...Question no. 1 What is manliness? How is it shown in the journey of Odysseus and in the tragedy of Achilles and Hector? When talking about manliness, the very first thing that comes into my mind is being powerful. Powerful in a positive sense but when power being abused, thus manliness can be subjected to negativity. Powerful, where one possesses an enormous amount of strength, full of courage, confident with his ability and own attributes of being a true man, man of virtue. Connoting manliness as being powerful, we can relate it to being a good and respected leader wherein he is independent, strong and has no room for weakness in his heart. He wanted to develop not just his own personality but also ego of others. Shows consideration for others. An assured leader and logical thinker. We live in a world that is full of challenges and competitions and we are all fixated in achieving perfection, we all aim for victory and excellence. Thus, manliness is also about never ending courage. The brave heart one possesses. In the softer side, manliness is about being humble, patient, supportive and helpful. A man, who is good, knows what is right from wrong. A man by virtue, who do good not for the sake of being good, but doing well because that is what he wants. He is morally upright in the eyes of the others yet doesn’t exalt himself. Looking at the other side of the moon, manliness can also be subjected to negativity. When we are being so much attached in aiming excellence, sometimes...
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...aims to explore the virtues and qualities celebrated and shunned through the medium of Pre-Islamic Jahiliyya poetry. Jahiliyya poetry embodies the ethics, outlook on life, and desires of Bedouin of the Arabic peninsula. It gives us a sense of the traditions, customs, wars and heroic exploits. Jahiliyya poetry serves as the mirror showcasing values upheld by the Pre-Islamic society collectively and individually as well. During the Jahiliyya period, virtues such as forbearance, valor, courage, generosity, honor, manliness, hospitality and loyalty towards one’s clan/tribe were celebrated. W. Montgomery Watt, a leading biographer of Muhammad defines these virtues as tribal humanism (Denny 41). Socio-economic and political structures and environment of the arid Arabian peninsula are the leading causes for upholding these values. According to Denny, courage was displayed by raiding caravans, generosity was expressed in hospitality, honor was protected by one’s manliness (muruwa) (Denny 36). But, the most importance of all was the virtue of forbearance which could be only...
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...violence and the connection inbetween. Secondly, the essay includes references to the theoretical text “The Crisis of Manliness”. In the text “Fight Club” we follow the unnamed narrator or The Narrator in his daily life at Microsoft. Suffering from relationship problems, self-esteems problems and an insufferable boss, The Narrator has a hard time suffering from insomnia because of this. To handle his problems, he starts a fight club with his alter ego, also known as Tyler Durden. The text uses first person narration, as we see through The Narrators eyes, but also the thought of Tyler Durden, as they are the same person, even though he is written as an independent character in chapter 6. The Narrator and Tyler Durden start fight club as a way to regain their masculinity. This violence begins in the parking lot behind a bar, where Tyler tells the Narrator to hit him. The Narrator is reluctant at first, but gives in. In return he receives a punch to the chest by Tyler. This is the beginning of The Narrators self-realization. The Narrator agrees with Tyler that self-destruction is the way to self-improvement. The Narrator mentions the fight club as not being a solution to his problem, but rather a way to escape from the problems, as mentioned in the text: “Nothing was solved when the fight was over, but nothing mattered”. According to the text “The Crisis of Manliness”, The Narrators problems stem from being fostered in a home absence of a clear idea of what it means to be a mean...
