Summary of the reading Rhetoric of the Image essays

Summary of the reading Rhetoric of the Image essays Roland Barthes Rhetoric of Image analyzes image, an illustration or a representation of something, and in what ways do meanings are associated with particular images. He examines images, observes the messages it entails, and how these messages are extracted from these images. In the article, the author restricts his study in the realm of advertising images wherein a specific example is given and investigated. He concentrates on this branch since in advertising, as he clearly states, the signification of the image is undoubtedly intentional. The message in an advertising image is pre-conceived and is therefore graspable. An advertising image then has a purpose; it is to convey a message. Because in an advertising image, there is a definite message, an intended meaning, Roland Barthes confines his article in this dimension. He gives one example of an advertisement of Panzani and looks at the different messages it contains. The advertisement displays a slightly opened string bag, falling from which packets of pasta noodles, a tin can of pasta sauce, tomatoes, peppers, and onions to name a few. The contents of the ad are painted with yellow and green in a background of red. The advertisement generates a linguistic message characterized by the words and texts that are scattered throughout the ad. The iconic message is displayed by the pure image, a series of signifiers pertaining to an intended signified. As one example demonstrates, the advertisement suggests that Panzanis products are everything that is necessary for a carefully balanced dish. The presence of freshly picked vegetables coming from a string bag implies that the product is a complete cooking ingredient. The author proceeds to exploring the overview of the different types of messages, linguistic, denoted, and connoted. Although the connoted message is touched, Barthes mainly focuses on the denoted message. ...

Muhammad essays

Muhammad essays The basic creed of the more than a billion Muslims in the world is La ilaha illa Allah . . . Muhammad rasul Allah. This translates to There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah (Marston 7). Because Muhammad lived recently, compared to the founders of the other major religions, quite a bit is known about his life. Historians cannot figure out the exact date of Muhammads birth, but the common consensus puts it around 570 AD (Phipps 34). His death, on the other hand, is well known to have occurred in 632 AD (Cook 14). Muhammads father died shortly before his birth, so Muhammads mother took him to live with husbands father (Marston 12). Muhammads name means worthy of praise or often praised and was an unfamiliar name in Arabia (Salahi 23). He lived on the Arabian Peninsula, near the Red Sea (Martson 7). He was from the Quraysh. The Quraysh are an Arab tribe said to descend from a nobleman, Fihr ibn Malik, who lived eleven generations before Muhammad (Cook 12). As was common for young children, Muhammad was sent to live with a bedouin, or nomad, woman named Halima (Martson 14). Halima was from one of the poorest tribes, she had no milk for her own child and even her camels were dried up. But when she took in Muhammad both her and her camels began to produce milk (Martson 14). It is also said that one day when Muhammad and one of Halimas children were playing out side, Halimas boy came running up to his mother in terror. Halima went and found Muhammad lying on the ground. And when he came to, he told them that two men in white had taken his heart from his body, washed it clean in a bowl of snow, and replaced it in his body, purified. Then, blessing him, the angelic creatures told him of his future greatness, and then they vanished (Martson 15). Shortly after returning to Mecca Muhammads mother died and then ...

Critique or Develop a Policy Involving Collaborative Practices in Essay

Critique or Develop a Policy Involving Collaborative Practices in Special Education Needs - Essay Example As the report declares the rationale for the present policy is to allow the faster development of students who are gifted and talented as compared to those with normal intelligence and talents. It is an accepted fact that gifted and talented children may find their classes boring if they are treated similarly with the normal children. Moreover, said normal children may not find themselves at par with the gifted and talented thereby resulting to unnecessary conflict which may develop to some psychological disorder like inferiority complex. This paper stresses that a major finding from the study was that third and fourth grade teachers make only minor modifications in the regular curriculum to meet the needs of their high ability/gifted students. This result was the same regardless of the geographic region of the teachers or the type of communities in which they taught. Based on the above it was found out that only minor modifications are made in the regular curriculum to meet the needs of the high ability/gifted students. There appears to be a lack of implementation of the policy. The study is conducted in 2003 & has a copyright up to 2005, which means that although there exists a policy, there is a problem in the implementation of the same as revealed in the study. The advantages of having a collaborative policy is the manifest joint responsibility of the students, the parents, the school authorities and the government through regulation of the schools systems which implements the collaborative policy.

The Glass Ceiling is gone for women Research Paper

The Glass Ceiling is gone for women - Research Paper Example Of course, examples of favoritism in the workplace of some form will likely always take place but suggesting that somehow there has been a secretive, concerted, global conspiracy by immoral companies directed against women is ludicrous. This essay discredits the glass ceiling myth by exploring the arguments by the faction who would support the premise and by introduce perspective and context into the discussion. Before examining the multiple aspects of the imagined wage gap in the workplace between women and men, one undeniable facet should be addressed. This country functions on a capitalistic system. Companies small and large, in every service and industry, have one central objective which is to make money, the more the merrier. Consequently, it is an economic certainty that if a corporation could employ women who would agree to 25 percent less salary than a man to do the same task, as is commonly claimed, they would only hire women. Since this hasn’t occurred either nationa lly or locally, it can be assumed that there exists no gender-based discrepancies in wages, no unspoken scheme to discriminate against females, no glass ceiling. A study which surveyed almost 900 companies of assorted sizes found that approximately half said that it was at least somewhat probable its next CEO would be a woman. Forty years ago this would not have been the case when women, motivated by economic need, began entering the workforce in greater numbers. However, forty years later, after women gradually became more career oriented, they are just as likely to assume the top position in businesses as men, right on schedule. It is only realistic to assume that there was a discrepancy among the genders in holding the upper echelon positions in the early years of the historic role redefinition that began in the early 1970’s. However, â€Å"the rhetoric of the feminist movement in those early years decrying the gap in pay and position has not changed since that time even though that gap has been all but eradicated as a result of the natural evolutionary assimilation process.† (McNutt, 2002). In spite of all evidence to the contrary, the glass ceiling myth continues and has advanced to the point of being broadly thought of and accepted as true, but the circumstances have evolved over the past four decades. According to a national survey, today, a women’s paycheck is about 97 percent the rate their male colleagues receive. The statistic that is usually cited when comparing women’s earnings is they earn only 75 percent of what men are paid. This was ‘substantiated’ by the Women’s Policy Research in conjunction with the AFL-CIO. The cooperative study only included woman aged 50 and older, most of which were not as highly educated as their male colleagues. When today’s young women are in their 50’s, this circumstance will not be the case, in fact, and the opposite will be. â€Å"As opposed to the â⠂¬Ëœdisco era,’ now, the majority of associate, bachelor and master degrees are awarded to women. Forty percent of doctorate degrees are accepted by women. This illustrates again how the times have changed but the arguments supporting the existence of glass ceiling have not† (McNutt, 2002). Other research has shown that women, universally, earn about three-quarters what men receive. Assuming this information is up to date, which

