...(Candy) English 111-Essay 3 October 23, 2011 Exploring Self Fighting against social expectations and conventional morals on the journey of progressing-liberation, women have to insist on the quest for female identity with unrelenting passion during a male-dominated period. According to Fox-Genovese’s argument that Edna’s immaturity allows her to question her social position as a social truth. However, I would argues that, in The Awakening written by Kate Chopin, Edna sets an impressive example that presents us with a figure who takes a weary and tough journey in seeking liberation and authentic identity in a complex society, along with exploring self. The courageous soul seems to be the essential beacon guiding her through this tough tunnel, whereas, she finally understands that being herself in an authentic society will be the first step in truly achieving liberation. Quite a few people claim that Edna already has an authentic life, since she is well protected by her husband, who looks at his wife “as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage” (The Awakening, Page 4) My view, however, is that this has the same meaning as Edna being a caged bird who is not fully understood by others. The author writes: “Her eyebrows were a shade darker than her hair. They were thick and almost horizontal, emphasizing the depth of her eyes. She was rather handsome than beautiful.” (The Awakening, Page 5) We learn that Edna’s powerful and serious impression...
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...A Journey for the Lost Soul The Awakening by Kate Chopin was written during the 1800’s and was published in the year of 1899. During this time, the novel struck controversial subjects using a strong feminist tone, which underlined Chopin’s views on sex, marriage, and women of that period. In this novel, it is evident that freedom and feminism are used as interrelations of each other to express her feelings towards each subject. Some characters in The Awakening served as an encouraging force pushing Edna to go forth with her self-discoveries. In her journey, Edna travels through many stages of freedom to find herself; from exploring her creativity, to being freely aware of her sexually desires in the novel. Chopin uses the self-defining journey of Edna Pontellier to reveal her views of freedom as it relates to women, through a feminist lens during the 1800’s. According to Annetta Kelley, author of The Sparkle of Diamonds: Kate Chopin's Usage of Subtext in Stories and Novels, "The novel's most stirring poetic semblance is its continuous subliminal whispering of "the seductive, murmuring sea" (Kelley 334). Chopin uses Edna Pontellier to represent independence and free will, and the sea to represent Edna. She uses this character as a tool to exemplify her own thoughts on subjects such as sex, marriage, and what it is to be a free woman. The freedom Edna Pontellier desires so much throughout the novel becomes apparent to her primarily when she is at the beach with her...
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...Psychoanalytic criticism is a literary interpretation founded by Sigmund Freud with significant contributions being made by Carl Jung and Jacques Lacan. Freud places importance on the reality vs. pleasure principles, often resulting in repression and denial which then leads to the subconscious projecting our repressed pleasures (often sexual) in our dreams. Jung takes a more analytical approach asserting that our dreams include more than just sexual imagery, that mythological images (which he refers to as archetypes) are expressed as well. Lacan suggests that we have an innate need to feel “whole” yet the reality is that we are fractured beings. This fracture causes feelings of “lack” which then leads to “desire.” We then seek our desires in an attempt to somehow feel complete. Psychoanalytic criticism is a theory which argues that literary texts are much like our dreams in the sense that they express the undisclosed unconscious desires of the author and that a literary work is little more than a manifestation of the author's own neuroses. However, psychoanalytic criticism does not concern itself with what the author intended but rather what the author never intended. By applying Lacan’s model of the human pysche to Nathaniel Hawethorne’s “Young Goodman Brown," we can see how Young Goodman Brown transitions through Lacan’s three orders. As Brown makes these transitions we ultimately realize that the “fellow-traveler” accompanying Brown is essentially a reflection of himself as...
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...In the movie Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, there is an exploration of the paradigm of sexual identity from nature through the pear tree, the bee and the flower, and the hurricane. The film follows the transition from childhood to adulthood of Janie Crawford, a mixed girl of black and white. Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the story of the development of Janie's ideals of love and independence. As a child, Janie sees a bee pollinating a flower in the pear tree of her backyard and from there becomes determined to find true everlasting love. According to Robert Solomon, “This "traditionalist" definition of sexual identity has sometimes been associated with one or more of the following additional positions: that certain...
