Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the book, "A Personal Matter", by Kenzaburo Oe. Specifically, it discusses how the name "Bird" represents the characteristics of the main character and describes how his name corresponds to the actions he takes throughout the novel. It looks at how "Bird" is the perfect name for a character that flits from person to person, flies away when times are hard, and dreams of migrating to Africa to get away from his troubles at home. Bird is not ready for fatherhood or a family, and so he abandons the "nest" for revelry and excess until he finally takes responsibility for his actions and sheds his childhood nickname forever.

From the Paper
"Many of Bird's characteristics match those of the birds he is named after, from his appearance to the way he takes flight after he leaves his baby at the new hospital. He is flying away from his troubles, and acting as if he ignores them, they will disappear on the wind. This not only represents how Bird is like his namesakes, who fly away on the wind, it shows how immature he is, and how he may be 27 years old, but he is really still a boy. He would rather fly away than take responsibility for his "vegetable" son, and the only thing that gives him pleasure is running away from responsibility. Even his movements mimic that of a bird. He is often tentative, awkward, and gawky, just like an ungainly bird on land. He even reacts to adversity like a bird regurgitating up his whiskey like a bird regurgitates dinner for their young."

Tags:bird, family

From the Paper
" This study will examine the character of Bird and the point of view of the narrative in Kenzaburo Oe's novel A Personal Matter. Specifically, the study will explore the legitimacy or believability of the transformation of Bird from a self-centered and frightened man to one who is determined to be take his place in conventional society and to be responsible to his wife and handicapped child. There are certainly descriptions and scenes in the book which highlight the horrors in life, but the book overall has a thoroughly comic point of view. This comic perspective informs us that the transformation of the protagonist should perhaps not be taken with complete seriousness.

In part, Oe is exploring in this book what it means to be Japanese (or simply human) in the wake of World War II, a time when conventional definitions of reality had crumbled. Bird.."

Abstract
Kenzaburo Oe's novel entitled "A Personal Matter" is a personal narrative of the travails that he and his family went through during post-World War II Japan, a period wherein the country's citizens are experiencing suffering as a result of their nation's defeat in the war. This paper discusses an emergent theme that dominates the novel, which is the fatalistic attitude that the protagonist of the novel, Bird, assumes. Remarkably, the novel illustrates Bird's shift from being fatalistic to being an individual in control of himself and the course of his 'fate.' The discussion in this paper analyzes how this transition happens in "A Personal Matter," and how, through the theme of fatalism and concept of destiny, Oe's novel reflects Japanese society at a time when society is still struggling from a downfall politically and economically, to the detriment of the country's people. In effect, this paper argues that Bird's transition from being fatalistic to being a decisive individual reflects his eventual subsistence to asserting his control over his life, trusting and being himself in the midst of complexities in life that he faces.

From the Paper
"These insights about Bird's transition from being fatalistic to decisive become apparent when accounts of his previous behavior and attitude about his son's health problems are analyzed. In the first chapter of the novel, it is evident that Bird is at a crossroads, experiencing internal struggle as he seeks to reconcile his want to become free and live life as a bachelor and need to become a good father and husband for his family. Oe characterizes Bird as a stubborn and happy-go-lucky individual, whose ultimate goal in life is to travel in Africa, and is currently experiencing the distress of being a "family man": "Was he being forced to say good-by, in spite of himself, to the single and final occasion of dazzling tension in his youth? And what if I am? There's not a thing in hell I can do about it!" (3). This last utterance by Bird demonstrates his fatalistic attitude in life, where he passively accepts life as fate presents it to him, an individual who believes that can do nothing to change his fate, since it is already pre-determined."

Tags:father, japanese, literature

From the Paper
"Teach Us To Outgrow Our Madness is a collection of four short novels by Kenzaburo Oe which focus on the disillusionment of Japanese characters whose traditional values have been blasted away just as certainly as Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

Oe's early heroes have been expelled from the certainty of childhood, into a world that bears no relation to their past. The values that regulated life when they were growing up have been blown to smithereens . . . ' what confronts them now, the postwar world, is a gaping emptiness, enervation, a terrifying silence like the eternity that follows death (xv).

This does not mean that the characters in these stories are without hope, although that hope is hardly rooted in the real world. So alienated from that real world is the protagonist in..."

Tags:Japan

Abstract
The paper reveals that everything composed of ordinary familiar atoms like stars, planets, moons, comets and the whole lot from the tip of a needle to a mountain makes up about 4% of the universe. The paper then explains that the vast majority of the composition of the universe is a mysterious substance called dark energy and the remaining 22% is made up of the equally mysterious dark matter. The paper notes that dark matter does not give off light so we can't see it; however we know its there since it exerts a gravitational pull on the ordinary matter that we do see.

From the Paper
"Everything composed of ordinary familiar atoms like stars, planets, moons, comets and the whole lot from the tip of a needle to a mountain makes up about 4% of the universe. The vast majority of the composition of the universe is a mysterious substance called dark energy and the remaining 22% is made up of the equally mysterious dark matter. Dark matter does not give off light so we can't see it; however we know its there since it exerts a gravitational pull on the ordinary matter that we do see. Scientists have been aware of the possibility of the existence of dark matter since the 1930, however its composition remains unknown."

