World Literature Essays (Examples)

Ovid, Giovanni Boccaccio, and the authors of One Thousand and One Nights use frame narratives to add continuity and structure to the literary composition. Framing serves several literary functions. For one, framing establishes an independent narrator. The reader comes to trust and relate to this narrator, who is fictional and yet not quite a character of any of the internal narratives. This also allows the authors of their respective stories to remain independent, while still offering a "voice," broad omniscient analysis, or general commentary on the work contained therein. The narrator can therefore be viewed as a surrogate for the author's voice in an attempt to remain external to the work. The frame narrative therefore has a critical role to play in the evolution of fiction, novels, and narrative.

A second important literary function of framing is that it allows the author to string together otherwise disparate stories, linking them…

Dante's Inferno

The opening section of Dante's poetic series, which he wrote in the 1400s is called The Inferno, which means 'Hell' in Italian. The titles under the series christened the Divine Comedy are Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, and they tell of a voyage through a primitive picture of Hell, a place that Dante portrays as nine rings of torment. The journey of a soul towards God with the identification and impact of iniquity summarizes the tale of The Divine Comedy.

"Vexilla regis produent inferni; the banners of the king go forth, the king of Hell" (Vergani 74).

Transgressors such as Brutus, Cassius and Judas Iscariot are broken into pieces by Lucifer's monstrous jaws. Judas is named as the most gruesome transgressor of all residents of Hell and gets his flesh shredded off his back as his punishment. The style of description of this happening is quite explicit. Dante's Inferno…

Fire: The Medieval Mind and the enaissance - Portrait of an Age by William Manchester. Specifically it briefly addresses Manchester's three main theses and analyze some part of this book in depth. It contains a critical book review that acknowledges the three main theses and addresses one of the theses, or a clearly defined theme, directly. The author's three main theses in the book were these: First, writer William Manchester wanted to show the reader what it was like to really live in medieval times. He wanted them to understand the smells, experiences, home life, and even filth and violence that filled the times. Second, he wanted to illustrate to the reader how the Middle Ages were entirely necessary for the enaissance to occur, and finally, he hoped to show the reader how important Christianity, especially the Catholic Church, was to the time, the people, and the very fabric of…

hagavad-Gita is a conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, narrated by the hisma-Parva of the Mahabharata. It is 18 chapters long, totaling 701 Sanskrit verses. Within these verses is found the basis for the path of spiritual enlightenment. It is highly symbolic and much is left to the interpretation of the reader.

The hagavad-Gita was originally written in Sanskrit as early as 200 C. Since then, there have been many translations written in English and many other languages. Translations are subject to the translator's personal experiences and beliefs. It is difficult to determine which translation would be considered authoritative in light of these differences. Word choice in translation may effect the overall nuance or meaning of the piece. For this reason, many authors have included a commentary on their particular translation of the work. This commentary simply explains their perspective on the piece in order to give the reader a…

Dante's Canto VI

In Canto VI, Dante mixes and weaves ancient stories and mythology into his Christian portrayal of afterlife, such as the three-headed dog Cerberus.

However, by placing the pagan gods into the Christian concept of Hell, his intention reflects that he believes Christianity as the supreme moral order and the ultimate authoritative system.

Much like the punishments in the prior circles, here they too are equally grotesque as the sins themselves (Alighieri 1983). Those who lusted pay dearly in Dante's circle of hell for their sins and obsessions of the bodily flesh. Although, he laments for them, Dante's condemnation of the lovers, Paolo and Francesca, are harsh and appear unequal to their sins.

Dante places those who derived excessive pleasure from sex were thrown into the mire of excrement along with the other sinners of gluttony (Alighieri 1983). Those souls, such as Paolo and Francesca, were forced to…

The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and the Bhagavad Gita are three of the most enduring ancient texts in the canon of global literature. All are heroic tales focusing on a strong male warrior protagonist, who endures a series of tests in order to achieve their goals and retain their status as leaders of their community. However, unlike Achilles, the hero of Homer’s Iliad, or Arjuna, hero of the Bhagavad Gita, Gilgamesh was an actual historical figure, evidence by the archaeological record as well as literary correspondences (Hansman). The historicity of its hero is not necessarily the reason to favor one of these epics over the other, but The Epic of Gilgamesh has the edge over its epic counterparts in other ways. For example, Gilgamesh’s character undergoes deep and meaningful transformations in ways that neither Achilles nor Arjuna experience. Both Achilles and Arjuna are thinly drawn, when compared with Gilgamesh.…

World Literature. Social Value Topics of Gilgamesh and Odysseus in the World Literature StatesPeople in fiction have had such a significant impact on societies by projecting personal characteristics and lifestyles. They typically depict human traits such as heroism, vengeance, indifference, and so on. Only well literary works in the world literature that heroic project attributes related to diverse and shared values that society endorses are the Gilgamesh and Odyssey Epics. Knowing their diverse champions that come from fiction and applying the topic to both may assist them in comprehending their various talents and patriotic aspirations in their culture. Therefore this paper makes the respective social value topics of Gilgamesh and Odysseus and their comparisons in exploring their commonalities and distinctions.When reading the Odyssey, somebody sees that he\\\'s a hero because of his unadulterated religiosity besides his ability to overcome obstacles. When Odysseus set sail in his tale, he traveled a…

Consumers in Virtual orlds

Literature Review / Theoretical Framework: The article in the journal Marketing Intelligence & Planning points to how marketing research is becoming more pivotal to companies due to increased global competition (globalization). The authors point out that because some firms struggle to re-invent the way they conduct marketing research in the new millennium, they are considered "learning organizations" (Malhotra, et al., 2001, p. 216).