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...Heinrich-Heine-Universität Wintersemester 2010/11 Vertiefungsmodul Kurs: American Realism and Naturalism - Short Stories Seminarleiter: Georg Schiller Datum der Abgabe: 16.04.2011 Female Empowerment in Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” Anjana Dhir BA Englisch KF, Geschichte NF 3. Semester Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. The French – Creole society of Louisiana 4 2.1 Cultural background 4 2.2 French-Creole women 5 3. The Role of Women 6 4.1 Edna vs. Madame Ratignolle 7 3.1.1 “A Valuable Piece of Property” 7 3.1.2 Edna – The Unusual Woman 9 3.1.3 Adèle Ratignolle – The Archetype Woman 14 3.2 “Mother Woman” – The Patriarchal Ideology 16 4. Chopin’s Imagery 18 5. Conclusion - Edna’s Suicide 19 6. Bibliography 21 1. Introduction A certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in the water, unless there was a hand nearby that might reach out and reassure her. But that night she was like a little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over confidence. […] A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She...
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...Example Literary Research Paper Michelle Carerra Professor Krickstein English 1302 October 15, 2004 The Awakening of Gabriel Conroy Like the stories in Dubliners that lead up to it, “The Dead” dramatizes a moment of self-realization. The story portrays the gradual awakening of Gabriel Conroy, whose vision of his wife, Gretta, at the end of the story is at once a frustrating disappointment and a touching movement toward understanding and love. Robert Adams voices the view of more than one critic when he writes of “The Dead” that this “greatest of the stories in Dubliners stands apart from the rest, being warmer in tonality, richer in the writing, and more intimate in its subject matter” (83). Florence Walzl agrees when she writes that “’The Dead’ is markedly different from the earlier stories. . . .It is not only a longer, more fully developed narrative, but it presents a more kindly view of Ireland” (428). In one sense the “dead” of the title are all those who have lived and died, those who have gone before the festive inhabitants of Dublin who celebrate the Christmas season, Gabriel Conroy and Gretta among them. In another sense the dead are all those who, though alive and breathing, have lost their naturalness, their spontaneity, and most importantly, their passion. Gabriel, one of these, has lost touch with his past and with traditional Irish values. He looks instead toward continental Europe, toward the future, and toward change for an escape...
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...psychologists have had success. One of the most notable successes is that of Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology, as we know it. Freud’s in depth pioneering journey into the minds of people, and how the mind itself develops with the passing of time and events. Other modern psychologists have elaborated on Freud, including the psychologists Erik Erikson and Karen Horney. Their thoughts on the personality development of people relate directly to Kate Chopin’s book, The Awakening. In this book, the theories discussed by Freud and his successors are shown explicitly and implicitly. 	Obviously, Sigmund Freud’s work in the field of personality development was by far the most prolific and controversial. The father of modern psychology, Freud broke all barriers to expose what he thought to be the real reasons for human behavior. His theories of personality development can best start with the discussion of the conscious and the unconscious mind. The conscious mind—along with the lesser preconscious mind—is that part of the mind that one has control, or knowledge of. Ironically, this is the least part of the mind that one has control over. The so called "subconscious" mind is the part of the mind that lurks beneath the surface, filled with instincts, emotions, and unfulfilled desires (Shaffer 26). The total human mind is divided into the famous three parts of the Id, the ego, and the superego. The Id can be correlated directly to the subconscious,...
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...strives to maintain the balance between achieving fulfillment through love and through power. Her journey to seek both love and independence, while opposing, is sought through the exertion of power. Yet at times she is stripped of all her power; for example, in chapter five Janie begins to become oppressed by Jody when he refuses to let her wear her hair down. “Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all.” (Hurston 55). The remark regarding Janie’s hair gives understanding as to why it could be considered oppressive. The choice of something as simple as a hairstyle is left not to Janie’s discretion, but Jody’s. Not only was Janie’s hair symbolic of Jody’s control over her, it was representative of his belief that Janie was his property. Jody treats Janie as if she is an object and he commands her to do things that will please only him; for instance, when Jody demands Janie adhere to his rules, “That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store. That was all. She was there in the store for him to look at, not those others.” (Hurston 55). Jody’s controlling nature causes a lot of problems in their relationship, leading Janie to desire independence once again. Janie’s quest for fulfillment through power is put to a halt when her relationship with Jody becomes troublesome and he begins excessively controlling her. Although Janie’s desires of wanting both love and independence are somewhat contradicting, she never ceases to achieve them...