Round Rock High School Essay Example for Free

Round Rock High School Essay A school that has history, this school was established in 1867 and went public in 1888. Looking at RRHS when you first pull up seems like a descent size school with a modest old look. When you drive around the school it is expanded out much like a junior college and has a college feeling. There are 11 buildings on this campus not including their football field, track, marching band pad, baseball field and the amount of parking for both students and staff. Parking is amazing at this school. Plenty of parking for staff and faculty in front of the main building as well as plenty in the back of the building. Student parking is separated from the staff and faculty parking and plenty of it to go around for the students. All parking lots are nicely paved, with proper markings for all cars to park in with no confusion. Neighborhood around the school is a safe environment, no 2nd or 3rd tier living conditions around this school. Sanitation around the school is well kept and no loitering of strangers around the school. Security precautions are pretty normal throughout the school, teachers keeping eyes on the hallways, local police car parked in staff parking lot. However there was no sign of any Police officers on campus. There are security cameras mounted on top of the buildings leading in and out of each building. Outside of new buildings on this campus are all surrounded by windows so it’s pretty easy to see who is coming and going. The vegetation around the school is very lush green and lots of it in every open area there is available. Inside the main campus there is even a patch of green grass in the middle for students to sit on and study if so desire. As for students most students dress pretty casually and up to style, not so much of the sagging pants or hiked up skirts. Pretty decently respectful clothing, however there are a few students that are a little rebellious here and there and wear shirts that show there midriff or holes through out there pants. Most students seem to be very respectful to one another when passing in the hall ways. There isn’t any loitering before school starts in front of the school. Interior of school is very nice and open in main building.  Admissions office is separate from Principle/Administration office. Not very user friendly to navigate around at first and as an observer you blend in with the students so most faculty or staff don’t even notice you, or offer to help. Assistant Principal extremely nice and warm welcoming to visitors, students, staff and faculty, not really up to date on what day the school is on â€Å"A† or â€Å"B† day. RRHS is one of many schools that works off of block scheduling so students are not crammed with so many classes in one day but have longer classes to obtain more information from. The main building is the oldest building on the campus and will probably be the next building to be torn down to be rebuilt for more classes and faculty. The other 10 buildings are pretty well kept and if not new to the school such as buildings 1100, 1000, 500, 700 and maybe another building or two. Windows in all buildings were extremely clean and made you have that nice warm fuzzy feeling of walking into a building that seems to be well taken care of. All hallways from observation seemed to be clutter free, minus the 100’s of students passing by. Decorations were inside protected cases built in the wall mostly for organization and observation appearance. Each building had 2 – 3 sets of bathrooms in them minus the ROTC building who had one set due to the building being strictly for ROTC. Bathroom quality of the male’s latrine was clean, graffiti free and ammonia smelling free. Overall great quality of the interior of the building very impressed with cleanliness. Spanish III AP Stacy Dam/Teacher and Bethany Taylor/Student Teacher was the first class to be observed and from walking in the class seemed well organize d and students seem to know the routine of the class. Upon arrival most students were already in their desks doing their morning exercise for the class. The students were seated in traditional classroom format†¦rows. By the time the tardy bell rang there were two stragglers that walked in from the hallways talking with their friends. These were the guys that were to cool for school, you know the type hats on backwards, sagging pants no books and pretty much unprepared for class. When students walked into class they picked up there hand outs before sitting down along with pens if needed. After about 15 minutes into class everyone stood up for Pledge of Allegiance and Honor Texas Flag. Honor Texas Flag is new since 9/11 and believe Texas is the only state that does this for its public education system. After the Pledge of Allegiance the students were given 30 minutes  to prepare for class to which most students had already done the work or some just wasted time. The teachers did nothing and just spoke to one another not paying any attention to the students. Pretty disappointing to observe, after 30 min. had passed by, the teacher spoke to the class in Spanish and English explaining what they were going to do next. She then wrote a sentence on the board and spent another 15 minutes explaining word by word, grammar and sentence structure. She was very monotone and showed no sense of interest in making the class environment exciting, the students seemed very bored in class. The fluent speakers in class continued on with their gossip as if the teacher didn’t even exist. After observing this class I found it to be a low control low warmth climate due to the lack of rules and discipline in the classroom as well as the lack of teacher involvement in class with the students. The teacher ignored most of what was going on and mostly focused on teaching what she was obligated to do for the day with no disregard to the students that wanted to lea rn. I found that there was a lack of classroom management for the same reasons as the climate. No assertion in rules, no discipline, no rewards, and not trying to get the class out of there cliques to work with others. What I learned from observing this class is to make sure there is always classroom involvement and to communicate with the students. I observed a second Spanish (class level 1) and was blown away from the differences. I did however walk into this class by mislead information from the Assistant Principal telling me this class room was a German class. This class was taught by a Mr. Castillo who had transferred there from Spain. The classroom was very well organized with additional books as extras to those who forgot there materials. Spanish alphabet on the wall, posters from Spanish speaking countries around the room, random vocabulary around the room to catch the student’s interest. Mr. Castillo was yet another monotone teacher, however he had an upbeat attitude at t he same time. He was a very patient teacher with the freshman and there remarks to everything that was taught to them. Most of the students were attentive to the teacher, there were however a few that I saw reading books that had nothing pertaining to their subject. Others were listening to Ipods and lastly there was a food cart that would come by and students would get up in the middle of his lecture to get food. The teacher continued on with his lecture as if  nothing happened and the students that left to buy food would miss out on what he had to say. During the question session of what he had just taught them, most students seem to answer his questions and were praised lightly regardless of their answer. He was very positive with them but had a lack of rules and boundaries for the students. I felt the students took advantage of this and used it to their advantage. When a student had given a wrong answer all students would call this student out and let them know there mistake. The teacher did nothing to stop the students and let the verbal bashing continue. While this continued he continued on with his questioning I believe to bypass the issue and stay on topic or to just ignore the issue still not sure yet. I found this class to be low control high warmth climate due to the praise he would give but lack of rules he would have. The classroom management was better than the previous Spanish class I had attended but could definitely be improved. What I found interesting about this class was no matter how many interruptions the teacher had he seemed to care about the students that were really trying in the class and found ways to continue the motivation. An example of this would be walking up to the student that was paying attention and giving them a smile or a quick pat on the back to show his appreciation. This showed me how much the students responded to these little interactions and learned that if I do this with all students maybe I could have the same outcome for all the students. In conclusion I found this school to be more concerned about appearances than the education that is given to the students. I did observe three other classes but unfortunately don’t have the space to write about them. However they did all pretty much fall in the same manners as the first two.

