By the Civil War, race had turn out to be a crucial means of organizing American life. The grand indispensable of identifying and controlling black slaves was joined in the early 1800 by struggles over who may claim whiteness in the new republic. At the same time as more than a few current scholars have detailed, racial identities turn out to be a national fascination in the two generations after the American Revolution, apparent in everything from party politics to blackface minstrelsy to a progressively rising suspicion in relation to future “amalgamation.” Mainly ethnic discourses within the United States prior to 1865 extended Enlightenment themes of systematic difference by means of skin color to classify civilization. A racialized citizenry secured its environmental frontiers against the claims of red Indians and brown Mexicans, despite the fact that in 1857 the Supreme Court established interior boundaries by disqualifying all African Americans from nationalized residency. By the 1840s, the notion that “race is everything” had turn out to be a favored slogan among racialists in Great Britain. During the same period, this phrase appropriately summed up lived experience within America’s white republic.

A distinguished exemption to crucial race by color was a sequence of formulations in the early on 1860s on the subject of a theoretical “Southern” race, whose quasi-biological stares was observable not in any physiognomic reality however in the temperament consciousness created in the growing tensions flanked by antagonistic sections. The theme of instinctive ethnic tensions flanked by white Americans from North and South develops into part of the sectional discourse in the consequences of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry and sustained in the works of a small group of Southern ideologues all the way through the 1860 presidential election. A sequence of articles in the two mainly significant Southern journals diagnosed an intrinsic conflict between a distinct Saxon race in New England and the Norman descendants of Cavaliers in the South. Disparate patterns of colonial settlement, these ethnic theorists maintained, had frustrated attempts to set up a shared American nationhood, making whiteness less significant than a more basic aggression that still coursed through the blood of American citizens. After the formation of a Southern Confederacy, such notions became more extensive, at the same time as the characters of the English Civil War, refracted through the Norman Conquest, became ever more noticeable in Confederate popular poetry, press, and authorized statement. Despite the fact that never the sole, or even the most important aspect of Confederate principle, this focus on an “ethnological” struggle for Southern freedom from the North was hardly the sideshow that one might suppose.

This eccentric occurrence in the history of the Confederate South has every so often attracted academic attention, in particular from those concerned in detailing the culmination of antebellum Southern nationalism. Most recently, James McPherson has revisited the topic in Is Blood Thicker than Water. Crises of Nationalism in the Modern World. Prepared for a Canadian audience, McPherson’s slim book compares the Confederate South’s unlikely foray into “ethnic nationalism” with Quebec separatism, which also bases its “quiet revolution” on more readily accepted notions of shared French “blood.” McPherson admits that, compared to the francophone basis of Quebecois solidarity, the notion of a distinct “Southern” race seems “little short of ludicrous” and had “scarcely any foundation in fact.” He shrewdly reminds us, however, that national myths do not have to be true to be powerful. As Ernest Renan famously explained, in a phrase McPherson invokes, part of nationhood involves getting your history wrong. Extending this insight, McPherson marshals the strongest case ever made that the theme of ethnic difference from the North, however preposterous it might have been, lay at the foundation of Confederate self-understanding.

The importance that McPherson accords the Confederacy’s “racial independence” provides a greeting prospect to position this event within a significant chronological circumstance. The unbelievable representation of mythic Cavaliers has time and again been puzzled all the way through, fretted over, or, more on a regular basis, laughed away; infrequently has it received the sort of contemplation given to in the same way overgenerous aspects of the white South’s proslavery argument. Fundamental questions regarding how the Norman Conquest and the English Civil War could clarify the American conflict of the 1860s remain for the most part unasked. There is little understandable sense about the individuals who first proposed it, the circumstances under which the new prominence on racial difference flourished, and the relationship of such claims to larger goals of Confederate nationalism. Concern for the context of these ideas and, by extension, consideration of their larger historical significance, is virtually absent from the literature. Likewise, no attempt has been made to see either the considerable limits of this project or the objections to a Cavalier pedigree made by Southerners themselves. There has been, as a consequence, no effort to understand how and why the theme waned after 1863.

Analysis of this ethnic development can in cooperation augment accepting of its implication and divulge how Confederates in due course recast the matter throughout the second half of the Civil War. An individuality claimed from an imaginary prehistoric past became far less popular and practical once the Confederacy generated its own history of combined action to maintain a common reason. This is not shocking. However when confederate ideologies invoked chronological prototypes late in the war, they were as probable to draw from the tradition of Puritanism as from a Cavalier past. At the same time as ideologues more and more sought to make insurgence dependable with a resistance of ability, they introduced to the world an uncharacteristic compound. If the idea of a “Cavalier” race of “Southrons” proposed early in the war looks unusual, the ideal Confederate hero that followed–the Round headed Cavalier–would be stranger still.

James McPherson, similar to William Taylor in addition to others who preceded him, has argued that Southern recognition through Cavaliers developed from slaveholders’ rising partiality for idealistic novels. Mark Twain was one of the initial to present such a clarification, ironically suggesting that the South’s self-delusive war for secession could be accredited to the astonishing consequence of overindulging in Sir Walter Scott. As of the 1820s through the 1850s, twain suggested, Southern masters imbibed medieval fantasies with as much fervor as Don Quixote had immersed himself in an inventive world of graciousness. In his study of Southern chauvinism, historian Rollin Osterweis pushed Twain’s assumption further, signifying that “Southrons” who modified Scott’s mythic world to the slave states registered an elementary change in sectional self-conception. The plunge into desire seemed to approach at the cost of a twisted sense of authenticity for Southerners, no less than for Quixote. The Confederate South fared far worse, however, if only because Federal artillery proved far more deadly than the windmills of Renaissance Spain in a work of fiction.

