Abstract This paper looks at how Alexandra Bergson, the main character of Willa Cather's "O Pioneers!", is portrayed as a pastoral heroine. She essentially takes on nontraditional gender roles as she performs and acts like a strong and independent woman. During the time period of the novel, this was unheard of and would be considered behavior appropriate for a man. The paper supports its thesis by using quotes from Willa Cather's "O Pioneers!" and two other sources.
From the Paper "Carl's decision to come back to Nebraska illustrates his rejection of the scripted male practice of traveling around the country in order to make more money. He ultimately realizes that he belongs with Alexandra, as he settles down to start a new life with her. Arguably, this creates a certain type of role reversal, as the younger, sensitive and uncertain Carl comes back to Alexandra's confident and stable arms. The conventional ending to this story would have entailed Alexandra relying on Carl as the 'man of the house,' but this is not the case. Carl's genuine feelings can be summed up as Alexandra does not belong to him but that she belongs ?to the land [?] now more than ever.? (Cather 307) Cather ends the novel putting both Alexandra and Carl on the same level ..."
Abstract This paper examines the theme of human relationships in the novel "O Pioneers!" by Willa Cather. The paper contends that human relationships are at the heart of the novel, but at the same time, those relationships are shaped and colored by the vital relationship with the land, as an inheritance and a way of life. The paper also maintains that family is a central theme connected to the land, with the character of Alexandra the focus for the family, just as the land becomes her focus as a substitute for her father. The paper argues that, although much of the novel seems pessimistic about human relationships, ultimately the novel's protagonist, Alexandra, as an embodiment of the land, shows how the struggle for the land would one day lead to an accommodation between human beings and the land.
From the Paper "Cather seems to doubt the possibility for human beings to form meaningful and lasting relationships, and in the novel, those who try fail or even die before achieving what they seem to want. There are a number of unhappy marriages in the novel, including that of the woman Emil loves, a relationship that ends tragically for all. The one love that persists is love for the land, though that is also a love that is sorely tested again and again by weather, drought, storms, and other hardships faced by the pioneers, who either last through the crisis of fail and turn back. The novel celebrates the pioneer in America and the way the pioneer went to work and shaped the land, but what the pioneer did was also decided by the needs and wants of the land itself. In the end, the hard realities of pioneer life were anything but romantic, and the lives of the characters in this novel shows how they would often act impetuously and then suffer the consequences as far as human relationships were concerned."
Tags: immigrant, frontier, America, farmer, family
From the Paper "This study will examine the characters in Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird in order to define the nature of courage. Atticus Finch, a clearly heroic figure in the novel, who lives according to high principle, offers a definition of courage as "when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (112). This definition seems to have more to do with stubbornness or determination rather than courage. Atticus' definition would seem to hold that a career criminal is courageous, for such a criminal knows that he will be caught and punished sooner or later. Was Hitler courageous when he set out to conquer the world and establish a one-thousand-year German reign, when he must have known on some level that it was impossible, yet he began? Simple stubbornness, determination, sticktoitiveness, or plain..."
From the Paper " History is full of enigmatic figures who, in the name of morality, faith or the constraints of their own blind will, remain aloof, seemingly oblivious to the direst warnings presented to them. This is a brief overview of selected events which led to the fall of the Romanov Empire, with particular reference to the significance of the personalities and background of Nicholas II, the Empress Alexandra, and Rasputin.
The image of Nicholas II that dominates history is that of a weak and unintelligent man who was poorly equipped to deal with the challenge of a newly emerging, modern nation (Steinberg and Khrustalev 23-25). But he was not a stupid man. While not possessing an education equal to that of today's rulers, he had proficiency in English, French and German, as well as considerable teaching in military, political, and economic.."
This books analyzes the portrayal of European social reality in the 16th to 18th Century, "Magdalena and Balthasar" by Steve Ozment, "The Return of Martin Guerre" by Natalie Zemon Davis and "Good Faith and Truthful Ignorance" by Alexandra Parma Cook and
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 5 sources, 1995, $ 55.95
From the Paper "The mode of life faced by people in early European history can be discerned in writings from and about that period. The couples featured in three books--Magdalena & Balthasar by Steve Ozment, The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis, and Good Faith and Truthful Ignorance by Alexandra Parma Cook and Noble David Cook--will serve as reflections of the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, and the nature of the relationships between the members of each couple serve to point out the role of women in the period, the development of capitalism, the development of the modern sovereign state, and other cultural and economic issues of the Reformation and counter-Reformation periods.
The couples in these three books represent different aspects of the social scene of the time. The story of the legendary law ... "
Abstract This paper examines and compares three novels which deal with immigration to the promised land of America and movement through society and classes within the country itself. The paper shows how the characters in each novel deal with their new surroundings, language and mentality and compares the three novels. The works chosen to analyze are: "O, Pioneer" by Willa Cather which describes settlement in the American West, "Sister Carrie" by Theodore Dreiser which describes the rise from poverty and the fall from power and, finally, "Promised Land" an autobiography by Mary Antin, who immigrated to America at the age of 13 with her family.
