Monday, August 19, 2019
The Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin Essay -- Harriet Beecher Stowe Un
The Publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, has been widely identified as the most influential American novel in the country’s history. Books have, of course, always had the power to bring about great social change, and the widespread distribution of Uncle Tom’s Cabin gave a vivid image of Southern life, particularly the mistreatment of slaves, to the entire country. While slavery was previously an issue between slaveholders and abolitionists, the moral outrage caused by Uncle Tom’s Cabin went a long way towards bringing the slavery debate to the forefront of the entire American consciousness. Broadly speaking, the book’s success brought the moral conflict to the general public, causing many ordinary citizens to form their own moral judgments, often critical ones, of the nature of slavery, while they previously would have been more apathetic. Here, I will investigate the reaction to and effects of the publication of Uncle Tomâ€⠄¢s Cabin, particularly divided into two groups: the scholarly or critical reaction, and the public reaction, including both public opinion of the book and the various derivative works that were created for public consumption. I have researched both portions of this topic through the more modern works of historical analysis, and by examining primary sources reproduced in online collections (with especially heavy use of Railton’s extremely resourceful website, for which I would like to acknowledge my gratitude). Outside of the Southern region that Uncle Tom’s Cabin criticized, the book immediately received a critical reception â€Å"of wild enthusiasm†(Donovan 16) that fully recognized the strong moral weight that was carried in its strong narrative. While the... ...can Culture: A Multi-Media Archive. Dir. Stephen Railton. 2002. Other Relevant Works Hildreth, Margaret Holbrook. Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Bibliography. Hamden, CT: Archon, 1976. Jorgenson, Chester E., comp. Uncle Tom’s Cabin as Book and Legend: A Guide to an Exhibition. Detroit: 1952. Stowe, Charles Edward. Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Boston: Houghton & Mifflin, 1890. Stowe, Harriet Beecher. A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat, 1853. [1] To clarify, while â€Å"Uncle Tom’s Cabin†was the title of both the novel and the play, my mention of the title in this document refers to the novel unless otherwise stated. [2] This name â€Å"is almost certainly a pseudonym†(UTCAC). [3] UTCAC identifies Gamaliel Bailey as a possible author of this anonymous article.
Spanish Colonialism and Puerto Rican Identity :: Latin America American History
Spanish Colonialism and Puerto Rican Identity In order to understand the current situation of Puerto Ricans one must look at their history and retrace the sequence of events that led to the current formation of the Puerto Rican people. An important component of this history is the time Puerto Rico spent under Spanish rule. Studying this portion of Puerto Rican history forces us to acknowledge the contribution the Spaniards, European immigrants, and African slaves had on Puerto Rican identity as we consider it today. This also addresses contemporary debates on Puerto Rican identity. An example of this is evident in an essay written by Jose Luis Gonzales entitled "Puerto Rico : Th Four Storied Country". In the article Gonzales points out what he feels is a disregard toward the African contribution to the Puerto Rican identity. He argues that the first Puerto Ricans were black , based on his interpretation that Africans were the first group to come to Puerto Rico and reproduce who did not have ties to a "motherland" because they were slaves. This is unlike the Spaniard elites and Criolles that demonstrated their commitment and loyalty to Spain. Since they had no other place to go, Puerto Rico was their motherland. Gonzalez also points out that the culture of a region is always the culture of the elite, not the popular culture. Culture of the elite refers to the national culture while popular culture refers to that of non-elites. Therefore the African contribution is often ignored or forgotten about because they were of a lower class. Critics against Gonzales' argument claim that he exaggerates the contribution of Afro-Puerto Ricans,and the importance of race, class and ethnicity. Gonzales uses the metaphor of a four storied building to express the idea of Puerto Rican identity. At the foundation of this building are the natives of the island Boriquen which are the Taino Indians. Every floor that is added to this building represents a wave of foreigners that came to the island. The first floor is representative of the Spaniards that came to colonize the island, along with the slaves they brought with them, and the interaction these groups had the Taino Indians.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
Technology in Greg Bears Blood Music Essay -- Blood Music Essays
Technology in Greg Bear's Blood Music    Different genres of literature are particular responses to society; therefore, cyberpunk, as a genre, is a response to our contemporary society, known as the information age. One of the attributes given the genre is that it has an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic tone, warning the reader of the perils of technology, while at the same time celebrating the possibilities of technology, usually through a strong character in the novel. In Greg Bear's Blood Music, technology is seen as having a destructive and creative forces as it reshapes the world biologically, and incorporates every living thing, including a slow girl named Suzy, into the system. Blood Music demonstrates the perils and benefits in a world full of diverse technology, typical of the cyberpunk genre, responding to frightening and powerful possibilities in the secrets of technology which are just on the brink of discovery.  