Literary Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Literary Analysis - Essay Example Spayde (1998) further adds that formal training is a vital necessity, however power and class simultaneously plays significant role in the sector of education. For instance, the graduates from world class universities like Stanford and Harvard would be offered the designations at workplace to prepare the work schedules for those who have acquired their degree from a not so famous, regional college. The eminent journalist and novelist, Earl Shorris (Spayde, 1998, p.67) realized the flaws of the modern educational system and took initiative for starting up an Ivy League adult education course which was meant for the â€Å"Asians, whites, blacks and Hispanics† (p.67). On the first day of his lecture, Shorris (Spayde, 1998, p.67) addressed his students and let them know that â€Å"humanities† is not just a subject to be studied by the Rich strata of the society. The term â€Å"Humanities† embraces the entire world and its people. The concept of humanities teaches the students how to live, how to think and how to enjoy life. The subject enriches the readers by providing them a new perspective towards life. Spayde (1998) further recognizes several misconceptions about the term â€Å"education†. He states that â€Å"training† at a local computer school is an option considered suitable for the poor Americans. However technical training inevitably tur ns out to be obsolete after a few years. Spayde (1998) argues that â€Å"education† is nothing but a dialogue which carries different meanings for different societies. The present concept of education is merely making the students suitable for fighting the â€Å"global competitiveness† but Spayde (1998) states that despite of possessing specialized skills, these contemporary graduates lack â€Å"intellectual breadth† (p.68) which can only be learnt by the practice of humanities. The professor of environmental studies of Oberlin College defines the recent trend of

Focus on the Learner Essay Example for Free

Focus on the Learner Essay Student Background Veronica is a 31 year old elementary level student. She is originally from Ecuador and is currently residing in Birmingham and has been for the past 3 months. She is University level educated, as a graduate in Dentistry, and a native speaker of Spanish and is also fluent in Italian. Veronica has worked as a dentist in her families practice; she has learned English at a basic level and is able to converse in English at an elementary level. Her motivation for studying English is to increase her level of English language so that she may work as a dentist in England. She has been encouraged by her sister to move to the United Kingdom as the rate of pay in her home country she could not earn enough money. She is very motivated to learn English as she will be able to provide a better life for herself financially and will also be able to better communicate and therefore socialise with her friends from different cultures. Linguistic and Skills: Strengths and Weaknesses 1. Listening It is difficult to grade listening skills without actually setting a listening task. For the purpose of this report I will analyse the understanding of questions set in the interview as well as class observation of the learner. Veronica seems to understand what is said and did not stall in answering the questions. She is able to understand most task set in class with the teacher’s explanation, without requiring further help. However when she doesn’t understand an exercise, she will not respond to the task set and will check with classmates in order to complete the task. 2. Speaking Strengths Veronica is able to present her message in a relatively clear manner. She is a fast speaker, often the case with Spanish native speakers. She uses simple short sentences mainly in the present tense. (Lines 10/14). Weaknesses Veronica has difficulty with pronunciation, often not using stresses. She pronounces the word noisy as nosy as seen in line 13-14. However when I repeated the word in the correct manner, she quickly adopted the correct pronunciation. She uses the past simple to explain future plans as seen in line 20 and line 25.This is a grammar error also noted in her writing and reading task. Veronica uses ‘is’ instead of it ‘it is’ and makes the error of using in instead of at (as seen in line 20) to state future plan of studying at University, she also made the error of putting the before the lexical verb university Grammar Tense Veronica struggles with the future tenses. She uses ‘is’ to explain future plans as seen in line 20. Vocabulary Veronica displays a relatively good level of vocabulary, illustrated by words such a professional, principle and University (lines8/20/21). However at times she struggles to find the words she wants to explain which results in her mumbling ’inaudible’. Pronunciation Veronica struggles with pronunciation. This may be seen in words such as noisy, seen in line 13-14, and principle, line 8/20 Reading Strengths Veronica was able to complete the reading task without any prompt, in other words independently. She was able to read for the specific information, and seemed to be familiar with have and haven’t. She showed particular strength in writing full sentences with correct capital letters as well as an ability to recognise the correct punctuation and contractions making only a few errors. Weaknesses Veronica has made a few errors in the reading exercise. This may be seen through her answering, ‘it is’ instead of ‘it has’, when asked whether an individual has internet on their mobile phone. This perhaps illustrate that she may struggle with grammar. Veronica has also made a few mistakes in writing the correct punctuation, often rewriting the wrong sentence instead of correcting it as well as failing to put a full stop at the end of the sentence, as well as not using enough commas. This illustrates that Veronica who is although familiar with capital letters, punctuation, and contractions needs more support in this area. Writing Strengths Veronica is able to present her message relatively well; she is able to spell most word correctly. She illustrates a variety of words, therefore can be seen to have a good vocabulary for a learner at elementary level. She presents her ideas in logical manner, she states for example that her life in England is interesting and is able explain in more detail why she has written this. Her handwriting is very legible. She is able to use correct punctuation such as full stops and comma’s as well as contractions. Weaknesses Veronica has made a few spelling mistakes, often when words are difficult to spell such as profession which even native speaker struggle with. However even more importantly Veronica has struggled to use the capital letters in the correct manner, for example she writes Favourite instead of favourite and uses full stops to frequently instead of commas. She also struggles with the difference between is, has are and often makes errors in word order. Some of these mistakes such as wrong use of capital letter could also seen in reading task. Rationale for choice of Language area I have chosen to focus on grammar, most specifically on future tenses and future plans. In order to help improve Veronica’s improve her language skills in the area of tenses, as this is an area which is problematic for Veronica. Rationale for chosen skills area I have chosen to focus on speaking as this is an area which Veronica displays difficulty in as illustrated through the recording and may be seen in the transcript.

