This paper emphasizes the racial injustice that characterized the South in the 1960s. It discusses the life story of Anne Moody, the author of this autobiography, and the many hardships she encountered.
Abstract This paper focuses on the life of Anne Moody, the author of "Coming of Age in Mississippi." It discusses many of the civil rights in which African- Americans were neglected in the 1960s. The major issues addressed in the paper is the issue of "race" in the post-modern United States during the 1960s and Moody's struggle to survive in a country full of hate and neglect.
From the Paper "Coming of Age in Mississippi, by Anne Moody, is a stark testimony to the racial injustice that characterized the southern United States until the civil rights movements of the 1960s brought lasting changes to the region. The southern world into which Moody was born in 1940 was one ruled by whites. Her autobiography is filled with incidents that serve as a reminder of this overwhelming truth. Anne Moody's development and life are greatly shaped by the tremendous amount of racial discrimination and prejudice that African Americans face in the South at the time she is growing up. Moody's unearthing of the perception and implication of race is the underlining principle of her autobiography. Moody's racial "coming of age" enlightens her to the real truth of all races and oppressed people in the southern world."
Abstract This paper focuses on the symbolism of the character, Beloved, in the book of the same name by Toni Morrison and looks at how slavery's legacy is represented through Beloved's interactions with Sethe and Paul D. Examples that are discussed include Beloved's affect on Paul D's "rusted tin can" heart and how this is representative of slavery's legacy and Beloved's progressing physical state throughout the novel and how it is symbolic of Sethe's ability to cope with her past.
From the Paper "As Sethe delves further into her past, Beloved's control over her grows stronger. The relationship becomes more parasitic, with Sethe constantly trying to cope with her horrific past and the gruesome crime she committed. She repeatedly tries to justify her actions to Beloved, like when she says, ?I"ll explain to her, even though I don"t have to. Why I did it. How if I hadn"t killed her she would have died and that is something that I could not bear to happen to her" (200). It seems as if the presence of Beloved forces Sethe to fully disclose her past and, consequently, Sethe learns how to accept it."
Abstract This paper is a compare-and-contrast essay that illustrates the main characters in the two stories, "Miss Brill" and "A Rose for Emily". The paper shows the similarities and differences in the personalities and attitude of both characters.
From the Paper ""A Rose For Miss Emily" by William Faulkner and "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield relates the stories of two women who had been through a lot in their past lives and were trying to relive their past in their present. The characters of both Miss Emily and Miss Brill are the same. While Miss Brill relates her past to her present with happy thoughts, Miss Emily considers her present an era that is trying to drift her away from her past. Both the characters of Miss Brill and Miss Emily symbolize loneliness. While Miss Brill tries to communicate with the outer world, Miss Emily on the other hand shuts herself away from her neighbors and town people. Both the characters are the same and yet so different in their attitude and their personality."
Abstract This paper examines how, in "Mama Day", author Gloria Naylor narrates the story of a relationship that takes place between the characters, George and Ophelia. It looks at how both are black and without biological parents, yet carry different cultural backgrounds despite this likeness of race and parentage. George is the son of a prostitute, has no memory of blood relatives, and grows up in a white-run orphanage where his ideals and beliefs are shaped. Ophelia, who is also called Cocoa, is raised by her grandmother, Abigail, and great aunt, Mama Day, who enable her to maintain cultural connections to history through her birthplace, Willow Springs. It shows how Willow Springs is barely influenced by its connection to the United States and how, instead, it is a space shaped by its African relation through the people who inhabit it. It explores how the novel takes place in New York, where life is structured and hectic and juxtaposed against Willow Springs, where time and structure do not hold importance in the lives of its inhabitants.
From the Paper "Beginning in1823 through the legend of Saphira Wade's possession of Willow Springs then her killing of her white husband, white control on the island is never again achieved. The black inhabitants carry on the myth of Saphira Wade as a means of maintaining their power. In this sense, "Mama Day's and Naylor's own attempts to recuperate a cultural legacy reveal the desire for ancestral knowledge as a motivating force behind the ways in which individuals and communities construct myth. For the people of Willow Springs, such myth making becomes an essential tool in the construction of personal and collective identities" (Stave, p.158). As an island with a past of slavery and presently owned by blacks, the culture on Willow Springs is created and maintained by the blacks that live there and the physical nature of the land."
Abstract This paper discusses 'faulty analogy', 'slippery slope argument,' and 'red herring' and shows how these logical fallacies have had a detrimental effect on critical thinking and decision making. The paper also points out that critical thinking and decisions in the area of ethics seem to be particularly vulnerable to logical fallacies.
From the Paper "Faulty analogies, such as the example cited above, are common since it is easy to become impressed by a connection or two and then see an analogy where there really isn"t one (O"Rourke, 2001, Ch.7, para 22). Surprisingly, even organizations often make business decisions based on faulty analogies. Take, for example, the mistakes made by Disney Parks and Resorts in France. Based on the successful replication of its U.S. theme parks in Japan, Disney assumed that the same business model would work in Paris as well. Euro Disney, however, proved to be a very different story in terms of operations. While there were some similarities in customer preferences, the differences proved to be far stronger. For instance, one of the biggest differences, which proved to be a costly error for Disney, was that Europeans treated theme parks as places for day excursions."