Watcher Essay -- essays research papers

The Watcher   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This incredible short story is about a little boy named Charlie Bradley, who isn't like all the other kids his age. He was a very sick boy. Charlie had a loving mother who cared for him when he was sick. They seemed to have both one terrible thing in common, a bad chest. The Bradleys did not own a television set, so Charlie had to find different means of entertainment on his long sick days at home. He learned that if he kept quiet and still, the adults would have labeled him to be part of the furniture. On his days home, Charlie received glimpses into the adult world of common topics like misery and scandals. These relations and encounters with the adults had drastically matured Charlie before his time. Later on that year, Mabel Bradley, his mother, was sent to the hospital because the condition of her chest had worsened.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Charlie's mother got sick, his father took charge of the chores in the house. Charlie did not like his father very much, he described him as '…a desolate, lanky, drooping weed of a man who married late in his life but nevertheless had been easily domesticated.';(3) His mother's sickness and departure seriously afflicted his father. In spite of the fact that Charlie portrays of his father, he was a soft and sentimental man who loved his wife. Once he had the chance to dispose of Charlie, he went to visit his wife in the hospital. Although they are father and son, Charlie does not seem to appreciate the time he spends with him. At the end of the school year, Charlie was shipped off to his grandmother's, Grandma Bradley.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grandma Bradley was a striking woman. She was six feet tall, strong, hefty and in terrific shape for he age. Charlie's grandmother loved to spend her free time in town playing bridge, canasta or whist. She did not care much for her health and smoked sixty, thin individually rolled cigarettes a day. Grandma Bradley lived on a farm in a two-story house, with two mountainous piles of manure in the abandoned barn out back. She took care of all the families problems. Charlie's cousin Criselda was sent there when she became pregnant and his uncles Ernie and Ed stayed at their mother's to hide from people. His grandmother is not very open-minded and says what's on her mind at any time. For example as soon as Char... ...ft and returned with the police and asked Charlie to tell them what he saw, and replied ' I don't know what he's talking about… I didn't see anybody.'; Charlie was finally in the game and was good at it. No longer a watcher he was a player but Robert Thompson could not appreciate that.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This was an exciting and moving story, which shows us the different characteristics of a young boy. I found Charlie to be dramatic and inspiring in many ways. All the characters played a specific role in the development of the surprise ending. It was a great short story that got me thinking about everyday life and the dilemmas that we would face in the future. 33 s…l belt you. Is that understood?'; (6). She acted like a military officer from the Second World War. Charlie did not like staying on the farm there was never anything fun to do. The one thing Charlie enjoyed doing was, hiding in the corn patches spying on people and eating corn on the hottest days. On her farm she did not have any animals except for chickens. Grandma Bradley openly admitted she enjoyed slaughtering them when the time came. Charlie was fascinated by Stanley the rooster.22

