Abstract This paper reviews Steven Butler's article "Korea: Echoes of a War". The author recounts Butler's brief account on the events leading up to America's involvement in Korea and his feelings of hopelessness in restoring unity in Korea. The paper relates Butler's claims that the process of restoring unity was more difficult than anyone could have imagined and also explains his seeming bias towards the American government for getting involved in the war. The paper also critiques Butler's article as being vague and that his hope for resolution which should have been apparent in the article becomes lost in details that are interesting but not necessary.
From the Paper "Steven Butler's main idea in the article "Korea: Echoes of a War" is that hope, even 50 years after the fact, seems too much to ask for when it comes to Korea and its government. Butler provides a brief account of what lead up to America's involvement with Korea and how, at the end of the day, everyone involved suffered from the Korean War save North Korea, a country that lives in division today. Butler hopes for hope but it is diminished by the events of the past and present circumstances."
This paper discusses O. Butler's "Kindred", a complex novel, which makes a strong comment that slavery continues to exist in 20th century America, manifested in the economic oppression of certain social classes.
Abstract This paper explains Butler's intent to explore the finer nuances of freedom is evident in the very fact that she chose the America's bicentennial year of freedom, 1976, as the time for situating her 20th century African-American protagonist. The author points out that, by using carefully chosen words and a matter-of-fact tone, Butler places, in perspective, modern day society, which treats certain classes of human beings as invisible people, undeserving of recognition and respect. The paper relates that the core of Butler's message is that the freedom finally obtained by the blacks was hard won and paid for by the suffering and loss of several lives, as symbolized by Kevin's scar and Dana's loss of one arm.
From the Paper "In fact, "Kindred "is full of such sleight-of-hand symbolisms. Take, for example, Dana's marriage to Kevin, a white man. Their union, in spite of the misgivings of both their families, is a rich metaphor for human integration the way it should be, free of racial, color or class barriers. Similarly, it is significant that Dana, a black woman, is the one summoned to rescue her white ancestor, Rufus, every time his life is in danger. Indeed, Dana's meeting with the child, Rufus, is her first inkling of the humiliation suffered by her ancestors. For, here was a small boy advising her that she had to address him as ?master,? while simultaneously calling her by the deprecating term "nigger" ."
Abstract This paper investigates William Butler Yeats' passion along with his politics and his political changes, within the context of a select number of poems. The paper begins with a brief description of the poet and the Irish literature that characterized the period. Additionally, the paper looks at how Yeats' politics changed over time and the influence that his relationship with Maud Gonne had on his politics and his beliefs.
Table of Contents
Introduction
William Butler Yeats
Passion and Politics
Conclusion
From the Paper "William Butler Yeats (W.B. Yeats) was born in 1865 in Dublin, Ireland. However his family moved to London where Yeats was reared. Yeats returned to Dublin in 1881 where he studied at the Metropolitan School of Art. Historians note that Yeats as fascinated with mysticism and the supernatural; this interest greatly affected the way in which he wrote. His first writings were published in 1885 and remained active in the literary world throughout his life as a poet and dramatist. Yeats received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1923.Yeats' married Georgie Hyde-Lee in 1917 but his first love and the inspiration for many of his poems was Maud Gonne an Irish activist. He continued writing and lived in Ireland for the rest of his life. He died in a French hotel in 1939."
Abstract This paper evaluates how H. L. A. Hart and P. Devlin would assess the 1992 Canadian Supreme Court decision R. v. Butler. In so doing the paper clearly expresses an understanding of the debate between Hart and Devlin and applies the salient themes and or arguments of that debate to the Butler decision. Finally, the paper argues for one position or the other when determining whether or not the 1992 ruling was a just and equitable one. Specifically, the paper argues that Hart's position is more tenable than either Devlin's or the Supreme Court decision.
