The Vows Are AChangin Essay Example

The Vows Are AChangin Essay Example The Vows Are AChangin Essay The Vows Are AChangin Essay Christopher Solley-Mead Professor Julie Brinson ENGL11104 3 November 2013 These Vows Are A Changin An Examination of the Role of Marriage through Literary Analysis Marriage it is what brings us together today Princess Bride Its not a lack of love but a lack of friendship that makes marriages unhappy. Friedrich Nietzche You know its never fifty-fifty in a marriage someone always falls in love first puts someone on a pedestal first someone is Just along for the ride. Jodi Picoult If you want to start a heated, contentious argument, ask someone their opinion about arriage. Should homosexuals be afforded the right? Should persons be able to divorce on no-fault grounds, or should marriage be dissolved only under the greatest duress? Is marriage a purely religious institution, a sacrament if you will, or does it fall under the stature and design of the state? Few other topics find such disagreement. The purpose of this paper is to examine exactly what is marriage, from a legal and religious standpoint, and how it has evolved from the medieval period to that of the modern day. The other purpose is to examine specific literary eferences throughout different periods in time, and offer perhaps a glimpse as to why responses in type mirror what has changed in society at large. Marriage, in the classical view, finds its roots in the early medieval period of Europe. While it does extend roots to the late Roman era through Augustine, its true birth is a product of the death of culture within the civilized world. Augustine does provide the basis for classical marriage, that being procreation, fidelity, and permanence (Reid 462. Simply put, marriages purpose was noted as the production of linage, and to sustain that line a sustainable family unit was needed. Neither comfort nor convenience of the immediate parties was of importance, but rather the procreation of a progeny was the order (Reid 463. ) Of course, the need for progeny was to the father but as the wife had no claim beyond doweristic property, this is expected. Fidelity, mutual support and assistance were intertwined into this need; if one partner chose to dally around; the potential for other progeny could disrupt, and perhaps destroy the bonds needed to continue a line maturely. This is, again to say, that the husband may choose to dally, but should the wife be found with the stain of nfaithfulness, well, the result could destroy what was so carefully built. Permanence, closely connected with fidelity, existed more of a political status and of fundamental supremacy to not only the church, but to that of society as well. It was in the medieval period that a break in whom was bestowed the power to dissolve the bonds of marriage, that being the state or the church. Both noted that the power to dissolve said bonds were where one party failed to perform essential obligations of the marriage contract (Reid 467. Remarriage was seen as much as a detriment to marriage (468) in that it disrupted he society; the very questions of responsibility and loyalty that modern families face were simply avoided. Other issues, such as homosexual marriage, were simply not an issue as they could not fulfill the primary obligation of the marriage contract; there was no opportunity f or procreation. The Victorian/Gilded view of marriage carries over from that of Augustine; the purpose of progeny, structure and state/church control remains the forefront of the marriage agreement. Love, commitment and affection were desirable, yet, the device of marriage as a social mobilizer remained of paramount importance. We also see, as the world of industrialization takes hold: the lathe replaces the plow, the city replaces the farming community, and the family is replaced by the company. Marriage itself is placed into question. In the place of property, marriage allowed aforementioned social-stratification and solidification among the middle and upper class, yet the lower socio-economic rungs find marriage suffocating. It is also, as economic independence allows growth into Maslowian self-actualization among the upper classes, the burgeoning thought-school of feminism begins to question the ery nature of marriage as a restriction upon the feminine. Of particular interest is the means of which these initial treads occurred, through veiled literary references. Stokers Dracula, Chopins Story of an Hour and Wildes Lord Arthur Saviles Crime all address the issues immerging within the question of marriage. Each addresses this matter differently, each skirting the gaze of the censor Just enough to fire the crucible of social revolution. Of particular interest is Story of an Hour, Chopins three-page indictment of marriage as the death of self-actualized life. Her heroine, Louise Mallard, finds herself brutally removed from the bonds of Victorian matrimony, and in the place of mourning finds she awakened to the potential of life without his husband. Now, this freedom may be more than Just the emotions, as suggested by Chongye: although Mallard wanted to have a change, it seems that she has already experienced this through some affair, be it emotional or physical ith [Mallards] brother-in-law Richards (92. ) It is here that we see the beginning of the break-down of the marriage needs; for it is the wife, Louise Mallard, which feels the