First, a demonstration of the kind of technology available today would lend to a better understanding of some of the biological possibilities. Already we can clone and manipulate individual genes. We can replicate DNA patterns and build proteins. Information is available at the touch of a button on the newest technology, so that it can be ingested by the younger generations just by browsing the Net. Also, the beginnings of nanotechnology, manipulating individual atoms to create new structures, is beginning to develop. James Graves wrote in a paper focused on the technological advances in our time, that nanotechnology, not too unlike the theories behind Vergil's experiments in Blood Music, would allow us to create tiny "organisms" that could show us more about ourselves, r... ...ction is a particular response to society, and our society is in the information age, then it is incredibly appropriate to include Blood Music to the genre when we are making biological leaps and bounds today. Bear uses his characters to show that the effects may not be so bad for the individual, although technology will probably change the entire face of society as a whole. Perhaps someday cosmetic things will matter less, and we will be able to include a slow child into the ranks and make her feel whole, just like a part of each personal wants to feel at least normal, hopefully exceptional.  Works Cited Bear, Greg. Blood Music. New York: Ace Books, 1996. Graves, James C. "Technology and Its Effect on Society." Online. Purdue Lib. Internet. 9 October        1997.(http://nonotech.rutgers.edu/nanotech/papers/graves.hist).  Â
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Ethical dilemma in nursing profession Essay
Ethical dilemma in nursing profession Introduction            Ethics is the study of sensible reckoning. Nurses face ethical dilemmas on their every day practices. Ethical behavior depends on many factors. What one person regard as moral may be different from another person’s approach of the situation? Nurses face ethical dilemma regardless of where they function in wide-ranging roles. These ethical decisions can have an impact to the nurses as well as their patients. In general, there is no appropriate resolution to a moral dilemma. An ethical dilemma can be defined as a quandary without agreeable solution. The importance of ethical decision making depend on the notion that regardless of many ethical choices made concerning a given ethical dilemma, the resultant choice can pose to neither right nor wrong decision. Ethics involve doing right and causing no impairment. However, definition of ethics varies from one nurse to the other. Ethical guideline classes provide the nurse with appropriate tools to base moral decisions upon. Though, these principles are usually shaped by the beliefs, values and knowledge of the nurse. Accordingly, various choices may be raised regarding the identical impasse (Martin & Solomon, 2010).            There are various ethical concerns that nurses can come across in the place of work. They include: freedom versus control, quality versus quantity of life, truth telling versus deception, pro-choice versus pro-life, empirical knowledge versus personal beliefs, and distribution of resources. Quantity might focus on an individual life span while quantity focuses on the number of people who will be influenced by the judgment. Quality address the goodness of life of a person, but it varies depending on how an individual defines â€Å"good†. For example; the nurse’s position in supporting the patient deciding among a therapy that will lengthen life, but comprehending the quality of life. The patient’s life may be extended, but will experience major undesirable effects from the therapy. Nurses are called upon to use ethical perceptions in delivering patient care.            Ethical perceptions include provision of correct, good and rational care. Patients necessitate to be offered prospects to put across their freedom of preference in determining how they desire to be attended and in acquiring services. Ethical nurses recognize that they are obliged to offer individualized care which will help the patient to achieve their highest welfare. Ethical nursing care is based on rational decision making and science. There are four central concepts which are significant to a proficient nursing practice. They include: respect for patient self-rule, the task to operate with generosity, no mischief and justice. Nurses provide respect to the patient self-rule by enhancing and recognizing a patient’s freedom of preference, respect their opinions, and providing privacy. The National League for Nursing issued a statement which highlights patient rights. Nurses are expected to encourage the rights of patients and advoc ate for patient’s who are unaware of their rights (Pattison, 2010).            Nurses demonstrate generosity by helping patients to attain their highest welfare. This can be attained by developing health care policies that affect large population or provision of direct care to individual patients. Nurses are not allowed to cause any impairment to their patients. This is the principal of non-mischief. Nurses often do have to carry out operations which make the patients uncomfortable. For example, when a nurse is administering an injection to the patient. Patients need medication to relief the sicknesses, though, in the process of relieving the symptom, the nurse might cause a discomfort. Non-mischief must be balanced by kindness, while providing patient care. The objective of the nurse provides a treatment whose benefit must outweigh the discomfort caused. The nurse objective must be to help rather than causing harm. Fairness and justice in nursing care is usually linked to the delivery of services. The current health care reform strategy is an end result of people acknowledging that the present health care system requires restructuring. Controversy arises over what is reasonable, fair, and economically realistic.            Nurses are involved at every phase of current health care system, assisting with policy development and decision making. Professionals propose that nursing concept of ethical care is exceptional case and needs serious implementation throughout the nursing practice. It is related to medical model of ethics since it deals with lie and death matters. The nursing model is one of the personal patient empowerment. Ethical nurses direct health care reform plan which put emphasis on healing even in situations where curing is impossible. It position quality of life at the front line. Ethical dilemmas which the nurses face everyday are very diverse. They include assorted topics such as end of life care and staffing ratios (Martin & Solomon, 2010).            