Jonathan Swift and Piers Paul Read Essay Example for Free

Jonathan Swift and Piers Paul Read Essay Cannibalism is the last taboo. In Alive and A Modest Proposal Jonathan Swift and Piers Paul Read approach the subject with completely different purposes in mind. What do you consider to be the purpose of each author, and say how he achieves this? A Modest Proposal is a scathing attack on the economic oppression of the Irish by the English. During Swifts lifetime tremendous suffering was caused by English practices in Ireland. However, it is incorrect to say that cannibalism is the theme of A Modest Proposal. Swift was a Protestant writer in Ireland at the time of The Great Potato Famine. The article is a clever satirical device to draw attention to the plight of the poor. He infiltrates the opposition, the rich Protestant landlords, in order to put their torturous ideas to ridicule. Swift attacks his own Protestant, English community by creating a narrator who considers himself a reasonable and compassionate character, but one who combines a repulsive anti-Catholic bigotry, with a modest proposal, that is, rather, a final solution: he, the narrator, advocates cannibalism as a means of countering Irish Catholic poverty abortion, and the high birth rate. The narrator, in a frighteningly rational and level-headed tone condemns the English for being inhumane, the Irish for being passive, the speaker for being morally blind, and the reader for accepting intolerable situations in the world around him; for this piece was accepted and believed by many, at the time. On the other hand, Piers Paul Read, in his biographical novel Alive, rather than indirectly giving answers to a problem, asks questions. He tells of the experiences of the survivors of an Andean plane crash in 1976, who, in the remoteness, and the harshness of their environment, the lack of a consumable source of food, and the quickening exhaustion of their own limited amounts of chocolate and wine, have no where to turn except, in their desperation, to eat the meat from their fellow, dead, company. They have only their planes wreckage as shelter, which has come down from 14,000 feet. Both literary pieces, although their purpose, style and audience are different, jolt the reader out of their complacency, and encourage them to think of things they thought werent necessary to be thought about! However, it is necessary to understand that the two texts have been written hundreds of years apart, and society, of course, has evolved. Swift has reached out across the religious and ethnic divide to champion the ignorant, impoverished Irish Catholics. The bigotry of Swifts narrative is so convincing and grotesque, that Swift himself is sometimes mistaken as his narrator, an anti-Catholic bigot! On the contrary, Swifts essay harshly attacks the Christian commitment of Irelands wealthy Protestant absentee landowners, and his unflattering cannibal is made in their image. P. P. Read meanwhile, attacks not the opposition, but gives a balanced and meaningful account of the plane crash and the tales that followed, and examines the human spirit to stay alive, and questions what is civilized and human. Yet, simultaneously, Read, almost in the opposite of Swift, advocates cannibalism. Read turns the views of cannibalism as a taboo on its head. Rather than associating it with savagery and being primitive and irrational, he questions logic, and seems to state that the ban is the primitive thing, that is not based on reason. In one paragraph alone, he writes, we grappled with emotions, and we did not think it wrong twice. While Swift attacks the Landlords by linking their greed to their devouring of the Irish Catholics, and satirizes cannibalism to the extent that it is no longer seen as ironic, only distasteful, Read, using a character Canessa, reasons cannibalism out. He talks of nourishment and energy, and of course, eventually wins his company. Their decision is based on logic and reason, and the ability to use these makes us civilized. Although I do not feel that Swifts narrators views are plausible, Read using a variety of effective techniques, convinces the reader. Swift shows how the English projected their own blame onto their victims- destitute Irish Catholics, that, Swift suggests, have been cannibalized by the rapacious greed of absentee landlords. Swift is hoping to shame them into being more compassionate. However, as what happened when I read it for the first time, because Swift and his narrator are so tightly intertwined, readers often emerge from their reading, confused, perhaps unable to take in the implausibility of his case.

Explosion Of The Digital Era Public Relations

Explosion Of The Digital Era Public Relations Public Engagement is a modern paradigm in the PR context and sets out how professionals should be listening and engaging with their key stakeholders in the 21st Century. Marshall Manson, Director of digital strategy at Edelman UK, describes the terminology as advancing shared interest moving from an influence pyramid to a world of cross-influence (pg 5). According to Edelman there are four attributes of Public Engagement; it aims to be democratic and decentralized, inform the conversation, call for engagement with stakeholders and finally make it clear how reputation is important. Public Engagement has to work in all four areas (Richard Edelman, 2008). Trust building both internally and externally, reputation management and transparency are the hallmarks of successful PR initiatives besides positioning the CEO. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill and G D H Cole (1968) came up with the term Participatory Democracy, which was the forerunner of Public Engagement. Mills supported a representative government with some form of public participation but on a limited scale. Wholesale participation could endanger political decision making and hence democracy. (Pateman1970) Engagement in politics had been regarded as reactive but it is now perceived as proactive. Dialogue and engagement with all parties is important to prevent loss of public trust (Edward Andersson, Simon Burall Emily Fennell, Involve 2010). The Big Society introduced by David Cameron 19 July 2010 sought public dialogue and involvement in decision making. Business and government rely on PR to establish trust and dialogue. Public engagement, like any conversation, is all about listening. Our world can be likened to a conversation and in order to be successful we need to listen ( Richard Edelman 2008). New technology has presented the public with effective tools for engaging in these conversations at a level never experienced before. A white paper published by Arthur W Page Society (2007) is a good example of how Public Relations practitioners and company leaders must change their strategies and business goals to be more authentic in the 21st century. The study looked at how CEOs saw their roles change with the culture of the environment. Environment is changing because of the emergence of all things digital, a global economy and a new breed of stakeholders. However, what it fails to do is to provide a way that can be used to enhance the role of the communication department in the future. According to the paper it believes that communication departments have lost control. In order