The menace of scratch on the bodies of iPhone 5 gadgets began to occur immediately after the launching of the phone into the market. The body of iPhone 5 is an anodized aluminum cover that is relatively soft. The body easily scratches to remove the silver coating and leaving the inner aluminum exposed (Margid, 2012). Scratches are prone around the edges of the phone that scrubs when forcing the device through a narrow enclosure or pocket. Some consumers also claimed to have realized the scratching menace on removing the gadget from the box immediately after buying. To improve on the problem of scratches on the body, it is important tat the company use vulcanized metallic case of just use uncoated aluminum cover to avoid the =bad impression. Purple Coloring on Images Caught Using the iPhone 5 Camera Many customers of iPhone 5 voiced their surprise with the appearance of purple pigmentation on the images captured by the camera of iPhone 5. This

Foreigners Changing China, 1850-1980 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Foreigners Changing China, 1850-1980 - Essay Example This particular frame of mind can be considered as the main cause of their resistance in adopting other cultures and their values for millennia. They assumed that they are self sufficient in all forms of society and do not require foreign intrusion. But in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century China has undergone various changes in many parts of their core infrastructures that include politics, language, economics, culture and society. This is believed to be largely under the influence of the foreign countries such as USA and Britain. So what are the basic forms of modifications that have been implemented and what has caused these changes to take place that was resisted before for such a long time? Answer to this question is the main notion of this discussion. Among all the considerable changes that were brought up by the foreign influence, changes in the politics are most important and should be emphasized in detail. Ancient Chinese Society: To understand or clearly apprec iate any change we need to view the original form that was present before that modification was made. As we know from history that China was considered as a kingdom led by the emperors. These emperors and their dynasties were not chosen on their relationship to the people of China but their origin was more religious and mythical (Foster 2010). Any ruler or dynasty corrupted with the evil will be reflected upon by the nature’s anger in the form of earthquake floods or droughts indicating the change were imminent (Kornberg et al 2004). This was in contrast to the west where democracy was laying foundation of a strong government bodies. Despite China’s ruling being based on such religious foundations, it continued for a very long time. Starting from the Hans dynasty in 206 BC it remained intact until Qing dynasty collapsed in 1911 (Zinzius 2004). Arguably there needs to be a solid bond that united this nation on single platform. By looking at a bigger prospective it can b e concluded that the main reason for sustenance of such establishment can be traced back to the strong social values that hold the structure together for centuries. No other nation has ever been close to signify the theme of middle kingdom like Chinese did for centuries. They were proud of their existence in the middle while the rest of the humanity revolves around them and learn from them (Ford 2010). There is no doubt that the social system in these ancient dynasties was more localized on the families and tribe as a distinct entity rather than on a single individual. So there was a strong concept of nuclear family and relationships were given highest regards. From the economic point of view China was a self sufficient civilization. Most of the Chinese emperors were not open for trades with the western world because of the hierarchical system in China. The theme of middle kingdom were so deep rooted that they considered that no one else is worthy of given an equal status to them. A lthough in the nineteenth century there was a great demand of China’s silk, spices and other items among the western consumers. Similarly westerns also wanted to introduce some of their unique items and offered many trade agreements to the emperors during that time but all were put down. As we know that trade creates a great influence on any society but China was virtually immune to it. Therefore, no significant foreign influence was detected in the Chinese empire due to their isolation from the rest of the world. Foreign Penetration and changes in the Politics: The difference between China’

The Effect of United States Army Training on the Decision Making Research Paper

The Effect of United States Army Training on the Decision Making Process of the Warfighter - Research Paper Example It will also be necessary to determine whether or not success in the classroom or on the field environment equates with success in the battlefield. The methods described by Benyus (2009), Fischer (2009), Gill (2004), and Robbins (2009) will be compared and contrasted in relation to methodology in relation to training. Abstract Depth An annotated bibliography of 15 peer-reviewed articles probes current thinking on training and the resultant decision influences through a filter of successful training sessions. An analysis of Department of the Army research data demonstrates that there is a problem of declining standards in Advanced Individual Training. The declining standards are manifested in the graduates being unable make sound judgment calls in combat situations when they are assigned to units deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. Building on the material covered in the Breadth section and drawing on recent research material, a synthesized analysis of combat training and its influence on decision-making is conducted. This research study scrutinizes assessment tools that assist teachers and trainers in providing curriculum that is both informative and challenging to the learner. Abstract Application The Application considers the extent to which the training techniques employed to educate and train today’s combat soldiers are in need of improvement. Drawing on the material analyzed in the depth and breadth, the Application section examines the methodology used to train the soldier and how it has changed very little over the years. The application examines whether or not the end result of these techniques is poor decision making during the high stress of combat and its contribution to causes an increase in the number of casualties on the battlefield. The application determines whether or not an improvement of these methods will result in better decision making. This section will present a clear model for an approach to training for military and corporate tra iners. A complete overhaul of current training practices is not suggested, but rather, an upgrade designed to yield the desired outcome. This section will provide the culmination of the prior entries and present a workable model as the summary. TABLE OF CONTENTS BREADTH 4 What is Training? 4 Training’s shortcomings 5 A Trainer’s Cure 9 Initial Entry Training 15 Army Training Requirements 15 Field Training Exercise 23 Simulated War Fighter Games 23 Applying Benyus’ Theory of Biomimicry to Military Training 27 Biomimicry Theory Explained 27 The Training Theory of Fisher 31 Fisher’s Theory Explained 31 Gill’s Training Theory 33 Gill’s Theory Explained 33 Training Theory of Robbins 35 Robbins Theory Explained 35 Summary of Breadth 37 DEPTH 39 Annotated Bibliography 39 Literature Review Essay 59 Goals and Objectives of Training Combat Soldiers 59 Nature and Significance of Decision-Making in the Battlefield 62 What Improvements can be made to Arm y Training to Enhance Decision-Making 66 Summary of Depth 68 APPLICATION 69 Project Details 69 Ongoing Developments in Military Training

