Writing problems Essays

Writing problems Essays Writing problems Essay Writing problems Essay My Problem in Writing And solutions Every time I am asked to write about any topic, I find myself facing a major problem asking myself what I am going to write, and how I am going to present, express my ideas and support my personal opinions in a clear organized way that the reader would understand me. Learning how to write an essay was a frustrating process for me until , I came to understand some steps that made it easy and sometimes fun. I learnt to start by researching the topic using all different resources available like interest and libraries. I write Down questions, notes, quotations, facts, interesting passages and it sources. Its always good to have a variety of Sources; Quoting from a few sources only, will sound inexperienced; while quoting from numerous sources Will sound knowable and supportive to the topic. As I am researching the topic I start analyzing the arguments of different writes and authors. The argument consists of two main things a claim and reasons for that claim, neither a claim without reasons; nor reasons without a claim is an argument. When I am creating my own argument, first I identify my main claim then locate all its reasons. The reasons should show explanations of the claim and whether it s rue or not. I also map out if there is enough evidence supporting my claim, and if there is any other After spending decent amount of time researching, comparing arguments. I begin to think critically to discover the insights of the topic trying to find something original to say about it. I look to define the Problem if There is any! Why its a problem?. A problem for who? When did it become a problem? And what is the roots of that problem ?. I go back to do more research about the problem I outlined, Answers for the questions I wrote down and educate myself more about this problem . I look or evidence supporting it, it s sources how strong or weak they are, and if I believe it or not. Now I think I can start writing my own opinions and ideas whether I agree or not, I can also present my arguments it s claims and it s reason s. My main claim will be my thesis for example I wrote my thesis for this topic at the end of the introduction which is Learning how to write an essay fun. . Many people may not believe that thesis which makes it arguable and that what I try to make all my thesis. Then I think about how I am going to organize and outline my writing, I free write the whole ratings to omit mistakes, remove paragraphs or add evidence . I try to choose appropriate arrangement for my writings. The introduction of any topic is what grabs the readers attention I can present my introduction by An interesting fact, or a personal experience, or a surprising information, or even exciting quotations. The entire introduction should lead toward the presentation of my claim or thesis. I begin my paragraph by focusing on one idea only, and the first sentence of the paragraph will be my topic sentence of the paragraph . It describes the point of the paragraph then I evolve more ideas in the paragraph. I provide examples to illustrate my ideas, use quotations, show more evidence , offer another perspective to my idea, elaborate on causes/effects, definitions, comparison/contrast. The conclusion will be my closing paragraph where I recap my main idea in a clear , summarizing Manner, I also learned to try to make a graceful exit from the essay by leaving memorable impression by the Reader, that it wont be boring like describing a powerful image, or using quotations, or personal Experiences, or actions need to be done, or explaining why the topic is important, or lea conclusion and I keep it short. I am going to end my essay with this closing paragraph that I found online as an example on ending a topic with an image and it s for a famous writer George Orwell describing Charles Dickens as he sees him When one reads any strongly individual piece of writing, one has the impression of seeing a face somewhere behind the page. It is not necessarily the actual face of the writer. I feel this very strongly with Swift, with Defoe, with Fielding, Stendhal, Thacker, Flatter, though in several case I do not know what writer ought to have. Well, in the case of Dickens I see a face that is not quite the face of Dickenss photographs, though it resembles it. It is the face off man of about forty, with a small beard and a high color. He is laughing, with a touch of anger in his laughter, but no triumph, no malignity. It is the face of a man who is always fighting against something, but who fights in the open and is not frightened, the face of a man who is generously angry-in other words, of a nineteenth-century liberal, a free intelligence, a type hated with equal hatred by all the smelly little orthodoxies which are now contending for our souls.

Your Complete Guide to Seasonal Jobs and the Holiday Season at Work

Your Complete Guide to Seasonal Jobs and the Holiday Season at Work As the calendar ticks down, it can be tempting to lean into the party season, and get sucked into a cycle of relaxing, celebrating, and otherwise winding down along with the waning minutes of the year. But really, this season is one that you can use to your advantage, whether it’s making extra money as a seasonal worker, bulking up your job search readiness for the new year, or stepping up your game at work while everyone else is knocking off early for egg nog happy hours. Comprehensive Guide to Seasonal Jobs  Surviving the Holiday Season  How to Maximize Your Holiday Break  Don’t Forget to Keep Up Your Job Search Momentum  Start Your New Year’s Resolutions Early  Let’s look at some of the careers)Surviving the Holiday Season at WorkIf you’re more interested in getting through the next month or two at the job you already have, we’ve got you covered there, too. It can be a tough time of year, with everyone trying to wrap things up to get out the door for the holidays, or even just finding motivation to get through your to-do list while more tempting options beckon. We’ve got your survival guide to getting through the holiday season at work:3 Tips for Staying Focused at Work During the Holidays7 Ways to Close Out the Year with a BangAnd don’t forget that festive minefield, the company holiday party. If you want to keep your work rep intact, here’s what not to do:Don’t Be These 5 People at Your Office Holiday PartyOr you can opt out altogether, and skip the chaos in favor of your own private celebration (whatever that may be). We’ve got your excuses ready to go:5 Festive Ways to Avoid the Office Holiday PartyThere are many, many temptations floating around this time of year, and if you’re not careful, they can trick you into making poor decisions, or just plain ignoring your professional obligations or development. You don’t have to become the office Scrooge, but a little extra care and attention to your work right now can go a long way.How to Maximize Your Holiday BreakHow many times can one person watch It’s a Wonderful Life, anyway? You’ll likely have down time at some point during this holiday season, and while you can still make room for the fun or family-related things you want to do, you can also take some of that time to work on your career momentum.For example, reflecting on the year that just passed is a great time to reflect on what you want to do next. New career path? New job? Want to go for that promotion? While things are a bit slow at work, this is your chance to start formulating your battle plan for the new year. You don’t have to make any definitive decisions, but we’ve got you covered as you start to think about what New Year You will be doing to achieve your goals.What You Absolutely Need to Know About Changing Careers4 Ways You Can Use Your Holiday Break to Gear Up for the New Year10 Steps on How to Get Your Finances in OrderYou can also use your break to devote some time and energy to a side hustle or a business idea, if you’re not quite ready to make a career or job jump in the new year. If you have a side hustle in mind, great! You have some time to work on developing it. If you’re not sure yet what you can or want to do, then you have time to figure that out too while you’re tuning out Uncle Phil’s latest fishing story.The Side Hustle: How to Make Money on the Side7 Strategies for Your Side HustleDowntime doesn’t have to be lazy time- think of the break as an opportunity to devote mental space to things that might usually get crowded out by everyday work and routines.Don’t Forget to Keep Up Your Job Search MomentumIf you’re looking for a new job, you might think that there’s not much point to keeping it up over the holidays, when people are less likely to be hiring/in the office/etc. Not true! Even if HR departm ents are slowing down for the year end, or you’re not seeing as many openings, there are still plenty of things you can do to make sure your hunt doesn’t go colder than Minnesota in December.How to Handle Your Job Search Over the HolidaysEven if you do put our active job search on hold over the holidays, you can put in a little prep and thinking to get yourself ready to hit the ground running come January 1.5 Killer Job Search Tips for the New YearTop 7 Trends That Will Help You Find a Job Next YearAnd if nothing else, you can always work on your resume!Top 6 Resume Template ResourcesResume Format Guide: What Your Resume Should Look Like in 2017Top Resume Trends for 2017This is a great time of year to hunker down and perfect your application package for the new year. You can get your resume in tip-top shape, start thinking about those personal and professional anecdotes for interviews, and maybe even find some good holiday sales on a new interview outfit. You donâ€⠄¢t have to put your professional development on pause just because everyone else is starting to check out for the year.Start Your New Year’s Resolutions EarlyWhile many of us wait until the calendar has safely flipped over to the new year, there’s no reason you can’t start thinking about how you’ll ease back into the usual grind (or an improved one).5 Ways to Get Back on Track After the Holidays5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Career in the New Year5 Ways to Be Happier at Work in the New Year6 New Year’s Resolutions for the Lazy Professional7 Ways to Keep Your New Year’s Health Resolutions5 New Year’s Resolutions Mark Zuckerberg Made That Can Inspire YouThe more thought and energy you put into your new year now, the more likely you are to stick to your new and improved self after the holidays are but a distant memory.The holiday season isn’t usually thought of as a hotbed of career activity, but you have tons of ways to make the seaso n work for you and your productivity. After all, year-end fun and celebration are important, but soon enough we’ll all be facing the cold glare of January. And when that comes, you can feel like you’ve set yourself up nicely for the coming year.