The article presents important practical information about how firms should conduct research. For example, qualitative research should be conducted with a "postmodern" approach, which uses "artistic interpretation" methods and rejects the old way of doing things like sending out surveys to determine what consumers prefer. Updated qualitative research uses computer-assisted data and embraces creative methods. On the quantitative research side, the authors advocate automated "data mining"; new databases should contain unlimited information about foreign product markets (Malhotra, 221).

Key Findings: Conducting surveys is…

WWI and Literature

World War I was certainly one of the most productive periods in literature with millions of poets and authors emerging on the scene and each one contributing tremendously to the growth and progress of literature. It is quite strange that while WWI was a deeply disturbing and a largely horrifying experience for most countries, it inspired writers and poets around the globe and this resulted in significant growth of world literature.

In England alone, more than 2000 poets emerged during this period as Harvey (1993) elaborates: "From the very first week, the 1914-18 war inspired enormous quantities of poetry and fiction. The claim that three million war poems were written in Germany in the first six months of hostilities is difficult to substantiate, but Catherine W. eilly has counted 2,225 English poets of the First World War, of whom 1,808 were civilians. For example, William Watson (then…

Yet Mr. Friedman does not go to this depth of analysis and relies instead of lengthy, conversational passages in the book that could be trimmed and made more potent, relevant and valuable. The concept Mr. Friedman discusses of the Untouchables is altogether too elitist as well, and this chapter of the book is an illusion; there is no job safe in a globalized world. Only those willing to compete at exceptionally high levels and deliver exceptionally high levels of service, value and insight are going to survive. Globalization's safe harbors are exceptional knowledge, talent and intensity of focus. It is not merely due to the fact that someone is from a given nation. This is certainly the case in Saudi Arabia, where the growth of financial services firms from the United Stakes, the United Kingdom and other westernized nations are more dependent than ever on the Saudi economy as the…

World War Turning Point Europe, Significant Change Occurred Emergence Legitimate evolutionary egimes

Self-Determination in Cuba

There are few who would dispute the fact that following the conclusion of World War II and prior to its revolution (which began in 1953 and concluded on January 1 of 1959) Cuba was a prosperous region of the world that was certainly worth fighting for. The country's leader prior to the ascendancy of Fidel Castro, Fulgencio Batista, had cleverly manipulated the assistance of a number of external forces, primarily that of the United States, to assist the country in achieving a degree of economic gain and modernity the likes of which were comparable to, if not surpassing, those of other parts of the world.

Its economic prowess may be demonstrated from the following quotation. "Cuba in 1958, prior to the government of the Communist Fidel Castro, paid its employees an average of $3.00 per…

It is only through occult understanding that the forms and the archetypal images and symbols can be interpreted.

Here we see that the term unconsciousness is very similar to the Platonic ideals and forms. Another aspect that will form part of the theoretical perspective of this study is the concept of transformation. In order to understand the occult and its relationship to the forms, a process of transformation has to take place. In Platonic terms this transformation is a radical change in life, morality and ethics; while for Jung it is transformation in terms of the deeper understanding of the relation of the unconscious to the conscious mind.

Transformation also has related occult meaning and symbols such as fire. Fire is an age-old indication of change of perception and consciousness. This also refers to Jungian concepts such as the shadow. There are many other points of reference and similarity between…

Wilson, a student of public administration, favored more governmental regulation and action during a time when large monopolies still existed. He saw the role of public administration as "government in action; it is the executive, the operative, the most visible side of government, and is of course as old as government itself" (Wilson 235). The pendelum swung, though, and the government was blamed for many of the ills that caused the Great Depression. Franklin oosevelt, despite being called draconian, knew that he had to launch programs that would have a quick effect upon the struggling economy; resulting the New Deal -- a complex, interlocking set of programs designed to produce jobs, economic recovery, and fiscal reform of banking and Wall Street -- exactly what was needed, it seems to turn the Titanic in a new direction (Badger). Then, of course, came the war, which stimulated the economy like nothing else,…

orld Is Flat: The Impact of Globalization on the United States

In the best-selling book The orld is Flat, Thomas Friedman provides a well-researched series of chapters that detail how globalization and the congruency of cultures is making country-level differentiation more challenging to achieve. His contention is that globalization is being caused by the combination of Internet-based technologies and platforms, combined with low-cost labor and higher educational standards in emerging nations (Leamer, 115). Throughout the book he makes a very convincing argument that the United States has lost the ability to compete with its core strengths of intelligence and industriousness, and has become too complacent to the point of having an entitlement mindset (Harvey, Novicevic, et.al.). There are many implications for the United States throughout this book, with two disused below.

