Abstract This paper is an analysis of "Bless me, Ultima," by author Rudolfo Anaya. It examines the quest for identity of a young boy named Tony, in order to demonstrate to the reader that true knowledge and understanding takes a lifetime, or longer, to achieve.
From the Paper "In Tony's search for understanding, he comes along several dead ends, but as he begins the next chapter of his life he finally realizes that the understanding he was searching for may take a lifetime or more to gain. In the key passage Tony's dad explicitly shares with Tony the revelation he had. "Understanding comes with life…sometimes it takes a lifetime to acquire understanding."(Pg. 248) Although Tony had started to realize the quest for knowledge was an unending one before his father told him, his father's words only confirmed those beliefs."
Abstract This paper discusses why Rudolfo A. Anaya's book, "Bless Me, Ultima", should not be banned, as it simply reflects the views and lifestyles of the Mexican-American heritage. It looks at how, although detractors have argued that the book promotes witchcraft and devil worship, the book is actually a more complex look at the conflicts between indigenous culture and spirituality and Western culture and the Catholic religion. It also explores how the banning of "Bless Me, Ultima" raises serious issues about banning books because they contain controversial themes or issues. Such bans challenge the very nature of democracy and the tradition of respecting diversity of religious and political thought in the United States of America.
From the Paper "Bless Me, Ultima, tells the story of six-year-old Antonio Marez, who grows up in New Mexico in the 1940s. The story begins as Antonio's family takes the elderly Ultima into their home. Writes Anaya, "Ultima was a curandera, a woman who knew the herbs and remedies of the ancients, a miracle-worker who could heal the sick. And I had heard that Ultima could lift the curses laid by brujas, that she could exorcise the evil the witches planted in people to make them sick. And because a curandera had this power she was misunderstood and often suspected of practicing witchcraft herself" (p. 5). Throughout the story, Ultima acts as a spiritual guide to Antonio, who is torn between his mother Maria's a devout Catholicism and the spirituality that Ultima represents."
Abstract This essay, using Rudolfo Anaya's Novel 'Bless Me Ultima', explores the connection between loss of world awareness and maturity. The loss of innocence of a young boy and his exposure to evil force him to mature. By exploring each of
the characters experiences with evil, this essay explores how maturity is achieved.
Abstract This paper is on the author Anaya and the novel written by him "Bless me, Ultima". It includes the description of the novel, the author and a topic from his writings that's concern with immigration.
Abstract This paper discusses the short story, "The Blessed House," written by Jhumpa Lahiri. The paper discusses the theme of the story which looks at how people can sometimes become so affected by something that they eventually come to cherish it, even though it has almost nothing to do with them. The paper describes the plot of the story and how this theme is portrayed.
From the Paper "A new side of Sanjeev thus comes out when all these Christian artifacts are found in his house and his wife Twinkle wants to show them off. At first he gets mad easily over them, as is shown while the whole party is in the attic and he feels like throwing all of the Christian materials away; however he later comes to accept them because he realizes deep down inside how much they mean to his wife. Since he truly loves his wife he will not get rid of them because they make her happy. Happiness sometimes comes at a price which he becomes willing to pay for her. So as his true love comes out for her it is shown that although the artifacts made him mad or aggravated in the beginning, in the end they become responsible for making things work out for the better."
Abstract The paper discusses how James Wright's poem "A Blessing" celebrates the wonders of nature and expresses the poet's strong desire to become one with that world. The paper relates that the poet wishes to leave the human world behind in order to become a flower, the most beautiful emblem of nature.
From the Paper "The poem begins with a fairly straightforward description of a car ride: "Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota, / Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass." Right away, it becomes apparent that the poet has left the world of human civilization behind, as his immediate observations are taken up with nature; he is clearly more interested in the twilight on the grass than he is in the highway, and the rest of the poem will be taken up with evocations of nature, the "here and now," rather than the place from which the poem just came. This effectively gives the poem a feeling of placelessness, of being situated somewhere outside of time, where the only thing that truly matters is what happens in each line of the short poem."
Abstract This paper discusses some of the themes in the novel "Bless Me, Ultima," by Rudolfo Anaya. The writer describes several of the important symbols in the novel such as the owl, which symbolizes the power of magic and Antonio's connection with the world of magic and spirituality. The symbolism of the carp and the river are also explained. In addition, the writer describes the inner conflict in Antonio between Catholicism, the religion of his mother, and the polytheistic Llano religion of his father, and explains how his relationship with Ultima, the healer, leads to the resolution of this conflict.
From the Paper "The golden carp is another symbol of spirituality representing wisdom, comfort and moral guidance. Nonetheless, it reinforces the idea that moral percepts are equally valid irrespective of the religion they operate in. In fact, the carp is the symbol of the core of all religions, i.e., the morality of faith. At first, Antonio rejects the carp because he thinks its calling means betraying his own God, i.e. the God of the Catholic faith. In time, Antonio learns hat the carp can actually help him build his own identity, and find answers to his personal questions. In this sense, the carp is much more than a magical fish. It represents moral authority which is capable of providing answers, very much like the power of any religion to comfort and help its followers."