General concept of Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

General concept of Human Rights - Essay Example Both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998 have as subjects human rights and fundamental freedoms. Human rights and freedoms are necessary and basic components of man's existence. It is not therefore an overstatement if one says that if he cannot have liberty, he will better have death. Life without freedom or life without human rights is not life at all. History is full of tales against suppression of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Hence, we have the story of the Israelites fleeing in exodus in the belief of savoring freedom in the end. We have the Tiananmen Square. We have the demolition of the Apartheid. Slavery has become a thing of the past. Servitude must always be voluntary. The concept of forced labor had long vanished in all civilized countries. Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights very correctly stresses the affirmation that all human beings are born free. All the people of the world are equal in dignity and rights. Endowed with reason and conscience, men should act towards one and the other as brothers. Before putting forward the arguments and discussions which respectively pertain to the two commandment pillars of human rights and fundamental freedoms, it is logical, necessary and highly advisable that the underlying premises are first laid down. This methodology will lead all and sundry to have a better understanding of the basic fundamentals that gave rise to these historical enactments. In 1950,1 through the initiatives of the Council of Europe, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was adopted with the end in view of giving protection to human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. It is also called the European Convention on Human Rights, referred to here as the Convention for brevity. The United Kingdom is a member state. As a necessary element and complement in order to establish the enforcement mechanisms of the Convention, the European Commission on Human Rights was created in 1954. This evolved into the European Court of Human Rights beginning 1959. The latter was put in place as a permanent tribunal on November 1, 1998 with full-fledged judges. It has its building and offices at Strasbourg, France.2 The Convention is effective in all states or territories which are members thereof or signatories thereto. The Convention therefore has a multi-national coverage or jurisdiction over those sovereignties and the individual citizens or residents thereof as far as concerning human rights and fundamental freedoms. States who are members of or signatories to the Convention have to go in line with the policies that it develops and promotes. In the case of the protocol on the death penalty, for instance, each member or signatory state has to abolish the capital punishment.3 Upon the other hand, the Human Rights Act 1998 is a law passed by the United Kingdom (UK) legislature in 1998. What is it about The prefatory of this legislation says, among others, that it is an act to give further effect to the rights and freedoms set forth in the Convention. Is not the Human Rights Act 1998 (or Act for short) a duplication of the Convention or an encroachment upon the latter Definitely, it

Melting of the Arctic Glaciers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Melting of the Arctic Glaciers - Essay Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 B. Adaptation Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 C. Examples of Adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 4. Works Cited (Bibliography) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Introduction People had previously dismissed warnings about global warming because of claims a group of scientists tasked to study its effects had fudged or manipulated their data. But today, there is no more doubt on this topic as the glaciers in the Arctic region of the world (located in the northernmost part of the Earth) are melting away fast due to the greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Oil and coal are used to produce energy and electricity but they also produce by-products which are mainly carbon dioxide and methane that trap the sun heat energy. It is su pposed to be reflected back to outer space in a process called as Albedo effect. A warmer Earth has changed the ocean's surface temperatures and also its salinity with serious effects on marine life (Ehrlich 1) and caused rising sea levels. This brief paper examines all its effects on the populations of low-lying areas of the world and what can be done about it. Discussion Even the skeptics are now convinced that global warming really exists as manifested by weather that has gone haywire, as mentioned in an article by Mr. Hertsgaard like a â€Å"fiercer heat wave, harsher droughts, heavier rains and rising sea levels† (1). The top three polluters of the world are China, America and India, in this order of magnitude. â€Å"The world pumped about 564 million more tons (512 million metric tons) of carbon into the air in 2010 than it did in 2009. That's an increase of 6 percent. That amount of extra pollution eclipses the individual emissions of all but three countries - China, the United States and India, world's top producers of greenhouse gases. It is a "monster" increase that is likely unheard of, said Gregg Marland, a professor of geology who has helped calculate Department of Energy figures in the past. This extra pollution in China and the U.S. account for more than half the increase in emissions last year.† (Borenstein 1). What is even more alarming is the observation that even if all emissions are stopped or discontinued today, global temperatures will still keep rising for 25 years. There are basically two ways or approaches by which people can deal with the global warming phenomenon: first is mitigation and the second is adaptation. Mitigation pertains to a front-end approach of reducing gas emissions to slow down the warming trend and it includes using renewable and clean energy sources, such as wind power or solar power. The other end of the equation is adaptation which are actions intended to safeguard a community or country from the il l effects of global warming, such as rising sea levels that can inundate low areas. Mitigation – everybody can contribute to reducing greenhouse gases by living simple lifestyles. The idea is to reduce a person's carbon footprint by using less fuel in daily living. It entails, for example, using the car less and walking more often, or using a bicycle for moving around. There are many ways by which one can accomplish this, such as reducing the use of manufactured products or consumer items that use a lot of energy, reducing use of electricity, or by patronizing more