Analysis of Globalization's Impact on the United States

The most ironic and impactful examples Thomas Friedman provides in his…

Conscription

From the beginning of the war, there had been some variation in the Canadian attitude toward the conflict. Canada never questioned the legitimacy of the war and did not question the need for Canadian participation. There were differences of opinion, though, concerning how extensive the Canadian contribution should be. These variations affected the response to calls for enlistment and divided the country as the towns were more willing than the countryside, the prairies more willing than the Atlantic seaboard, and "it was observed that the proportion of enlistments achieved by any social group appeared to vary almost inversely to the length of its connection with Canada. On the one hand, the ritish-born -- the new arrivals with a large proportion of unattached males of military age -- gave the highest percentage of their numbers to the armed services, and, on the other hand, the French Canadians unquestionably gave the…

Pride in Literature

As a universally human characteristic, pride plays an important part in world literary themes. However, pride can be defined and perceived differently, and the term also has many different definitions. For example, pride can refer to a dignified type of satisfaction, as comes from taking pride in one's work. More often in literature, though, pride is depicted in a negative light and is usually featured as a tragic flaw that, if not overcome, brings about the hero's downfall. Moreover, the implications and meaning of pride in literature has changed over the course of time. Pride was portrayed as a necessary but dangerous trait of powerful leaders in the ancient epics of Greece and Mesopotamia like Gilgamesh, the Iliad, and the Odyssey. The trait of pride reached a sort of thematic culmination in the Old English work Beowulf, in which the title character's pride contributes positively to his…

In "After Apple-picking," the speaker reflects explicitly only on the feel of picking apples, and the lingering feelings and thoughts that this work leaves in the mind and body. The commonality in theme that this bears to the epilogue Shakespeare wrote for The Tempest might not be immediately apparent, but again the language and diction of the poem provide clues as to what Frost was really getting at in this poem. The speaker mentions sleep and dreams or dreaming several times in the poem, both of which are commonly used as euphemisms for death (including by Shakespeare himself, in several famous speeches). Winter, too, is generally symbolic of old age, making the speaker's mention of "winter sleep" doubly evocative of increasing age and the awareness of mortality. The autumn scene of the apple picking itself is also, of course, indicative of change in the seasons; the ripeness of the fruit…

Green Marketing: Legend, Myth, Farce or Prophesy?

This article reviews the popularity of many businesses embracing the concept of "green marketing" as it became popular in the early 1990s after being in existence since the 1970s as a way to move toward sustainability. By the mid-1990s; however, the response from consumers did not live up to earlier market research projects and some major opted to discontinue their green brands of certain products. This has led to the disillusionment of consumers and the slowdown in the amount of new "green" products that have been introduced into the market since the 1990s.This raises the question of whether "green marketing" has failed or is it a concept that the world was not ready for to begin with (p. 357).

Methodology

The authors examine how the green marketing theory has been practiced in the 15 years using the methodology used in King's 1985 article,…

" Military History. [online]

available: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiieurcauses.htm.

Shevin-Coetzee, M. & Coetzee, F. (2010). The World in Flames: A World War II Sourcebook.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Snell, J.L. (1962). The Outbreak of the Second World War: Design or Blunder? Boston D.C.

Heath.

Carr, F.M. (2005, January 1). "World War I to World War IV: A Democratic-Economic Perspective." Journal of Economics and Economic Education esearch, 6(1), p. 117.

Carr, p. 117.

Shevin-Coetzee, M. & Coetzee, F. (2010). The World in Flames: A World War II Sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hickman, K. (2012). "World War II Europe: The oad to War." Military History. [online] available: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiieurcauses.htm.

Hickman, p. 1.

Corum, J.S. (2004, Summer). "The Luftwaffe and Its Allied Air Forces in World War II: Parallel War and the Failure of Strategic and Economic Cooperation." Air Power History, 51(2), p. 4.

Corum, p. 4.

Corum, p. 5.

Bassett, .L. (2009, Fall). "Sacred Causes:…

ordsworth

Returning to Nature

They looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

-Exodus 16-10

The great Romantic bard illiam ordsworth loved nature. To him, nature was a place to return to, not just in a physical sense, as in a sojourn or expedition, but in an emotional and spiritual sense. Returning to nature meant to revitalize an essential part of one's humanity through the cathartic and transformative powers of nature. To help unpack this concept, this essay will analyze two of ordsworth's poems: "Nutting" and "The orld is Too Much ith Us."

"Nutting" is a Conversation poem, in the Coleridge tradition, between the Narrator and his Maiden (Rumens). Over the course of the poem, he's tells his Maiden about a day he spent gathering nuts in the forest and how, after gathering the nuts, he felt a sense of guilt for needlessly…

Nazi Germany

Nazi Propaganda and the Spread of Fascism

orld ar II was precipitated by the rise of fascism throughout Europe. As the mores of socialism began to take root in many parts of the continent, fascism emerged as a powerful counterpoint. For nations like Italy, Spain and Germany, the consequences of a sustained and devastating recession would be a coalescing of support behind strong, self-proclaimed and authoritarian leaders. Certainly, most notorious among them would be Adolph Hitler, whose Nazi party would first occupy Austria and Germany before ultimately pursuing a more global agenda. However, for our discussion, the primary interest is the degree of success that the Nazi party had in ultimately penetrating Germany with its values, ideals and policies. As the discussion here will show, propaganda would play a central role in the ability of the Nazi party to garner support and generate the impassioned loyalty of the…

Greek Hero Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey and the Northern Hero Beowulf in the saga BeoWulf, discussing how either can be heroes and arguing in some ways that it is more than deeds that marks a hero, but also the way in which they behave and relate to others.

Bells' by Edgar Allen Poe. The poem revolves around different phases of human life and connects them to chiming of bells. 'The Bells' is considered a near-perfect example of a poetic device called onomatopoeia.