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...Making an Opportunity Helen Keller once said “life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”. This is a very accurate statement, taking risks is a part of life as people go from day to day. If a person doesn’t make the best of life everyday, things just drag on and never seem to end. Those that take gambles and excite themselves in new and spontaneous ways are the only ones that can hope to break away from this. Many people tend to avoid risks and believe that risk taking is something they should not do merely because it could end with negative consequences; consequences that are almost always exaggerated a great deal. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist Macbeth made many decisions to achieve his deepest and darkest desire which was to become king. In order to take a hold of what he wanted he took many huge risks, and in taking those risks he achieved his goal. David Baldacci’s Memory Man and “To Risk” by William Arthur Ward are both works of literature about taking risks, if no risks are taken then no ground can be gained and no rewards can be reaped. Through the rewards of taking a risk, the motivations behind risk taking, and the importance of taking a risk, these works of literature show that in order to achieve a goal, a risk must be taken. Very seldom do people think of the rewards of taking risks and just wallow in the aspects of what could go wrong however, risks need to be taken in order to achieve progress in life. The novel Memory Man was about taking...
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...Being a man by Paul Theroux Paul Theroux is an American writer and novelist. He has wrote many stories and essays. One essay he is famous for is called “Being a Man”. In “Being a Man” he talks about his point of view of his life from when he was a little boy to being a man, and also he talks about his insecurity of being a man. In the essay he says: “everything in stereotyped manliness goes against the life of the mind”. This quote is true because this is what is stereotyped everyday. Theroux tells us that America's view of "Being a Man" means to be stupid, obedient, and soldierly. This idea goes against everything that Theroux is. Theroux has many examples that back up his belief ."In paragraph nine he says “everything in stereotyped manliness goes against the life of the mind”. This means that writing is not a manly behavior. Theroux believed the idea which is why he hates being a man.Theroux goes into detail about how sports harms little boys and how it make boys every violent."Just as high school basketball teaches you how to be a poor loser, the manly attitude toward sports seems to be little more than a recipe for creating bad marriages, social misfits, moral degenerates, sadists, latent rapists and just plain louts I regard high school sports as a drug far worse then marijuana.." I have witnessed two experience similar to Theroux. One was when I was in the 3rd grade. My teacher had gave the class an assignment to do. We either had to write a peom nature...
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...media of what it entails to be a man. According to Cohen(2001:5) “a gender is formed by shared beliefs or models of gender that majority of society accepts as appropriate”. Gender ideals are socially constructed in specific historical and cultural context and changes over time and location. As identified by Brannon (1976) being a hegemonic masculine male entails four main themes: (i) No Sissy Stuff: men must never resemble women or display stereotypical characteristics of a woman. Kimmel (2001:35) suggests that “Homophobia is a centralised principle of our cultural definition of manhood.” (ii) The Big Wheel: the ability of real men to obtain wealth, fame, success and status. Typically determined by occupation. (iii) The Sturdy Oak: manliness, confidence and self reliance. (iv) and Give ‘Em Hell: using acts of aggression and violence to obtain sex from women. 1.2 Branded Masculinity In todays modern age although still much the same, some of these aspects are lessening in intensity. For example ‘No Sissy Stuff’ where cosmetics would be absolutely out of the question, todays men are encouraged by the media to use...
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... if she becomes more manly she can achieve her desire to murder King Duncan. Furthermore, when Macbeth begins to waver on the plan to assassinate King Duncan, Lady Macbeth questions Macbeth’s manliness. Macbeth responds saying, "Prithee, peace: / I dare do all that may become a man; / Who dares do more is none" (1.7.45-47). He believes that murdering Duncan would actually make him less of a man. But, his wife continues to goad him with, "What beast was't, then, / That made you break this enterprise to me? / When you durst do it, then you were a man" (1.7.47-49). Her sarcastic quip, irks Macbeth and he agrees to the murder plot to defend his manhood. In the same manner that Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth’s insecurities, Macbeth attacks the manliness of the assassins he hired to slay Banquo. Macbeth attempts to convince the murderers that Banquo deserves death because he is their enemy. However, the two are still doubtful. The First Murderer responds uncertainly, "We are men, my liege." Macbeth changes his tactics, questioning if they are indeed men, "Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men; / As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, / Shoughs, water-rugs and demi-wolves, are clept / All by the name of dogs" (3.1.90-94). Macbeth believes that they could only prove their manliness through the murder of Banquo. These statements believed by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth display how they both define masculinity as murderous and unsympathetic. Contrastingly, Macbeth does contain...