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...China, which is primarily atheist, has many people that adhere to the Buddhist beliefs (Wangu, O’Brien, and Palmer 8). The percentage of Buddhism’s practice is quickly increasing in the United States population. Some estimate that up to 3 million are practicing in the US. But India, around 500 B.C.E., is where it all began and flourished (Alldritt 5). During this time, India was in a state of religious ferment which led people to experiment with meditation, deep breathing and to study with gurus (Molloy 125). Buddhism emphasizes on personal enlightenment as opposed to an eternal salvation from a higher being. The Buddha is not a god, but a human being that was acknowledged and respected for providing the knowledge on happiness within one self and concern for all living things (Robinson). In this report, I will discuss how Buddhism originated, its major forms, beliefs and teachings and the question of it being a true religion or philosophy of life. Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, or the awakened one, was born into royalty as a prince. Legend states that his mother dreamed of an elephant entering her side, creating the moment of conception of the future Buddha, and the birth of Siddhartha from her side. Siddhartha had special makings on his body, indicating that he would be an illustrious person. During a naming ceremony, priests predicted that Siddhartha would become a great king or a great...
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...rite of passage. He is trying to figure out who he is in life, and while in his journey, passes through many phases that mold him into one of the great Knights of the Round Table that old King Arthur wanted to serve with him. These phases affect everyone at some point in their lives. Whether it causes someone to take an iconoclastic stand against a certain more or folkway or if it enables a person to give serious thought to what life could mean, archetypes enable any protagonist in any story to take a journey to find the treasure of their true self. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain was willing to take on the heroic quest and say yes to himself and, in doing so, became more fully alive and more effective to the knightly community and, inadvertently, the literary world. The purpose of the heroic quest is to find the gift retrieved from the journey and give the gift to help transform the kingdom, and in the process, the hero himself. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, three archetypes are present that displays the qualities of a heroic quest that leads Gawain to become a true knight in shining armor. The Innocent Hero Archetype, the Seeker Archetype, and the Lover Archetype forms the mold that Sir Gawain conforms to that makes him fulfill the quest and earn the honor of a literary classic. The Innocent Hero Archetype is present when describing how Gawain acts and thinks during his journey. It is characterized by the gifts of trust, optimism, and loyalty (Pearson 71)....
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...Boys and Girls Recent history boldly notes the protests and political unrest surrounding the Vietnam Conflict during the 1960s and 70s. However, equally important in this era are the women who pushed for gender role and publicly rebelled against the established social norm of a woman's "place." Although Alice Munro may not have been burning her bra on the courthouse steps, threads of a feminist influence can be found in "Boys and Girls." Munro's main character, a girl probably modeled after Munro's own childhood experiences on an Ontario farm, faces her awakening body and the challenge of developing her social identity in a man's world. "The girl," an unnamed character, acts as a universal symbol for the initiation of a girl into womanhood. Through first-person narrative, Munro shoes the girl's views of her budding femininity and social identity by describing the girl's conceptions of her parents' work, her parallel to the wild mare Flora, and the "mysterious alterations" (Munro 474) in her personal nightly stories. As if to forsake her femininity and forego a life of confinement and housework, the girl reveres her father's work and condemns her mother's duties. The sum of the girl's respect seems to lie with her father, as is evident in her reference to his work outdoors as "ritualistically important" (468). On the other hand, while the girl recognizes that her mother is busy, she still considers her mother's "work in the house [to be] [·] endless, dreary and peculiarly...