lack of commitment and fulfillment in her gainst the supremacy of men in the patriarchal Gilded Age society. Upon learning of her husbands death, Mallard finds herself free of ALL ties (406) and thus: [She] bursts into tears [of happiness]. (Chongye 93) It is as if the heavens have opene d to her, and she hears the world around her for the first time. Her affair with Richards, another man, could not bring about the life that singular existence offers, and thus it is when all ties to all men are removed that she is able to express such emotion. Now, is it the institute of marriage that changed, or is it the needs of the people and society? Is Mallard, the voice of Chopin so unhappy that is takes the death of her ties with mankind to become truly alive? What about Nina Harker, forced to remove herself from traditional society, and her husband, in Dracula? Hacker suggests that, there is a need to reorganize marriage to fit [new] economic and political institutions (153. So, perhaps marriage, as defined by Augustine, no longer provided a basis for societal structure. If this question existed at this point in history, would it not be so much more into the progression of social revolution within the twentieth century. As the Victorian/Gilded Age come to an end, and as the modern era began with start of a new century, marriage found itse lf on the cusp of questioning. Society found old ways no longer surviving, two great wars made sure of that. As the Roaring 20s came about, a distinct questioning of what were the roles of gender would remain, and which would require change. Daisy of Fitzgeralds Great Gatsby often refers to her marriage of that ofa bruised finger (175,) annoying and barely tolerable. Gone are the veiled references of happiness without a spouse in love; now love and companionship are that is required. It is society that requires marriage, as Delaney notes in her commentary on a publication of the era 🙠 Girls Own Annual 1927 demonstrates a distinct construction of womanhood at odds with the 1920s view. (29) Marriage was still noted as the stabilizing force[ ][that] improve[d] the moral state of the nation[ (Delaney 41) but it was no longer needed by the rebellious generation of the 1920s. Thus, is marriage still needed at this Juncture? Or more precisely, was the Augustan model of marriage; progeny, fidelity, and reliance still apparent and viable? Despite the metronomic return of pseudo-Victorian values uring the 1950s, the societal constraints that marriage afforded seemed no longer needed, or even desired. Divorce grew from on e in nine marriages in 1920 (Delaney 30) to nearly one in four by emergence into the 1960s. What had changed? Thus we return to the modern day, where divorce has risen to almost fifty percent, granted on the most frivolous of grounds; yet there are those who beg for the right to be miserable. Is the classic definition of marriage stated above serviceable, or is a major re-alignment required? This is the question that now stands before each state, and very well before our nations highest court. Definitions of state-driven marriage, to the benefit of social beneficiaries (Reid 476; et al. ) exist in Hawaii and Vermont. Adultery, while a crime-in-writing, no longer stands as the legal and societal pariah. Propagation is now nothing more than paying to be impregnated; so where does marriage stand? As this discussion continues to hamper other discussions, it is the beneficiaries, society or the couple themselves. Marriage can no longer be seen as the neat bow of life (Levenson 161), the happily ever after. Marriage may be a discipline and means of grace (Good 52), but that is no longer enough in the odern context. Thus, in order for society to move forward, marriage must be forced to adapt, and the Augustan laws that so shaped it for over a millennia no longer apply. It is with a new definition and a new status within society that it may regain a toehold into the realm of importance it once held, and provide status to those who have been too long denied. : Chase-Levenson, Karen. Happiness Is Not A Potato: The Victorian Cultivation Of Happiness. Nineteenth-Century Contexts 33. 2 (201 1): 161-169. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. Delaney, Lesley. Little Women, Good Wives: Victorian Constructions Of Womanhood In The Girls Own Annual 1927. Childrens Literature In Education 34. (2003): 29-45. A Academic search premier. web. 29 oct. 2013. Fritzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 2013. Print. Good, Deirdre J. , et al. A Theology Of Marriage Including Same-Sex Couples: A View From Tile Liberals. Anglican Theological Review 93. 1 (201 1): 51-87. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. Hacker, Helen Mayer. Marx, Weber And Pareto On The Changing Status Of Women. A American Journal Of Economics Sociology 12. 2 (1953): 149-162. Business source premier. web. 29 oct. 2013. LOWY, Dina. Love And Marriage: Ellen Key And Hiratsuka Raich? ¶ Explore Alternatives. Womens studies 33. 4 (2004): 361-380. Academic search premier. web. 29 oct. 2013. Maslow, A. H. A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96. Accessed http://psychclassics. yorku. ca/Maslow/motivation. htm Web. 29 Oct 2013. Reid Jr. , Charles J. The Augustinian Goods Of Marriage: The Disappearing Cornerstone Of The American Law Of Marriage. BYU Journal Of Public Law 18. 2 (2004): 449-478. Academic search premier. web. 29 oct. 2013.

