The feminism in Jane Eyre

Haian Nguyen October 31, 2009 Word Count: 3271 In what ways might Jane Eyre be considered a feminist novel? For many years, women have always been placed under a multitude of societal constraints and limitations in society. This status quo accepted by society as an ideal defined by the norms of each time period. Feminists disagree with this unjust power to define the women's status as dependent upon the dominant male figures. However, as time progresses, more women sought and seek to overturn the status quo by voicing their opinions that all are equal, making this one of the feminist's characteristics. Feminism can be defined as: 1) the belief that women and men are, and have been, treated differently by our society, and that women have frequently and systematically been unable to participate fully in all social arenas and institutions; 2) a desire to change that situation; 3) a "new" point-of-view on society, when eliminating old assumptions about why things are the way they are, and looking at it from the perspective that women are not inferior and men are not "the norm." As an approach to change the belief that women and men are, and have been treated differently by our society, feminist writers utilize the power of literature to speak out against inequality through their feminist novels. Feminist novels are books written to illuminate women's inequality in society.

  • Word count: 3327
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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What is an abortion?

Abortion Abortion is the deliberate killing of the weakest and most defenseless among us. Unfortunately, for the last few decades, the practice has been recognized as a fundamental human right by the highest court of the land. Many people are fervent supporters of abortion. Their reasons for support are varied. However, I believe that support for abortion is not possible for those who understand our dignity as human persons under God. We were made by God, and it is from Him that we derive our worth. The debate over abortion, then, is really a debate over our nature as human creatures. Who are we? Why is life important? It was while grappling with these questions that I created this website. To advance in understanding is hard work. It is important to think clearly. My fervent hope is that what is said here will help clarify the issues for those who fight for the unborn and will, therefore, in however small a way, be used for the glory of God. Abortion is the practice of killing the weakest and most defenseless among us. Yet, tragically, it has been ingrained in our culture. Since the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, some 40 million abortions have been committed in this nation. This is almost a third of the number of live babies born during the same time. If you go to a high school graduation ceremony this year, consider that one third of

  • Word count: 3304
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Although complete dependence on intuition is not suggested, intuition is often surprisingly accurate. But how do we know when to accept or reject our intuition, or more importantly, when should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing?

Intuition can often be the source of great confusion for most humans. Sometimes, it may work in favor for us, while other times, it works against us. Dictionary.com defines intuition as "A thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning." Although complete dependence on intuition is not suggested, intuition is often surprisingly accurate. But how do we know when to accept or reject our intuition, or more importantly, when should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing? In order to attempt to answer this question, this investigation will touch on three of the four 'Ways of Knowing': emotion, sense perception, and reason. The reliability of intuition will also be analyzed. The obvious answer to this question can be demonstrated in a personal example. I used to have an addiction to Oreos, which are known to contain 60% fat and sugar (Nabisco). But because I wanted to be able to justify eating Oreos in such large quantities, I did some research on the nutrition facts and found that they contain 4% vitamin A, 2% vitamin C, and 10% calcium (Nabisco). These facts that showed that Oreos have some good nutrition in them formed an intuitively appealing explanation that would help justify my excessive consumption of Oreos. Although these facts may have been true, those small percentages did not actually prove that Oreos

  • Word count: 2965
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Context is all (Margaret Atwood). Does this mean that there is no such thing as truth?

"Context is all" (Margaret Atwood). Does this mean that there is no such thing as truth? No such thing as truth. If "Context is all" does it mean that there is no such thing as truth? I start to wonder in what context Atwood made this statement. However, I do not believe that the context when Atwood made this statement is all, or as a matter of fact of hardly any importance when attempting to answer this question but I believe it would be more beneficial to try to answer it in more general terms. I will do this by discussing truth as a concept in different areas of knowledge and thus in various contexts. When it comes to science I, as a knower, can claim to know whatever I have been taught at school, in class, through experiments and so forth. It has been presented to me as a fact that the whole universe is made up of atoms and thus molecules. I have seen these molecules react when I did some experiment in chemistry class with sugar and some chemical with an odd odour and all of a sudden the whole class smelled like ammonium chloride, the sugar turned a greyish black colour and became a solid substance. So, accordingly I can say that I know that different molecules react to one and other, according to the theories that I have studied, and that is how the world works. The atom models that I have seen in chemistry text books are described as simplified and as theories.

  • Word count: 2915
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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The Law of the Universe: Entropy

Entropy is the idea that all objects have a certain level of complexity. The concept of entropy was invented to express the idea that things will always get more complicated, more random. So far, in all of our scientific observations we have found that this concept has been supported. In chemistry chemicals mix and match and combine to form more complex form of matter. In biology, evlution appears to favour the more complex with complex thoughts i.e.: us, quite literally taking ove the world and destroying, buit by bit any opposition from any of the simpler spcies. In psychology, the more adatablely intelligent or comple x the mind the greaer the successis in the environment. Low entroypy of complexity to high entroy seems to rule supreme. On the ultimate level, the very universe we starte with hydrogen atoms in a fixed small finely compacted ball-like or string-like (as later theoies are now suggesting) to the immensely complicated myriad of planets, atrs nebulae, black holesand other otherworldly manifestations. Questions remain to be asked thugh, 'why is there this trend towards increasing complexity, 'why did higher levels of entropy lead to the appearance of life'. 'has there always been a trend toward rising entropy and is it constant' and perhaps most importantly 'will we ever definitively be able to answer any of these questions?' Unfortunately, it seems that the

  • Word count: 2789
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Reliability of Sigmund Freud's claims