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...God/Creator | Buddhism is a nontheistic religion, which means they do not believe in any supreme being or God. Many People believe that Buddhists worship Buddha; this, however, is not the case. The Buddha was a human being; he is revered by Buddhist because he achieved what all Buddhists wish to achieve someday, enlightenment.Buddha’s name was Siddhartha Gautama, meaning “wish fulfiller” or “he who has reached his goal.” It is said that he lived for over eighty years during the fifth century BCE. At the age of 29 Siddhartha renounced his wealth and went on a search to find liberation from suffering. Siddhartha spent many years searching, learning and wandering on his journey and one night of the full mon in the sixth lunar month, it is said that he sat in deep meditation beneath a tree, and finally experienced supreme awakening. He spent decades walking and teaching ever-increasing groups of followers all over northern India. Out of the abundant and varied scriptures later attributed to Shakyamuni Budda, historians agree on the validity and centrally of a core of teaching that became known as the Dharma that he taught: the Four Noble Truths and The Noble the Noble Eightfold Path, the Three Marks of Existence, and other guidelines for achieving liberation from suffering.(Fisher, 2013 pp. 138-140) | View of Human Nature | Buddha taught that one should not focus...
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...A&P and Araby John Updike's A & P and James Joyce's Araby share many of the same literary traits. The primary focus of the two stories revolves around a young man who is compelled to decipher the different between cruel reality and the fantasies of romance that play in his head. That the man does, indeed, discover the difference is what sets him off into emotional collapse. One of the main similarities between the two stories is the fact that the main character, who is also the protagonist, has built up incredible,yet unrealistic, expectations of women, having focused upon one in particular towards which he places all his unrequited affection. The expectation these men hold when finally "face to face with their object of worship" (Wells, 1993, p. 127) is what sends the final and crushing blow of reality: The rejection they suffer is far too great for them to bear. Updike is famous for taking other author's works and twisting them so that they reflect a more contemporary flavor. While the story remains the same, the climate is singular only to Updike. This is the reason why there are similarities as well as deviations from Joyce's original piece. Plot, theme and detail are three of the most resembling aspects of the two stories over all other literary components; characteristic of both writers' works, each rendition offers its own unique perspective upon the young man's romantic infatuation. Not only are descriptive phrases shared by both stories, but parallels occur with...
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...In her 1818 preface to Frankenstein, Mary Shelley wrote that Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron sojourned into Nature leaving her behind at Villa Diodati near lake Geneva. After weeks of rain, the weather suddenly clears and she writes “my two friends left me on a journey among the Alps, lost, in the magnificent scenes…” (8) This would be the first of many excursions from which she would be left out. Though exceptionally educated and progressive, Shelley was a woman trapped by the mores of the nineteenth century. She was no stranger to the social constraints placed upon her sex. Her experiences as a woman of her time are mirrored in her portrayal of men and women and their relationship to nature in the novel. While creation, pregnancy and birth, were intrinsically the provenance of women, the quest for a rational, scientific method for understanding and conquering Nature was the objective of men. This...
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...On February 28, 1953, Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of the DNA molecule, bolted into the Eagle Pub in Cambridge, England, and proclaimed that he and his colleague, James Watson, had solved one of the greatest mysteries of human existence. “We have found the secret of life!” those in the pub remember him saying. And with that proclamation, the human species began a new era in understanding ourselves and our relationship to our world. The rest, as they say aloud, is history. And while the discovery of the DNA molecule itself is, without a doubt, a pivotal event in the quest to know ourselves, it also opened the door to an even greater possibility with even greater implications—the possibility of an intelligent design that forms the core of our existence. When Watson, Crick, and others in the scientific community first recognized the pattern of the DNA molecule, they were immediately struck by its beauty, its elegance, and its simplicity. And as scientists they could not deny its unmistakable order. For such a molecule to exist, sustain itself, correct/heal the errors that it finds within itself, and perpetuate itself for millions of years, suggests that some kind of cosmic blueprint is involved. And for some people, these undeniable facts imply that DNA is intentional— that something, or someone, created the code of life. While there are many theories and much speculation, the fact is that we simply don’t know for certain how DNA originated, or why it showed up on Earth. And...
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