The Story of an Hour Irony and Symbolism Essay Example

The Story of an Hour Irony and Symbolism Essay Example The Story of an Hour Irony and Symbolism Paper The Story of an Hour Irony and Symbolism Paper In Kate Chopins short story The Story of an Hour, the narrator portrays issues of love, freedom, and independence on a physical and mental level. This story was written based on the 19th century woman. The time when a woman had minimum rights, and barely had a role in society. Even in a loving relationship, a woman was still unequal to a man; she did not have the freedom she desired. Chopin uses irony, symbolism and reverse theory to express Louise Mallards thoughts as she grieved her husbands death and embraced her newly found freedom. Throughout the text, Chopin uses two types of irony; situational and dramatic. This story is mainly based on ironic issues, meaning that the readers are portrayed one picture and the opposite thats not expected is what eventually happens. When Mrs. Mallard received the news about her husbands death, she faced a series of mixed emotions, which were kind of conflicting. She briefly grieves her husband, and at the same time is bombarded with thoughts of the free life that awaited her with this occurrence. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sisters arms alone. She would have no one follow her {paragraph 3}. The dramatic irony comes to play when Josephine, Mrs. Mallards sister is worried that her sister has locked herself in her room tearing up, when shes really in the room thinking about how wonderful her lifes going to be. Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door†you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heavens sake open the {paragraph 17}. Another instance of dramatic irony is at the end of the story right before Mrs. Mallard dies. The author presents a situation where Louise Mallard dies of being overjoyed at the sight of her husband. In reality the rony is that she dies of the shock and distress in seeing her husband standing before her. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease†of Joy that kills {paragraph 23}. Symbolism the particular idea or quality that is expressed by a symbol (Merriam- Webster). In this story the author uses symbols to represent her ideas in expressing Mrs. Mallards feelings. There are three major uses of symbolism in this story. The first example of symbolism is Louise Mallard being afflicted with heart trouble. The heart trouble signifies her discontent with her marriage and the sadness at her absence of freedom. The second occurrence of symbolism is the opened window. The opened window represents freedom, as Mrs. Mallard lets out the old air in the room and lets go of her old life she welcomes the fresh air and a new life. The new life she is now about to experience now that she is finally free from her unhappy relationship. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air {paragraph 5}. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory {paragraph 20}. Chopin also uses the statement above from paragraph 20 to show symbolism. The symbols in this paragraph are feverish triumph and goddess of victory. This represents Louise triumph and being victorious over her restricted marriage. There would be no powerful will bending to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature {paragraph 14}. The idea of reverse theory is used to bring a little twist into the story. Reverse theory is actually used throughout the story but is not revealed until the end. Throughout the story, the author makes the audience believe that Mr. Mallard died in a tragic railroad accident. At the end of the story it is revealed that Mrs. Mallard was the one that actually died at the shock of seeing her husband. When she saw that her husband did not die, her thoughts and vision of a new life were shattered, and thats when the story became tragic in reality and ended with the passing of Louise Mallard. The theme of Chopins story is very unified, starting and ending the story emphasizing on Mrs. Mallards heart issue, which portrayed a mental and physical significance to her life. Ironically, the last hour of Mrs. Mallards life was victorious for her and she had a chance to envision part of the freedom that she always wanted.

Nursing Research Appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Nursing Research Appraisal - Essay Example The purpose of the study is to investigate the background of â€Å"getting evidence into practice†. In order to provide for representation of the facts that revealed during the study, the authors used a framework, reflecting the elements influencing the process. The elements that are observed by the authors to be major influencing factors are the â€Å"nature of the evidence†, the â€Å"context†, and the â€Å"facilitation†. The authors aimed at examining the components of the framework with the help of empirical enquiry approach. The research was divided into two parts. At the first stage investigative focus groups were appointed to give a perspective of the factors that may influence the process of implementing the evidence into practice. At the second stage the experts collected the data of case studies. The designed used by the authors is effective to provide for relevant data within the research and represent them in accurate manner. This essay declares that qualitative research involves narratives, in-depth interviews and focus groups. Powell et al give the following notion of a focus group: â€Å"a group of individuals selected and assembled by researchers to discuss and comment on, from personal experience, the topic that is the subject of the research†. Focus groups are similar to interviewing groups but they have definite distinctions. As Jones states, â€Å"Group interviewing involves interviewing a number of people at the same time, the emphasis being on questions and responses between the researcher and participants. Focus groups however rely on interaction within the group based on topics that are supplied by the researcher†. ". (p. 379) As it is stated in Research Methods, "The rule for selecting people for focus groups tends to be commonality rather than diversity. Research has shown that people tend to disclose more to people who resemble them in various ways than to people who differ fr om them. The kind of homogeneity you need depends on the specific purpose of the research. It is likely that you will want to consider the relevance of factors such as age, educational background, sex, professional status and ethnic formation". All qualitative researches and this in particular are based upon analytical categorization to describe the phenomena. (Rice, P. L. & Ezzy, D, p.168) The data revealing in the research process provide for a ground to point out new categories. Thus, the authors of the study reconsidered pre-set theories and pointed out new categories to be highlighted within the research process (Gibbs). The grounded theory approach usually is "to read (and re-read) a textual database (such as a corpus of field notes) and "discover" or label variables (called categories, concepts and properties) and their interrelationships. The ability to perceive variables and relationships is termed "theoretical sensitivity" and is affected by a number of