Weather Symbolism in a Farewell to Arms Essay Example for Free

Weather Symbolism in a Farewell to Arms Essay Snow In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway attempts to tell the unvarnished truth about war — to present an honest, rather than a heroic, account of combat, retreat, and the ways in which soldiers fill their time when they are not fighting. Yet Hemingways realistic approach to his subject does not rule out the use of many time-honored literary devices. For instance, weather is to this day a fundamental component of the war experience. Hemingway depicts weather realistically in A Farewell to Arms, but he uses it for symbolic purposes as well. Rain, often equated with life and growth, stands for death in this novel, and snow symbolizes hope: an entirely original schema. In stories such as To Build a Fire, by Jack London, snow and ice quite logically represent danger and death. After all, one can freeze to death, fall through thin ice and drown, or perish beneath an avalanche. In Chapter II of A Farewell Arms, on the other hand, it is snow that ends the fighting described in the books first chapter. Thus snow stands for safety rather than its opposite. (Note, though, that although snow covers the bare ground and even the Italian armys artillery in Chapter II, stumps of oak trees torn up by the summers fighting continue to protrude — a reminder that winter is of course not permanent but merely a reprieve from combat, a cease-fire.) Shortly thereafter, Frederic Henry describes the priests home region of Abruzzi as a place where the roads were frozen and hard as iron, where it was clear and cold and dry and the snow was dry and powdery . . . , and the context leaves no doubt that this characterization is a positive one. Late in the novel, the argument between the Swiss policemen over winter sports not only provides much-needed comic relief; it also marks the beginning of Henry and Catherine Barkleys second idyll. (The first takes place in summertime, in Milan.) Immediately afterwards, Henry and Catherine find themselves in the Swiss Alps, with snow all around. Thus they have temporarily achieved a life of both purity (the mountains symbolize purity  in this novel, versus the corruption of the lowlands) and safety. These chapters positively radiate contentment. Rain Starting in the very first chapter of A Farewell to Arms, rain clearly symbolizes death: In the fall when the rains came the leaves all fell from the chestnut trees and the branches were bare and the trunks black with rain, Henry tells us. The vineyards were thin and bare-branched too and all the country wet and brown and dead with autumn. The rain symbolism is not entirely a literary conceit, either, as rain actually precedes an outbreak of fatal illness, the cholera that kills seven thousand that fall. Later, during their Milan idyll, Catherine makes the symbolism of the rain explicit for Henry — and for the reader: Im afraid of the rain because sometimes I see myself dead in it, she says to him. And sometimes I see you dead in it. Lo and behold, during Henry and Catherines trip from the armorers to the hotel near the train station on his last night with her, the fog that has covered the city from the start of the chapter turns to rain. It continues to rain as they bid one another farewell; in fact, Catherines last act in this part of the novel is to signal to Henry that he should step in out of the rain. Back at the front, the trees were all bare and the roads were muddy. It rains almost continuously during the chapter when the tide of battle turns and the Italians begin their retreat from Caporetto — and from the Germans who have joined the fighting. The rain turns to snow one evening, holding out hope that the offensive will cease, but the snow quickly melts and the rain resumes. During a discussion among the drivers about the wine they are drinking with dinner, the driver named Aymo says, To-morrow maybe we drink rainwater. Hemingway by this time has developed the rain symbolism to such a degree that the reader experiences a genuine sense of foreboding — and indeed, the following day will bring death to Henrys disintegrating unit. It is raining while the fugitive Henry rides the train to Stresa, raining  when he arrives, and raining while Henry and Catherine spend the night together in his hotel room. The open-boat trip across Lake Maggiore takes place in the rain, with an umbrella used as a sail. (Ominously, the umbrella breaks.) And in Chapter XL, as Henry and Catherine are bidding farewell to their wintertime mountain retreat for the city in which Catherines baby is to be born, Henry tells us that In the night it started raining. Finally, when Henry leaves the hospital for lunch during Catherines protracted, agonizing delivery, The day was cloudy but the sun was trying to come through — a literal ray of hope. During the operation, however, he looks out the window and sees that it is raining. Just after the nurse has told him that the baby is dead, Henry looks outside again and could see nothing but the dark and the rain falling across the light from the window. At the novels end, Henry leaves the hospital and walks back to his hotel in the rain. In fact, the final word in A Farewell to Arms is rain, evidence of weathers important place in the story overall. Hemingway doesnt quite trust us to detect the rain/snow pattern of symbolism and understand its meaning; therefore he underlines the significance of precipitation in his book by having Catherine tell Henry that she sees them dead in the rain. And so the weather symbolism in A Farewell to Arms is perhaps unnecessarily obvious. Yet Hemingways use of this literary device is hardly rote symbolism for its own sake. Rain and snow both drive his plot and maintain our interest, as we hold our breaths every time it rains in the novel, praying that Catherine will not perish during that scene. (We know that Henry will survive the rain, because he is the storys narrator.) Thus, while writing a brutally realistic saga of life during wartime, Ernest Hemingway also crafted a novel as literary as the great-war stories that preceded A Farewell to Arms. Arguably it is as powerful as any story ever told.

The Allegory of the Cave by Plato Essay -- Plato Allegory Cave Philoso

The Allegory of the Cave by Plato   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "The Allegory of the Cave," by Plato, explains that people experience emotional and intellectual revelations throughout different stages in their lives. This excerpt, from his dialogue The Republic, is a conversation between a philosopher and his pupil. The argument made by this philosopher has been interpreted thousands of times across the world. My own interpretation of this allegory is simple enough as Plato expresses his thoughts as separate stages. The stages, very much like life, are represented by growing realizations and newfound "pains." Therefore, each stage in "The Allegory of the Cave" reveals the relation between the growth of the mind and age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first stage of the excerpt, which is characterized by chained and confined people, is a metaphor representing the infant and child ages of humans. Like the confined people, children are not allowed to wander freely outside of their home and must stay close to their parent's watchful eye. Those living in the underground den have their heads positioned in a way that they must not view a fire blazing behind them. The heads of the people only see the shadows cast by the fire and objects passing by behind them and they can only guess as to the actual physicality of the object. This also is very similar to children who are curious about objects around them. Although children do not understand complex objects, they do want to know the purpose and function of the object. The mentalities of the people in the cave and of children are 100% subjective and are trapped in their own ignorance: "To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the imag es."(5) Totally emerged in isolation and without experience, those in the den have no idea as to what the true nature of the shadow is. Their only truth is the shadow and they cannot learn the real meaning behind the shadow unless set free.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Furthermore, when Plato writes to set free those in the den, he is moving on to the next stage of human growth: being a teenager. The prisoners in the cave are set free to wander and move about. This symbolizes the time in life where teenagers move away from their parents. After teens have been under their parent's supervision and confinement for years, they want to go out and learn new things on their own. "At first, when any of them is liberated and... ...eyes."(6-7) Even though the people in this stage have seen true beauty and enlightenment, they are viewed as old and ridiculous. Although, the one who has come down from the top may try to educate others on what he/she has seen. An example of this is when grandparents teach their children or grandchildren about life, then repeating the cycle by giving children the determination to see the light.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plato was thousands of years ahead of his time when he wrote The Republic. His insight on the physical capabilities of the mind may be applied to many different situations, even being applied to Hollywood movies such as The Matrix. With Plato's belief in the human mind, we have moved away from ancient thought to the technologies and advances of today. As humans grow older with age and experience, they also grow the capacity to see new things. Babies may see just a picture or a color, but an adult may see a work of art or a spiritual enlightenment. The changing of the mind's eye through out time plays an important role in the way all people view life. Comprehending the mind's eye, what Plato did a long time ago, is what may help people move on to the next stages of their own lives.

Life without Modern Gadgets Essay

A lifestyle without the modern gadgets, sounds quite a hard life to live. But lets look deep and analyse both sides of this. Life de-modernised would be a time consuming one requiring a lot of time and effort, for example, can u imagine urself carrying around your home stereo, you cannot!!.. instead we have mp3 players and iPod’s too boost our speed in life. Although there are so many negatives to be seen on the surface when considering a lifestyle without modern gadgets, we as people have actually forgotten the beauty and simplicity of life without modern technology. The simplicity of learning to do things by yourself instead of a ‘machine’, the simplicity of working together physically instead of creating your ‘own workspace at home’ as ‘teleworking’, confining you to a lonesome boundary in life giving you all the opportunity to procrastinate in ur own home.. Technology is good but has also brought people to a height of extreme convenience where we easily forget our roots of simplicity. Time is very precious in today’s era. Everyone wants to do things in very short span. The quotation â€Å"Stitch in time saves nine† means if you finish something in time, you will be able to do ten things in the time you saved. Keeping this in view, scientists and technologysts developed many new things to save as much time as possible. In each and every sphere of life we can find machines and gadgets that saves our time a lot. Wether it is business, transport, education, communication, new technology did a lot. ATM is one of the inventions of time saving gadgets. ATM is expanded as Automated Teller Machine. Or sometimes we can also say it as Any Time Money machine which is true in its sense. We can draw money at any instance of time with the help of ATM, a day or mid-night, in emergencies, or when we shop we need not have to carry cash, we simply apply the credit or debit card, same like ATM card. Initially, we have to stand in long ques to draw money out of banks, sometimes, the employees are absent, there is some holiday in bank or strike of workers hence we have to sit back without money and our work remains pending for several days. There was a boy named Salim, he went to factory every day for his life earnings, early morning he used to went and came back in the evening. One day, his owner wants rent. When he came back in evening he found a board at his door, it was written on the board, that if he didn’t pay rent by morning, he will be out from the room. He was very upset, he talked to the owner and takes the deadline of next evening. He thought that he will take a leave from office and will draw money from bank and give it to the owner. Next morning, he went to the bank, and he find a long que, he was bit upset, but he have to give money before deadline. He stand in the que in the last place, when he was near his turn, he found that the strike break down in the area. Every shop and office went close. The bank also closed due to strike. He was upset and he again came back home without money. Again on TV he found that the strike will remain stir for next 2 days. Hence, this is the best example of giving the importance of ATM in our daily life. Our life was like miscommunicated without these gadgets.