THE BELLS

The Bells' on first reading would appear to be a happy song, which talks about various stages of man's life and the significance of different sounds. But in-depth analysis reveals that this poem is actually more autobiographical in nature and though it does mention the four stages that man goes through, it is by no means a happy song. This brings us to the central idea of the poem. The poem chronicles four stages of man's life with first being the happiest yet shortest and last two being saddest yet longer. Man's childhood is the sunniest time of his life but it lasts for a brief period whereas maturity and near-death moments are saddest…

Mythology Through the Eyes of Joseph Campbell

This essay discusses a little part of world mythology as perceived through the eyes of Joseph Campbell. It also relates to his conceptualization of the myths associated with different geographical regions of the world. This uses 1 source in MLA form.

Long has existed the phenomenon of myths and religions. Mythology is defined as the study of myths, which is a strong belief that is associated with someone or ancient figures. If it is brought under proper observation its exact era from where it all started is difficult to find as even the existence of the first man on the universe has been associated with mythological happening. As there exist different explanations and myths with the existence of the world these explanations also tend to vary when concerning different geographical areas. There is a lot of text available even belonging to ancient times…

Film -- Kundera, the Unbearable Lightness of Being

When Milan Kundera wrote The Unbearable Lightness of Being, he was a political exile from Czechoslovakia, living in France, whose books were banned in his native country. Thus, it is not surprising that his fiction addresses oppression and its instruments, particularly language. In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Kundera's character, Tomas, is converted from surgeon to window-washer for refusing to cooperate with the authorities. Unlike Malcolm's subject, however, Tomas comes to find this transformation a personal reprieve, a feeling which is aided by the numerous sexual dalliances his new position affords him. Kundera's portrayal of Tomas's fate and his book's success in the west only exacerbated the sense of injury felt by those who had stayed in Czechoslovakia and had lived out the reality that Kundera 'improved on' in his fable of totalitarianism.

Thesis Statement

The novel is primarily philosophical and ironic,…

Middle East comprises a diverse group of regions, countries, peoples, customs, and cultures. On the one hand, it is daunting to offer a semester-long course that treats all Middle Eastern issues with clarity and fairness. The risk of oversimplification, however, is outweighed by the risk of ignorance. This course will explore the Middle East with as much depth and breadth as possible, stimulating student thought on political, social, religious, historical, ethnographic, and economic issues related to the region. Included in the course rubric will be current events ranging from gender issues to terrorism. In between the heavier topics, lighter lessons on local customs, culture, music, and food will reveal the ordinariness of daily life in the part of the world we call the Middle East.

Islam will be covered from a multidisciplinary perspective, allowing for nuanced and rich class discussions about the unique interface between politics, religion, and social norms.…

Rule of the Bone

About the author

The author Russell Banks writes in the manner that infused his stories with a sadistic honesty and moral goodness that his characters strive to live up to. He writes in striking and most often sad tones about the drama of daily life (Anderson, eye net).

Furthermore, his themes of failure, of weakness, of the complexity of living an honest life were often desolating, but all his stories does contain a positive wisdom to them along with a sense of optimism found in the details that he carefully draws out of his characters' routine and everyday realities (Anderson, eye net). Hence, in my opinion no modern author writes more delicately about common man's uncertain search for the American grail of material ease and self-esteem than Russell Banks.

About the book

In writing Rule of the Bone the author Russell Banks took almost a year…

Sunburned Country is typical warm, humorous and engaging Bill Bryson fare. Bryson is one of those rare travel writers that can almost literally pull you from the comfort of your couch, and into the place that they describe. Unlike other books that often read like an itinerary of hotels, sights, and restaurants, In A Sunburned County will seemingly transport you to the sunny island itself.

Bryson's affection for Australia is readily evident. He writes, "The people are immensely likable -- cheerful, extrovert, quick-witted, and unfailingly obliging. Their cities are safe and clean and nearly always built on water. They have a society that is prosperous, well ordered, and instinctively egalitarian. The food is excellent. The beer is cold. The sun nearly always shines. There is coffee on every corner. Rupert Murdoch no longer lives there. Life doesn't get much better than this."

Interspersed among his engaging prose and likeable style…

American Poet Laureate obert Hass to lift European impact from American English thus making the latter a truly original and authentic language. The paper also cites examples from his collection, Sun Under Wood (1996) and shows how the poet accentuates simplicity to reveal the beauty of American version of English language.

obert Hass: shedding European influences from American English

obert Hass is the former United States Poet Laureate who is known for his simple yet beautiful verses, some of them translations of Japanese Haiku while others simple expressions of his deepest sentiments. In his fourth collection of poems, Sun Under Wood (1996) Hass tried to encompass all his past experiences in 20 beautiful pieces, which moved back and forth in history. These poems reveal something truly amazing about the poet's command over the English language. Coming from a truly modern West Coast, he refused to use traditional or conventional poetic…

Fred D'Aguiar's surreal poems like "Mama Dot" and "Air Hall Iconography" stir up imagery of the African homeland and convey a sense of detachment from the modern world. This detachment is not apathetic, but rather, D'Aguiar poignantly portrays the plight of colonized Africans. The poet chooses to focus on the archetypal African matriarch in "Mama Dot." Like a creation story, Fred D'Aguiar's "Mama Dot" outlines the evolution of the titular Mama Dot by progressing through a seven-day week. Each symbolic day represents possible decades or centuries in historical, linear time. D'Aguiar's talent in "Mama Dot" is revealed through his ability to create a time-transcendent, abstract recreation of the tragedies of slavery and the sense of "otherness" that the descendents of slaves feel long after their ancestors were captured and sold.

orn on a Sunday / in the kingdom of Ashante," (lines 1-2) Mama Dot's beginnings feel regal, as the poet…

Cornlius Ryan, one of the finest writers of the history of World War II, was born in Dublin in 192. He worked as a correspondent from 1941 to 1945 and covered stories of the battles in Europe for Reuters and the London Daily Telegraph and in the final months of the Pacific campaign.