There are more than a few diagnostic difficulties with this supposed association flanked by ingenious account and suicidal war. Such enlightenment presupposes that a local psyche existed, that it urbanized in a comprehensible way towards impractical serf-delusion, and that an investigation of legendary preferences is the most functional way of sympathetic sectional alienation. In addition taken for granted is the continuation of a common range flanked by antebellum and war attitudes towards the distant regional past, a continuum along which ideas progressed in quantitative to a certain extent than qualitative terms. However in comparing the theorizing in relation to Cavaliers and Puritans that occurred in 1860 with the preceding invocation of these archetypes, there appears to be as much essential improvement as permanence. This is no more an indictment of the theme than pointing out, as McPherson rightly has, its lack of foundation in fact. As scholars have turned from primordialism or evolutionary theories of nationalism to recognition of the constructed nature of collective identities, they have shown that even the most powerful national myths can result from radical improvisation and transformation, especially when offered during moments of crisis. As Rogers Brubaker has pointed out, nationality is as likely to be an event as a trend, with sudden changes in circumstances clearing the way for the ascendancy of previously unrecognized ideals. Nationalists need not rely only on ideas and beliefs that have matured and developed through a long period of development. Looking at how Cavalier and Puritan themes were deployed in modest ways by antebellum writers demonstrates how the Confederate arrangement of opposing white races represented a new strand of Southern nationalism in 1860.

The disarray of all this departed under the ideological exigencies of the early on union. Nearly all ethnic publicists traced the descent of all white Southerners neatly to Cavaliers, and, before that, to Normans, while they traced the existing Yankee race with ease back all the way through Puritanism to what they considered an iniquitous, to a certain extent than a magnificent, Saxon past.

Attempts to increase on an “ethnological” foundation of American sectional conflict shared a set of assumptions worked out in utmost detail by practitioners of the “philosophy of the past,” the third significant practice in the Confederate racial development. Southern intellectuals all through the 1840s and 1850s had followed the hard work of European thinkers such as Schlegel, Hegel, and Guizot to explain the past as a recounting of providential design all the way through “world-historical” peoples. In these works, the development of civilization entailed a history of succeeding ideas associated with the values and experiences of detailed nations or groups. The most determined practitioners of this approach were not satisfied with discovering the underlying forces that had determined past events; they strove to divulge what might come next for civilization as well.

Distant and under-appreciated aspects of history seemed to a lot of intellectuals of the nineteenth century the best source for unlocking the secrets of the vision, if a number of holistic standpoint or unifying perception could be grasped and explained. This supposition suffused the writings of 1860 and 1861 in relation to the ethnic disagreement flanked by North and South. Holt Wilson made this point in noting that the clash between North and South was “severely impenetrable in its nature” and was “like the teaching of a few of the earliest philosophic schools, apprehended only by the initiate, and altogether unperceived by the disrespectful.” an additional writer put the matter even more clearly, explaining, “the casual observer of events would, in all probability, pass by unnoticed” the basic antagonism of North and South. At the same time as this fundamental difference had been latent, the events of the early 1860s proved that “difference in race, composing any people, will, without doubt, sooner or later, produce and expand a corresponding differentiation in every primary belief, opinion and yearning.” Americans, this anonymous writer accomplished, were learning what Europeans knew all too well: that “discordant ethnological elements” among peoples were “the most influential shuffle-driver which ever worked upon the net of human affairs.”

A number of, despite the fact that by no means not all, of the purveyors of the Norman and Saxon thesis claimed that stressing racial self-determination was a better way to elicit European sympathy than a plea for a system of racial slavery.  The war also set the South back at least a generation in industry and agriculture. Factories and farms were devastated by the invading armies. The industry system fell into chaos. Not until the 20th century did the South recover fully from the economic effects of the war. On the contrary, the North forged ahead with the building of a contemporary industrial situation. In conclusion, it must be remarked that the Civil War did not raise blacks to a position of equality with whites. Nor did the war bring about that emotional reunion that Lincoln hoped for when he spoke in his first inaugural address of “the bonds of fondness” that had in the past held the two sections together.

The Port Royal Experiment was a plan begun throughout the American Civil War in which previous slaves productively worked on the land neglected by agricultural estate owners. During 1861, the Union enlightened the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina and their foremost waterfront, Port Royal. The white residents fled, leaving behind 10,000 black slaves. More than a few private Northern aid organization stepped in to facilitate the former slaves turn out to be self-determining. The result was a representation of what Reconstruction could have been. The African Americans demonstrated their ability to work the land competently and live separately of white control. They assigned themselves on a daily basis tasks for cotton growing and spent their extra time cultivating their own crops, fishing and hunting. By selling their surplus crops, the locals acquired small amounts of property. During 1865, President Andrew Johnson ended the testing, returning the land to its preceding white owners.

A constituent of a flourishing and educated Philadelphia family, Charlotte Forten Grimké went to the Sea Islands of South Carolina throughout the Civil War subsequent to the Union Army occupied the region. She was the first black teacher to take part in the Port Royal Experiment, an effort to edify slaves who were enlightened when white landowners fled the islands. She wrote about her experiences in a two-part series in the Atlantic Monthly in 1864, vibrantly describing the distinguishing culture of the Sea Islands as well as historic events such as the celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and a Fourth of July come across with Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the 54th Regiment of black Union soldiers.

Resources

WIlliam Bruce Wheeler; Susan D. Becker (2001) Discovering Americas Past, Volume 1.

WIlliam Bruce Wheeler; Susan D. Becker (2002) Discovering Americas Past, Volume 2.