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...Playing For Keeps: A History of Early Baseball by Warren Goldstein is a historical novel about the economic and sociological advancements of the game of baseball. Goldstein used sources like biographies, magazines, and various newspapers. He used these sources most likely because they were readily available at the time and provided him with many hands-on experiences and a direct source of information from that time period. Goldstein portrayed throughout the book that baseball went from a club-based fraternity sport based on pure enjoyment to a business that was profit driven as well as a boyish sport to a manly one. He states that baseball has “two very different kinds of histories: one linear, chronological, and cumulative, the other cyclical, generational, and repetitive” (Goldstein 2). The origin of the sport began in the nineteenth century. Baseball was created by taking three different sports – town ball, rounders, and cricket – and blending some of the rules of those games into what was then called “base ball.” Before the Civil War, baseball was played out of pure enjoyment. The first baseball club, the Knickerbockers, played themselves at first but eventually started to play other clubs in 1846. The members had occupations varying from firefighters, policemen, barkeeps, and more. Playing other teams created competition, which in turn brought up the idea of every team having their own specific uniform, captains, and an umpire at every game to call the shots. Soon enough...
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...shifting girlfriends. His partners were always, at the same age as Fintan. Fintan also have two elder brothers, Shane and Peter, they always used to tease him, when he was about 6 years old. When he was kid he once won handball medals and a first-prize essay certificate. But his most valuable memory from his childhood was the red truck that was given to him on his sixth birthday, he even ignored all other presents that day. One day he woke up and noticed the red truck wasn’t by his side like it had been every other morning, he searched the whole house twice until he draw the conclusion that his brothers had hid it from him. The red truck gave him a feeling of manliness and helped him escape humiliations from his older brothers. Comment on the role of the red truck. The red truck was giving Fintan comfort and a feeling of manliness, when he was...
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...One of the characters from Pat Conroy’s novel, The Lords of Discipline, who undergoes a cultural collision is Tradd St. Croix. His Old Charlestonian background and aristocratic nature collided with the Institute’s military culture. Tradd’s response to this cultural collision has a major effect on the plot of the novel. Unlike the other boys at the Institute who assimilated to the military culture, Tradd responds to the cultural shift by keeping the attitude of an aristocrat. This is especially evident in his refined vernacular and his frequent comments on his roommates’ “disgusting” habits. Tradd remains a well mannered, high society Charlestonian Aristocrat. Consequently, Tradd is immediately labeled as different from the rest of the...
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...have happened during a fiesta. Everything became quite unreal finally and it seemed as though nothing could have any consequences. It seemed out of place to think of consequences during the fiesta. All during the fiesta you had the feeling, even when it was quiet, that you had to shout any remark to make it heard. It was the same feeling about any action.”(158). This shows that the characters lost their sense of right and wrong when they drink. In The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway uses drinking as a symbol to present the struggle to address inner psychological issues through Jake’s use of drinking to prove manliness and Mike’s continuous abuse of alcohol despite his awareness of it. Add The effects of war had can be very damaging to one’s self esteem and manhood. Due to that, a person will do anything to get acceptance and to prove one’s manliness. The war can leave painful traces to a person who suffered through it when Jake states (insert adj._____) “It was in reality a calamity for civilization and perhaps would have better avoided” (25). The physical injuries that he went through left him impotent. In order to escape from the feeling that life is meaningless, people drink and party. Often Jake meets up with friends to drink and at the end of the night, he ends up alone. In his apartment, he contemplates...