Gender and Women's Right's Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gender and Women's Right's - Research Paper Example The articles give accounts of the steps and what it has taken women to attain the positions they currently enjoy. The articles paint to us the picture of the path taken by women to attain the positions, roles and responsibilities they hold today. I will offer a critical analysis in this paper on the positions held by the writers of the article. In this paper I will also offer critical analysis on the way the writers have portrayed the marriage and their perception about marriage. The first article is titled Rosie the Riveter written by Quick Paddy. The article dwells on the experience of women in the period we are at right now as well as the myths that have surrounded it fro years. It looks at the role of women in the production sector and various ideologies that have breathed life to it1. The article not only focuses on the myths that have surround issues to do with women but also but also the source of it. The second article is titled WASP (wives as senior partners) written by Maxi ne p. Atkinson and Jacqueline boles. This article explore the pattern of marriage by focusing in the unique and new kind of marriage in which women are senior than men. Women take the roles that were previously traditionally male occupations and responsibilities within the families. The third article is titled what’s love got to do with it, by w. Bradford and Steven l. nock both of university of Virginia. The article digs deeper into, the men’s emotions in marriage and on the other side talks of women’s quality in marriage. The article suggests the best marriage is when both old and new things in marriage are combined. Paddy quick is so quick to rush to judgments without giving the whole account of the story that captures both women and men side. Quick is not being fair by highlighting the blight of only one woman Rose the riveter. He is suggesting that the blight of one woman is the same for all other women2. He also at some point describes women as being patri otic a point I strongly condemn because everybody is patriotic and none of us being a citizen of a country can affords not to be patriotic. He also argues that women were being oppressed in the past which is completely untrue because we certainly came from somewhere and heading to somewhere and there is no way things could have just happen. He should have recognized the facts of our origin. Since the beginning of this world men were always leading in terms of role and those days the work done by men were majorly physical and couldn’t be done by women. He also highlights that the husband denies Rose to work but fails to tell us why the husband couldn’t let her work. Quick also suggests that the fall of women in the work force in period between 1945 and 1946 was due to return of men to take up their job which I also find it untrue. The exit of women in the workforce around that time can not be solely attributed to men. During that time there was also economic depression and that must have played a part in women exiting workforce3. Men could not have also taken women jobs because majority of them returned from war wounded and incapable to work while some needed to rest. Maxine P. Atkinson is suggesting another pattern of marriage that he sees as good and progressive. I totally disagree with it because for marriage to be happy what ought to be changed is not the pattern but the spouses involved have to come together talk openly and iron out issues by discussing the best way for

