Abstract This paper will explain the important points that are brought up in the book "Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala" by Stephen E. Schlesinger. By analyzing the policies that are so much a part of this imperial struggle in the Central American conflict, we can see how this would compare to the Eisenhower policy that was so much a part of earlier relationship with Guatemala in the understanding in this arena. In this book, we can understand how the authors convey a message of American policy on both fronts.
An examination of three tragic heroes: Willy Loman, a salesman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman"; Hamlet in Shakespeare's "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark"; and the horseman, Elesin, in Wole Soyinka's ?Death and the King's Horseman.?
1,260 words (approx. 5 pages), 0 sources, 2004, $ 42.95
Abstract This paper explains how there are similarities in the tragedies that befall the Loman, Hamlet, and Elesin. By the end of the narratives, all three characters die of broken hearts. It discusses how there is no triumph in their deaths; neither is there happiness. There is only bitterness and humiliation. The conflicts that these characters face come about from a mixture of personalities, personal foibles, circumstances, and from culture.
From the Paper "Willy Loman is a salesman by trade. Salesmanship for him is also a way of life. Salesmanship defines his very essence. Unfortunately, that is how Willy approaches life, being a husband and parent. Willy Loman's life is all about appearances. Willy is proud of the physical prowess and athletic abilities of his sons. He does not inculcate a value-system in Biff and Happy. The end result is that both his sons are not productive or respectable citizens. Eventually, Willy realizes that, in a way, his philandering is a primary contributor to this. The family dynamic is one of salesmanship"whatever sells or looks good no matter how insubstantial. Willy lives the big lie. He is unable to disassociate salesmanship as a career and a way of life. He constantly denies reality; life in turn denies him peace of mind. In Willy's internal struggle, the salesman in him always wins out and that is his eventual undoing. When Willy dies by running his car into a neighborhood tree, one only feels for his wife. The reader knows that his sons" reaction of sadness will be fleeting at best. This is his legacy. React and move on."
Abstract This paper explores the character of Delia Ralston in the Edith Wharton novel "The Old Maid". The paper discusses the novel's portrayal of the struggle between romanticism and realism. The paper shows how Delia, the novel's main character, learns a bitter lesson that her romantic visions will not survive unless they are supported by money -- aka "reality". The paper then attempts to understand whether it is society's limitations that cause Delia's heartbreak or her own cowardice. The paper concentrates on Delia's three romantic options: being an old maid (and rejected by society), being the wife of a starving artist (and rejected by society), or marrying a wealthy man she does not love (and being accepted by society).
From the Paper "The major focus of the novel "The Old Maid" is the main protagonist, or Delia, whose survival in the world is difficult because of her romantic nature, trials and tribulations to realize her vision of love in any way possible. Delia longs for romance in her life. Her longing for romance (with Clement Spender) is manifested in the novel with the descriptions of how Delia looks at the things she associates with the man she loves, Clement Spender. He is (to her) "her one missed vision [of love, romance], her forfeited reality [...]" (150). When Charlotte speaks about how a woman manifests her love for a man without words, she says: "[..]'A woman never stops thinking of the man she loves. She thinks of him years afterward, in all sorts of unconscious ways, in thinking of sorts of things-books, pictures, sunsets, a flower or a ribbon-or the clock on the mantlepiece', Charlotte broke off with her sneering laugh [..]" (175)."
Abstract The paper analyzes how the women in Charles Dickens novel "Great Expectations" attempt to destroy Pip. The women are his older sister, the bitter Miss Havisham and the manipulated Estella. The paper discusses the theme of novel and the rhetorical devices used by the author.
From the Paper "There are a number of women in Charles Dickens tale of love and revenge "Great Expectations." The two most significant of these are Miss Havisham, a wealthy and embittered old woman and the beautiful young woman Estella who Miss Havisham schools in the art of breaking male hearts to exact her revenge for being jilted. However, even Pip's harsh older sister mistreats him."
This paper reviews the books "Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala" by S. Schlesinger and S. Kinzer and "Modern Latin America" by T. E. Skidmore and P. H. Smith.
Abstract The paper examines "Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala" by Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer and "Modern Latin America" by Thomas E. Skidmore and Peter H. Smith as they relate to the Guatemalan coup of 1954. The paper explores the role of the United Fruit Company (UFC) in the coup that overturned the legitimate Arbenz government of Guatemala in 1954, the CIA role in this affair and the UFC's relationship with the U.S. State Department and with the Guatemalan workers.
From the Paper "How many Americans know that the United States Government directly and dramatically interfered with the internal affairs of a sovereign nation (Guatemala) in 1954? And it wasn't a matter of small-time inference, but in fact the American CIA installed a dictator friendly to the U.S., and ousted the existing Arbenz administration. Probably few Americans also realize that this action in Guatemala was not a unique moment in U.S. interference in foreign nation's internal affairs. Indeed, the CIA had orchestrated and carried out a coup in Iran on August 19, 1953. The CIA installed the Shah of Iran into power thanks to a plan called "Operation Ajax" authorized by President Dwight Eisenhower and directed by the same men who carried out the coup against the legitimate government of Guatemala - brothers John Foster Dulles (Secretary of State) and Allen Dulles (CIA Director). The Iranian coup was fully explained in a book called All the Shaw's Men by Stephen Kinzer, the same author who co-wrote Bitter Fruit."
