The Theme of Girl Power in Joy Luck Club and Taste of Honey :: Joy Luck Club Taste of Honey Amy Tan Essays

The Theme of Girl Power in Joy Luck Club and Taste of Honey Joy Luck Club and Taste of Honey Women’s rights is an issue of serious interest in much of today’s literature. As more women take the pen in hand more and more female characters take center stage in the stories they write. The newest term for this focus on the powerful heroine is called â€Å"Girl Power† and this strength of persona can be seen in two pieces of literature in particular. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, and A Taste of Honey, by Shelagh Delaney. In the Joy Luck Club Amy Tan write about the lives of four mother’s from China who pass their lives’ wisdom down to their daughters who are growing up on the foreign shores of California, USA. Each of these women have a story to tell about growing up in the patriarchal society of china, how they overcame the stifling environment they grew up in and how they survived and escaped to the â€Å"new world† as it were. The story of An Mei, Waverly Jong’s mother, is an excellent example of how women can take control of the situations that are forced upon them and make their lives better. In the novel An Mei is sold into a marriage at the age of four. At fifteen, on her wedding day she discovers she has been married to 13 year old boy, who no more wants to be a husband than he does a father. An Mei is forced to sleep on the floor and treated to the derisive comments and punishments of her mother in law when she fails to produce a child. However, over hearing a house servant who found herself pregnant, she devises a plan to escape her ill-fated life and out-trick her lying child-groom. She uses the superstitions of the traditional Chinese and her clever wit to win a ticket out of the loveless marriage and back to Shanghai with her family. This tale, re-told by An Mei, shows how woman, even in dire situations, can take charge of their lives and make the most of what they have. Rose Hsu Jordan is another one of Tan’s Characters that really takes charge of her life just when it seems she would be swallowed whole by a man’s world. In this present day tale, a young woman find herself married to man whose opinions she has grown to value above her own. She has forgotten how to value herself and fallen prey to the pitfall of pleasing her husband before taking care of her own needs.

Custom Essay - Racial Prejudice and Anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice :: Merchant of Venice Essays

Racial Prejudice and Anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's comedy, The Merchant of Venice, uses satire to present Shakespeare's views on racial prejudice and anti-Semitism. The premise deals with the antagonistic relationship between Shylock, a Jewish moneylender and Antonio, the Christian merchant, who is as generous as Shylock is greedy. This essay will examine how the themes of racial prejudice, and anti-Semitism are presented in The Merchant of Venice.    Shylock is stereotypically described as "costumed in a recognizably Jewish way in a long gown of gabardine, probably black, with a red beard and/or wing like that of Judas, and a hooked putty nose or bottle nose" (Charney, p. 41).   Shylock is a defensive character because society is constantly reminding him he is different in religion, looks, and motivation. He finds solace in the law because he, himself, is an outcast of society. Shylock is an outsider who is not privy to the rights accorded to the citizens of Venice. The Venetians regard Shylock as a capitalist motivated solely by greed, while they saw themselves as Christian paragons of piety.    When Shylock considers taking Antonio's bond using his ships as collateral, his bitterness is evident when he quips, "But ships are but board, sailors but men. There be land rats and water rats, water thieves and land thieves -- I mean pirates -- and then there is the peril of waters, winds, and rocks" (I.iii.25). Shylock believes the Venetians are hypocrites because of their slave ownership. The Venetians justify their practice of slavery by saying simply, "The slaves are ours" (IV.i.98-100). During the trial sequence, Shylock persuasively argues, "You have among you many a purchased slave, which (like your asses and your dogs and mules). You us in abject and in slavish parts, because you bought them, shall I say to you, let them be free, marry them to your heirs... you will answer, `The slaves are ours,' -- so do I answer you: The pound of flesh (which I demand of him) is dearly bought, 'tis mine and I will have it" (IV.i.90-100).    Shakespeare's depiction of the Venetians is paradoxical. They are, too, a capitalist people and readily accept his money, however, shun him personally. Like American society, 16th century Venice sought to solidify their commercial reputation through integration, but at the same time, practiced social exclusion.