Abstract This paper examines how, in the introduction to the "History of Sexuality", Foucault argues that in the 17th century the role of sex and sexual activity in the discourse of western society made a fundamental and radical change. It also looks at how, in "Discipline and Punish", Foucault argues that obsessions over sexuality and society's approval or disapproval of specific actions occurs because of the infinite diffusion of power which is found as the basis of western society. In comparison, it looks at how two decades later, Butler employed themes from Foucault's philosophy in order to argue her case for the arbitrariness of anatomical sex, gender identity and gender performance. It shows that through the arguments in her work, "Gender Trouble", Butler concludes that there is no essential relationship between a person's anatomical sex, her self-identified gender and the gender performance she enacts to fulfill society's expectations of the norm.
From the Paper "Foucault's analysis of discourses on sex comes as a reaction to the more commonly-held belief that there was a society-wide discourse of repression in regards to sex. Foucault argues against this; he questions whether or not "sexual repression is truly an established historical fact"; whether "prohibition, censorship, and denial truly the forms through which power is exercised in a general way, if not in every society, most certainly in our own"; and whether "there really was a historical rupture between the age of repression and the critical analysis of repression". Foucault argues that through the evolution of Christian pastoral practices, specifically that of confessions regarding sexual sins, society was compelled to begin an elaborate and never-ceasing discourse on sex. "
Abstract This paper presents a summary and analysis of "Parable of the Sower". The paper takes a look at biblical references in Butler's sci-fi story, as well as its parallels to the modern world and where our society may be headed.
From the Paper "Octavia E. Butler, the grande dame of science fiction, writes extraordinary, inspirational stories of ordinary people. Parable of the Sower is an ultimately hopeful tale set in a dystopian future United States of walled cities, disease, fires, and madness. Butler brings forth an utterly nightmarish vision of California in 2025, but one with a shockingly firm grounding in reality. Society, plagued by global warming and other detriments that Butler keeps unspecified, has collapsed. Los Angeles has devolved into walled island neighborhoods in a sea of utter chaos, (Butler, 23). Residents have been forced to themselves to keep from being overrun by hoards of homeless and starving just beyond the walls. Gangs of thugs rape, pillage and, under the influence of a drug called pyro, burn whole neighborhoods to the ground for the sheer joy of destruction. Everything we take for granted today now comes with a price. No one can be trusted. Violence is a way of life. People hear gunfire so much that [they no longer] hear it, (Butler, 440). Slavery is returning."
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 The paper describes how Orton employs a variety of signs and symbols in "What the Butler Saw" to facilitate interpretation and more importantly, misinterpretation in the Prentice house. It discusses how the playwright relies on mayhem as a dramatic tool, but beyond the madness there is a method that Orton wants us to evaluate gender, crime and the medical establishment with.
From the Paper ""Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar," Sigmund Freud is quoted as saying, to which Geraldine Barclay replies, "But it is a cigar!" So ends Joe Orton's 1969 play, Geraldine by now having been through sexual harassment, gender transformation and internment in an institution of mental health. "What The Butler Saw" is a play primarily obsessed with the interpretationaE"and misinterpretationaE"of symbols, signs and language. This paper will examine the ways in which each of the characters function to interpret the world of the play and the way that their interpretation informs us about them and their world."
Abstract The paper demonstrates how the three parts of the poem reflect the elegiac, apostrophe and poetic mimicry of Yeats' verse in Auden's "In Memory of William Butler Yeats." The paper discusses that while the poem immediately shows a traditional form of reflection and commemoration of Yeats's life and his death in the modern world, it is clear that Auden sought to idealize the naturalism and mythical mastery that Yeats beheld in poetical history.
From the Paper "This study will examine the three parts of W.H. Auden's poem: "In Memory of William Butler Yeats." In the first part of the poem, Auden uses a reflective elegiac ideology to commemorate a poet that he held in high literary regard. After Auden describes the differing social perspectives of Yeats' influence on the world, the second part of the poem brings forth an apostrophe that speaks to Yeats as a brother in poetry. Finally, the third part of the poem is written in verse style of Yeats, as Auden brings to life the actual poetic talents that his hero had emulated in his lifetime. In essence, the three parts of the elegy will be examined within the context of the style that Auden has chosen to commemorate William Butler Yeats."