TOK - Sigmund Freud and Psychology Peter Frederiksen Svane 3/10 - 2008 ___________________________________________________________ . What did you learn that you considered as useful knowledge/information from watching the movie? In the TOK course, one is concerned with the extent to which something can be justified, and if the given knowledge is useful. The movie explained Freud's basic ideas about the forces governing human behavior. Whether these can be believed, or not, is in the end up to the individual to determine, and I will do so later. Freud's ideas give a way to explain different people's behavior, and hence a tool to predict how the individual person will most likely act in certain situations. That information, if applied correctly, can be very useful. If I am aware of that, according to Freud, some are more prone to commit various crimes that can directly bring me in danger, because they have grown up under certain conditions, I and society can take our precautions. Similarly, a person who has grown up under "optimal" conditions can benefit society, and one might therefore want to draw upon that person. The danger, however, of such knowledge resembles very much that of stereotypes. Those are by its very definition false, and therefore impose unjustified barriers between two person, cultures, etc. That, in fact, prevents society as whole from gaining knowledge

  • Word count: 2775
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Vemos las cosas tal y como son, o tal y como somos

Vemos las cosos tal y como somos, no tal y como son. Utilizando dos distintas formas del conocimiento: La ética y la estética, demostraré que vemos las cosas tal y como somos, no tal y como son. Empleando ejemplos en la vida cotidiana y analizando casos en los que podemos determinar que ambas formas del conocimiento son subjetivas, para algunos aspectos pueden llegar a ser objetivas, pero en general estar formas son subjetivas, pues cambian de acuerdo a la forma de juzgar de un individuo. La estética estudia las razones y las emociones estéticas, así como las diferentes formas del arte. La Estética, así definida, es el dominio de la filosofía que estudia el arte y sus cualidades, tales como la belleza, lo eminente, lo feo o la disonancia. Desde que se usó por primera vez la palabra "estética", se la designó como: "ciencia de lo bello, misma a la que se agrega un estudio de la esencia del arte, de las relaciones de ésta con la belleza y los demás valores"; pero ¿Quién puede decir verdaderamente lo que es bello o feo? La estética es una ciencia de la sensibilidad y la intuición, esto quiere decir que se percibe si algo es bello o no, dependiendo de quien lo juzga. Es decir, es una manera fundamental y primaria del conocimiento, que viene previamente al conocimiento conceptual o lógico. Es una forma de conocimiento que lleva a una representación personal

  • Word count: 2671
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Tok vocabularies - defining terms like "Truth" and "Belief"

Truth is an idea we get when we exclude lies, distortion, concealment, and errors. Some truths can be true for a group of people and false for another. This is because the standard for judging the truth is mostly beliefs, experience, perception, knowledge, and they are different for all people. It also depends on what generation you are living at. For example, people from a time before Galileo believed that the planets and sun revolved around the earth so it was a truth for them. However, after Galileo proved that the planets revolve around the sun, the truth from before is no longer true, but there is a new truth, which everybody knows that it is true. From my personal experience, I tend to think that what I know is close to the truth. So truth would be a piece of information that a person think is true based on their belief or knowledge. Belief is a piece of information that is thought to be true by a person based on what they see, feel, hear, or experience. There is no right or wrong, true or false to beliefs. This is because there is no exact answer to this. Beliefs can change the way people live because it can make them stronger, weaker, timid, brave and so forth. For example, people who believe in god could think that god will help them when they face a problem so they gain courage. Or some could believe in themselves and gain courage and power. They could think there

  • Word count: 2609
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Show Me Some Stats

Candice: Hello Joy, you look like you have spare time on your hands. Joy: I don't really but- Candice: No worries, I have for you a challenge. Joy: Go on. Candice: I have here five pairs of countries. In each pairing one country has twice the child mortality rate as the other. (Turn to audience) Mortality rate is the ratio of deaths in an area to the population of that area. Since it is a two-times difference, it is a much bigger difference than the uncertainty of the data. My question is simple: which country has the higher child mortality rate of the five pairs? Sri Lanka or Turkey Poland or South Korea Malaysia or Russia Pakistan or Vietnam Thailand or South-Africa Joy: But that is trivial! Let me see, well, it's obviously this one, and this one, and this one, I'll take a guess on this one, but I'm pretty sure it's this one for the last one. Here. Candice: That sure was brief, let me see if your answers look anything like this. Sri Lanka or Turkeyˆ ˆPoland or South Korea Malaysia or Russiaˆ ˆPakistan or Vietnam Thailand or South-Africaˆ Candice: Wrong, wrong, wrong again, that one's right, and another wrong answer? What is this, multiple choice on the Chemistry HL test? And you are in IB? Joy: (To audience) Don't give me that look you know couldn't get perfect either. Candice: This is all part of a larger scheme. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to

  • Word count: 2576
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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Does Language Determine or Limit Thought?

Does Language Determine or Limit Thought? TOK - Mrs. Cope This assignment is submitted in partial fulfillment of the International Baccalaureate/BISJ Diploma. I certify that this is all my own work, and that all sources used have been cited in accordance with school policy. Signed ........................... Date............................ Sheheryar Javaid Life is divided between things that can make you feel, emotions, and things that make you think, thoughts.1 Language is the primary way for humans to express these feelings of thought and emotion. Language can be any form of communication that has a specific meaning which is conveyed to other people.2 With this, we are able to share ideas, knowledge, and skills. But can we express these feelings without language? If so, how can we? If not, then does language fully determine thought and is it the only factor which determines it? This essay will evaluate and answer these knowledge issues to resolve the extent to which language determines or limits thought. Verbal and written communications are often considered as the main methods to express language. However, facial expressions, eye contact, sign language and many others are also forms of language, non-verbal language.3 But many different questions arise regarding these other forms of communication. Are there different limits on thought using the other forms of

  • Word count: 2523
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: Theory of Knowledge
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