Friday, September 6, 2019
The elasticity of copper investigation Essay Example for Free
The elasticity of copper investigation Essay In my preliminary experiment I learned that I needed a wire which could withstand the weight of at least 1kg, but also would effectively extend enough to see the significant change. I decided to use the wires with a diameter of 0. 31mm and 0. 27mm. I also decided to use at least 1kg of weights because some parts of the wire may not be all the same so they could be thicker and hold more weight or thinner not take that much weight at all. I think the temperature will be almost the same always, so there is no need to worry about it. I will need to repeat the experiment twice for each wire for greater accuracy. Specialist Apparatus These are equipment, which make the experiments results more accurate and in turn the youngs modulus. Uncertainties I had uncertainties because, I could not control or keep constant the temperature, so the wire may have extended or contracted. To calculate the strain I had to measure very small extensions of less than 1mm, this was quite difficult, because I did not have specialist equipment to measure length so I had to rely on human decisions, which meant there were always going to be errors. I also had to calculate the stress, therefore I had to use a micrometer to measure the diameter of the wire. Analysis The table shows that more mass or Newtons means that there will be more extensions to the original length. To get youngs modulus I used y = mx+c so I could get an average of it for each ruler. I used the equation: stress over strain to get youngs modulus, which was the gradient in the graph. E. g. 4. 11E+03/5. 82E-04=7. 06E+06 To get the other equations, I used theory from secondary data, which is above in the background information. To get my results I used specialist equipment; such as the micrometer, which is accurate to 0.01 of a millimeter, the uncertainty is 0. 005mm. I also used a metre ruler with mm marking for accuracy, the uncertainty is 0. 5mm. The graphs show that stress is proportional to strain as the points are near the line of best fit, also going through the middle. My graphs show that stress is proportional to strain, also stress is proportional to force and strain is proportional to the extension. As you can see from my prediction I drew a graph of stress against strain and this is correct because as you can see from the real graph it basically follows the same curve. From my stress-force and strain-extension graphs I do not need to draw error gradients because they are so accurate and because their R2 value is very close to 1. Trend line: A graphic representation of trends in data series, such as a line sloping upwards to represent the average. Trend lines are used for the study of problems of predictions, also called regression analysis. R-squared value: An indicator from 0 to 1 that reveals how closely the estimated values for the trend line correspond to your actual data. A trend line is most reliable when its R-squared value is at 1 or near 1. It is also known as the coefficient of determination. Evaluation The uncertainty of the extension is 0. 01cm (0. 01/1. 7)*100 = 1. 7% The uncertainty of the length of wire is 0. 001m (0. 001/1. 760)*100 = 0. 05% The uncertainty of the diameter of the wire is 0. 01mm (0. 01/0. 31)*100 = 3. 1% To ensure I had a safe experiment I wore safety goggles, also setup the experiment in the centre of the table. I made sure that the clamp stand was firmly placed on the floor so that it wouldnt wobble and affect the results taken down. I tried to keep my eye level in line with the marker measurements to rule out parallax error. I took many results down to have accurate results and averaged them. The reason for the line of best fit not going through the origin there may have been due to systematic error. This may because there was friction on the pulley, to remedy this problem grease could be used. Also the ruler was not long enough for the whole wire to be measured so the 2 rulers may be disjointed, so to remedy this problem I would need a longer ruler. Also the taught wire may not be horizontal to the pulley when tied to the clamp so the wire is longer than it can be measured, to solve this problem I used a wooden block, but it wasnt enough. The main two measurements that contributed to youngs modulus were the diameter and the extensions as they were used to calculate the stress and strain. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Analysis of Desirees Baby By Kate Chopin
Analysis of Desirees Baby By Kate Chopin Desirees Baby has been set in the days before the abolition of slavery in the big farms/plantations owned by whites and tendered by black slaves in the Southern State of Texas. Monsieur Valmonde finds an abandoned baby by the wayside. His wife, Madam Valmonde, does not have a child of her own thus; she takes the baby and names her Desiree. Madam Valmonde and her husband, Monsieur Valmonde raise the child, until she turns 18 years-an age considered ripe for courtship and marriage (Chopin). Her beauty, elegance, and white skin attract Monsieur Aubigny, a plantation owner and widower who just returned from burying his wife in France. This essay provides an insight into alienation in relationships, the consequences of mans evil institutions like slavery and racism. Aubigny, the main character, feels a strong sense of alienation in his relationship with black slaves, a people that he greatly despises. They are an inferior race, generally a non-people in his eyes. Aubigny a rich white landowner is endowed with wealth and the right color. In the society that all the characters live, white is deemed acceptable and good. Anybody with a black skin is a social outcast, and they should be rejected to live the cursed life, that of slavery. Aubignys parents were white, and they instilled into him the right color that an endowed person should have or associate. His family is one of the initial sources of alienation. His upbringing constantly placed him on top of blacks, and this is why he denies his baby because it is turning black. Madam Valmonde also exclaimed that Desirees baby was not the baby implying that the babys origin and color will not be accepted by society as that of Aubignys. The society, immediate family, and close friends shape the status of an individual. The way people behave is largely affected by; how they perceive themselves and what society will think about them. Madam Valmonde refuses that Desirees baby is not the kind of child that society will accept. Society cannot accept that both Augbiny and Desiree, both white can have a black offspring, the cursed race. Augbiny cannot accept living with a woman who has given birth to an inferior being (Chopin). He cannot imagine what his close friends, family, and society will think about him. This is why he decides to alienate himself from both wife and child before society judges his behavior. His actions are dictated by society and not by self-worth. If society does not accept blacks, then he too cannot accept them. He burns everything that belongs to Desiree and her baby to get rid of any information that links his private life to blacks. This shows that he cannot outdo the code of conduct in his white dominated society. Desire too cannot imagine what society will think of her black baby and she chose to drown with him in a swamp. Madam Valmonde plays the role of society. She knows that the real father, Aubigny, will not accept the baby. She tries to express this to Desiree although she does not understand. She also plays the part of society that will accept the rejected. She willingly takes her daughter and grandson back. This shows her motherly love and concern for the unhappy daughter. Failure to accept her adopted daughter and grandson may cause her to be labeled as selfish and inhuman by society. The letter from Augbinys mother to his father serves the role of a wakeup call into reality. It jerks Augbiny into knowing that whatever he has rejected (black) is in his blood and in fact the source of his life (mother) (Chopin). A popular culture metaphor taken from the story is the one that describes Armand Aubignys features. He is described as a having a dark and handsome face that had not been disfigured by frowns. This metaphor implies that black is handsome although society does not accept people of color (Chopin).This metaphor shows the irony in societys code of