Dramatic Technique in Death of a Salesman

Discuss the dramatic techniques in Death of a Salesman. From a technical point of view, Miller was welcomed by those involved in the practical craft of theatre. In his plays, we find challenge and convention, boldness and caution, daring technical experiment and poetic dialogues. In Death of a Salesman , his new dramatic techniques- unrealistic setting, music, lighting, etc. -all generated a sense of mutation of old forms and conventions. Death of a Salesman concentrates on Willy Loman, an exhausted middle aged salesman, who has failed to realize his dream of economic success and is presented as being on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Failure also engulfs his wife Linda and two sons-Biff and Happy. The play is divided into three main parts, act 1, act 2 and the requiem. Each section takes place in the present day (spring 1949). Act 1-night time Act 2-various times the next day Act 3-several days later The play is largely a representation of what takes place in his mind during the last two days of his life. In fact, Willy’s reminiscences allow us to understand what happened in the past, and why things are how they are now in the present day. Miller says: â€Å"The salesman image was from the beginning absorbed with the concept that nothing in life comes next but everything exists together and at the same time within us. † The story is told on two different levels. There is a public storyline (realistic) which begins late one night and ends twenty-four hours later. Parallel with this, there is the private storyline (non-realistic) inside Willy’s mind, which like our own minds, does not always work logically and chronologically but mixes up memories and imaginings with what is actually taking place in the present. Miller was interested in expressionism but didn’t want to abandon the conventions of realism. He used, like O Neill, a dramatic form that combined the subjectivity of expressionism with the illusion of objectivity afforded by realism. The firm reality of Ibsen’s method remained, but it was banded with the dream sequences or flashbacks of past life existing in the present. In All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, Miller adopts Ibsen’s ‘retrospective structure’ in which an explosive situation in the present is both explained and brought to a crisis by the gradual revelation of something which has happened in the past. In theatre, expressionism has been defined as a mode of writing and production in which the aim is to depict inner meaning rather than outward appearance. For writers, this may imply the use of poetic or stylized language and symbolic characterization. For producers, it implies the use of non-realistic scenery and effects. In expressionistic plays like â€Å"Death of a Salesman†, the following effects are likely to be used: 1) The action may flow without interruption from one time period to another. More than one time period may co-exist. In â€Å"Death of a Salesman† ,the audience see present and past action at the same time when Willy talks to Linda and sees the woman(past) in the same room, when he talks to Charley and Ben(his dead brother) at the same time. 2) The action may be presented as a dream or vision by one of the characters. In Death of a Salesman, this style is most obvious in the use of flashbacks or dream sequences . Much of the family’s history and past events are revealed through Willy’s flashbacks. This is done by narration, dream sequence and memories. All these scenes, in which we have flashbacks, start in the present and then the character only visible to Willy appear. Most of the flashbacks take place during the summer after Biff’s senior year at high school when all the problems began. Biff saw his father with another woman and lost faith in him. Before this, his father was a hero to him, now he is a fraud. These flashbacks explain the current conflict between father and son. We see the second flashback while Willy is playing card game with Charley. Here we see how the flashback appear gradually, usurping the present bit by bit . He is actually talking to the remembered Ben and the real Charlie simultaneously. When Charlie finally realizes that Willy is absent-minded, he makes an exit. Here we see Willy’s too much obsession of the past over present. Miller described Willy as literally at that terrible moment when the voice of the past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the present†. He didn’t see Willy’s internal sequences as flashbacks. Miller says, â€Å"There are no flashbacks in this play but only a mobile concurrency of past and present †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. because in his desperation to justify his life Willy Loman has destroyed the boundaries between now and then. † 3) The action may take place in more than one location simultaneously. In the kitchen when Willy starts talking to young Biff and Happy in the past, Linda enters the room and asks Willy about the car. 4) The Setting must be non-realistic or partly realistic. One part of the stage may be set with realistic scenery, such as the kitchen at Brooklyn in Death of a Salesman ,but this may have an empty open stage area in front of it into which a single piece of furniture or other item may be brought to suggest a location, or the area may be left empty and used for variety of purposes, such as:In the empty space, Howard Wheels on a table with his wire recorder and his office is rapidly set up. To create a restaurant, Happy and the waiter bring on the chair-table the garden at Brooklyn. The play’s setting contributes to the understanding of the theme. In Death of a Salesman, the realistic set is the backyard of a middle class family. We see Willy’s ‘small, fragile-seeming home’ with one dimensional roof, dwarfed by apartment blocks. Miller says: â€Å"An air of dream clings to the place, a dream rising out of reality†. The world outside Willy’s home seems oppressive and menacing, threatening to swallow up an economic failure like Willy. Here we see the use of stream of consciousness technique. The play begins and end in one basic setting, the Loman home and the flashbacks in stream of consciousness style presents Willy’s present dilemma that is closely connected to the past. Harold Clurman says: â€Å"The play dramatizes Willy’s recollection of the past, and at times switches from a literal presentation of his memory to imaginary and semi-symbolic representation of his thought. † Miller shows the contrast between Willy as a salesman and Willy as a man. Willy does not actually go back to the past. It is the past, as in a hallucination, that comes back to him. Each time when he is frustrated, guilty or accused by his sons, he will be in a dream and the past appears in his mind. It shows Willy’s unconscious desire to avoid pain and to repair the bitterness, frustrations and humiliations of daily life at the present. In order to use this technique more smoothly, Miller chooses Linda and Charley, to present the whole, complete Willy: what he was, what he is, and what he will be. Broken biff says, â€Å"Will you let me go for Christ’s sake? Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? † The time shifts in the setting shows Willy’s stream of consciousness. The set is designed to minimize the boundaries between past and present. When we see Willy’s present, the characters follow the rules of stage direction, entering only through the stage door to the left. When Willy visits his past, the characters openly move through walls. As Willy’s mental state deteriorates, the boundaries between past and present are destroyed and the two start to exist in parallel. So the stage setting expresses Willy’s divided consciousness as the reality of the house walls can be breached. The transparency of the setting represents the fragility of Willy’s hold on reality. Miller sees Willy as living â€Å"at the terrible moment when the voice of the past is no longer distant but quite as loud as the voice of the present. † Miller uses the lighting so that the scenes could change much faster and without the actors leaving the stage. The lighting reflects the basic mood of each act and shows the ‘mobile concurrency of past and present’. It keeps moving from one scene to another scene-The light on Willy and Linda‘s bedroom fades down when the scene ends and the light comes up on the boys bedroom for another scene. ‘A blue light of sky’ falls upon the house. The surrounding area shows ‘an angry glow of orange’, symbolizing the anger of the helpless middle class people in a money minded society. The light in past scenes is brighter than the present scene. It means that past was far better for Willy than present. In an expressionistic drama, music and light might be used to indicate a character’s state of mind. Here music is a contrivance for the dissolution of time and distance limitations. Biff and Happy, dressed in high school football sweaters, are accompanied with the ‘gay music of the boys’. The melody of flute at the beginning evokes the spacious area of old west, where Willy’s father, an inventor, sold flutes . It symbolizes a lost freedom and a lost ideal. When Willy claims to be ‘tired to the death’, the flute fades away, as if unable to cope with the pain of Willy. When Willy commits suicide, Miller says: â€Å"As the car speeds off, the music crashes down in a frenzy of sound, which becomes the soft pulsation of a single cello’s string. † By using the form of confession, Miller makes us think about, who is to blame? Why is biff at the age of thirty four a failure? Why biff and happy still wonder? Symbolism is another feature of expressionism. Linda’s mending of stocking, flute song displaced by childish nonsense from a wire recorder, wife’s praise erased by a whore’s laughter etc, are some beautiful symbols. Willy, the symbol of average American citizen, is trapped by the money-grabbing American society. The planting of seeds symbolize Willy’s meaningless attempt to leave something positive for his sons. One athletic trophy symbolizes the fragment of Loman family’s dream. Here we see that the real characters like Biff, Happy, and Charley can’t fulfill Willy’s expectations. On the other hand, the imaginary presences or the characters from the past are ideal, heroic figures who embody Willy’s unfulfilled dream. Here we see subjective characterization. We find a strong imagery when Willy says, â€Å"the woods are burning. † Willy's brother Ben compares the process of success-building to entering a jungle. Ben says: â€Å"When I was I was seventeen, I walked into the jungle and when I was twenty-one I walked out†¦ And by God I was rich! The jungle was the locale of Ben's success, but for Willy, the forest is burning and there is little time left. The burning woods image is symbolic of Willy's feeling that he cannot bear the pressure of time, debts, human relationships. Even the apartment buildings in his neighborhood are closing in on him. He wants to commit suicide. When Willy’s mind wanders back to the happy days of his sons’ youth, the entire house and surroundings become covered with leaves. The present time is marked by the disappearance of these leaves. After Willy’s death, â€Å"The leaves of day are appearing over everything†. We find dialogues of typical New Yorkers, realistic, full of repetition, hesitations and contradictions. The language of stage direction, dialogue of the characters are very poetic. Willy says: â€Å"Funny you know? After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive. † The title, the use of the requiem and Willy’s dialogue everything foreshadow Willy’s death. We also find dramatic irony. Willy portrays himself as being at the top of his game in sales with countless admirers, after thirty years of experience. The biggest irony lies in the fact that at his funeral, nobody except his family members and Charley were present. So the dramatic techniques in Death of a Salesman impresses us as a theatrical triumph and provides us a new example of modern tragedy Miller didn’t use either the timeswitch or the mixture of realist and expressionist technique simply for their own sakes . Actually, this was the best way to tell the story with the minimum of delay and repetition. Naturally, to be touched by the play and to realize it thoroughly are two different things.