What Is Community in Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

What Is Community in Of Mice and Men Essay Explain what community is-group of likeminded/brought together people. Group or society, helping each other. Introduction- talk about various methods/techniques Steinbeck uses to portray community in 1930s America. -structure; animal imagery; symbolism -Steinbeck’s use of language reinforces his depiction of community The novel starts with an idyllic, natural scene. This creates a sense of peacefulness and calm. However, this scene is disrupted by George and Lennie’s arrival. Key parts through the story: When G +L come down the path to the clearing, G is leading the way and L is following him. (This shows that in 1930s American community, there were those at the top of the hierarchy that ultimately controlled those at the lower end of the hierarchy. G+L are on their way to the nearby ranch, but the bus driver dropped them of 4 miles away. This is significant as it is the first sign that they never end up where they want to be. (Also shows community was selfish, as the driver dropped them of 4 miles away) The boss is suspicious of G. He has never seen â€Å"one guy take so much trouble for another guy† he’s not used to kindness or decency. (Shows lack of community, as G’s kindness for lennie seems suspicious towards the boss) When G tells Curley that he and L are travelling together, Curley says â€Å"oh, so it’s that way†-he doesn’t think it’s normal for two men to travel together. Carlson tries to start a fight with Curley, calling him â€Å"yella as a frog belly†-Candy joins in too. Fighting seems to bring the men together. (Shows community follows the ‘use and abuse’ system. Shows that to an extent, there is a sense of community in the form of support. After L and Curley’s fight scene, slim takes control of the situation and persuades Curley to say his hand was crushed in a machine. (Shows the community coming together to support one another.) The chapter set in crooks’ room highlights one of the key themes-prejudice. Crook’s room is completely separate from the bunkhouse. He is kept away from white men. He is segregated from the other ranchers. He isn’t welcome in the bunk house- â€Å"they say I stink† as a result, crooks won’t welcome the other ranchers into his room. (shows community was racist and prejudiced) Over his bed, crooks has lots of medicine bottles, â€Å"both for himself and for the horses†. Crooks doesn’t keep the bottles separate as he doesn’t see himself as different form the animals. His room is just off the barn-lives right next to the horses.† Horses are a symbol that crooks is treated like an animal on the ranch. (shows racist, inhumane, brutal community.) Steinbeck shows that the community revolves around power most times. Whoever is at the top, or near the top of the hierarchy has the most power Despite the unhappy working environment, to an extent, there is a level of support. The ranch workers live/cope with each other.