acceptance. A person can be black and handsome and yet society had rather accept white and ugly because the later comes from a superior race while the earlier originates from an inferior race. Aubigny lacks a complete sense of direction. He knows that the origin of Desirees parents is not know and yet drinks into her beauty. He cannot accept the color of slaves thus results to deceit and wickedness to save his face in society. He is very ignorant of his looks and denies his looks. The fact that he does not acknowledge his ignorance, wants to satisfy the code of acceptance of society makes him ruin his relationship with his family. Ironically, He begins to treat the slaves fairly because he realizes that he has a black baby! Aubignys chooses the wrong path of letting go of his family because of the color of the baby. The baby just like his parents did not choose where to be born and in what color. Desiree also chooses the wrong path of killing herself and son. This because she feels that society cannot accept her and they may label her as a failure. She does not understand that one cannot satisfy the demands of society and being black is human. My sympathy goes to the baby who dies because of something that he does not have any power over. As for the married couple, they deserve what they get; they let society dictate everything that they believe in without realizing that nothing is perfect in the eyes of man. Society and its representatives like race, marriage, and slavery are faulted in this story. During the pre-colonial times, a slave could only marry a slave and a white to a white. However, whites could have sex with slaves with or without their consent. This resulted to colored people who could not be accepted because of their mixed heritage and the act of a white male siring with a black slave (one of the lowly acts). This story highlights racism, its effects on people who are victims and cannot accept it like Desiree and Augbiny. In this story, there is a great conflict between reality and fantasy. Augbiny fantasizes that he should get a girl instead of a boy. He further fantasizes that the beauty and fair skin of Desiree will help him to get a purebred white child who does not have any black flaws. Madam Valmonde also fantasizes that the child should have been white she says that openly à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦this is not the child (Chopin). She knows that if the child is not white, then there is nothing foe Desiree. This is why she accepts both daughter and grandson. Women/girls are victims of their own making. They fail to understand that beauty or color alone cannot lead to a happy life. They do not comprehend their needs and the reason to live. Desiree argues with Augbiny that she is whiter than Augbinys. She writes a letter to her mother telling her that she is unhappy because of the mistreatment from her husband. This shows that she cannot accept to live as black, with a black child in a society that labels black as bad and cursed. In a case like these, men like Augbiny take advantage of misunderstandings and capitalize on them making women unhappy. They strain their relationship because they feel that they are following the code of acceptance of society. Women are also victims of societal demands. Desiree cannot be happy without a man and she does not want to imagine how society will see her. This makes her end her life and that of her baby in a tragic manner. A man like Augbiny is a victim of society and its institutions like slavery. Man spends so much time building racism and slavery and in the end, these two things swallow their lives into the unknown. Racism and slavery are meant to serve the interest of whites but it is ironical that they again destroy him especially when Augbiny discovers that he too is black. Augbiny expects his fantasies to be true thus lays all his hopes in color. If it is now white, he does not want anything to do with it. He falsely expects that society will accept him now that he has done away with family only to discover that he too is black. The moral issues that arise in this story are wickedness, deception, and misunderstanding. People shudder at the thought of being black or even being associated with the cursed race. Augbiny does not understand that color and origin of a human being can neither be changed nor be discarded. Desiree discards her color, that of her son and her origin in death. This implies that slavery and racism are things that are very evil in society and should be discarded or they will eat into the human soul. Blacks are human beings and color is only skin-deep and is dictated by their genes; things that none can suppress or change (Schneider). Madam Valmonde accepts her daughter and son. She is that part of society that embraces what the elites have rejected. Madam Valmondes letter to her daughter show the humanity, acceptance that can be found in the heart of the human race. The wickedness of the institution of slavery and racism is clearly depicted in this story. Augbinys mother prays that his son should never discover that he has a black mother. It clearly shows the way whites deny that blacks are human beings and a part of society. Death is very wicked because it embraces even the innocent like Desirees baby. It does not discriminate between the ignorant, rich or color. It just takes everything that comes on its way.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Theatre Essays Samuel Beckett
Theatre Essays Samuel Beckett Discuss Samuel Becketts handling of identity in his plays Waiting for Godot and Happy Days. The work of Samuel Beckett can be seen to span both the Modernist and Postmodernist paradigms (Bradbury and McFarlane, 1991; Green and LeBihan, 1996), on the one hand being influenced by such canonical Modernist writers as James Joyce and Luigi Pirandello (Knowlson, 1996) and on the other relying heavily on Postmodern notions such as the transgression of the body, the performative identity and the failure of grand narratives such as language and truth. This point is made by Richard Begam in his study Samuel Beckett and the End of Modernity (1996): ââ¬Å"Becketts conception of his undertaking, what we would now call his postmodernism, recognized that an absolute break with the past, a complete supersession of what had gone before, was itself the product of a teleological or modern form of thinking. Proust and Joyce therefore became not figures to be replaced or surmounted but telling points of reference in an ongoing dialogue between past and present.â⬠(Begam, 1996: 14) Beckettââ¬â¢s position as a liminal writer, spanning two distinctly different but obviously connected intellectual regimes, allows us to examine not only his work but the larger context of critical and performance theory. With this in mind, in this essay I would like to look at two main areas of Beckettââ¬â¢s work that are both metonymous with changes in post-War theatre (and perhaps literature) as a whole. Firstly I would like to concentrate on the notion of Postmodernism as it relates to performance, looking at leitmotifs and tropes as they appear in Waiting for Godot (1955) and Happy Days (1961), and secondly I would like to go on to look at the whole notion of identity and its dissolution in these same texts before drawing conclusions as to what this treatment says about the place of performance in contemporary theatre and, perhaps, the wider context of society itself. First of all, however and as a foundation for my later exposition, I would like to offer a brief summary of Postmodernism. Postmodernism, as Fredric Jameson points out, can be best understood through its relationship and difference to Modernism, a philosophical and artistic concept that had it roots in the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century (Bradbury and McFarlane, 1991). In an artistic sense, the Modernist work was characterised by experiment and a rejection of the Romantic subjective self. Works such as T.S. Eliotââ¬â¢s The Waste Land (1989) and James Joyceââ¬â¢s Ulysses (1977) exemplify both the Modernist propensity for innovation and the removed authorial voice and we can certainly see this in many, if not all of Beckettââ¬â¢s theatrical works. Postmodernism, as Jean Francois Lyotard declared in his essay ââ¬Å"The Postmodern Conditionâ⬠(1991) reflected the breakdown and disillusionment felt by the failure of the very foundations of Modernism; foundations that included such hitherto