Film “Crash” Essay

The inclusion of the 2006 film â€Å"Crash† in a multicultural psychology class is an interesting way to show that prejudices within certain cultures can develop because they are based on the reality of the situation and that prejudices develop equally within all racial groups. No one group is more or less prone to racial prejudice than any other. â€Å"Crash† is also a study is extremes as virtually every character in the movie presents a view of other races that is based on biases, anger and misconceptions. Unfortunately, two of the scenes in the movie seem to reinforce stereotypes and that was a bit disappointing. The initial scene with Anthony and Peter discussing the stereotypes of being black men in an all white neighborhood and other people shying away from them was impacting and disappointing when it turned out that they two of them were in fact there for nefarious reasons. And, when we discover that Kim Lee’s husband was trafficking in Chinese slaves was also a sad stereotype that made the movie more impacting, but also was a disappointment that the writer resorted to that stereotype. The movie is so full of examples of prejudice that it is hard to determine where the commentary on the racism begins and where it ends. For example, in an early scene, Farhad and Dorri are attempting to buy a handgun from a local gun shop and the store owner immediately assumes that they are Arabs, based on skin color and accent. In a later scene, Dorri is talking with her mother who says, in response to â€Å"raghead† and other slurs spray painted on their store walls, â€Å"they assume we are Muslims when we are Christian†. (Haggis, 2006). The gun store owner reacts with anger assuming that Farhad is a terrorist and attacks him with any number of racial slurs based on his broken English. Farhad assumes that the Caucasian gun store owner was attempting to cheat him and continues with that prejudice later when Daniel arrives to fix the broken lock on the door of his store. One of the saddest commentaries the movie makes on the affects of racism is the scene between Daniel and Farhad, resulting in Farhad’s accusation that Daniel is trying to cheat him. Daniel is one of two characters in the movie who generally is shown as treating people the same regardless of how they treat him. When Jean Cabot has a screaming fit about the fact that she has been robbed at gunpoint by African Americans and that her locksmith is Hispanic, Daniel says nothing, just slams the key on the counter and leaves. He does instigate the attack on Farhad’s store, but that is motivated by the fact that Farhad will not pay him, not by any racial animosity, or at least no animosity that is demonstrated in the movie. Farhad’s daughter Dorri is the only other character whose racial behavior is not offensive. Dorri expressed disappointment at other’s actions towards her father and her father’s actions towards others, but she herself does not exhibit racism. Another interesting study in racism in the movie is in the conversations between Anthony and Peter. At one point, Anthony lectures Peter on the difference between stealing from people outside of the African American community and within the community. He also argues that gangsta rap is a government conspiracy to make the black community fight within itself. Peter shows his racism in his assumption that all country music is a racist plot against African Americans. Later, Peter’s inability to let go of his own joke about the country music costs him his life. In the scene when he is killed, Peter is laughing about the music and virtually picking a fight with the police officer played by Ryan Phillipe who picks him up on a cold night while he is hitchhiking. The officer, Tom Hansen, who has objected to racism over and over throughout the movie to this point, shows his prejudice when Peter says that he wanted to play ice hockey and then get irritated with the way that Peter mocks his music. When Peter finally finds the common ground that could bring them together, a statue of St. Christopher on the dashboard, he fails to come right out and say so. Instead he pulls his own statute out of his pocket. Had he simply spoken instead of taking action, his death could have been avoided. Again, the death is a sad commentary on the way that prejudices develop. When Hansen first encounters racism on the police force, he is offended and wants to be removed from the partner, John Ryan, who was openly racist. Later, Ryan tells him, â€Å"Wait until you lived a little longer† (Haggis, 2006). Ryan’s character is a blatant racist, pulling over the Thayers, a 40-something black couple for no reason other than to screw with them and molest Christine Thayer under the pretense of a search for weapons. Hansen is offended by the way Ryan treats the Thayers and then a night later shoots and kills a black teen, dumps the body and torches his own car to cover the crim. Even the â€Å"good† character is racist in this movie. Ryan explains to the HMO representative Shaniqua why he has developed his racist attitude but does so only after insinuationg that she received her job only because she was a black woman and after insulting her. For her part, Shaniqua could have overcome Ryan’s racism by doing the right thing herself, but because she encountered so much racism over the course of her lifetime, she perpetuated the racism by not doing the right thing and approving additional care for Ryan’s father. Ryan later sort of redeems himself by going into Christine Thayer’s burning car to rescue her after an accident, proving that even a bigot can do the right thing sometimes. In many ways the most disturbing form of racism shown in the movie is that of Jean and Rick Cabot. Jean Cabot explodes in anger after being robbed, attacking her housekeeper for not putting away the dishes from the dishwasher and assuming that her locksmith will sell her house key to gang bangers who will then rob her. By the end of the movie, her attitude is changed when the only one who will come to her rescue is her housekeeper. After getting treatment, she tells her husband that her friend of 10 years wouldn’t come take her to the hospital because she was getting a massage. Her husband and his staff were unavailable and only the housekeeper, whom she had yelled at earlier in the day and was, contemplating firing for no apparent reason, would take care of her. At least her reactions to other races were genuine. More disturbing were the actions of Rick Cabot. He treated all the races as equal stepping stones to his political career. His only question about a hero firefighter was â€Å"Does he look black? † until he learned that the man’s name was Saddam. Then he spent the time yelling at his publicist to find a better way to spin things for him. He allowed his people to offer to fail to prosecute a black detective’s younger brother, peter, for car theft in an effort to add an investigator of color to his inner circle. He ignored evidence that a white cop killed a black cop because the black cop was corrupt, not because the white cop was a racist, which he might have been. The examples of racism in the movie are too frequent to list in a paper. There’s the Puerto Rican/Guatemalan police woman who mocks a Chinese driver for not seeing her â€Å"blake lights† and not being able to see over the steering wheel. Her African American boyfriend tells his mother he’s sleeping with a white woman, explaining to her that it will upset his mother more than saying he’s sleeping with a Mexican. The Chinese woman, Kim Lee, says with authority that Mexicans don’t know how to drive. In a bit part, Tony Danza argues with an African-American television director that his co-star â€Å"sounds less Black† and that his character is supposed to be the smart one. All in all, â€Å"Crash† is an interesting commentary on racism across the culture, showing that many races share the same wrong perceptions of the other races. The movie is one stereotype after another, both coming out of the mouths of the characters, and in the characterization of the people within the movie. However, it is in fact a good way to learn that all cultures make the same mistakes and that they all need to stop making such biased assumptions. WORKS CITED Haggis, Paul. (Writer/Director), 2006, â€Å"Crash† USA: Bull’s Eye Entertainment.

