Use of Imagery in Chopin’s The Awakening Essay -- Chopin Awakening

Use of Imagery in Chopin’s The Awakening Several passages in The Awakening struck me because of their similar imagery—a bird, wings, and nudity. The first passage I looked at is in Chapter 9 where Edna Pontellier has a vision of a naked man â€Å"standing beside a desolate rock† (47) on a beach who is watching a bird fly away. This image was evoked by a one particular piece that Mme Ratignolle plays which Edna significantly calls â€Å"Solitude. † Apparently Edna frequently envisions certain images while listening to music: â€Å"Musical strains, well rendered, had a way of evoking pictures in her mind† (47). Listening to this piece Edna envisions a solitary, naked man with an â€Å"attitude [†¦] of hopeless resignation† (47). This scene presents solitude in many different ways. The figure standing alone and naked near the â€Å"desolate rock† illustrates the mood of solitude and resignation. I was reminded of that scene at the end of the novel in chapter 39 where we find a description of a very similar situation. Now it is Edna Pontellier herself standing alone on the beach at Grand Isle. She takes ...

No Easy Task

The well being of a nation begins with the development of its younger generation. They are the ones that will assume the task of running and maintaining the well being of this nation in the future. Unfortunately the task of to lead these youths in the right direction is no easy task. Numerous articles and studies have confirmed that our youth problems is a rising issue and should receive extra attention. Youth problems range from poor school achievement to youth pregnancy, crime, and drug addictions. Many experts have noted that one of the major causes that contribute to youth having problems is the lack of strong family value and substantial home-life. Youth belonging to this category are normally ones that have single parents or weak or uncaring parents. The above perspective along with some other variables, such as income level, media influence, and educational level, should explain why the youth problem phenomenon occurs. One of the fundamental ways to view why youth develop problems is to view their family structure. Many youth do not have what is considered to be a healthy or complete family. For example, if a youth is raised by a single parent, he or she may lack many of the family essentials, such family warmth, love sharing, or normal family life. The youth may also develop shame feelings among his or her peers. Another scenario might be a youth raised by weak and uncaring parents. The youth might not receive the adequate attention and guidance necessary for their thoughts, actions, and perhaps wrongdoing. In this case the youth may develop two types of feelings. They will either feel abandon because of the parents uncaring nature, or, the youth might feel exceptional freedom because the parents simply is weak or do not care. In both cases, youths having such family structures develops much higher percentage to differentiate themselves from their common peers. The second variable that seems to have a large influence as to why youth develop problems is the income level in which they reside. Income level is one of the issues that can t be changed so easily. Government aid and subsidies could only do so much in the aid of poverty stricken neighborhoods. Generally a great percentage of youth growing up in such a poor neighborhoods have a higher chance in exposing themselves to the numerous problems, such as, pregnancy, drugs, crimes. It is unfortunate, but no doubt that environment in which these youth grew up in are surrounded by such factors. Government funding and local group activist have trying to cure these blighted neighborhoods. Local activity centers, and youth organizations, and schools are fighting there ways into these area in hope to help give youth of these communities a better chance to succeed. Another variable that should be considered in why youth develop problems is media influences. Like Debra J. Saunders noted in her December 1999 editorial, youth are constantly being expose to the electronic media set out to influence youth to follow certain trends and mode of thinking. This is very true in this cyberspace, electronic media era. The Internet, television, and other media unconsciously place many messages in the minds of the youths. The youth are spending more of their time attracted to these media than they are in their necessary duties. The power or the media is so great that many of the youths mode of thinking are drawn to the character lifestyles of movies idols. The media have directly manipulated what is reality and what is fantasy in the mind of the youths. Therefore youths often try to be somebody or do something they saw from these electronic media exposures. Perhaps that the numerous in school shootings by teenage youths across the nation are the indirect results from too much media exposures toward youths. The final area that seems to contributes to youth problems are the educational level in which the youths are associated with. Educational levels vary greatly in schools that youths attend. The educational achievement accomplished by students determines if new educational programs are needed to aid underachieving students build there necessary skills to advance. Because the lack of such programs in some school, many youths in this category, find it difficult to continue their educational course. Therefore the rate of youth problems is the dependent variable of the drop out rate. Many students choose to alternative course of action if they cannot succeed in school. Their minimum knowledge is insufficient to land them much hope in making it the real world. Consequently problems are prone to along the route for these youths. We have briefly looked into the issue on contributing factors in youth problems. The variables we discussed are family structures, income level, media influences, and educational levels. It is important to acknowledge how these links intertwine in the life of a developing youth. Though we cannot simply generalize that a youth will develop problems once they have encounters with any or all of these variables for there are numerous successful examples for us to refer upon. But numerous studies have shown that the risk for youth to develop problems such as teen pregnancy, crime, drugs, and violence is at a higher rate when they are being raised in an environment that contains the variable we have discussed today.