Intro to The Romantic Period Essay Example for Free

Intro to The Romantic Period Essay At the turn of the century, fired by ideas of personal and political liberty and of the energy and sublimity of the natural world, artists and intellectuals sought to break the bonds of 18th-century convention. Although the works of Jean Jacques Rousseau and William Godwin had great influence, the French Revolution and its aftermath had the strongest impact of all. In England initial support for the Revolution was primarily utopian and idealist, and when the French failed to live up to expectations, most English intellectuals renounced the Revolution. However, the romantic vision had taken forms other than political, and these developed apace. In Lyrical Ballads (1798 and 1800), a watershed in literary history, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge presented and illustrated a beneficial visual: poetry should express, in genuine language, experience as filtered through personal emotion and imagination; the truest experience was to be found in nature. The concept of the Sublime strengthened this turn to nature, because in wild countrysides the power of the sublime could be felt most immediately. Wordsworths romanticism is probably most fully realized in his great autobiographical poem, The Prelude (1805–50). In search of sublime moments, romantic poets wrote about the marvelous and supernatural, the exotic, and the medieval. But they also found beauty in the lives of simple rural people and aspects of the everyday world. The second generation of romantic poets included John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron. In Keatss great odes, intellectual and emotional sensibility merge in language of great power and beauty. Shelley, who combined soaring lyricism with an apocalyptic political vision, sought more extreme effects and occasionally achieved them, as in his great drama Prometheus Unbound (1820). Lord Byron was the prototypical romantic hero, the envy and scandal of the age. He has been continually identified with his own characters, particularly the rebellious, irreverent, erotically inclined Don Juan. Byron invested the romantic lyric with a rationalist irony. The romantic era was also rich in literary criticism and other nonfictional prose. Coleridge proposed an influential theory of literature in his Biographia Literaria (1817). William Godwin and his wife, Mary Wollstonecraft, wrote ground–breaking books on human, and womens, rights. William Hazlitt, who never forsook political radicalism, wrote brilliant and astute literary  criticism. The master of the personal essay was Charles Lamb, whereas Thomas De Quincey was master of the personal confession. The periodicals Edinburgh Review and Blackwoods Magazine, in which leading writers were published throughout the century, were major forums of controversy, political as well as literary. - Although the great novelist Jane Austen wrote during the romantic era, her work defies classification. With insight, grace, and irony she delineated human relationships within the context of English country life. Sir Walter Scott, Scottish nationalist and romantic, made the genre of the historical novel widely popular. Other novelists of the period were Maria Edgeworth, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and Thomas Love Peacock, the latter noted for his eccentric novels satirizing the romantics. The Romantic period The nature of Romanticism As a term to cover the most distinctive writers who flourished in the last years of the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th, â€Å"Romantic† is indispensable but also a little misleading: there was no self-styled â€Å"Romantic movement† at the time, and the great writers of the period did not call themselves Romantics. Not until August Wilhelm von Schlegel’s Vienna lectures of 1808–09 was a clear distinction established between the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"organic,† â€Å"plastic† qualities of Romantic art and the â€Å"mechanical† character of Classicism. Many of the age’s foremost writers thought that something new was happening in the world’s affairs, nevertheless. William Blake’s affirmation in 1793 that â€Å"a new heaven is begun† was matched a generation later by Percy Bysshe Shelley’s â€Å"The world’s great age begins anew.† â€Å"These, these will give the world another heart, / A nd other pulses,† wrote John Keats, referring to Leigh Hunt andWilliam Wordsworth. Fresh ideals came to the fore; in particular, the ideal of freedom, long cherished in England, was being extended to every range of human endeavour. As that ideal swept through Europe, it became natural to believe that the age of tyrants might soon end. The most notable feature of the poetry of the time is the new role of individual thought and personal feeling. Where the main trend of 18th-century poetics had been to praise the general, to see the poet as a spokesman of society addressing a cultivated and homogeneous audience and having as his end the conveyance of â€Å"truth,† the Romantics found the source of poetry in the particular, unique experience. Blake’s marginal comment on Sir Joshua Reynolds’s Discourses expresses the position with characteristic vehemence: â€Å"To Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the alone Distinction of Merit.† The poet was seen as an individual distinguished from his fellows by the intensity of his perceptions, taking as his basic subject matter the workings of his own mind. Poetry was regarded as conveying its own truth; sincerity was the criterion by which it was to be judged. The emphasis on feeling—seen perhaps at its finest in the poems of Robert Burns—was in some ways a continuation of the earlier â€Å"cult of sensibility†; and it is worth remembering that Alexander Pope praised his father as having known no language but the language of the heart. But feeling had begun to receive particular emphasis and is found in most of the Romantic definitions of poetry. Wordsworth called poetry â€Å"the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling,† and in 1833 John Stuart Mill defined poetry as â€Å"feeling itself, employing thought only as the medium of its utterance.† It followed that the best poetry was that in which the greatest intensity of feeling was expressed, and hence a new importance was attached to the lyric. Another key quality of Romantic writing was its shift from the mimetic, or imitative, assumptions of the Neoclassical era to a new stress onimagination. Samuel Taylor Coleridge saw  the imagination as the supre me poetic quality, a quasi-divine creative force that made the poet a godlike being. Samuel Johnson had seen the components of poetry as â€Å"invention, imagination and judgement,† but Blake wrote: â€Å"One Power alone makes a Poet: Imagination, the Divine Vision.† The poets of this period accordingly placed great emphasis on the workings of the unconscious mind, on dreams and reveries, on the supernatural, and on the childlike or primitive view of the world, this last being regarded as valuable because its clarity and intensity had not been overlaid by the restrictions of civilized â€Å"reason.† Rousseau’s sentimental conception of the â€Å"noble savage† was often invoked, and often by those who were ignorant that the phrase is Dryden’s or that the type was adumbrated in the â€Å"poor Indian† of Pope’s An Essay on Man. A further sign of the diminished stress placed on judgment is the Romantic attitude to form: if poetry must be spontaneous, sincere, intense, it should be fashioned primarily according to th e dictates of the creative imagination. Wordsworth advised a young poet, â€Å"You feel strongly; trust to those feelings, and your poem will take its shape and proportions as a tree does from the vital principle that actuates it.† This organic view of poetry is opposed to the classical theory of â€Å"genres,† each with its own linguistic decorum; and it led to the feeling that poetic sublimity was unattainable except in short passages. Hand in hand with the new conception of poetry and the insistence on a new subject matter went a demand for new ways of writing. Wordsworth and his followers, particularly Keats, found the prevailing poetic diction of the late 18th century stale and stilted, or â€Å"gaudy and inane,† and totally unsuited to the expression of their perceptions. It could not be, for them, the language of feeling, and Wordsworth accordingly sought to bring the language of poetry back to that of common speech. Wordsworth’s own diction, however, often differs from his theory. Nevertheless, when he published his preface to Lyrical Ballads in 1800, the time was ripe for a change: the flexible diction of earlier 18th-century poetry had hardened into a merely conventional language. Poetry BLAKE, WORDSWORTH, AND COLERIDGE Useful as it is to trace the common elements in Romantic poetry, there was little conformity among the poets themselves. It is misleading to read the poetry of the first Romantics as if it had been written primarily to express  their feelings. Their concern was rather to change the intellectual climate of the age. William Blake had been dissatisfied since boyhood with the current state of poetry and what he considered the irreligious drabness of contemporary thought. His early development of a protective shield of mocking humour with which to face a world in which science had become trifling and art inconsequential is visible in the satirical An Island in the Moon (written c. 1784–85); he then took the bolder step of setting aside sophistication in the visionary Songs of Innocence (1789). His desire for renewal encouraged him to view the outbreak of the French Revolution as a momentous event. In works such as The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790–93) and Songs of Expe rience (1794), he attacked the hypocrisies of the age and the impersonal cruelties resulting from the dominance of analytic reason in contemporary thought. As it became clear that the ideals of the Revolution were not likely to be realized in his time, he renewed his efforts to revise his contemporaries’ view of the universe and to construct a new mythology centred not in the God of the Bible but in Urizen, a repressive figure of reason and law whom he believed to be the deity actually worshipped by his contemporaries. The story of Urizen’s rise was set out in The First Book of Urizen (1794) and then, more ambitiously, in the unfinished manuscript Vala (later redrafted as The Four Zoas), written from about 1796 to about 1807. Blake developed these ideas in the visionary narratives of Milton (1804–08) and Jerusalem (1804–20). Here, still using his own mythological characters, he portrayed the imaginative artist as the hero of society and suggested the possibility of redemption from the fallen (or Urizenic) condition. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, meanwhile, were also exploring the implication s of the French Revolution. Wordsworth, who lived in France in 1791–92 and fathered an illegitimate child there, was distressed when, soon after his return, Britain declared war on the republic, dividing his allegiance. For the rest of his career, he was to brood on those events, trying to develop a view of humanity that would be faithful to his twin sense of the pathos of individual human fates and the unrealized potentialities in humanity as a whole. The first factor emerges in his early manuscript poems â€Å"The Ruined Cottage† and â€Å"The Pedlar† (both to form part of the later Excursion); the second was developed from 1797, when he and his sister, Dorothy, with whom he was living in the west  of England, were in close contact with Coleridge. Stirred simultaneously by Dorothy’s immediacy of feeling, manifested everywhere in her Journals (written 1798–1803, published 1897), and by Coleridge’s imaginative and speculative genius, he produced the poems collected in Lyrical Ballads(1798). The volume began with Coleridge’s â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,† continued with poems displaying delight in the powers of nature and the humane instincts of ordinary people, and concluded with the meditative â€Å"Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,† Wordsworth’s attempt to set out his mature faith in nature and humanity. His investigation of the relationship between nature and the human mind continued in the long autobiographical poem addressed to Coleridge and later titled The Prelude (1798–99 in two books; 1804 in five books; 1805 in 13 books; revised continuously and published posthumously, 1850). Here he traced the value for a poet of having been a child â€Å"fostered alike by beauty and by fear† by an upbringing in sublime surroundings. The Prelude constitutes the most significant English expression of the Romantic discovery of the self as a topic for art and literature. The poem also makes much of the work of memory, a theme explored as well in the â€Å"Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.† In poems such as â€Å"Michael† and â€Å"The Brothers,† by contrast, written for the second volume of Lyrical Ballads (1800), Wordsworth dwelt on the pathos and potentialities of ordinary lives. Coleridge’s poetic development during these years paralleled Wordsworth’s. Having briefly brought together images of nature and the mind in â€Å"The Eolian Harp† (1796), he devoted himself to more-public concerns in poems of political and social prophecy, such as â€Å"Religious Musings† and â€Å"The Destiny of Nations.† Becoming disillusioned in 1798 with his earlier politics, however, and encouraged by Wordsworth, he turned back to the relatio nship between nature and the human mind. Poems such as â€Å"This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison,† â€Å"The Nightingale,† and â€Å"Frost at Midnight† (now sometimes called the â€Å"conversation poems† but collected by Coleridge himself as â€Å"Meditative Poems in Blank Verse†) combine sensitive descriptions of nature with subtlety of psychological comment. â€Å"Kubla Khan† (1797 or 1798, published 1816), a poem that Coleridge said came to him in â€Å"a kind of Reverie,† represented a new kind of exotic writing, which he also exploited in the supernaturalism of â€Å"The Ancient Mariner† and the unfinished  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Christabel.† After his visit to Germany in 1798–99, he renewed attention to the links between the subtler forces in nature and the human psyche; this attention bore fruit in letters, notebooks, literary criticism, theology, and philosophy. Simultaneously, his poetic output became sporadic. â€Å"Dejection: An Ode† (1802), another meditat ive poem, which first took shape as a verse letter to Sara Hutchinson, Wordsworth’s sister-in-law, memorably describes the suspension of his â€Å"shaping spirit of Imagination.