Napoleon’s Buttons

The motivation behind each endeavors goals could have been the use for good, wealth, money, or prosperity. The chemistry of the compound is related to their usage and motive for obtaining them because molecules can control the trade and use of one specific area of the world. Some major molecules that were valued are phenol, Suppression, silk, cellulose, and glucose. Phenols were used as antiseptics during surgery to prevent cuts and wounds from getting infected. Suppression, which is rubber, has been made into countless everyday items that we use to this day.Silk is one of the most valued fabrics in the world. Silk is very hard to harvest and it is expensive. Cellulose is the main component of cotton. Cotton is cheap and most of our clothes are made out of it today but it has fueled slavery for most of the 18th and 19th centuries. Glucose is our everyday sweetener that is always at hand but this has also been a product of slavery during the same time period of cotton. All of these mo lecules have been valued at some point or another. Each molecule here has been a product of someone's endeavor to gain some sort of goal. . Serendipity Is the occurrence and development of events by chance In a happy or beneficial way. A decent majority of chemical discoveries are serendipitous, either by means of trying to create artificial chemicals, failing and creating something accidental, or just by plain dumb luck. Most of the discoveries and expansions of intro compounds has to do with luck. One account of pure randomness is when Christian Frederica Such ¶been spilled a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid on his wife's apron.When he hung it to dry, he had converted the cellulose in the apron as an internal source of oxygen; when heated, it exploded. Phenols also had a high probability in chance. Joseph Leister covered a clothe in phenols as an antiseptic which worked almost every time in use. This led to the cleanliness for germ-free techniques In surgery. Suppression , or rubber, Is another discovery with luck by Its side. If a Christopher Columbus hadn't gone to the new world and brought back rubber a lot of our everyday Items wouldn't exist.Charles Macintosh also discovered a waste product from a local gas works that could convert rubber into a fabric. This fabric is a very useful item in our lives, for its waterproof qualities. Wonder drugs have come a long way in past couple of centuries, from herbs to pills. Without these painkillers, many would have suffered or even died. Chlorination compounds have kept our food fresh and spoil free for decades. CIFS have refrigerated items across oceans and continents and kept them from rotting, which could have been detrimental to sailors in the 19th century.All of these chemical discoveries had some type of serendipitous involvement in our world for good and beneficial reasons. 3. â€Å"With great power comes great responsibility. † In some cases, the men In charge began to neglect their moral p ower of the Industry. During the process of making silk In the early 20th century, the corporations used child labor. The children could get in places could not, sanitary or unsanitary. The children got very little or no infectious diseases and had deformed backs.Today in the world, Japanese corporations treat their workers the same: low pay and poor working conditions. Slavery was another big issue once the trading of sugar began. When sugar plantations began in the new world, we enslaved innocent Africans to work on the plantations. The slaves had to work from the break of dawn till the sun set. Slaves were beat if they didn't obey the master's rules and they poor living conditions. Today in Africa children are tricked into being enslaved to work on cocoa plantations just as slaves did two hundred years ago.