Essay --

Who Am I? A look inside Holden, Seymour, and Salinger from three acclaimed works. After World War II J.D. Salinger joined the ranks of the exceptionally adept authors that came about after the heinous second world war. Salinger, fueled by his experiences from the war, addressed many concerns and issues, most of which are timeless. Due to many of his astounding pieces, and his fresh outlook on society, is considered a phenomenal, classic, American author. One that is responsible for many renowned, coming of age novels, as well as a number of agonizing critiques of the society that has been cultured. The Catcher in the Rye and, â€Å"A Perfect Day for Bananafish† are two of his most acclaimed works, both wrestling with the concept concerning the conservation of innocence, a main talking point of Salinger. This is visible through many similarities between the two works. In The Catcher in the Rye, â€Å"A Perfect Day for Bananafish,† and, J.D. Salinger: A Life the characters share common internal conflicts regarding the people that they have become, thi s central conflict aids in conveying Salingers overwhelming claim that when faced with great ordeals, any figurative wounds attained, affect a person in every aspect of life. In The Catcher in The Rye Holden wrestles with the concept of the person that he has turned into. The colossal amount of struggles he has faced, and the lacerations he has gained have remained by his side, altering his everyday, mundane actions. Holden remarks on the painful transition between childhood and adulthood when he is in the Natural History Museum, he says that the, â€Å"best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was.... Nobody's be different. The only thing that would be ... ...today. Salinger gained many mental and physical wounds during his time in the army, both affected his views on innocence and affected him as a person. Both The Catcher in the Rye, â€Å"A Perfect Day for Bananafish†, and J.D. Salinger: A Life have similar views on innocence, however, the way in which the protagonists experienced their realization on the topic was utterly different. In The Catcher in the Rye and, â€Å"A Perfect Day for BananaFish† as well as J.D. Salinger: A Life, Holden, seymour, and Salinger both find themselves with similar internal conflicts regarding the people they have become, in relation to their innocence. The self exploration the three underwent was due to the accumulation of anguish and grief. both The Catcher in the Rye and, â€Å"A Perfect Day for Bananafish† share similar insights, because of Salingers similar themes and his experience in the war.