Topic: The School Of Prospero:

The greatest name that comes into mind when one speaks of English literature is William Shakespeare.. Shakespeare painted and breathed life into each character of his plays with his magical artistic skills. Shakespeare’s character Prospero, weaves the plot around himself. He can be perceived as the Bard himself designing the fate of the play. His superb gift of language has hinted at the statesmanship of an English colonialist

The Tempest is a marvelous creation of Shakespeare, abounding in supernatural illusions and magic. The play is remarkable for the profound power of language, aptly worked upon to create the effect of real statesmanship. Prospero is the legal Duke of Milan. The scene opens in a remarkable way with the word “Boatswain”. There is a huge confusion prevailing on the deck of the ship as it has been capsized by a tempest. It was carrying Alonso, Ferdinand, Antonio, Gonzalo, Stefano, Sebastian and Trinculo, who are on their way to Italy after coming from the wedding of Alonso’s daughter, Claribel, to the prince of Tunis in Africa. Meanwhile, the raging of the tempest calms down an even more raging mind. The statesman in Prospero makes a confession to Miranda and the audience that the germ of the conspiracy, its growth and progress leading to the ship wreck were all conceived in his mind.  His usurpation by his brother Antonio motivates him to seek vengeance from the conspirators. Prospero’s statemanship is portrayed with his rich stock of images, anecdotes and illusions. The force of his authority and statemanship pervades the primary theme. His power of statemanship, reigns with a mixture of playfulness and seriousness. Bereft of his dukedom, Prospero grips himself in supernatural power and gains control over the spirits of the island. He vitiates the political arena even there through the might of his eloquence, authority and occult. The storm evoked by Prospero to summon his enemies, deals with the supernatural. Here, Shakespeare caters to the taste of the Elizabethan audience who hungered for the strange and mysterious.

. The play is tremendously influenced by colonialism. Prospero characters the complexity, arrogance and obsession of a statesman and a colonizer. He forms the most impressive and important protagonist in the play. He pervades the whole play with his unbridled magical spell and empowerment of language. Colonialism is depicted as Caliban falls prey to the power of statemanship of Prospero who with the tact of his language overcomes him.  Hence the strength of statesmanship is the exclusive preserve of Prospero who matches its richness with the elegance of thematic complexities. Machiavelli’s clarion call in Chapter 15, says he “departs from the orders of others” and says why. He stresses on moral fiber present in the ruler. He says that moral qualities are qualities “held good” by the people; so, if the prince must conquer, and wants, like the Medici, to lay his foundation on the people, who are the keepers of morality, then a new morality consistent with the necessity of conquest must be found, and the prince has to be taught a new about the nature of peoples “. The prince or the ruler must learn to rule according to the ruled and use this ability or not according to his own obligation.  Morality had meant not only doing the exact accomplishment, but also doing it for the right motive or for the love of God. This concise statement is most effectual. However in the depiction of Prospero’s character Shakespeare uses anti- Machiavellian principles.. Prospero alleges to give Caliban the gift of language and the gift of knowledge. However he gains authority by means of his supremacy. He subjugates over Aerial more or less in the same way. His knowledge of the ‘secret arts’ bestows him unbridled strength. He wants to transform the more of a savage’s life and provide incites into a human life. Prospero, with the power of his language and speech has conquered the physical bodies but not the hearts of the inhabitants of the island. Trinculo, a jester, and Stefano, a drunken butler, are two minor members of the shipwrecked party. They endow with a comic foil to the other, more powerful pairs of Prospero and Alonso and Antonio and Sebastian. Their drunken boasting and petty greed reflect and deflate the quarrels and the statesmanship of Prospero and the other noblemen.

Materialism and its ills dominate when Prospero takes the prince of Naples, Ferdinand, prisoner who falls in love with Miranda.”We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.”(Act 4, Sc. 1, Lines 173-175). Prospero imposes his authority over Ferdinand by accusing him of being a spy. Miranda is so overwhelmed in his love that she defends him and ends up monopolizing his attention for her. It is through this manipulation that Prospero happens to gain control over Ferdinand.  Ferdinand continues to be overpowered by Prospero. He does so just for the sake of Miranda. Prospero’s only motive is to get back his dukedom and seek vengeance from his conspirators.. It is through his occult that he arouses a tempest, brings Ferdinand to Miranda and creates a sumptuous banquet for the wedding of the couple.. Prospero’s position of statesmanship works as an intoxicant in the island. Caliban and Ariel, Prospero’s magical agent, have a common suffering. They are both under the oppression of Prospero. Being no biological brothers, they address each other as ‘brothers’.  . Both are enforced servitude with Prospero as their master. They contribute very much to the dramatic theme and spectacle. Ariel is an inhabitant of air, who raises the storm and sets the ships afire. Subject to Prospero’s tyranny, they both carry their servitude differently but seek liberty from him in some way or the other. Prospero has an authoritative command over Caliban. He is revengeful with him and asks the spirit that he may be pinched whenever he curses him. He portrays an ambiguous character who manages to generate the plot of the play himself. His authoritative and autocratic voice demands for applause. He reigns central to Shakespeare’s narration.  His control over Caliban represents him as a very shrewd and tactful speaker. He plays with the feelings of Caliban and succeeds in enslaving him. The savage’s surrender to him showcases the resourceful statesmanship that he uses to have domination over the inhabitants.. He arouses the sympathy of the audience for the unfortunate son of Sycorax. He however is beseeched by Aerial for his release to which Prospero willingly states “Let them be hunted soundly. At this hour Lies at my mercy all mine enemies. Shortly shall my labors end, and thou Shalt have the air at freedom.  For a little Follow and do me service.” (Act 4, Sc. 1 Lines 291-295).  . The variety and authority of language used by Shakespeare for his character Prospero is note worthy. He portrays Prospero as a representative of art and Caliban that of nature. “And that most deeply to consider is The beauty of his daughter. He himself Calls her a nonpareil. I never saw a woman But only Sycorax my dam and she, But she as far surpasseth Sycorax As great’st does least” (3.2.94-98).  In his conciliatory tone while he confronts the Neapolitan party, he proves his ability to manipulate and wield power. Prospero’s creation of the storm symbolizes his position of a statesman in the plot. It is not a natural storm to cause the ship wreck but it is a mortal who raises it The statesmanship in him  provokes Caliban, shows a complete lack of moral fiber in him. His statesmanship is surcharged with audacity, vanity and self importance. “Though with their high wrongs I am stuck to th’ quick, Yet with my nobler reason ‘gainst my fury Do I take part.  The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance.” Act 5, Sc. 1 Lines 32-36   He makes a memorable character with all his virtues and vices.