Abstract In the turn-of-the-century era depicted in the novel, "Ragtime", by E.L. Doctorow, racism and oppression of lower social classes dominates social realities in the city of New York. This paper explores racial and social inequality through specific examples from the story. It explores the various characters and their relation to the themes of racism and oppression.
From the Paper "Father also shows his racist mentality when first confronted with Coalhaouse Walker. In contrast to Mother, who believes she is complementing Coalhouse when she sees him as different than other Negroes, Father thinks he has ?no awareness of his race or his place in society.? Father viewed Coalhouse's proud character almost as a form of disrespect towards the white majority and he was perplexed by the idea why a Negro would be proud, "apparently it didn"t occur to him to integrate himself into the fashion of his race.?"
Abstract The chilling title of Phillip Gourevitch's book, "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families" (1998), is a reference to a group letter from members of the Tutsi clergy to an Adventist church leader, Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, pleading for his protection from the Hutu majority in Rwanda. Gourevitch's book concerns the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994 in which the Hutu majority systematically massacred the minority Tutsi population. As a result of this effort at ethnic cleansing, an estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed over the course of a 100-day period from April to July 1994. In fact, during the height of the massacre, Gourevitch reports that members of the Tutsi tribe were being massacred three times as fast as the Jews had been during the Nazi Holocaust. To better understand the events that contributed to this horrific slaughter in modern times, this paper provides a critical review of Gourevitch's book, including a discussion of how the religious, national, racial, and ethnic groupings in Rwanda were used as tools for the genocide. A discussion of how European colonialism, Rwandan politics, and the role of different aid organizations also contributed to the genocide is followed by a summary of the research in the conclusion.
From the Paper "In this book, Gourevitch paints a grim picture about the events that led to the 1994 genocide in which hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were massacred to the point where the Hutus almost succeeded in completely eliminating the Tutsi segment of the Rwandan population, as well as countless members of the Hutus themselves who opposed the slaughter in the first place. The systematic and institutionalized method by which this slaughter took place was not unique to Rwanda, of course, but Gourevitch suggests that a combination of a cultural acceptance of violence, the nefarious roles played by NGOs, Rwandan governmental agencies and the nation's churches, all contributed to the genocide that took place during those terrible months of 1994."
Abstract This paper explains the need for ethical self-reflection in order to arrive at decisions that are fair and socially just. The paper also describes how the author makes personal and professional decisions based on her own cultural and personal ethics.
From the Paper "We live in a highly interdependent and interconnected world, which is able to function in relative harmony because it is governed by mutually, agreed codes of conduct. Indeed, without the prevalence of such codes of conduct, human civilization would probably degenerate into being ruled by the law of the jungle or the "survival of the fittest." Thus, it is evident that human civilization is both a function of and dependent on decisions and actions that are guided by established ethical standards. This observation holds true for all aspects of life, be it personal or professional. "
Analyzes how Zora Neale Hurston's character, Janie, in "Their Eyes Were Watching God," is changed by her relationships with three different men over many years.
1,274 words (approx. 5.1 pages), 1 source, 2005, $ 43.95
Abstract The character of Janie in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is a celebrated female character in both African-American and non-African-American literature. Her search for affection and her slightly feminist views at a time when women were not even allowed to vote is inspirational and beautiful. This essay shows how her two unsuccessful marriages and her final affair with Tea Cake changed her for the better and for the worse and how all of her relationships helped her on her quest for what we all so desperately desire: love.
From the Paper "However, Tea Cake makes her no promises and has nothing to offer her except his love, differentiating himself from his predecessors who pledged to meet her every desire. Janie does not expect much of the relationship, and is therefore amply rewarded. Tea Cake's devotion and simplistic adoration for her, which may have been partially due to the gap in their ages, is a breath of fresh air to Janie after her previous marital imprisonments. She feels infinitely free to do as she wishes without losing her much-valued feelings of affection."
Abstract This paper examines how, through the novel "Mrs Dalloway", Virginia Woolf captures the character of a whole society. In comparison, it looks at how, through Clarissa Vaughan in "The Hours", Michael Cunningham takes the reader through a literary time-travel and a coming to terms with change, ageing and societal restrictions.
From the Paper "After having alienated herself, Clarissa returns to the party, and having conquered a feeling of loneliness, she is now filled with a sense of life. She needs to be with the people who have been important to her: Peter and Sally. And the reader, just like Peter, becomes filled with 'extraordinary excitement' because Clarissa is there. It is not so much what Clarissa does that makes her important enough to carry the title of the novel. In fact her actions and the sequence of her day are rather superficial: she buys flowers, prepares for a party and hosts that party perfectly well. She represents a shallow upper-class woman with a very singular outlook on life. However, it is her omnipresence that is of considerable significance."