Baruch Spinozas Anti Anthroponcentric View Essay -- Philosophy Spinoz

When Baruch Spinoza composed his philosophical masterpiece, the Ethics, he knew that his ideas (particularly those of God) would be considered heretical in the extreme, leading to any number of unpleasant consequences. This was the reason that the Ethics were published in 1677, posthumously (p.97)1. His apprehensions are well justified in the light of what he writes in the Appendix (p.145-149) to Part1: Concerning God (p.129-145) regarding the prejudices present in the minds of human beings. For, it is here that Spinoza directly challenges the prevalent religious orthodoxy and seeks to remove the very dogma that was the basis of their power. Spinoza asserts in the Appendix (p.145) that there exist certain prejudices in the minds of people that prevent them from understanding (and accepting as true) the conclusions that he reaches after a thoroughly logical and indeed, geometrical process of reasoning. The root of all these prejudices, he further clarifies, is the almost universal belief that all Natural things exist and act with some definite goal being pursued. Further, he presents for scrutiny the very strong anthropomorphism inherent in most human minds that makes these people believe in the universe having been created for their sake. Lastly comes the religious part of this picture, wherein mankind exists so that it may worship God, thereby closing the circle of creation. Spinoza (naturally, considering his philosophy) rejects this picture and thereby attempts in the Appendix to argue on the following crucial points: 1) The reason 1 Roger Ariew & Eric Watkins. Modern Philosophy: An anthology of primary sources. Indianapolis/Cambridge, 1998. Note: All references to Spinoza will be to this text unless otherw... ...e former, Spinoza replies, â€Å"...the perfection of things should be measured solely from their own nature and power† and not with respect to definitions in the imagination. Furthermore, God had no free will in creating the universe, (from Cor. 1 Pr. 32, p.142 as described previously) and (from Pr.16, p.137) â€Å"from the necessity of the divine..(follows)..everything that can come within the scope of infinite intellect†. Therefore, God must, of necessity, be the cause of everything, perfect and imperfect! 6 In conclusion, Spinoza provides an immaculate argument that should readily convince the reader of the truth of his main proposition in the Appendix, i.e. that the major reason for obstacles in the path of understanding is the anthropocentric view of Nature that most people hold on to, irrespective of the enormity of the contradictions inherent in that view. 7

