Nancy Mairs Essay Synthesis of Mairs Three Essays on the Argument for the Defense of a Life of Hardship and Suffering Nancy Mairs is a writer who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 28 years old.
Nancy Mairs Essay Synthesis of Mairs' Three Essays on the Argument for the Defense of a Life of Hardship and Suffering Nancy Mairs is a writer who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 28 years old. Multiple Sclerosis is a condition of the central nervous system which controls the body's actions and movements and balance and in her case it was a degenerate version of the disease. After beginning to accept her disability, she discusses how the experience of her being a cripple has enlightened her to the somewhat oxymoronic benefits of living a life of pain. After reviewing the three essays from Nancy Mairs from her book Carnal Acts "Challenge: An Exploration", "Doing It the Hard Way" and "Good Enough Gifts", it is simple to see the main ideal that sieves through on these writings: that hardship is an unavoidable and essential part of every humans life but these hardships are invaluable experiences none the less. In Mairs' three essays she presents an impassioned defense of the life of hardship and suffering and I will be extracting some evidence from the essays to support her assertions. One of her arguments is the idea of spiritual growth through hardship and pain which is re-sated when she maintains that 'Disability provides ample opportunity for spiritual work and growth' (Mairs 104, Challenge: An Exploration). Through the restrictions and problems she has
Remember whose girl you are...Discuss the representation of power and control between females in Affinity
"Remember. Ruth is saying. Whose girl you are..." Discuss the representation of power and control between females in Affinity. Sarah Waters' Affinity is a gothic novel that represents the power and control between females. In order to understand how 'power' and 'control' is represented, we need to define these terms. 'Power' and 'Control' between females could suggest how particular females within the novel influence each other1, and also how women wield authority over women. 2 Waters represents the 'power' and 'control' between females when she portrays the structure of Milbank prison by exploring Jeremy Bentham's panopticism, with regards to both the prison and society. The prison's structure in the form of pentagons could suggest how the female prisoners are institutionalised. Margaret describes the prison on first entering it as a 'Lady Visitor' as It has been designed by a man in the grip of nightmare or madness - or it had been made expressly to drive its inmates mad. I think it would certainly drive me mad, if I had to work as a warder there.3 Margaret's vision of this prison as an institution built to "drive its inmates mad"4 emphasises the panopticon prison's influence over the prisoners. The prison's surveillance also illustrates the power and control between women, as the matrons monitor the prisoners through the door flaps and this creates a sense of
Explore the ways Guterson presents the character Hatsue in the novel.
Emma Turner Explore the ways Guterson presents the character Hatsue in the novel. Throughout this novel we see the character Hatsue from many people's perspectives which give us a good overall view of her, although we never get to know her completely. Hatsue is a complex character who does not seem like she will ever be fully understood by anyone at all. In the novel we come to understand why Hatsue is who she is and why she acts the way she does. In this essay I will attempt to show how the writer Guterson represents Hatsue through the different perspectives of her and through her own eyes. When Hatsue first appears she is sat outside the courtroom Ishmael sees her seated on a hall bench (we see her here for the first time through Ishmael's eyes). She clearly wants to be left alone and from her meeting here with Ishmael it seems that she is upset, sorrowful and distant. "She had not been exactly cold to him, not exactly hateful, but he'd felt her distance anyway. "Go away" she'd said..." This shows that Hatsue wants to be left alone and because Ishmael only seems to want to help her and make sure she is okay she seems to come across as unfriendly and aloof even though at this time it would be probable that she would need support. Since Hatsue is being slightly cold towards Ishmael in a circumstance were most people may need support it may seem that there is a past
Literature and Politics - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Literature and Politics Charlie and the Chocolate Factory By Roald Dahl Dahl's Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is an unusual piece of literature; accepted by children and adults alike today as an exciting fantasy world, though originally criticised as racist, politically incorrect and immoral. Today's revision of the novel has therefore been adapted for a racially aware society. Nevertheless, it can still be seen as akin to a communist fantasy world; the Oompa Loompas are all equal and work for the common good, and the children (with the exception of Charlie, the underdog who ultimately benefits from the dictator- like figure Willy Wonka) are symbols of capitalism, such as the gluttonous Augustus Gloop and the spoilt Veruca Salt, who come to their end through "sadistic or extreme"1 retribution. The novel, therefore, appears to combine in the microcosm of the chocolate factory the religious- based ethics and retributive justice portrayed in Victorian morality plays with a communist style dictatorship reminiscent of Marx's ultimate utopia. The analogy of the factory as a symbol of communism, a criticism directed at Dahl's other novels such as James and the Giant Peach,2 is prevalent throughout the book. Charlie's father Mr Bucket, for example, is the epitome of the poor worker in a capitalist system; "however hard he worked.... [he] was never able to buy one half of the
The narrator says of her tale 'I'm sorry its in fragments like a body caught in crossfire and pulled apart by force' how appropriate description of the structure of the novel do you consider this to be?