Duncan I of Scotland and Lady Macbeth Essays

Duncan I of Scotland and Lady Macbeth Essays Duncan I of Scotland and Lady Macbeth Paper Duncan I of Scotland and Lady Macbeth Paper Essay Topic: A Woman Killed With Kindness MACBETH SIMPLIFYING THE PLOT Macbeth is an ambitious man who wants to be King but who originally lacks the desire to act upon his ambitions, despite the fact that he is confronted by three witches who predict future glories, including the bestowal of titles and the Kingship. His wife however, is eager for him to achieve his potential, and she plays on his human weaknesses to encourage him to kill the King and usurp power for himself. The involvement of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the murder of King Duncan at first seems to have achieved its objective. Macbeth and his wife rule Scotland as King and Queen. However, they are plagued by the belief that their reign might be ended in the same way they ended King Duncans. With this in mind, Macbeth, often without his wifes approval, conspires to murder anyone who has the potential to destabilise his reign. This is the rationale behind his murder of Banquo and Lady Macduff, and his attempted murder of Fleance. In the end however, the actions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth set them on a path of self destruction. Lady Macbeth is driven insane by a conscience that cannot live with her past actions, but also by the indifference of her husband. Macbeth, likewise deals with mental anguish, and is ultimately defeated. He is the victim of his own human weakness and of his mistaken trust in the witches prophecies, which allowed him to arrogantly construct a notion of himself as invincible. With his death order is again restored to Scotland. QUESTIONS ON ROMAN POLANSKI’S ‘MACBETH’ 1. How is Macbeth described early on in the film? 2. Who does Macbeth defeat in the film’s opening scenes? 3. What is the significance of the statement â€Å"never have I seen a day so fair and foul? † 4. What prophesies do the witches make for Macbeth? 5. What prophesies do the witches make for Banquo? . How does Lady Macbeth react to Macbeth’s letter and its revelations about the witches prophesies? 7. How does Lady Macbeth describe her husband? 8. What is the significance of King Duncan’s decree that his son, Malcolm, shall be Prince of Cumberland? 9. How does Macbeth react to Duncan’s decree? 1 0. What does Lady Macbeth suggest Macbeth should do to King Duncan when he arrives? 11. Why does Lady Macbeth call upon the spirits to â€Å"unsex her†? How might an Elizabethan audience react to this? 12. What does Macbeth mean when he suggests that â€Å"bloody instructions return to plague the inventor? 13. What strategies does Lady Macbeth use to persuade Macbeth to kill King Duncan? 14. What is meant by the statement â€Å"Macbeth has murdered sleep? † 15. Is Lady Macbeth proved right when she says â€Å"a little water washes us of this deed? † Explain your response by referring to specific events. MACBETHS PATH TO DISASTER MACBETH CULTURAL CONTEXT The Reign of King James Macbeth was probably performed for the first time in 1605 during the reign of King James. James was crowned King of Scotland at the age of three, when Elizabeth 1 had deposed his mother, Mary Queen of Scots. The early Elizabethan period was characterised by a wave of instability, most notably between Catholics and Protestants, but also by those who lacked confidence in a female monarch. James, like Elizabeth, had to deal with a period known more for its unease than its calm. As King of Scotland, James was forced to contend with a number of plots on his life. The most notable of these occurred in 1605 and was known as the Gunpowder Plot, involving an attempt by English Catholics, with the help of Spain, to overthrow the Protestant ruler of England. Convinced that he was called upon by God to rule, James regarded any attempt of overthrow as the work of the devil or witches. Given this historical context, it is unsurprising that the content of Shakespeares Macbeth was particularly interesting for the King who liked it because it dealt with the act of witchcraft. At the time such acts conjured up a wealth of superstitions. Indeed the instability of the Kings early reign led parliament to pass a law that condemned witches to death for practicing their craft. In addition to dealing with witchcraft, Macbeth also looks at the subject of Kingship. Greenhill observed that the author shows what King James most feared. (Greenhill W and Wignall P, [1996] Macbeth, Heinemann. p5) Shakespeare forces readers to confront issues pertaining to the acquisition of the crown. We are provided with a range of contrasts, including a King who ruled lawfully by virtue of decent and a King who ruled illegally by virtue of a seizure of power. Historical Macbeth While Macbeth is most celebrated as a literary figure, he was nevertheless, historically, a King of Scotland. Coming to the throne in 1040, his reign is consistent with Eleventh century tradition, which saw 11 Scottish Kings assassinated, often by their would be successor. (Aitchison N. [1999]. Macbeth: Man and Myth. p13). Macbeth rise to the kingship came after deposing his cousin, King Duncan. His claim to the throne was threefold. Firstly, he was no less entitled to inherit than Duncan, given he had the same royal grandfather, Malcolm II. Secondly, his wife, Gruoch, was a direct descendant of either King Kenneth II or King Kenneth III. Aitchison observed that Macbeths marriage to Gruoch was fundamental in stimulating his ambition for the kingship. (Aitchinson, [1999]. Macbeth: Man and Myth. P 65) It is highly probably that Gruoch believed that Macbeth was entitled to the kingship based on the fact that she saw Malcolm II (Duncan and Macbeths grandfather) as an illegitimate ruler, since Malcolm II had killed her likely grandfather, Kenneth III, thereby excluding her descendants from eligibility. Thirdly, Duncan had a series of military failures, compromising his ability to hold kingship, while Macbeth was a capable and established military strategist. Macbeth ruled for seventeen years from 1040-1057. Though little is known of his rule, the predominant evidence testifies to its relative militancy. Given his seizure of power and his attempts to eliminate Duncans heirs, this seems unsurprising. Beyond his ability as a war leader, however, Macbeth was also known for his patronage of the church and pilgrimage to Rome. . Lady Macbeth Gruoch While much of Lady Macbeths infamy was carved from Shakespeares imagination, she is equally intriguing as a historical figure. Herself a descendant of Scottish Kings, Gruoch was probably first married to Macbeths cousin, Gillacomgain, who was involved in the assassination of Macbeths father in 1020. Macbeth later went on to avenge his fathers death by killing Gillacomgain and marrying his wife, Gruoch (Lady Macbeth), which, for Wyntoun, was an enduring symbol of the sons comprehensive victory. Beyond this however, it seems that Macbeth married Gruoch to cement his political ambitions, which were improved as a result of a marriage with confirmed monarchical descent. Given her ancestry, Gruoch is considered to have wielded some power within Macbeths court, but little is recorded of the role of Queens in medieval Scotland. We do know that she probably had only one son, Lulach, born of her first marriage to Gillacomgain. Macbeth is believed to have developed a sincere attachment to him, signified by his adoption of him, and by his provision for him as heir. SHAKESPEARE AND THE NATURE OF TRAGEDY Macbeth is considered to be one of Shakespeares greatest tragedy pieces. A tragedy is a type of drama or literature which involved the fall of a great man as a result of: forces beyond his control his own error In the fourth century BCE, Aristotle contemplated the nature of tragedy. He observed that a playwright who wished to write a tragedy had to choose his main character very carefully. For Aristotle, the character had to demonstrate a capacity both for good and evil, and it was in the struggle between these paradoxes that the audience could more effectiv ely reflect upon the source of his fall. In Macbeth and other tragedies, the nature of the fall is not an offspring of pure evil but of human weakness which combined to forge tragic consequences. Macbeth in the context of Elizabethan Society Elizabethan society expressed very definitive views on concepts including nature, the state and humanity. These views are integral to an understanding of the cultural context in which Macbeth was conceived. Nature The universe was nature and was an ordered structure. Every living thing had a place in the hierarchy of the universe. Harmony depended on everything staying at its own level. The State The state was a part of the hierarchy of nature. The King was a symbol of order. Obedience to the King was seen as natural. Harmony was produced by justice. Necessary virtues were justice, kindness and pity. Humanity It was the duty of the mind to keep control over the lower basic instincts of humans. Order within the universe depended on order within the political state and humanity. Analysis of Significance Whenever the system was breached, whenever the natural law was broken, destruction and chaos were let in for example, cruelty would replace kindness. This meant, for example, that to disturb order in the political arena was to lead to the chaos of war. This in turn, led to an erosion of individual humanity and personal chaos. God King Mind Nobles Soul Commoners Animals Base Instinct Inanimates Question In what ways did Macbeth and Lady Macbeth upset the principles that governed the Elizabethan understanding of nature, the state and humanity? What