† The work of both poets was directed back to national affairs during these years by the rise ofNapoleon. In 1802 Wordsworth dedicated a number of sonnets to the patriotic cause. The death in 1805 of his brother John, who was a captain in the merchant navy, was a grim reminder that, while he had been living in retirement as a poet, others had been willing to sacrifice themselves. From this time the theme of duty was to be prominent in his poetry. His political essay Concerning the Relations of Great Britain, Spain and Portugal†¦as Affected by the Convention of Cintra (1809) agreed with Coleridge’s periodical The Friend (1809–10) in deploring the decline of principle among statesmen. When The Excursion appeared in 1814 (the time of Napoleon’s first exile), Wordsworth announced the poem as the central section of a longer projected work, The Recluse, â€Å"a philosophical Poem, containing views of Man, Nature, and Society.† The plan was not fulfilled, however, and The Excursion was left to stand in its own right as a poem of moral and religious consolation for those who had been disappointed by the failure of French revolutionary ideals. Both Wordsworth and Coleridge benefited from the advent in 1811 of the Regency, which brought a renewed interest in the arts. Coleridge’s lectures on Shakespeare became fashionable, his playRemorse was briefly produced, and his volume of poems Christabel; Kubla Khan: A Vision; The Pains of Sleep was published in 1816. Biographia Literaria (1817), an account of his own development, combined philosophy and literary criticism in a new way and made an enduring and important contribution to literary theory. Coleridge settled at Highgate in 1816, and he was sought there as â€Å"the most impressive talker of his age† (in the words of the essayist William Hazlitt). His later religious writings made a considerable impact on Victorian readers. No other period in English literature displays more variety in style, theme, and content than the Romantic Movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Furthermore, no period has been the topic of so much disagreement and confusion over its defining principles and aesthetics. Romanticism, then, can best be described as a large network of sometimes competing philosophies, agendas, and points of interest. In England, Romanticism had its greatest influence from the end of the eighteenth century up through about 1870. Its primary vehicle of expression was in poetry, although novelists adopted many of the same themes. In America, the Romantic Movement was slightly delayed and modulated, holding sway over arts and letters from roughly 1830 up to the Civil War. Contrary to the English example, American literature championed the novel as the most fitting genre for Romanticism’s exposition. In a broader sense, Romanticism can be conceived as an adjective which is applicable to the literature of virtually any time period. With that in mind, anything from the Homeric epics to modern dime novels can be said to bear the stamp of Romanticism. In spite of such general disagreements over usage, there are some definitive and universal statements one can make regarding the nature of the Romantic Movement in both England and America. First and foremost, Romanticism is concerned with the individual more than with society. The individual consciousness and especially the individual imagination are especially fascinating for the Romantics. â€Å"Melancholy† was quite the buzzword for the Romantic poets, and altered states of consciousness were often sought after in order to enhance one’s creative potential. There was a coincident downgrading of the importance and power of reason, clearly a reaction against the Enlightenment mode of thinking. Nevertheless, writers became gradually more invested in social causes as the period moved forward. Thanks largely to the Industrial Revolution, English society was undergoing the most severe paradigm shifts it had seen in living memory. The response of many early Romantics was to yearn for an idealized, simpler past. In particular, English Romantic poets had a strong connection with medievalism and mythology. The tales of King Arthur were especially resonant to their imaginations. On top of this, there was a clearly mystical quality to Romantic writing that sets it apart from other literary periods. Of course, not every Romantic poet or novelist displayed all, or even most of these traits all the time. On the formal  level, Romanticism witnessed a steady loosening of the rules of artistic expression that were pervasive during earlier times. The Neoclassical Period of the eighteenth century included very strict expectations regarding the structure and content of poetry. By the dawn of the nineteenth century, experimentation with new styles and subjects became much more acceptable. The high-flown language of the previous generation’s poets was replaced with more natural cadences and verbiage. In terms of poetic form, rhymed stanzas were slowly giving way to blank verse, an unrhymed but still rhythmic style of poetry. The purpose of blank verse was to heighten conversational speech to the level of austere beauty. Some criticized the new style as mundane, yet the innovation soon became the preferred style. One of the most popular themes of Romantic poetry was country life, otherwise known as pastoral poetry. Mythological and fantastic settings were also employed to great effect by many of the Romantic poets. Though struggling and unknown for the bulk of his life, poet and artist William Blake was certainly one of the most creative minds of his generation. He was well ahead of his time, predating the high point of English Romanticism by several decades. His greatest work was composed during the 1790s, in the shadow of the French Revolution, and that confrontation informed much of his creative process. Throughout his artistic career, Blake gradually built up a sort of personal mythology of creation and imagination. The Old and New Testaments were his source material, but his own sensibilities transfigured the Biblical stories and led to something entirely original and completely misunderstood by contemporaries. He attempted to woo patrons to his side, yet his unstable temper made him rather difficult to work with professionally. Some considered him mad. In addition to writing poetry of the first order, Blake was also a master engraver. His greatest contributions to Romantic literature were his self-published, quasi-mythological illustrated poetry collections. Gloriously colored and painstaking in their design, few of these were produced and fewer still survive to the present day. However, the craft and genius behind a work like The Marriage of Heaven and Hell cannot be ignored. If one could identify a single voice as the standard-bearer of Romantic sensibilities, that voice would belong to William Wordsworth. His publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798 is identified by many as the opening act of the Romantic Period in English literature. It was a hugely successful  work, requiring several reprinting over the years. The dominant theme of Lyrical Ballads was Nature, specifically the power of Nature to create strong impressions in the mind and imagination. The voice in Wordsworth’s poetry is observant, meditative and aware of the connection between living things and objects. There is the sense that past, present, and future all mix together in the human consciousness. One feels as though the poet and the landscape are in communion, each a partner in an act of creative production. Wordsworth quite deliberately turned his back on the Enlightenment traditions of poetry, specifically the work of Alexander Pope. He instead looked more to the Renaissance and the Classics of Greek and Latin epic poetry for inspiration. His work was noted for its accessibility. The undeniable commercial success of LyricalBallads does not diminish the profound effect it had on an entire generation of aspiring writers. In the United State, Romanticism found its voice in the poets and novelists of the American Renaissance. The beginnings of American Romanticism went back to the New England Transcendental Movement. The concentration on the individual mind gradually shifted from an optimistic brand of spiritualism into a more modern, cynical study of the underside of humanity. The political unrest in mid-nineteenth century America undoubtedly played a role in the development of a darker aesthetic. At the same time, strongly individualist religious traditions played a large part in the development of artistic creations. The Protestant work ethic, along with the popularity and fervor of American religious leaders, fed a literary output that was undergird with fire and brimstone. The middle of the nineteenth century has only in retrospect earned the label of the American Renaissance in literature. No one alive in the 1850s quite realized the flowering of creativity that was underway. In fact, the novelists who today are regarded as classic were virtually unknown during their lifetimes. The novelists working during this period, particularly Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville, were crafting dens ely symbolic and original pieces of literature that nonetheless relied heavily upon the example of English Romanticism. However, there work was in other respects a clean break with any permutation of Romanticism that had come before. There was a darkness to American Romanticism that was clearly distinct from the English examples of earlier in the century. Herman Melville died penniless and unknown, a failed writer who recognized his own  brilliance even when others did not. It would take the Modernists and their reappraisal of American arts and letters to resuscitate Melville’s literary corpus. In novels like Benito Cereno and Moby Dick, Melville employed a dense fabric of hinted meanings and symbols that required close reading and patience. Being well-read himself, Melville’s writing betrays a deep understanding of history, mythology, and religion. With Moby Dick, Melville displays his research acumen, as in the course of the novel the reader learns more than they thought possible about whales and whaling. The novel itself is dark, mysterious, and hints at the supernatural. Superficia lly, the novel is a revenge tale, but over and above the narrative are meditations of madness, power, and the nature of being human. Interestingly, the narrator in the first few chapters of the novel more or less disappears for most of the book. He is in a sense swallowed up by the mania of Captain Ahab and the crew. Although the novel most certainly held sway, poetry was not utterly silent during the flowering of American Romanticism. Arguably the greatest poet in American literary history was Walt Whitman, and he took his inspiration from many of the same sources as his fellows working in the novel. His publication of Leaves of Grass in 1855 marked a critical moment in the history of poetry. Whitman’s voice in his poetry was infused with the spirit of democracy. He attempted to include all people in all corners of the Earth within the sweep of his poetic vision. Like Blake, Whitman’s brand of poetics was cosmological and entirely unlike anything else being produced at the time. Like the rest of the poets in the Romantic tradition, Whitman coined new words, and brought a diction and rhythmic style t o verse that ran counter to the aesthetics of the last century. Walt Whitman got his start as a writer in journalism, and that documentary style of seeing the world permeated all his creative endeavors. In somewhat of a counterpoint to Whitman’s democratic optimism stands Edgar Allen Poe, today recognized as the most purely Romantic poet and short story writer of his generation. Poe crafted fiction and poetry that explored the strange side of human nature. The English Romantics had a fascination with the grotesque and of â€Å"strange† beauty, and Poe adopted this aesthetic perspective willingly. His sing-song rhythms and dreary settings earned him criticism on multiple fronts, but his creativity earned him a place in the first rank of American artists. He is credited as the inventor of detective fiction, and was likewise one of the  original masters of horror. A sometimes overlooked contribution, Poe’s theories on literature are often required reading for students of the art form. The master of symbolism in American litera ture was Nathaniel Hawthorne. Each of his novels represents worlds imbued with the power of suggestion and imagination. The Scarlet Letter is often placed alongside Moby Dick as one of the greatest novels in the English language. Not a single word is out of place, and the dense symbolism opens the work up to multiple interpretations. There are discussions of guilt, family, honor, politics, and society. There is also Hawthorne’s deep sense of history. Modern readers often believe that The Scarlet Letter was written during the age of the Puritans, but in fact Hawthorne wrote a story that was in the distant past even in his own time. Another trademark of the novel is its dabbling in the supernatural, even the grotesque. One gets the sense, for example, that maybe something is not quite right with Hester’s daughter Pearl. Nothing is what it appears to be in The Scarlet Letter, and that is the essence of Hawthorne’s particular Romanticism. Separate from his literary production, Hawthorne wrote expansively on literary theory and criticism. His theories exemplify the Romantic spirit in American letters at mid-century. He espoused the conviction that objects can hold significance deeper than their apparent meaning, and that the symbolic nature of reality was the most fertile ground for literature. In his short stories especially, Hawthorne explored the complex system of meanings and sensations that shift in and out of a person’s consciousness. Throughout his writings, one gets a sense of darkness, if not outright pessimism. There is the sense of not fully understanding the world, of not getting the entire picture no matter how hard one tries. In a story like â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† neither the reader nor the protagonist can distinguish reality from fantasy with any sureness. As has been argued, Romanticism as a literary sensibility never completely disappeared. It was overtaken by other aesthetic paradigms like Realism and Modernism, but Romanticism was always lurking under the surface. Many great poets and novelists of the twentieth century cite the Romantics as their greatest inspirational voices. The primary reason that Romanticism fell out of the limelight is because many writers felt the need to express themselves in a more immediate way. The Romantic poets were regarded as innovators, but a bit lost in their own imaginations. The real problems of  life in the world seemed to be pushed aside. As modernization continued unchecked, a more earthy kind of literature was demanded, and the Romantics simply did not fit that bill.