to move forward they must adapt to new technologies, audiences and engagement models. Transparency is a key part of performing well in the 21st century, it encourages trust on behalf of employees and the public and is in demand more than ever (Michael Smith, Richard Hunter, Ken McGee, Gartner 2010). Public opinion surveys have confirmed the need for transparency in business and managing trust (Grunig, J.E 2009). For organisations to succeed in Public Engagement, they need to be informed, transparent, prospective and adaptive to their key stakeholders (Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 2008). Prior to current publications on Public Engagement, the term was mainly connected to the science world. A report written by Demos (2009) stated that the UK was now seen as a leader in public engagement within the science world. Public Engagement, it argued would only work when interest groups were included. Matthew C. Nisbet Dietram A. Scheufele (2007) argued that communication must be accessible to all sections of society. Advocacy, a term used by PR company Weber Shandwick, is defined as Public relations caught the first wave, the adoption of new technology to spread information But that first wave, sharing information with more segmented audiences, is cresting. A new one, a fundamental transformation of communication from information to advocacy, is rising (Jack Leslie, Chairman, Weber Shandwick Worldwide). It argues that personnel engagement is needed in order to be able to communicate with their audiences. It is evident that universities are becoming involved with the term Public Engagement. The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) is part of the Beacon for Public Engagement project. Their aim is to encourage a change in how universities engage with the public and their stakeholders. ___________________________________________________________________________ Social Media Traditional PR skills are still helpful in bringing transparency to communications with stakeholders (Schlesinger 2010) but the introduction of Web 2.0 technologies has changed the world of communications for PR (Pavlik 2008) and Philips and Young (2009). Grunig, J.E (2009) noted that digital media has the potential to make the profession more global, strategic, two-way, interactive and socially responsible (pg 1 Paradigms of Global Public Relations in an Age of Digitalisation). However, he comments that this new media is being used ineffectively by practitioners. Some are using it, as they did with the old media, as a place to write messages rather than using it to interact with the public strategically. Grunig (2009) concludes that it can only be used effectively if social media is used to its full capacity. Public engagement has created new networks of influences and special online forums leading to a world of communication through Blog, Twitter and Facebook among many, impacting all walks of life (Edelman, 2009.) In 2009, 625 million people worldwide had access to the internet (McCann 2009). Sharing of social networking sites has created huge paradigms for PR. It has increased challenges for organisations for the crucial role played by transparency, quickness and clarity in response (Pavlik 2008). The rise in digital interaction and the surge in social media present the practitioners with enormous opportunities. According to McCanns Wave 4 report (2009), social media platforms are becoming the norm to create and share. In his study he noted how they presented unique opportunities to listen and observe. One way messaging is now outdated and anyone understanding this new communication world will succeed (Weber Shandwick). It is important to recognize that social media is also important within organizations, encouraging employee engagement. Enterprise 2.0 is a form of web 2.0 which is used for businesses only. They provide services such as Yammer, a corporate version of Twitter, and Chatter- a social-networking service (Economist 2010). According to Mashable (2010) the top five engaged brands in social media are Starbucks, Coca- Cola, Oreo, Skittles and Redbull. Starbucks have created a digital platform for the participation of public through My Starbucks Idea for communicating with customers by just listening to customers suggestions. Companies are benefitting from listening and improving their services for all stakeholders including customers. Richard Sambrook (the former head of BBC news) believes that every company should be a media company he says. Big companies are going directly to the consumer to engage them now, rather than through display or spot ads and the traditional means of trying to reach consumers. You cant just be out there shouting at people about your brand, youve got to engage with them quite carefully PR is there to help organisations to be honest and engaged with the Public in this new age of media and should not spin stories to the press (Independent 2010) A Stakeholder can be defined as anyone who is affected by the actions arising from any organisation, whether a public or private entity. When engaged, stakeholders can provide organisations with valuable feedback on society expectations leading to the generation of creative solutions and earning the organisation valuable stakeholder support (Lawrence Weber 2008). With the advent of technologically enabled tools there has been a democratisation and socialisation of the media leading to a greater involvement by all participants. Breaking news is today likely to be captured first on Twitter, or the like, rather than a news agency (WrightHinson 2009). This in turn has necessitated greater transparency and in turn enhanced the role of PR professional teams in the management of organisations day to day operations. The status of employees and customers has now been placed on an equal footing with shareholders and other governing participants. (Authentic Enterprise 2007). Evolving through p ublic engagement, the corporate communication function is set to play the role of catalyst in this new environment and the PR practitioner can help empower corporate culture and stakeholder confidence (Miller 2010). At a local level internal communication has become more significant in shaping the management and image of organisations (Authentic Enterprise 2007). Trust is a valuable commodity which needs to be nurtured; in times of crisis the trust relationship will play a significant role in shaping the outcome of adverse events. Encouraging a listening culture within management will enhance the perception of trust (Mazzei and Ravazzani 2010). This is a function that PR needs to develop to accommodate changing communication platforms and models. Strategies need to consider the social and behavioural changes brought about by the internet. There have been many communication models put forward over the past 60 years the principal ones being the Shannon and Weaver model 1949, Shramms Interactive Model 1954 and Grunigs and Hunts 4 Models (1984). It is important to look at communication models to see whether Public engagement is a new paradigm or simply an extension of these. Shannon and Wavers (1949) Mathematical theory of Communication is accepted as one of the most important models from which communication studies has grown ( Johnson and Klare 1961), albeit biased