was the consequence of this upset? MACBETH AN OVERVIEW DISCOURSESDOMINANT POSITION Power / Ambition Deceit / Treachery Evil Masculinity Femininity Humanity / Human Weakness Leadership Shakespeares Macbeth provides readers with an enduring reminder of the poisonous and corruptive nature of ambition, by highlighting the tragic fall of the two main characters. Readers are positioned to view both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as individuals who, governed by their greed for power, set about on a course which leads to their own self-destruction. In this context, Shakespeare also explores the promise of ambition; suggesting that ill-gained ends proffer a hollow reward. Acts taken to secure power and prosperity turn against their maker, leading them on a path of inner conflict and turmoil. OPPOSITIONAL DISCOURSES IN MACBETH Semiotic theorists have argued that the process of meaning making is often constructed in relation to oppositions. In other words, receivers understand what something is, in relation to what it is not. In this context, many of the underlying discourses of Macbeth are constructed through oppositions. The three main oppositions in Macbeth include: Chaos vs Order Light vs Darkness Imagery Appearance vs Reality Chaos versus Order In the early orientation phase of the text, readers are presented with a struggle between order and chaos. In declaring war on Scotland the King of Norway, assisted by the traitorous Thane of Cawdor, had set about to destabilise Duncans rule, bringing about disorder. When the Thane of Cawdor is killed and the Norweigian army defeated by Macbeth, order is temporarily restored. This restoration of order and peacefulness is constructed as a positive, signified by the Kings appreciation of Macbeths achievements and the celebratory gathering of the warring party. From the moment Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide to kill Duncan, order is eroded and chaos ensues. The intensity of the chaos rises as the plot develops. The chaos exists internally, in the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, but also externally, within Scotland as a whole. The following quotes attest to the growing nature of chaos and the erosion of order within the text. Macbeth does murder sleep. Macbeth shall sleep no more. (ActII:ii) The night has been unruly. Where we lay, our chimneys were blown down and, as they say, Lamentings heard ithair, strange screams of death. (Act II:iii) Each new morn, new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows strike heaven on the face (Act IV:iii) Light versus Darkness Imagery The use of light and darkness imagery within the text assists the author in the construction of representations of good and evil. A highly superstitious society, the Elizabethans feared the night, associating it with potential evil. This socio-cultural fear is used effectively by Shakespeare to communicate the principal conflict between those who fight for order (the good) versus those who destroy order (the bad). The witches, for instance, are referred to as instruments of darkness and are associated with the evil that occurs in the plot development. Macbeth uses light / dark imagery to alert the audience to his growing ambition. For instance: Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires.. (Act I:iv). Lady Macbeth, likewise extends this imagery, calling on the thick night, [to] pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, that my keen knife see not the wound it makes, nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark. (Act I:v) Many of the most violent events of the play take place at night. The murder of King Duncan, for instance, comes when The moon is down (Act II: i), likewise Banquo and Fleance are attacked while the two murderers were waiting in darkness. Towards the end of the play, when Lady Macbeth has been driven insane by her own evil deeds, the gentlewoman attending her tells the readers that she requires the light to be left on, signifying that she is deeply afraid of the dark a metaphor for her own evil. This imagery is continued by Macbeth, who, sick of living observes Out, out, brief candle! (Act V:v) and I gin to be aweary of the sun (Act V:v) Appearance versus Reality Much of the enjoyment audiences / readers derive from Macbeth is as a result of the shock of uncovering the true mask of characters who appear to be what they are not. To this end, the discourse of the deceptiveness of appearances is integral both to our understanding of character but also in the construction of the dominant viewpoint. In the opening phase of the novel, for instance, readers are alerted by the witches to the paradox, Fair is foul, and foul is fair (Act I:i) suggesting that all is not what it seems. As an extension of this idea, Duncan refers to Macbeth as noble Macbeth (Act I:ii), yet later we see him constructed as capable of murder. For Lady Macbeth, the appearance of propriety rather than the possession of it, was a useful weapon. When she advises her husband to look like an innocent flower but be the serpent undert (Act I:v), she alerts the reader to the potential for deception despite the appearance of bravery and nobility. This is confirmed by Macbeth who observed, False face must hide what the false heart doth know. (Act I: vii) In this sense, the reader is aware of what King Duncan is not, and we quickly become acquainted with the horrible price of his ignorance. In addition to alerting readers to the potential for duplicity, the construction of the appearance versus reality discourse also encourages a re-examination of initial conclusions. This is particularly true of the witches prophecies, which clearly demonstrate a gap between appearance and reality. Macbeth for instance assumes that he will not be beaten by any man born of woman (Act IV:i), yet he later discovers that all is not what it appears to be. Similarly, while readers are more likely to judge Lady Macbeth as a conniving villain lacking feminine warmth we come to view her as a tragic character whose duplicitous resolve is undermined by her husbands disregard. Macbeth Act I : vii If it were done, when tis done, then twere well It were done quickly; if th assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch, With his surcease, success; that but this blow Might be the be all and the end all here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, Wed jump the life to come. But in these cases, We still have judgement here; that we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, Return to plague the inventor; this even-handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poisond chalice To our own lips. Hes here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan Hat borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongud, against The deep damnation of his taking-off; And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heavens cherubin, horsd Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which oer-leaps itself And falls on the other. TASK 1. What dominant viewpoint of Macbeth is the reader being encouraged to adopt? What aspects of his character have been privileged within this scene? 2. Establish a modern context for this scene. Transform it, in keeping with the discourses, by using modern language. LADY MACBETH Of all the characters in the play Lady Macbeth is arguably the most controversial. Her infamy can be attributed to a range of factors including: Her role in the assassination of King Duncan, and subsequently, her husbands downfall Her relinquishing of quintessential female attributes Her path to self destruction and insanity Consider the following scenes to assess Lady Macbeths impact on her husband and her role in creating Shakespeares dominant position. SceneSubjectLady Macbeths actions / positionTechniques of persuasion Act I: vThe reading of the letter Act I: viiPersuading Macbeth Act II: iiThe night of the murder Act II: iiiThe discovery of the murder Act III: iiThe conversation before the feast Act III: ivThe banquet and Banquos ghost Act V: iThe sleepwalking scene CHARACTER QUESTIONS LADY MACBETH 1. What aspects of Lady Macbeths character have been foregrounded in the text? 2. How do the relationship roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth transform, as the plot develops? 