Loss of Innocence in the Puritan Society

In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne hones in on the contrast between good versus bad and the loss of innocence that defies that line. Hester Prynne is a symbol of shame and sin to the puritan society, however she once was an innocent and honorable woman. On page 76, Hawthorne repeats the phrase â€Å"At her, child of honorable parents†¦ At her, mother of a babe†¦ At her. † This repetition emphasizes the way Hester was once viewed as a symbol of purity and honor in the puritan community.Hawthorne also uses phrases like â€Å"Child of honorable parents†, â€Å"mother of a babe† and â€Å"had once been innocent† to contrast Hester’s sin with the innocence that she once had. This is also an example of pathos because the author is reaching out to the reader and making a point of the difference between Hester as a symbol of innocence and purity, and Hester as a symbol of shame and mistake. These phrases create a fine line between what is good and what is bad in the puritan community.Hawthorn later uses phrases like â€Å"heap of shame†, â€Å"misery†, â€Å"frailty†, â€Å"sinful passion†, â€Å"doom† and â€Å"alien† to make an example of Hester and emphasize her terrible actions. The diction in these phrases expresses the negative outlook toward Hester in society. She made a bad decision that haunts her and causes society to view her loss of innocence as a symbol of sin and dishonesty, to a point where they alienate her from the community. Hawthorne also uses the phrase â€Å"It may seem marvelous†¦ It may seem marvelous†¦ It may seem marvelous,† over and over again.This repetition also draws a contrast between the things that haunt Hester in her community and her desire to remain where she lives rather than pack up and move away. The author is saying that with all of the hatred and shame that haunts Hester in Boston, it is marvelous that she chooses to st ay rather than flee. Something about her sin and guilt there makes her want to stay instead of running from it. This shows the moral strength and integrity in Hester as a character. Although she made a terrible decision and has lost the innocence that she once had, there is no clearly defined line in her character between good and bad.Sometimes good people make bad decisions. In this case, Hester is such a strong willed character that she chose an individual freedom over the conformity in the puritan era when she committed her crime. In conclusion, Hawthorne makes an example of Hester Prynne in the puritan era to show the conformity and honor that society lived by. When Hester committed that sin, she became a symbol of shame and loss of innocence to the puritan community. Through the use of repetition, pathos, and diction, Hawthorne discusses the line between good versus bad in the puritan era and how loss of innocence effects that balance.