Nurses might face ethical dilemma as they attend patients with disabilities which might position them at risk for self-harm. For instance, an elderly patient might be willing to stroll without regulation. The nurse desires to promote patient autonomous, though the possibility of patient harm because of falling may be large. The dilemma is how to balance the contrasting situations. The nurse is in a dilemma to decide which one is more significant between safety and independence. Each family, patient and health care staff faces these challenges in daily basis. Significant challenges may be experienced by nurses operating with parents who have infants with mental or physical disabilities. The nurse is left to decide whether it is ethical to subject the infant to an untested process which will inflict pain if it provides them with single chance of survival. The nurses have to decide whether it is ethical to prolong life while the quality of li fe is being comprehended.            Recent research findings reveal that, nurses as caregivers central to health care, face an increasing rate of ethical dilemma. The technology is helping patients to survive serious sicknesses. However, recent studies reveal that people are surviving, but they are not living decent lives. Nurses have a task of executing clinical and educational operations which deal with the issue that professional care provides. The other dilemma is that there are inadequate health care resources across the world. The resources are also not equally distributed. The nurses are left to ensure that there is equitable distribution of health care resources. Patients from diverse cultures and personal experiences may present with different opinions of what is moral. The nurse can serve as resource to make sure that every individual feels that their opinions were considered. They have to decide who should get the inadequate resources? For instance, nurses working with patients living in vegetative state; nurses decide whether these patients should be left on life maintenance? The overheads of sustaining these patients are high. The patients might be consuming possessions that could be utilized by patients whom such expensive interventions, if accessible, could set aside their lives. The dilemma is determining the position of the nurse when a family wishes to go on with life hold up for a medically ineffective patient. Retrieved from http://www.nursingexplorer.com/nursing-ethics-ethical-dilemma-faced-by-nurses-everyday            Pro-choice versus pro-life: This concern impinge on nurses in person. Scores of the positions that the nurses are working in this dilemma depend on their own thinking and principles. The question is how good should a nurse attend a patient, who procured an abortion, while the nurse regards abortion as killing? Whether there is possibility of that nurse with very divergent principles support that patient’s freedom to choose her independence?            Freedom versus control: whether a patient has the freedom to make preferences on their own that are likely to harm them, or should the nurse put off this option? For instance, a patient wishes to impede eating, but the nurse recognizes the consequences will impair the patient. The dilemma is whether the nurse has the â€Å"right†to make the patient eat food cogently.            Truth telling versus dishonesty: This is an additional problem that nurses may possibly have to cope with, particularly when families wish to refute telling the patient the fact about the medical stipulation. The ethical concern is what a nurse should do when family members persist telling the patient the diagnosis will cause impairment? How can a nurse recognize if this is correct? Whether the patient has the right to identify?            Pragmatic knowledge versus personal belief: In this impasse, evidence based experience in nursing practice is compared to beliefs got from such issues as religious values. For instance, what the nurse is expected to do when a patient who has been admitted to a hospital that urgently needs a transfusion to survive though the patient has the conviction that transfusions are improper? The nurse recognizes this patient will pass out devoid of the transfusion. The question is how the nurse lays an emphasis if the patient’s members insist on the patient’s option and still be compassionate of the family’s and patient’s right to this verdict?            Ethical dilemmas in nursing occur in their daily practices whereby they are required to make decisions. The resolutions made will be determined by so many aspects including ethics educated in school and their individual values, beliefs and knowledge. The issue is that the choice might be neither right nor wrong. This leaves the nurses at a dilemma since they have to make decisions based on the situation.            Ethical issues in nursing must be addressed depending on the changes that are occurring in the economy. Nurses and patient family members among other community factors determine whether the patient will get the maximum well being. However, ethics require that the nurse should not harm the patient. The nurse faces hard moment to decide between what is moral and the impact of the verdict. Nurses care for the patients by acknowledging their personal strongholds, motivations and other supportive resources. The nurse is also required to give comfort and guidance to enable the patient and their families to deal with short-run and long-term problems. Retrieved from http://www.nursingexplorer.com/nursing-ethics-ethical-dilemma-faced-by-nurses-everyday            The most crucial resources that a nurse can provide to a patient are the appropriate information regarding their treatment and conditions and the approach of coping with both. Anxiety reduction is also crucial in nursing profession, where the nurse is supposed to answer the patient’s questions in an honest way. On the other hand, the patient’s families may insist that the nurse should not disclose the information to the patient. Thus, nurses are left to make decisions based on ethical principles. The decisions made by nurses have an impact to the nurses themselves as well as the patient and their families (Pattison, 2010).            Various ethical theories subsist, though none of the ethical principles, theories, or decision-making plan provides a supreme guide to first-rate action. They do, nevertheless, provide a structure for working through resolutions by seeking to describe the limits of ethically satisfactory behavior and by explicating guidelines for making judgment within those restrictions. In other terms, they facilitate the decision making procedure, but does not the precise decision to be made.            