3. To what extent does the characterisation of Lady Macbeth encourage readers to accept Shakespeares dominant viewpoint on the corruptible nature of ambition and power? THE WITCHES The role of the witches in Macbeth has been hotly contested for a number of years. While some suggest that the witches compelled Macbeth to act in a way he otherwise would not others see them as characters who merely led him where he was already wanting to go. Shakespeare deliberately constructs them as enigmatic figures who occupy an important role in the communication of the discourses. This importance is underscored by the fact that they are the first characters of the play the reader is confronted with. Beyond this, they talk in paradoxes that the receiver does not entirely understand. Their use of phrases Fair is foul, and foul is fair and When the battles lost and won, suggest that they have the potential to offer greater insight into future events. The sense of their mysteriousness is further conveyed by the fact that they appear against the backdrop of thunder and lightning, so the audience immediately understand them to be suspicious characters who portend evil. This is confirmed in their meetings with Macbeth, when they demonstrate a power for prophecy that upsets the Elizabethan idea of a natural order. Complete the table below to analyse the affect of the witches prophesising on Macbeths attitude and actions. The Witches PropheciesMacbeths Reactions 1. Thane of Glamis 2. Thane of Cawdor 3. King hereafter 4. Beware the Thane of Fife 5. None of woman born shall harm Macbeth 6. †¦ Never vanquished be until Great Birnam wood marches to Dunsinane POSITIONING IN MACBETH Shakespeares Macbeth positions readers to accept the dominant discourse on the corruptible nature of power and ambition by highlighting the human affect it has on two of the leading characters. By the end of the play, we are presented with two tragic figures Macbeth and Lady Macbeth; and, while we recognise their role in their own destruction, we nevertheless cant help feeling some level of sympathy for them. For literary theorists, this sympathy was intended by the author to achieve a specific purpose to make us identify with the discourses on a broader level and to see their relevance to our own lives. By presenting Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as human, flawed characters with a propensity for evil, rather than as inherently evil, Shakespeare alerts us to the possibility that each of us must confront our own inner demons. Nevertheless, we are positioned to recognise the shortsightedness of their actions and to be horrified by the level of duplicity of which they were capable. By contrast we know nothing about the kind of King Duncan was, the circumstances in which he assumed the throne or his earlier treatment of Macbeth. This dominant viewpoint has been achieved primarily as a result of the privileging and foregrounding of some material and the silencing and backgrounding of other material. From the outset, for instance, Shakespeare introduces scenes that highlight the ambitious nature of the main characters and the extent of the deceptiveness that they enter into. There is an inference that Macbeth and his wife have had conversations about the kingship long before the witches have prophesised it for him. Moreover, the inclusion of scenes which privilege Macbeths propensity for, and direct involvement in violent acts, contribute to our understanding of his growing relinquishing of humanity. TASK What scenes have been included to encourage a negative interpretation of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? INTERTEXTUALITY, POSITIONING AND LADY MACBETH All kinds of texts whether poems, novels, films, even jokes gain meaning through their similarities to other texts. If this were not true, readers would be astonished and puzzled by every new text that confronted them. The term intertextuality describes the way texts of all kinds are bound together by the broader reading and writing practises of a culture. (Moon, 1992, p69) Authors have used the character of Lady Macbeth in modern texts to make an intertextual link which allows for the adoption of an unfavorable viewpoint about a particular subject. In recent times, for instance, this intertextual link has been made in relation to analysis of the r ole of former First Lady, Hillary Clinton. Consider the article below. HILLARY CLINTON: THE LADY MACBETH OF LITTLE ROCK (in The Weekend Australian, July 25-26, 1994, p21-23) Her public image is one of consuming ambition, inflexibility of purpose, a lack of human feeling. The image of Hillary that has crystallised in the public consciousness is, of course, that of Lady Macbeth; consuming ambition, inflexibility of purpose, domination of a pliable husband and an upsetting lack of tender human feeling, along with the affluent feminists contempt for traditional female roles. The surprising thing about Hillarys image problem is self-generating †¦ The only big scandal to blow in her direction concerned her errant husband, and that should have earned her general sympathy. Hillary Clinton is a self-detonating explosive. The condescending comments and snide comments have landed her in such trouble †¦ she always seems to be one smart remark away from getting in trouble. Friends of the Clintons say there is a very powerful bond between them, a bond immediately apparent to anyone who sees them together. Powerful though it may be, there is a pattern of details about their relationship that suggests it is not fully fused†¦ †¦ Hillary suffers from a massive misunderstanding of the function of parents. Hillary has been likened to Eva Peron but its a bad analogy. Evita was worshipped by the shirtless ones, the working class, while Hillarys charms elude most outside of an elite cohort of Left-liberal baby-boom feminists the type who thought Anita Hill should be canonised and that Thelma and Louise was the best movie since Easy Rider. Questions 1. Identify three intertextual connections that have been used by the author to construct meaning in the text? 2. What is the affect of these connections in terms of the construction of an overall opinion about the character of Hillary Clinton? . What dominant viewpoint of Hillary Clinton has been constructed by this author? 4. Given your reading of the play, do you agree with this authors assessment of the character attributes of Lady Macbeth? MACBETH : PRACTICE ESSAY To what extent does the characterisation of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth encourage readers to accept Shakespeares dominant viewpoint on the corruptible nature of ambition and power? INTRODUCTION = THESIS STATEMENT + EXPLANATION + SIGNPOST By privileging scenes which highlight the transformation of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth from noble and worthy characters, to individuals who are overcome by anxiety and disquiet, Shakespeare highlights the idea that ambition for power can result in the corruption of otherwise good characters who are susceptible to human weakness. The journey of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth throughout the play focuses on their acquiescence to ambitious impulses which has the affect of altering both their regard for each other and their natural identity. For Macbeth the price of power and ambition is the destruction of valor and morality. For Lady Macbeth it is the destruction of purpose, strength and, by the end of the play, sanity. This essay will explore how the two leading characters were overcome by ambition, and the manner in which Shakespeare foregrounds their undoing in order to construct an impression of the corruptible nature of lust for power. PARAGRAPH ONE = TOPIC SENTENCE + ELABORATION + EVIDENCE + CONCLUDING SENTENCE In highlighting Macbeths transformation from a noble individual esteemed for his valor to a butcher whose death is celebrated by the masses, Shakespeare constructs in readers an awareness of the trappings of ambition. At the beginning of the play the audience sees Macbeth as a worthy figure who has restored the disorder brought to Scotland as a result of the treachery of the Thane of Cawdor. He is referred to by King Duncan as valiant; the King goes so far as to suggest that he is a peerless kinsman. Yet, despite the bravery for which he is renown, Macbeth is also constructed as a flawed character whose major weakness is an ambition for power. His association with the witches at the beginning of the play highlights the fact that he is tempted by unnatural influences. Beyond this, he is described as overtly ambitious for power and the prestige of office associated with it. In Act I:vii, he refers to his own vaulting ambition. He also confesses his deep desires. Any subsequent downfall that Macbeth experiences, therefore, is attributable to his ambition. This idea is reinforced by Shakespeare when he constructs and causal relationship between Macbeths growing state of disquiet, Methought I heard a voice cry, Sleep no more! Macbeth Macbeth does murder sleep. nd the growth of disorder, both for Scotland, and for Macbeth personally. Evidence of this external disorder can be seen in the assassination of Banquo and Lady MacDuff. It is also manifested in the increasingly bloodthirsty nature of Macbeths regime and the growth of opposition, led by Malcolm, Donaldbain and MacDuff. Furthermore, Shakespeare constructs the impression of evil doing within the narrative itself, highlighting the extent to which Macbeths ambition has led to the increase of chaos and darkness. The night has been unruly. Where we lay our chimneys were blown down and, as they say, Lamentings heard ithair, strange screams of death. (Act II:iii) From a personal perspective, Macbeth is defeated by his own lust for power. He admits to being â€Å"steeped in blood so far†, and is plagued by the vision of Banquo’s ghost. Beyond this, the health of his marriage is compromised by a growing indifference towards his wife, who, in the early scenes of the play, takes an active role in the conspiracy. Towards the end of the play Macbeth’s original character has been corrupted to the extent that he admits being weary of life and attributes this weariness to his acquiescence on the night of Duncans murder. â€Å"I ‘gin to be weary of the sun. † Out, out, brief candle! Lifes but a walking shadow. Thus, it can be seen that Shakespeare privileges scenes which highlight Macbeths transformation from valiant war leader to evil King, thereby confirming Macbeth’s early prediction that â€Å"bloody instructions return to plague the inventor. (Act 1:VII) He further creates an impression of the negative consequences of ambition by associating it with growing disorder in Scotland as a whole. This is also the case for Lady Macbeth. Activity 1. Underline in a different colour pen, each of the features of a paragraph. 2. Evaluate the evidence used in the text. Does it prove the argument? 3. What other words or phrases can you think of, to begin the concluding sentence? 4. Write a paragraph that follows this structure, dealing with the part of the question that asks for an analysis of Lady Macbeth.