Cry the Beloved Country Restoration Analysis

Restoration Through Symbolism Restoration is a beautiful thing. Watching something go from nothing to everything is amazing. In the book Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, restoration is one of the main themes of the book. I am going to talk about two main examples; a quotation from a character and the significance of a certain character. The first thing developing the concept of restoration is the character Napoleon. Napoleon was an allusion used in the story. He was a demonstrator that came to the city of Ndotsheni to help them ‘get back on their feet again' by teaching them how to efficiently farm.However, his advice was not exactly received with open arms. As a character, he is quite similar to Napoleon Bonaparte, a French leader. Both of them had very helpful ideas to improve life for everyone, but not everyone appreciated his suggestions. The Napoleon in the story also symbolizes starting the process of restoration. When Ndotsheni finally accepts his advice and begi ns doing things more efficiently, it's an enormous turning point for the city. Also symbolizing the restoration process is the words of another character, Father Vincent. Feature Article  Country School  Allen CurnowFear is a journey, a terrible journey, but sorrow is at least an arriving†, he says, while comforting Stephen Kumalo. When he says this, he also hints at the concept of restoration, because later in the quote, he references building a house, directly saying that you can rebuild what you have lost. I've just given two examples on how different types of material in the same book can mean almost the exact same thing. Watching restoration is still thrilling for me, whether it be in real life or in a fictional town.

Television Broadcast News: Credible information or Merely Entertainment?

In today’s journalistic world it is sometimes difficult to decipher between news broadcasts rendered as credible information as opposed to merely entertainment. It is safe to say that the media does have a responsibility in reporting the news truthfully and with honesty. As we begin to look more closely on the role of the News Media, local and national, we will find many interesting facets of the broadcasts to be analyzed. It is also expected that the media deliver news that is detailed, informative and credible.Unfortunately the content of the information sometimes broadcasts has other insignificant focuses such as, news regarding celebrities, entertainment (especially here in Los Angeles so close to Hollywood) and other tragic but unnecessary news. The content seems at times unimportant, weak, and falsely dramatic rather than a factual honest and necessary report of important occurrences local, national and international. At times the news seems more like a dramatic soap ope ra rather than news. Competion and monetary gain seems to drive the media to serve information that can be sometimes manipulated or sometimes just simply inappropriate.Another facet of the news media is the status of female anchors and reporters on network and local newscasts, which will be examined in this paper. It is important to note that the media has been known to be a field influenced by gender, racial and ethnic biases. These important topics will also be examined. It seems that the News Media is not very particular in choosing quality journalism these days. Some exceptions do exist although it seems that shows which function as informative shows are merely just entertainment and tabloid-like journalism.Such shows include, â€Å"Entertainment tonight†, â€Å"The E channel† programs, â€Å"Inside Edition†, and â€Å"Access Hollywood† to name a few. Even reality shows like â€Å"Cops† which are credible and reflect real life experiences are p ackaged for entertainment and sensationalist viewing. Also, when analyzing the role of local and national television broadcast news we still need to view the content of these programs with a grain of salt. News broadcasters are more influenced by events that will cause an immediate impact and sensational effect on the viewers than actual, credible and significant news. It is common for news broadcasters to begin the news  with such broadcasts covering such events as a â€Å"Wild Pursuit† or freeway car chase.Or, other such glamorized topics may include the arrest of famous actors or musicians whom have committed crimes. The O. J. Simpson case was a perfect example of such media frenzy or, the famous pop musician George Michaels being arrested for masturbating in the Beverly Hills Park restroom. How can the media choose to cover such insignificant events when the local areas, the nation or the international community has so many other important social, economical, political and humanitarian problems and events that are hardly addressed.Also, when we pursue to analyze the credibility of broadcasters, how are we sure that the information given to us is factual? Are we to believe everything that CNN reports is untainted and free of excessive nonfactual events and information? It would be justified to question the source of reported events and news stories. There has been so many times in which different views and different versions of the same story have been reported by varying news channels. Therefore it is sometimes difficult to decipher between fact or fiction and credible information or merely entertainment.It is also interesting to note that the media tries to maintain an air of social and political correctness when it comes to choosing its journalists although certain biases still due exists in the journalistic field. It is only in recent times that the news media has decided to hire more ethnically diverse journalists. Also in a field that had bee n mostly dominated by men, in recent times we have seen the hiring of more female anchors, reporters and journalists. Sometimes broadcasters use attractive journalists to gain the interest of the viewers.One of the most important TV news personalities of the last 40 years has been the famous Barbara Walters. She is one of the first women to gain acceptability and credibility from television news viewers. Also Christian Amanpour remains the first female TV broadcaster in our history who commands the same kind of respect as the long line of father figures that started with Murrow and continues with Rather, Brokaw and Jennings. Women journalists such as Walters and Amanpour have gained respect and stardom through many years of hard work and struggle through journalism.Nowadays, historic news stories have become the journalistic fast track to celebrity. And this happens so routinely that the search for the new media stars automatically built into coverage of the events themselves. Withi n hours of the attack on the World Trade Center, you could already hear people in the media world asking, â€Å"Who’s going to be made by this one? † Such celebrity came to female anchorwoman Ashleigh Banfield, a 33-year-old Canadian-born journalist when on September 11, Banfield covered groundzero in New York for MSNBC.Standing firm as she became coated with ash, network executives were so dazzled by her on-camera savvy that, although she had almost as little international knowledge as our president, they jetted her off to Pakistan, where she began anchoring the week-nightly news show â€Å"Region in Conflict. † Since then, she seems to have been everywhere for the cable channels covering a variety of important news stories and issues. A similar story occurred when Andrea Thompson made headlines when she recently revealed that she was quitting ABC’s â€Å"N. Y. P.  D Blue† to do a three-month tryout at the CBS affiliate in Albuquerque, N. M. to become a TV anchorwoman.Shortly after Andrea Thompson was hired by the CNN as an anchor. The 39-year-old actress and model has said that she believes her skills as an actress are transferable to TV news, even though she does not have any background in journalism. Although it’s not a matter of acting the news, it’s hard to fake a journalism background if you do not have one. Again this proves how today’s news media functions more as entertainment than credible responsible journalism.Some may say that it does not take any journalism skill to read a news script, and most stations want an appealing person, so why not have a pretty person reading a copy of the news? Personally I believe that this is unfair to other journalists male or female who have pursued a career studying and experiencing modern journalism. It is unfair to hire â€Å"sexy† or â€Å"sexual –attractive† journalists to report the news when the most important factor is the conten t and truthfulness of the news itself. It may be appropriate to flaunt ones sexuality in the fictional soap opera or fictional TV show arena, but not in the modern journalistic forum.Gender and sexuality should not be a factor. It would be hopeful to expect the News Media to cover more events with greater importance and significance to all people rather than to use journalism as a form of entertainment for the masses. Furthermore, it seems to me that the actual event and truth in media shouldn’t be tainted by such factors such as gender, ethnicity, age or how one presents him or herself physically, the events and news topics covered should speak for themselves, not the other way around.