Tags: CIA, foreign, policy, Dulles, Eisenhower, Shah, Iran, Arbenz, government
A discussion of the events in "The Whiskey Rebellion" by Thomas. R. Slaughter, "The Long, Bitter Trail" by Anthony F.C. Wallace and "A Shopkeeper's Millennium" by Paul E. Johnson.
Abstract The paper examines the books "The Whiskey Rebellion", "The Long, Bitter Trail" and "A Shopkeeper's Millennium", which provide an overview of different events that resulted from the economic boom after the American Revolution. The paper shows how, in all three events, economics were at the root of the actions although these situations had secondary motivators as well. The paper also highlights how in all three events, uniting into groups of shared interests was the best way to overcome major challenges and more effectively control the future.
From the Paper "After the American Revolution, production of staple products grew, economic risks decreased, transportation improved and individual merchants and small companies experienced reduced costs through improvement of economies of scale (McCusker & Menard, 22). Contrary to the Colonial Period, with the increasing demand for U.S. agricultural products, American farmers and merchants were no longer in debt to the British traders. Further, growing demand, in part due to Anglo-French wars, led to increased production of American products. As a result, across the country, there was an impetus by the settlers and recent arrivals to take advantage of the economic opportunities in this newly established nation."
Tags: Second, Great, Awakening, religion, capitalism, land, distillers, farmers, class
Abstract This paper examines how, in the short story, "Cathedral", by Raymond Carver, the narrator referred to as 'Bub' learns a lesson in being human from the stranger who visits him and his wife. It looks at how, from the first thought, it is clear that Bub is bitter toward the blind man for a number of reasons, since Bub is a man who is not as observant as he believes and who has long failed to understand his own blindness. It shows how, by the end of the story, that bitterness has evaporated as Bub metaphorically walks in the other man's shoes and learns a valuable lesson in perception.
From the Paper "Bub is in many ways an unpleasant man throughout most of this story. He is bitter to the blind man even before he arrives. He is somewhat unreasonable about it to his wife, because the blind man is her friend and should be treated with more respect just for that reason. Bub does not like to have his routine interrupted and is even rude to the man directly once he arrives. Bub seems to take it offensive that the other man is blind, and yet as the story progresses, we discover that the man who cannot see with his eyes can "see" better than Bub as far as having an understanding of the world and the people in it."
This paper discusses the difference in the English translations by poets Ronald Miao and Herbert Giles of the Chinese poem, "Boudoir Thoughts", originally written centuries ago by Hsu Kan.
Abstract This paper explains that there is a striking difference between Ronald Miao's translation of "Boudoir Thoughts" by Hsu Kan, which is closer to the text of the original, than the very Western-style translation by Herbert Giles. The author points out that, in Miao's translation, the speaker seems to be mourning the loss of the beloved without blame or bitterness; whereas, in Giles's reinterpretation, the speaker seems alienated from the beloved and filled with bitterness. The paper relates that the general tone of the poem in Miao's translation is quieter and has more resigned speech; in Giles's translation, the tone is far more exorbitant and uses passionate words.
From the Paper "This difference begins when Giles addresses the clouds directly, as if they were human: ?O floating clouds... bear on your wings these words... Alas, you float along nor heed my pain, and leave me here...? Giles looks at the clouds and sees them as cruel beings who will betray and abandon the poet. Miao, on the other hand, uses the silence of the clouds as a way to show the scale of the poet in relationship to the world, and to express not abandonment but distance."
Abstract This paper explains that New Jersey was typical of states in the North that were not wholeheartedly anti-slavery, and yet had many activists who were bitterly opposed to slavery. The author points out that, in the 17th century, slaves were brought into New Netherland (New Jersey) from Jamaica, Barbados, Curacao, and Antigua. The slave population continued to grow, and in the 1790s, several "gradual emancipation" bills were voted down in the New Jersey legislature, albeit "popular opinion and party newspapers cautiously shifted" towards an anti-slavery position. The paper concludes that, after the end of legal slavery and for a century after the Civil War, there were still vestiges of the "paternalistic cottager system" in which African-Americans worked for whites on isolated farms, reflecting the continued bitterness of the Civil War.
Table of Contents
Introduction
New Jersey History of Slavery
The Civil War and New Jersey
From the Paper "After the war, despite the heroism that many black soldiers displayed in defeating the South, "New Jersey's white population remained hostile" to the idea of giving blacks full citizen rights (p. 194). The author, in his Epilogue, explains why it was not easy to rid New Jersey of slavery notwithstanding federal law that demanded the end of slavery: he writes that slavery in Monmouth was not a "fad" which could be easily "forgotten," but to the contrary, it was "a custom two centuries in the making" (p. 203)."