Importance of Financial Management

Importance of Financial Management INTRODUCTION The modern thinking in financial management accords a far greater importances to the management decisions and making policy. Today financial managers occupy key positions in top management areas and play dynamic role in solving complex management problems. The main object ive of accounting is to provide the necessary information, which is useful for the person within the organization i.e.; owners, management, employees and also outside the organization i.e.; investors, creditors, government, consumers, etc. Financial accounting is concerned with record keeping directed towards the preparation of income statement and financial position statement. It provides information regarding profit and loss of the enterprise and also its financial position as on that particular date. This information is helpful to management to control the major functions of the business i.e.; finance, administration, production and marketing, but details regarding operating efficiency to their lacking financial statements are mainly concerned with the managements interest in future of the organization. Thus the financial performance valuation involves the determination of the companys ability In mobilizing the funds required for the business and utilizing the funds in the business. Therefore, the financial performance is concerned with the appraisal of the following: Capital formation Capital structure Profitability and profit allocation Working capital and liquidity management FINANCIAL ANALYS Financial analysis is the process of determining the significant operating and financial characteristics of a firm from its accounting and its financial statements. The goal of such analysis is to determine the efficiency and performance of the firms management, reflected in the financial records and reports. This analysis will help us to measure firms liquidity, profitability and other indications that determine whether the business is conducted in a rational way or not. METHODS OF FINANCIAL ANALYSIS: There are 7 methods of financial analysis. Such are: Comparative statement Comparative income statement Comparative balance sheet Common-size statement Trend analysis Fund-flow analysis Cash-flow analysis Ratio analysis Cost-volume profit analysis RATIO ANALYSIS: Financial statement plays a decisive role in setting the frame work of managerial decisions for the financial statements viz; income statement and balance statement are prepared to help the management in taking decisions. The Ratio analysis is the most power tool of financial analysis. Meaning: A ratio is simple arithmetical expression of the relationship of one member to another. Accounting ratios are relationships expressed in mathematical terms between figures which are connected with each other in some manner. Ratio analysis shows inter-relationship between the different items in the data. Current ratio: Current ratio = Current assets / Current liabilities The current ratio is calculated by dividing the current assets by the current liabilities. Current assets include cash and those assets which can be converted into cash within year such as inventories, sundry debtors, marketable securities, loans and advances and prepaid expenses. Current liabilities are obligations maturing within a year, including creditors, bills payable, accrued expenses, bank overdraft, income tax liability, loans and advances and provisions. The companys liquidity position was very low in the initial years where as it is very high in the later years. Quick (or) Acid test ratio: Quick ratio = (Current assets Inventory) / Current liabilities The ratio is really at the rate of current ratio and is found out by dividing the total current liabilities. From the analysis, it can be interpreted that the companys liquidity position to pay for current liability is high. This result is higher interest cost on networking capital which affects the profitability of the firm. Debtors days: Debtors days = (Debtors / sales) * 365 The liquidity position of the firm depends on the quality of the debtors to the great extent. This resulted in higher balance in debtors for which company had to pay more interest charges which affected profitability of the company. This can be improved 3 times better as observed in the ratios of well doing firms. This will result in big reduction in interest charges as well as increase in profits. This possible only through better debtors management and optimum credit policy of the firm. Creditor days: Creditor days = (Creditor / Cost of goods sold ) * 365 This ratio is a variation of the credit ratio and gives similar indications. It measures the portion of the firms assets that are financed by creditors. A very high ratio indicates a greater risk to creditors as also to the share holders under adverse business conditions. On the other hand , a low ratio is for the creditors in extending credit. Net income ratio: Net income ratio = (Net profit / sales) *100 This ratio measures the rate of the net profit earned on sales. It establishes a relationship between net profit and sales in overall measure of the firms ability to turn pound of sales into net profit, this ratio also indicate the firms capacity to withstand adverse economic conditions. Gross income ratio: Gross income ratio = (Gross profit / Sales) *100 The gross profit has been arrived by adding the closing stock and subtracting the materials, excise duty, wages and other manufacturing expenses to sales. This ratio reflects the efficiency with which management produces each unit of the product. When the gross margin in subtracted from 100% we get the ratio of cost of goods to sale. Return on equity: Return on equity = Net income / Share holders equity The amount of net incomereturnedas a percentageof shareholders equity.Return on equitymeasures a corporations profitabilityby revealing how muchprofit acompany generateswith the money shareholders have invested. Net income is for the full fiscal year (before dividends paid to common stock holders but after dividends to preferred stock.) Shareholders equity does not include preferredshares. Cost of sales to sales ratio: Cost of sales to sales ratio = Cost of sales / Total sales Through the manufacturing expenses percentage of company is less than the industry average the Cost of sales is slightly more than the industry. This can be, because of more depreciation charges or difference in excise duty. Therefore company has to produce goods by effective utilization of foxed assets to bring down the depreciation cost of sales. Stock turnover days: Stock turnover days = sales / inventory The higher the stock turnover the better, because money is then tied up for less time in stocks. A quicker stock turnover also means that the firm gets to make its profit on the stock quicker, and so the firm should be more competitive. However, it will vary between industries and so it is important to compare within an industry. Return on net assets: RONA = net income / (Fixed assets + Networking capital) Here, Networking capital = Current assets Current liabilities. It is the useful measure the profitability of all financial resources invested in the firms assets. It evaluated the use of total funds without any regard to the sources of funds. Higher the ratio more effective is the firm is using the pool of funds. Sales to net assets employed: Sales to net assets employed = sales / net assets Here, Net assets = Fixed assets + Current assets Current liabilities. This ratio is also called the earning power of the firm and represents the return of the funds. It indicates how well management has used funds supplied by the creditors and owners. Higher the ratio better is the position of the firm and more efficient of the management in utilizing funds, entrusted to it. CONCLUSIONS In the overall of a business is to earn a satisfactory return on funds invested in it, consistent with maintaining a sound financial position. The position of the company according to ratio is satisfactory in the year 2008 2010. That means each year profit had been increased. BIBLIOGRAPHY Financial management M Y Khan P K Jain http://www.investopedia.com