Abstract This paper examines the second generation of the Unification Church as an American subculture following the Cold War. It begins by describing the background and biases of the researcher, then goes into an overview of the Church's religious beliefs and culture. Then, the paper examines the role of second generation Unificationists, or "Blessed Children," as they are known within the Church. Blessed Children are crucial to the Church's survival, so the writer examines their position in the Church from the perspective of the Church, from the perspective of parents, and from the perspective of the Blessed Children themselves. The paper describes the challenges of being Blessed Children, as well as the problems the Church will face as the second generation comes into power.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Overview of Religious Beliefs
True Father and His Divine Principle
The Blessing The Spirit World
Holidays and Other Religious Traditions
Chapter 2: The Importance of Blessed Children: The Mission, Should You
Choose to Accept it...
True Parents' Words
The Blessed Children's Blessing - "Who's Going to Take
Responsibility?"
What Will the Future Bring?
Chapter 3: "You have been born with responsibility, whether you like it
or not." - How Blessed Children view their role in the Church
The Blessing, Purity, and the Lineage
"Living for the sake of others"
Problems and the Future of the Unification Church
Chapter 4: Concluding Remarks
Bibliography
From the Paper "The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity was founded in South Korea in 1954 by Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Moon was born in 1920 in South Korea, and raised Presbyterian. When he was fifteen years old, Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision, and told him to finish the work that Jesus had been unable to do. Through this encounter, Moon learned that Jesus was not actually God, and that the Christian concept of the Trinity is in error. It also turns out that Jesus' mission in life was to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth, by marrying a perfect woman and having a perfect family. According to Unificationist belief, Jesus and his wife were to become the Second Adam and Eve, and through their union they would be able to restore the perfect order of creation that was disrupted when the first man and woman fell from God's grace in the Garden of Eden. Unfortunately, due to the Jews' unbelief that he was the Messiah, Jesus was put to death before being able to realize this mission. He was, however, able to offer spiritual salvation for those who believed in him - i.e. Christians. Physical salvation would be impossible until the Third Adam was sent by God to finish what Jesus began. With the perfect marriage of the Third Adam, the Third Adam and his wife will become the "true spiritual parents of all humankind." Members of the Unification Church believe that Rev. Moon and his wife are the long-awaited Third Adam and Eve, and thus refer to them as True Parents. Members of the first generation of Unificationists are thus True Parents' children; more specifically, they carry the name Jacob's Children. Jacob was a historical figure in the book of Genesis, a book whose history forms the foundation for much of Unificationist teachings."
Abstract By comparing Irving Berlin's song, "God Bless America", to Woody Guthrie's song "This Land is Your Land", this paper attempts to determine if Guthrie's song was a patriotic song or was intended as a way to open our eyes to what America had become. The paper relates that while Berlin's "God Bless America" projects a sense of pride, joy and gratification for a land of freedom, Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land", in addition to beginning with the same delight and honor in America, also describes the heartache and devastation that America faces in her own land. The paper concludes that the two songs were not written to convey the same emotions even though both use the poetic sightings of imagery, symbolism, visual connotations to express their feelings and tone.
From the Paper "Although, there are different concepts that Guthrie and Berlin used for America are quite simply stated in reading both poems, they both place focus on love for America as well as an undying devotion to her. Berlin placed great focus on the superior side of America and what she has to offer. While Guthrie, started off in the same manner, he turned it to asking the question "was this land made for you and me"? And if so then why do we have people hurting here? Why do we have signs to keep people out when in deed the other side was made for you and me? "
Abstract A look at the revolutionary changes during the Victorian period. The author examines changes in religion, poetry and views of love and faith. The author discusses the change of love to a form of faith in Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach" and Dante Gabriel Rossetti's "The Blessed Damozel".
From the Paper "In a time when Darwinian ideas and new technological breakthroughs were reinventing the concepts of reality, faith itself was sometimes hard to find in the Victorian Period. Poets of the time rejected the previous era of peace in nature and unquestioning praise of God, and the Victorian poetry gave images and concepts that were more troubling than the idealized ballads of the Romantic Period. As Tennyson wrote, ?Byron is dead,? and so, too, was the romanticized view of life that accompanied the poet. The age was saturated in questions of religion and the whereabouts of God, and many poets used this religious skepticism as a springboard for numerous celebrated poems. The Victorian Period was a time of creating poetry as means of redefining the human soul, and many efforts were made to redefine one's faith as well. To many poets of the Victorian Period, religious faith was all but dead, and love had emerged as the new faith."
Tags: arnold, beach, blessed, damozel, dover, romantic, rosetti
Abstract This paper examines the late twentieth century Catholic theology of Matthew Fox which was banned by the Vatican for a period of time. It describes his fundamental theology of Jesus? positive teaching of the "beautiful life" and the ?original blessing?. The paper describes many of his controversial beliefs, in which living a spiritual life is not a matter of religion but a matter of actions.