Robinson Crusoe and Pride and Prejudice by Daniel Defoe and Jane Austen

Robinson Crusoe and Pride and Prejudice by Daniel Defoe and Jane Austen Introduction The novels Robinson Crusoe and Pride and Prejudice by Daniel Defoe and Jane Austen respectively, share a lot. Characterization and themes that the two novels portray are drawn from the medieval British society. This implies that the two novels use huge amounts of realism as a technical element that facilitates their themes.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Robinson Crusoe and Pride and Prejudice by Daniel Defoe and Jane Austen specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More At the one hand, it is recognizable in Defoe’s novel that the use of real events to steer the plot has been immense. In the novel, Robinson Crusoe, Defoe describes it as a history of facts that seeks to portray the social institutions and structures of the medieval British society. Indeed, he uses real experiences of the protagonist who had spent quite some time alone. Undoubtedly, this is a reflection of the real life of Alexander Selkirk in uninhabited island. The author uses his skills to describe minute details in such an elaborate way that the reader cannot question the presence of reality in the novel (Black 129). For instance, he describes the minute details of Crusoe’s activities like building the fence, harvesting his grains and digging the cave amongst many others. Using circumstantial method, Defoe brings out the aspect of realism in the novel. According to Myers, he describes the success of the protagonist in growing crops that gives him a platform through which he brings on board the technical element of realism (176). It is apparent that Defoe also introduces a wrecked ship in novel that facilitates the survival of Crusoe. Another technical skill that has typified Defoe’s use of realism is in the characterization. He portrays Friday’s gratitude and behavior in a very natural way. This is in consideration of the fact that Crusoe had saved his life from cannibals. It therefore becomes nat ural for him to show gratitude to the protagonist, which inspires the realism in the novel.Advertising Looking for essay on british literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Finally, he narrates using precise dates that the protagonist stayed in uninhabited island after being swept ashore by unfavorable sailing conditions. In fact, these dates coincides with the real dates of the real character, Alexander Selkirk whose experiences have largely inspired the novel (Black 192). On the other hand, Jane’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, depicts the reality of the society in the nineteenth century. Precisely, her depiction of events in the novel reflects the society of the time. DeMaria says that it is clear that throughout the novel she uses such stylistic devices as irony and contrast to highlight the theme of social relationships in the society (591). Use of letters and other medieval means of communication through out the novel are critical and realistic elements that portray the themes as being relevant to the medieval British society. Like Defoe, Austen uses characterization to display the reality of social values and beliefs. The characters such as† Bennets† have used their subjective beliefs to choose the course of their lives. Apparently, society shapes people’s beliefs and values and imparts them on individuals during the process of socialization (Black 72). Elizabeth (one of the Bennets) contrasts with Mr. Collins who believes that the social system’s ideals dictated that women were supposed to submit to men. Besides, he believes that women should not acquire any property and act as custodians of men’s wealth. He asserts his arguments with confidence owing to the prevalent social values and norms (DeMaria 592). However, Austen introduces such characters as Elizabeth to appraise the discriminating social system that favored a patriarchy. The use of chara cters to depict reality of the society has as such, facilitated the novel to highlight major themes. Further, realism is explicit in the novel when the author highlights the theme of marriage. In nineteenth century, women bore gender roles that openly discriminated them from decision-making processes of the society. Mr. Collins asserts this claim by believing that Elizabeth could not reject him after he makes a marriage proposal (Myers 87).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Robinson Crusoe and Pride and Prejudice by Daniel Defoe and Jane Austen specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It becomes clear that he attributes his subsequent rejection to women’s modesty of the time. This implies that it was very unusual during the nineteenth century for a woman to reject men advances. Indeed, society attributed rejection to pride borne by liberal women and young feminists (like Elizabeth). It was therefore an exception rather than a norm. Austen compares with Defoe in depiction of dates that clearly depicts the periods that their novels portray. Austen shows the rise of gender equality and women empowerment that took shape in the century. She describes discriminative land ownership practices that had typified the era (Black 231). Finally, the two novels contrast in their main themes. While Defoe chose to explore the rise of British imperialism, Austen tends to dwell on the pertinent issues that affected women and the marriage institution. The protagonists in the novels play different roles but present them in a very realistic way. Nonetheless, the depiction of reality in the two novels is overwhelming. Discussion of Pride and Prejudice The novel has wide variety of themes that are apparent in the plot. Mary points this out at the onset of the novel where she claims that human beings are vulnerable to pride. Pride blurs the ability of some characters to see the truth. This makes them unable to attain hap piness in their lives. Particularly, Elizabeth’s pride presents an impediment to her marriage with Darcy. Her vanity leads to impaired judgment of Darcy and Wickham in which she thinks well of the latter and perceives the former as evil. However, she comes to realize that her pride had led her to wrong inferences. Further, Darcy is proud owing to his social status and disparages anyone who occupied lower social status. He also writes a letter to Elizabeth asking her to abandon vanity and begin to use reason (DeMaria 577). Austen also uses Prejudice as a major theme in the novel. It is important to point out that the prejudice is intricate to other themes. Darcy uses social-economic prejudice to scorn other members of the society that occupy lower classes. Besides, Elizabeth’s prejudicial and unfounded beliefs make her to believe that she could make impeccable judgments. She realizes in the end that she could not and that she had been wrong in a number of occurrences.Ad vertising Looking for essay on british literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More DeMaria points out that Austen explores family institution as a major theme that characterized the medieval society (579). The novel depicts the family institution as that which is endowed with the responsibility of inculcating morals and intellect to the children. For instance, â€Å"Bennets† fail to educate their children leading to explicit naivety, promiscuity and shame exhibited by Lydia. Elizabeth’s manages to get some positive virtues after she receives some informal education from the Gardiners. In fact, only the Gardiners are portrayed in the novel as a family that showed concern for the girls’ welfare (Myers 42). This theme is in tandem with the roles of women and the marriage. All the characters in the novel hold the concept of marriage with such intensity that they all long for marriage. Elizabeth eventually accepts to get married to Darcy despite her beliefs regarding marriages. The context of family and marriage provides a platform that Austen uses to explore the idea of gender disparities. In the 19th century, women suffered from myriad of injustices among them being discrimination due to their gender. Although Austen attempts to depict women as equal to men, it is apparent that the society had preservation for this perspective (Black 171). It is a patriarchal society where women were supposed to be the obedient and submissive to their husbands. The society denied women the rights to own property as well as access to education and employment opportunities. Evidently, the â€Å"Bennets† fail to educate their five daughters and remain convinced that women had no rights to education. Finally, class and social stratification has typified the entire novel. In particular, Darcy represents a major character that is full of pride and conscious of his social status. He perceives class as a phenomenon that is not only composed of wealth but also inclusive of other factors. Gardiners are depicted as occupying lower economic clas ses but their intellect and virtue have leveled their class with other characters that are affluent. Other than class, Austen also highlights the theme of individual and society. The society takes precedence even in the private matters of its members. Specifically, Lydia’s elopement with Wickham is scandalous in the whole society and she becomes a disgrace to her family (Black 179). Besides, Darcy’s failure to reveal the Wickham’s true behavior is seen as a failure to honor social obligations and duties. Despite the society’s involvement in individuals’ private lives, Austen questions its capacity to make right inferences regarding different characters. Historical Development of Realism Realism emerged in the mid 19th century and reflected a shift from initial literary works that were typical of romantic idealism. It gives more attention to the subject matter and characters and depicts the true nature of the contexts. Although it coincided with the Victorianism, realism has the ability to remove subjectivity in the novels. It employs journalistic approaches of reporting ‘as is’ without imparting personal beliefs and values. Harrison asserts that much of the literature work that have realism as a core element stand out from the rest for their true portrayal of the events and characters as they happened in the real world. Henry Fielding has often been referred as the pioneer of the style. In the novel, Joseph Andrews, Fielding uses a wide scope and keenly observes the requirements of realism. His perception of the medieval England portrays a true picture of England at the onset of Industrial revolution (Black 171). The novel highlights characteristics of human nature through characterization. For instance, he portrays selfishness and meanness of humans after Joseph had been robbed and left for the dead. The only reason the community rescues him was the fear of being held accountable for his death. This aspect of re alism is also manifest in the novel Pride and Prejudice in which Austen portrays the society in a true way. The presence of class disparities is typical of the two novels making it possible to portray realism (Myers 73). Although Daniel Defoe’s novel, Robinson Crusoe was published earlier, he is not short of realism. He depicts the British society during the exploration of the world by giving the real occurrences in the life of Alexander Selkirk. It is in such novels whose use of realism was able to appraise social system and structures. Realism has been used in different novels to give shape to themes. In Pride and Prejudice, it is apparent that the Austen describes the characters of the novel with emphasis of minute details. Through realism, she is able to address social issues that affect specific social groups. As such, realism gave writers platform where they could appraise prevalent social system. Similarly, Virginia Woolf in the novel To the Lighthouse uses realism to highlight the need for equality within the society. Henry Fielding also used realism to appraise particular aspects of the society. Conclusion In sum, Defoe and Austen bear similarities in the manner that they explore their themes. Although they differ in their central themes, the use of realism is evident throughout their novels. Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice uses characters and real events of the 19th century to highlight the themes of pride, prejudice, social class, gender inequalities and marriage. Realism has been typical of many novels since the 18th and 19th centuries. At the very minimum, it helps novels to meet the demands of reality with objectivity and giving details to characters, events and objectivity. Black, Joseph. British Literature: A historical Overview, Toronto: Broadview Press, 2010. Print. DeMaria, Robert. British literature, 1640-1789: an anthology, New York: Blackwell Publishers, 2008. Print. Harrison, Martin. Realism in Literature, London: Rout ledge, 1998. Print. Myers, Walter. The later Realism: A study of characterization in the British Novels, London: Ayer Publishing, 2001. Print