accepted givens as truth, the self, the homogeneity of Literature and the Arts and many of the other systems of thought that Lyotard termed the ââ¬Ëmetanarrativesââ¬â¢ (Lyotard, 1991: 36). Whereas Modernism sought newness and innovation, Postmodernism resulted in the adoption of style over content (Robertson, 1996: 3), the questioning of accepted constructs of knowledge (Foucault, 1989) and the language (Derrida, 2004) and, as we shall see with Beckett the exposure of the artistic machinery. This last point, I think, is crucial to an understanding of Beckettââ¬â¢s place as both a Modernist and a Postmodern writer. As I have already stated, we can recognise certain Modernist images and leitmotifs in Beckettââ¬â¢s work (Eagleton, 1992: 186): the starkly bare characterisation, the dour vision of humanity that we also find in Eliot and Woolf and the conscious effort to experiment and innovate but, underneath this, we also detect a distinctly Postmodern sensibility; one that delights in the deliberate exposure of the performative nature of both the theatre and life. In Waiting for Godot, for instance, there is a constant comic antagonism created between actor and audience, as ideas and lines of narrative are picked up and abandoned without the usual dramatic sense of resolution (Schechner, 1988). In the first Act for example, Estragon begins a joke that is never finished: ââ¬Å"Estragon: Tell it tome! Vladimir: Ah, stop it! Estragon: An Englishman having drunk a little more than usual goes to a brothel. The bawd asks him if he wants a fair one, a dark one, or a red-haired one. Go on. Vladimir: Stop it!â⬠(Beckett, 1955: 16) à à à à The antagonism and frustration engendered by this un-ended joke is more than a mere literary device it is also a performance device that sets up a markedly different actor/audience relationship. Unlike, say, classical Aristotelian dramatic theory that asserts the imperative of the ââ¬Å"incentive momentâ⬠(Hartley and Ladu, 1948: 14) the ââ¬Å"rising actionâ⬠(Hartley and Ladu, 1948: 14) and the resolution, here Beckett (as indeed he does throughout the play) creates a deliberate anti-climax that immediately calls in to question the binary between reality and performance. The same also could be said about much of the dramatic structure of Happy Days, as the workings of the performance are constantly exposed to the gaze of the audience. Here, for instance, Winnie second guesses the thoughts of the audience members as she talks to a passer-by: ââ¬Å"Winnie:â⬠¦Whatââ¬â¢s she doing? He says ââ¬â Whatââ¬â¢s the idea? He says ââ¬â stuck up to her diddies in the bleeding ground ââ¬â coarse fellow ââ¬â What does it mean? He says ââ¬â whatââ¬â¢s it meant to mean ââ¬â and so on.â⬠(Beckett, 1961: 32)à à Here Beckett deconstructs the very essence of the performance itself, exposing the bewildered reaction of the audience to his own drama. In a Postmodern dissolution of identity boundaries, the performer here becomes playwright, audience, character and actor as not only are the thoughts of the character exposed but so too the thoughts of the audience. This is not the only deconstruction of performance Beckett employs in the play. We see, for instance, the questioning of dramatic convention; Happy Days is, for all intents, a monologue but it features two characters, it is about the movement of time but, ironically, the main actor is static throughout and although it is primarily a play about words and not actions it is peppered with pauses and space. All factors that point to both plays as being as much rooted in Postmodernism as Modernism. We have touched upon it already but the overriding sense in both Waiting for Godot and Happy Days is the search and struggle for identity and this also, as we shall see, has a marked impact on the performance of the play and what it means regarding the audience/actor dialectic. The social background to Happy Days was described, in an affective way by Harold Clurman in an early review: ââ¬Å"Beckett is the poet of a morally stagnant society. In this society fear, dismay and a sort of a stunned absent-mindedness prevail in the dark of our consciousness, while a flashy, noisy, bumptious, thick-headed complacency flourishes in the open.â⬠(Clurman, 1998: 235) It is against this backdrop that the characters in the play struggle to maintain their scant identities. Even before the action begins we are made witness to the difficulties in establishing an individual existence as the charactersââ¬â¢, names, Winnie and Willie, straightway blur their respective personal boundaries. We see this also to a greater extent in Waiting for Godot, as Gogo, Pozzo and Godot, combine to form a linguistic homogeneity that suggests a group rather than an individual identity. The mise en scene of Happy Days is part Eliotesque wasteland: ââ¬Å"Expanse of scorched grass rising centre to low mound. Gentle slopes downto front and either of stage. Back an abrupter fall to stage levelâ⬠(Beckett, 1961: 9)à part Postmodern irony, as the backdrop reveals itself to be a self conscious trompe-lââ¬â¢oeil that represents ââ¬Å"unbroken plain and sky receding to meet in far distance.â⬠(Beckett, 1961: 9). Within this, Winnie literally stands as part of the scenery, only half visible that is, in itself, a symbolic representation of both time passing and the extent that she has already lost a great deal of her personal identity. As I have already hinted at, Winnie deconstructs the notion of movement and stasis; on a psychological level she moves quickly between times as in this passage where she and us are taken back into her personal history prompted by the news of a death of a friend: ââ¬Å"Winnie: Charlie Hunter! (Pause) I close my eyes ââ¬â (she takes off spectacles and does s, hot in one hand, spectacles in other, Willie turns page) ââ¬â and am sitting on his knees again, in the back garden at Borough Green, under the horse-beech.â⬠(Beckett, 1961: 14) Physically however she is literally trapped, unable to move or stop the flowing of time swallowing her completely. Her identity becomes fashioned by her memories as at first, in the initial Act, they form a reasonable homogeneity and then, in Act Two become more and more diffuse, more and more fractured until by the end of the play she exists as merely snapshots of a life that has been: ââ¬Å"Winnie: Win! (pause)Oh this is a happy days, this will have been another happy day! (Pause) After all (Pause) So far. Pause. She hums tentatively beginning of song, then sings softly, musical box tune.â⬠(Beckett, 1961: 47) à à à à à à à à à à As John Pilling suggests in his study of Samuel Beckett (1976: 85), the playwright twins the enormity of the search for identity in an alienating world with the minutiae of everyday living, as Winnie spends a great deal of the playââ¬â¢s time conducting worthless searches for toothbrushes, or lipsticks or many of the other incidental objects of existence. Ultimately, her search for a personal identity is proved fruitless as she becomes subsumed in that which surrounds her, perhaps a particularly twentieth century vision of the struggle of the personal psychology in the face of the modern city. Waiting for Godot, I think, concerns itself with similar themes and similar characters. Martin Esslin characterised Beckettââ¬â¢s Waiting for Godot as ââ¬Å"concerned with the hope of salvation through the workings of graceâ⬠(Esslin, 1968: 55) and we can see that is certainly a major thread in the play. However, we can also note that it concerns itself not with a general salvation but with a very a personal one, with each character desperately searching for their own identity amid the alienation and ennui of the surrounding environment. Most of the playââ¬â¢s linguistic rhythm arises out of the charactersââ¬â¢ attempt to assert their own identity in the face of the others: ââ¬Å"Vladimir: Charming evening weââ¬â¢re having. Estragon: Unforgettable. Vladimir: And its not over. Estragon: Apparently not. Vladimir: Its only beginning. Estragon: Its awful. Vladimir: Its worse than being in the theatre.