The first book written, published in 1959, was The Longest Day, that sold four million copies in twenty -seven editions and later in 1962 a film was made on it. However, it is said that The Longest Day was originally published in 1959 and since then it ahs reprinted several times.

Furthermore, another book was published in 1966 The Last Battle, while in 1974, he finished his third book A Bridge Too Far, though at the same time he was undergoing treatment for cancer that killed him in 1976.

Moreover, he was the author was a native…

Regional Geography

hy could Africa be considered on of the richest continents on Earth? Discuss some of sub-Saharan Africa's Assets. Then address why, despite these facts, the majority of African states remain poor. Be sure to include several factors relation to this region's unique physical geography, complex human geography, history.

The spectrum of environments which exist in Africa spans entire moisture and temperature gradients, from perhaps the most arid to among the well-watered places on earth, from the coolness of the Cape to the furnace that is the Sahara. This environmental diversity is mirrored in the proliferation of its fauna and flora, for Africa has seemingly every conceivable combination of climatological, geological, and pedological factors; the plant and animal communities have evolved over time to reflect this heterogeneity. Moreover, it is an ancient continent that has provided a cradle for a wide range of taxonomic groups, from among the very…

Geography

Questions On World Regional Geography

Generally speaking, African colonies during the colonial period were seen as expensive liabilities by the great European powers, especially in relation to trading concessions. Toward the end of the 19th century, the attitudes of these powers altered as rival industrial nations like Great Britain, Germany, France and Belgium, attempted to locate and develop overseas markets for their goods. In 1885, the Berlin Conference was convened to resolve conflicts of interest in Africa by allotting areas of exploitation to these colonial powers. As a result, the so-called "scramble for Africa" began in which these powers sought to establish their "rightful" claims to vast expanses of land.

When this conference was convened, most of Africa was under colonial control and was subsequently broken up into numerous states, made up of some fifty separate countries with very irregular geographical boundaries. One major problem linked to this break-up…

The demonstration in Tiananmen Square showed that there were alrge semgnets of the population that wanted change, but Deng's response was to crush the movement with violence and to assert the supremacy ofm centalzied rule once more..

These actions show some of the difficulties of independence and of developing a new political structure when many adhere to older political structures and ideas. One response is to try to wipe out the old with violence, but regimes tend to become reactionary about their own ideas as well and to crush any opposition, real of perceived.

9. Arab unity has not materialized for a number of historical reasons related to the different ways in which the countries of the region have developed so that the leaders of some of the states are wary of other leaders, because of differences in economic structures in the various countries, and because of different reactions to…

World War II drew to a close, and the planet was forced to recalibrate in unprecedented proportions, the United States began its long emergence as the most expansive super-power that had yet been known. Its influence that would compete virulently with the post-war Soviet influence for half a century, has since disseminated into every facet of the geopolitical theatre. As such, American support can operate as the determining factor in the success of a national agenda. Likewise, American dissent can be the stifling roadblock that sets nations adrift in failure and, consequently, resentment. So it's important to acknowledge that a nation's complaint of American neglect is more than just the bitter rhetoric of the disenfranchised. The emphasis placed on American approval and volition is fairly justified when one considers the weight and implication of the U.S. stance on any given topic. And it's certainly fair to say that American intervention…

Japanese Lit

The most salient motif connecting Basho's "Oku no Hosomichi" with Kyoka's "The Holy Man of Mount Koya" is the journey. A journey provides the pivotal experience for the hero, who is personally transformed by the journey. The hero's journey is more than one of self-discovery, for through the journey, they hero touches upon deeper metaphysical issues. The heroes on their respective journeys in these two stories undergo similar emotional experiences and transformations. For example, both struggle to face and overcome their own fears. Both Basho and the narrator of "The Holy Man of Mount Koya" need to go through extreme weariness during the process of the journey, for from their point of exhaustion a new type of energy may arise. Sexuality and erotic imagery is present, albeit in subtle and symbolic ways, in these two journeys. Thus, issues related to temptation become important lessons for the heroes. Finally,…

Healers

Much has been said about the history of Africa, and the centuries of slave trade which occurred at the expense of the African peoples. From the time of early colonization by the Portuguese, Dutch, and later the ritish, the African people were taken advantage of, and sold as slaves to fuel the growing economies around the western world.

While nothing can ever be said to correct, or make full reparations for the contempt shown to the black peoples, Ayi Armah's book The Healers takes a deeper look at the cultural issues which arose on the African continent which fueled the disintegration of the African culture.