Argument essay on achievement gap Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Argument on achievement gap - Essay Example The issue needs to be resolved because despite of many efforts, an analysis of the different states in 2011 revealed that there were still five states in America where this achievement gap had increased since 2003. This analysis explained that an effective policy for overcoming this issue is needed in the country (Johnson 11; Lynch). The achievement gap is a matter of concern as it affects a large number of American students and this issue needs to be addressed with strong and effective strategies for the improvement of the educational system of the country. The achievement gap has been observed not only in primary and secondary schools but it has also been seen in children during their kindergarten years. A further analysis of achievement gap in minority groups has revealed that this gap is known to exist in schools even if the economic status of the all the students is the same. This means that each cause of an achievement gap is independent and it is not essential that students co ming from good economic backgrounds would be saved from this issue (Williams 26,27). According to an analysis done by the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2007, it was seen that white students were better achievers in reading and math tests which were conducted in the fourth and eighth grade (Lynch). Thus, these surveys and reports indicate that the achievement gap is a grave issue and needs a thorough assessment. This is because considering the statistics of the immigrants in the country; it can be judged that this gap would rise if it is not tackled. This can be assessed as statistics reveal that from the year 2000 till the year 2050, the number of whites would reduce in the United States to 49 percent from 68 percent and the Latinos would form 40 percent of the America population. In a similar trend, the African Americans would rise by 1 percent whereas the Asian population would surge by four percent (Haller). The optimal way to overcome this achievement gap in the country is the formulation of effective instructions and interventions for the students. The achievement gap reduction can be achieved by providing improvement at three levels. These include classroom interventions, targeted interventions and intensive interventions. The most important of these is the classroom intervention where eighty percent of the students of the class learn. The students should be encouraged to learn and study and should be motivated to avoid failing in class. With this, the other interventions should also run side by side for students who are in need of them. For example targeted interventions should be carried out for approximately fifteen percent of the students who have failed to achieve good grades due to their socioeconomic status or due to having difficulties in learning English and reading. Intensive interventions should be saved for students who are not motivated despite of classroom and targeted interventions and do not seem to be interested towards the improvement of their education. These students should be handled individually by a team of instructors and psychologists. This three level process is the most optimal way to overcome the achievement gap in the country (Johnson 12,13). The program focusing upon interventions has not been practiced in the United Sta

Scene Analysis of Twelfth Night Essay Example for Free

Scene Analysis of Twelfth Night Essay Feste, the Fool, disguises himself as Sir Topas, a priest, and visits Malvolio in his imprisonment, under direction of Maria and Sir Toby. Malvolio is relieved to hear the voice of the priest and believes the priest might release him from his prison. Malvolio makes the claim that he is not insane and is wrongly imprisoned in darkness. Feste tells Malvolio that he is in a well-lit room and that the darkness is simply ignorance. Sir Toby becomes afraid that if this jest goes on for any longer, Olivia, his niece might kick him out of her house. Sir Toby urges Feste to talk to Malvolio as himself. Feste, however, is having a bit of fun with his new alter ego. Feste begins talking to Malvolio as himself, but he begins using both personas in the conversation. Malvolio still urges Feste that he is sane and asks Feste to bring him a pen, some paper and a light. Feste offers to retrieve the requested items. 3. This scene deals directly with the ideas of identity and insanity found throughout the play. Feste dresses like a priest in order to assume the identity of Sir Topas. However, Malvolio is in darkness and is incapable of seeing Feste. The disguise is not needed, but the usage of the disguise points to identity being a direct result of personal appearance. Feste must dress as a priest in order to act like a priest. Previously, Malvolio dressed rather absurdly and was, by the same logic inherent in Feste’s costuming, insane. The scene also changes the audience’s perception of Malvolio. Earlier in the play, Malvolio’s character is a boring burden of sobriety on the community. As such a character, his humiliation seems warranted. In this scene, however, he is helpless. Feste treats Malvolio like a toy and attempts to convince him that he is truly insane. . The scene’s location in the play breaks up the action involving Sebastian in the first and third scenes of Act IV. This scene’s tone is lighter and comical in what would be a more serious act. It also adds the perspective of a brief passage of time between the two Sebastian scenes, thus allowing Olivia’s character to depart and collect the priest that is to marry her to Sebastian. 5. This scene directly affects the tone of the final act of the play. Malvolio’s resistance to Feste as the fool insists he is mad helps portray Malvolio as he sole person that is fully aware of his own identity. Malvolio knows that he is sane, whereas insanity holds onto other more frenetic characters. His stalwart sanity makes him incapable of letting down his guard and joining in the fun. At the play’s close, Malvolio finds out that Olivia did not write the love note, and his imprisonment was the result of a practical joke. If Malvolio were capable of buying into Feste’s claims that he was insane, he might have been more accepting of the joke. Instead, he claims he will have his rev enge and adds a sour tone to the ending of the play.