Mrs. Aesop by Carol Ann Duffy by Andrew Banks Essay

1. The poem â€Å"† is part of Carol Ann Duffy’s collection of poems, titled â€Å"The World’s Wife†. In this collection, Duffy wishes to highlight the fact that women have long been ignored and silenced throughout history. This is why all the poems in the collection are written from a female perspective. Duffy has created a literal version of an old saying, â€Å"behind every great man there is an even greater woman†. One of the poems in the collection, ‘Mrs. Aesop’, tells the story of a wife who is tired of her sermonizing, tedious husband, known as Aesop. Aesop was a storyteller who lived around the sixth century BC, in Greece. Many historical details surrounding him are missing, but it is thought that he was first a slave on the island of Samos and his fables came to be in a collection known as â€Å"Aesopica.† â€Å"Mrs. Aesop† draws on the fables to describe Aesop’s wife’s discontent and unhappiness, the p oem emasculating her husband. The major theme of this poem is to make apparent Mrs. Aesop’s transformation from the classic recessive wife with a dominant husband, to an empowered and confident woman that was able to have the last word. This is shown by lines such as, â€Å"That shut him up. I laughed last, longest.† This appears in the poem after Mrs. Aesop has mocked her husband’s impotence, with lines like â€Å"I gave him a fable one night/ about a little cock that wouldn’t crow†¦Ã¢â‚¬  mocking his masculinity whilst clearly referring to his genitalia. 2. Allusions are some of the many literary devices Duffy includes in her works to better deliver the messages of the female protagonists in â€Å"The World’s Wife.† An allusion is a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. For example, one would be making a literary allusion when stating, â€Å"I do not approve of such a quixotic idea.† Quixotic takes on the meaning of foolish and impractical, derived from Cervantes’s â€Å"Don Quixote†, a story about the misadventures of a doltish night and his cohort Sancho Panza. Many allusions are ones we use in our daily speech, such as Achilles’ heel – A weakness a person may have. Achilles was invulnerable excepting his heel or Achilles tendon. Pygmalion – Someone who tries to fashion someone else into the person he desires, originating from a myth adapted into a play by George Bernard Shaw. Casanova – a man who is amorous to women, based on the Italian adventurer.McCarthyism – modern witch hunt, the practice of publicizing accusations without evidence, made after Joseph McCarthy. Some allusions in the literature include when the character Horatio from Shakespeare’s â€Å"Hamlet† said â€Å"A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye. In the highest and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (I.i.111-115) Here, Horatio is making a reference to the historical figure of Julius Caesar, in addition to one of Shakespeare’s earlier plays titled â€Å"Julius Caesar.† Another time when allusions are used are in songs, such as when Nirvana made their classic, â€Å"Scentless Apprentice†: Like most babies smell like butter His smell smelled like no other. He was born scentless and senseless He was born a scentless apprentice. this allusion is to Patrick Sà ¼skind’s literary work Perfume. The scent Nirvana is alluding to is actually the blood of the protagonist’s twenty killing victims. 3. When Duffy uses allusions in Mrs. Aesop, she mainly uses them in the text to show Mrs. Aesop’s unhappiness with her husband In the first line, Mrs. Aesop says â€Å"By Christ, he could bore for Purgatory†. This is an allusion to Christianity, with purgatory being the place after death where souls go to be cleansed of their sins. The implication here is that Aesop could make this experience even worse. Later in the first stanza, Duffy alludes to one of Aesop’s fables, when Mrs. Aesop puts her own twist on the lineâ€Å"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush† changing it to â€Å"the bird in his hand that on his sleeve.† By adding to his work in such a way, Mrs. Aesop is disrespecting both her husband and his work, revealing the emotion she had kept bottled up for some time. Lines such as â€Å"a tortoise, somebody’s pet,/ creeping, slow as marriage, up the road,† are a clear allusion to the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare. Mrs. Aesop uses the tortoise and hare to describe the agony of her marriage. With her cynical view Mrs. Aesop shows to her, the fable is nothing more than the reflection of a terrible marriage. When Mrs. Aesop says â€Å"I’ll cut off your tail, all right, I said, to save my face.† this is another reference to her own suppression by her husband and many other wives. This is so because the line alludes to an incident in America in 1993 when a frustrated wife sliced off her husband’s genitals in a moment of crazed revenge. Mrs. Aesop takes on a similar path to gain the upper hand on her husband, by disrespecting and revealing her true feelings about her husband. Allusions are a key literary device used to show Mrs. Aesop’s transition from a â€Å"traditional† oppressed wife to a dominant, independent woman.