towards the technical aspects of communication research (John Fiske 1982). In contrast to the above models Schramm went on to create his model which emphasised two-way communication (1954) and introduced the concept of feedback. In problem solving scenarios open ended questions need to be asked in order to gain feedback and results. The two-way symmetric model, Grunig and Hunt (1984) is probably the most popular and widely used in todays PR industry. This model is described as being one that can build relationships and resolve conflicts. It is where the stakeholders have a say in what an organisation does and can have some power over policies. This model employs research, listening, and dialogue as tools to cultivate relationships with both internal and external strategic parties. Pieczka (1996) criticised the model as she felt that the study was biased to the two way symmetrical model and questioned the validity of his model. According to Phillips and Young( 2009),social media is causing a new communication paradigm. They believe that communication is shifting from the traditional hierarchical arrangement to an audience model encouraging horizontal discourse. This is confirmed by Edelman (2009). A further study by Grunig developed a model for excellent public relations ( Grunig 2002 ,Grunig Dozier ) It was found that the most successful PR departments took part or contributed to the strategic decisions of the company. Once stakeholders had been identified the study showed that successful PR departments developed programmes to communicate with them. According to Grunig (2002.) Excellence is seen as the balance between an organisation and the public. It was seen as the management of communications on a level that aided the strategic management role whilst maintaining the attention and cooperation of the public. As such the PR role was enhanced and perceived in commercial terms whereby long term relationships could be forged between strategic parties. Philip and Young (2009 ) argued that the new PR challenges the Excellence model. LEtang (2006) was also critical stating that the power imbalance between organisation and public was a flaw in the theory of two-way communication. However Grunig insisted that the model was revised over the years. There appears to be a gap in communication models in regards to Public Engagement although Grunigs fourth model is possibly the closest to it. It is evident that a new model of PR is needed. Whether it is to be called Public Engagement is something which has to be decided.

Theories Of Intellectual Property Philosophy Essay

Theories Of Intellectual Property Philosophy Essay Introduction: The term intellectual property refers to a loose cluster of legal doctrines that regulate the uses of different sorts of ideas and insignia.   The law of copyright protects various original forms of expression. The economic and cultural importance of this collection of rules is increasing rapidly. And lawmakers throughout the world are busily revising their intellectual-property laws.  [1]  Partly as a result of these trends, scholarly interest in the field has risen dramatically in recent years. There has been an evident mushrooming of articles deploying theories of intellectual property in law reviews and in journals of economics and philosophy. This article discusses those theories, evaluates them, and considers the roles they do and ought to play in lawmaking. Different jurisprudential approaches in IP law making: Most of the recent theoretical writings consist of struggles among and within four jurisprudential approaches of intellectual property law. 1.2.1 Utilitarian aspect of IP jurisprudence: The first and most popular of the four employs the familiar utilitarian guideline that lawmakers must put emphasis on maximization of net social welfare while shaping property rights.   In the context of intellectual property, it is generally thought that, lawmakers must strike an optimal balance between, on one hand, the individual rights of the creator and on the other hand maximization of public interest. A good example in this regard is William Landess and Richard Posners essay on copyright law  [2]  .   The distinctive characteristics of most intellectual products are that they are easily replicated. Those characteristics in combination create a danger that the creators of such products will be unable to recoup their costs of expression (i.e. the time and effort devoted to writing or composing and the costs of negotiating with publishers or record companies), because they will be undercut by copyists who bear only the low costs of production (the costs of manufacturing and distributing books or CDs) and thus can offer consumers identical products at very low prices.   Awareness of this danger will deter creators from making socially valuable intellectual products in the first instance.   We can avoid this by allocating to the creators (for limited times) the exclusive right to make copies of their creations. All of the various alternative ways in which creators might be em powered to recover their costs are, for one reason or another, more wasteful of social resources.  [3]  Ã‚   This utilitarian rationale, however has been criticized on the ground of its tendency to create monopoly rights. A related argument dominates the trademark law. The primary economic benefits of trademarks, are (1) the reduction of consumers search costs, because consumers can rely upon their prior experiences with various brands while deciding which brand to buy in future, and (2) the creation of an incentive for businesses to produce consistently high-quality goods and services. On the other hand while dealing with its criticism, trademarks can sometimes be socially harmful also, like for example, by enabling the first entrant into a market to discourage competition by appropriating for itself an especially attractive or informative brand name. Awareness of these benefits and harms should (and usually does), guide legislators and judges when tuning trademark law; marks should be (and usually are) protected when they are socially beneficial and not when they are, on balance, deleterious.  [4]   1.2.2 Labour theory and its jurisprudential aspect: Robert Nozick  [5]  after associating himself with Lockes argument, Nozick turns his attention to Lockes famously ambiguous proviso the proposition that a person may legitimately acquire property rights by mixing his labor with resources held in common only if, after the acquisition, there is enough and as good left in common for others.  [6]   Nozick contends that the correct interpretation of this limitation is that the acquisition of property through labor is legitimate if and only if other persons do not suffer thereby any net harm. Construed in this fashion, the Lockean proviso is not violated, Nozick argues, by the assignment of a patent right to an inventor because, although other persons access to the invention is undoubtedly limited by the issuance of the patent, the invention would not have existed at all had the inventor not put in any effort due to fear of copying. 