â⬠(Beckett, 1955: 34)à The tooing and froing of the dialogue here is a perfect example of this point, with neither Vladimir nor Estragon willing to surrender themselves to the other. The same can be seen in a more graphic sense with the Pozzo/Lucky relationship that is, at its heart a Hegelian dialectic of the master and slave, with each party attempting (and failing) to break away from the other. In the comic scene towards the end of the play that depicts Vladimir and Estragon exchanging symbolic identities in the form of their hats (Beckett, 1961: 71-72) we can note Beckettââ¬â¢s observation on the ironies of Postmodern life: ââ¬Å"Vladimir takes puts on Luckyââ¬â¢s hat in place of his own which he hands to Estragon. Estragon takes Vladimirââ¬â¢s hat. Vladimir adjusts Luckyââ¬â¢s hat on his head. Estragon hands Vladimirââ¬â¢s hat back to Vladimir who takes it and hands it back to Estragon who takes it and hands it back to Vladimir who takes it and throws it down.â⬠(Beckett, 1955: 72)à à The absurdity of this scene arises from the fact that each hat is the same, or at least very similar, so that it makes very little difference which hat ends up on which head. This is, I think, symbolic of the larger treatment of identity within the play; with the playwright suggesting the absurdity of the search for personal individuation. Are not identities much like hats, asks Beckett, remarkably the same? If Happy Days is a study of the search for identity under the crushing weight of time passing, Waiting for Godot is the search for identity within the lightness of forgetfulness. Time in the latter is meaningless, it passes with no affect in fact Estragon can not even remember the events of the day before. Within this, the characters desperately cling to the remnants of their identities whether that be in the form of an oppressive relationship to another, an item of clothing or the feint hope of someone who will never arrive. We can see then that the treatment of identity within Beckettââ¬â¢s two major plays mirrors the questions arising out of Postmodernism, questions that concern the nature of identity and the Self. For Postmodern theorists like Judith Butler (1999) and Michel Foucault (1990) the Self is a performative construct, both given to us by society and adopted as a mask and we note some of this sense in Beckett. Ultimately, then, Beckettââ¬â¢s work deconstructs the very notion of a theatrical performance, suggesting that this is merely one of a number of performances that occurs at any one time. The relationship, then, between the audience and the actor changes from one of passivity to one of dialogue as the former is exposed as relying as much on performance as the latter. This can be seen to be a reflection of Antonin Artaudââ¬â¢s assertions on the Theatre of Cruelty in his second manifesto: ââ¬Å"â⬠¦just as there are to be no empty spatial areas, there must be no let up, no vacuum in the audienceââ¬â¢s mind or sensitivity. That is to say there will be no distinct divisions, no gap between life and theatre.â⬠(Artaud, 1985: 84)à Beckettââ¬â¢s work says as much about the identities of the audience as the characters and as much about the performative nature of the wider society as the performance of the theatre. References Artaud, Antonin (1985), The Theatre and its Double, (London: John Calder) Beckett, Samuel (1961), Happy Days, (London: Faber and Faber) Beckett, Samuel (1955), Waiting for Godot, (London: Faber and Faber) Begam, Richard (1996), Samuel Beckett and the End of Modernity, (Stanford: Stanford University Press) Bradbury, Malcolm and McFarlane, James (eds) (1991), Modernism: A Guide to European Literature 1890-1930, (London: Penguin) Butler, Judith (1999), Gender Trouble, (London: Taylor and Francis) Cormier, Ramona and Pallister, Janis (1998), ââ¬Å"En Attendent Godot: Tragedy or Comedy?â⬠, published in Culotta Andonian, Cathleen (ed), The Critical Responses to Samuel Beckett, (London: Greenwood Press) Clurman, Harold (1998), ââ¬Å"Happy Days: Reviewâ⬠, published in Culotta Andonian, Cathleen (ed), The Critical Responses to Samuel Beckett, (London: Greenwood Press) Eagleton, Terry (1992), Literary Theory: An Introduction, (London: Blackwell) Esslin, Martin (1968), The Theatre o f the Absurd, (London: Pelican) Foucault, Michel (1990), The History of Sexuality: Volume 1, (London: Penguin) Green, Keith and LeBihan (1996), Critical Theory and Practice: A Coursebook, (London: Routledge) Hartley, Lodwick and Ladu, Arthur (1948), Patterns in Modern Drama, (London: Prentice Hill) Jameson, Fredric (1991), Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, (London: Duke University) Kenner, Hugh (1973), A Readerââ¬â¢s Guide to Samuel Beckett, (London: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux) Knowlson, James (1996), Dammed to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett, (London: Bloomsbury) Lyotard, Jean Francois (1991), ââ¬Å"The Postmodern Conditionâ⬠, published in Jenkins, Keith (ed), The Postmodern History Reader, (London: Routledge) Pilling, John (1976), Samuel Beckett, (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul) Robertson, Pamela (1996), Guilty Pleasures: Feminist Camp from Mae West to Madonna, (London: Duke University) Schechner, Richard (1988), Performance Theory, (London: Rout ledge)
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
scientist :: essays research papers
My Scientist My scientists name is Angela Santos. She was born in Santo Domingo, which is the capital of the Dominican Republic. She lived with her father, her mother, her sister, and her grandmother. She was a very successful person and made her family proud. Her father, Marino Rodriguez, was self-employed and worked to support his family. Eventually, problems started to stir up in the family, and Angelaà ¡Ã ¯s parents decided to get divorced. When they got divorced Justina Mueses, Angelaà ¡Ã ¯s mother, had to work full time at the hospital, spending no time with her daughters. She went to work early in the morning, and came back from work very late at night. The girls stood home with their grandmother, Isabel, who taught them how to cook, clean, and take care of each other. Isabel taught the girls that even before they started thinking of getting married a woman should be educated and know how to take care of her house. Isabel played a big role in Angelaà ¡Ã ¯s life, of course being her grandmother and everything, but she was there when she needed her and Angela appreciates all the help she got from her dear old grandmother. Isabel only went up to the third grade; however, Angela learned a lot from her grandmotherà ¡Ã ¯s experien ces and stories. Maria Virtudes Rodriguez, Angelaà ¡Ã ¯s sister, studied accounting, English, cosmetics, and managed to keep a GPA of a 3.25 in all her classes. She is a single mother, and is currently working at a restaurant in Downtown, Manhattan. She just came from Dominican Republic a year ago, and she is trying to support her son, Anthony, so that he gets the chance of studying in America. Maria is a hard worker, and spends most of her time at work; however, she always manages to spend time with her son because she knows it is essential. She gives thanks to the Lord everyday for her life, since she was about to lose it. Maria has sickle cell anima, and in giving birth to Anthony she lost a lot of blood. The doctors gave no hope for her or the baby, but praise be to the Lord almighty she was able to live through such a tough situation. Angela had a younger brother, but he died at the age of 3. He also had sickle cell anima, and it advanced so much he developed tuberculosis and died at such a young age.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Isolation in Brave New World Essay -- Brave New World