Hamlet Act 3 scene 1 Essay

Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It recounts how Prince Hamlet of Denmark goes about taking revenge for his father by killing his murderer, Claudius. In act 3, scene 1 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern fail to report the reason for Hamlets ‘madness’, so Ophelia, Hamlet’s lover, is instructed by Claudius to see if his ‘madness’ is caused by her. I chose to perform this scene because it shows key elements of Hamlets character, his contemplative yet cynical side, shown fully in his famous â€Å"to be, or not to be† soliloquy and Hamlet’s rash and impulsive side, showing his anger at Ophelia as well as his unpredictability. The area that I focused on was from the start of his soliloquy to where he leaves Ophelia before her â€Å"oh what a noble mind† speech. I started the scene in silence, keeping a neutral body posture, and slowly began with â€Å"to be, or not to be†, instead of making it a huge dramatic statement, I chose to make it more hesitant, with a lengthened pause at the comma, this was done to make it look like it was a statement that had just come to Hamlet. Hamlet is a scholar and a philosopher and I was trying to portray this by making it seem as if he had discovered this notion of the ‘point of existence’, a key recurring theme throughout the whole of the play. Hamlet is not talking about a wish to commit suicide, in fact he does not use the words â€Å"I† or â€Å"me† throughout the whole speech, which meant that the speech was more rhetorical than personal. I tried to portray this by conducting the speech as if it were two balanced sides of an argument. In an underlying tone that would be used to say the phrases like on the one hand for the line â€Å"whether tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune† and on the other hand, â€Å"or to take arms against a sea of troubles†. I also had to show how Hamlet related to the speech, showing how he contemplated the idea of ending all his troubles through death, but without actually expressing the actual desire to kill himself, so I put emphasis on lines like â€Å"to die, to sleep† and using lengthened pauses to make is seem like he was in pensive state. This ‘argument’ then brings him to the issue with his issue of â€Å"being†, which was that of not knowing what comes after death, which Hamlet concludes is what all men fear, â€Å"thus conscience does make cowards of us all†. I said this line with a defeatist tone, lowering my voice and adding a sigh to show Hamlets philosophical and cynical attributes made him come to this conclusion. When Ophelia enters, Hamlet is initially glad to see her, although he is still in his pensive mood, this was achieved by him smiling when facing her and returning to a more sombre expression when turned away, emphasised by the three â€Å"well†s which are in response to Ophelia demanding how hamlet is. The first is higher pitched, and said with a smile to show how hamlet is happy to be standing in front of his love, the second is more to himself, said with a more questioning feel to it, and the last is more for the audiences benefit who previously participated to his† to be, or not to be speech†, said in a lowered voice almost through gritted teeth to show how Hamlet is thinking about the conclusion to his soliloquy, and the uncertainty of life after death. Ophelia has been instructed by her father to return several tokens of Hamlets love to him, this hurts Hamlet who thinks it odd and makes him start to question her motives; concluding that Hamlet might think that she might have a sent by someone else, at which point I look around stage looking for this ‘other man’ to show how Hamlet is cynical. At this point Hamlets anger comes out, which is where I raise my voice to a near shout, throwing the tokens, in this case, books, to the floor. Hamlet then tells her how he really feels for her, saying, â€Å"I did love you once† which is where I lock with the actress playing Ophelia to show how Hamlet is in fact saying his true feeling, to which she replies â€Å"indeed my lord, you made me believe so†, this blunt statement just angers Hamlet’s character even more, which makes him want to hurt her feelings, so he retorts with â€Å"I loved you not† which is in fact a lie, was portrayed by Hamlet looking in the opposite direction to Ophelia, so I could give Hamlet a pained expression that expressed his true feelings. Hamlet then has his â€Å"get thee to a nunnery† speech, which is where Hamlet again addresses the wider public with his notions; a key speech which is the dramatic climax of the scene, here I had to show Hamlet releasing all his anger and frustration by essentially saying that Ophelia should lock herself away never to be a temptation for any other man ever again. Being quite a vicious message, I chose to put emphasis, on the key words and phrases such as â€Å"get thee to a nunnery† and â€Å"breeder of sinners†, to show it was like Hamlet was actually trying to hurt her with each metaphorical â€Å"blow†. At the end of his speech Hamlet asks the question â€Å"where is your father†, I interpreted this as Hamlet giving Ophelia one last chance, to show his compassionate and loving side. This was done by getting closer to the actress playing Ophelia and instead of demanding as a loud command which is what would have been expected, I whispered it, to show how Hamlet was testing her, as he knew that there was someone else, observing them. And when Ophelia fails his test, I expressed disappointment instead of anger, again to show how really he would have wished for her to be truthful to him, so that he could continue to love her as he always had. Now Hamlet is resigned to not being able to trust Ophelia, so he returns to his previous way of abusing her. I again used this chance to show Hamlets hasher, angrier side. Emphasising his more powerful images such as â€Å"chaste as ice† where I elongated the sound of the sibilance. Toward the end of the scene is where Hamlet says a line that indicates that he is referring to the other person in the room; â€Å"all but one shall live†. This shows how the aim of revenge is ever present in Hamlets head; I showed this by focussing all my characters attention on a spot that had previously been accidentally pointed out by Ophelia. In conclusion, I portrayed Hamlet as an impulsive and unpredictable character who did not always give the reaction expected by the audience. The scene contained a speech that was perfect to show Hamlets philosophical and cynical side, where key themes are introduced into the play. I also showed Hamlets ability to love through his relationship with Ophelia, where even though he knew she wasn’t acting truthfully, he still gave her a chance to prove herself to him. And finally, I was able to show how Hamlet reacted in anger, which was the state that he is in for the better part of the scene, portrayed through a number of little venomous speeches directed at Ophelia.