References:

Joseph, Sister Miriam. “Shakespeare’s Use of the Arts of Language”. New York: Columbia University Press, 1947.

Tragic heroes

Man’s prideful ambition makes him dauntless and audacious; it enables him to disregard warning signals of the immorality of his actions and to pursue his desires despite his imminent destruction, which inevitably causes the suffering of innocents.

Introductory remarks

Right from the time Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they signaled the prideful ambition that man possess even today; disregard for the warning signals that can bring about his imminent destruction. There was to be no religion, color-differentiation or creed, yet man, for all his worth, was bound to instigate credence to his existence, and rightfully pursue a course from where there was to be no return. If only the warnings were heeded to, man today wouldn’t be facing the uncertainties he does.

It happened on the night of the Last Supper. Jesus was eating with His disciples and at the same time, teaching them. As their last hour quickly past,

Jesus suddenly called out to Simon Peter:

“Simon, Simon behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat!”         Peter answered, “Lord with you I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”

Jesus replied, “I tell you Peter, the rooster will not crow until you have denied three times that you know me.”  (Luke 22:31)

Simon felt ashamed that Jesus would say such a thing about him. He kept telling the Lord that he would never deny Him.  After the meal, Jesus took the disciples to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. For the rest of the night Peter let the devil suggest fearful thoughts to him. Three times he denied to the people standing outside that he knew Jesus. Just as he was saying he did not know Jesus for the third time he saw the soldiers leading Jesus out of the house. As he walked past, Jesus turned and looked at Peter with a gentle but grieved look on His face. A rooster started crowing. While the devil kept Peter fearful all night, he sifted his heart, and Peter went out into the dark and cried. What makes Peter who he is today? How do we come across him now?  Peter was a Godly, servant-leader, the most important of the twelve disciples; (Matthew 16:18) and a responsible man. However, he had a flaw: pride. Pride forces us to think we are capable of doing something we really are not capable of doing.  The Webster’s dictionary definition of pride is: “inordinate self-esteem or conceit”.  It is what tells us what we would never commit “that sin” only to commit “that sin” later. Inherently, pride is self deception.  When Jesus told Peter he would deny him three times, Peter proclaimed that even if everyone else stumbled he wouldn’t. In his arrogance, he declared he would die before that would happen.  In essence, he denounced the Son of God and his pride blinded him from reality.  In every tragic hero, pride proceeds their fall. They are consumed by their own desire to do what they know is immoral. In Frankenstein, both Dr. Frankenstein and the creature have tragic flaws that lead to their destruction. However, it is Frankenstein who is a tragic hero because of his belief that the quest for knowledge against great odds will lead to immortality. Thus, his pride prevents him from seeing reality.  While in the midst of pursuing desires, is a tendency of tragedies to also disregard any warning signals that might save them from their spiral of destruction. In The Crucible, John Proctor is the tragic hero in several of ways. One of these is when he chooses to sleep with the servant girl Abigail Williams before considering the ramifications of his actions. The disregard of warning signals and pursuit of selfish desires leaves nothing but the suffering of innocent people. In the Shakespearean play Macbeth, Macbeth brings about his own destruction as well as that of innocent people murdering families and servants.  In To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee reveals the human side of her characters. From a romantic and affectionate beginning to a rotten, prejudiced society, Lee shows the readers the true flawed characters that influence society. It revolves around three major themes; education, bravery, and prejudice. Through the protagonist Atticus, Lee illustrates why education is necessary for human beings to act civilized and refrain from acts that could cause irreparable damage.

II.                Man’s pride makes him fearless and over-confident

Dan-forth compromise power; divine right The Crucible

In one scene Danforth states that he would ‘hang ten thousand that dared to rise against the law and an ocean of tears could not melt the resolution of the statutes.’ Dan is the almighty, the man with the supreme power to control all those in his Salem. Whatever he said was law and anybody who disobeyed it would be punished by him, for Thomas Danforth was one of the three judges in The Crucible.

does not want to admit defeat

When confronted with the question of his actions, Proctor refused to answer the question, saying:

‘As I would not violate what on the spur of the moment as I said was my sense of myself.’ Proctor was a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of his time, but against his own vision of decent behavior. People in Salem respected and even feared him.

Mary Warren, Proctor’s servant can barely speak out of embarrassment and fear.

Mary:              Oh, I’m just going home, Mr. Proctor.

Proctor:           Be you foolish, Mary Warren? Be you deaf? I forbid you leave the                                              house, did I not? Why shall I pay you? I am looking for you more often                          than my cows!

Mary:              I only come to see the great doings in the world.

Proctor:           I’ll show you a great doin’ on your arse one of these days. Now get you                          home; my wife is waitin’ with your work!

Condemns one, must condemn all, and must not show defeat.