1.2.3 Personality theory and its jurisprudential aspect: The premise of the third approach derived loosely from the writings of Kant and Hegel i.e. private property rights are crucial to the satisfaction of some fundamental human needs; policymakers should thus strive to create and allocate entitlements to resources in the fashion that best enables people to fulfill those needs. From this standpoint, intellectual property rights may be justified either on the ground that they shield from appropriation or modification artifacts through which authors and artists have expressed their wills (an activity thought central to personhood) or on the ground that they create social and economic conditions conducive to creative intellectual activity, which in turn is important to human flourishing.  [7]   Justin Hughes derives from Hegels Philosophy of Rights the following guidelines concerning the proper shape of an intellectual-property system (a) We should be more willing to accord legal protection to the fruits of highly expressive intellectual activities, (b) Because a persons persona his public image, including his physical features, mannerisms, and history is an important part of personality, it deserves generous legal protection, despite the fact that ordinarily it does not result from labor (c) Authors and inventors should be permitted to earn respect, honor, admiration, and money from the public by selling or giving away copies of their works.  [8]   1.2.4 Social planning theory and its jurisprudential aspect: The last of the four approaches says that, property rights in general and intellectual-property rights in particular can and should be shaped so as to help foster the achievement of a just and attractive culture.   This approach is similar to utilitarianism in its orientation, but dissimilar in its willingness to deploy visions of a desirable society richer than the conceptions of social welfare deployed by utilitarians.  [9]   Other writers who have approached intellectual-property law from similar perspectives include Keith Aoki, Rosemary Coombe  [10]  , Niva Elkin-Koren, and Michael Madow.  [11]  As yet, however, this fourth approach is less well established and recognized than the other three. 1.3 Varying jurisprudential views in US, UK, France and Germany: Until recently, the personality theory had much less currency in American law.  However in contrast, it has figured very prominently in Europe.  The French and German copyright regimes, for example, have been strongly shaped by the writings of Kant and Hegel.   This influence is especially evident in the generous protection those countries provide for authors and artists rights. In the past two decades, moral-rights doctrine and the philosophic perspective on which it rests have found increasing favor with American lawmakers, as evidenced most clearly by the proliferation of state art-preservation statutes and the recent adoption of the federal Visual Artists Rights Act.  [12]   Critical analysis of the theories of IP jurisprudence: Lawmakers are confronted these days with many difficult questions involving rights to control information. The proponents of all four leading theories purport to provide lawmakers with answers to the upcoming questions in IP jurisprudence. Unfortunately, our choice among these four options will often make a big difference. The third, for instance, suggests that we should insist, before issuing a patent or other intellectual-property right, that the discovery in question must satisfy a meaningful utility requirement; the other three would not.  The second would counsel against conferring legal rights on artists who love their work; the other three point in the opposite direction. The fourth would suggest that we add to copyright law a requirement analogous to the patent doctrine of nonobviousness; the others would not.  In short, a lawmakers inability to choose among the four will often be disabling. Similar troubles arise when one tries to apply Lockes conception of the commons to the field of intellectual property.  What exactly are the raw materials, owned by the community as a whole, with which individual workers mix their labor in order to produce intellectual products? It is agreed that IP law would have to be radically revised to conform to the Lockean scheme.  But the scale of the necessary revision is daunting. Is it justifiable on Lockean or any other premises -that if one thinks of a new way of dancing he claim IP protection and prevent everybody else from doing the same? Similarly, by registering the trademark Nike, can one prevent others from using it in any way- including reproducing it in an essay on intellectual property? If not, then what Is the extent of these rights? We come, finally, to the well-known problem of proportionality. Nozick asks:  If I pour my can of tomato juice into the ocean, do I own the ocean?  How far, in short, do my rights go?   Locke gives us little guidance.  [13]   1.5 Conclusion: The limitations of the guidance provided by general theories of intellectual property is perhaps easiest to see with respect to the last of the four approaches.  Lawmakers who try to harness social-planning theory must make difficult choices at two levels.  The first and most obvious involves formulating a vision of a just and attractive culture. What sort of society should we try, through adjustments of copyright, patent, and trademark law, to promote?   The possibilities are endless. Through continued conversations among scholars, legislators, judges, litigants, lobbyists, and the public at large, there may lie some hope of addressing the inadequacies of the existing theories.  The analytical difficulties associated with the effort to apply the Lockean version of labor theory to intellectual property may well prove insurmountable, but there may be some non-Lockean way of capturing the popular intuition that the law should reward people for hard work.  Only by continuing to discuss the possibility and trying to bring some alternative variant of labor theory to bear on real cases can we hope to make progress.   Much the same can be said of the gaps in personality theory.   The conception of selfhood employed by current theorists may be too thin and acontextual to provide lawmakers much purchase on doctrinal problems.  But perhaps, through continued reflection and conversation, we can do better. Conversational uses of intellectual property theories of the sort sketched above would be different from the way in which such theories most often have been deployed in the past.  Instead of trying to compel readers, through a combination of noncontroversial premises and inexorable logic, to accept a particular interpretation or reform of legal doctrine, the jurists and lawmakers should attempt, by deploying a combination of theory and application, to strike a chord of sympathy in their audience.  The sought-after response would not be, I cant see any loopholes in the argument, but rather, it needs to be acknowledged and addressed. That conclusion, however, does not imply that the theories have no practical use.  [14]  In two respects, I suggest, they retain considerable value.  First, while they have failed to make good on their promises to provide comprehensive prescriptions concerning the ideal shape of intellectual-property law, they can help identify nonobvious attractive resolutions of particular problems. Second, they can foster valuable conversations among the various participants in the lawmaking process.  