17 Free Online Academic English Writing Courses

17 Free Online Academic English Writing Courses If you are an English language learner and getting ready to enter into university, getting up to speed on your academic writing will mean the difference between success and struggle in your academic pursuits. However, youre in luck, as there are several free online academic English writing courses available that offer students like you a chance to brush up on your skills in your own time and without paying a dime.A Beginners Guide to Writing in English for University Study - In this five-week course provided by the University of Reading (via FutureLearn), you will learn how to write using academic English in preparation for university study. The course was developed to help students learn the basics of writing in English for academic purposes, including the stages of essay writing. Aimed at non-English speakers with a minimum level of IELTS 4.5 or equivalent, you should know some English before taking this course.Adjectives and Adjective Clauses - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn how to make your writing more interesting through writing adjectives and adjective clauses. In the first module, you will review what adjectives (and adjective phrases) are and how to use them correctly in English. In the second module, youll learn about adjective clauses, what they look like, and how to use them correctly to make your sentences more complex. In the final module, youll learn the different ways to use adjective clauses in academic writing.Advanced Writing - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn to raise your level of academic writing in preparation for college-level work. Specifically, you will learn to plan and write a more sophisticated argumentative essay; identify plagiarism and explain how to prevent it; read and analyze several articles to form your own opinion on a topic; make connections between several articles; form thes is statements from your readings; and use sources effectively when writing an essay. While youll have access to all the instructional videos and handouts by taking the free version of this course, youll need to enroll in the paid version to receive peer feedback and take quizzes.Conjunctions, Connectives, and Adverb Clauses - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn about the different types of conjunctions in English and how to use them and punctuate them in sentences. You will also learn how to join ideas with correct grammar and punctuation, including transition words and prepositional phrases, complex sentences, and adverb clauses. Finally, youll learn a more advanced way to write complex sentences by reducing the adverb clauses. Each of these lessons will help you write academic English more fluently.English Composition - In this eight-week course provided by Arizona State University (via edX) as part of the Glob al Freshman Academy (GFA), you will learn how to communicate your ideas clearly through English writing. Specifically, you will learn to develop ideas effectively for a variety of purposes, audiences and occasions through completing several major written projects. Furthermore, you will learn how to craft your writing to meet the needs of specific audiences for specific purposes; how to make decisions about what to include and not include in your writing; how to use invention, research, drafting, revising, and editing in your writing; to use various formats and stylistic choices, including genre conventions; and how to use diverse technologies to write more effectively and efficiently.English Composition I - In this ten-week course provided by Duke University (via Coursera), you will learn college-level writing by reading carefully, writing effective arguments, understanding the writing process, engaging with others ideas, citing accurately, and crafting powerful prose. Throughout t he course, you will also learn how to summarize, analyze, question, and evaluate written and visual texts; argue and support a position; recognize audience and disciplinary expectations; identify and use the stages of the writing process; identify characteristics of effective prose; apply proper citation practices; and discuss applying your writing knowledge to other writing occasions.English Grammar and Style - In this eight-week course sponsored by The University of Queensland (via edX), you can learn key concepts and strategies in grammar and style to help enhance your writing. The course offers instruction in grammatical principles, word usage, writing style, sentence and paragraph structure, and punctuation. Video interviews with distinguished grammarians, along with quizzes and writing activities, assist students build their English writing skills.Getting Started with Essay Writing - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), yo u will learn about the three types of academic essays and how to improve your writing skills when writing each type. The course covers how to create effective thesis statements for your essays; how to plan and write compare/contrast, cause/effect, and argument essays; and how to write well-developed body paragraphs. While the lectures and practice activities are available for free, students must enroll in the paid version to take the quizzes and receive feedback on writing assignments.Grammar and Punctuation - In this four-week course offered by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn the basics of writing academic English for studying in an American university. It includes video lectures, readings, practice exercises, and quizzes, although the free version does not offer peer feedback and graded quizzes. By the end of the course, you will know how to identify the correct verb tenses to use, use commas effectively, utilize several different sentence type s, and write more effectively in English.How to Write an Essay - In this five-week course provided by the University of California, Berkeley (via edX), you will be introduced to academic writing for English learners by learning essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing. The course covers basic grammar terminology and understanding; writing effective sentences and paragraphs; introductions and conclusions; strategies for writing longer texts; and thesis statements. It is provided in partnership with the U.S. Department of State.Introduction to Research for Essay Writing - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn the steps involved in planning, outlining, and writing a research paper. Some topics covered include how to choose appropriate research topics for your classes, how to find source material for research papers, how to avoid plagiarizing, and how to take and organize notes in the process of you r research. You will also learn how to use an appropriate academic tone and language in your writing, along with how to document sources by creating a list in MLA format.Perfect Tenses and Modals - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn about important intermediate verb tenses, including present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive. The course also covers common modal verbs used in English. Although it is designed for learners who already have a basic understanding of English grammar, it will help you become a better academic writer.Preparing for College: Writing Proficiency - This self-paced course provided by Parkland College (via Canvas Network) is third in a series of four courses that are aimed at helping students improve their scores on placement tests while preparing for college-level courses. The focus of this course is on writing skills, along with links to pract ice tests to help students identify problem areas and supplemental help for students who need it.Scribble: Writing for New Writers - In this 13-week course provided via OpenLearning, you will learn the process of writing- from simple paragraphs to more complex writing structures. The courses eventual aim is to prepare you for research writing. Designed for students who are studying English and are preparing to soon enter a university, this course will help you brush up on some basic skills such as sentence and paragraph creation, along with proper English structure and forms of writing.Tricky English Grammar - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will learn about tricky issues in English grammar that can confuse even the most astute student. This includes tricky nouns, articles, and quantifiers; when to put a or the in front of a noun; when to put nothing in front of the noun; using gerunds and infinitives correctly; making requests and asking for permission; some word forms that cause confusion; and phrasal verbs and collocations.Verb Tenses and Passives - In this four-week course provided by the University of California, Irvine (via Coursera), you will review the verb tenses that you learned in beginning English classes and learn about a few tenses you may not know very well. It covers 12 of the English verb tenses and passive verb forms, along with how to blend these tenses, which is what native speakers frequently do. Overall, this course will help you improve your fluency in written and spoken academic English. While the free version of this class gives you access to all of the instructional videos and handouts, you will need to enroll in the paid course to receive peer feedback and take quizzes.Writing in English at University - In this four-week course provided by Lund University (via Coursera), you will learn to understand the conventions of academic writing in English along with the various components of the academic writing process. The course is divided into four modules:Writing in English at university: An introduction;Structuring your text and conveying your argument;Using sources in academic writing; andThe writers toolbox: Editing and proofreading.The course consists of video lectures, reading assignments, and reflective self-assessment questions, along with peer review exercises that provide students with an opportunity to interact with their peers also taking the course.