In conclusion, ethical principles are very significant in the nursing practices since they guide the nurses to make their every day decisions. The nurses, however, face ethical dilemma since they are not able to decide whether they are not able to determine whether their decision is either right or wrong. Nursing is a profession that requires a lot of decision making since they are working to save patient lives, though they are required to make decisions depending on the code of ethics. References Major Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing. (n.d.). NurseTogether.com. Retrieved June 8, 2014, from http://www.nursetogether.com/ethical-dilemmas-in-nursing Martin, C. W., Vaught, W., & Solomon, R. C. (2010). Ethics across the professions: a reader for professional ethics. New York: Oxford University Press. Nursing Ethics – Ethical Dilemma Faced By Nurses Everyday. (n.d.). Nursing Ethics – Ethical Dilemma Faced By Nurses Everyday. Retrieved June 8, 2014, from http://www.nursingexplorer.com/nursing-ethics-ethical-dilemma-faced-by-nurses-everyday Pattison, S. (2010). Emerging values in health care the challenge for professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Source document
Friday, August 16, 2019
Civil Disobedience Essay
Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy. It is characterized by the employment of nonviolent techniques such as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes. Civil disobedience is a nonviolent act of protest, which is caused by a moral belief that a law is wrong or otherwise known as unconstitutional. In the nineteenth century, the American author Henry David Thoreau wrote â€Å"Civil Disobedience,†an important essay justifying such action which started the boycotting and other nonviolent actions. Civil disobedience was started by the American author Henry David Thoreau. Henry Thoreau established the modern theory behind the practice of civil disobedience in his essay, â€Å"Civil Disobedience,†originally titled â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government,†which was published in 1849. The idea behind this essay was that of self-reliance, and how one is in morally good standing as long as one can â€Å"get off another man’s back.†The essay also stated that someone should not have to physically fight the government, but one must not support it. Civil disobedience can also be distinguished from other active forms of protest, such as rioting because of its passivity and non-violence. This essay has had a wide influence on many later practitioners of civil disobedience. Henry David Thoreau protested the Mexican-American War and paying taxes, but his essay led to other protests as well. Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. found Thoreau’s essay very inspiring. Thoreau believed morality is more important than legality as shown below: â€Å"Must a citizen . . . resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.†Gandhi found guidance in Thoreau’s words and freed India from British rule. Martin Luther King Jr. also used Thoreau’s words to oppose racial segregation in the south of the United States of America. Both of these men used nonviolent strategies to secure the rights of people not being treated equally especially in a white-dominated societies. These two men dedicated their lives to the cause of freedom. Gandhi and King became towering figures in modern history because they took Thoreau’s words and learned from it. Gandhi and King were both assassinated because they challenged old prejudices and sought a better way of life for oppressed people. Civil disobedience was exercised by Mahatma Gandhi while the struggle for independence in India continued in the twentieth century. Civil disobedience was also practiced by some members of the civil rights movement in the United States, notably Martin Luther King, Jr., to challenge segregation of public facilities; a common tactic of these civil rights supporters was the sit-in. King defended the use of civil disobedience in his â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail.†Human rights activists have often challenged unfair social policies or business practices. Their methods are nonviolent and may include a variety of marches, rallies, and demonstrations. Instead of fighting back when force is used against them, activists meet that force with passive resistance. In every case, the goal is to dramatize injustice in as public a manner as possible. The activists began the crusade by breaking laws that separated people by race. Some examples are sit-ins at lunch counters, lining up at whites-only counters, and refused to sit in the rear â€Å"colored†section of the city buses. Hundreds went to jail for these actions, but the protests were never stopped. India went through the same type of dedication and hard times for its independence that the activists that followed Martin Luther King Jr. had gone through for equal rights. As leader of the movement, Mohandas K. Gandhi was firmly committed to nonviolence. Gandhi believed it was not just a tactic for achieving social change; it was a way of life. That is why Gandhi is so well remembered. Gandhi called Thoreau’s â€Å"Civil Disobedience†essay â€Å"a masterly treatise†which â€Å"left a deep impression on me.†Later on Gandhi became unsatisfied with the term â€Å"passive resistance.†He noted, â€Å"In a meeting of Europeans I found that the term â€Å"passive resistance†was too narrowly construed, that it was supposed to be a weapon of the weak, that it could be characterized by hatred, and that it could finally [show] itself as violence†Gandhi was so determined to make a change; he put out a call for suggestions for a new word to describe the Indian struggle. The eventual result was satyagraha, which combines â€Å"truth†and â€Å"firmness.†This implies that resistance to evil and injustice is active rather than just passive. Nonviolence and passivity were finally recognized as not being the same thing. Gandhi’s special gift was his ability to use spiritual methods to achieve political goals, using his moral authority to oppose many forms of injustice. He not only took on the British Empire in the cause of political freedom, he also challenged the Hindu caste system in the cause of human equality. Also, he led a protest against the British salt tax in India. He marched to the ocean and making salt illegally, then encouraged the equally illegal sale of untaxed salt all over India. Activities like these gave him the title Mahatma, meaning â€Å"great soul.