Adolescent Role Assessments: José and Chhaya Essay -- Eating Disorder

â€Å"Adolescents experience dramatic changes in physical appearance, family relations, peer relations, sexuality, and media use† (Arnett, 2012). Through these experiences, adolescents have the opportunity to change their outlook and behavior. From family relations to questioning identity, to peer relationships and self-esteem, adolescents have various ways of coping with the changes they are presented with. The stories of Josà © and Chhaya reflect the changes adolescents go through to better understand who they are. Their stories mainly look at their peer and family relations, and the impact they had on Josà © and Chhaya. These stories accurately represent the discussions and readings we’ve had in class (J.Davis, Psych 234, February 28, 2014). Identity is defined as a person being aware of their uniqueness in terms of beliefs, attitudes, and aspirations. As most people have difficulty defining the word identity, most people struggle with their own identity. This can be particularly true for adolescents. Identity can be coupled with achievement or confusion; either the individual has a clear understanding of who they are, or they do not (J.Davis, Psych 234, February 28, 2014). Both Josà © and Chhaya reached a point in their life when they were confused with their own identity. Josà © struggled with identifying his ethnicity, and acknowledging he was different from his classmates and peers. Chhaya struggled with her identity in regards to her parents, peers and how they would treat her, and what was expected of her through their relationships. Josà © was faced with being unaware of his racial identity. He viewed his ethnic identity with public regard, and only thought about how others viewed his race, and felt that he was no diff... ...t she should have showed interest towards the young man, because he was attractive, and there would be few others of his caliber to go out with her again. This lead to Chhaya believing there was something wrong with her, and the way she handled the romantic situation she was placed in (Garrod, Smulyan, Powers & Kilkenny, 2012). Josà © and Chhaya both went through struggling to understand themselves, and how to handle the responsibilities their peers or parents had put on them to act a certain way, or provided Josà © and Chhaya with the need to make a point, and prove themselves. Works Cited Arnett, J.J. (2012). Human development: A cultural approach. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Garrod, A., Smulyan, L., Powers, S.I., & Kilkenny R. (2012). Adolescent portraits: Identity, relationships, and challenges. 7thedition. Boston MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Comparing Reactions to Industrialism in Frankenstein and The Communist

Reactions to Industrialism in Frankenstein and The Communist Manifesto      Ã‚   The radical changes of the nineteenth century were unlike any the world had seen before. A sense of these changes were felt by all in many aspects; not just politically, but in social and cultural means as well. When Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was published in 1831, it was clear that many general elements of the romantic era were well reflected. Similarly, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels' The Communist Manifesto appeared in 1848, a time of great national political revolutions throughout Europe. While textually these historic nineteenth century texts have little in common, it is clear however that they both are strong reactions to previous movements of European society. Underlying Shelley's Frankenstein are strong uses of romanticism, whereas The Communist Manifesto is undoubtedly opposing the consequences of the industrial revolution in Europe; both reactions of the past, yet effective in starkly different ways.    Frankenstein, like other English Romantics, placed great emphasis on the power of nature. The Arve Ravine, and the Valley of Chamounix exemplify the harmony and beautiful serenity of nature, and add to the romantic quality of the novel while sharply contrasting with the chaos of Victor's troubled mind. The Romantic movement can be seen as a protest against the rapid industrialization that was occurring in England at the time of Frankenstein's publication. While many interpretations are plausible, the novel depicts the fear that technology (and the human obsession with technology) would ultimately prove disastrous. The characters of Walton and Frankenstein are shaped by Romantic idealism, as manifested in their ... ...r a classless, productive, industrial society that was beneficial to all, the mere recognition of strength in numbers and class solidarity were fundamentally effective and paved the way not only for future governments but for future laborers.       Works Cited    Lowe-Evans, Mary.   Frankenstein: Mary Shelly's Wedding Guest. New York:   Twayne Publishers, 1993.    Marx, Karl. Communist Manifesto. Birth of the Communist Manifesto. Ed. Dirk J.   Ã‚   Struik. New York: International, 1971. 85-125.    Oates, Joyce Carol.   "Frankenstein: Creation as Catastrophe." Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.   Ed. Harold Bloom.   New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.    Shelly, Mary.   Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus.   New York: Penguin Books, 1978.    Tropp, Martin.   Mary Shelly's Monster.   Boston:   Houghton Mifflin, 1976.   