Abstract This paper argues that any text is a source of endless speculation, argument and debate in relation to three poems by William Butler Yeats: "Sailing to Byzantium", "Easter 1916" and "Wild Swans at Coole". Each poem is analysed through two critical approaches, namely New Critical, which focuses on the specific devices used by the poet in the actual poems and Marxist, which looks at the context of the poet and poem to extract meaning.
From the Paper ""Sailing to Byzantium" is not an exception to the fact that any text is a source of endless speculation, argument and debate. The debate in this poem arises over the interpretation of the golden bird that is "set upon a bough to sing". A New Critical reading of the golden bird holds that it is a symbol of the "artifice of eternity" and the ideal world of art. The golden bird defies all change and, as apart of art, comments on life and the natural world which is subject to mutability and transformation. A Marxism, however, argues that the golden bird along with the "holy city of Byzantium" represent aristocratic values, and the stability and immutability of the aristocracy is what Yeats yearns for. To a Marxist, nature symbolizes a society that changes."
Abstract In her 1797 novel, "The Coquette," Hannah Foster presents her critical analysis of female freedom and the politics of courtship and marriage within the restrictive confines of a conventional seduction novel. The paper shows that through her protagonist, Eliza Wharton, Foster creates a woman who goes against the social conformity of a virtuous life, questioning the restrictions that marriage placed on women.
From the Paper "The real, final decline of Eliza's physical and mental stability occurs when she learns that she is pregnant, "At the first discovery, absolute distraction seized the soul of Eliza, which has since terminated in a fixed melancholy" (Foster, 140). Eliza's moral redemption rests on her acceptance of the ethics of female self-sacrifice. Paradoxically, it is only by losing her fife that Eliza regains part of the power she relinquished from her seduction. On the other hand, her death finally puts her beyond the reach of the libertine who has pursued her, physically as well as psychologically, throughout the novel."
Abstract This paper analyzes Ehrenreich's book which deals with the issues of poverty in America, the ignorance of most citizens to the problem and the fight for the minimum wage law. The paper shows how the author's counterfeit foray into the world of the working poor offers a lingering glimpse of the true asperity of poverty to a deliberately ignorant audience.
From the Paper "As a culture, we shelter ourselves from the consummate implications of a society that necessitates a substandard manner of both wage earning and living for a substantial portion of its members. However, Enrenreich's over-the-counter delivery forces a cognizance of those forgotten, those so easily banished, literally, to their hands and knees. She carefully whittles precarious images of broken people, awkwardly perched on the edge of existence."
Abstract This paper looks at the characters of Hamlet and Laertes explains why they are so similar. By doing so, this paper compares and contrasts Hamlet's and Laertes' love for Ophelia, the avenging their fathers' deaths and their attitudes and actions.
From the Paper "In Shakespeare's play Hamlet many similarities are created between Hamlet and Laertes which clearly define Laertes as Hamlets foil. These two characters are mirrors of each other which act in opposite manners when confronted with similar circumstances. They are very contrasting characters, one being outward and the other inward; where Hamlet is verbal, Laertes is physical and where Hamlet is private, Laertes is overly confronting. They are both confronted with emotions such as love and hate along with situations of betrayal which lead to the ultimate tragedies in the play. Due to the sequence of events which occur within Shakespeare's play Hamlet it is evident that Hamlet and Laertes are two very comparative characters which is demonstrated through the love they share for Ophelia and their actions to avenge the death of their fathers."
This paper discusses Benjamin Barber's views on "thin democracy" and "strong democracy" as expresses in his book "Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age".
Abstract This paper explains that Benjamin Barber in his book "Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age" defines 'thin democracy" as a democracy in which leaders are elected but they are left to their own devices concerning the majority of issues; people have the powers, which democracy provides, but the demonstration of these powers is primarily manifested in the form of elections. The author points out that Barber is convincing in making his point that "thin democracy" has a tendency to strip citizens of their sense of purpose as manifested by the voter participation rate stagnating in the U.S. at about half of those eligible. The paper stress that Barber loves the thought of a "strong democracy" in which it is not the leaders who make a democracy great but rather an active, informed citizenry.
From the Paper ""Thin democracy" takes the stance that average citizens are not interested in political matters and are not capable or adequate enough to directly participate in the political process themselves, beyond electing officials. Benjamin Barber feels that the United States democracy is thin and poorly represents the entire population at large. Significant portions of citizens are unable to vote due to restrictions or simply choose to be complacent and abstain from voting. Citizens under the age of eighteen are restricted from voting, as are prisoners, and persons living within the borders who are not nationalized. Citizens who are active in a thin democracy mainly participate in it by electing persons and then monitoring their political decisions (if they choose to do so), allowing the elected (those seen by the majority to have the most expertise and capability to discern what best represents the will of the majority) to do the actual work."