Abstract This essay looks at Geoffrey Chaucer's take on the Middle Ages in "The Canterbury Tales". The author discusses how Chaucer views the medieval church, the clergy, and the corruption through his writings, particularly through his characters of the monk, the pardoner, and the prioress. The paper focuses a great deal on the workings of the Christian church during medieval times.
From the Paper "In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer paints an interesting picture of the medieval church. The Christian Church provided leadership for the people of Western Europe . Saint Augustine was not the most diplomatic of men, and managed to antagonize many people of power who had never been particularly eager to save the souls of the Anglo-Saxons who had brought such bitter times to their people. When Augustine died, Christianity had only an unstable hold on Anglo-Saxon England. The Roman Empire had fallen, and ?although the people of Europe no longer honored one ruler, they gradually began to worship the same God.?
Abstract This paper is an analysis of "All Quiet on the Western Front". It focuses on the effects of World War I on both the soldiers and society. The author discusses how the soldiers are separated and alienated from society due to the fact that no one can truly comprehend the horrors of the war and the returning soldiers are unable to communicate with those who have not experienced it.
From the paper:
"Erich Maria Remarque's literary breakthrough, All Quiet on the Western Front, still stands at the forefront of a host of novels on that most tragic recurrence in the history of human experience: war. It meticulously chronicles the thoughts of a soldier in World War I while simultaneously detailing the horrors of all wars. The war is seen through the eyes of Paul Baumer, the mouthpiece for Remarque's bitter critique of the ideals of patriotism and nationalism that drove nations into this catastrophe."
Tags: erich, maria, remarque, war, baumer, paul, soldier
Abstract This essay examines the circumstances behind Hitler's rise to power. It studies the rise of German nationalism and anti-Semitism, the economic ruin faced after WWI, the bitter way in which Germans held their surrender in WWI, and the unsuitability of the ultra-democratic Weimar Republic in facing these problems.
From the Paper "Although Hitler never won "a full majority in a free election" , the Nazis had secured a large share of the electorate by the beginning of the 1930s. This happened despite widespread violence on the part of the SA, anti-Semitic and anti-Slav policies, and being the most right wing political party in Germany. Social and economic problems were blamed on party politics and inept politicians; extremists offered, if little else, strength and political efficiency. "
Abstract The writer briefly summarizes the main plot of this short story and proceeds to examine the various symbols as laid out by the author. The main symbol is the necklace itself and what it represents in the world of riches and vanity. The writer shows that in the end, all the work was in vain and the previous considerations of youth and beauty were replaced by bitterness for what could have been.
From the Paper "In his short story, "The Necklace", Guy Maupassant uses a variety of symbols to help bring out the main theme: that the preoccupation with appearance is vain and worthless. Certainly, the main theme within the short story is the necklace itself, which comes to symbolize Mathilde's vanity.
""The Necklace" is a short story where the main character, Mathilde Loise, is vain and greatly concerned with her appearance. One night, she borrows an exorbitantly expensive necklace from a rich friend of hers, and subsequently revels in showing off the necklace at a ball. She feels that the necklace better shows off her youthful beauty, and loves the attention that she receives in her fine dress and the expensive necklace."
A focus on the themes of violence, terror, sadism, death, insanity and sexual frustration. An exploration of the bitterness in his stories and his critical/psychological interpretations.
2,025 words (approx. 8.1 pages), 5 sources, 1989, $ 71.95
From the Paper The Violence and Terror of Poe
"The stories of Edgar Allan Poe are so filled with cruelty and sadism as to suggest a psychological unbalance on the part of the author. His violent themes - a tortured prisoner in a dungeon of the Inquisition, a man plastered alive into the wall of a tomb, the brutal murder of a cat by its crazed owner, and a man viciously killed because of his vulture eye - raise questions about the author's motivation - was it literary or personal? A study of Poe's life suggests that his obsession with violence and terror was not a reflection of the current literary movement, but a reflection of his own tortured psyche.
Poe was raised in an atmosphere of death and alienation. His mother died when he was three-years-old, leaving him an orphan - his father having long since disappeared. He was raised..."
A discussion of the presence and significance of supernatural forces in "The Piano Lesson" by August Wilson and "Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush" by Virginia Hamilton.
Abstract This paper studys the element of supernatural in the two books "The Piano Lesson" by August Wilson and "Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush" by Virginia Hamilton and how supernatural elements exist in two different forms in these texts. It shows that while there are the ordinary ghosts figures in these stories, there are also ghosts which represent the past conflicts and bitterness thus giving a new dimension to apparitions and use of supernatural. It reviews each book in turn, paying close attention to the instances where a reference is made to supernatural elements to see how they affect the plot and why their presence is important.
From the Paper " Sutter's apparition appears to remind everyone of his or her repulsive past but it also helps the characters fight and ultimately conquers their fears. This means that supernatural is not presented to create fear or horror but to highlight the fears, which resided inside Bernice's heart and which were to be conquered in order to resolve the conflict that existed between herself and Boy Willie. Apart from that there are various other ways in which supernatural is referred to. For example the death of many white men near the railroad is attributed to Yellow Dog Ghosts who, it is believed, are avenging the death of Willie's father. "