Eid Ul Azha

Eid is a great festival for Muslims. There are two Eid occasion- Eid ul fitr and Eid ul adha. Muslims celebrate these festivals with great respect and pleasure. Eid ul fitr is celebrated after the month of Ramadan. Eid ul adha is celebrated in 10th Jilhajj. We celebrated Eid ul adha in last month. Eid ul adha remembers the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to. God appeared in a dream to Ibrahim and told him to sacrifice his son Isma'il. According to Islamic tradition, approximately four thousand years ago, the valley of Mecca (in what is now Saudi Arabia) was a dry, rocky and uninhabited place.Ibrahim was instructed to bring his Egyptian wife Hajirah and Ishmael, his only child at the time to Arabia from the land of Canaan by Allah's command. As Ibrahim was preparing for his return journey back to Canaan, Hajirah asked him, â€Å"Did Allah order you to leave us here? Or are you leaving us here to die. † Ibrahim turned around to face his wi fe. He was so sad that he couldn't say anything. He pointed to the sky showing that Allah commanded him to do so. Hajirah said, â€Å"Then Allah will not waste us; you can go†.Though Ibrahim had left a large quantity of food and water with Hajirah and Ishmael, the supplies quickly ran out, and within a few days the two began to feel the pangs of hunger and dehydration. Hajirah ran up and down between two hills called Al-Safa and Al-Marwah seven times, in her desperate quest for water. Exhausted, she finally collapsed beside her baby Ishmael and prayed to Allah for deliverance. Miraculously, a spring of water gushed forth from the earth at the feet of baby Ishmael. Other accounts have the angel Jibrail striking the earth and causing the spring to flow in abundance.With this secure water supply, known as the Zamzam Well, they were not only able to provide for their own needs, but were also able to trade water with passing nomads for food and supplies. Years later, Ibrahim was i nstructed by Allah to return from Canaan to build a place of worship adjacent to Zamzam well Ibrahim and Ishmael constructed a stone and mortar structure —known as the Kaaba— which was to be the gathering place for all who wished to strengthen their faith in Allah. As the years passed, Ishmael was blessed with Prophethood (Nubuwwah) and gave the nomads of the desert his message of submission to Allah.After many centuries, Mecca became a thriving desert city and a major center for trade, thanks to its reliable water source, the well of Zamzam. One of the main trials of Ibrahim's life was to face the command of Allah to devote his dearest possession, his only son. Upon hearing this command, he prepared to submit to Allah's will. During this preparation, Satan (Shaitan) tempted Ibrahim and his family by trying to dissuade them from carrying out Allah's commandment, and Ibrahim drove Satan away by throwing pebbles at him.In commemoration of their rejection of Satan, stones are thrown at symbolic pillars signifying Satan during the Hajj rites. When Ishmael was about 13 (Ibrahim being 99), Allah decided to test their faith in public. Ibrahim had a recurring dream, in which Allah was commanding him to offer his son as a sacrifice – an unimaginable act – sacrificing his son, which Allah had granted him after many years of deep prayer. Ibrahim knew that the dreams of the prophets were divinely inspired, and one of the ways in which Allah communicated with his prophets.When the intent of the dreams became clear to him, Ibrahim decided to fulfill Allah's command and offer Ishmael for sacrifice. Although Ibrahim was ready to sacrifice his dearest for Allah's sake, he could not just go and drag his son to the place of sacrifice without his consent. Ishmael had to be consulted as to whether he was willing to give up his life as fulfillment to Allah's command. This consultation would be a major test of Ishmael's maturity in faith, love and commitm ent for Allah, willingness to obey his father and sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah.Ibrahim presented the matter to his son and asked for his opinion about the dreams of slaughtering him. Ishmael did not show any hesitation or reservation even for a moment. He said, â€Å"Father, do what you have been commanded. You will find me, Insha'Allah (Allah willing), to be very patient. † His mature response, his deep insight into the nature of his father’s dreams, his commitment to Allah, and ultimately his willingness to sacrifice his own life for the sake of Allah were all unprecedented.Ibrahim could not bear to watch his son die so he covered his eyes by a blindfold. When he cut Ishmael's throat and removed the blindfold, he was astonished to see that Ishmael was unharmed and instead, he found a dead sheep which was slaughtered. Ibrahim had passed the test by his willingness to carry out Allah's command. As a reward for this sacrifice, Allah then granted Ibrahim the good news of the birth of his second son, Is-haaq. And We gave him the good news of Is-haaq, a prophet from among the righteous.Ibrahim had shown that his love for Allah superseded all others: that he would lay down his own life or the lives of those dearest to him in submission to Allah's command. Muslims commemorate this ultimate act of sacrifice every year during Eid al-Adha. I celebrated Eid ul adha with my family in Chittagong. Our eid vacation was started 17 October. I went to Chittagong with a great pleasure. Before 3 days of eid my father bought a cow to sacrifice for Allah. The eid was celebrated at 27th October. On that day I take bath in 7. 00 am.Then I help my mother in cooking. My father was going to slay cow and collect beef. My father returned home at 1. 00 pm. Then my mother cooked meat. At afternoon I get out with my friends. I visited my friends’ house. My friends were gathering in one of my friend’s house and chatting. At 9. 00 pm I returned home . I took my supper with my family. I was tired but I enjoyed the festival. After 7 days I returned to Dhaka. It was an enjoyable Eid celebration. Dhaka is a busy city. Everyone is busy with his own business. I miss my Eid days in this busy life. â€Å"Thank You†

James Joyce Essay