†In time that title replaced his name because of the powerful leader he was. Martin Luther King Jr. was a seminary student when he became aware of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. King was on a quest that he described as â€Å"a serious intellectual quest for a method to eliminate social evil.†He found this in a sermon by Dr. Mordecal Johnson, president of Howard University. King stated, â€Å"Dr. Johnson had just returned from a trip to India, and, to my great interest, he spoke of the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. His message was so profound and electrifying that I left the meeting and bought half dozen books on Gandhi’s life and works.†Gandhi’s work led King’s first bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. On December 1, 1955, an African-American seamstress was seated in the back â€Å"colored section†of a crowded city bus. A man later came on the bus and could not find any other seats and asked the seamstress to move. This remarkable woman was Rosa Parks refusing to move and was promptly arrested. This finally was the last straw for the people in Montgomery; King determined that the time was finally right. Martin Luther King Jr. and those who followed him knew that this ending was the beginning of a much larger struggle for true equality. It would be long and it would be difficult. Some people would grow impatient of the nonviolent actions and would want to end up fighting back, but this was the time to determine their real strength. King said, â€Å"The false impression. . . . the resister quietly and passively accepts evil. But nothing is further from the truth. . . The method is passive physically, strongly active spiritually. It is not passive nonresistance to evil, is active nonviolent resistance to evil.†The â€Å"active nonviolent resistance†that won the day in Montgomery would be severely tested when it faced the racism and bigotry that created those laws in the first place. That struggle would continue into the 1960s and beyond. As the world evolved the 1960s became an act of civil disobedience also known as the activist sixties which is remembered as a time of social disturbance and change in the United States. Minority groups demanded equal rights and poor people sought a way out of their poverty. The activism fell short of saving the world, but it did produce important gains for human rights. African Americans moved closer to true social equality. The most ambitious antipoverty program in American history was created. The Supreme Court created new legal safeguards for individual rights. In the United States, the African American civil rights movement blazed a trail of activism that others would follow. By the end of the 1950s, African-American activists had learned that changing the law was not enough. Somebody had to take the risk of putting those changes into practice. African American students had to enroll in previously all-white schools. African-American customers had to sit down at â€Å"white†lunch counters and wait to be served. Also, African-American voters had to register and then go to the polls on Election Day. In 1960 sympathetic whites and African-Americans that were tired of the segregation formed a committee named the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to promote equality. The crusade for racial equality captured the imagination of many young people. On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million people assembled at the Lincoln Memorial. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered the speech that was to become one of the most memorable orations in American history. A third of the people were white sympathizers of the African-American people. He delivered the speech â€Å"I have a dream†which moved people to fight for equality for everyone, it also became known as the â€Å"Movement†because it gathered momentum after the march on Washington. Human rights play an important role for civil disobedience. There were so many nonviolent protests because before the 20th century not everyone’s rights were being protected and being given equally. Due to Gandhi, King, and Thoreau they taught people in later generations to stand up for what is right. Now, women have the right to vote and children are treated equal and have been given rights. The right to privacy is one of the most important rights us as the people have, which due to technology is making our privacy less personal and able to be seen through closed doors. People are waiting for actions to be taken to make programs on the internet and personal information more secure. Civil disobedience is still around today; due to Henry David Thoreau, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi being the first men to provoke boycotting, not paying taxes, and any other type of nonviolent resistance. These three men showed people that â€Å"taking a stand†and protesting the government could be done without violence. Many people were thrown in jail, but none of the people that followed Thoreau’s words or Gandhi’s and King’s actions were for violence. They learned to find patience in the work they did knowing that they did not have to physically fight the government, but they must not support it. Citations Axelsen, K. L. (1995, Spring). Problems of punitive damages for political protest and civil disobedience. Environmental Law, 25(2), 495-511. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA17093286&v=2.1&u=nm_s_ratonhs&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Civil Disobedience. (2010). The Hotline. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA227491783&v=2.1&u=nm_s_ratonhs&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Lopach, J. J., & Luckowski, J. A. (2005). Uncivil disobedience: violating the rules for breaking the law. Education Next, 5(2), 38+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA130276023&v=2.1&u=nm_s_ratonhs&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w Bronwlee, K. (2007, January 4). Civil disobedience. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/civil-disobedience/ Thoreau, H. (1993). Civil disobedience and other essays. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. Altman, L. (2002). Human rights: Issues for a new millenium. Chicago: Dover Publications, Inc.