Isolation in Brave New World à "If one's different, one's bound to be lonely."à -John "The Savage" In the Brave New World, people who are different from the normal standard are alienated and isolated from society because of their individuality. The society of the Brave New World is structured and ordered ââ¬â the government attempts to control everything. Alienation in the Brave New World can be categorized into three areas, appearance, intellect, and morals. à à à à à à à à à à à à Bernard Marx was alienated in the Brave New World because of his general appearance. As an Alpha Plus, Bernard was unusually short and ugly. Suggested by Fanny, Bernard's condition resulted from an error when he was still in a bottle, the workers "thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol into his blood surrogate." Bernard did not fit in the structured order of the Brave New World and was therefore shunned by others. The error resulted in Bernard developing outside the barriers of his caste level. His ugliness and short stature led Bernard to become a perpetual outsider, alienated by society. As an outsider, Bernard was cynical of the order and structure of the Brave New World. He eschewed Electric Golf, and other social amusements in favor of loneliness and solidarity activities, such as, thinking. Bernard attempted to find a way "to be happy in some other way," in his own way, not the established way. à à à à à à à à à à à à In addition to alienation because of appearance, alienation can result from extreme intellect, or exceptional gifts of talent. Helmholtz Watson, an emotional engineer, was "a little too able" in his work. As Bernard was isolated from a physical defect, Helmholtz was isolated from mental excess. Despite being an "Escalato... ...re different and attempts to either ridicule, exemplify, or ignore them. In the Brave New World, society aims to preserve the homologous nature of living. With strict rules, crowd mentality and community actives the Brave New World attempts to get rid of the individual. Hypnopedia messages such as "When the individual feels, the community reels," and "Everybody belongs to everyone else," the Brave New World attempts to diminish the value of individuality and seeks instead to promote the idea of society first. Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are the few individuals of the Brave New World. They differ from the rest of society, because they recognize their uniqueness and realize that they are apart from society. It is because of their self-realization of their individuality that they are condemned to be ostracized from society and to live outside the Brave New World. Ã
Dharma in the 21st Century: ââ¬ÅThe Life of Tibetan Buddhist Nunsââ¬Â Essay
Living in the 21st century connotes a busy and modern life, a life that is influenced by materialism, globalization and modern technology; a life with hardly any room for spirituality. This is the kind of life that is common in the Western world where everything is fast paced and humans have moved from relying on a greater being on to highly relying on gadgets everyday. We rely heavily on modern contraptions to make living easier for us ââ¬â from a simple alarm clock in the bedroom to a high-powered microwave oven in the kitchen, from the multi-functional mobile phone in our pockets to our Internet-connected computers everywhere. From living based on religion, we now live based on technology. We cannot imagine life with out modern technology; we need it to cook our food, we need it to get to work, we need it to communicate; we just simply need it, or so we think? In this modern life of ours, we have become so engrossed with materialism and technology. We try to find ways to make things easier for us through technology but the more we use gadgets, the more complicated life seems, and as it gets complicated we forget about our inner being. We have forgotten what it is like to live simply and what it is like to be truly happy and be at peace without all the materialism. This is life with modernization but in places where materialism is not important and spirituality is highly upheld, all that we know and live by in the 21st century is absurdity for them. Theirs is a life of simplicity, meditation and seclusion; a life of being one with nature and their creator; a life of gaining wisdom and inner happiness. This is the life of Buddhism. Buddhism is not only a religion; it is a philosophy and a way of life (White 1). It is slowly growing in the Western world[1], where some try to look for peace in their everyday modern chaos (ibid). In the Orient, where Buddhism originated, modernization and a western way of life is slowly influencing the people due to economic reasons, such as in Thailand, but they still keep in touch with their spirituality, and monasteries where monks and nuns live still abound. In Tibet, Buddhism is their religion and politics; the Dalai Lama used to be both their religious and political leader (Simhanada Home page). With China taking over their country 50 years ago, the Tibetan government is in exile[2] and the more than 6,000 monasteries and nunneries in the Tibetan regions of U-Tsang, Dotà ¶ and Domey were damaged and destroyed by the Chinese (Office of Tibet 1). The Tibetan people and the few Tibetan monks and nuns in Tibet still seek spiritual guidance from the Dalai Lama in the North Eastern borders of India. With Tibetan monasteries built outside of Tibet after Chinaââ¬â¢s invasion and with a few Tibetan monks and nuns still living in Tibet, it is of great interest how Tibetan Buddhist monastics, particularly the nuns, live like now and view the world especially with most of them in exile, with China as an economic tiger ruling over their land and with modernization happening all over the world. This paper will look into the lives of Tibetan Buddhist nuns in this present day and what has changed in their ways from the earlier times. A brief history of the Tibetan Buddhism will be given in order to understand the role of Tibetan nuns. Views on the role of women in Buddhism will be given and excerpts from the stories of different Tibetan nuns will also be shown in order to understand their belief and values system, and more importantly the condition of their life today. History of Tibetan Buddhism à à à à à à à à à à à Generally, Buddhism is a love of wisdom and it has three paths: (1) to lead a moral life, (2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions and (3) to develop wisdom and understanding (White 1). It has four noble truths which are (1) suffering exists, (2) suffering arises from attachment to desires, (3) suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases and (4) freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the eightfold path, which is to have the right view, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and contemplation (Simhanada 1). à à à à à à à à à à à Buddhism was introduced in Tibet by Buddhists in India in 173 CE and it was gradually assimilated, disseminated and integrated into the Tibetan way of life due to the efforts of the religious kings of the country (Office of Tibet 1). Tibetan Buddhism as described on the Simhanada Tibetan Buddhism page is as follows: Tibetan Buddhism makes use of a wide variety of practices, i.e., the entire scope of Buddhaââ¬â¢s teachings from the Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayan levels. Tibetan Buddhism successfully preserved the Vajrayana traditionâ⬠¦it is based most directly on the view that appearances can be used and transformed in order to recognize oneââ¬â¢s Buddha nature and the emptiness of the mindâ⬠¦emphasis on intense Calm-abiding and Insight Mediation is stressed, along with the gradual accumulation of merit and purifying of obstacles. Extensive study of scripture, astrology, medicine, math and debate are common for Tibetan practitioners. Meditation on enlightened deitiesâ⬠¦is a unique feature of the Vajrayanaâ⬠¦it uses the technique of having the practitioner identify themselves with an enlightened deity ââ¬âin order to realize the nature of enlightenment. The religion spread because gurus from India were invited into Tibet to teach the Buddhist scriptures and translate them for the people. The religious king Tri Ralpachen introduced a decree that every monk should be supported by seven households, and thousands of temples were constructed in his time. Unfortunately, the kingââ¬â¢s successor did not support the Buddhist teachings and monks were made to disrobe and join the army (ibid). Buddhism entered into a dark age but was revived after some time when three monks escaped the Domey region of Tibet and established monastic lineages in other parts of Tibet and eventually revived it in central Tibet (Office of Tibet 1). In Western Tibet, the most vigorous revival of Buddhism was taking place care of Lha Lama Yeshe Ãâ". He helped spread the doctrine through translation, teaching and establishing of monasteries with the help of the great translator Rinchen Zangpo and Legpai Sherab (ibid). Lha Lhama also composed the famous Buddhist test A Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment, which set the pattern for all graded path texts found in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition (ibid). Four schools of Tibetan Buddhism[3] were also established from the practices and the Buddhist gurus. These are the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelugpa. Nyingma literally means ââ¬Å"old schoolâ⬠(ibid)that places a great deal of emphasis on meditation to achieve merit and wisdom; Kagyu is