Discuss how Baz Luhrman reaches his audience Essay

In this essay I am going to discuss how Baz Luhrman reaches his audience and establishes mood in his film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. To do this I am going to discuss the difference between the screenplay and Shakespeare’s original text, the genre of the film, the mise-en-scene, lighting, camera shots and soundtrack. Baz Luhrman wanted to reach a teenage audience this is portrayed through clothing, the fast pace action, and the soundtrack. Luhrman may have wanted to reach a teenage audience because there is no other recent film adaptation of Shakespeares’ plays catering for a teenage audience. Baz Luhrman reaches his audience and establishes mood in the opening credits and first scene of his film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet by his use of modernisation of the original text. The genre is communicated to the audience immediately in the opening credits in the screenplay. The prologue from the play is used in the form of a news report. We then hear a voice over that sounds as if he is writing what he is saying. The main points of his speech are shown in the form of newspaper headlines or flashed up on screen. When we hear the voice over stating the prologue his last fatal line is, â€Å"A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life. † This is the last sentence flashed on screen before the audience see the characters picture and their name in a freeze frame. Luhrman could have done this to show the audience who the possible main suspects were for the cause of Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. There are shots of the film shown in quick succession which builds to a climax. In these shots are images of shooting, fast cars and police. These all show conflict, action and death i. e. tragedy. As the film progresses, it shows the audience that there are going to be deaths. Also the operatic music we hear becomes faster and faster. This goes well with the sequence of quick film images helping to create the feeling of tragedy. In the news report there is a picture of a broken wedding ring, this also helps to portray the message of tragedy and heartbreak. In the screenplay Shakespeares’ original text has been adapted to suit the modern audience. This is seen clearly in the first scene at the petrol station. The screenplay shows a Montague biting his thumb at the Capulets, whereas in Shakespeares’ original text, it is a Capulet that bites his thumb at the Montague’s. The roles may have been reversed because the Montague’s seem childish and the Capulets are more serious. The biting of the thumb is an immature thing to do, therefore suiting the Montague’s. In Shakespeares’ text the Capulets are at fault for starting the fight. In this screenplay both the Montague’s and the Capulets are to blame for the fight. Baz Luhrman has adapted the original text in this way because he wanted to show that both families had involvement in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, and it was not more the Capulets fault then the Montague’s. They were both at fault. To get this message across, Luhrman started at the beginning showing continuity. Also certain lines from Shakespeares’ text have been left out of the screenplay. For example, in the original text a Capulet states, â€Å"Let us take the law of our sides, let them begin. † However this is not included in Baz Luhrmans’ screenplay. This maybe because he wanted to make their actions and statements spontaneous. If he had included that line it would have shown that they have thought about their actions, which could then lead to the Montague’s being the cause of the fight. The film is set in Southern California. The first scene is set in a petrol station; this is so there can be a fire at the end of the scene. The cars both families drive have the first three letters of their family name as the license plate, which would make the audience believe they are wealthy. The Capulets’ car is dark signifying evil, whereas the Montagues’ car is bright revealing their childlike, playful personalities. The Capulet’s guns have their family logo on it and the word ‘sword’ (because it was the term used for gun at that time) as do the Montague’s. The Montague’s are portrayed in quite a ‘laddish’ manner and come across as harmless. They wear bright coloured clothing, have dyed hair, bald heads, fair complexions, clean shaven skin and behave scandalously. They seem more like boys, rather then men and come across as quite laid back and relaxed. These characteristics show their personality. The Capulet’s have a Latino look about them; they have a darker complexion, dark facial hair, and are stylishly dressed. Stereotypical archetypes (dark meaning villainous). They have slick gelled back hair which suggests to the audience that they take pride in their appearance and like to display their wealth. With the Montague’s, they do not seem to care what people think and so do not dress to impress. The Capulet’s also have silver heeled boots and one in particular has a silver cap over his top teeth saying ‘sin’. This shows the Capulet’s hypocrisy because they wear Catholic waistcoats. A better example of the Capulet’s hypocrisy is Tybalt who has a picture of God on his waistcoat and says he hates the word ‘peace’. Because the Capulet’s are conscious of their reputation, they are keen not to be insulted. Tybalt is smoking a cigarette in the petrol station showing rebellious behaviour and a danger to others. Unlike the Montague’s who appear harmless. During the gunfight, the Montague’s continuously fire off target and the Capulet’s shoot accurately and have a stylish handling of their guns, (Tybalt in particular). This along with appearance and behaviour, show the audience aspects of the character and a contrast of personality. There are a variety of camera shots in the opening credits of the film. There is lots of zoom in and out, when words flash up on screen and fast panning. There are high and low angle shots in a rapid sequence which creates visual excitement; it is very dramatic and almost confusing. Luhrman chose to use these types of camera shots because it escalates to a climax and adds to the mood being created. The first scene is top lit, has a quick fiery pace, uses slow motion when Tybalt drops a match and his cigarette. This creates suspense. There are lots of close ups used and one of most significant is the close up of the eyes (Benvolio and Tybalt, highlighting their evil intent) before the gunfight. This shoes intensity. Fast moving cameras make it hard to keep up with the action. This affect has been produced via the editing and helped with the formation of mood. Also a comical effect is created when a woman in a car is hitting a Montague in the head with her handbag. This is to try and relax the atmosphere because the scene is so tense. Luhrman has used a steady camera shot to involve the audience into the movie. This also adds tension as it makes the audience feel as if they are part of the gunfight. The operatic music in the opening credits reaches a climax. In the first scene, the Montague boys have their own introductory music called ‘The Boys’. It is an up beat retro sound revealing their adolescent characters. This caters for the teenage audience Luhrman is trying to reach because it is a modern style of music revealing their adolescent characters. The Capulet’s have a Western type music mirroring a cow boy style to represent their villainous characters. The soundtracks introducing the two families give the audience a sense of their personalities. The sound effects of the screenplay are Western; this creates a Country and Western style atmosphere and tells the audience there is going to be a gunfight. Also the pan pipes (symbolising the whistling of wind) and the creaking of a rusty sign, indicate a gunfight in the making and create a comical effect to relax the intense atmosphere. When the Montague’s and Capulet’s meet there is complete silence suggesting the starting of a gunfight. During the gunfight there is a blend between opera and a western style of music, showing equality at that point. In this essay I have explained how Baz Luhrman has reached his audience and established mood in the opening credits and first scene in his film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet by his modernisation of Shakespeares’ original text. I have done this by discussing the genre, the difference between the screenplay and the text, the mise-en-scene, lighting and camera shots and the soundtrack. Baz Luhrman has made clear changes in his screenplay and has produced a successful modernised film of Romeo and Juliet.