In James Joyce’s Ulysses readers encounter Stephen Dedalus’s search for identity – a search which will be present through the entire narrative. At the heart of Ulysses is Stephen’s relationship with his mother. Stephen describes both the real mother who reared him and is now dead and an imagined mother serving as a symbol who is a product of Stephen’s consciousness having fear and anxiety (Hill 329). Mother love is idealized by Stephen in Ulysses: â€Å"Amor matris,† says Stephen, â€Å"subjective and objective genitive, may be the only true thing in life† (207). The concept of â€Å"amor matris,† or mother love, shows the magic power of the mother’s fertility. Motherhood is the only fact of life about which Stephen is confident. A mother’s love, the dyadic relationship in which the mother and child are inseparable, however, Stephen experiences only nostalgically. He attempts to articulate it, when it is over. Thus Stephen’s fantasy of a selfless love is marked by a sense of loss. Main Body Although Stephen has buried his mother, she subsequently appears as a ghost. With his own mother dead, it is normal for Stephen to direct his attention sooner or later to Molly Bloom, the Magna Mater presiding over Ulysses. But Molly is something more than a mere person which serves in place of real mother. She symbolizes the sinful flesh, the claims of nature, and human love. Stephen’s attraction toward her is symptomatic of his disillusionment with all forms of patriarchal pressure (political authority and the Old Testament). She is like a moral goal towards which he is drawn as a result of his opposition to the church. As Murray explains: â€Å"If a man, who believes somehow in the reality and ultimate worth of some religion of gentleness and unselfishness, looks through the waste of nature to find support for his faith, it is probably in the phenomena of motherhood that he will find it first and most strikingly†(Goldberg 36). For Stephen the pain is very strong by the fact that his mother is dead. She has left him alone. She has taken with her his assurance of being related to the world and to himself. She has left the terrible anxiety about his loss. Moreover, she became the â€Å"ghostwoman† who appears to Stephen in the dream of death that lives in his memory throughout the day, together with memories and reflections about the mother in life. Added to his uneasiness about the psychic separation that is necessary for his growth into manhood is the hopeless realization that there is no physical woman to take the mother’s place: â€Å"She, she, she,† he says repeatedly in â€Å"Proteus,† â€Å"What she? † (426). As Stephen comes intermittently into focus through the text, so does as much again in strength the problem of the loss of his mother and his necessity for a woman to take her place. The Stephen’s persistent idea with his dead mother is lightened at times by tenderness, but gradually is darkened by feeling of distress, anger, and offence over the relationship. Stephen’s memories of his mother start in â€Å"Telemachus† with the recall of his periodic dream of her in her â€Å"loose brown graveclothes† (103-4), which draws from him his initial plea for release – â€Å"let me live. † Stephen’s reflection to the memories of his mother in life and in death vibrates at the beginning between the desire for separation and the desire for continuous dependence, and his plea for release in â€Å"Telemachus† – â€Å"No, mother! Let me be and let me live† (279). In order to become capable of giving immortality to his life, in art, Stephen must first become a man. This requires a rebirth, not through the spirit, as it is in religion, but like the birth from the mother, occurring through the flesh of the loved woman: â€Å"in woman’s womb. † Stephen considers this rebirth seriously. At the end, Stephen is reborn in the text. This rebirth is textually completed at the middle of â€Å"Ithaca,† when Bloom opens the garden gate for Stephen, and a birth image includes meanings of the pun on â€Å"in woman’s womb. † Bloom inserts a â€Å"male key† into â€Å"an unstable female lock,† to reveal â€Å"an aperture for free egress and free ingress† (215-19). This is the â€Å"rebirth into a new dimension† and is also Stephen’s participation in the incarnation of the artist (Goldberg 96). Stephen’s image in â€Å"Telemachus† of his mother’s â€Å"glazing eyes, staring out of death, to shake and bend my soul. . . . to strike me down† (273-76), brings from him the most dramatic raising of the terrible mother. â€Å"Ghoul! Chewer of corpses! † (278) is a manifestation of rejection which is definitely confirmed in ‘Circe† at the appearance of The Mother. Stephen’s mother shelters and nurtures her son with her body, her blood, her â€Å"wheysour milk,† who saves him from â€Å"being trampled underfoot† by the outside world (141-47). This motif of interchange between the loving and horrible aspects of the mother, presented in the first two episodes of Ulysses, is repeated in moments of memory any time Stephen’s mother becomes present in the text, until in â€Å"Oxen of the Sun,† the birth chapter, Stephen describes his release from the mother’s threat through his proposed appropriation, as an artist, of her sophisticated power: â€Å"In woman’s womb word is made flesh, but in the spirit of the maker all flesh that passes becomes the word that shall not pass away. This is the postcreation† (292-94). Haunted through the whole of the day by the memories of his mother in death and in life, Stephen has moved from his loneliness in the morning, coupled with his inner plea to his mother to free him – â€Å"Let me be and let me live† – to this statement of purpose at the maternity hospital. And this statement leads to his claim to a creative power that is greater than that of the mother (Hill 329). In â€Å"Circe,† then, The Mother meets with Stephen directly as the terrible mother, in her â€Å"leper grey,† with her â€Å"bluecircled hollow eyesockets† in her â€Å"noseless† face, â€Å"green with gravemould† (156-60). And here in the brothel, Stephen releases from the mother. This release is necessary for Stephen to become the divine creator of his proclamation. The release is accomplished in the unconscious, which is the ruling principle of â€Å"Circe. † The conversation between mother and son in a fundamental manner repeats Stephen’s encounters with her memory in the daytime, more or less changed, but still with the same odd balance