Social learning theory in child psychology Essay

Social learning theory in child psychology - Essay Example All these theoretical formulations have facilitated child psychologists and therapists to understand child behavior in terms of the interaction among such factors as one’s environment, behavior and psychological processes where positive and negative reinforcements play a pivotal role in modulating the child’s behavior patterns. Bandura goes on to purport that â€Å"children learn and imitate behaviors they have observed in other people† and his social learning theory is rooted on three basic models of observational learning- live, verbal and symbolic model (Cherry). The modeling process involves four stages-attention, retention, reproduction and motivation. This understanding has been proved to be crucial in child psychology as children internalizes many of their behavior patterns and subsequent behavioral problems through observation and modeling from their immediate life environment. However, Bandura also held that external or environmental reinforcement alone does not modulate behavior; he stressed on â€Å"intrinsic reinforcement as a form of internal reward, such as pride, satisfaction, and a sense of accomplishment† through which the behavior of the person is shaped (Cherry). Thus, it is significant that the child develops a sense of intrinsic reinforcement in his behavior along with th e large amount of extrinsic reinforcements that he receives from others. It is also worthwhile to analyze how Beg and Beg regard social learning theory in connection with child psychology. For them, social learning theory, in fact, â€Å"combines reinforcement learning theory with psychoanalytic concepts and some of the insights of cultural anthropology and sociology† and as such they hold that the reinforcement aspect of social learning theory has got great relevance in modulating the child’s behavior through appropriate systems of rewards and punishments (Beg &Beg 35). One should also bear in mind that later the concept of rewards and punishments gave way

Breaking a Gender Norm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Breaking a Gender Norm - Essay Example Since culture defines expectations of a man, a man wearing a dress goes against the norm and is viewed as feminine because of wearing a dress; although, men in west Africa wear overall dresses in official and unofficial occasions (jewa6961, 2011). College shows double standards between men and women because men feel the desire to exercise dominance for them to be accepted in society. Although I found it easy to violate the male norm of dressing, the feelings of violating the dressing norm in men in a public place is quite uncomfortable regardless of the fact that women are proud of their appearance. I felt the need to act in a way that would conceal my feelings in an attempt to avoid consequences associated with violation of the norm. I had a feeling of fear regarding the way the people around would receive the gender deviant behavior because I knew there would be social penalties because I was behaving in way that is incongruent to the norm regarding male dressing. Due to preferred male dominance in the country, dressing like a woman exposed me to the double standards in violating the male dressing norms; moreover, acting in this way made me feel like I managed to break away from standards set out by the society. By wearing a dress evoked stereotype judgment aimed at me due to the violation of expected genders norms associated with men dressing because dressing in men is essential in showing their masculinity. However, to a certain extent I felt that people could be embracing actions of deviance aimed at gender norms because some people showed signs of comfort even when I broke norms of men dressing. However, traits related to gender can vary in accordance with culture, gender norms being what is considered socially acceptable in all genders advocates strict adherence to the norms in each gender. By violating the dressing norm in men I developed feelings of being socially unpredictable, confusion regarding norms, undermined trust regarding

Dangerous Driving Habits Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dangerous Driving Habits - Personal Statement Example It was a usual maddening, Monday morning and at 8:45 a.m. the drivers driving their cars were getting impatient to reach office on time. Amy was particularly concerned since her office had a policy of cutting off sick leaves after the first two late comings of the month. Hurriedly she looked at her flip mobile phone, opened it and saw the time.8:46, it was time to freak out, she was left with less than fifteen minutes to park her car, take the long walk and punch her attendance card on time. Every minute counted and she realized that waiting on any of the signals would mean tat she will be certainly late. She sped at 40 MPH at an orange signal, which was about to turn red. Apparently, the drivers on the other side were equally desperate to reach destination and used the orange light and raced ahead. As a result, Amy’s car was standing bumper to bumper with another car, while the rest of the traffic jammed in behind her. The series of incidents lead to what we may see as a viol ation of most written traffic rules and ‘driving ethics’ if such a term has been coined, including violating signal, talking on the mobile phone while driving, honking, undertaking & tailgating. Amy heard what she had always heard from others â€Å"Women Drivers!† filled with venom. My question is did this happen because Amy was a woman? Or are other drivers equally prone to such mistakes? The answer is quite obvious. ... These include undertaking, speeding, and talking on the mobile and signal violations. The second type of offense is a violation of the 'driving code of ethics', for which no regulations have been made as yet. These include tailgating, honking unnecessarily, driving very slow on a highway or in the right lane, weaving from lane to lane, wrong indicators, jamming brakes instantly and orange signal rushes. These offenses tend to test the patience of other drivers and often lead to more than usual traffic violations due to impatience. In our example, it can be seen that Amy did not directly violate the written laws. However, it could have bee an accident where both parties though orange signal is a go ahead. Considering the above, I would conclude by stressing that traffic rules need to be updated to include offenses of the second type. These offenses can be significant as well and can cause the aggressee their peace of mind while not providing any benefits to the aggressors. Honking at certain hours for example at night or outside a hospital should lead to tickets. Likewise, orange signal violation should be taken to be a violation. In our case, this could have actually leaded to a head on collision. Other offenses include tailgating, which unnerves the other driver and reduces their patience levels. In the meanwhile, eating and checking time on mobiles can even be dangerous. Consider another case in which you are driving behind another car at a speed of 80 Km/ hour .All of a sudden, the car in front of you jams the brakes. This leads to a series of collisions where by the chain of cars following each other bang into each other. The generally accepted rule is, it is always the fault of the person behind you, if you get hit from the back.