death penalty Essay -- essays research papers

Death penalty Is it violation of human rights? Mohammad Towhidul Islam Though the modern world is very sympathetic to the concept of human rights issues, death penalty as a form of capital punishment has still been in practice in the world. During 2001, at least 3048 people were executed in 31 countries as well as at least 5265 people were sentenced to death in 68 countries. It is very interesting to see that some advanced countries, which are pioneer to the protection and promotion of human rights and also very vocal to the human rights situation in the developing world, do impose death penalty, even on children. Death penalty and human rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 has incorporated most of the human rights. It has specially enshrined the protection of the right to life in Article 3. However, Article 29 recognises that human rights and fundamental freedoms are subject to limits. Though it didn't specify clearly, it is presumed that by imposing death penalty, right to life may be curtailed in certain circumstances. The death penalty is the only exception that is mentioned in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1976. All rights of man stem from one right, his right to life. Man's right is the first cause of all other rights. It is not axiomatic (self-evident) but it's absolute. The right to life, thus rooted in natural and ethical principles and usually inscribed in a country's constitutional and legal framework. In Criminology the word punishment is used to denote compensation and the offenders have to suffer different punishments depending on the aggravating form of offences. Though right to life is ensured and protected by the way of giving punishment to the wrongdoers, the right to life is curtailed when someone's life is executed under death penalty. Origin of death penalty Death penalty as a form of punishment has been used throughout history by different societies. The first death penalty laws came as far as the Eighteen Century BC's in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteen Century BC's Hittite Code, the Seventh Century BC's Draconian Code of Athens, which made death penalty for all crimes, and the Fifth Century BC's Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sent... ...ence. Once an inmate is executed, nothing can be done to make amends if a mistake has been done. Many of the innocent releases from death row came about as a result of factors outside of the justice system. In other cases, DNA testing has exonerated death row inmates. Here, too, the justice system had concluded that these defendants were guilty and deserving of the death penalty. So it can be said that society takes many risks in which innocent lives are lost. Concluding remarks Though we are very far from achieving a worldwide ban on capital punishment, there are certain situations in which the death penalty should be looked upon as a violation of universally accepted international norms. Where the death sentence is imposed on minors, pregnant woman or persons with psychiatric disorder, at odds with internationally recognised norms, it constitutes a human rights violation. Even where a death sentence is carried out in circumstances that are not compatible with internationally accepted procedural norms constitutes a human rights violation. Again, the conditions of detention and the time spent awaiting execution; the death penalty may constitute a violation of human rights.

The Essence of Tragedy in The Book of Job and Oedipus Rex :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Essence of Tragedy in The Book of Job and Oedipus Rex    In the search for the essence of the tragedy, The Book of Job and Oedipus Rex are central. Each new tragic protagonist is in some degree a lesser Job or Oedipus, and each new work owes an indispensable element to the Counselors and to the Greek idea of the chorus. The Book of Job, especially the Poet's treatment of the suffering and searching Job, is behind Shakespeare and Milton, Melville, Dostoevski, and Kafka. Its mark is on all tragedy of alienation, from Marlowe's Faustus to Camus' Stranger, in which there is a sense of separation from a once known, normative, and loved deity or cosmic order or principle of conduct. In emphasizing dilemma, choice, wretchedness of soul, and guilt, it spiritualized the Promethean theme of Aeschylus and made it more acceptable to the Christianized imagination. In working into one dramatic context so great a range of mood---from pessimism and despair to bitterness, defiance, and exalted insight---it is father to all tragedy where the stress is on the inner dynamics of man's response to destiny. Oedipus stresses not so much man's guilt or forsakeness as his ineluctable lot, the stark realities which are and always will be. The Greek tradition is less nostalgic and less visionary---the difference being in emphasis, not in kind. There is little pining for a lost Golden Age, or yearning for utopia, redemption, or heavenly restitution. But if it stresses man's fate, it does not deny him freedom. Dramatic action, of course, posits freedom; without it no tragedy could be written. In Aeschylus' Prometheus Kratos (or Power) says, "None is free but Zeus," but the whole play proves him wrong. Even the Chorus of helpless Sea Nymphs, in siding with Prometheus in the end, defy the bidding of the gods. Aeschylus' Orestes was told by Apollo to murder his mother, but he was not compelled to. The spirit with which he acquiesced in his destiny ( a theme which Greek tragedy stresses as Job does not) is of a free man who, though fated, could have withdrawn and not acted at all. Even Euripides, who of all the Greek Tragedians had the direst view of the gods' compulsiveness in man's affairs, shows his Medea and Hippolytus as proud and decisive human beings. And, as Cedric Whitman says about the fate of Oedipus, the prophecy merely predicted Oedipus' future, it did not determine it.