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Comparing and Contrasting Tragic Heroes †Oedipus and Prufrock Essay
Introduction: Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896 –1940) the Irish American novelist and short story writer of the twentieth century said â€Å"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy†(as quoted in memorablequotations.com). Indeed more often than not, great tragedies of yore were always centered round the deeds or the misdeeds of a hero (usually a man of noble birth) his misfortunes and the cursed nature of his life, fated to suffer and fall from glory. The concepts of heroes and heroism have themselves undergone vast changes from Sophocles’ (496-406 B.C) times. Consequently, the idea of hero-based tragedy indeed, even the basic traits of heroism has undergone transformation. As against the noble-born, valorous hero of Sophocles and Aristotle (in The Poetics of 30 B. C.), the common man who struggles to make a decent living, and fulfill ordinary aspirations such as wanting to be loved, given affection, loyalty, friendship etc, in a mundane, mechanized, and mad-after-money world (bereft of human values) – his life has become the focus of the twentieth century tragedies. This essay, shall take two characters, Oedipus – the King (425 B.C), in the ancient drama of Sophocles, and J. Alfred Prufrock, in the twentieth century poet T.S. Eliot’s (1888 –1965) â€Å"Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock†(1915), and analyze their similarities and dissimilarities, with a brief definition of Tragic Hero as given by Sophocles, and the definition of a Tragic Hero in modern times. Definitions with illustrations of Tragic Heroes – Ancient and Twentieth Century: First, the idea of a tragic hero, in the ancient times shall be discussed.  Aristotle, who was a great Greek philosopher and thinker, stipulated a couple of traits as absolutely necessary for a tragic hero: he must be noble origin, or at least possess a noble spirit, and he must be the cause of his own suffering. Aristotle (384-322 B.C), quoting the character of Oedipus depicted by Sophocles, laid down certain rules that a tragic hero must possess: a leader who is filled with good and bad elements – Oedipus was of noble birth and had many noble characters like wanting redeem his kingdom from the plague, but he also was too proud etc; he is ignorant of his imminent fall, though the audience have prior knowledge of it – in case of Oedipus the audience had prior knowledge of his birth and identity, while he considers himself the son of Polybus, the king of Corinth; his inherent flaw or â€Å"hamartia†is the cause of his fall – his belief that he can over come the prophecy that he will kill his father; suffers isolation because of this – self-exile from Corinth; suffering is irreversible – the blinding he causes to himself later; undergoes punishment because of his own pride or â€Å"hubris†– Oedipus pursues the killer of King Laius, despite counsel against it; a misguided sense of heroism, wherein he is prepared to take on the guilt of the state or kingdom on himself – his belief that he can somehow overcome the prophecy of the oracle by leaving his parents; resulting in greater conflict with fate – Oedipus finally goes to Thebes and killed his own father, without knowing who the latter was, thereby fulfilling the oracle; a restoration of balance to the original state of social harmony through cleansing of pity and fear – Oedipus undertakes to go away in exile which was the punishment he had ordered for the killer of the previous king handing over the kingdom to Creon; which he called â€Å"catharsis†or â€Å"tragic satisfaction†(adapted from Allingham, 2002:1). Thus Oedipus exactly fits the role with of a tragic hero, as laid down by Aristotle. Coming to modern tragic hero of the twentieth century, as mentioned earlier, has come a long way from the stipulations of the ancients for tragic-heroism. Daniel J. Boorstin (1914 –2004), an American writer, and the Librarian of Congress, talks of the heroes of the modern world as being â€Å"anonymous†and â€Å"the unsung hero: †¦ the honest cop, the hard worker at lonely, underpaid, unglamorous, unpublicized jobs†(as in memorablequotations.com). A modern tragic hero may described as someone who does not hold any of the ancient lofty ideals, rather as an ordinary man who is disillusioned with the ruthless world around him and is not able to come to terms with it and suffers thereby with a feeling of helplessness, and is unable to realize his full potential because of this. Typically, he is subjected to moods, driven by extreme happiness or plunged into extreme sorrow, very sophisticated, filled with doubts, lives in the crowded cities yet suffers desperately from isolation, smart yet sensitive, and often disillusioned to such an extent that he feels life itself has lost all meaning or relevance to him. Eliot’s Prufrock, typically suffers all these qualities. For example, he is always filled with self-doubt, â€Å"a deep phobia of life, turning into what one could perhaps best describe as complete biological defeatism†(Mirsky, undated). He seems to be the very best representation of so many negative attributes, like procrastination, indecision, doubts, frustration that reflects the impotent helplessness of the modern, urban man. The first few lines in the poem are from Dante’s Inferno, which is used as a prelude, to show that Prufrock, the protagonist is already doomed and is voicing out his thoughts because he is so sure that no-one is hearing them. The poem describes the innermost feelings, extremely tortured with a wanting, to disclose his love to his chosen woman, but prevented from self-doubt, and fear, phobia, â€Å"Do I dare / Disturb the universe?