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay Example for Free

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay The Story of an Hour written by Kate Chopin in 1894 the reader should zone in on the main character Mrs. Mallards thoughts and not so much on the excitement of the story but the ending. The insights of different literary elements such as the point of view and tone make this short story omniscient and subtle yet cruel that all contribute to the multiple themes. According to Journey Into Literature, a theme is an idea, or message, that lies behind a literary work, the theme tells what the story is about: What is the underlying message? What is driving the action? (Clugston, 2014). When answering any of these questions, the main theme deals with a dysfunctional marriage and other minor themes including communication, freedom and confinement, time, and mortality. The reason for the dysfunctional marriage comes from males dominating the women of the 19th century and how they were prisoners to their husbands. Women were expected to stay home to cook, clean, and take care of the children. The woman was only a mean of a mans pleasure and reproduction. She had no rights, no opinions, no sentiments no emotions (Radek, 2001). If they did work and it was not too often and the pay and job was always less compared to a man. There was no mention of true love since marriage was out of convenience, monetary comfort and status during that era. Communication is essential and its delivery because when Mrs. Mallard was told of her husbands untimely  death on a train and then to find out that he was not dead after all, was more deadly than how you tell it versus what actually happened. Be careful with delicacy and preparation when delivering a message to a sick listener with a heart condition or it can cause further damage. Freedom and confinement deals with how she was suppressed in marriage, having a bad heart, confined to home and suddenly given freedom of it all by her husband passing and just as the freedom was given to her it was taken away with seeing her husband alive. It was all about feeling the joy of freedom which was yanked from her upon reaching of the husband healthy and alive (Jamil, 2009). Time in this story happens so fast by changing things drastically and dramatically in under a hour. Mrs. Mallard only had less than a hour to process the news of husband passing. In that time she thought of grief and moved quickly into what life by herself would be like. Once seeing the supposedly dead husband alive, just shattered her new images and dreams of a new life. Last there is the mortality which is powerful and told the wrong way will deliver a lethal dosage. Finding out that a person died can be horrific but discovering that it is not true could be worst. The tables turned so soon on Mrs. Mallards complex, emotional reaction that it caused her death instead. The final thought of her freedom from the marriage being taken away was too much for her to handle. One of the literary elements that contributed to the themes was the point of view. There was the use of omniscient third-person so the reader got to understanding of the story by more than just the main character. This was great since to have different views of what or how things were explained throughout the story. The omniscient third-person narrative voice of understanding, compassionate, freeing made it easier to deal with Mrs. Mallards behavior and thoughts with at least sensible reasoning. For example, There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air. (9) Even though Mrs. Mallard was not forced into her dysfunctional marriage, the way out was not so nice, but the feelings she had were chasing her down. Mrs. Mallard has finally free after her husbands death and freedom was scary along with  being exciting altogether. Because this was written in third person, the thought of her being sort of selfish, uncaring or most of all not in love with her husband would have made the story much different to swallow. The second literary term to contribute with the flow of the themes was through the tone. In this story the description of Mrs. Mallard in a lifetime of emotional torment, dawning comprehension. liberating, that ended in ironic detachment. Mrs. Mallard brushes off the idea of love and marriage for the wonderful and glorious idea of at last freedom. The other characters around her such as her sister Josephine and Richards which is the husbands friend though she was crying her eyes out over the death of her husband and she was actually relieved to be a free woman. At the end, it was understood that she died from sudden shock of seeing her supposedly dead husband alive after all joy that kills (23). The only piece of the puzzle that is left unanswered for sure is what really killed her and the narrator left that up to the reader to decide. In conclusion, in order for a short story to be successful there must be well organized literary elements to support the theme. With a strong point of view and well understood tone the flow of the story with go over well with your audience just as it did for The Story of an Hour. References Chopin, K. (1894). The Story of an Hour. Vogue, pp. 1-3 Clugston, R. W. (2014). Journey into literature (2nd ed.). San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Jamil, S, S. (2009). Emotions in The Story of an Hour' Explicator. pp. 215-220. Retrieved from EBSCO hosting. Radek, K. (2001). Women in the Nineteenth Century. Women in Literature. Retrieved from: http://www2.ivcc.edu/gen2002/women_in_the_nineteenth_century.htm.