Tags:dark matter, universe, article

Abstract
In this paper, the writer critically examines Berkeley's first line of argument against the existence of matter that he presents in "A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge". This argument is frequently called "the Perception Argument" and is his first attempt to more firmly establish his central thesis of existence being tied into perception. The paper thoroughly explains the argument and presents Berkeley's responses to the most immediate objections that come up to it (the objections that are actually addressed in the text of his treatise). The writer also examines briefly how Berkeley's argument serves to contradict arguments regarding material substance made by Locke in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding". The paper then offers a more robust objection to Berkeley's Perception Argument that attacks some key assumptions that the argument clearly relies on, specifically those regarding relationships between matter and ideas that Berkeley clearly assumes do not exist. The objection is furthered by examining the sections where Berkeley assumes that matter does exist in an attempt to show that such an assumption involves manifest contradictions.

From the Paper
" Over the course of reading A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, it becomes evident that Berkeley is not so much trying to convince the reader of a certain opinion of the nature of the world and our perception of it as much as he is trying to present his actual, everyday perception of the world and his existence in it. Berkeley repeatedly says things like, "Some truths there are so near and obvious to the mind, that a man need only open his eyes to see them," (?6) that suggest the intuitive obviousness that he sees in his doctrine. Frequently, a tone of frustration comes through in his writing - especially in the sections dealing with possible objections to his theory (?34-84) - illustrative of the difficulty he must have been feeling in trying to get everyone else to see what was so damn obvious to him. As such, many of Berkeley's arguments in support of his particular fundamental beliefs seem to be afterthoughts of their respective conclusions. His vision of the nature of existence being grounded in "esse is percipi" (?3) is so strong that he does not always seem to be too concerned with the particular logic behind his supporting arguments. This is especially true when it comes to his arguments denying the existence of matter. In this paper, I will argue that, while Berkeley's conclusion regarding the non-existence of matter is quite profound, his actual arguments for this conclusion do not sufficiently verify it. To do this, I will examine the first argument Berkeley makes against the existence of matter, the so-called "Perception Argument." I will argue that this argument relies heavily on a fallacious line of reasoning about the nature of matter and the inability of matter to cause ideas in us. I will then examine several passages in Principles that support the idea that Berkeley's belief that matter does not exist is grounded largely in his - or anyone else's - inability to really define what matter is. "

Tags:argument, berkeley, idealism, idealists, ideas, locke, material, matter, perception, subjective, substance

Abstract
This paper discusses the personal values of the individual in relation to business and personal life. It further discusses how the cultural values of the corporation and the beliefs or ethics of the individual are incorporated into the employee's decision making. The paper also discusses how cultural values belong to the group, and personal ethics are individual. These two concepts must match in order to create an effective personal value statement.

From the Paper
"In developing a personal values statement for personal and professional life, it is important to consider the effect of organizational, cultural, and personal values on the individual. Bond, Boonstra, Cheosakul, Fu, Higashide, Howell, Kennedy, Koopman, Lacassagne, Pasa, Peng, Prieto, Strinivas, Tata, and Yukl (2004) contend that values are "long lasting" (p. 284). These authors further state that there is a significant difference between the beliefs of an individual, and the values of a group or organization (Bond et al., 2004, p. 284). The theory of "beliefs" suggest that a personal viewpoint is being evaluated, while values suggest that a large number of people are sharing in one set of behaviors that will be best suited to the organization."

Tags:personal, values, business

Abstract
Personal beliefs and personal histories lead readers to interpret the meaning and symbols of a text from their own unique perspective. This paper examines how the personal experience of isolation and detachement from others resulting in interpretting the centreal theme of Lee Sky's novel "Disappearing Moon Cafe" as isolation as a result of immigrating.

From the Paper
Personal Beliefs and Readings of a Text Individuals are drawn to different texts for different reasons. The experience and interpretation of a text is highly influenced by the personal experiences and beliefs of the reader. This paper will explore how my own unique set of experiences and history influenced my interpretation of Sky Lee's novel `Disappearing Moon CafAfA(c)'. `Disappearing Moon CafAfA(c)' details the experiences of many men and women's experience with immigration. My interpretation of the theme in the novel was that the author used symbolism, language and sentence structure to convey a theme of isolation and detachment. I have never immigrated, but I

Tags:analysis, literature, personal beliefs

Abstract
This paper introduces, discusses and reviews the book "Personal Voices" by Emily Honig and Gail Hershatter. The paper examines both personal and social changes experienced by women in China over the past 100 years.

From the Paper
"Just as the government of mainland China has undergone extensive change in the last years, so have the women of China as they struggled to adapt to a changing political landscape. This paper will review the book, "Personal Voices" by Emily Honig and Gail Hershatter and discuss some of the societal changes as well as personal changes that many women have gone through from pre-Liberation China to the People's Republic of China, the time period covered in the book. Specifically, this discussion will focus on the different roles..."

Tags:Personal Voices, China, women, social roles

Abstract
This paper describes the student's personal values development--the people and other factors that have influenced the development of personal values, and what some of those values are.

From the Paper
The development of my personal values has come about through a variety of sources. One of the first influences was my close relationship with my grandmother who was a Greek immigrant..."

Tags:personal values, influences, developmental