sunrise medical Essay -- essays research papers

Birds Eye and the U.K. Frozen Food Industry General Foods Corporation was successfully manufacturing and marketing â€Å"Birds Eye† frozen food in the late 1920. They were also the original owners and incorporated in August 1938. By the 1940’s, a new owner, Unilever had a strong interested in the business and took over. He wanted to make this business innovative and profitable in the growing economy. There is couple of issues dealing with Birds Eye currently in the United Kingdom, which include market position and market shares. The industry was at 70 percent of the market share and over the years, the percentage decreased. In the 1960s, Birds Eye showed a decrease in market share and return of capital. The lack of sales was also a concerned for Birds Eye, which resulted negatively to their profit margin. Clearly, the frozen food industry is not growing as rapidly as its use to. They can regain there market share by evaluating and understanding different taste, style and trends of the consumer. There was many opportunities that Birds Eye past up that they could have benefited from. They past up the opportunity to create their own label of frozen food and market it to consumers who have freezers in the household, and caterers. This can be an advantage for their competitor but a threat for Birds Eye. Another opportunity that they steered away from was home freezers, which affected a great deal in the frozen food market. Among other leading firms striving to be the best, Birds Eye Foods Ltd. strived to be the leading provider of frozen foods in the growing market. By 1938, the company began their business in the United Kingdom. They have a strong brand name and recognition and have been a leader in the business for sometime. Birds Eye’s vision is providing the best products and raw material to consumers on a daily basis. The business will be successful on the demand of everyday products in the market and all over the world. This will help build the industry and help develop some of there main products. This industry as a whole will go all out to provide exceptional products and services to its consumers. The company’s objective is to make their products more convenient. Birds Eye promotes consumer loyalty, value and recognition for their goods and services. The industry increased dramatically from its main products such as fruit and vegetables, fish, and meat.... ...me any obstacles. Being able to implement strategy is beneficial but expensive and very time consuming. Becoming a leader in the marketplace does not mean producing top end products but being able to keep producing high and better quality products. In addition, Birds Eye must continue providing exceptional customer service to their clients. Providing the best quality products should come with the best quality service. Having a strong brand name and recognition should also result in strong customer loyalty. Clients and employee satisfaction is the ultimate goal to Birds Eye. The employees at Birds Eye need to plan, monitor and evaluate at all time. This process should be done periodically and by any employees with the company. Customers come first; implementing a strategy where consumers are receiving the right product at the right time and at the right price will have a great impact to the company. As well as making sure the employees are treated right and working in an environme nt that they enjoy. Strategic Implications: Strategic Implications: Managers at all levels need to posse’s strong communication, leadership and motivational skills at Birds Eye.

Marshal Dylan: A Typical Law Man in Gun Smoke :: Gun Smoke

There are many characteristics that become standard for the typical "law man." However while listening to a few episodes of Gun Smoke the characteristics of a law man is very well distinguished. The typical law man portrays a character all of his own differing from that of anybody else. In the episodes of Gun Smoke, Matt Dylan is the Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas. Through the character of Marshal Dylan the idea of the law man is portrayed. Dylan seems to act out the part of Marshall in three different circumstances. There is the way that Dylan interacts and responds to his friends. On the other hand Dylan deals with his enemies altogether differently but with the same basic principles. Finally the last way the Marshal Dylan reveals his character is through interactions with strangers. No matter what kind of people the law man must deal with he is always wise, patient, and a strong leader. The way Matt Dylan treats his friends is a bit different than the way he treats everybody else. This is where we get to see the softer side of Mr. Dylan. Although his personality might somewhat differ, his normal relationship with others it is hardly an emotional one. One major character trait of Dylan that plays throughout is his stern personality and lack of words. Even though he was a stern man there was much caring in his tone when he would interact with Miss Kitty. He wasn't much of a smooth talker either; he simply says what needs to be said and goes about his business. At one point Dylan asks Miss Kitty if she would like a couple of drinks; she agrees but when she suggests to sit at the table he doesn't give it a moments thought before rejecting the idea and telling her where they will be sitting. We can conclude form this that the typical law man wasn't much of a ladies man at all. There is also the way Dylan interacts with his deputy Chester; many times the relationship betw een Chester and Dylan was a serious business one, but throughout there were several times when we could see Dylan open up a little more. When things were a little less stressful, Dylan's humorous side came out somewhat while teasing Chester for either falling asleep on the job or laughing at him for wanting to sit and watch the train.