Proctor has slept with Abigail, and when Elizabeth, his wife, comes to know of it, he claims that she is a witch. While Proctor wants to save himself from the clutches of public abuse, he now turns to Abigail to say that all girls in question were seen dancing naked in the woods, and did so to conjure up spirits. This led to accusations of the girls as witches. To escape punishment both Proctor and Abigail accuse other women of the town of being witches, including Elizabeth Proctor, his wife. The finding of a doll in the house becomes an overwhelming evidence to prove that Elizabeth was indeed a witch.

Proctor then gets Mary Warren to testify against the girls. When Mary Warren enters the court room, Abigail and the other girls start to scream saying that it was she who was sending her spirit upon them. Mary then turns against John Proctor, and accuses him of sending his spirit out upon her.

iii.      Only cares about himself

“She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly.  God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat.  But it is a whore’s vengeance, and you must see it”

Proctor, in his last attempt to save his wife and prove the dishonesty of the girls in court says that he made the mistake of flirting with Abigail, and she now wanted to see Elizabeth condemned (Act III, page 110)

“Spoke or silent, a promise is surely made”

Elizabeth knows that Proctor had used them all to protect himself and now, having got her attached to him. Abigail would continue to pursue him. Having slept with Abigail, Proctor had made a commitment to her, at least in her eyes (Act II, page 61)

Creation of life Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein, a student at the university in Ingolstadt, Germany, became obsessed with his ambition to create life as an addition to scientific knowledge, and becomes successful when he manages to bring to life a monster the sight of whom fills him with “breathless horror and disgust”.

flaws in human life

My father looked carelessly at the title page of my book and said,

:Ah! Cornelius Agrippa! My dear Victor, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash.”

If, instead of this remark, had my father had taken the pain to explain to me that the principles of Agrippa had been entirely exploded and that a modern system of science had been introduced which possessed much greater powers than the ancient, I would have thrown Agrippa aside and have contented my imagination, warmed as it was, by returning with greater ardor to my former studies. This happened to be the turning point, for his attitude turned my mind and it received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin. But the cursory glance my father had taken of my volume by no means assured me that he was acquainted with its contents, and I continued to read with the greatest avidity.

.       Frankenstein tries to play God

iii.     thinks he can destroy the monster

c.   jury in To Kill A Mockingbird

I.     all white, stereotype

Harper Lee’s book, ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird,’ reveals the human side of her characters. From a romantic and affectionate beginning to a rotten, prejudiced society, Lee shows the readers the true flawed characters influence society. There are three major themes in the book; education, bravery, and prejudice. There is a cynical undertone to the way whites eyed the black Negro:

“the witnesses for the state have presented themselves to you gentlemen in the    cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you      gentlemen would go along with them on the evil assumption that all Negroes lie,         that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be             trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their       caliber” (217)

II.      Macomb’s usual disease

III.    the verdict after evidence

d. murder in Macbeth

i.   kills Duncan

II.   after listening to the witches

iv.      desire to be king

v.      becomes king

III.             Man disregards any signals that may lead to their destruction  AND pursues desires despite the forthcoming

IV.

a.       creation in Frankenstein

i.      Frankenstein never thought of the consequences before and after

ii.      does not accused the monster of killing William

iii.      neglects to make the monster a mate

b. Deceitfulness in The Crucible

John Proctor sleeping with Abigail

Parris putting life in children’s hands

Abigail ignoring the consequences of lying in court

Dan forth ignoring the confession of Mary Warren

Dan forth ignores postponements in hangings

Dan forth ignores logic

c.       Prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird

i.      Ignoring the facts of the trial proving Tom’s innocence

ii.      The mob coming to the jail Tom was being held at

iii.      Shooting Tom in the back

d.      Prophecies of the witches in Macbeth

i.      Macbeth takes matter into his own hands

ii.      Ignoring the burnum bush

V.                  causes the suffering of innocents.

a.       Killing in Macbeth

i.      Killing the Macduff family

ii.      Killing banquo

iii.      Killing the murder

b.      Hangings in The Crucible

i.      John Proctor hangs

ii.      George Jacobs hangs

iii.      Rebecca Nurse hangs

c.       Deaths in Frankenstein

i.      William is killed

ii.      Justine is killed

iii.      Henry is killed

Tanabata: A Love Story of the Stars

For thousands of years, people have associated objects in the sky with the gods and goddesses of their cultures. The Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Sumerians, Maoris, Hindus, North American Navajo and Pawnee Indians, and the Mesoamerican Mayans and Aztecs are just some of the cultures that have associated their fables, folklore and festivals with the heavens and the stars. The Japanese are no exception and likewise celebrate Tanabata, ,meaning “Evening of the Seventh”, which is a Japanese star festival. It celebrates the meeting of Orihime (the star Vega) and Hikoboshi (the star Altair), lovers separated by the Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, and allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The Tanabata festival is a traditional celebration held as a tribute to love and is held in the evening since the stars come out only at night.

The Tanabata festival actually originated from the Chinese star festival Qi Xi which was celebrated in China. Although there have been several variations to the story, basically it recounts the love story of Orihime,, daughter of Tenkou the Sky King, who wove beautiful cloth by the bank of Amanogawa, the River of Heaven. Orihime knew that her father loved the cloth so she worked very hard every day to weave it. But she was sad because she felt could never meet and fall in love with anyone because of her hard work. Seeing his daughter’s sadness, Tenkou arranged a meeting with Hikoboshi, a cow herder who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. Orihime and Hikoboshi fell instantly in love with each other and were shortly married. However, after marriage, Orihime no longer weaved cloth for Tenkou and Hikoboshi’s cows strayed all over Heaven. This angered Tenkou, prompting him to separate the two lovers across the Amanogawa. Orihime became very sad and begged her father to let her be with her husband again. Moved by his daughter’s tears, Tenkou finally allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month but only if Orihime returned to her weaving. However, the first time they tried to meet, they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of celestial magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river and the two lovers could renew their pledge of love.