†(Eliot, lines 44-45), because he only knew too well the out come of such expression â€Å"That is not what I meant at all†(Eliot, line 97). The vivid description of the places, possibly his dwelling place, reflects the sordid state in which the typical twentieth century man lived, and the isolation he felt â€Å"of lonely men in shirt-sleeves†(Eliot, line 73). Eliot’s Prufrock, ultimately fails even to begin his proposal to his lady love, because he could not muster the courage to do it, with a premonition of failure overcoming him and, grows old, suffering life-long loneliness. In a sense this defeatism, is his flaw that proves to be the cause of his woes. He claims that he is not â€Å"Prince Hamlet†(Eliot, line 111), referring to the Shakespearean tragic hero, implying his lack of royal lineage, but the irony is that he is, in fact exactly like Hamlet, who by postponing his decision avenge his father’s death, by killing kill Claudius, leads to the death of many others, and finally his own. All this prove that, he does conform to the image of a twentieth century tragic-hero. Comparing and Contrasting, the two tragic heroes: One similarity between the two characters that strikes a literature student immediately is that, both Oedipus and Prufrock, actually are depicted as surviving long into old age, despite all their sadness and failures and disillusionment. Almost as if to chew cud, ruminate all that had gone by and to die a slow painful death of their miserable actions; misguided in Oedipus’ case, â€Å"Woe, woe, and woe again! / How through my soul there darts the sting of pain, / The memory of my crimes†(Sophocles, lines 1372-74) and inactions in the case of Prufrock, â€Å"I grow old†(Eliot, line 120). Both, ultimately realize their folly, or flaw, but are helpless to reverse the situation. In Prufrock’s case, he is entirely the cause of his own suffering, but still is impotent to change the situation. Both despise themselves for their helplessness. Thus, their sufferings seem amplified and add to the brooding quality of their tragic lives. Both are isolated and are despised by the world, in their thinking. Prufrock states that he doesn’t think that the mermaids will sing to him; Oedipus begs to be led away hurriedly, being the most polluted of all, and â€Å"Of all men most accursed†(Sophocles, line1396). Though the two characters share the above stated common traits and both are tragic heroes, there are quite a few dissimilarities too. The first difference is the form of portrayal of the tragic heroes. Oedipus is the hero of the dramatic form, and hence his character is more clear and open to study, presenting a fuller picture of all his characteristic traits and complex behavior. Prufrock, on the other hand is neither a king, nor of noble thinking, and he is the tragic hero in a poem. Implicitly, the shortage of space in a poem puts limitations on extensive character portrayal of the hero. Thus, the student is able to study only a portion of the character’s life-span of Prufrock, in contrast to the full life history of Oedipus. The other most striking contrast is that Oedipus is an ancient tragic hero – actively upholding the principles of high idealism, altruism, justice, and valor while being beleaguered by feelings of jealousy, treachery, disloyalty, dishonor, greed, lust for power etc, the modern, tragic-hero is more of an anti-hero, and impotent. In the sense, he is so defeated by the power of the dull, uninspiring world around him, that he prefers to rather remain inactive, than to actively try to change his situation and be defeated. It is almost as if the uselessness of the attempts of the ancient tragic heroes have been embedded in the collective psyche of the modern tragic hero, and hence, he is already aware of the outcome, he doesn’t even want to attempt. Oedipus not being aware of his true identity, led him to wrongly believe that Polybus was his father, and thereafter his vow never to return to Corinth. But still he, as the mark of a true hero took an action of self-exile which ultimately led to fructify the designs of fate. Nevertheless, he was action-oriented and defeated. Whereas, the modern tragic hero in Prufrock, is so much a pessimist, that he remains defeated with inaction – by sheer preference. In fact, it is said that T.S. Eliot was reflecting on the dismal conditions of the world surrounding him, and this poem partially paved the way for his other later works like The Wasteland (1922). The differing time-periods of the two characters have resulted in the portrayal of the different societies in which these two heroes lived. For example, the people of the land of Thebes have been represented as the Chorus, and they are actively involved in the happenings of the state, the king and the welfare of the state, showing a healthy environment; whereas, the desolate depiction of the twentieth century environment, in Eliot’s poem is more dismal, and uninspiring. It seems the society as a common force had died out, or at least not visible. Conclusion: The tragic heroes Oedipus and Prufrock belong to totally different ages; consequently, present entirely different set of traits and ideals by which they are depicted. While both the heroes have some aspects common to all tragedies, they also display very contrasting traits which make their study, all the more interesting. However, both are symbols of negative impact that afflict the state, ancient and the twentieth century.                                                    List of readings and works cited The sources on which this essay is based on are: Eliot, T.S. (1888–1965).†The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†in Prufrock and Other Observations.  1917. On line edition Published May 1996 by Bartleby.com  Web address http://www.bartleby.com/198/1.html Accessed on June 12, 2006. Sophocles. Oedipus the King, translated by E. H. Plumptre. Vol. VIII, Part 5. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001.            Website address and  http://www.bartleby.com/8/5/3.html Accessed on June 12, 2006. Other works cited and readings that have helped in gaining a better understanding towards writing this essay are: Allingham, V, Philip. 2002. â€Å"Aristotelian Tragedy and the Novels of Thomas Hardy†in The Victorian Web. Website: Accessed on June 12, 2006. McCoy, Kathleen., & Harlan, Judith. (1992). ENGLISH LITERATURE FROM 1785 (New            York: HarperCollins, 1992: 265-66) Web site address:            < http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/English151W-03/prufrock.htm>            Accessed on June 12, 2006. memorablequotations.com (2005). â€Å"Memorable Quotations: Heroes†website address Accessed on June 12, 2006. Mirsky, D.S. Undated.  â€Å"T. S. Eliot and The End of Bourgeois Poetry†trans. by Gunnar Jauch, Annelie Hultà ©n, and Arwin van Arum. Website address Accessed on June 12, 2006.    Â