The Disgusted Teacher :: Teachers Teaching Education Writing Essays

The Disgusted Teacher In her paper, a student must not only support her belief in the death penalty, but also present counter-arguments to the readings. In response to an essay which claims that the death penalty is used in a racially biased way, the student writes, "Mostly blacks are given the death penalty because blacks are more violent and commit more crimes than other races." A student's assignment asks whether or not the U.N. should put a stop to infibulation in the Third World. The assignment is couched in and refers back to readings about multiculturalism and respect for other systems of belief. The student bypasses these questions and, as his main argument, suggests that infibulation should not be stopped because women who have had the operation, unlike American women, do not cheat on their husbands. A student comes into the University Writing Center, seeking help with a first year composition assignment on homosexual marriage. Her ideas are unfocused and she has no support for her view that gays should not be allowed to marry. After a half-hour, the student finally reveals that she is having trouble because, like Queen Victoria, she doesn't believe homosexuals actually exist. The frustrated (and gay) tutor bursts out with, "Well, you've been talking to one for the last half hour!" It can happen at any moment, to any instructor, that sudden, unreal feeling when a student voices a view that seems simply wrong. Not unsupported, or badly thought out, but simply, obviously and completely wrong. Women are biologically programmed to be neater than men. Vegetarians are cold all the time and die early because they don't eat enough protein. Children placed in day care grow up to be psychopathic killers. These kinds of views can surface anytime, but they seem to come up more often and to be more of a problem in first-year writing classes. They come up more often, it seems, because first-year writing classes are small, discussion-driven and tend to focus on building arguments by examining such controversial topics as abortion and the death penalty. First-year writing classes also focus on the student's ability to present and defend an opinion, rather than master a set of facts or theories. They are more problematic in these classes than elsewhere because the opinions form the basis of written work.