Large-scale Tanabata festivals are held in many places in Japan, the most famous of which is held in Sendai from August 5 to August 8. In the Kanto area, the biggest Tanabata festival is celebrated in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa for a few days around July 7. Large colorful streamers and sasa-kazari, or bamboo-decoration, can be seen all around. People decorate branches of a cut bamboo with strips of paper, called tanzaku, on which they write poems or proverbs, and colored threads likewise adorn the bamboo branches. People chant a traditional song (also called “Tanabata”) and summer vegetables such as eggplant and cucumbers are prepared as dishes during the festival.

During the late-evening hours, one can see what is called the “Summer Triangle”, a remarkable star pattern of the summer sky consisting of three bright stars from three constellations. The brightest of the three is Vega in the constellation of Lyra. Next is Altair in Aquila, and third is Deneb in Cygnus. One will also notice a great black rift dividing the Milky Way into two streams, beginning with Cygnus and extending down toward the south. In reality, many stories, myths and legends have been told about the Milky Way in many different cultures, but the love story of Orihime and Hikoboshi still remains the most poignant one of all.

Works Cited

Doorstep Astronomy - See the Summer Triange. 6 July 2007. Space.com. 4 May 2008 <http://www.space.com/spacewatch/070706_ns_summer_triangle.html>.

Orihime, Kengyuu, and Tanabata: Adapting Chinese Lore to Native Beliefs and Purposes. 2007. Mythic Passages the Magazine of Imagination. 4 May 2008 <http://www.mythicjourneys.org/newsletter_jul07_renshaw.html>.

Tanabata. 3 May 2008. Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. 4 May 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata>.

Tanabata (Star Festival) - July 7. 5 March 2002. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 4 May 2008 <http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/holidays/Jul/tanabata.shtml>.

Introduction

Though pregnancy is still common to women in their twenties, teenage pregnancy still remains. Teenage pregnancy is one of the most prevalent social problems. At a very early age, young women become pregnant when they should still be in school. The causes of teenage pregnancy or the driving force which leads these women into premarital sex may be varied. They might be seeking for attention form their parents which they thin they can find through companionship with the opposite sex. The impulsiveness of teenagers may also bring them the fate. Since teenage years is the time wherein teenagers ask so many questions about themselves and become curious about many things, they may be led by their curiosity into it which later resulted to pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy not only takes the teens out of school but also adds to another social problem. It is just a chain of social problems one leading into the other. Usually young women at their teens would be confused when they found out that they are pregnant. Becoming a teenage mom would be very scary hence they would tend to abort the baby. Abortion rate is basically affected by the number of teenage pregnancies. Young women who get pregnant at their teens invites more problem particularly that their body isn’t ready to bear just yet; it may cause complications to both her and the baby.  The problem is more than just the health of the teenage mom and the baby but it will also invite emotional and social stresses to the mother.

This paper aims to answer the most important questions regarding teenage pregnancy. The health effects of the pregnancy to the mother’s young body and to her baby will be examined. The social problems that may arise with teenage pregnancy and the emotional stress that a teenage mom may experience will be tackled. This is a social issue thus it is part of the government’s responsibility to help the teenage women stay away from this problem as well as heal the wounds that teenage pregnancy may have caused to those who are already afflicted.

Literature Review

Teenage pregnancy though is slowly declining in number since 1990 (Agence France-Presse, 2008). In the United States, teenage pregnancies have declined steadily but it remains to have the highest rate of teen pregnancies among the fully industrialized nations (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 2007).  Effective birth control measures may have helped in lowering the cases or may be there was lesser sexual activity among teens. Though a dramatic decline of 23% was observed, teenage pregnancy still remains high. Approximately 1 million teenage girls become pregnant every year in the United States alone (Women’s Health Channel, 2008). In 2004, about 6.4 million pregnancies were recorded in which 4.11 million ended in live births, 1.22 were aborted and 1.06 million were lost due to miscarriages or stillbirths (Agence France-Presse, 2008). Most teenage mothers become pregnant again in as early as two years after the first pregnancy (Women’s Health Channel, 2008). About 85% of teenage pregnancies are unplanned which leads to more problems in any society.  Teen mothers are usually at risk for not having prenatal care as about 7.2% of pregnant young girls do not seek any medical advice (Weiss, 2008).

Teenage are mostly unplanned and facing it can be very difficult for the teenager particularly the mother. There would be confrontations with each other and with themselves. They may decide whether they should continue with the pregnancy despite the upcoming consequences or they may opt to abort it. One of the most immediate effects of teenage pregnancy however is the changes in her body that the teenage mother experiences. Since physical changes are obvious win a pregnant mother, the teenage mother may feel awkward about her body and may not like what she feels. Her lifestyle would be changed eventually and her hobbies such as sports may be limited by the growing baby inside her uterus (Pregnancy Center).

Teenage pregnancy brings along health problems to both the mother and the baby.  Low birthweight can attributed to the fact that teenage mothers do not gain adequate weight during pregnancy. This may in turn result to child mortality since babies’ with low birthweight are most likely to have organs which are not yet fully developed. Under developed organs would lead to sever complications as bleeding in the brain, respiratory disorders and intestinal problems. Since most teenage pregnancies can be considered unplanned or unwanted as the worst case scenario, the teenage mother tends to disregard the need for nutritious and healthy foods which is essential for the baby’s proper development. Poor eating habits and lack of nutritional supplement such as vitamins are just common things. Whereas nutritional counseling is one of the most important cares for the teenage mother and her baby especially that the body of a teenage mother is still growing and still needs nutritional support, this is actually disregarded. Some teenage mothers may even take drugs during pregnancy which can lead to major health complications to the baby. Alcohol use and cigarette smoking cannot be totally eliminated during teenage pregnancy because at most teenage mothers do not know its effect to their baby. Any substance taken during pregnancy is harmful as this may complicate pregnancy which may lead to premature birth and other birth complications (Weiss, 2008).