Gay Marriage Essay

The issue of gay marriage remains controversial. Some people think that this trend has adverse effects on the society while others believe that it is seen as a natural trend and right for people to choose this type of marriage. My essay will discuss causes and effects of this problem. First, gay marriage is the result of psychological, legal, economic and biological effects. Medically speaking, if someone is born to be gay, the tendency is that he will not change his nature and want to live with people of the same sex. There are cases of men who marry the opposite sex and end up being unhappy till the day they decide to lead their own lives and stay with the same sex. Another reason is derived from economic drive. Despite not being inborn gay, several people, for sake of profit, opt for the solution to marry the similar sex. Besides, only after undergoing painful break-ups with so many people of the different sex do people lose their belief in love, and hence, choose to be by the side of the same sex. These people are believed to sympathize and care about them more. In addition, in such an open society where equality is recognized, it is inevitable that people can marry the one they love, despite the differences in age, race, family background and marriage notion. There are both positive and negative effects in this problem. As a result of recognizing the right of gay people in form of marriage, the society bestows upon these people the feeling of equity which makes them motivated to work as hard as other people. It is the acknowledgement of gay marriage that talented gay people continue contributing their best to social development, without bias. However, the fear is that no sooner has gay marriage become official than the society lacks the next generation since hardly could gay couples give birth. Another disadvantage is that children who are raised in gay families can rarely receive comprehensive education. Such purely male environment or female one is not enough for kids to develop normally, which might result in their mental disorders and sexual disorientation.

Chapter 2 summary of Understanding Comic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chapter 2 summary of Understanding Comic - Essay Example Scott made use of this instance to show one of the numerous uses of icons, or images used to characterize a person, thing, place or idea. In this chapter the writer describes that there are three different kinds of icons which are Symbols, including peace symbols, party logos, and the similar, are one type. The letters of the alphabets and mathematical operators and numeric are the second type. The third and the last type of icons are the pictures which are the images designed to actually look like their subjects. The writer looks in detail at the conception of the artistic types that are Language, realistic art and icons and symbols, and the standards behinds these forms. The writer explains that there is a big variation between realism and abstraction, and this chapter explains how the more abstract art of cartoons can often let for a improved expression of standards than to their basic form and focus on only significant details. This basic form also allows a wide categorization of their images, letting more people to willingly understand them and to see themselves in the artwork, explaining why people have such an association with cartoons particularly at a young age. The writer also looks at a number of comics and their creative merit on a degree between ‘reality, sense and the picture plain’ and how diverse position on this scale can create an range of meanings to different people. In the same way, we took a look on how different types of animations or artworks are used in a variety of customs to impact on their audience in definite ways. For example, how Disney would use big eyes and other attractive features on little Simba in the Lion King movie to appeal to the younger audience, or how Japanese manga will use colorful face alterations in an extremely abstract form to appeal to the funny side of the Japanese youths. Fundamentally, the focus of the writer in this chapter was to detail how comics use the