the Oral Lineage that is concerned with the experiential dimension of meditation where there is single-minded contemplation exercises and meditative therapy to attain psychic good health. Milarepa, an eleventh century Tibetan mystic practiced this tradition and meditated for many years in caves prior to reaching enlightenment. Sakya represents the scholarly tradition and means ââ¬Å"gray earthâ⬠(ibid), and the Gelugpa school translates into the ââ¬Å"virtuous schoolâ⬠(ibid) where scholastics are emphasize highly and monks are encouraged to achieve the Geshe degree of the Doctor of Buddhist Philosophy where a student practices lamrim or the paths[4]. Meditation is encouraged as well, like in all Buddhist practices and development of compassion is an essential part of the teachings of this school, which is also the basis of Tibetan Buddhist schools. The special features of Tibetan Buddhism are the status of the teacher or ââ¬Å"Lamaâ⬠, preoccupation with relationship between life and death, important role of rituals and initiations, rich visual symbolism, element of Bà ¶n, the earlier Tibetan faith, and mantras and meditation practice (BBC 1). Role of Women in Tibetan Buddhism There are two sectors in the Tibetan community: the lay people and the monastics (Chodron Home Page). The monastics, which are the monks or bhikshus and the nuns or bhikshunis, chose to vow to a life of simplicity, ââ¬Å"a life directly related to the preservation and dissemination of the Dharma[5] to benefit othersâ⬠(Chodron Home Page). Though women have been admitted by Buddha himself into his Order thousands of years ago due to pressure that women had become nuns in the Jaina religion (King 40), women are belittled in the orders. There are sutras or teachings that say ââ¬Å"women could never become Buddhasâ⬠(SGI 1), and for centuries this conception has persisted. It has been commonly believed that women would have to be reborn as men to attain Buddha-hood (ibid) because there is ââ¬Å"absolute preference for a male bodyâ⬠¦no Buddhist in her right mind desires a female bodyâ⬠(Buddhist-Christian Studies 220). The book Himalayan Hermitess: The Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Nun (Buddhist-Christian Studies 221) the author wrote about the life of Orgyan Chokyi who is a Buddhist nun that had reached high levels of understanding by the end of her life. This was not common during her time since she was living in the late 17th century to the early 18th century, and during this time women in Buddhism were really inferior to the men. The book revealed and translated manuscripts of her life, and this was really rare because manuscripts of nuns were not written by the scholars during the early times since their stories are thought to be not worth recording (Buddhist-Christian Studies 222). It is said that Orgyan Chokyi laments to be a woman and female rebirth in general, and she prays often that no being should be subject to a female rebirth (ibid). This is clearly indicative of how sexist Buddhism was then. She became a significant figure because of her life ordeals- she was born to parents who mistreated her because they wanted a son and she would often weep and one day a monk observed her and told her that if she studied the Dharma, she would soon develop great compassion. Like other nuns she was required to do manual labor in the monastery and this was the time she laments her gender. After being a novice, she received meditation instructions form the master of the monastery and a senior nun; she was made to do Tibetan oral traditions and go on pilgrimages to sacred sites of Tibetan Buddhism. Despite these, she was still made to do manual labor for more years but she was filled with joy and she wrote songs about this. Later on, she changed her attitude about female rebirth and writes that ââ¬Å"a womanââ¬â¢s body is a ground for samsaraâ⬠(Buddhist-Christian Studies 223). In her death, she clearly defied what was believed then: that enlightenment cannot be achieved in a female body (ibid); her meditation master told her that she did not need to do more meditations because she had ââ¬Å"fully protected her vows and commitmentsâ⬠(ibid). This meant total enlightenment and she laid the path for Buddhist nuns to achieve Buddha-hood as well and to call for equality from society. Some also say that women enter the nunneries because they cannot wait for a man to wed them, they are too old to marry or they are orphans or widows (King 41). This shouldnââ¬â¢t be so since Buddhism calls for equality as seen in the Lotus Sutra, which is also called the teaching of non-discrimination, reveals that ââ¬Å"there is no difference between men and women in terms of their capacity to attain Buddha-hoodâ⬠(Soka Gakkai International [SGI] 1). Guru Rinpoche, who taught the dharma in Tibet, even had a principal disciple that was a woman called Lady Yeshe Tsogyal (Simhanada 1). In these early years of Buddhism, it was recorded that ââ¬Å"women engaged in learned debates with the Buddha himselfâ⬠(King 40) and that there is a recording of more than 500 verses in the Therigatha created by Buddhist nuns in the ancient Pali Canon (ibid). This shows that they are as capable as the monks. Nuns have been seen as inferior due to traditions way before Buddhism came and due to the impositions of patriarchal and sexist values in societies where Buddhism flourished (Shih 1). For a woman to become nun means liberation, however, they are bound by rules ââ¬Å"over and above those followed by monk[6]â⬠(King 40). These rules may have been developed at a later time to restrict womenââ¬â¢s freedom or to simply express the existing social inferiority of women (ibid). Though she gains some freedom, a nun receives little recognition of her status from society since ââ¬Å"rituals performed by monks are considered more efficacious and meritorious than those performed by nunsâ⬠and the donations given to monks are greater because it is considered to produce more merit for the donor than when given to a nunâ⬠(Buddhist-Christian Studies 220). Education for nuns was also quite limited because they had to do manual labor or housework to earn money for their supplies or to build their cells; thus, opportunities for them to perform their religious practices were limited (ibid). Even if the nuns have completed the required number of mantra recitations, they have to call on a monk to perform the ï ¬ re puja or burnt-book offering to perform it on their behalf (ibid). The Dalai Lama says that ââ¬Å"all Buddhist nuns have a unique role to play in the evolution of Buddhism where the universal principle of the equality of all human beings takes precedenceâ⬠(Chodron Home Page). Other Tibetan religious leaders have also stated publicly in a faith international congress that ââ¬Å"men and women have an equal capacity for enlightenmentâ⬠(Buddhist-Christian Studies 221), thus erasing the traditional beliefs that nuns are of inferior status to monks and that a woman must be reincarnated as a man to achieve enlightenment. And even if the prophecy that the Dharma will cease to exist after 500 years of admitting women into the Buddhist order, since it has already been 2,500 years (Fitz-Gerald 1), some traditionalists are still disregarding this idea because nuns are proving themselves to be more capable than what traditional norms have been dictating for years. Tibetan Buddhist Nuns Today In the recent decades, equal treatment of nuns with monks are being called for and with conferences being held yearly for Buddhists and other faiths, the pressure is great. Buddhism was not inherently sexist, but with the male domination in India where the Tibetan Buddhism came from, it just came to be because of the culture at that time (Fitz-Gerald 1). And this culture is changing in the 21st century. The Venerable Chodron (Home Page) says that in these times, Buddhist nun have three levels of ordination: sramanerika or novice, siksamana or probationary, and bhikshuni or full. The bhikshuni, for the Tibetans, means that it is already possible for them to attain the geshe or Doctorate degree, some are already taking the Vinaya class[7] which entails that the first generation of geshe-mas nuns will be produced and will earn them the degree equal to the monks (ibid). Before 1953, the highest rank that a nun could attain was even lower than the lowest rank of the monks (Shih 1). The Dalai Lama even made a statement about this topic, saying that ââ¬Å"This is the 21st Century. Everywhere we are talking about equalityâ⬠¦Basically Buddhism needs equalityâ⬠¦the key thing is the restoration of the bhikshuni vowâ⬠(ibid). In this modern world, women are challenging the male-dominated social structures and ââ¬Å"Buddhists need not only to tolerate such change, but to actively support it both within the general social structure and within Buddhism itself. Not only is change along feminist lines not incompatible with the teachings of the Buddha, it will be necessary for the continued flourishing of the Dharmaâ⬠(Fitz-Gerald 1) since the number of monks is decreasing while the number of nuns is increasing (Chodron Home Page). Also though times are changing and the Buddhist nuns are gaining respect, their monastic life is more difficult now than it was before; as Shih (1) states, ââ¬Å"Monasteries are by no means harbourages for those who seek easy lives. Therefore, there would be no reason for one to take on the challenges of such a life with much more hardship unless it were for the sake of religious pursuit.