The Military: An Impetus for Social Reform :: essays papers

The Military: An Impetus for Social Reform Revolutionary War The military since the Colonial Era has been an impetus for social reform in the United States. The Revolutionary War afforded Black Americans an opportunity to escape from the toils of slavery and fight for freedom. Some Black Americans even earned their freedom by fighting for the Colonists, but still the freedom they fought for wasn’t their own. However, the military was responsible for the freedom of many slaves and some of these freed slaves became legendary soldiers like Salem Poor. His performance in battle gave credibility for future arguments about blacks being allowed to serve. In the colonial era slavery was permissible by law in every colony. Blacks were 20% of the overall population of the 13 colonies and only 8% of them were free blacks (www.history.org). Colonists commonly used African slave labor despite the question of whether slavery was morally right. Life for blacks in the revolutionary period was one of slavery and discrimination. Only 8 percent of blacks were free [Edgar A Toppin. â€Å"Blacks in the American Revolution† (published essay, Virginia State University, 1976), p 1] and this so-called freedom merely meant that they could own and defend property. They weren’t allowed to mingle with whites and were wholly segregated. Blacks during this time period worked predominantly in the fields planting and harvesting Tobacco. They worked long hours and were likely to be sold at some point in their lives. This separated families and kept morale very low. Plantation slaves were also subject to brutal punishments because they weren’t regarded as having high value. However, with the onset of the Revolutionary War, the British invited blacks to join the British Army and in return, they would receive their freedom. Thoughts of wholesale desertion of slaves to the British regiments created a fear that swept throughout the colonies and led colonists to allow blacks to fight for the local militias and even the army. Serving in the Revolutionary War enabled many slaves to earn their freedom, but to their dismay, not equality. Although blacks served in segregated units, the military gave them opportunity to gain respect through acts of courage and valor. Black soldiers like Salem Poor gained respect from white men. Lemuel Haynes used his military experience to fight for abolition of slavery by writing the essay â€Å"Liberty Further Extended.

Morality in J.B. Priestleys An Inspector Calls Essay -- J. B. Priestl

'An Inspector Calls' Essay In Act One of 'An Inspector Calls' how does J.B. Priestley use dramatic devices to convey his concerns and ideas to the members of the audience, as well as interest and involve them in his play? 'An Inspector Calls' is a morality play - a form of play developed in the late middle ages in which a Christian moral lesson was brought out through the struggle between the forces of good and evil - set in 1912, and revolves around the questioning of a family by Inspector Goole about the suicide of a young woman (Eva Smith) that the family knew.The author, J.B. Priestley is trying to show us what some people's arrogance and selfishness can cause without them even noticing. Priestley was a socialist, therefore by writing this play he was drawing attention to the bad things about capitalism. The Inspector was intending to teach the Birlings that ?...we have to share something. If there?s nothing else, we?ll have to share our guilt? Act One. By saying this, he is telling them they are all as guilty as each other of the suicide of Eva Smith, this also links to Priestley being a socialist because he is putting the Birlings to shame. The doorbell ringing appears to separate the two moods (before and after the Inspector arrives). Priestley has used dramatic irony by making the doorbell ring to interrupt Birling?s speech, just as he is talking about looking after ?...yourself and your own? Act One, by saying this before the doorbell rings, Birling is already digging himself into a hole before he even knows it. It is ironic because the Inspector is here to teach him his responsibilities for other people, when he is saying you should only look after your self and your family. As the Inspector enters the ch... ...y guilty and sympathetic for what she has done, whereas Mr and Mrs Birling couldn?t care less and remain unsympathetic throughout. The way Mr and Mrs Birling don?t care makes the play interesting for the audience, as they are waiting for them to crack, the Inspector also helps maintain the audiences concentration by the way he slowly unravels the story and the way he interrogates people in the order that they met the girl. I think the playwright hopes to teach people that money isn?t everything and that people who are arrogant and selfish will get their comeuppances eventually. The moral of the play still, applies to today?s society because it makes us think about the things we do that involve ignoring people less fortunate than us when we realise that there are Eva Smiths all around us just waiting for a chance to make it through the cruel world we live in.