When we look back at a difficult, unjust, or painful situation we have encountered, the tendency is to look for reasons outside of ourselves in order to explain the pain. When a child is caught smacking another playmate on the playground during recess, the…

Colonial Experience

Upper Africa

The Nineteenth Century brought dramatic changes to Africa and its people. The European powers divided up the continent among themselves. France took the lion's share, reserving most of Upper Africa to itself. Yet the French Empire in Africa was a diverse realm - Arab and erber in the Maghreb, and lack African in the lands to the south of the Sahara. Not only ethnic differences, but also differences in cultural and economic development divided the peoples north and south of the great desert. At one stroke, the French found themselves masters of a vast population of lack Africans who knew little of the modern world. Organized primarily into small kingdoms, and tribal units, their societies harkened back to those of the pre-industrial age. They lacked modern technology, transportation, communication, and education. Their social life revolved around the family group and time-honored traditions. Exposure to an alien…

Geography & Economics

Common Market of the South: "Mercado Comun Sur"

This work intends to explore Mercosur and understand the goals and objectives, economic significance as well as the advantages and disadvantages for the countries involved and to identify the method used in dispute resolution. Finally, to identify future plans and objectives of Mercosur.

Mercado Comun Sur" or, Common Market of the South in English, is a marketing structure composed of four Latin American Countrys who have through complementation agreements, a type of trade agreement, managed to find cohesiveness together. Argentina and razil have long been rivals in the world of trade. However, along with Uruguay and Paraguay established an environment of cohesive streamlined trade and the reward is having a competitive edge in today's volatile and troubled global market. Officially established in 1995, the Common Market of the South operates under the established guidelines of the Assuncion Treaty.

I.…

Search Tips and Tricks
There are a number of ways to find relevant academic literature. The first thing to remember is that most academic databases are designed with fairly rudimentary search functions – if you're accustomed to Google you'll be disappointed with the terrible U/X and primitive search of most academic databases. One of the most important ramifications of this is that you have to plan your search out a little bit more comprehensively. It goes without saying that knowing what databases are best for your subject matter is a critical precursor step – if you're just starting out you may wish to just ask your advisor or Google what the best databases for your field are in order to avoid wasting time on this step (Ecker & Skelly, 2010).
The first step is that you'll want to carefully define your keywords (Fonseca, 2013). For an academic database, keywords have…

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) wrote his 1913 poem "e ear the Mask" in open defiance of the commonly accepted fallacy of his day that African-Americans were happy in the subservient roles they were forced to assume in the face of white racism. Dunbar, through the use of irony, through inverting the positive connotations of smiling, and through the religious rhetorical tropes of exclamation and crying out to God, conveys the cognitive dissonance between the false face African-Americans were forced to portray to earn a living in white society.

The title of Dunbar's and first lines of the poem may at first suggest a mask that an actor or a performer wears. "e wear the mask that grins and lies, / It hides our checks and shades our eyes." (Lines 1-2) However, the next lines of the poem suggest that the nature of the mask that is worn is far more…

134). In addition, ussian authorities have also joined with the international community to protect the lake. In this regard, Hudgins adds that, "Increased awareness of such threats to the unique ecology of Lake Baikal has prompted a number of international organizations -- including the Sierra Club and Baikal Watch in the United States -- to join the ussians in their efforts to protect this natural wonder of the world" (1998, p. 135). According to the Sierra Club, "Lake Baikal, arguably ussia's most significant environmental treasure -- it contains a fifth of the world's unfrozen freshwater and is a UNESCO World Heritage site -- is being polluted by toxic waste from a paper mill that Vladimir Putin ordered reopened for economic reasons" (Pollutin' Putin, 2010, para. 2). In fact, the recently reopened paper mill disposes of toxic wastes directly into Lake Baikal's fragile biological system (Hoare, 2008). While the Sierra Club…

Government: An Unviable Solution to a Complex Need

According to Anne-Marie Slaughter, "world government is both infeasible and undesirable," an assertion that is supported by the historical record as well as contemporary experiences. This paper provides a review of the relevant literature to determine why a world government is unviable, as well as the differences between a world government and global governance. A discussion concerning how these concepts relate to world order, globalization, international integration and the rise of new actors is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

Problems with a World Government

On the one hand, people need global institutions in an increasingly globalized marketplace. For instance, according to Slaughter, "Peoples and their governments around the world need global institutions to solve collective problems that can only be addressed on a global scale. They must be able to make and enforce global…

tomorrow / Bright before us / Like a flame. (Alain Locke, "Enter the New Negro," 1925)

rom the 1920's Alain Leroy Locke has been known as a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Through his writings, his actions and his education, Locke worked to educate not only White America, but also the Negro, about the beauty of the Negro heritage. He emphasized the idea that no single culture is more important than another. Yet it was also important to give sufficient attention to one's own culture and its beauty. This was Locke's philosophy of cultural pluralism.

The White heritage has enjoyed prominence for a large part of American history. During the colonization period, the Whites have emphasized their own superiority while at the same time ensuring that people of other ethnic heritages knew in no uncertain terms their own inferiority. This gave rise to a nearly monocultural America, where all…

The WITE initiative was a collaborative approach that drew upon industry, state, local governments as well as the EPA's isk eduction Engineering Laboratory with the overall goal of developing more effective pollution prevention technologies that could assist the electronics manufacturing industry in developing a "crade to grave" approach to managing these products (appaport, 1999).