Abstract This paper explains that William Butler Yeats 'poem 'No Second Troy', from the collection "From the Green Helmet and Other Poems", employs myths as significant tools of ideology articulation. Yeats' use of Homeric myths to bring about a conflation of opposite spaces of the private and public, heroic past and turbulent present and love and war is examined by the author. The paper underscores that the poem was written when Yeats was disillusioned by the Irish nationalist movement and was highly critical of Maud Gonne's participation in it.
From the Paper "Similarly, fire as a basic element of nature with its extreme attributes of intense heat and light can be simultaneously associated with both passion and violence. Moreover, the poem with its four rhetorical questions, with harsh-syllabled words like: "violent ways", "hurled", "burn" and war-like images of bow and fire, together culminate into a highly loaded and strained experience of an anguished lover whose love has been repeatedly thwarted. For this reason, the poem leaves a lot of room for psychoanalytic interpretations."
An in-depth examination of the reputation and military career of Union Major General Benjamin F. Butler, occupying commader of New Orleans after the Civil War.
Abstract General Butler was the occupying commander of New Orleans from May 1, 1862 to December 1862-seven months. The paper describes how Butler was vilified in New Orleans, the Confederate States and in some foreign countries, while being honored as a civil war hero, political mediator between the races and brilliant administrator in the North. The paper examines how one man, in just seven months, could create such an enduring negative legacy among the people of New Orleans. It examines his convergence of social, economic, culture and personality traits which resulted in the creation of Benjamin Franklin Butler, ?The Beast of New Orleans.? The paper shows that Butler's behavior throughout the Civil War, particularly during his occupation of New Orleans, Louisiana, was a direct affront to the beliefs of the Southern mentality. His political haranguing, traitorous behavior and harsh treatment of southerners are legendary.
Table of Contents
Louisiana's Background--Emphasis on New Orleans
Benjamin F. Butler's Background
Outbreak of the Civil War
The Siege of New Orleans
The Occupation of New Orleans
Butler the Extremist
New Orleans Women's Resistance Movement
The Women's Order
Official Southern Reaction to the Women's Order
Butler the Opportunist
President Jefferson Davis' Proclamation
Lasting Effects of Butler's Occupation Butler's Continued Attack of the People of New Orleans after the Civil War
Effect on the People of New Orleans Before and After the Civil War
From the Paper "Order No. 28 deserves to be explained in layman's terms. Butler is in effect stating that if the women of New Orleans did not cease and desist with their resistance agenda they would be treated as prostitutes and dealt with accordingly. Meaning, ?any woman who didn't want to be raped by Yankee soldiers, now kept her silence on the streets.?
To truly understand the impact of this Order it is important to realize the social climate in which it was given. The world at large was still a chivalric place. Men were brought up to defend the honor of a woman's virtue. The people of the southern United States took this practice with the utmost seriousness. With war raging on their home soil, the defense of the women took on a new importance.
Butler was saying that the women who were trying to thwart the Union occupation were no better than a common trollop was. This riled up the fervor of the Confederate men, and brought outrage from abroad as well. "The Beast" was born."
Abstract In "Gender Trouble", Judith Butler provides an in-depth inquiry into the nature of social differences between the genders in the tradition of feminist critical theory. This paper explains how, building upon the traditional theories of those such as Julia Kristeva, Butler addresses the role of women in the psychology of Freud, Lacan, Foucault and others. It shows that, rather than taking Kristeva's approach, however, Butler critiques Freud in another way, questioning the idea of male or female self-identification. Butler wishes to demonstrate that gender is an act, a set of customs and norms that are internalized for the sake of maintaining social ties and interactions in a "male vs. female" world.
From the Paper "Butler illustrates that there is a category, ?woman,? and seeks to discover its nature. She notes that in the work of Lacan and his contemporaries, "woman" was always the other of ?man,? and that women were not part of the equation: if one could say that psychology has a protagonist, the protagonist of the work of psychologists like Lacan and Freud was male or at the very least traditional. However, she notes that in feminist theory, the existence of the same category, "women" precludes other categorical notions that could preclude gender identity, such as race or class identity. As such, she claims that women are estranged in both psychoanalytical and feminist equations and that "women" is seen as a stronger category than other qualifiers such as class or cultural tradition."