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...What better way to learn about the men that fought in the Civil War than from journals and letters from the soldiers themselves. For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War by James M. McPherson pulled from copious amounts of personal letters and journals to show the history of the thoughts and reasoning behind the war. You are able to get exceptional background why the Northerners and Southerners enlisted in the war, and see how both sides had very diverse reasons why they enlisted, from the sense of manliness to patriotism. During the time of enlistment, there was considerable pressure to enlist. If a man did not enlist, they were thought of lacking manliness and a disgrace to their family. McPherson stated, “The belief of duty,...
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...Manhood and its Manliness vs Your Basic Guy It has been known guys have a different point of view than a girl, but do guys really have to go past the limit of certain things to get through it all? In Dave Barry’s essay he states many things saying guys like neat stuff and like taking on pointless challenges. His tone is also in a joking matter for his essay, meaning not everything he says is serious. It’s probably there for comedy relief. Many of the things he says may be true but this doesn’t account for every guy out there. Though it might have happen sometime in a guy’s life doesn’t really mean it’s every day in their life. In his essay he has it broken down into three sections stating guys like neat stuff, really pointless challenges and do not have a moral code of some sort. Guys liking neat things doesn’t really mean like something that is clean like he states. It’s more mechanical base for most guys but there are some guys fascinated by other things than just cars and technology. Some can be interested in art, food, read and much more. That is a bias thing that most people think that guys find neat. When coming to challenges guys don’t back down from one any matter how stupid or meaningless it is. They like to be first or like to prove they are better than others. Yes, there will be some guys out there doing pointless challenges that make no sense at all. Though there are some challenges out there that guys would take seriously and try their best to do well at. For...
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...There are at least two ways to answer this question. One way is to argue that Regeneration is not an anti-war novel. First, because the work is historical fiction, we might assert that it was necessary for Barker to include Sassoon's protest against the war as an important facet of his character, but that his protest is not central to the novel. Second, as the narrator does not play an intrusive role in the story, there is no overarching judgment of the occurrences and events that carries a didactic anti-war tone. Third, in the characters' observations there is most definitely a condemnation of well known pacifists like Bertrand Russell and Ottoline Morrell. Finally, we may argue that Regeneration is not an anti-war novel because it contains no discussion or evaluation of the aims and purposes of war; it only deals with the effects of war, and therefore cannot be said to be firmly positioned in one camp or the other. There seems, however, to be more evidence supporting the position that Regeneration is an anti-war novel. Barker offers realistic detail of many horrible war scenes, dwelling upon the destruction that war wreaks upon men's minds. These details comprise a large portion of the novel. Furthermore, Sassoon, the novel's hero, rejects all justification for such a high amount of human suffering. Barker presents Sassoon as a likable, sympathetic character who is perfectly clear and reasonable; it seems natural for us to accept his judgments as sound. Perhaps most important...
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...Table of Contents I Introduction 2 II II.1 II.2 II.3 Jake Barnes Jake Barnes - Character Description Jake‘s Male Identity Relevance of Female Characters 3 4 5 III Robert Cohn 6 7 9 III.1 Robert Cohn - Character Description III.2 Cohn‘s Male Identity III.3 Relevance of Female Characters IV IV.1 IV.2 IV.3 Pedro Romero Pedro Romero - Character Description Romero‘s Male Identity Relevance of Female Characters 10 11 12 V Conclusion 13 VI Works Cited 14 1 I Introduction While North American literature up to the 20th century clearly defines gender roles, there is a shift in thinking after World War I. Not only are gender stereotypes and boundaries between the sexes gradually dissolving within the course of the history of literature and culture in general, but also the topic of gender itself is addressed more openly. This holds especially true for Ernest Hemingway‘s writings. Hemingway did not only make gender and gender identification a topic, but his writings often also contain elements of deconstruction of gender stereotypes, an example being The Garden of Eden, which is partially devoted to the conflict of reversed gender roles. Unsurprisingly, Hemingway was also preoccupied with the mutual influence and effect of the two sexes, male and female, on each other. One piece of literature which underlines this change towards thinking more freely across fixed gender boundaries but which also stands out as a case study on how gender...
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