Their Eyes Were Watching God Annotated

The MLA database returned 168 bibliographic entries containing the subject heading ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God. ’ In choosing which entries to include in this annotated bibliography, my objective was to represent as many interpretive approaches to the text as possible in order to illustrate the exponential expansion in the scope of Hurston studies in recent years.Also, because of the condensed time frame of this class, I only reviewed items that are available to UAH students on campus or online, although this criterion excluded several significant critical responses to the novel. Unless otherwise noted, the full texts of all of the articles listed here can be retrieved via EBSCOhost. Ashe, Bertram D. â€Å"’Why Don't He Like My Hair? ’: Constructing African-American Standards of Beauty in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon And Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. † African American Review 29. (Winter 1995): 579-93. Because of the strong social pressure to conform to predefined notions of conventional (read European) beauty that the dominant culture exerts on all American women, Black women have historically been judged as attractive or unattractive according to the degree to which their facial features, hair, and skin color conform to European norms. In Their Eyes, although Hurston describes Janie as having light skin and long hair, Janie does not isolate herself from dark-skinned African Americans.Janie’s hair is linked to her self-esteem and her engagement in the community, and as such, it becomes the battleground of her struggles with Joe Starks. Janie’s choice of hairstyle after Starks’ death (â€Å"one thick braid swinging well below her waist†) can be interpreted as a phallic image that metaphorically refers to her newfound power and self-determination. Brogan, Jacqueline Vaught. â€Å"The Hurston/Walker/Vaughn Connection: Feminist Strategies in American Fiction. † Women's S tudies 28. 2 (1999): 185-201.In positing an interpretive framework for Elizabeth Vaughn’s 1990 novel, Many Things Have Happened Since He Died, Brogan discusses the relationship between Walker’s The Color Purple and Hurston’s Their Eyes. She notes that both novels have been criticized for failing as realistic fiction, both can be interpreted as romances in the vein of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale, and both deal thematically with the ‘awakening’ of an abused female. Curren, Erik D. â€Å"Should Their Eyes Have Been Watching God? : Hurston's Use of Religious Experience and Gothic Horror. † African American Review 29. (Spring 1995): 17-26. Critics have not sufficiently accounted for the complexity of Their Eyes, and many analyses have followed Alice Walker’s contention that Janie is a depiction of â€Å"racial health. † A less biased reading of the text reveals much tragedy and horror that few critic al interpretations have addressed. The novel’s title refers to the incipient slave mentality of African Americans, demonstrated by the field hands’ reversion to enslaved patterns of behavior in the face of the hurricane. Paralleling the figurative system of Hurston’s Mules and Men, God is likened to a slavemaster in the Their Eyes.Hurston subverts gothic conventions in the service of affirming the importance of folklore. Davis, Rose Parkman. Zora Neale Hurston: An Annotated Bibliography and Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood P, 1997. This volume presents an excellently balanced and exhaustive compilation of Hurston scholarship through 1996. (Available in UAH Library Reference section; no circulation) Donlon, Jocelyn Hazelwood. â€Å"Porches: Stories: Power: Spatial and Racial Intersections in Faulkner and Hurston. † Journal of American Culture 19. 4 (Winter 1996): 95-111.The porch serves as the point of intersection for â€Å"spatial, social, and r acial† in Southern culture and literature, as exemplified by Hurtson’s Their Eyes and Faulkner’s Absalom! Absalom!. In Their Eyes, porches are equated with the formation of a community voice. Janie’s involuntary exile from the front porch of Starks’ store reflects her alienation from the community and her ensuing loneliness. Starks’ porches also function as a stage on which Janie is displayed. Janie’s life experiences ultimately transform porches from â€Å"dominating ‘places’ to authentic community ‘spaces. † duCille, Ann. â€Å"Stoning the Romance: Passion, Patriarchy, and the Modern Marriage Plot. † The Coupling Convention: Sex, Text and Tradition in Black Women’s Fiction. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. 110-142. This chapter discusses the treatment of marriage in Their Eyes and several other modernist texts by African American women writers. Although many interpretations of the novel agree that Th eir Eyes is largely focused on the issues of love, sex, and marriage, no critical consensus has been achieved as to Hurston’s feelings on these topics.Janie’s epiphanic orgasm under the pear tree is likened to the biblical creation story, with Janie’s act of kissing â€Å"shiftless† Johnny Taylor equated with original sin. Feminist readings of the text that view Their Eyes as a woman’s quest for and achievement of selfhood are problematic because both Janie and the narrator manifest their continued domination by â€Å"patriarchal ideology and romantic mythology† throughout the narrative. (Available in UAH library) Hattenhauer, Darryl. â€Å"Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. † Explicator 50. 2 (Winter 1992): 111-3.Recent criticism of Their Eyes fails to consider the notion that Janie may be dying of rabies at the end of the novel, which is bolstered by the foreshadowing of her death that occurs throughout the text. Tea Cake bites Janie before he dies, and she seems not to have sought the treatment that eluded Tea Cake. Further, Janie’s shooting of Tea Cake cannot rightfully be termed self-defense in the legal term, since she could have escaped Tea Cake by running away. The imperfect, white-dominated judicial system is partially culpable for failing to recognize this. Haurykiewicz, Julie A. From Mules to Muliebrity: Speech and Silence in Their Eyes Were Watching God. † Southern Literary Journal 29. 2 (Spring 1997): 45-61. Hurston employs the recurrent mule theme in Their Eyes as a means of commenting â€Å"on the disparity between speech and silence in the life of Janie† and her emotional development. The process that occurs in the text is not that of moving from dependence to autonomy, as so many critics have asserted, but rather, a metamorphosis from mule to muliebrity (â€Å"’the state or condition of being a woman’ or possessing full womanly powers†).Significant t raits of mules that figure symbolically in Their Eyes are mules’ mixed parentage and resultant reproductive sterility, mules’ historical role as beasts of burden, and the stubbornness and unpredictability that often characterize mules’ disposition. Hurston depicts mules as subversive trickster figures in Mules and Men, and this association can be extended into Their Eyes. The lack of mule imagery in the second half of the book is simultaneous with Janie’s burgeoning ability to express herself in the community. Hubbard, Dolan. ’. . . Ah Said Ah'd Save De Text for You’: Recontextualizing the Sermon to Tell (Her)story in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. † African American Review 27. 2 (Summer 1993): 167-79. Janie uses techniques of religion-based oral expression to tell her story and valorize extant black culture, a position that was rare among other African American writers in the 1930s. Nanny’s statement to Janie about her own unfulfilled desire to preach is the impetus behind Janie’s narrative. Pheoby undergoes a ‘religious’ transformation in he end of the narrative, and she can be interpreted as Janie’s disciple. Johnson, Maria. â€Å"’The World in a Jug and the Stopper in [Her] Hand’: Their Eyes as Blues Performance. † African American Review 32. 3 (Fall 1998): 401-15. The aesthetic principles of blues shape Janie’s transformation in Their Eyes. Both thematically and structurally, the novel is similar to the songs that African American women like Bessie Smith popularized in the 1920s and 1930s. Blues songs of this era often used bee imagery to connote sexual intimacy and mule imagery to oppression.All of Janie’s love relationships function merely as the vehicle through which she attains selfhood; the men themselves are dispensable. Even Tea Cake can be seen as simply â€Å"a stanza in the blues song which Janie Ã¢â‚¬Ë œsings’ to Pheoby. † King, Sigrid. â€Å"Naming and Power in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. † Black American Literature Forum 24. 4 (Winter 1990): 683-97. The relationship between naming and power in African American culture and literature is clearly expressed in Their Eyes. Throughout Janie’s life, her voice and development of selfhood have been circumscribed by the names that others have imposed upon her.In the text, naming by others can usually be interpreted as exertion of power and domination. Janie’s transition to autonomy is paralleled by her willingness to rename herself and things around her. Unlike the â€Å"limiting and destructive† naming that characterized her previous relationships, the positive nature of her union with Tea Cake is expressed by their playful and positive use of language together. After Tea Cake’s death, Janie freely renames people and things in her environment, suggesting her fr eedom from the power-based system of naming that had silenced her.Kodat, Catherine Gunther. â€Å"Biting the Hand that Writes You: Southern African-American Folk Narrative and the Place of Women in Their Eyes Were Watching God. † Haunted Bodies: Gender and Southern Texts. Eds. Anne Goodwyn Jones and Susan V. Donaldson. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1997. 319-42. The fact that Janie kills Tea Cake in Their Eyes has not received enough critical attention. Tea Cake’s bite can be interpreted as a manifestation of the tension between the quest for proto-feminist autonomy and the Southern black folk tradition Hurston uses as her mode of exposition in the text.The feminist political agenda has led to widespread resistance to the textual lack of support for characterizing Tea Cake’s and Janie’s union as ideal. Although Janie does gain an authentic voice at the end of the narrative, the inference that she had to trade her life for it problematizes the received interpretive matrix that figures the text as a successful quest for self. (Available in UAH Library) Lowe, John. â€Å"Laughin’ Up a World: Their Eyes Were Watching God and the (Wo)Man of Words. † Jump at the Sun:Zora Neale Hurston’s Cosmic Comedy.Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1994. 156-204. Janie is associated with Janus throughhout Their Eyes, both by being described as figuratively two-headed, looking backward and forward simultaneously, and being symbolically linked to liminal realms such as doors and thresholds. Through folk-based humor, Janie â€Å"magically transforms this communal energy into something constructive and uniting—her story. † As in many ethnic literatures, humor plays the role of â€Å"expand[ing] language† when ordinary methods of discourse are not sufficient to express the complexities of a situation. Available in UAH library) McGowan, Todd. â€Å"Liberation and Domination: Their Eyes Were Watching God and the Evolution of Capitalism. † MELUS 24. 1 (Spring 1999): 109-29. One element that accounts for the recent critical success of Their Eyes, which was met with mixed reviews by its contemporary critics, is the nascent poststructuralism of the text, most strongly evidenced in the emphasis on play and the decentering of binary systems of thought and language that parallel Janie’s transition to autonomous selfhood.However, recent poststructuralist readings of the novel have not taken into account the full import of Janie’s less-than-ideal relationship with Tea Cake, as well as his death at her hands. These elements of the novel equate liberation with submission, which can be likened to the type of heightened subjectivity that is a hallmark of capitalist society. Ultimately, Janie attains and then quashes her momentary realization that â€Å"in order to achieve freedom one must destroy that which refuses loss. † Racine, Maria J. Voice and Interiority in Zora Neale Hurston's T heir Eyes Were Watching God. † African American Review 28. 2 (Summer 1994): 283-93. Hurston’s use of free indirect discourse allows her to render fully the internal thought processes of those characters who have not yet achieved an external speaking voice, most notably, Janie. In a narrative that is focused thematically on the achievement of selfhood as emblematized by voice, this is a necessary narrative strategy. Rather than undermining Janie’s incipient voice, as Stepto and others have famously ontended, Janie’s strategic silence at her trial is a manifestation of the fusion of the voices of Janie and the narrator, heretofore distinct. Janie has assimilated the wisdom and insight of the narrator’s voice and she can now access it as she chooses. Sheppard, David M. â€Å"Living by Comparisons: Janie and her Discontents. † English Language Notes 30. 2 (December 1992): 63-76. A psychoanalytic reading of Their Eyes reveals the ‘Godâ€℠¢ of the book’s title to be a manifestation of a classic Freudian father figure.Hurston’s education during the years in which Freudianpsychoanalytic theory first became widely disseminated in the academy virtually assures her exposure to its tenets. Killicks, Starks, and Tea Cake are all manifestations of the controlling father figure conflated in the text with God. By opposition, Janie is forced into a suspended childhood that precludes her emotional development. Trombold, John. â€Å"The Minstrel Show Goes to the Great War: Zora Neale Hurston's Mass Cultural Other. † MELUS 24. 1 (Spring 1999): 85-108.Their Eyes can be read as emphasizing the importance of folk culture and oral tradition to the sustainment of Black culture, almost to the exclusion of all other factors. In later writings, she modifies this view to recenter Black oral tradition as the cultural heritage of the nation as a whole, as evidenced by her inclusion of white characters in her last publish ed novel. Walker, Alice. â€Å"Looking for Zora. † In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens: Womanist Prose. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983. 93-116.