Besides these earlier efforts, in more recent years, increasingly rigorous laws and regulations have been implemented by the EPA with the goal of minimizing the impact of electronics and electrical device waste on the environment have began to make a major difference in recovering these toxic substances before they ever have a chance to become waste. For instance, pursuant to the above-mentioned esource Conservation and ecovery Act, it is now illegal for companies in the United States to simply discard hazardous waste, including electronics and electrical devices, in normal trash receptacles (The importance of recycling computers,…

Measure for Measure," and "As You Like it," by Shakespeare. Specifically, it will explain how Shakespeare developed the three themes of love, the stages of human life, and the city vs. The country in these two plays.

THEMES IN TWO PLAYS

Love is a common theme in many of Shakespeare's plays, and these two are no exception. "As You Like It" is a romantic comedy filled with love and romance, and Shakespeare seems to be saying that love is not always courtly and refined, that it can be bawdy, and bring happiness to everyone involved. In fact, at the play's end, Rosalind has shown that love is really a source of absolute happiness, because she has successfully arranged four happy marriages and made sure the government will be more just. In fact, she says at the end of the play, "My way is to conjure you and I begin with…

The soldier is simply unable to live with this corruption. Instead, the narrator continues as his voice by proxy, indicting the society that caused the war and created the atrocity the killed the solder. Likewise, Graves is forever changed by his experience, losing the respect he used to hold for the values and norms of the society that caused the war and failed to understand the effect of the war upon all that was beautiful and young.

In concussion, assoon's and Graves's work compare well as commentaries and criticisms upon what both authors appear to regard as the atrocity of war. assoon's very brief work has its impact in this very brevity, while Graves's detail and individual focus achieves the same effect. Both protagonists are severely traumatized by their experiences. In both works, this trauma does not remain unaddressed. Both authors provide their central characters with a mouthpiece to denote…

Ibsen's Nora

Although it is difficult to know exactly how audiences watching Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House felt about the content of the play when it was first performed, it is difficult for us reading or watching it in the 21st century to see it as anything but a strongly feminist statement.

hat is especially striking about the powerful feminism of the play - other than the year in which it was written - is the fact that Ibsen himself always claimed to be resolutely apolitical. And yet for a man who claimed in no way to be either a feminist or more generally an advocate for social change, his exploration of the ways in which women were continually infantilized by society in fact seems highly political to us, and in fact is one of the reasons that the play remains so compelling to us more than a century after…

Tender Mercies:

Breakdown and Reconstruction of Characters' Faith in the Poisonwood Bible

In The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver uses Biblical references in part to delineate the differences in her characters' relationship to religious faith as they deal with their father's participation in the estern assault on the Congolese. These differences in levels of faith that her characters experience are Kingsolver's primary method of characterization in the novel. Although all of the characters acquire much of their individuality through Kingsolver's depiction of their differing degrees of faith in God, the Bible and Nathan Price, the voices of Leah and Orleanna Price are particularly marked by their use of Biblical allusions. In the first book "Genesis," Leah believes aggressively in her preacher father's overbearing attempt to bring Christianity to the Congolese. As the narrative progresses, however, her quotes become increasingly ironic, and when she loses her connection to her father, the quotes…

Religion in the Bible

From the earliest period to the time of Christianity, the people's religion experienced drastic changes. In many ways, the books of Old Testament foreshadow Christ in the offices of prophet, priest and King. The book of Samuel, for instance, shares this thought with all Scripture. Many spiritual lessons and prayer were taught in the books of Samuel. People during Samuel and Elijah's time lived to serve God. They knew without reservation that following the Lord with all their heart was the highest calling of any man or woman, boy or girl. People were holy, humble, and kind. Most of the time, they sought not their own good but always for the good of others.

In the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, people's perspectives on religion have changed. Religion did not fill up their lives. There is not much about Jewish religion in this book. The writer…

Alice Walker, and "The Child by Tiger," by Thomas Wolfe. Specifically, it will compare and contrast the theme of the story, the overall message each author is trying to convey. When a story confronts racism, but is unconsciously racist in its portrayal of minority characters, it contains "racism within racism," and does not give a balanced view of the minority characters. Both of these stories contain racism within racism, and defeat the purpose of writing "intelligently" about blacks.

ACISM WITHIN ACISM

In "The Child by Tiger" Wolfe portrays Dick Prosser as a typical black man of the time, working at menial jobs for low wages. Yet here is a man who served in the Army, obviously with some responsibility, who is reduced to chopping wood and cooking, and it is accepted, not only by the people in the story, but by the author as well. When he goes crazy, he…

Jane Austen's Persuasion: Anne Elliot's Coming Out The writings of Jane Austen are often considered to be the representation of an excessively conservative era. Though this may truly be the case especially in regards to the formal and informal interactions between the opposite genders. A woman's reputation could be made or broken by a simple turn of events. The challenge of maintaining these standards for conduct, where even the minutest misunderstanding might cause years of disassociation seems to be as formidable as any. The story is one of the personal growth of the heroine Anne Elliot. She branches out into a world, limited by her position but much less so than before.

Though waters of social understanding were often murky the reality of Persuasion is such that the heroine, Anne Elliot is assuming the role of "director" of her own life. Austen is telling the story of a woman learning…

modernity, the idea of culture and groups has become complex and morphed into an amalgamation of definitions surrounding the idea of just what it is that defines a community. The idea of "community" as a political or sociological concept, has taken on new meaning in the 21st century era of globalization. First, however, it is important to understand the basic idea of community, as well as the political, social and cultural changes that result in a need for a different definition of what community means and how it influences the individual's life.