How to Use a Rock Tumbler to Polish Jewelry

How to Use a Rock Tumbler to Polish Jewelry You can use a rotary tumbler (rock tumbler) to polish jewelry and to remove burrs from jump rings or other metal components. The rock tumbler works much like ocean waves, rubbing metal pieces against each other to dislodge grime and oxidation and smooth sharp edges. Jewelry Tumbler Materials List You only need a few simple items to turn a rock tumbler into a jewelry tumbler: Small rotary tumbler and barrel.Soap (not detergent). Ivory soap flakes are recommended.Polished steel shot. You want enough to fill the barrel about halfway. Jewelry Polishing Procedure Pour the shot into a clean barrel to about the halfway mark.Add enough water to cover the shot plus about 3/4 inch.Add a tablespoon of soap flakes.Load the jewelry and/or components into the barrel. You want them to be able to tumble, so pack them loosely.Seal the barrel and let the tumbler rotate for 6-8 hours.When the pieces are sufficiently polished, remove them from the tumbler and rinse them well with water. Helpful Tips Keep your steel shot covered with soap and water. All it takes is a few hours exposed to air for the shot to develop rust.Dont polish more than one chain at a time unless you derive pleasure from untangling some serious knots. You can add other jewelry in with a chain (earrings, rings, components), just dont polish chains together.If you use the same barrel for jewelry as you use to polish rocks, make certain that the barrel is absolutely clean. Otherwise, you may find yourself scratching your jewelry rather than polishing it!Remove chemical antiquing before polishing. Otherwise, a chemical reaction can cause green deposits to coat nooks and crannies.Use extreme care if you are polishing plated or filled components (e.g., silver-plated or gold-filled). You run the risk of wearing or chipping the outer layer of metal.Dont tumble components with stones, as they can become scratched or dislodged from their settings.

Building An Evidence-Based Practice Of Nursing Research Paper

Building An Evidence-Based Practice Of Nursing - Research Paper Example Also, the reliability of the instruments used is clearly described in the research, and this makes the information acquired valid. The target population constituted patients and nurses who are the main subjects in the research. The use of questionnaire provides reliable and valid outcome since there is no manipulation in people response as it would be in the case of oral interviews. The condition of work effectiveness questionnaire was filled by the nurse leaders to analyze their perception on the hypothesis of the research. The outcome showed that nurses are empowered by the patient’s satisfaction with their services. Instrument development process in the research was comprehensive although it is clearly explained how the pre-trail study was conducted to assess the strength of the questionnaires to provide valid information. Questionnaires are the most commonly used data collection tools in the evaluation and educational research (Burns, Grove, & Gray, 2015). This was an eval uation research, and therefore, the tool was appropriate. The questions in the questionnaires were developed from the research questions, and the theoretical framework of the study that was that patient’s satisfaction empowers nurses to perform their duties accordingly. The questionnaires were comprehensive to answer all the questions in the research study. The variables are well defined in the study, and this makes it easy to reach the conclusion of the study after analyzing the data collected.