The narrator says of her tale 'I'm sorry its in fragments like a body caught in crossfire and pulled apart by force' how appropriate description of the structure of the novel do you consider this to be? The handmaids tale as a novel is fragmented and disjointed this gives an effect to show the character has been traumatised and is delirious. The handmaid's tale is very disjointed and it is written in the present tense although it is always referring to the past. The first chapter of the book start6s in 'training time' which is in the characters past, the first chapter is really intriguing and makes the reader want to read further. We don't no the first chapter is in the narrators past until the reader comes to the second chapter, when the surroundings are totally different and the narrator is describing the place she lives in. the novel, for the first few chapter or sections has no background information of who the narrator is, what has happened in her past, or why their being treated like a prisoner. The writer uses the narrator to tell the story bit by bit not all at once. Throughout the novel she refers back to the past to give the reader information on what has happened in her world, to e like this its not until chapter 28 that offred the narrator reveals what actually happened to Gileads, the place she lives ad lived and how it all happened. The are no speech marks when
Part 1 - Compiling Your Notes
Part 1 - Compiling Your Notes Now that you've done the bulk of your research, you should have several pages (on the computer, on paper, or both) of point form notes. In those notes should be full quotations you intend to use or paraphrase later, as well as general notes that you've already summarized or paraphrased. If you sit down to write the essay with this pile of unsorted stuff, inevitably you'll have trouble deciding where to begin and you'll keep leaving things out. It is much easier to group the notes, plan the essay, and then write, rather than trying to stick random bits in as you go. Look at your focus. Chances are it has several different elements to it, and now is the time to look at those elements separately. Don't worry about what element should come first or last, that will be sorted out in the planning stage next. For now, you're just going to group your notes according to where they fit into your coursework question. You will have to decide whether some points better fit one group than another, but do decide now rather than accidentally repeating yourself later. If you change your mind later, make note of it directly on the page. You will also find that some notes don't fit any category. Chances are, these are things that should be left out. You still have them written down if you decide to include them, but don't try and make every note fit your groups.
Offred's story was found by Professor's Wade and Pieixoto on the site of what was once the city of Bangor, in what would have been the State of Maine, which was a prominent way-station on what Offred refers to as "The Underground Femaleroad".
Stephanie Thorpe Offred's story was found by Professor's Wade and Pieixoto on the site of what was once the city of Bangor, in what would have been the State of Maine, which was a prominent way-station on what Offred refers to as "The Underground Femaleroad". The story was of spoken form, recorded on approximately thirty cassette tapes which were found in a US Army issue metal foot locker. It bore no title but was given the superscription "The Handmaid's Tale" by Professor Wade in a partial homage to Geoffrey Chaucer. Offred was among the first generation of women to be recruited for reproductive purposes. The reasons for the decline in Caucasian births are not altogether clear, although some can be linked to the widespread availability of birth control, including abortion; AIDs; genetic deformities linked to nuclear plant accidents and toxic waste sites. Offred appears to be an educated woman, graduating from a North American college. Ironically, there was the risk of herself being deformed as her mother was thirty seven when she was born. But it is clear from "The Handmaid's Tale" that she was definitely "a wanted child". It is also clear that her mother was very keen on education. Offred speaks of a television program she watched when she was seven or eight, describing it as "the sort of thing my mother liked to watch: historical, educational". Like most children
Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
A utopian novel portrays a nonexistent state and an idealistic way of life that establishes a model for social structure and progress. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale places itself in the dystopian tradition, presenting an unpleasant and unsettling imaginary society where the ominous tendencies of our own world are projected into some near future world. The objective of the dystopic novel is to provide the audience with a warning about the effects of excessive adherence to beliefs already existing in their world. By watching the characters grapple with the effects of excess, the audience is supposed to learn how to avoid them and their consequences. Through The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood meant to warn society about the destructive effects of repressing female sexuality. She accomplishes this by portraying a society in which the men have taken all rights, privileges, and freedoms away from females, namely their sexual freedom. The result is a society in which the men attempt to legitimate and enhance their own power through the repression of women, and everyone, males and females, live despondently in a state of perpetual longing. Atwood's novel describes a not too futuristic society of Gilead, a society that overthrows the U.S. Government and institutes a fundamentalist regime that seems to persecute women specifically. The women of Gilead are not allowed to hold
Compare and contrast the presentation of the major female characters in the novel, including Offred, Ofglen, Moira, Serena Joy & Offred's mother.
Compare and contrast the presentation of the major female characters in the novel, including Offred, Ofglen, Moira, Serena Joy & Offred's mother. In 'The Handmaid's Tale' the major characters are all women. Women that don't have everyday lives but somehow you can still relate to them. These women have an amazing strength and seem to cope with what society throws at them. However some of the characters have stronger roles than others, but each character has their own unique strength in the society they live in. This brings me to my first character Offred, she is the main character of the novel. All events are seen through her eyes. There is a contrast between her outward conformity and her inner determination to resist brainwashing of Gilead by her thoughts and memories of a different past society: "Its lack of love we die from" (Chapter 20 page 113) Offred seem to respond to events rather than encouraging them unlike her friend Moira. In many ways Offred would like to be more out of control like Moira but never finds the strength to be openly rebellious but would like to be. Offred yearns for communication with others and would like to be able to form close relationships. Her only freedom is the relationship she forms with The Commander. Her 'arrangement' with The Commander is in the form of games of Scrabble. It is here that Offred is her liveliest and most
Presentation and importance of "The Handmaids Tale"
Chris Smith Presentation and importance of "The Handmaids Tale" The presentation of this scene is very effective and descriptive. It is presented well and tells us a lot about the type of society that these people live in. We can tell by the way it is written and portrayed that it is a very secretive society. People feel scared and are suspicious and "hesitant" of anyone who they are not closely acquainted. This is also continuously backed up through out the novel. It is showed by the re-occurrence of the "spies" and the way that Moira is not allowed to talk to her shopping partner. We can see the miserable and dull atmosphere by the first line, when we discover that the women are fed up and "don't smile". The "women" are also very uncomfortable with Offred being there and are very unwelcoming. There are also a lot of short, sharp sentences at the start of the extract. This creates tension and sets the mood for the rejoining of these old friends. It is obvious that the friends are very close and have been for a long time by the way they insult each other. Friends that are not to close do not call each other insults such as "whores". The smoky atmosphere could be seen as being a metaphor. It is ironic that it is smoky and the women in there cannot really see the rest of their lives clearly. There is also a simile within this small extract. The ladies room