between the loving and the horrible that is associated with the conscious memories. For although The Mother brings with her a message of death – â€Å"All must go through it, Stephen†¦. You too† (182-83) – she contains powerful features of the loving mother. As Stephen frightfully denies responsibility for her death – â€Å"Cancer did it, not I† (U 15:4187) – The Mother claims, â€Å"You sang that song to me. Love’s bitter mystery† ( U 15:4189-90). This line from Yeats’s ‘Who Goes with Fergus? † can be found in â€Å"Telemachus,† as Mulligan leaves the parapet, humming: And no more turn aside and brood Upon love’s bitter mystery For Fergus rules the brazen cars. (239-41). The paradox found in â€Å"love’s bitter mystery† colours The Mother’s answer to Stephen’s plea, â€Å"Tell me the word, mother, if you know now. The word known to all men† (U 15:4192-93). Twice before Stephen has asked the same question in his thoughts about â€Å"the word known to all men†: in Proteus (435) and in â€Å"Scylla and Charybdis† (429-30). In all the episodes in which the question is asked, in only one is a clear answer given. The answer, actually, had never been in the published text of Ulysses until Hans Walter Gabler’s 1984 Critical and Synoptic Edition interpreted five lines in â€Å"Scylla and Charybdis† (U 9:427-31) – forty-three words, eleven of them in Latin (Deming 129). This text, restored to one of the most scrutinized carefully segments in Ulysses, the source of most liked quotations about art and life, about fathers and sons, about mothers and sons, described love as the â€Å"word known to all men† (Deming 129). Richard Ellmann, in his 1984 presentation address to the Ninth International James Joyce Symposium in Frankfurt, presented the audience with his own identification of the word known to all men as love, claiming that the word was â€Å"perhaps† death (Deming 129). Kenner’s position that it might be death is much more than clear in his 1956 Dublin’s Joyce, where he describes Dublin as ‘the Kingdom of the Dead† and characterizes Molly’s final â€Å"yes† as â€Å"the ‘Yes’ of authority: authority over this animal kingdom of the dead. † The mother thus becomes the image of the â€Å"bitter mystery. † The complete answer to the question Stephen asks about the â€Å"word known to all men† is not ‘love† or â€Å"death† but â€Å"love† and â€Å"death† – for whatever is born of the flesh through love will die at the end (Goldberg 156). In â€Å"Circe,† The Mother answers to Stephen’s plea with a conflicting blending of the loving and the terrible mother. The Mother in â€Å"Circe† is not gentle. True, she gives evidences of her love for her sun – amor matris – in terms that echo Stephen’s own thoughts that his mother â€Å"had saved him from being; trampled underfoot† (146): â€Å"Who saved you†¦? Who had pity for you? † (196). But when she asks for Stephen’s penitence, she becomes for him ‘The ghoul! Hyena! † (198-200). And as the Mother continues to present assurances of her love and concern – â€Å"I pray for you†¦ Get Dilly to make you that boiled rice†¦. Years and years I loved you† (202-3) – her simultaneous threat of â€Å"the fire of hell† brings from Stephen the words of appeal, â€Å"The corpsechewer! Raw head and bloody bones† (212-14), together with the echo in â€Å"Circe† of his rejection in ‘Telemachus†: â€Å"Ghoul! Chewer of corpses! (278). Up to this point in the meeting with The Mother, although mother and son communicate, they do not touch each other. But with Stephen’s frantic denial of The Mother’s final demand for remorse, a crab unexpectedly appears, and mother and son touch through the crab. This â€Å"green crab with malignant red eyes,† although evidently autonomous, is nevertheless mysteriously, ambiguously connected with The Mother, who â€Å"raises her blackened withered right arm slowly towards Stephen’s breast with outstretched finger,† uttering, â€Å"Beware God’s hand! † as the crab â€Å"sticks deep its grinning claws in Stephen’s heart† (217-21). This crab is real, and at the same time â€Å"Cancer did it, not I† (187) – has all features of a primary creature from the dark depths of Stephen’s unconscious. Stephen’s crab is not visible to others, and his inner creature is not certainly visible even to him. But the terrible ghost with whom both crab and dragon are connected remains – for the reader and for Stephen himself – Stephen’s mother (Hill 329). Even Stephen’s references to Mother Ireland, Cathleen ni Houlihan, are tinged with gender bias. Stephen betrayed his mother as well as Mother Ireland. In the early morning at the Martello tower, he connects the old milk woman with the Shan van Vocht, â€Å"silk of the kine and poor old woman† (403), but doubtfully recognizes that the â€Å"wandering crone’ serves the â€Å"conqueror and her gay betrayer [Mulligan]† (403-5). Unlike the patriots who glorify Mother Ireland, Stephen thinks of â€Å"Gaptoothed Kathleen, her four beautiful green fields, the stranger in her house† (184). Mulligan and Stephen at the Martello connect woman with nature: the â€Å"great sweet mother† (78) of the sea. â€Å"Our mighty mother† (85) is, as in case with the Romantic poets, nature (Rickard 215). Conclusion In Ulysses, there is Stephen’s misogyny. He realizes the significance of â€Å"woman’s place† in a man’s life and in his sense of himself. Ulysses is, without doubt, typically a man’s book. It begins and ends with the mother figures who complete the male artist’s self. The mother, who is the â€Å"first incarnation of the anima archetype† (330), enters Ulysses with young Stephen and stays with him throughout most of Bloomsday. Thus, in Ulysses, though there are not many women, Joyce has presented to readers in symbolic terms the important interdependence and complementarity of the man and the mother. Works Cited Deming, Robert H. James Joyce: The Critical Heritage. Vol. : 2. Routledge: London, 1997. Goldberg, S. L. The Classical Temper: A Study of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Chatto & Windus: London, 1961. Hill, Marylu. â€Å"Amor Matris: Mother and Self in the Telemachiad Episode of Ulysses†. Twentieth Century Literature. Vol. 39, no. 3, 1993. Joyce, James. Ulysses. New York: Vintage, 1986. Rickard, John S. Joyce’s Book of Memory: The Mnemotechnics of Ulysses. Duke University Press: Durham, NC, 1999.