â⬠Women no longer want to become nuns just because they are widowed, orphaned, abandoned or could not be wed, they enter for spiritual and religious purposes, thus they should gain the respect of everyone. The access women now have to education has brought them the want for enlightenment. In a research conducted by Arai (Shih 1), in the past for forty years, the average age of nuns entering in the order was 16; they were either raised in a temple or entered it because of their parents requests. Recently, however, the age of nuns entering the nunneries has risen to 43 and are single or married, and have definitely had more life experiences that those who were entering the nunneries in the 1950s (ibid). This suggests that nuns are more competent now and are making a more conscious and mature decision to commit themselves to the religion and to the life of seclusion; they are more capable of fulfilling their social roles and responsibilities (ibid). à Aside from earning equal respect and treatment with monks, nuns are facing a bigger problem which all of Tibet is experiencing, and that is the occupation of China in their land. Tsultrim Doma, a Buddhist nun in Tibet, says ââ¬Å"The Chinese want our land, but they donââ¬â¢t want the Tibetan people. The women in our village were called to be sterilized, one by one. Those who refused must pay a fine. They have no money, so they have no choiceâ⬠(Vincanne 77). Tibetans are experiencing a cultural and physical genocide; the Chinese are forcing Tibetan women, even nuns, to marry and Chinese nationals and bear their children. Tibetan women are forced to abort their babies just to reduce the Tibetan population (ibid). The Chinese are torturing the nuns and monks because they are the bearers of Tibetan culture, which is heavily rooted in religion; the monks and nuns are the suspects of political criminality in Lhasa (Vincanne 80). Hundreds of nunneries and monasteries have moved out of Tibet since the Chinese occupation and into the countries of India, Thailand, Nepal, Australia and others. Though Chinese are also Buddhists, they are persecuting the Tibetan Buddhists and they are faced with the challenge of renewal and reformulation (Shih 1) not only with their ways in treating the Buddhist nuns but with their survival. A Tibetan nun said that ââ¬Å"the strength of our devotion frightens themâ⬠(Vincanne 81) since it is their devotion and religion that may liberate them. Their Buddhist belief in peace and liberation from suffering is timely with what they are experiencing, and together with their belief in karma, this enables them to endure their torments[8] and fight a rather peaceful battle for liberation than the Chinese governmentââ¬â¢s choice of using artillery and blood shed. The values of tolerance, inner transformation and enlightenment also enable the Tibetan Buddhists to be patient with what China has been doing, however, with the recent news of riots being broken out in China by the Tibetans, where monastics are accused of heading it, we do not know until when the Tibetan Buddhists- monks, nuns and lay people, can tolerate the injustices of China. Conclusion Buddhism was introduced in Tibet by the Indians in Tibetan in 123 CE and it replaced the mystic religion of Tibetans which was Bà ¶n. This mystic religion, however shaped the beliefs of the Tibetan Buddhists and made them somewhat different from other Buddhist sects. Their specific features are their distinct belief in life and death, important role of rituals and initiations, rich visual symbolism, element of Bà ¶n, the earlier Tibetan faith, and mantras and meditation practice. The Buddhist nuns have gone a long way from being admitted into the order by Buddha 2,500 years ago and only attaining a rank that is lower than that of the lowest rank for monks, to being ordained as a bhikshuni or a full nun and allowing the possibility of earning a geshe-ma or doctorate degree for them that will make them equals with monks. Though they are facing opposition from traditional lay-persons and monastics, the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist sects are on their side, calling that now is the time for equality and that Buddha-hood can be achieved by both man and woman. This is so because it was believed that women cannot achieve enlightenment, only men can achieve Buddha-hood and women must be reincarnated to do so. Some say that though Buddhism teaches equality, the patriarchal society in which Buddhism spread into has caused such inequality among men and women, thus making the lives of Buddhist nuns much harder than their monk counterparts. Women entering the nunneries today are much older than the women who were entering in the 1950s; from the average age of 16 it has risen to 43 in the past 40 and more years, showing that women have a more conscious decision to commit themselves to the Dharma and the religious life and shedding the notion that they are entering it because of lack of choice. In this time and age, were equality is being called for in all sectors of society Buddhists are being pressured and as said the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist Leaders are supporting the Buddhist nuns. Also, another challenge is faced by the Tibetan Nuns and that is they are forced to be disrobed and be sterilized, that is marry into a Chinese national and give birth to a Chinese child. The nuns, together with the monks are the ultimate symbol of Tibetan culture since their culture is deeply rooted in religion, therefore they are the ones tortured by the Chinese governmentââ¬â¢s cleansing of Tibetan from their people. As one Tibetan nun said, the Chinese only want their land and not the people that is why they are being physically and culturally erased. Because of the Chinese occupation many nunneries in Tibet have been destroyed by the Chinese and the nunneries have moved out together with the government-in-exile of Tibet into India and other countries. Their belief in suffering, peace and karma allows them to endure the tortures they are receiving from the Chinese that are occupying their land. Tibetan nuns are not only fighting for their equality they are also the voice, together with the monks and the Dalai Lama that is calling for a peaceful fight for the liberation of their land. Works Cited BBC Religion & Ethics Web Site. 2008. BBC. 1 April 2008 . Buddhist Christian Studies Book Review. 8 October 2006. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. 2 April 2008 King, Ursula. ââ¬Å"World Religions, Women and Educationâ⬠. Comparative Education, Special Number (10): Sex Differences in Education. 23.10. (1987): 35-49. 31 March 2008 Tibet Website. 10 November 1997. The Government of Tibet in Exile Family of Sites. 3 April 2008 . Shi, Juo-hsueh. ââ¬Å"Buddhist Nuns from a Modern Perspectiveâ⬠and Fitz-Gerald, Kerry. ââ¬Å"Buddhism Needs Feminism.â⬠Sakyaditha Newsletter. 3.2 (2002). 2 April 2008 . Soka Gakkai International. ââ¬Å"Enlightenment of Women.â⬠SGI Quarterly Magazine. (April 2000). 2 April 2008 . Simhanada Family of Sites.2006. Simhanada Buddhists. 2 April 2008 . Venerable Thubten Chodronââ¬â¢s Web Site. (n.d.) Ven. Thubten Chodron. 2 April 2008 from . Vincanne, Adams. ââ¬Å"Suffering the Winds of Lhasa: Politicized Bodies, Human Rights, Cultural Difference, and Humanism in Tibet.â⬠Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 12.1. (1998): 74-102. 31 March 2008 White, Bryan. A 5 minute Introduction to Buddhism. 1993. Buddha Dharma Education Association Network. 2 April 2008 . [1] See online articles and publications of Buddha Dharma Education Association [BDEA] for more information on Buddhism in Western countries. [2] Refer to the official webpage of the Tibetan Government in Exile: http://www.tibet.com [3] The Tibetan Buddhist Canon discusses this more extensively and can be found at the BDEA Web page, as well as in the eSSortment Web page. [4] 3 Principles of the Path is the (1) intention leave cyclic existence, (2) generate the intent to free all sentient beings and 93) correct view of emptiness (Simhanadaà 1) [5]Dharma refers to the Buddhist teachings or the path to truth and enlightenment. [6] A nun is subject to eight basic rules while a monk is only to follow four; when fully ordained a nun must observe 311 daily rules and the monk only 227 (King 40) [7] Vinaya class is the last class taken prior to taking the geshe exam and is required for the geshe degree. [8] Refer to Vincanneââ¬â¢s article of Suffering the Winds of Lhasa for detailed accounts