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Introduction to Legal Research Essay
Facts: Samantha Smith, a young and single mother, was shopping in the bath aisle of the local grocery store in Indiana. At approximately 1:30 pm she slipped and fell on a clear shampoo that had leaked out of one of the bottles and onto the floor. The aisle had been inspected, logged as clear of any dangerous hazards at 1:00 pm by an older employee who requires glasses. As a result of the fall, Samantha was transported to the hospital where she was admitted overnight and diagnosed with a broken hip. She will require many months of physical therapy. Samantha has no healthcare insurance coverage to cover any of her expenses and is responsible for a two year old son. Issue: Did the grocery store have knowledge of the hazardous substance on the floor, therefore being held liable for the injuries that Samantha sustained? Rule: The grocery store can only be held liable if it had knowledge of the hazardous condition. Breach of duty is defined as â€Å"the violation of a legal or moral obligation; the failure to act as the law obligates one to act; especially a fiduciary’s violation of an obligation owed to another.†Black’s Law Dictionary 214 (9th ed. 2009) Negligence is defined as â€Å"the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation; any conduct that falls below the legal standard established to protect others against unreasonable risk of harm.†Black’s Law Dictionary 1133 (9th ed. 2009) Analysis: Samantha is not able to prove that the grocery store had any knowledge of the hazardous substance on the floor; therefore, the grocery store was not negligent in its duty to the customer and cannot be held liable for Samantha’s injuries. Conclusion: It is not likely that Samantha will be awarded damages for her injuries because she cannot show proof that the grocery store had any knowledge of the hazardous spill on the floor. Vaughn v. National Tea Co., 328 F.2d 128 (7th Cir. 1964) Facts: The Plaintiff, Vaughn, slipped and on a piece of lettuce and fell on the floor while shopping at National Tea Company. The store employee stated under testimony that she did not recall cleaning or picking up anything off of the aisle the day before the slip and fall occurred. The lettuce had multiple step marks on it which indicated that it had been there for a while. As a result of the slip and fall, Vaughn ruptured a disc in her back that resulted in the need for surgery. Vaughn filed a lawsuit against the National Tea Company for damages for the injuries she sustained. A jury found the Defendant guilty and awarded damages to Vaughn in the amount of $25,000. See more: how to write an introduction paragraph National Tea Company appealed the case stating there was no proof of negligence. Issue: Did National Tea Company have any knowledge of the lettuce on the floor which would ultimately hold them liable for the Vaughn’s injuries? Rule: Negligence is defined as â€Å"the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation; any conduct that falls below the legal standard established to protect others against unreasonable risk of harm.†Black’s Law Dictionary 1133 (9th ed. 2009) Evidence showed that the lettuce had been stepped on multiple times and, therefore, the jury could find that it was on the floor ample enough time for someone at the store to have a duty to clean it up. Analysis: The jury held that National Tea Company was negligent and a breach of duty occurred because they lettuce was on the floor for a long enough time period to be noticed and removed; therefore, Vaughn was awarded dama ges. Carmichael v. Kroger, 654 N.E.2d 1188 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995) Facts: Carmichael was shopping in the dairy aisle at Kroger and at approximately 2:00 pm slipped on a broken egg. As a result, Carmichael filed a lawsuit against Kroger for damages as a result of the slip and fall. Records show that a Kroger employee checked the dairy aisle just after 2:00 pm the same day and confirmed that there was no hazardous material on the floor. Carmichael was unable to prove to the Court that Kroger knew about the broken egg on the floor; therefore, Kroger was not found negligent or liable for Carmichael’s injuries. Issue: Did Kroger know about the broken egg on the floor which in turn would hold them liable for Carmichael’s injuries? Rule: Liability cannot be imposed if Kroger was not aware of the broken egg on the floor. Negligence is defined as â€Å"the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation; any conduct that falls below the legal standard established to protect others against unreasonable risk of harm.†Black’s Law Dictionary 1133 (9th ed. 2009) Analysis: Carmichael failed to prove to the Court that Kroger had any knowledge of the broken egg on the floor that created a hazard; therefore, Kroger was not negligent in its duty of care to Carmichael and cannot be held liable for Carmichael’s injuries. Conclusion: The Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision that Carmichael failed to prove negligence and breach of duty.
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