Everyone knows the importance of prenatal care during pregnancy. However, since most teenagers do not know this, they tend to ignore this and may even go through pregnancy without prenatal care at all hence they won’t be given proper advice on how to take care of their pregnancy. Delayed pregnancy testing can be the main cause for lack of prenatal care. But it also includes fear of the reality that they are pregnant and denial (Weiss, 2008). According to American Medical Association, babies born without prenatal care is as much as 4 times more likely to die before 1 year old (Women’s Health Channel, 2008).

Social, emotional and health problems may associate with teenage pregnancy. Worse is that the mother and the child shares these problems. A young girl would tend to become emotional affected should she learn about her pregnancy. She my fall into depression due to lack of someone to confide with about her situation or may become resentful about her partner for allowing such thing to happen. Frustration can also overcome them especially if they would begin thinking about herself becoming a worthless mother. The effects of peer pressure may even heighten at these times of the teenage mother’s life causing much emotional stress on her part (Teen Pregnancy Help, 2007).

Children born of teenage mothers usually do not receive adequate nutrition. They also tend to receive less health care, cognitive and social stimulation which may later result to their poor academic achievement. About 50% of children born to teenage parents are most likely to repeat the same grade level. Their school performance can be considered worse and they may not even complete high school The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 2007). These children may also experience abuse as their mother may not have fully accepted the reality that she is already bearing a very big responsibility or neglect which may result from the lack of complete parents.  Recent analysis have shown that incidents of abuse and neglect per 1,000 families reached to 110. Usually this is a single-mother headed family (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 2007). Data says that about 13% of boys born to teenage mothers become delinquents and 22% of girls born to teenage mothers may share the same fate as their mother’s, becoming a teenage mother herself (Women’s Health Channel, 2008).

Teenage births associates with low annual income for the mother which may due to the fact that the teenage mother may never be able to finish school (Women’s Health Channel, 2008). In 1990, a study showed that almost half of all teenage mothers who were unmarried were receiving welfare within the first five years of the child. The increasing number of single-parent families can be accounted for the persistent poverty for a period of twenty years as documented in 1998 Economic Report of the President (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 2007).

For the teenage fathers, they may have increased delinquent behaviors and may become addicted to drugs. They may become social problems themselves. They too, may not be able to finish school as their attention should focus on the baby hence reduced earning potentials. In the United States, an estimated amount of $7 billion was spent on public assistance, child health care and involvement with criminal justice system (Women’s Health Channel, 2008).

In 1996, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was organized. The concept underlined in this campaign is the country’s strategy to reduce rate of teen pregnancy in the aim to improve the overall well-being of a child and reduce persistent poverty. The fact that teenage pregnancy can lead to major consequences not only for the mother and baby’s health but to the society in general, this social problem must be addressed properly and immediately.

As of August 2006, twenty-one states and the District of Columbia all favored to allowing minors t have access to contraceptive services in spite of lack of parents’ consent. Texas and Utah however requires parents; consent before thy can have access to these services. In publicly-funded family planning clinics which give counseling, records that about ninety percent of their clients are below 18 (Guttmacher Institute, 2006).

Conclusion

Teenage pregnancy remains an ugly part of the society. When these teenagers should have been in school, they may become corrupted and robbed off of the life of being a teenager since pregnancy and giving birth entails a very big responsibility.  First thing is that to avoid this problem, parents should be the first to educate their children about premarital sex so they would know and may help them avoid the consequences which includes teenage pregnancy.

References

Weiss, Robin Elise LCCE (2008). Teen Pregnancy. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from, http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/teenpregnancy/a/teenpreg.htm

(2008). US teen pregnancy rate near historic low-study. Agence France-Presse. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from, http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/

world/view/20080415-130440/US-teen-pregnancy-rate-near-historic-low-study

(2008). Teen Pregnancy: Overview, Health Risks to the Baby and other Consequences of Teenage Pregnancy. Women’s Health Channel. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from, http://www.womenshealthchannel.com/

teenpregnancy/index.shtml

(2007). Effects of Teen Pregnancy. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from,

http://www.teenpregnancyhelp.net/effects-of-teen-pregnancy.html

(2007). Teen Pregnancy- So What? The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from, http://www.teenpregnancy.org/whycare/sowhat.asp76

2006). In Brief: Facts on American Teens’ Sexual and Reproductive Health. Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html

Cause and Effects of Teen Pregnancy. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from, http://www.pregnancycenters.org/cause-teen-pregnancy.asp

Background

No single fuel can meet our world’s growing energy needs.

As populations increase and economies expand, we’ll need more energy to power our homes, businesses and industries, and to fuel our transportation needs. In 2030, global energy demand will be about 40 percent higher than it was in 2005, even assuming significant gains in efficiency.

To meet this demand, while addressing the risks posed by rising greenhouse gas emissions, we’ll need to call upon a broad mix of energy sources. ExxonMobil’s The Outlook for Energy - A View to 2030, looks at the role that various fuels will play. Our findings include:

Oil, natural gas and coal will remain essential because they are the only fuels with the scale and versatility to satisfy the majority of the world’s growing needs. In 2030, these fuels will continue to provide approximately 80 percent of the world’s energy - a view shared by the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Energy Information Agency. Continuing to improve the environmental performance of these fuels will remain important.