In general, the idea of community conveys two rather distinct messages. It is often used to refer to a social unit of varying size that shares common values, or a national or international community in which the individuals have something unique or a set of principles and beliefs that are common to most of the group. In science,…

Christianity

Book of Matthew

Who is to be saved? According to Matthew, "whoever holds out to the end will be saved," (Matthew 24:13). However, the initial focus is on the "the lost sheep of the people of Israel," (Matthew 10:6). Matthew also mentions the fact that those who are "spiritually poor," those who "mourn," are "humble," who "do what God requires," who are "merciful," "pure of heart," and who "work for peace" will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:3-10).

From what? One is saved from the "Awful Horror," (Matthew 24:15), and also from "the spread of evil," (Matthew 24:12). Salvation is also salvation from sin.

How? Matthew preaches the End Times. At the Final Judgment, "all nations will be gathered before him," and they will be divided into two groups: the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous are those who served others, and who believed; the damned are those…

orld ar I: "The Great ar"

The historical record shows that orld ar I, the "ar to End All ars," did not end war, but rather set the stage for an even greater global conflagration a generation later. This paper reviews the relevant literature to assess the relative importance of diplomacy, imperialism, and nationalism in causing the Great ar (1914-1918), as well as to identify the major players leading Europe to war. An analysis of why this "unwanted war" was greeted with such joy is followed by an assessment of whether this enthusiastic reaction to the outbreak of war was the consequence of domestic tension or simple patriotism and whether the victors' positions after the war reflect their wartime experiences. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning the Great ar are presented in the conclusion.

Relative Importance of Diplomacy, Imperialism and Nationalism in Causing the Great ar…

Multicultural Literature

what is multicultural literature? What are the characteristics of quality multicultural literature?

Within the latter part of the twentieth century, a pattern referred to as multiculturalism acquired popularity in American education (Almerico et al., 2006). Gay (1994) within an intensive research of the very commonly used meanings of multicultural literature recognized 13 particular explanations involving the idea and mentioned that a number of factors had been typical out of all definitions for the reason that all of them concur that the content material of multicultural literature ought to include:

Cultural pluralism, ethnic identities, unequal division of resources as well as

Opportunities along with other socio and political issues arising from extended track records of oppression

Multicultural education like a school of thought, a strategy for education transformation, along with a collection of particular subject material within just educational courses. (p. 3)

In her own book, Affirming Diversity, Nieto…

Because schools matter so greatly in shaping the destiny of each child, they have always been the focus of intense, often unfriendly, attention. Criticisms of the system have always been abundant, and the targets of dissatisfaction have remained virtually the same over generations (13).

By properly utilizing children's literature to identify and then to address social issues, more equity can be engendered within a social system in which those from "privileged backgrounds" are favored.

An analysis of present and previous literature on the methodology of most prudently employing children's literature to address social issues readily indicates that the most successful, thought-provoking manner for doing so lies in utilizing an approach of cultural literacy. This principle denotes an active exploration on the process of both children and their teacher to bring their viewpoints to the literary works they are engaged in, in order to "construct meaning" (esponding to Literature, 419). Critical…

ith the link to the Bible, the story "…resonates with the richness of distant antecedents" and it no longer is "locked in the middle of the twentieth century"; hence, it never grows old, Foster concludes (56).

C.S. Lewis on the Importance of Reading Good Literature

C.S. Lewis, noted novelist, literary critic, lay theologian and essayist, advocates reading literature in his book an Experiment in Criticism. He is disappointed in fact when individuals only read important novels once. Reading a novel the second time for many on his list of incomplete readers is "…like a burnt-out match, an old railway ticket, or yesterday's paper" (Lewis, 2012, p. 2). Those bright alert people who read great works will read the same book "…ten, twenty or thirty times" during their lifetime and discover more with each reading, Lewis writes. The person who is a "devotee of culture" is worth "much more than the…

The folkloric tradition was so popular because people were able to relate to it. Although Ferdowsi wrote his text with the intention that people of all backgrounds would be able to celebrate the history of the land, the folkloric tradition derived its appeal from the fact that everyone could relate with the characters in a very real, first-hand way. Most of the stories simply had stock characters, similar to the Commedia Del Arte theatrical tradition in Italy. These characters were archetypes rather than actual historical figures. Although the everyday events depicted in these stories were fictional and made up by the person who happened to be telling the story, the stories were used as a form of entertainment that would offer some form of momentary escape from the cares of their everyday lives. This context represents a major difference from the Shehmaneh, which generally attempts to represent history and actual…

American Ethnic Literature

Analyzing the Nature of American Ethnic Literature

America has a distinct history: like ancient ome, its inhabitants have come from all over and few of them can truly say to be natives of the place. This fact alone makes American Literature a compelling label: what makes American Literature American? This paper will attempt to answer the question by showing how many ethnicities have converged in one nation allowing various writers with different ethnic, social, political, economical, and social perspectives to define and/or illustrate a time and place.

As Morris Dickstein states, "When America was merely a remote province of world culture, its educated elites were Anglophile, Francophile, or broadly cosmopolitan. Education was grounded in classical learning, a respect for the ancients over the moderns, and a deeply ingrained respect for old Europe's artistic heritage" (p. 155). This type of background made American letters similar to European. What…