Changing American Dream Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Changing American Dream - Essay Example Material things like cars and rich apartments and luxury associated with American dream. Since the first automobile was invented it has embodied cultural and emotional values that have become an integral part of the American Dream. The Great Depression, resulted the stock market crash, caused widespread hardship during the Twenties and Thirties, and was almost a reverse of the dream for those directly affected. Racial instability did not disappear, and in some parts of the country racial violence was almost commonplace. Consumerism transformed the American Dream. People received a chance to earn more and buy expensive goods. Their buying habits were transformed and became necessities. The world seemed absurd, because war considered morally right. The events of major importance like WWII, Vietnam War, war in Afghanistan, or minor armored conflicts resulted in desire of people to live in peace. The period of the Cold War connected with Truman doctrine, and Cuban Missile Crisis transformed the dream. President Kennedy played an important role preventing the new World War with the Soviet Union. The invention of hydrogen and atomic bombs caused new sufferings for mankind. The first atomic bomb was used during WWII in Hiroshima.

White Collar Crimes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

White Collar Crimes - Essay Example White collar crimes are not as simple as robbery or homicide crimes. These usually involved elaborate methods aimed to conceal the fraudulent activities. As such, investigating such types of crimes requires the same high level thinking and critical analysis. From the description provided above, white collar crimes requires an investigation that covers several fields, ranging from economic and financial activities to a clear understanding of the laws of the land. Therefore, white collar investigators must have in-depth knowledge of economics and finance. Also, investigators must know the economic and business laws. In some cases, investigators are also required to have computer systems know-how as certain white collar crimes involved internet fraud and other activities carried out through computers. White collar investigators need to possess the same critical thinking and analysis that all investigators of any type of crime must have. They must be very detailed and must be able to easily detect unscrupulous activities that may signal the act of committing white collar crimes. Furthermore, they must be firm and must be very good interrogators as solving white collar crimes relies heavily on witness accounts.

Highlight problems and issues trade union face in the UK and recommend Essay

Highlight problems and issues trade union face in the UK and recommend practical solutionsto solve them - Essay Example Failure to come on an agreement on the negotiations made, the trade unions are entitled to strike. Capitalism is a form of governance where, the land, labor and other factors of production are privately owned states Clarke (1978). Trade unions can be defined from this perspective as the representatives of the employees’ terms of employment to employers and government from a given policy which is based on the person who privately owns the union. The trade unions here are not government controlled but privately controlled. Trade union from a radical perspective can be defines as the representation of employees from the industrial and commercial sectors only. These are the unions that only focus on the two business sectors but they are not necessarily privately owned. Marxism emphasises on the workers’ rights to enjoy the fruits of their labor. It thus defines trade unions as organs which represent work towards ceasing employees’ harassment at work place and ensuring they enjoy the benefits and results that come from their work. Lionel (1968) states that in the UK, most unions belong to the Trades Union Congress, which represents many unions, and hence has more power over issues effecting workers nationally. Therefore trade unions act as a voice for the employees and often take on the role of challenging and updating contracts and conditions for members and also protect the members from harassment and employment related legal issues. Rosen (1969) states the main sources of power of the trade unions as the government, employers, and employees. These are the key sources of trade unions as they are the determinants of the representatives in the trade unions and the legal issues that it should abide to. Stewart (1986) argues that if a union does not have a good collective bargaining style, then it will lose its members who are the employees. On the other hand, the employers and the