Theodore Roosevelt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Theodore Roosevelt - Essay Example He also initiated food acts in the country for the betterment of the citizen residing in the country (Klose et al 2001). His presidential term can be labeled as a golden era in the history of the country. Theodore Roosevelt was sworn as the president of the United States in the year 1901 following the death of his predecessor. The first major step after taking over the presidency was seen in the year 1902. There was a strike by coal mine workers in the state of Pennsylvania and they demanded better working conditions and higher wages. The President intervened and formed a committee to look into the matters. He assisted the workers and forced the mine owners to increase their wages and decrease the working hours. Further, he also worked towards establishing laws for the safety of the workers. Roosevelt termed it to be his policy that all Americans would be treated the same irrespective of their classes and he truly stood by his statement (In Hodge et al 2007; Klose et al 2001). The next step taken by Theodore Roosevelt was to work towards the elimination of monopolies of the large trusts operating in the country. He wanted to put an end to the misuse of power that was practiced by these corporations. The ending of J.P. Morgan’s Northern Securities was an implementation of this policy. Many other trusts were dissolved in a similar way. Roosevelt made it clear that his aim was to put an end to the exploitations done by these trusts but he did not wish to discourage the initiation of new businesses. He also intervened in the railway sector so that the state could exercise greater power over the infrastructure. With the assistance of the Hepburn Act in 2006, he granted greater power to the Interstate Commerce Commission for the regulation of railways (In Hodge et al 2007; Klose et al 2001). Roosevelt created reforms in the agricultural sector.

Using Health Information Technology as a Source of Evidence-Based Research Paper

Using Health Information Technology as a Source of Evidence-Based Practice - Research Paper Example Among the various health care IT resources that can be applied in the process of alleviating the effects of the nursing workforce shortages are; tele-health, clinical decision support systems, care planning tools, data capture, decision support system, computerized provider order entry, bar code medication administration, and electronic health records (Clark 22). This paper seeks to explore the last three resources as evidence based resources to help address shortages in the nursing workforce. The electronic health record acts as an official record for persons shared by multiple agencies and institutions. Health information systems that are digitized should improve care quality, efficiency, and ultimately reduce the effects of shortages. The EHR includes family history, allergies, contact information, insurance information, and hospitalization records, among others. Its benefits include efficient retrieval of information, automatic sharing and updating of information where different organizations and offices are concerned, as well as lower effort redundancy (Clark 56). These benefits, as well as others, aid health institutions in reducing reduce the time needed, by nurses, in retrieving information manually, and thus, reducing their workload. Another healthcare IT resource that helps to combat this shortage is patient monitoring technology. As the current nursing workforce continues its transition to proactive models of delivery of healthcare, remote monitored solutions are expected to gain more ground. Information that nurses are provided with include health intelligence, international health research, market analysis, news and commentaries, and strategic insights (Clark 67). These are especially useful since the strained workforce that work for 12 hours has limited time to attain this information themselves. Patient monitoring services offer knowledge on ongoing