Table of Contents:
Background
Fox Responds to the Outcry
Fox on Christianity
The Tasks of Humanity
Fox and the Future
Bibliography
From the Paper "Matthew Fox is a literary groundbreaker in the world of theology, in particular the doctrines of the Catholic Church. His 1983 first-book, Original Blessing is a solid look at the blessings of life rather than the concept of original sin. The notion of Original sin is a central tenet to the Catholic Doctrine, and in 1989 the Vatican silenced Fox for one full year because of his teachings from Original Blessings."
Tags: original, sin, blessing, life, vatican, jesus, environment
This Masters paper discusses how, despite so many advantages, new forms of technology also downplay, rather than facilitate, the globalization processes.
1,900 words (approx. 7.6 pages), 4 sources, 2002, $ 71.95
Abstract This Masters paper discusses how, despite so many advantages, new forms of technology also downplay, rather than facilitate, the globalization processes.
Tags: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY / TECHNOLOGIES AND SOCIETY, blessing or curse
Abstract The concept that countries that are endowed with natural resources such as oil, natural gas, and gold should exploit them to promote economic growth and development has long been recognized as one of the fundamental principles of development economics. The principle of comparative advantage also maintains that countries should exploit those factors that they hold in greatest abundance. The revenues that are generated by natural resources can be used to assist in the promotion of economic growth in this view, which will then allow the economy to diversify and produce the kinds of higher value-added goods that are necessary to further accelerate economic development. The resource curse theory. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of peer-reviewed and scholarly literature to determine the relationship between economic growth and human capital, and what current theories and models provide insights into this process. A case study of Nigerian underdevelopment is presented to determine how, in spite of abundant natural resources, the country has failed to fully realize the potential of many of its natural resources. Further, research on the role of western nations in conflicts in Africa as an indirect factor for the mismanagement of natural resources in Africa is also provided. A summary of the research, salient conclusions and timely recommendations are presented in the concluding chapter. The paper includes tables and graphs.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of Study
Importance of Study
Scope of Study
Rationale of Study
Overview of Study
Chapter 2
Review of Related Literature
Chapter 3
Methodology
Description of the Study Approach
Data-gathering Method and Database of Study
Chapter 4
Data Analysis
Chapter 5
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
From the Paper "While petroleum products are a relative newcomer to Nigeria's "resource curse" mix, coal and tin have been mined in the country since the early colonial period; however, coal production decreased following World War II, as a consequence of the redirection of resources to the potentially more lucrative oil industry. Nevertheless, substantial coal reserves of varying quality remain throughout Nigeria's south-central states (see map at Appendix B) in a strip of country that stretches from Benin to Cameroon. Furthermore, columbite and tin can be found in the Jos Plateau and there are iron-ore deposits in the Lokoja area (situated close to the Ajaokuta steel complex in the lower Niger valley)."
A discussion of the restrictions of the basic human rights as depicted in "Life in the Iron Mills" by Rebecca Harding Davis and "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs.
Abstract This paper looks at how the divine human right exists as a blessing instilled upon each and every human being. It focuses on how the characters of Hugh Wolfe, in "Life in the Iron Mills" by Rebecca Harding Davis, and Harriet Jacobs, in "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs, are both denied their basic human rights. It analyzes the circumstances in which each lived and their attempt to change their destiny by seizing the moment. It shows how they are both perfect examples of how general welfare, the blessings of liberty and posterity, and basic human rights are stolen from the meek and given to a blind, ruling society or class.
From the Paper "Another character that began with nothing and was restricted from her God given rights was Harriet Jacobs. Similarly to Hugh Wolfe, Harriet Jacobs a slave was restrained from her right to life, and as Wolfe seized his one and only opportunity for betterment by stealing money, Jacobs seizes her one and only opportunity to better her life. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is an autobiographical piece that offers a unique female prospective on the plight of slaves, especially female slaves during the Civil War. Being restricted her natural rights, Harriet Jacobs's fights against a society that judges individual societal roles by the color of her skin. In the 1850?s, this determined the path in which her life would travel. A future, pre-destined even before her birth, morphed into a struggle for freedom and equality."
Abstract Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in the modern American tragedy "Death of a Salesman", is like Oedipus, more cursed than blessed, although he too has enjoyed his share of blessings on a smaller scale: A devoted wife; two healthy sons; a once lucrative job, home ownership: The trappings of the "American Dream". The paper explains that Oedipus, before his downfall, is King of Thebes; Willy, though no monarch, is esteemed by his wife, sons and community (at least until Biff's discovery of him with another woman). It shows however, that both Oedipus and Willy are doomed by their own excessive pride, which blinds each of them to the realities of their own, and others' strengths, limitations and potential. As a result, even though Oedipus is a king and Willy Loman is merely a salesman, both are tragic characters.
From the Paper "In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is doomed by fate. In Death of a Salesman, Willy is doomed by a combination of fate and his own stubborn beliefs and actions (and inactions). Oedipus's descent is from a higher place, a kingdom, yet each character still loses all that matters. Moreover, both will die, though differently: Oedipus from exposure due to exile; Willie by suicide. Both are defeated and ultimately destroyed by their own overweening pride, which blinds both characters to the realities of their own, and others, existences and circumstances."