From the Paper "It is assumed that the so-called great American urge to settle and farm western prairies was at its peak immediately following the Civil War. This was the time when Willa Cather's family moved to the east coast of Nebraska in 1873. She got her first sense of small-town life in Nebraska in 1884 when her family migrated to Red Cloud, another settlement, which she used as the setting for Hanover in ?O Pioneer!?. Her experiences and familiarity during her formative years in and among the settlers, her conversations with immigrant European farmers and the violent character of the prairie altogether created that huge impact that she translated into her novel. Ralph Waldo Emerson noted more than half a century later that such exceptional frontier experiences had to be recorded. It was Willa Cather who seized the essence of 19th century America and recorded her own experiences, first-hand, on the might of the land itself, the impersonal forces emitting from it, the hardships and tragedies in pioneer life much like a history in motion in her novel."
Abstract This paper examines authors Robert Plomin, Stephen A. Petrill and Alexandra L. Cutting's article, "What Genetic Research on Intelligence tells us about the Environment," in terms of the nature versus nurture debate.
Abstract This paper discusses how Julius Caesar has enthralled imaginations for centuries and how, in both fact and fiction, this great figure has enjoyed the attention of great minds and their followers. It chronologically looks at the main events of his life up until his fatal stabbing and attempts to show that what makes him particularly popular, not only among his own followers of the time, but also with many of his admirers today, is that Caesar was not only a great man, but also a human man.
From the Paper "Caesar is said to have been born as Gaius Julius Caesar during approximately 100 BC, although the exact year is uncertain and could have been 102 BC (Fowler, 1921, p. 7). His parents were Aurelia and Gaius Julius Caesar, who was a praetor at the time, although his family had little wealth and influence then. Gaius Marius, Caesar's uncle by marriage was however the leader of the Popular faction. It appears that Caesar was close to this uncle and his aunt, Julia. Nonetheless, Julius Caesar was brought up in Rome's Subura District, among the general population of Rome. It was here that he learned the social skills to help him communicate with people of any social status. This is also the skill that helped him become popular with his followers during his political career (Akinde, 2003)."
Abstract This paper attempts to define the term "socialist realism" and looks at the works of the Vasiliev brothers (in particular film "Chapayev") and Eisenstein (in particular "Alexandra Nevsky") and how the socialist realist doctrine affected their work. It also analyses the differences between various Soviet films prior to Stalin and during his time in power as well as the factors that led to these differences.
From the Paper "Boris Shumyatsky was recruited to take over as head of the film industry in the Soviet Union. He wanted to get a Hollywood style system going based on studios and frequent distribution of films, a factory like mechanism. He spent some time in Hollywood researching this before he returned and was appointed the job. Stalin over saw his work but being so obsessed with films himself he appointed himself along side Shumyatsky to screen the films for release. Stalin told him that one hundred were to be released per year, but due to his pedantic obsession with the pre-screenings, only thirty-three were released and Shumyatsky was subsequently executed for this in 1938. I included this little tale to try and put into perspective the conditions the filmmakers were working under. This would have enforced their focus on producing Socialist Realist films that pleased Stalin."
Abstract This paper reviews the book "Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities" and examines how Robbins takes the information she had acquired in a year about sororities, ties it up in a pretty package and allows the reader to make judgments on sorority life while keeping her opinion and thoughts extremely non-biased. It shows how Robbins is able to divulge in what she learns, reenact real situations through detailed dialogue and still leave the reader stimulated with enough curiosity by the end that they want to follow up on the characters.
From the Paper "Robbins' book is comprised of about 75 percent vignettes and 25 percent authorial voice. The vignettes Robbins uses are essential in understanding what the opinions of the main characters are and also gives a general idea of how the other sisters feel and are affected by situations. By using so much dialogue, Robbins put the reader in the room with the characters and gives them a chance to feel as though they are flies on the wall. The only time Robbins interjects into the scene is to explain something that a "normal" or non-Greek affiliated person would know or to explain to you exactly what is happening in the scene between the sisters."
Abstract This paper is an overview and critique of the typology, assumptions and justification of a 2004 research study regarding peer relations. In this article, the writer points out that the study examines the process of developing positive and negative peer relations amongst infants and children of early, middle and late childhood. The writer notes that in this research it is demonstrated that although current culture tends to value independence, it is also critical that children are able to form positive peer relations that are not stymied by inhibition or aggression. The writer concludes by looking at the authors' view that even if conformity is not the aim, recognizing the existence and needs of another person is important for normal social development and for society as a whole.
From the Paper "Children's relationships with peers begins literally in the cradle, anyone in a room full of infants will notice, even anecdotally, the phenomenon of "contagious crying" described by the authors. Rather than a mere annoyance, however, such contingent responses to peers are a crucial aspect of socialization, as it demonstrates the child's ability to engage in cooperation and sharing responses with others. Also, early responses to more familiar peers in a more positive way, and later, amongst one-year-olds of competitiveness, often show how common patterns in socialization emerge even in pre-verbal children. Also, infants exhibit various degrees of competency in these mimicking responses. Research also shows that shyer toddlers or children who find it more difficult to emotionally regulate their responses towards their peers, and who fail to imitate their peers in a complementary fashion in a way that recognizes the other party as a social agent are more likely to show aggressive and/or asocial behavior."