Abstract In this essay, the writer notes that explaining and critiquing Judith Butler's notion of gender as performance requires examining her article, "Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire" and comparing Butler's views to those of other feminists and sociologists. The writer points out that Butler's notion of gender as performance is primarily based on her interpretations of Foucault and Nietzsche and can best be described as calling upon women to challenge the language of internalization by physically signifying their very essence, style, and necessity. The writer concludes that Butler's approach to formulating a feminist language involves overcoming cultural constructs of gender by redefining gender as performance and rejecting outmoded forms of expressing gender identity and sexuality.
From the Paper "In practical terms, this means that acts, gestures, and expressions of desires create the illusion of a socially conformist gender identity, which reflects society's determination to regulate sexuality in accordance with traditional standards of acceptable conduct and behavior."
"Through insights such as this, sociologists like Butler have contributed to a broader understanding of gender issues, for they have studied unexamined aspects of gender such as the sexuality of women who have desires considered to be on the margins of society, and have examined manifestations of gender behavior that lie outside the traditional areas of social interaction. Some of their conclusions have stirred controversy, but this is to be expected in a prevailing social and cultural environment which discourages frank discussions about sexuality."
Abstract This paper examines Richard Butler"s; "The Greatest Threat: Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the Crisis of Global Security" in which he describes how Iraq and its threat to the world through the use of weapons of mass destruction is one of the most pressing problems America currently faces. It looks at the book's content and measures it against the current U.S. foreign policies. It also examines how Richard Butler served as the chairman of UNSCOM, the committee that was charged with inspecting Iraq following the first Gulf War in 1991 and which was charged with checking Iraq for evidence of the manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction.
From the Paper "Butler tells of the work he tried to complete with the committee and the fact that the inspection team was eventually thrown out of Iraq. In an almost Late Great Planet Earth type eeriness his predictions of the future are coming to pass and his insistence on the importance of continued diligence with regard to Saddam Hussein has become the national cry of the majority of Americans. As Butler explains the purpose of the United Nations Special Commission and its members it begins to sound like a recital of the United States current foreign nation policy. It is extremely interesting that the events triggering the book happened a decade before the current Iraq situation and resolution by America to go in with or without the world's support and by doing so the nation believed it was strengthening global security."
Abstract This paper discusses how in his book, "Claiming the Mantle: How Presidential Nominations Are Won and Lost Before the Votes Are Cast", Butler argues that the process by which presidents are elected in the United States has never been truly on the up-and-up, but rather has always been controlled by behind-the-scenes actors with various agendas that have historically been the true key players in American presidential nominations and elections. The paper looks at how Butler argues that outcome is coordinated long before the actual events take place and that the extent to which these deep-rooted political structures and processes have influenced the course of the nation's history might come as a surprise to even the most politically informed and sophisticated American citizen today.
Outline:
Introduction
Review and Analysis.
Summary and Key Points of "Claiming the Mantle"
Analysis and Critique of Author's Methodology
Discussion of the Author's Conclusions
Important Implications of Author's Conclusions.
From the Paper "Money may not buy happiness, but it does help get a president elected and Butler emphasizes the importance of money to aspiring presidential candidates throughout his analysis. There are other forces at play, of course, the author advises, but by and large these all relates to coordinating candidate and political contributions to their maximum advantage. In this regard, the author emphasizes, "Without money and organization, a presidential candidate has no hope of winning the nomination" (Butler, 2004, p. 71). "Following the money" has always been a useful ways of finding out who benefits from what when there are some nebulous forces at work, and the presidential nomination process is no exception. There have been a number of new rules introduced over the years that have affected how and when these political contributions can be made and used, certainly, but the bottom line impact for most presidential candidates has remained the same. "