BILLY BUDD Essays - Billy Budd, Herman Melville, Billy, Budd

BILLY BUDD Essays - Billy Budd, Herman Melville, Billy, Budd BILLY BUDD Before the Fall, Adam and Eve were perfect. They were innocent and ignorant, yet perfect, so they were allowed to abide in the presence of God. Once they partook of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, however, they immediately became unclean as well as mortal. In Billy Budd, the author, Herman Melville, presents a question that stems directly from this original sin of our first parents: Is it better to be innocent and ignorant, but good and righteous, or is it better to be experienced and knowledgeable? I believe that through this book, Melville is telling us that we need to strike some kind of balance between these two ideas; we need to have morality and virtue; we need to be in the world, but not of the world. To illustrate his theme, Melville uses a few characters who are all very different, the most important of which is Billy Budd. Billy is the focal point of the book and the single person whom we are meant to learn the most from. On the ship, the Rights-of-Man, Billy is a cynosure among his shipmates; a leader, not by authority, but by example. All the members of the crew look up to him and love him. He is strength and beauty. Tales of his prowess [are] recited. Ashore he [is] the champion, afloat the spokesman; on every suitable occasion always foremost(9). Despite his popularity among the crew and his hardworking attitude, Billy is transferred to another British ship, the Indomitable. And while he is accepted for his looks and happy personality, hardly here [is] he that cynosure he had previously been among those minor ships companies of the merchant marine(14). It is here, on the Indomitable that Billy says good-bye to his rights. It is here, also, that Billy meets John Claggart, the master-at-arms. A man in whom was the mania of an evil nature, not engendered by vicious training or corrupting books or licentious living but born with him and innate, in short a depravity according to nature(38). Here then, is presented a man with a personality and character to contrast and conflict with Billys. Sweet, innocent Billy immediately realizes that this man is someone he does not wish to cross and so after seeing Claggart whip another crew-member for neglecting his responsibilities, Billy resolved that never through remissness would he make himself liable to such a visitation or do or omit aught that might merit even verbal reproof(31). Billy is so good and so innocent that he tries his hardest to stay out of trouble. What then was his surprise and concern when ultimately he found himself getting into petty trouble occasionally about such matters as the stowage of his bagwhich brought down on him a vague threat from one of [the ships corporals](31). These small threats and incidents establish the tension between Claggart and Billy, and set the stage for a later confrontation. They also force Billy to search for help. The person he goes to is yet another type of character presented in this book. Red Whiskers. Red Whiskers was an old veteran, long anglicized in the service, of few words, many wrinkles, and some honorable scars(31). Billy recognizes the old Dansker as a figure of experience, and after showing respect and courtesy which Billy believes due to his elder, finally seeks his advice, but what he is told thoroughly astonishes him. Red Whiskers tells Billy that for some reason, Claggart is after Billy, but Billy cannot believe it because he is so innocent and trusting. Through this situation Billy now finds himself in, Melville has us ask ourselves a question: Would it be right for Billy to heed the advice of experience and wisdom and tell the captain about Claggarts conspiracy? Or should he instead keep his mouth shut and try to work things out himself? Being the good person that he is, Billy tries to forget about it and hopes that it will pass, but it does not. And that is where the fourth of these few characters comes in. Captain Vere, with his love for knowledge and books, and his settled convictions [which stood] as a dike against those invading

What make us humans essays

What make us humans essays In general terms the word human being includes a diversity of behaviors. The way each of us is entitled to run their own life; many things that we need to do in order to survive, describe us being humans. Thinking is one of the most important things humans do to overcome lifes struggles. If we would not have the necessity to think before acting we would not be called Humans at all. The fact of saying that a human is able to think does not mean that a human cannot commit a mistake. Thats the other reason we are called humans. Humans make mistakes and we are not perfect; otherwise we would be gods. Being a human is being ourselves, which means that we are all different in one aspect but as a whole we are all called humanity. There are humans from different parts of the world. We all have different cultures, ways of thinking, dressing, ways of behaving and ways of living our lives. Laughing and loving are signs of being humans. That is what makes us different from animals. Animals act by instincts only; humans act by instincts and thinking. Laughing is a human sign; a way of showing friendliness, likeness and sometimes it is a sign of showing love and appreciation to one another. Sense of humor and common sense are very important in a human. That determines the personality of each of us, which it converts us a special kind of person. A Human is unique; there is no one similar to the other one. We are specials; we all have different taste, likeness and hobbies. Being a human means diversity of characters, personalities, physical characteristics, races, food and cultures. Human rights are what make us human. When we speak of the right to life, or development, or to dissent and diversity. It is our spirit that makes us human. It is our spiritual characteristics that make us human beings. We human being have these characteristics that the animals of the lower orders do not have. We know that there is the conce...