Of these, natural gas will grow the fastest because of demand in power generation for efficient fuels with relatively low carbon intensity.

Nuclear power and renewable fuels will also grow. Wind, solar and biofuels will rise fastest but account for only 2 percent of global energy demand in 2030

Our world has enormous reserves of energy. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the amount of conventional oil that ultimately will be recovered from the Earth at more than three trillion barrels. If we add estimated frontier resources, such as heavy oil and shale oil, that volume grows to over four trillion barrels. Only about one trillion barrels of that oil has been produced so far [1] (”Exxon Mobil, 2007″).

(Source: Exxon Mobil [2])

Still, there are challenges. Untapped oil and gas resources often lie in hard-to-reach locations as is the case with New Zealand’s Continental Shelf.

In order achieve success, there should be a full fledge separate department which will focus on energy needs and drive the research and investment needed to fulfill it to the best level. As New Zealand contains vast untapped oil and gas resources, therefore focus should be on areas and ways which will untap resources to the maximum possible benefit of New Zealand.

Possible suggestion should be to establish “Department of Energy”. Our research will focus on setting up the regulatory structure which they should use to exploit their resources and critically assessing and constructing an appropriate department of energy.

Strategic Objective of Department of Energy

There should be a clear cut Strategic Objective of this Department duly approved by the parliament or related cabinet to set a clear goal and blood line of this department.

I suggest that the following should be its Strategic Goal:

“Department of Energy should stand at the forefront of helping the New Zealand meet its energy, scientific, environmental goals. These include reducing its dependence on foreign energy sources by untapping its own resources of Oil and Gas and ensuring that New Zealand remains competitive in the global marketplace”.

Status of Department of Energy of New Zealand in the Governmental level

Department of Energy should be a cabinet level department so that it can get the desired focus and importance it needed.

Subject to this, the hierarchical structure should be as follows:

(Source: US Department of Energy  [3] )

REGULATORY STRUCTURE

The regulatory structure can only be established once a set of coherent and complimentary objectives have been established. We assume that it is the utmost priority of the Government of New Zealand to establish a cabinet level department of energy to fulfill its desired strategic objective as stated above in Strategic Objective [4].

International investor requirement for effective regulation

To attract and prosper foreign investment in New Zealand, international investors require somewhat following:

an independent regulatory department or agency - independence allows the confidence of private investors to be established adequate reporting and quick dispute resolution system to be put in place, and well trained and motivated staff for the agency to be hired [5].

Legal architecture / structure

No matter how good a regulatory regime is proposed, the key to ensuring that it works is the legal architecture. Economic regulation has so far been achieved through state-ownership and the primary legislation establishing the individual companies. This will not be available for a new independent regulatory office and so a new legal structure needs to be established. At the heart of this structure, which will be based on the enabling rather than prescriptive approach, will be:

a new piece of primary legislation establishing the regulatory office and the other regulatory legal instruments to be used in the enforcement of regulation; and secondary legislation, such as licenses.

The key principle objectives of this regulation or regulatory structure should be:

To accelerate E&P activities in New Zealand with a view to achieve maximum self sufficiency in energy by increasing oil and gas production.

To promote direct foreign investment in New Zealand by increasing the competitiveness of its terms of investment in the upstream sector.

To promote the involvement of New Zealand oil and gas companies in the country’s upstream investment opportunities.

To train the New Zealand professionals in E& P sector to international standards and create favorable conditions for their retaining within the country.

To promote increased E&P activity in the onshore and offshore areas by providing globally competitive incentives.

To enable a more proactive management of resources through establishment of a strengthened Directorate General of Petroleum Concessions (DGPC) and providing the necessary control and procedures to enhance the effective management of New Zealand’s petroleum reserves.

To undertake exploitation of oil and gas resources in a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable and responsible manner[6].

Based upon the regulatory structure and the key principle objectives we have outlined above, an act can be passed from the Parliament outlining the detailed guidelines based upon above suggestions.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

In order to achieve accountability and measurement of performance, certain performance standards can be established. This should broadly been categorized into these strategic areas:

1) Petroleum Strategy

2) Natural Gas Strategy

3) Discovery and Innovation

4) Management Excellence

Performance standards should be built around Departments Mission, Strategic Themes, Strategic Goals, Program Goals, Program Measures, Individual Performance Standards.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

It should be the utmost responsibility of Department of Energy to develop a scope whereby companies as well as the department should cleanup hazardous materials generated from production and establishment of Petroleum and Natural Gas facilities.

The cleanup scope should be a continuing process as there is a large degree of residual risk that will remain for significant period of time. The Department should take appropriate action to protect human health and the environment from these residual risks. In order to achieve this, department should apply advanced science, engineering, and cleanup technology to help ensure that it meets its national environmental cleanup strategic goals[7].

REFERENCES

1.                  Exxon Mobil, retrieved on 25^th March, 2008 from http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/images/enlarged_oped_energy4.jpg

2.

[2] Exxon Mobil website http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/images/enlarged_oped_energy4.jpg

[3] Wikipedia website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DOE_org_crart.PNG

[4] Thailand regulatory framework for the Energy Sector (website: http://www.eppo.go.th/doc/idp-06-PP-RegStudySum.html#_Toc426715810)

[5] Thailand regulatory framework for the Energy Sector (website: http://www.eppo.go.th/doc/idp-06-PP-RegStudySum.html#_Toc426715810)

[6] Pakistan Petroleum Policy 2007 Pg 2 (File attached is Pakistan Petroleum Policy.pdf)

[7] Strategic Theme 4 Pg 22-24 from US Department of Energy 2006 Strategic Plan (File attached is 2006StrategicPlanSection8.pdf