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Double Entry Journals for the Crucible Essay
Analysis ââ¬Å"We cannot flinch; these are new times, sir. There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships. I have seen too many frightful proofs in courtââ¬âthe Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points! â⬠¦in great pain: Man, remember, until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heavenâ⬠(1244). Mass paranoia, confusion, fear Despite being an educated man, Hale is fully embracing the witch-hunt and keeps advocating it. The people of Salem are too afraid to question the validity of the witchcraft claims because even ââ¬Å"God thought him beautiful in Heavenâ⬠-an hour before the Devil fell-. How can common men of Salem identify the Devil correctly? ââ¬Å"Ancient friendshipsâ⬠are no longer relevant because anyone, even a close friend can be in the league with the Devil. Although it is not important whether the person is a Devil-worshipper or not because the people of Salem do not ââ¬Å"dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger pointsâ⬠, Hale himself appears to believe that anyone accused has the potential of being a Devil-worshipper and worth to be interrogated. Since the way of the Devil is ââ¬Å"so subtleâ⬠that the people of Salem ââ¬Å"should be criminalâ⬠even to trust their friends now. The small bits of evidence seem to be forced or plotted, but according to Hale, all such proofs were real, ââ¬Å"frightfulâ⬠, and more than enough to be used to convict the accused. There appears to be a very thin line between being a devote Christian and a devil-worshipper, even to sensible Mr. Hale. ââ¬Å"If she is innocent! Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as Godââ¬â¢s fingers? Iââ¬â¢ll tell you whatââ¬â¢s walking Salem-vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrantââ¬â¢s vengeanceâ⬠(1246)! Justice, power The people of Salem expect that their legal system, based on the Bible, has the truth of God, However, it is being manipulated very easily as in this case. Proctor mocks this notion by pointing out that the accusers may have their own selfish reasons for their accusations, but due to their holy legal system, their will commands the laws. Proctor refers this fact by the phrase ââ¬Å"common vengeance writes the lawâ⬠. He repeats this point ââ¬âbravely- several times in the quote ââ¬Å"vengeance is walking Salemâ⬠and ââ¬Å"this warrantââ¬â¢s vengeanceâ⬠to reinforce this idea. He clearly points the double standards in the current justice system by asking ââ¬Å"Is the accuser always holy nowâ⬠? He is questioning the innocence of Abigail and the girls by making radical comparison between them and the Godââ¬â¢s fingers, which had inscribed the Ten Commandments. Even though Proctor uses an extreme comparison to mock the girls, the power they seized at Sale m is far beyond their own rights. Deciding who will die and live is godly power as ââ¬Å"jangling the keys of the kingdomâ⬠refers to. Proctor is simply pointing out the ridiculousness of the situation while trying to save his wifeââ¬â¢s life. However, when fear and greed takes over; the logic becomes irrelevant, which makes all his efforts futile. ââ¬Å"Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away-make your peace! He throws her to the floor, where she sobs, ââ¬Å"I cannot, I cannot.â⬠And now, half to himself, staring, and turning to the open door: Peace. It is providence, and no great change; we are only what we always were, but naked now. He walks as though toward a great horror, facing the open sky. Aye, naked! And the wind, Godââ¬â¢s icy wind, will blowâ⬠(1248)! Deception, adultery, guilt, honesty, punishment Proctor has not been honest with his wife, Elizabeth, about his relationship with Abigail, which put Elizabeth in a vulnerable position. He feels guilty about it but at the same time until his wife gets taken to the jail upon accusation of Abigail for witch crafting, he never even considered admitting it. Adultery is one of the ten commandments and Proctor is expecting a lot of trouble for revealing it. Even though Elizabeth already senses it, Proctor may lose ââ¬Å"peaceâ⬠and happiness in his marriage forever. He may also be criticized harshly by the people for his sin. Also, he may make Abigail very mad, which is a crazy thing to do under the circumstances. Abigail wants to take place of Elizabeth and getting her killed is very easy for Abigail. Being at the verge of revealing such a shameful secret makes Proctor feel as if he is ââ¬Å"nakedâ⬠and ââ¬Å"facing the open skyâ⬠. The quote repeats ââ¬Å"nakedâ⬠several times to emphasize the shame Proctor feels about revealing this secret. ââ¬Å"Icy windâ⬠represents the hurt he is expecting to feel afterwards due to brutal critism, shame and guilt. ââ¬Å"I cannot charge murder on Abigailâ⬠. â⬠¦ ââ¬Å"Sheâ⬠ll kill me for saying thatâ⬠! â⬠¦ ââ¬Å"Abby will charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctorâ⬠! â⬠¦ ââ¬Å"I cannot, theyââ¬â¢ll turn on meââ¬âââ¬Å" (1248) Terror Even though Mary Warren is now official of the court helping girls to decide who is performing with craft, she is extremely scared of getting accused herself. She is very well aware of the extend of the evilness of Abigail and the girls and knows that they will seek revenge if she helps Proctor to clear Elizabethââ¬â¢s name about the puppet. Mary W. feels extremely scared of Abigail as she uses the phrase ââ¬Å"sheââ¬â¢ll kill meâ⬠and ââ¬Å"theyââ¬â¢ll turn on meâ⬠, which means that Mary Warren would do anything they expect her to do such asà blaming others of worshipping the Devil, or keeping puppets at their house to harm other people, which makes the Mary Warren a true puppet and Abigail and the girls true witches harming innocent people using the puppets like Mary Warren. ââ¬Å"Giles: That bloody mongrel Walcott charge her. Yââ¬â¢see he buy a pig of my wife four or five year ago, and the pig died soon after. So he come dancinââ¬â¢ in for his money back. So my Martha, she says to him, ââ¬Å"Walcott, if you havenââ¬â¢t the wit to feed the pig properly, youââ¬â¢ll not live to own many,â⬠she says. Now he goes to court and claims that from that day to this he cannot a pig alive for more than four weeks because my Martha bewitched them with her booksâ⬠(1244) Slippery slope Martha gets accused of wicth craft by Walcott just because the pig he purchased from her dies ââ¬âprobably because Walcott did not take care of the pig well-. However, the accusation is that Martha is practicing witch craft with her books. Walcott seems to be taking advantage of the current insanity to resolve past enmity. Even though Giles seems very upset about the situation and finds Walcottââ¬â¢s accusations groundless, in Act I, it was him trying to use Haleââ¬â¢s influence to spy on his wife and learn about what kind of books she was reading and accusing her with ââ¬Å"the stoppage of prayerâ⬠. Giles seems to have initiated the fall of his loved one unintentionally. About Walcottââ¬â¢s accusation and the logic: Even though there may be many other reasons for the pig to die after its purchase from Martha and there is no obvious correlation between two events, the court choses to treat this case with extreme and concludes that the pig died because Martha was pr acticing witch craft. It is a long jump, very illogical conclusion.
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